Bakuon!! – 12 [END]
Whoops, that’s not supposed to go there
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Now I get to start finishing up series. Did Bakuon!! finish as strong as it started out? |
A World of Possibilities
This is not exactly the most protected way to ride
One of the things that’s going to happen on your bike is that you will fall. There is a saying about motorcycling: “If you love motorcycling enough, and you do it enough, it will kill you. The trick is to survive long enough that something else kills you first.” There are all sorts of reasons to not ride, and yet people still do. As Neil Peart, the legendary drummer for Rush, says “The excitement and experience of motorcycling seem worth the risk—but a telling principle is that I would never encourage anyone else I cared about to take it up…” (and if you love the stories about motorcycling trips that Bakuon!! tells, you might like reading Peart’s tales of his motorcycle adventures while Rush was on tour at that link). Motorbike Sport is awesome place to find info about motor bikes.
Hane is reunited with an old friend
So not only with this background of bikes, but also the flag of talking about it, we know that Hane’s bike is going to fall over. The show does dodge a big issue about it by having Hane’s bike fall over without her on it. No matter what, there’s nobody who will say that the way the girls in the show ride is adequately protected, except maybe Rin. Short skirts, short sleeves, and loafers are a sure prescription for cuts, abrasions, and even broken bones if you lay down your bike. But that kind of thing is only for Rin’s dad in this show, so we only get Hane’s bike falling over in the driveway. And that can still be not only an expensive proposition, but a traumatic one, since you really do love your bike. And unlike the bikes at the school, which everyone expects will lay down a few times, Hane’s Su-Four doesn’t have an engine guard, so it ends up taking a bit of damage, including scratching up the tank. But that’s not too bad, until she and Onsa drop it and dent it up (she got off easy. A friend of mine’s week-old bike got hit and knocked over and scratched or broke every fairing and the engine itself). But that gives Hane a chance to reunite with an old friend: Baita, who’s been parted out. Of course it’s a ridiculous coincidence, but why not?
“You open it up and BAM there’s this naked lady in the middle!”
The other part of the story was centered on the possibility of a world without motorcycles. The return of Suzuki Jesus results in Hane waking to a walnut helmet and all her friends on bicycles. The stories are the same, the friends are the same, but there’s just something missing for Hane, who knows of the possibilities. And one other thing has changed: the idea of who the smart people, and who the idiots are. Onsa has been very adamant that you have to be kind of an idiot to ride a bike, because of all the things wrong with them. But you have to be smart to ride a bike. But what hasn’t changed? Raimu-senpai, who will never ride a bicycle. And Hane’s love for motorcycles brings her back to her other reality the next day, when she wakes up again with her friends all waiting for her for a tour.
No matter what you do, you look like a dork with a bike helmet on (you should wear one anyway!)
Series Wrap-Up
Hane won’t give up on motorcycles that easily
From start to finish, Bakuon!! was a fanservice show. Not just the usual anime boobs and butts, but also for fans of motorsport and motorcycles. And I think one key thing for the show was obtaining the cooperation and licensing from as many relevant companies as possible. Having Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki, not to mention Ducati, BMW, Arai, Shoei, and Norix / Simpson all on board brought the ability to have those brand rivalries hit home, rather than just being winked and nodded at using “lame brands”. And it was through those rivalries that the friendship and rivalry of Onsa and Rin was able to express itself, and also the thing that bound them together.
Bakuon!! was never going to be a groundbreaking show for everyone to watch, but what it was was enjoyable throughout. I thought they might do a lot more road tripping, but they had a couple and decided that was enough. Much more of the time was spent on just the friendships and happenings. I think I might have liked it more if it was maybe more trip diary things, as I felt that a lot of the side stories, especially those of Tazuko, were not as interesting. But they balanced the series fairly well, and having Hane as the main character really worked. I still really like the opening and ending songs, and think they both catch the spirit of the show perfectly. I don’t know if there needs to be more of this show, but the series we got to watch was a lot of fun.
And everything’s the way it should be to ride off into the sunset
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yep, very much a fanservice show from start to finish for many reasons. I’m sure most fans love the onsen and bike-wash sections, but it was nice to see the actual brands play along. Could that happen here in the States, or would that be a clusterf*ck of zippers and corporate lawyer wang?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I wonder if it might be more difficult in the US to have a rivalry type of depiction the way it is in this show. But then, it’s not that companies like Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha are unaware of the fandom aspects of their products. And nor are Coke / Pepsi, Post / Kelloggs, or Chevy / Ford, to name a few heavyweights, although the fandom of breakfast cereals might be a little less forcefully expressed.
It was also kept balanced in the show, in that Suzuki got dumped on a lot, but ended up winning most of the time in head-to-head. I would imagine that if a similar concept was not as equitable, it would be difficult to keep the continued support of that brand.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…at the the very least when didn’t get “battles” of Non Brand Ecchs and Not Not Not Brand Ecchs, etc. Which always end up being “generic”.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
“Imagine A World without Motorbikes”
Hmmm…Perhaps maybe Economic Downturn or even worst than that…
Anyways, the shows kinda bit OK, although the patterns of those kinda similar to…
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So I wonder what next for them…!?