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Crunchyroll to Stream Yowamushi Pedal Cycling Anime
posted on by Egan Loo
Video service Crunchyroll announced on Thursday that it will stream the Yowamushi Pedal (Yowapeda) television anime series as it airs in Japan. The streams will be available to premium subscription members in the United States, Canada, Caribbean, South Africa, and Central and South America starting October 7 at 2:00 p.m. PT, and free users can watch them one week later.
The story centers around Sakamichi Onoda, an otaku at Sōhoku High School. He loves anime and games so much, that he would ride his commuter bicycle to and from Tokyo's Akihabara shopping district in a 90-kilometer (about 60-mile) round trip over steep slopes after school. Onoda's life changes when he encounters his school's cycling team, and he ends up joining the competitive sport of bicycle racing.
The main cast includes:
Daiki Yamashita as Sakamichi Onoda, skilled at climbing hills due to his Akiba trips
Kōsuke Toriumi as Shunsuke Imaizumi, the cool, competitive "golden rookie"
Jun Fukushima as Shōkichi Naruko, the speedy sprinter
Kentarou Itou as Jin Tadokoro, the sprinter who is tough in spirit and body, and tends to dive headlong into competition
Ayaka Suwa as Miki Kanzaki, the team's manager
Showtaro Morikubo as Yūsuke Makishima, the "iridescent peak spider"
Hiroki Yasumoto as Shingo Kinjō, the indomitable captain
Also joining the cast is Megumi Han as Aya Tachibana, Junichi Suwabe as Toji Kanzaki, Daisuke Kishio as Junta Tejima, Hiroyuki Yoshino as Yasutomo Arakita, Satoshi Hino as Hayato Shinkai, Tetsuya Kakihara as Jinpachi Tōdō, Tomoaki Maeno as Juichi Fukutomi, Tsubasa Yonaga as Sangaku Manami, Atsushi Abe as Tōichirō Izumida, and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Hajime Aoyagi.
Osamu Nabeshima (D.Gray-man, Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, Zetman) is directing the anime at TMS Entertainment. Reiko Yoshida (Tamako Market, K-ON!, Bakuman.) is in charge of the series scripts, while Takahiko Yoshida (Welcome to the NHK, Big Windup!) is designing the characters.
Wataru Watanabe launched the original manga in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine in 2008, and the story already inspired stage plays. The limited edition of the manga's 29th volume bundled an original anime DVD with the same main cast as the television series on August 8.
