Yowamushi Pedal, Go! Vol. 1 by Wataru Watanabe

Takahashi notes that he wasn’t expecting anyone to be riding a bike up this road, but Shunsuke claims he must have been seeing things, as the boy only had a mommy bike and the back entrance to school is at the top of an extreme slope with over a 20% gradient.įollowing the welcome ceremony, Sakamichi spends his first day of classes daydreaming about joining the anime club. After apologizing and making sure Sakamichi is okay, Takahashi is called back to the car by his passenger, Shunsuke Imaizumi, and continues driving him to school. Takahashi, the driver, immediately stops his car to check on him though a little frazzled, Sakamichi is unscathed and doesn’t appear to be in distress. While singing along to the opening theme from Love Hime, Sakamichi’s bike is hit by a car, causing him to crash.

On his first morning as a high school student, Sakamichi rides his bike up the sparsely-traveled rear gate slope that leads up to school. He is startled out of his thoughts when a martial arts club loudly rushes by he resigns that he’d never join an athletic club, even if he was invited to do so. He decides his own after-school plans: traveling to Akiba to purchase a DVD and partake in the many other otaku activities he loves. In the present day, Sakamichi Onoda overhears other students discussing their after-school plans as he rides his mommy bike towards Chiba Prefectural Sohoku High School. The series opens with a brief flash-forward, showing three young men vying for first place in a cycling race while an unknown party narrates: “Top speed… That which uses blood, flesh, and bone to achieve humanity’s maximum speed is… the bicycle.”

Yowamushi Pedal, Go! Vol. 1 by Wataru Watanabe