"Because I Can Go to Akiba for Free" is the first chapter of the Yowamushi Pedal manga series. It was first released by Akita Shoten in the 2008's Weekly Shonen Champion 12th issue and later by Yen Press on the english's first volume in 2015.
Summary[]
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.”[1]
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. He decides his own after-school plans: traveling to Akiba to purchase a DVD and partake in the many other otaku activities he loves. He is startled out of his thoughts when a martial arts club loudly rushes by; he resigns that he would never join an athletic club, even if he was invited to do so.
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. While singing along to the opening theme from Love Hime, Sakamichi’s bike is hit by a car, causing him to crash. Takahashi, the driver, immediately stops his car to check on him; though a little frazzled, Sakamichi appears to be in distress despite the stains over his clothes and face. 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 notes that he was not 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.
Sakamichi spends his first day searching about the existence of an anime club in the school and daydreaming about joining it. He is very excited to finally meet and befriend other anime fans so that they can all go to Akiba as a group, something that he has never been able to experience before. As soon as classes end, Sakamichi rushes over to the room the anime club would usually meet, only to find a notice pinned to the door stating that the club was dissolved due to a lack of club members and cries after the seeing the shocking news.
Two girls walk by the hall where the clubroom was located and talked about it being disbanded, caughting Sakamichi attention that assumed they were also interesting in joining. He rushed after them and laments to them about it, asking if they were instered about recreating the club. He then founds out that one of the girls has interest in the cycling club, while the more aggressive girl is interested in tennis. Out of sympathy for Sakamichi’s plight, the kinder girl offers him information about the bus schedule’s next departure so that he could see about generating interest for the club in Akiba from fellow otakus. Though Sakamichi is flustered by her unexpected concern, he manages to assure her that he can make it there on his bike instead. With newfound determination, he commits to finding new members and plans to make his way to Akiba.
In another part of the school, Shunsuke makes plans to attend the cycling club once the people who joined for fun quit after realizing how hard practice will be, already having made the necessary arrangements with the team’s captain. His thoughts are interrupted when a girl from Ichiba Third Middle School, where he previously attended, approaches him and greets him by name. After failed attempts to introduce herself and give him her email address, she excitedly recalls that she had watched him win second place in a cycling race during the prior year. Shunsuke responds coldly, wondering who cares about “winning” second place before walking away.
He resumes planning, picking out a time to turn in his club application so that he can compete at nationals to face off against the cyclist he lost to. In order to achieve this goal, Shunsuke changes into his cycling gear, retrieves his bike, and prepares to practice individually. While doing so, he spots Sakamichi, who is preparing to make the trek to Akiba on his mommy bike.
Both cyclists set off down the rear gate slope at the same time, much to Shunsuke’s annoyance. Sakamichi introduces himself and tries being friendly towards Shunsuke, but receives only harsh words in return. Shunsuke suggests that Sakamichi instead takes the more gradual main gate slope, which is closer to the bus stop, but Sakamichi waves it off, stating that he plans on biking all the way to Akiba; Shunsuke is baffled by this.
Despite Shunsuke’s warning, Sakamichi continues to follow Shunsuke down the slope, causing Shunsuke to more aggressively tell him to stop due to how dangerous it could be for someone unequipped to handle it. Sakamichi persists, veering all over the road and eventually crashes after mistakenly lifting his body weight off the saddle of his bike. Shunsuke immediately stops his bike and runs over to check on him, his irritation tapering off into something resembling concern. Following the crash, Sakamichi admits that he goes to Akiba by bike so that he can save money for more capsule toys, which causes Shunsuke’s annoyance to resurface.
Sakamichi realizes that he left his wallet in his desk and rushes off to retrieve it, leaving Shunsuke to continue his training alone. After focusing hard on climbing techniques, he spots another cyclist in the distance and aims to pass him. As he closes the gap, he is thrown off by the fact that the other cyclist is humming; he’s even more shocked to see the cyclist is in fact Sakamichi, who has been singing happily while climbing on his mommy bike. Once they’re riding together again, Sakamichi gets embarrassed about his singing and apologizes to a confused Shunsuke.
