- Overview
- Plot
- Relationships
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Takuto Ashikiba is a former student at Hakone Academy and was a member of the Hakone Academy Bicycle Racing Club, serving as its ace during the storyline's second year.
Appearance[]
Takuto has an orange hair and dark blue eyes. He also has a distinctive swirl in his bangs and a heart-shaped birthmark on his cheek. However, Takuto's most striking feature may be his height, having 202 cm (about 6 feet and 7½ inches) and being the tallest student in his high school.
Personality[]
Takuto is gentle and emotional, but a bit of an airhead, as exemplified when he mistakes Shunsuke Imaizumi for various other members of team Sohoku and is easily deceived by his teammate Yukinari Kuroda He is eager to impress his upperclassmen. While racing against Junta Teshima in the Minegayama Hill Climb, he becomes emotional and joyous to the point of tears. When he lost to Sakamichi Onoda, however, he was so dejected that he missed his train stop by 3 stations, which could had been more had an elderly woman didn't enter the train, and Takuto didn't offer to give up his seat.
Despite being an airhead, he is optimistic, steadfast and mentally strong, especially when he has a reason to act, such as when he did help Touichirou Izumida with his regrets as being the first sprinter and the bad rumours about it or when he did scold Yuto Shinkai after his misbehavior with his seniors because of his personal issues. He can also make connections between seemingly unrelated matters, based on what he does witness at the moment or the people he's with.
Skills and Techniques[]
Takuto listens to classical music, such as 9th Symphony from Beethoven, in his head as he rides. As a result, his technique of rocking from side to side is referred to as "Metronome Dancing." Which reminds Sakamichi of Yusuke Makishima, given that both would also stand up as they start to attack, but he can easily pull 3m ahead of his teammates to bait Teshima to attack without accelerating at 70% pace.
His bike's frame is so big that it makes his tires look really small.
Since he is so tall, the length of the joints of his leg to his knee are incredibly long. Every time he turns the crank, it sounds like he's cutting through wind. Also due to his long limbs and Metronome Dancing, he has great stamina, even coming from the back of the pack, riding on the edge of the road and scratching the cliff face twice. Despite starting off as a climber, his length and reach is extremely crucial at the final lunge in a sprint finish.
He learnt to swing the bike because after his 10cm growth spurt since middle school, his center of gravity is too high to be an effective rider, especially in the flats.
During his third-year, he becomes an all-rounder. His teamwork with Yukinari improved to such a point that he can become a great decoy. Using his height to attract attention make opponents think he is pulling ahead as an Ace, Yukinari can slip to the other side of the opponents to get back on track. This only works if the opponents are on the center of the road, however.
Takuto has a good control of his bicycle and applies it in many ways through the races he participate, being able to force his opponents to the gutter or the side of the road and even controlling his pacing to let his teammates rejoin him if he is far ahead of them.
Known Personal Achievements[]
Trivia[]
- Favorite Foods
- Bananas.
- Croissant topped with brown sugar.
- Choco rolls.
- Watermelon.
- Speciality
- Piano (Continues to play it even now sometimes).
- Dislikes
- Carbonated water (Doesn't really understand why they exist).
- Like Sangaku Manami, Takuto hates litterbugs, as proven on Glory Line Episode 21, when Takuto told Yuto Shinkai that if he loses to him, he must back-track to the beginning of the stage and pick up the banana chocolate bar wrapper that he threw on the ground.
- Misc
- He is flexible. Can bend forward 22 cm.
- He lives in Hakone Gakuen's dorm.
- Goes to the same hair salon as Yuto.
- When asked whether Takuto contacts anyone else who is close to him other than Junta, Sensei replied that Takuto doesn’t charge his cell phone, or ends up saving messages in Drafts when he thought that he’d sent it. So basically, if he wants to talk to someone, he does so face to face. This fact is further proven when he missed the train station by 3 stops as he commiserates for his loss at Minegayama Hill Climb Race and the team can't find him. He stated he didn't charge his phone, and left it at home altogether.
- He doesn't play piano as often because he doesn't see his friends from middle school. He provided the background music for Junta's J-Pop impersonations, if they aren't in karaoke with Higashido.
- Despite being able to play the piano, and piano being in the percussion family of instruments, he likes strings family instruments more. He also became attracted to road cycling due to the sounds and the various "strings" on the cycle, from the spokes on the wheels and the chain itself.
- Despite being from Hokkaido, his regional accent isn't pronounced.
- Takuto and Masakiyo Doubashi have a somewhat good relationship with each other due to their similar situations with abnormally huge bodies.
- Takuto's biggest worry when he started high school is the fact he keeps growing to the point that he can no longer control his body due to his growth spurt and higher center of gravity. He hated that so much that he decided to quit drinking milk. Even now, he doesn't drink milk.
- His voice actor, Mamoru Miyano, also is the seiyuu for Shin Yoshimoto.
- According to Connect Road, a Level 1 5* Takuto's speed stats is very even (352 Climbing vs. 350 Sprinting), despite being listed as a Climber.
- At 202cm (6'8"), he is the same height as current Danish time trialist, Mathias Norsgaard.