I'm rewatching episode 12, which is where I left off last time. Let's see how this goes!

Good night sweet wolfsona prince. You were to good for Fukutomi's bullshit.

Looks at subtitle. Looks at episode count. Looks at subtitle.

I must stay strong. I can make it through this decompressed storyline. I've read superhero event comics, this can't be worse.

Geez. Dial back the drama.

Stop giving me numbers! It just emphasizes your pacing issues!

No, it's fine. I am stronger than math.

Here we go. Sexually suggestive out of context lines. Always a good time.

Kinjou. Sweet, beautiful Kinjou. Why is Onoda pulling on the flats before the mountains? Isn't the whole point of him being on the team him helping Makishima during the climb?

Okay, where is Midousuji? Where is my sweet terrible lizard with strategy that makes(horrid) sense?

I am realizing I still over identify with Midousuji in the worst way. Oh high school. I remember orchestrating pointlessly complicated demonstrations of being scary.

No one can bully you when they're too intimidated to say anything to your face!

High school is terrible.

But hey! Check out Izumida's giant crush on Shinkai. Adorable.

MIDOSUJI EVENTUALLY SHOWS UP, AND EVOLVES.

(INTO A FROG-LIZARD PRINCE OF EVIL SATAN)

btw I adore everything about Arakita esp. his glorious death scene

my poor displaced baseball punk

Arakita's tragic baseball backstory is one of my favorite things. So dramatic! So many sodas thrown to the ground!

(actually the best part of Arakita's death was when Manami refers to him in the past tense in a one-line eulogy)

(I will never stop referring to him fallout of the race as his actual death because come on)

*falling out

I'm so ready for Midousuji and Manami being creeps. Especially Manami.

or rather *his falling out (bluh bluh)

Manami is wonderful because he is a creep but remains like an angel. HE IS A CREEPY ANGEL

I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE MIDOSUJI'S REACTION TO MANAMI

Manami being referred to as an angel on the time is such a delight. Truly he is blue Kaworu.

I am sadly going to have to drop off for the night soon. Tomorrow though, tomorrow I will get to the terrible lizard/angel romance(?) that probably haunts the dreams of midwesterners.

<3 YEAH, YOU SHOULD BE AT MAX ALERTNESS FOR THAT

I'm so excited. I'll do such insufferable liveblogging in the morning.

yessssss

I love midousuji, his utterly OTT creepiness and bizarre motions give me life

(still haven't started s2 tho lol. looking at some of these screencaps and imagining the pacing I've already begun crying)

If you pretend this show takes place in an alternate universe where kilometers are maybe 10 or 15 times longer than real life it's easier to handle.

Episode 13 has a new opening! Fairly certain I've seen Manami's thing here in a horror movie.

Don't do it Onoda. Don't go into the woods with him. No normal person is that happy about sharing a water bottle.

I appreciate this promise that this serial killer groupie is going to return as well.

Imaizumi. Kid. You need to chill.

Or don't. You seem to be tearing up, that's intriguing.

I knew that tsundere attitude was just waiting to break to the surface again.

What a touching death scene

Sighs.

I swear to- no. You know what. Fine. This is fine.

The red means it's extra deathy this time.

I like that Kinjou is doing the mom thing and calling them all by their full names while sending them off.

the "20km, a zillion episodes to go" thing is so amusing to me b/c when i'm watching pre-recorded cycling races on tv and i want to skip to the end

We're in the mountains! Manami is getting lines again!

i often skip to the last 20km b/c then it's like, i still get a fair amt of buildup but "last 20km" is basically the endgame

so it doesn't take very long. in reality. XD

Yeah, this is so goofy and melodramatic. Stop being so worked up. You have like, 2 hours left to catch up in this weird time warp world you inhabit.

someone should definitely like, do some calculations on the weird relativity shit that must be going on in this universe to make time work like this XD XD XD

It's a mystery for the ages.

Episode 15 is really dragging. I just don't care that much about Naruko's drama.

Another child dies.

yeah, Naruko's drama was much easier to take in the manga, because then you can just read the whole thing in like 5-10 minutes, instead of what? Over two episodes? I don't remember how long his entire

thing takes in the anime but yeah it goes long

fortunately (for me?) that was the last time I was pretty bored, cuz after that we start getting Midosuji's resurgence all along with the orc-like DOOM music

and then Imaizumi's stuff which is incredible, and Manami who is a gift

They've left Naruko for dead in the grass as episode 16 starts so there's time for them to turn it around.

The thumbnails for the episodes look more promising at least.

I was betting that Imaizumi would have be the one to hold on for the final sprint but he's in episode 16's title which is usually a clear sign that you're about to die so I might be wrong about that.

i like your version of this show where every1 dies when they're dropped from the race hahaha

THE HUNGER CYCLING GAMES

It's so much better this way.

Rest in pieces.

He's back! Just in time I only have room for 2 or so more episodes before going out tonight.

I love how useless helmets are in this show. They always fly off the second a rider starts tipping over.

Bless

Manami is in the title for episode 17, this is a good sign.

See, totally dead.

This fade out is hysterical.

I love him.

Ishigaki wants to fuck this lizard so bad.

It's happening.

Yesssssssssss

are they having a creep-off?

Yes.

