Machimiya Eikichi

Machimiya Eikichi is a former student at Hiroshima Kureminami Technical School and was the ace sprinter of the Hiroshima Kureminami Tech Bicycle Club. He also participated in the 40th Summer Inter High, in which he finished third by sheer luck and developed a resentment for Hakone Academy's team, who were the victors.

Appearance

Machimiya has hair that appears to be reddish-pink and bushy eyebrows that are colored a bit lighter than his hair. He has prominent bags under his eyes. Machimiya also has distinctive bruises on his chest that are a result of his odd dancing style along with his enlarged shoulder blades.

Personality

Machimiya describes himself as having "stars," as well as "the devil's luck," which refers to how he constantly runs into severe roadblocks but somehow still succeeds in the end. He frequently uses invasive, unwanted physical contact to unnerve other riders. Machimiya is also extremely talented at manipulation, as illustrated by his ability to unite cyclists from different schools, twisting their emotions to his favor, under the guise of being their ally and cooperating. He feels intense pressure as the ace of his team, and is easily wounded when he doesn't live up to their (or his own) expectations.

He harbors a deep grudge against Hakone Academy due to his encounter with Fukutomi during the previous Inter High, which motivated him to utilize his intelligence and devise a plan that involved working together with the pack and Kyoto Fushimi. When he unleashes his anger, his normally nonchalant demeanor disappears and he becomes wild and frenzied in order to ride at his full potential, fueling himself with raw hatred. Other cyclists speculate that this may be his true personality, and that the disturbingly amiable and confident self he portrays to others is yet another con. (This may be true to some degree, as he's seen rather expressionless during his everyday school life in an episode ending omake.)

However, Machimiya also respects when he is soundly beaten, acknowledging when there's a clear difference in strength; he has no issue calmly telling his teammates to give up on chasing Arakita, Onoda, and Manami when they win according to the rules Ibitani established.

Skills and Techniques

Machimiya's dancing technique involves hitting his chest with the handlebars of his bike. This has caused bruises that look like eyes to form on his chest, which is part of the reason for his nickname, "Fighting Dog of Kure" His chest is low to the ground because it is more aerodynamic to keep the gap between his chest and the handlebars as little as possible. The position he takes for this technique causes his shoulder blades to jut out of his back, and this violent sprint allows him to obtain high speeds. He becomes aggressive towards fellow teammates during his transformation, as he doesn't want anything in the way of his goal.

Apart from his cycling skills, Machimiya is a skilled manipulator who puts on airs of friendliness to twist people to his whim, and uses this tactic in races to use other cyclists to his advantage and pit them against each other.

Trivia

Likes

• Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (always with squid!)

Supports

• Ardently supports the Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball team

Best subject

• Mechanical engineering; skilled at operating the lathe

Misc

• He used his skills to craft water bottles out of metal, which is a sturdier material.^[1]
• He is also good at cooking teppanyaki.^[2]
• Machimiya attends Yonan University after graduating along with Arakita and Kinjou.

References