Super Cub

Koguma, a reserved second-year high school student, has nothing—no parents, hobbies, friends, or goals. On her way home one afternoon, she visits a vehicle shop in hopes of acquiring a motor scooter. With only enough money to make ends meet, she is disheartened by the price tags and prepares to turn back. However, as she is about to leave, the shop's owner offers her a pre-owned Honda Super Cub for ten thousand yen. Believing that the motorcycle will help brighten her monotonous world, she accepts the deal. As Koguma journeys through her town on small adventures with her Super Cub, she begins to build irreplaceable friendships and eagerly advances toward her new life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Koguma Main

Yomichi, Yuki Japanese

Reiko Main

Nanase, Ayaka Japanese

Eniwa, Shii Main

Hioka, Natsumi Japanese

Shino-san Supporting

Uo, Ken Japanese

Homeroom Teacher Supporting

Hara, Eriko Japanese

Driver Supporting

Takeuchi, Ryouta Japanese

Store Clerk Supporting

Seki, Kouji Japanese

Announcer Supporting

Takahashi, Shinya Japanese

Worker Supporting

Saitou, Masaki Japanese

Mountain Lodge Owner Supporting

Ishii, Kouji Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Uema, Yasuhiro Producer

Herek, Samantha Assistant Producer

Fujii, Toshirou Director

Reviews

Dec 7, 2024

Conor_Styles

Recommended

"You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda" - The Hondells in 1965
The little Cub, is not just a mere transport tool for getting people from A to B, but it brings new discoveries, new locations, new people, and of all, new experiences. And this is exactly what this anime demonstrates beautifully.

The anime depicts our introverted, grey orphan heroine Koguma, who cycles everyday to school in the small, uneventful, rural town of Hokuto in the Yamanashi, who one day, after seeing her fellow classmate riding to school in a scooter, decides to take the first leap of change by impulsively looking at ... cheap mopeds. While most were out of her budget, the shop owner sells her the cheapest Honda Super Cub, a 50cc modped for 10,000 yen (63 euros, 52 pounds, or 66 USD at the time of writing). And thus, her motorcycling adventure life begins.
Super Cub, is not exactly the most original anime, nor is it the most though-provoking, nor is it action-packed. But what it does bring to the table, is the calmness of everyday life, the little adventures of learning something new, going down a different path compared to your peers, making new friends, and most of all, turning from a grey, to a colourful day.

Like the Cub, it takes things very slow, and this is the show's greatest strength. Life is a journey, taken one step at a time. Appreciate the little moments, reflect, living in the moment. This is what this anime represents, the essence of what it could be like to own, and daily ride a little Cub in your high school years. You're not going on crazy adventures, but the ownership of a Cub, gives you a much greater and wider reach compared to your peers. And that, in itself, is the adventure. The adventure of being different, doing something a little bit differently, can bring you great joy, a new found hobby and appreciation in life. The distillation of the idea, "freedom of mobility".

There is also the flip side to it. Not everything is seen through the rose-tinted glass of bike ownership here. The greatest enemy to any biker (and convertible owner) is the weather. It can be brutally hot in the summer, the torrential rain of the autumn, the frigid, snowy winter months. But as spring rolls around, and as the days starts to get longer, you start to remember and embrace this lifestyle/hobby. And this anime is no exception. The pain and wallet draining lifestyle.

Perhaps it's just me, but being a train and car enthusiast, the idea of travelling literally, the act of moving from A to B in itself, was the adventure. And as I got older, the concept of "freedom of mobility" resonates with me much more. Being able to go anywhere, whenever, and however I wish. Taking one road over the other (which was beautifully demonstrated in ep6), finding a new bakery, a new scenic spot, or a nice woodland walk. While they were accessible when your parents took you there, but here, you can do it yourself.

The music choice also compliments this show wonderfully too. It's very soft, melodious usually, often complimenting the monotony of everyday life. The cheery, primarily piano backing OST, uplifts the scenes, accompanied by the gentle purring of the single cylindered engine Cub. The occasional classical music scores were a welcome addition too.

If I had to condense it to just one word, I would say this is one of he most "atmospheric" anime I have watched in a very long time, and I embrace i with open arms, as I welcome it potentially as my top ten anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Nov 4, 2021

kids11111009

Mixed Feelings

Ok, so this anime just interests me at least, but It felt bland because it’s not really an attractive anime to all people. Not saying its bad, its good however it’s really underappreciated. I still have some concerns about this.

Story is too simple, and too straight off, literally seeing Koguma riding in her cub anywhere around, same with Reiko and Shii, but Shii on her bike. Its almost like you’re going places point A to point B shortly and do these things simply less than a minute or so. Also the unsolved cases like how did her parents leave her, how did she end ... up a very short life when it comes to low budget and everything, can’t you just pull them out, at least in the manga?