Romance.

Whoops, double post in my excitement.

He's so nuts.

I'm so happy about this.

A fisherman can always spot a fellow fisherman.

He's now sort of laughing between his pants. This is the greatest episode ever.

I'm going to laugh forever.

Only one of you can be the worst, and therefore my favorite, but this is going to be a close competition.

I'm having a hard time deciding what line of this speech by Manami sounds most like something a serial killer says before stabbing you.

lol

I'm going to go with all of it.

All of it.

this all just makes me want midousuji and manami double-creeper-teaming onoda

Onoda is about to catch up with them, so I assume that's what episode 18 will mainly consist of.

EXCELLENT

The recap at the beginning of 18 is also accompanied by the creepy strings thing killers always get in horror movies, it's a small but delightful thing.

This... this is what romance looks like, right? I'm fairly certain they're meant to be.

Hi Onoda. We were just... hanging. No one is dead, this isn't a body haha.

I can't believe they padded this episode so much that Onoda didn't get them until five minutes left.

Onoda's tragic murder will have to wait until tomorrow.

This omake has confirmed Manami is the worst at least. Good job, you worked hard for that kid.

MANAMI IS PERFECT AND I AM SO GLAD YOU SHARE MY MIDOSUJI/MANAMI FEELINGS

I literally died when Midosuji made the astounding statement "you're not gross" to Manami

THEY ARE KINDRED SPIRITS THIS IS THE ONLY GROSS PERSON WHO MIDOSUJI WILL ACKNOWLEDGE AS NON-GROSS

MA-NA-MIII!!!!!

Midousuji/Manami is so great.

They are instantly the level of friend where you can drink out of each others' glasses, even the part at the bottom that's mostly spit, and everyone else is deeply uncomfortable.

Five episodes left! I think I will finish this off today.

Imaizumi gets me.

Thanks, Midousuji.

Onoda caught them!

Onoda: I've made a huge mistake.

Onoda: they are good people!!!!! BUT WHOA!!!!!!!!!

lolling so hard at onoda's face in that last pic

the moment u realize ur hill-climbing angel is actually a serial killer

Poor Onoda, he just doesn't have a point of reference for this adrenaline junkie/possible spree killer buddy comedy Manami and Midousuji have going on.

Oh good, he's telling an adult.

It's strange to hear his given name in a tone that isn't murderous.

it's either murderous or with a twinge of irrepressed desire. THOSE ARE THE TWO OPTIONS NOW.

It can be two things.

He's so embarrassed by his murder harem.

This is some Akira shit right here.

And I just remembered his given name is Akira. I'm so dumb.

important fact I have shared with Ten: he develops an even more amazing true form after the interhigh, it involves shedding his skin like a cicada emerging from its dead carapace

This is excellent news! His mushy cracking scenes are the best.

This random bystander gets me.

Manami is such a weirdo stalker in all these omake scenes.

that omake proves he is an alien too

He's so creepy, I love him.

This is going to be super awkward when they piece together the stalking thing.

Mama Onoda you don't know half of it.

Surprise bitch I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me.

Manami is like a video game boss. You thought you defeated him like an hour ago but then his theme starts up again on the final stage and you're like "Fuuuuuuuck"

This is something your hear just before you're murdered.

Wait, no. This is.

Honestly is there any Manami line that couldn't be straight out of a horror movie?

Manami can neither confirm nor deny being in league with "Lucifer" and would prefer to not speak about the subject again.

I really want to see the Hakone group meeting where they all had to talk about their motivation for racing.

Followed immediately by the Hakone group meeting where they all decided Manami was no longer invited to group meetings.

hahahahaaa

There's a flashback coming up, where Fukutomi takes him on a ride just to determine his motivations, and… well. Ok you just need to see it.

I just got to that scene! I had to keep pausing on Fukutomi's reactions to savor how funny it was.

"Note to self: This conversation was a mistake. Let's never do this again."

Leaving him unsupervised maybe have been a poor life choice.

I really like how these episodes are right after the Midousuji ones.

"Midousuji has issues" followed closely by "Haha if you thought his were bad check out this kid!"

Fukutomi. Why? Why would you think this conversation would work?

I love this kid.

the boy could end up having his heart stop and require cardioversion and when he comes to he'd be all, "I WISH EVERYONE COULD FEEL THIS FEEL"

Okay about to start the finale. I'm glad Arakita is alive so I can ship him with everyone some more.

yeahhhh me too

I knew Onoda would win after all that build up, but I still feel so bad for Manami. He doesn't have a bunch of friends to pick him up. Poor lonely weirdo.

Imaizumi wants to kiss Onoda so bad in this scene, it's adorable.

THE IMAIZUMI LIFTING ONODA SCENE IS NO LIE MY FAVORITE THING EVER

It was so sweet! I wasn't super into Imaizumi until the last stretch of episodes but he's a cutie when he's smiling about stuff.

Oh Manami. It's okay, I'm sure you can learn to pass as a normal mortal and make friends one day.

I'm gonna go see if there's fic where you're a serial killer now. Because I care about you.

Lemme know if you find anything good. I am interested, for reasons.

Something pure behind the hills - Chapter 1 - AmberSpirit - 弱虫ペダル...
This one is promising so far.

thanks!!!