It's fun climbing together!

hime hime suki suki daisuki hime.

When you first see Onoda the first thing that would probably cross your mind is how meek and quiet he is. And… well, you wouldn’t be too far from the truth. One of Onoda’s biggest passions is anime, and when he was growing up he didn’t really have a lot of people or friends that he could bond with over it. There were some kids here and there, but he lost touch with them when he went to junior high. And the kids at that school didn’t really appreciate it as much as he did, so he kept mostly to himself. In fact, one of the things he was looking forward to the most when he got to high school was being able to bond with people over the things he likes. He loves anime so much that he bikes all the way down to Akihabara just to buy merchandise everyday after school (and apparently everyday on summer break). Needless to say he was very excited to know that the high school he was going to had an anime club, because all he ever possibly wanted was to make friends.

Another thing to take note of is that Onoda isn’t really… athletically inclined. He almost always failed gym. And, he also doesn’t really get along with the athletic type either. As shown with the coach at his school, Aya Tachibana (one of Miki Kanzaki’s friends) and a couple of racers he meets at the Inter-High, Arakita especially (an all rounder from the Hakogaku team). He’s easily terrified by the energy/aura they have and sort of freezes up whenever he has to talk to them. He doesn’t want to end up saying the wrong thing and accidentally end up making them mad or upset, so if given the opportunity he’ll say the same exact thing that someone else said previously. As seen when Arakita asked if he and Manami (a climber from the Hakogaku team) were doing alright and what they thought of him catching up to the other team. He can work with them if he absolutely has to though.

Though it is a little weird that Onoda, a die hard anime fan would want to willingly join a sports club. But the main reason as to why he does it is because the two times he’s raced with and against people he had a tremendous amount of fun. And he actually prefers being able to bike together with his friends than biking all alone by himself.

When it comes down to things though, he’s honest right down to the core. Take for example on the third day of the Inter-High, Arakita pressed him for his honest opinion about what he thought of him, and Onoda flat out told him that he was intimidated by him because he was one of those athletic types he had always been terrified of from the start. But, despite all of this he was able to push past that because he wanted to catch up to his team and a rider who had been playing dirty since the race started that day. He prefers riders who race honestly than those who just use and discard people easily, because he rides honestly. He’s the type of person who would go out of there way to make sure that each and everyone of his teammates are riding with them. And when he’s given an order? He does his best to finish it out to the best of his abilities. You could kind of say that he’s a little stubborn in that aspect. Of course he wouldn’t fight a direct order from his upperclassman, but if he knows that he can go back and pick up a teammate who had been left behind and bring them back to the rest of the team, he would do it in a heartbeat. And later on when Naruko temporarily lost his vision he helped guide Naruko throughout the course instead of insisting that he should stop or that he pushed himself too much. So he’s definitely the poster boy/model of what a team player is and should be.

He has changed a little over the course of joining the bicycle club though. He’s been able to stand up for himself— which was something he never really could do before he joined the club. His friendships with both Imaizumi and Naruko definitely helped with that as well. And had it not been for those two he probably wouldn’t have joined the club, because both times he raced with them he had tremendous fun. In fact one of his dreams he had for the Inter-High was to finish the race with both Imaizumi and Naruko by his side. Another person he definitely looks up to is Makishima, who is a third year climber. Any advice or questions Onoda has had in regards to racing he always asks Makishima. He definitely looks up to and respects all of the members on his team. And as a thanks for helping him improve biking as a whole he takes them all to Akiba and gives them gifts for his gratitude. Now, of course it wouldn’t be a sports anime if the main protagonist didn’t have any rivals to go along with it. But even then, with Onoda he still manages to think highly of his rivals as well. He was definitely excited to see Manami and race against him on the last leg of the race at the Inter-high. He also still manages to think that Midousuji is a good person despite all the torment he put his team through.

Because on a bike, I can go to Akiba for free.

To stop Sakamichi from biking to and from Akiba, his mother put a smaller gear on his bicycle. Because of this Sakamichi had to pedal a lot harder and faster. Which explains why he has a crazy high cadence when he climbs uphill. He also rides a lot better when he has to catch up to someone, too. Also— I don’t know if this could be called an ability, but, whenever he climbs uphill he always has a smile on his face. Also never doubt the wonders of what the opening to a magical girl anime song can do!!

THE TIME WILL COME, WHEN YOU'LL HAVE TO RISE ABOVE THE REST.