Yowamushi Pedal Movie

A story about bicycle racing team and the enjoyment of riding a bicycle together with your friends. This story takes place after Yowamushi Pedal GRANDE ROAD. I see huge improvement in storyline compared to TV series.

Story :
Throw away those stupid chit-chats during the race. This movie has less chit-chats and more straightforward in the race. It's what an anime of bicycle race should be. Focus on the action instead of the chit-chats. The race is more sportive and more interesting in this movie. I see this as a huge improvement over the TV series.

Art :
Same as the TV series. The color is nice and ... the environment is beautiful. It's very good but not something I would call visual stunning.

Sound :
Same as the TV series. The music and sound effect is very good. Definitely helps building the atmosphere. Surely you can hear a detailed sound of bicycle chains and gears.

Character :
The charas are the same but there are several personality changes in some of them. This time, you'll see Onoda Sakamichi failed to carry his order. Without Makishima in the team, Onoda takes a lot of pressure as the only climber and he loses his confidence as well. Naruko and Tadokoro started to work like teammates here. Makishima becomes an inspiring senpai.

Enjoyment :
Watching this movie is full of enjoyment. It tells us the joy of riding bicycle in general, and specifically in road race. It teach us how to race in a sportive way and to work as a team.

Overall :
This movie is awesome and inspiring. If you were a fan of Yowamushi Pedal, you MUST watch this movie. If you were a bicycle fan, this movie is highly recommended. If you haven't watched the TV series, you can watch this movie without worry (that's what I do). The only confusion you get is the characters but you'll know them one by one through the story just like when you watch other movies.

This review will mostly compare this movie to the two first seasons of the TV series, as they are a prequel to it.

Spoiler free.

The main issue I can reproach to this movie is how rushed it is. The beginning is fine we can feel the Yowapeda vibes, even though everything is not entirely detailed like it would have been in the TV series. But it is still very enjoyable.

But then, there is the 2 days race. Each day of the race lasts about 20 minutes on screen, crazy considering how the 3 days of the Inter High race lasted over 35 episodes in the anime. ... It becomes a classic sports/action movie for this sequence, lacking the Yowapeda spirit, that is : character development (we learn nothing about the new characters introduced, for instance), psychological tension, suspense. And of course, it has plot holes. "Why are there suddenly only X people riding ?", "How did Y catch up ?", etc. You cannot let your mind wander for a second or you'll miss lots of things happening, and even by watching carefully there are things you won't be able to catch : things are not properly explained, the thoughts of the characters are mostly lacking, etc.

It was a disappointment to me as the race core is pretty much nonexistent, I feel they should have made this into a TV series of at least 12 episodes, or even better a 24 episodes one.

TL;DR : The non-race moment are fine and compare well with the TV series, the race however is way too rushed and fast paced. If you like the daily life parts of Yowapeda, you'll enjoy this movies, but do not expect the same spirit of the TV show in the race sequences. Overall, it's not a bad movie, there are funny moments, there's drama and heartwarming moments, but it just cannot compare to the TV series due to its pace.

for the longest time i thought this movie was a direct sequel to the previous season, that i needed to watch it before jumping on the next season, but that's not the case, the race part of this movie is not only quite rushed, but pure filler and it just hurts the actual story, not only because it replaces the previous sendoff for the 3rd years, in the interhigh, but also because as you watch it, you will see some solid scenes that seem like a perfect fit to the story, but then while watching the next season, you'll see those same scenes again, except ... they're involved in canon material, not made up filler.

there are a few nice original scenes, but they're not worth spoiling your experience over, so overall you're better off skipping this, but if you want to check out the OC scenes, then i recommend watching the next season first, atleast until the 3rd years retire and the new captain is selected, you should be outside this movies spoiling range by then.