Not as thrilling this time around as the protagonist is only featured in the first chapter and the rest of the enormous book focuses first on farewell races between the departing seniors and their underclassmen at Sohoku and Hakone high schools, and then on a soul-searching journey by one of the Sohoku secondary characters to his home town of Osaka where he ends up in a race with a high-stakes bet against one of his team's rivals.

You know, it would be okay if the characters got off their bikes once in a while and went to some classes or out to a restaurant or something. ( )