Artstyle is pretty interesting, probably the first anime I watched with classic artstyle, realistic character with uniform and hair color, except Shii. The fact that this will be a bit lower is because people don’t find this interesting. It’s not in the same tier as other animes but is unique. Artstyle does feel realistic as well with a different tone of color. I would give this a 9 because its interesting, but because of the lack of interest by most people, this will be a 7.

Character. Ok WTF. In the anime, fine its just small dialogue and smiles on thier faces. ok, Im satisfied. Whatever. Koguma is very limited, same with Shii. Reiko however has more personality than the main character, ok what the? Compared to the anime’s manga, Koguma has personality same with Shii. Reiko is even more than them. Shouldn’t Koguma get more recognition because she’s the main? Why don’t you add more on her besides being shy and moody. Just improve on that the next season soon. And that is why this is a 5

Sound literally is ok, the music is classical and relaxing, but its getting boring when it plays again on another scene or a different episode. The only time it gets satisfying for me is hearing the gymnopedie BGM on ep 7 which is the first time hearing a music outside of japan being used for an anime. Sound for the background is ok, but it feels less than I can imagine other than the Cub noise or the class in school. As for Opening and ending, they’re also good, but they’re just as nearly as identical as other animes that has an opening and ending with relaxing music like this. 7 for that.

Enjoyment is not really that exciting nor fun when you watch this. Very slow and very simple, makes me want to sleep and almost slept through the whole anime in just one day because this makes me feel sleepy. 5 for that.

Overall would be a 6. This is an interesting but very underappreciated and had some flaws that just really makes an anime a fine, but not so-fine watching. My opinion, not yours, so don’t fuck with me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 23, 2024

Kyou_Ryuu

Not Recommended

THE GOOD:
Nice visuals? Check. Laid back atmosphere? Check. Good vibes? Check.
Despite being a "Honda ad", this looked like it could become one of my favourite slice-of-life anime...

THE MEH:
...until ep. 5, when things started going downhill (ironically... if you watched the show, you know what I mean). First of all, there's a noticeable drop in production quality. Not the end of the world, it's a common pattern in many shows after the first few episodes. But at the same time, the story also takes a worrying turn. The Cub, which was initially described just as a passion for Koguma and Reiko, appears for the first ... time as an obsession: Reiko's goal with his bike is not only obviously unrealistic, but she is completely unprepared for it AND puts herself in danger to achieve it. First red flag.
From this point onwards, we don't watch two normal girls living a normal life anymore: we start watching two addicted who would do ANYTHING to spend time with their Cubs, especially Koguma. Unplanned hundreds' miles journey on dangerous roads? Check. Risky driving-for-fun on the snow? Check. Sociopathic behaviour to other characters vs. unhealthy attachment to her bike? Check.
While my enjoyment of the series took a massive hit because of this, I was still hoping it was just a... bump on the road. "The MCs will learn to balance out their lives and their passion." Right?


THE BAD:
...well, they didn't. In the last few episodes Koguma starts talking about her Super Cub as if it was a miraculous solution for all of her problems. Worst, she starts SELLING this idea to other characters. Textbook addiction.
The straw that broke the "scooter's back", for me, was the rescue scene.

[SPOILERS AHEAD, SKIP THIS SECTION. YE BE WARNED]
Imagine this: terrible weather outside, icy roads and snow everywhere. You receive a call from your friend: she just had an accident with her bike, called you because you were the first on her phone's list. You don't know where she is, and you hear her passing out mid-call.
What a normal person would do: call the emergency services, inform your friend's relatives, and only if the weather allows for it, go out to try and find her.
What Koguma does: takes her Cub WITHOUT INFORMING ANYONE and goes out searching, risking an accident herself multiple times due to the roads (thus endangering also her friend's life, since no one knows about her yet). When she finds her fallen into a frozen river (because of anime logic), she clumsily moves her out without checking if she is injured or not (risking further complications in case of fractures and head/spine shocks), then she puts her, still wet to the bones, in her Cub's front basket and brings her home. She is literally freezing exposed to the cold winter air? Who cares.
[/SPOILERS]

At the end of this, I had no further hope for the show. I finished it just because only very little was left, but I would have dropped it if I had to watch even 2-3 more episodes.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Despite the nice visuals, this is one of the worst series I've ever watched. It's a real pity, because it started off as a promising and relaxing slice-of-life anime with some interesting ideas in terms of direction and writing.
Not recommended, unless you are OK to watch only the first 4 episodes and call it a day: if the show ended there, it would have been a solid 7 in my books.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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