Catgirl alert! There’s a catgirl in this show! I mean, you probably already knew that because of the opening, but now she’s actually introduced in the show. Her name is Korone Hououji, and she’s the owner of the bike shop next to the bakery the girls always hang out at. Korone wears cat ears and tail simply because they’re cute, plus she’s a character of diminutive stature. She’s small and looks like a child, which is by all means not an original gag, nor a particularly welcome one in this instance. Continue reading →

Last week I wrote about parts of episode 3 that were, in retrospect, a complete waste of time. The amount of frivolous set up leading the four girls to the point where they decide to make a club was…mildly disappointing. Still, I found there were some interesting takeaways to be had and some important themes being touched upon that made the episode—at least in some respect—worthwhile.  I cannot say the same for this week’s episode however, as the show seems to be regressing further from what originally made Girls Gone Bike stand out. Continue reading →

Girls Gone Bike starts this week off a while after where it left off the previously. In the episode before it, the girls were about to depart on a cycling expedition to Enoshima. Skipping the journey, the show now picks up with Hiromi and Tomoe browsing school clubs. They don’t have much luck in finding a good extracurricular, as typical sports do not seem to be up their alley, and the swim club didn’t end well either (due to Hiromi’s inability to swim). During their time trying out swim club however, the instructor bothers to mention that there’s a difference between the swim club and swim team. Swim team is obviously more competitive, while swim club is mainly dedicated to those who just enjoy swimming. Continue reading →

This week on Girls Gone Bike we’ve gotten through the initial introduction and are now being gradually introduced to the full cast. I like the speed at which this is going so far, and I’m happy the show still hasn’t given up its delightful slice of life aspects. The girls, primarily Hiromi, manage to get into silly predicaments that resolve fairly peacefully. Four of the five girls in the bike club have already been discovered, and while their motivations aren’t particularly strong, the way they’re drawn to cycling isn’t what needs to be compelling. The show builds itself up to be more about discovering the joy of cycling rather than jumping in to the professional level. It’s a sports anime that takes a much more laid back path, not relying on more commonplace “high stakes, high drama” approaches. And as a novice, I really like that a lot. Continue reading →

Let’s cut right to the chase: Minami Kamakura High School Cycling Club is a ridiculously long name and I will not be referring to it as such in anything but the titles of my episodic reviews. Alternatively, I will be using what I believe to be a much more suiting name: Girls Gone Bike. If a better nickname for this show decides to present itself sometime in the future (although I doubt one will), I am open to changing what I call it. Until then, here is episode 1. Continue reading →