The Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club
Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club is a Slice of Life manga drawn by Noriyuki Matsumoto, illustrator of the Bodacious Space Pirates novel series. The manga has been serialized since August 2011, and an anime adaptation produced by J.C. Staff and A.C.G.T. began airing in January 2017. The anime is also being simulcasted by Crunchyroll.
Hiromi Maiharu has recently moved to Kamakura, and in trying to ride a bicycle to her new school she meets fellow classmate Tomoe Akitsuki. They quickly become friends, and as they bond with new friends over bicycles, they eventually decide to form the Minami Kamakura High School Girls Bicycle Club. The series follows their peaceful friendships and the relaxing adventures they take with their bicycles.
The series contains examples of:
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Used in some of the bicycling scenes, such as the race in episode 7.
- Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: In episode 12, Sandy's VA—bless her heart—gives her best shot at speaking in extended English dialogue. It's mostly passable, except for a few weird inflections that don't rise and fall the way natural English speakers would say it.
- Bifauxnen: Natsumi Higa looks a bit like a effeminate boy thanks to her neat Boyish Short Hair.
- Book Dumb: Hiromi may be optimistic and full of energy, but she's not very bright.
- Boyish Short Hair: As mentioned above Natsumi Higa sports her hair like this.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Korone wears cat ears and a tail and looks like a little girl, but she's the manager of the bicycle shop Cycle Flat.
- Cherry Blossoms: There are many scenes of falling cherry blossom petals, especially at the start which takes place at the first day of term. It takes place in Kamakura, which is famous for its cherry blossoms as well.
- Cool Old Lady: Ryuko Kamikura, the principal and Fuyune's grandmother. She used to be in a biking club like the girls are, and encourages them.
- The Ditz: Hiromi is rather dim-witted even to the point she attempts to ride her bike with her legs spread wide, having no idea she actually has to pedal to get it moving even though she must've seen other people do it.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Sandy appears in the first episode, before she's properly introduced.
- Failed a Spot Check: In the first episode, Hiromi and Tomoe ask each other if they're students at Minami Kamakura, while wearing the exact same school uniform.
- Genki Girl: Hiromi is generally full of energy, and Sandy even more so.
- Girlish Pigtails: Fuyune sports a cute pair as her hairstyle, which makes her among the more ladylike, feminine characters out of the girls.
- Gratuitous English: Sandy's dialogue is packed full of random English words and phrases, sometimes with inflection that sounds awkward to the native English speaker.
- In-Series Nickname: Hiromi refers to Tomoe as "Tomo-chan."
- Iyashikei: The series is slow-paced, relaxing and focuses more on dramatic aspects.
- Japanese School Club: In this case, a bicycling club, where the show's main characters are a part of. Most of the anime revolves around the antics of the characters and their activities it.
- Mukokuseki: During the freshman orientation in the first episode, Hiromi's internal narration specifically calls attention to a certain blonde-haired girl being a foreigner, because otherwise there'd be no way to tell.
- My Horse Is A Bike: Invoked by Hiromi, who relates her bike to a unicorn, down to its name.
- Ojou: Fuyune, the school principal's granddaughter, is rich enough for a butler/driver to drive her to school at the start and behaves in a well-bred, proper, ladylike way.
- Older Than She Looks: Korone may dress like a little girl and is short as one, but she's very insistent she's actually an adult.
- One-Gender School: Minami Kamaura High School is an all-girls' school.
- Overly Long Name: "Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club" is a bit of a mouthful for a club name.
- Phenotype Stereotype: Sandy hits nearly every cliché on the list: she's blonde, blue-eyed, busty, energetic, and speaks loudly in Gratuitous English.
- Real-Place Background: The city of Kamakura exists in Japan, around the outskirts of Tokyo.
- Scenery Porn: Kamakura is a very beautiful city, and the show frequently features lingering shots of it's gardens, outskirts, and surrounding environments.
- Schoolgirl Series: The series is about schoolgirls and their bicycles in a cycling club.
- Sensei-chan: Shiki seems to be a laid-back teacher, and the girls call her by her given name.
- Shout-Out
- In episode three, the adventure club has an image of Marika Kato, the protagonist of Bodacious Space Pirates, the artist's other work.
- Hiromi calls her bicycle Unico, after the Osamu Tezuka character.
- Sleep Cute: Fuyune and Higa get one aboard a train on the way home.
- Talking Is a Free Action: After Natsumi falls at the starting line of the race in episode 6, the other club members have a nice long chat instead of, y'know.... racing.
- The Stinger: After the credits there's a short live-action segment about properly buying and maintaining a bicycle.
- Theme Naming: The four Japanese protagonists have the seasons incorporated into their names:
- Maiharu Hiromi (Haru meaning spring)
- Higa Natsumi (Natsu for summer)
- Akizuki Tomoe (Aki for autumn/fall)
- Fuyune Kamikura (Fuyu for winter)
- Adding to that, the teacher leading the club is called Mori Shiki, with shiki written as "four seasons".
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Higa is the rough and sporty tomboy who's good at biking and swimming, besides riding a road bike that sticks out among the main cast, while feminine, ladylike and graceful Fuyune is the girly girl.
