Wataru Watanabe

I hate bikes because they are just torture devices, and I hate bicyclists as most of them are sociopaths who think they have the right of way on all roads and sidewalks always and imagine themselves greatly wronged if forced to apply their brakes because a light changes color or a pedestrian happens to exist and will ride in the automobile lanes even when the street has a bike lane right there and . . . and I just really hate them.

But I love this series about bicycle racing so much.

The last show more ten volumes of this omnibus series have covered a single three-day race competition. That's like 18 or 19 volumes of the original series. The first 116 pages of this fat book cover the final 500 meters. Less than a third of a mile! I could walk that in five minutes, so I have to assume bicyclists can do it in a fraction of that time even going uphill.

And yet my pulse was racing the whole time. And all the team spirit just gives me warm fuzzies.

I could have done with a little more downtime for bonding and training in the middle of the book, but after quick introductions to the new riders who will take the place of the graduating seniors, we're already in the middle of the next race by the time the cliffhanger comes. show less

I am in awe of how this stupid manga about bicycle racing can get my heart racing and even choke me up. They've been running the same multi-day race for many volumes now, but I quickly get caught up in it, even knowing that it is probably not going to end in this volume. And if you know this series at all, you know it is not a spoiler to say that, indeed, the race does not end in this volume.

But it is getting near the end, and members of the remaining teams begin sacrificing themselves, show more expending all their energy to pull along their sprinters and aces for the final push. Racers are forced to drop back and retire as they reach their physical limits. There is much heartbreak and at least one big surprise as the casualties mount. show less

I don't think it is a spoiler to say that the never-ending race never ends in this volume. And even though over the course of its 400 pages, the racers only go about 5 kilometers in less than 15 minutes, I was still excited by the action and made soppy by the tribute to teamwork that threads throughout the whole book.

I guarantee I will never watch a real life bicycle race, but I will read every volume of this series I can get my hands on.

I don't like the introduction of the over-the-top creepy-ass villain with a lizard tongue, but this still remains an enjoyable sports manga. That's quite a feat considering I've never watched a second of real bicycle racing competitions.

I recommend [b:ハイキュー!! 1 Haikyū!! 1 |20318855|ハイキュー!! 1 Haikyū!! 1 |Haruichi Furudate|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388037922s/20318855.jpg|28158779] to anyone who enjoys the sportsmanship and team dynamics on display here.