You can tell it’s a Summer Olympics year when anime production committees commit to tons of sports shows. Obscure games become fodder for exploring themes of sportsmanship, game theory, psychology, and redemption. Gear otaku can also enjoy the technical aspects of these sports through how the specific equipment has advantages and how the athlete employs them. Best of all, cute girls can become main characters, so anime fans can appreciate all those other things as they enjoy the fanservice of fit bodies wearing skintight outfits! Rinkai! is this year’s anime for cycling fans and thicc thighs’ aficionados.
We’ve had road cycling anime in the past. But cycling’s popularity waned after the four-year hiatus (2018–2022) between seasons of Yowamushi Pedal. The movie Nasu: Summer in Andalusia (2003) is your best entrance into competitive cycling anime. Over Drive (2007) and all the seasons of Yowamushi Pedal (2013) followed it onto the small screen.
In the 2010s, road cycling became popular enough for cute-girls-do-cute-things versions in Long Riders! (2016) and Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club (2017). I’ve waited seven years for the next iteration of attractive girls wearing lycra and spandex as they gripped handlebars and brake hoods. Iwakakeru -Sport Climbing Girls- (2020) had fun angles, but I need those spinning wheels and pumping legs! Rinkai! doesn’t have brake hoods because track bikes don’t use them. But all the other elements that satisfy my bicycle otaku itches will be here.
CGI Butts and Rinkai!
The recent cycling anime mainly used CGI models for the racing action. Does Rinkai!? Yes, but see for yourself how annoying it will be.
My main complaint about the last season of Yowamushi Pedal was how the anime turned into a vintage cycling story. All the gear came from 2009 and earlier, so the anime already looked “old” by its debut in 2013. Then, cycling tech changed so quickly within ten years through revolutions in carbon fiber manufacturing, electronic shifting, and disc brakes for road bikes. Track cycling enjoyed the benefits of research into aerodynamics for fabrics, helmets, and frame geometry. But none of that will matter for the CGI models in Rinkai!. This is great for me because I can concentrate on the geometry of the girls’ bodies for fanservice.
Rinkai! and Japanese Velodromes
Japanese loan word alert: the Keirin event in track cycling, where a group of cyclists follows a motorized bike (a derny) to a top speed of 50 kph before sprinting the final three laps, is what the Japanese call track cycling. Keirin (競輪, けいりん) translates literally to “betting or racing circle” because people bet on bicycles racing around an oval track. Similarly, the Madison in track cycling (a two-person relay allowing slingshots) got its name from a set of rules invented for Madison Square Garden. So, track cycling in Japan, whatever the rules are, is called “keirin.”
The racing action in Rinkai! will also inform the character details and the plot. Rinkai is a reference to two Japanese words. 臨海 (りんかい, rinkai) is the word for “coastal, seaside,” and there’s the Rinkai Line rail route along the Japanese waterfront. 臨界 (りんかい, rinkai) means “critical” as in pressure, point, state, or temperature. A sport about sprinting at critical points or efforts fits the “rinkai” word. But it also refers to how all the girls in Rinkai! have names attached to real-world velodromes in seaside towns. The character web pages on the show’s official site link to the girl’s “home bank.” Izumi Itou, whose family runs an onsen inn, practices on the track at Ito Onsen Keirin. That’s right. Rinkai! is a commercial for local Japanese coastal track cycling.
Rinkai! Cycling Cast and Crew
The original story production under TMS Entertainment has all industry veterans, with Takaaki Ishiyama (Chaos;Head) directing and Hideki Shirane (DanMachi) writing the scripts. Character designer Hiromi Ono has mainly had animation director roles for harem anime like Rent-A-Girlfriend and A Couple of Cuckoos. So, I hope the women cyclists look consistently fine as they do on Rinkai!’s official website. Let’s meet the girls whose pumping thighs will make your heart pound!
- Izumi Itou — Umino Kawamura (First starring role). Home Bank: Ito Onsen Keirin. Twenty years old. Her parents operate a hot springs inn in Ito. The energetic, cheerful, and hardworking girl has strong legs from climbing all the steep hills around the town.
- Nana Hiratsuka — Azusa Aoi (First starring role). Home Bank: Abema Shonan Bank. The twenty-year-old athletic prodigy has lofty goals for her career in track cycling. The haafu cyclist’s French father was also a cyclist who settled down with Nana’s mother in Hiratsuka, Japan.
- Miko Yahiko — Rena Hasegawa (Haru Kagurano from Science Fell in Love S2). Home Bank: Yahiko Dream-Bank. Miko, a 23-year-old former idol from Yahiko, Japan, aims to be keirin racing’s new star in the Rinkai League!
- Sachi Nagoya — Saika Kitamori (voiced two of the girls from Dogeza de Tanondemita). Home Bank: Nagoya Keirin. The 24-year-old ojousama became a track cyclist to gain independence from her prominent wealthy family.
- Kinusa Takamatsu — Riho Sugiyama (Jessica Schwartz from Vermeil in Gold). Home Bank: Takamatsu Keirin. The 29-year-old former office lady became a yoga instructor but discovered a talent for track cycling.
- Ai Kumamoto — Minami Hinata (Bojji from Ranking of Kings). Home Bank: Kumamoto Keirin. The 20-year-old former national high school track cycling champion has hair as fiery as her spirit.
Will You Bet on a New Cycling Anime?
The production committee has yet to announce worldwide streaming information for its April 9th Japan broadcast premiere. Rinkai! is also a manga! Its first chapter publication, from artist Kiyoshi Yamane in Manga Bang!, will coincide with the anime’s debut.
Are you excited about women athletes getting sweaty from thigh-churning action? Are you now more curious about track cycling? The OL-chan yoga instructor tickles my imagination. Which of these girls do you most want to see? Let us know in the comments below.
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