27 March 2017: Sudden urge to bicycle around Kamakura
Definitely not Hane. Definitely not Haruka, either.
Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu (Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club) is a blatant attempt to promote tourism in Kamakura as well as encourage more people to ride bicycles (read: buy bicycles and bicycle-type accessories). The show caught my attention because it stars Ueda Reina in the lead role, effectively making it Bakuon!! except with bicycles instead of motorcycles. Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu is not nearly as good as Bakuon!!, but it does have some real charm as an introduction to bicycling and to the Kamakura area.
Landmarks and potential attractions are all clearly identified, too.
I don't know Kamakura at all, but it's a cinch the various locales depicted in the anime are all famous tourist-friendly landmarks. There are a number of shots obviously framed in such a way that visitors will be encouraged to replicate them. As someone who once juggled a camera and an old PDA with a washed-out screen in Heidelberg trying to line up perspective and angles correctly, I can appreciate the thoughtfulness displayed here.
This shot might be more difficult to replicate than one of, say, the Buddha statue.
The bicycling portions are accessible and informative, doling out more advanced information as the season progresses. (There are also live-action instructional shorts at the end of each episode.) It does present cycling in an extremely positive light, compared to Bakuon!! which had a bit of fun with the potentially negative aspects of motorcycling. Really, Bakuon!! is just more fun overall, whereas Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu is more...pleasant? It certainly is a pleasant show, where everything is great and oh so nice. I don't mean it as a criticism, but this relaxed approach does seem to cap the upper limit as to just how good the show can get.
