The following is a manga review of “Shakariki!” by Daily Yomiuri’s Hiroshi Hirai. The following is an excerpt from his review:
In the world of bicycle road racing, it is a fight against other cyclists–sometimes even against one’s own teammates. But it maybe also a fight against oneself.
It is especially so for Teru Nonomura, the protagonist of Shakariki! This manga (which inspired a live-action movie of the same title that was released on DVD last week) features bicycle road racing at the high school level.
Teru is a “saka-baka” or hill freak.
When his family moves from Tokyo to a town in the Kansai region when he is 8 years old, he has just gotten his first bicycle, an item he had long wanted. But in the hilly town that becomes his family’s new home, no children ride bicycles.
However, Teru is different. He becomes infatuated with climbing the town’s hills. Eventually, he conquers the Ichiban-zaka, or No. 1 Hill, as he grows to senior year of middle school.