Review of Bakuon!!

Oh boy, I'm detecting a sudden influx of otakus going to their nearest motorcycle dealership store and they're going to purchase a Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha or Suzuki motorcycle. We all know they're going to go for Suzuki because Rin = best grill of the series. [Story] If you've seen a "cute girls doing cute things" type of anime before then Bakuon is no different. Well, there are slight changes here. Instead of "Cute girls doing cute things", it's "cute girls doing cute things in a motorcycle". I haven't seen that before. No, really, I haven't so a show featuring cute high school girls riding in amotorcycle is new for me. Except the formula is nothing new as the show is still the same old "cute girls doing cute things"

The story of Bakuon is basically a high school girl named Sakura Hane who got interested in motorcycles after tirelessly going up a hill countless times using her bicycle. That hill was, of course, part of her route to go to school. She realized that going to school in a motorcycle was far more easier than using her bike. From there on, the crazy antiques begins. Hane, who knows nothing about bikes decides to join a bike club with other members who are a bunch of motorcycle savvy nerds and knows a lot about motorcycles and sometimes they even argue on which brand is better.

I came in to this show with no expectations and I ended up enjoying this series far more than what I would have expected. I've always been a sucker of motorcycles ever since I was a kid so don't tell me that Bakuon! influenced me to go out there and buy a motorcycle because that's clearly false. If you ask me, I've always wanted one of those Kawasaki 1000cc motorcycles.

One of the many things that I enjoyed about Bakuon!, besides the motorcycles, is the comedy. For the most part, the comedy is surprisingly good. I mean, at times you can tell they were trying hard but most of the time, the comedy scenes would make me laugh. Few examples are when characters compare each other's bikes and they argue over the bike's flaws and how Suzuki is a very flawed motorcycle.

The show also has quite a lot of product placements for Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha's motorcycles. Now the question is, who payed who (Did the show's producer's paid the motorcycle companies or was it the other way around?) and how much? There's also some fan-service moments in the show. The most notable one is when Hane decided to clean her bike in a "lewd" way or that quote that I don't think I'll ever forget which was:

"My butt's vibrating" -Hane 2016
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[Art/Animation]: (8.5/10)
TMS Entertainment did a good job with the show's visuals and its character designs. The visuals looks pretty average when the girls are just messing around in school but the visuals excels when the girls go for a ride in their motorcycles. There's only one thing that I want to talk about in terms of Hane's character design and that's her eyebrows. I have to admit that it looks cute. On the other hand, the animation was decent. What bothered me is the fact that they used still-shots sometimes when the girls go on a ride. I know this is a slice of life and I shouldn't expect much in terms of animation but it was seriously off-putting at times.
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[Sound]: (9/10)
The soundtrack is just your average soundtrack which you'd expect in a slice-of-life show so they're not worth mentioning. Now, the OP and ED theme song(s)

The OP theme song is "FEEL×ALIVE" by Sayaka Sasaki. Man, the title of the OP theme song just predicted how I felt about the OP. It's super catchy, the melody is awesome and it made me feel alive whenever the OP theme song comes up. The ED theme song is "Voon! Voon! Ride On!" by Hane, Rin, Onsa and Hijiri. The ED theme song is nothing really special. I was just in it for the ED animation which was pretty funny when I first watched it.

I don't usually review the voice actors but for this show, I just have to because of one voice actor. I love Hane's VA and her performance. She sounds super enthusiastic all the time and that's the part that I loved about her, which in turn, made me like Hane's enthusiastic personality.
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[Characters]: (7/10)
Hmm, what can I say about the characters? Bakuon has a fun cast of characters and the weak character development, especially Rin, wasn't taken seriously and they were there just for the laughs. Though, I have to admit that Rin's past had me dying in the f*cking floor. I want to talk about the characters next.

Hane Sakura is my second favourite character in the series due to her enthusiastic and charming personality. She rides a pink Honda CB400SF and nice choice by her because it looks like a nice motorcycle.

Next up is Rin Suzuki which in my opinion is the best girl in the series. It's not because of her gigantic melons but it's because I feel bad for her. I mean, the cutest girl in the series getting bullied by that "Frizzy" girl just because she owns a Suzuki motorcycle? Hah, I just love the hilarious arguments between Rin and Frizzy. She rides a Suzuki GSX400S Katana which doesn't even look that bad. Is Frizzy saying bad things about Katana because of the specs?

Next up is Onsa Amano.. I prefer calling her "Frizzy" because Rin's right about her messy-ass hair. I just wish Frizzy and Rin can get along because I can clearly see a hidden yuri love here and they surprisingly work well together when they get along.

Next up is Hijiri Minowa. She's your typical rich girl but she doesn't know how to ride a motorcycle properly even though she has a motorcycle license. Instead, she rides in a Ducati outfitted with a side car. She sits in the side car and her butler rides the Ducatti.

Last one is Raimu Kawasaki. She's the weirdest and the most mysterious character I've ever seen. She wears a helmet which means we never get to see her face throughout the series and she never said one word throughout the series which makes me quite suspicious of her sexual orientations. How do we know she's a "she"? How do we even know she's a high school girl?
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[Enjoyment]: (8/10)
Say what you want about the series being a "cute girls doing cute things which has been down over a million times by now" but I still enjoyed the series. The show did a good job on the comedy side, albeit not great and it has a right amount of comedy.
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[VERDICT]
Bakuon! may just be your typical slice of life "cute girls doing cute things" but this show was still a fun ride for me. The show has a fun cast of characters and the comedy might not be perfect but it still did its job to make me laugh. If you're a slice of life fan or you're a motorcycle enthusiast then you'll definitely enjoy riding on a road paved by Bakuon!

[OVERALL]: (8/10)

Pros:
+Fun slice of life series
+Mostly accurate motorcycle representation makes this show an enjoyable show for motorcycle enthusiasts
+Fun cast of characters
+Right amount of comedy
+Good visuals and animation
+Catchy OP theme song

Cons:
-Uses the same old formula
-Fan-service scenes can be off-putting