Yowamushi Pedal
The first three seasons have been licensed by Discotek Media in North America in 2014, and the manga has been licensed by Yen Press in 2015. Several new mangas continue to be published. Plot. Sakamichi Onoda is an otaku who has just entered high school. In middle school, Onoda did not have any friends with whom he could talk about his interests, and hopes to change that by joining his new school's anime club. However, he is crushed when he discovers the anime club has been disbanded due to lack of interest, and in order to reestablish  the club, four new members must join. Since he was a little boy, Onoda has ridden his city bicycle (referred to as a "mamachari", meaning "Mommy Bike", in the anime)—a simple and bulky bicycle designed for short rides—for transportation and fun. A fellow freshman, and much more serious cyclist, named Shunsuke Imaizumi notices Onoda riding his mamachari and mocks him inwardly until he sees Onoda riding up a steep hill with little effort. Another student named Naruko visits Akihabara to get some plastic Gundam models for his younger brothers and meets Onoda, who catches his attention because of his  cycling skill on the mamachari. Later on, both Naruko and Imaizumi try to convince him to join the bicycle racing club at their high school, Sohoku. Teams and characters. Sohoku High School. Sohoku is a hard-working team that acts as the main school in the story. The team is characterized as being able to overcome internal conflicts and brutal training. For example, Sohoku hosts an intense and gruelling 1000 km training camp every year to determine who will advance to the main race of the series, the Inter-High. Hakone Academy. Hakone Academy is the country's largest cycling  team, and claims to be made up of “six aces” with many more in reserve. During the first year of the series, it was noted to have 50 club members. Since Hakone is such an expansive team, the selection process of who does, and does not, go to the Inter-High is quite complex. To determine who has the honor of participating in the Inter-High, all of the members race against each other, and only the winners of each group (A - F), are allowed to participate. Furthermore, these groups are divided so that the team takes three all-rounders , two climbers, and up to two sprinters to the Inter-High. Kyoto Fushimi High School. Kyoto Fushimi, or Kyofushi, acts as the third squad in this series and is the wild card of the main three teams. The team has a history as a strong team, where 1st year cyclists would go to become stronger. Its training practices are unknown, but other teams say they were a lot nicer in previous years before Midousuji joined the team. Hiroshima Kureminami Technical High School. Hiroshima is known to have no all-rounders, and 3 sprinters. Media. Manga. "Yowamushi Pedal" is written and  illustrated by Wataru Watanabe, and the manga began serialization in the 12th issue of Akita Shoten's "Weekly Shōnen Champion" on February 21, 2008. The series was later published in tankōbon format by Akita Shoten, with the first volume being released on July 8, 2008. As of February 2020, 65 volumes have been published. On August 8, 2013, a limited-edition version of the 29th volume of "Yowamushi Pedal" was released with a bundled anime DVD directed by Osamu Nabeshime and produced by TMS Entertainment. The manga is published in English by Yen Press in North America, who are releasing  the series as two-in-one omnibuses. The first omnibus volume was released on December 15, 2015. Anime. The first season of "Yowamushi Pedal", produced by TMS Entertainment began airing on October 7, 2013 on TV Tokyo. The second season, "Yowamushi Pedal Grande Road", began airing on October 6, 2014 in Japan. A third season, titled "Yowamushi Pedal: New Generation", was announced on October 6, 2015 at a film screening of "Yowamushi Pedal: The Movie", which premiered on January 10, 2017. The fourth season, titled "Yowamushi Pedal: Glory Line", started on January 8, 2018. A fifth season, titled "Yowamushi Pedal : Limit Break", will premiere in October 2022 on NHK General TV. In North America, Discotek Media licensed the first two seasons of the series within the region, and Crunchyroll simulcast the series on their service. Crunchyroll is also the master English licensee of the third season of the series worldwide. In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment acquired the home media and streaming rights for the first two seasons, and streamed the series on AnimeLab. Film. "Yowamushi Pedal: Re: RIDE" and "Yowamushi Pedal: Re: ROAD" recap the first two seasons of the anime with additional new content. "Yowamushi Pedal: The  Movie" (劇場版 弱虫ペダル, Gekijōban Yowamushi Pedaru?), which was released on August 28, 2015, hinted a third season. The film was released on Malaysia on January 7, 2016. "Yowamushi Pedal: Re:GENERATION" is a film adaptation of the third season. An anime theatrical film adaptation of the "Yowamushi Pedal: Spare Bike" spin-off manga premiered in Japanese theaters for 2 weeks, starting September 9, 2016. It tells the past of the third year seniors There is an OVA titled "Yowamushi Pedal: Special Ride". "Chiba Pedal: Yowamushi Pedal to Manabu Jitensha Koutsuu Anzen" is a collaboration ad campaign for bicycle safety. In  May 2019, Discotek Media announced the acquisition of "Yowamushi Pedal: Re:RIDE" and "Yowamushi Pedal: Re: ROAD" for a BD release on July 30. A live-action film adaptation of the manga was announced and set to premiere on August 14, 2020, it is directed by Kōichirō Miki. Mobile game. "Yowamushi Pedal: Puchitto (Petit) Racers" (弱虫ペダルぷちっとレーサーズ) is a phone app by FuRyu available for iOS and Android, and functions as a collector game. Television drama. A live-action television drama adaptation of the manga was announced in the "Weekly Shōnen Champion" magazine's 26th issue of 2016 and premiered on  August 2016 on BS SKY PerfecTV!. The series is directed by Takayoshi Tanazawa and written by Kōta Fukihara. A sequel premiered on August 18, 2017 on BS SKY PerfecTV!. The series is also simulcasted with its Japanese broadcast on WakuWaku Japan in Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia. During the filming of the sequel, "Eiji Takigawa" received spinal injuries after crashing into a curb, and was taken to the nearest hospital in a helicopter. Immediately after the accident, he was unable to move any body part below the head, but slowly regained movement in his arms. He was  released from hospital in October 2018, 13 months after the accident. Reception. Manga. The "Yowamushi Pedal" manga won the Best Shōnen Manga award along with "The Seven Deadly Sins" manga at the 39th Kodansha Manga Awards. In 2017, Akita Shoten's Bessatsu Shōnen Champion magazine announced that Wataru Watanabe's Yowamushi Pedal manga had 17 million copies in print.