Elsewhere, the two girls who ran into Sakamichi earlier are spectating as members of the Sohoku High Bicycle Club practice. The kind girl recounts to her friend that her brother has said that some people are just born better at biking than others. She states that while many athletes train for their sports from a young age, the fastest cyclists may not share the same experiences and can suddenly go from being completely ordinary one day to something incredible the next.
In the end, Shunsuke gets off his bike and stares Sakamichi leaving with his bike embarassed for singing and being heard by him. He wonders who is him.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Recurring • First Appearance • Cameo • Flashback • Mention • Cover Only
Trivia[]
- In the flash-forward, Shunsuke and Sakamichi are two of the cyclists shown; both are dressed in cycling gear representing Japan.
- Sakamichi notably rides a "mommy bike" (mamachari), a heavy city bicycle fitted with a handlebar basket and a rack over the rear tire. The sticker on Sakamichi's bike is from Royal Forces (王立軍), another anime he enjoys.
- The DVD Sakamichi wishes to purchase in Akiba is a limited-edition release of Royal Force War Chronicle: Torakon volume one. According to Sakamichi, it includes an exclusive short and a bonus soundtrack CD.[2]
- "Koi no Hime Hime Pettanko" was translated to "Flat-Chested Princess-Princess of Love" in the English release.[3]
- Sohoku High School is a fifteen minute bus ride from Gakuen Jousou station, which is part of the Soubu line.[4] Shunsuke notes that going to Akihabara would be "one shot" away on this line[5] (approximately 40 to 50 minutes away by train).[6] The station itself is situated closer to the main gate slope rather than the rear gate slope.[5]
- Members of Sohoku's anime club created and published a doujinshi entitled "Mountain School, Ocean School" in Winter 2005, which is advertised in the extracurricular activities guide.[7]
- The unnamed former student of Ichiba Third Middle School is the first of Shunsuke's fans that are seen throughout the series. From her conversation with him, one could infer that his fan club was already sizable prior to beginning high school.
- Though Shunsuke rides a Scott bike, the cycling gear he is seen wearing is made by Shimano.[8]
References[]
- ↑ Watanabe, Wataru. “Ride.1 Because I Can Go To Akiba For Free.” Yowamushi Pedal, English ed., vol. 1, Yen Press, 2015, pp. 5–7.
- ↑ Watanabe, Wataru. “Ride.1 Because I Can Go To Akiba For Free.” Yowamushi Pedal, English ed., vol. 1, Yen Press, 2015, pp. 14.
- ↑ Watanabe, Wataru. “Ride.1 Because I Can Go To Akiba For Free.” Yowamushi Pedal, English ed., vol. 1, Yen Press, 2015, pp. 16.
- ↑ Watanabe, Wataru. “Ride.1 Because I Can Go To Akiba For Free.” Yowamushi Pedal, English ed., vol. 1, Yen Press, 2015, pp. 22.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Watanabe, Wataru. “Ride.1 Because I Can Go To Akiba For Free.” Yowamushi Pedal, English ed., vol. 1, Yen Press, 2015, pp. 37.
- ↑ Watanabe, Wataru. “Ride.1 Because I Can Go To Akiba For Free.” Yowamushi Pedal, English ed., vol. 1, Yen Press, 2015, pp. 44.
- ↑ Watanabe, Wataru. “Ride.1 Because I Can Go To Akiba For Free.” Yowamushi Pedal, English ed., vol. 1, Yen Press, 2015, pp. 24.
- ↑ Watanabe, Wataru. “Ride.1 Because I Can Go To Akiba For Free.” Yowamushi Pedal, English ed., vol. 1, Yen Press, 2015, pp. 33-34.