Spoilers for Super Cub episodes 1 – 5
Hello there, fellow anime enthusiasts, and welcome to a quiet, ordinary Tuesday. In the spirit of last weekend’s recommendation being a nice, chill series, this next recommendation is another low-stress anime series that makes you feel good about the little things you accomplish throughout the day.
Sometimes, all it takes is a trip to the grocery store on your motorbike.
Super Cub airs on Wednesdays over at Funimation.
Synopsis
There’s freedom in loneliness, and Koguma finds hers on a motorcycle. A Honda Super Cub motorcycle, to be exact. With no parents, friends, or plans for the future, Koguma’s daily detours on her way to school become her sole source of excitement. Until one day, she learns a classmate, Reiko, shares her passion. Together, they’ll discover friendship, fun, and the adventure of the open road.
Why you should watch
What I find fascinating about this series is that, if you break down what happens, objectively, in each episode, it doesn’t amount to much.
Girl goes to the grocery store.
Girl gets gas for her motorbike.
Girl buys a jacket for the rain.
None of these things are groundbreaking on paper, but when you’re watching the series you can feel how much of an impact they’re making on Koguma. There are visual cues, too, the animation becoming more vibrant as she smiles at her Super Cub.
I didn’t expect to become so invested in her daily life, but there is a feeling of self-satisfaction that hits me whenever she achieves one of the tasks she’s set for herself. Her wants may seem minuscule to some people, but to her (and me) they are monumental accomplishments. It very much reminds me of seeing posts online about celebrating your small victories which, full disclosure, is something I’ve been trying my hardest to do, especially after the year we’ve had.
Sometimes, buying groceries is enough of a win.
Hell, sometimes getting out of bed is enough of a win.
Koguma is a girl who has a regular routine. She wakes up. She goes to school. She eats cold curry for her school lunch because the microwave always has too many people around it. She goes home.
Alone.
You don’t technically find out why she’s alone until the third episode, but by then, I was already protective of this small bean as she took baby steps toward letting herself want more – another theme that hit me harder than I thought I would. It’s okay to WANT better things. Just because what you’re doing is getting you through the day doesn’t mean you can’t deviate from it to try something new, and potentially, better.
The reason why the small things are a big deal is that they’re signs of Koguma breaking away from the routine she’s settled into, a routine that’s fine, sure, but it’s clear that there’s no excitement coming from it. It’s clear to me that Koguma had accepted her life as it was, not working to challenge her circumstances, and honestly, she probably thought there was no reason to. It’s hard to strive for better things for yourself in general, but it’s a truly daunting task when you don’t have anyone to push you forward.
And, with each episode, Koguma takes another step, all by herself.
I’m gonna lose my shit when she FINALLY warms up her lunch.
Then there’s Reiko, the girl she meets in her class who also has a Super Cub.
Reiko knows a lot more about the bike, but she never pushes Koguma to get on her level when it comes to owning a Super Cub. She works within Koguma’s comfort level until Koguma herself is the one going faster than 20 MPH, or coming up with a way to get a helmet within her budget. Even if Reiko knows more, she lets Koguma work things out on her own, because Koguma NEEDS to work things out on her own.
In the latest episode, we got to see what Reiko wants to do with her Super Cub – ride up to Mt. Fuji. Why? Because she wants to see if she can. She doesn’t have a horribly heartbreaking reason, she just wants to see how far she can go with her bike. As huge of a goal as this is, I feel that it also fits the general vibe of the series because Reiko’s doing it just cuz. At the end of the day, both Koguma and Reiko are doing things because they WANT to.
And I really like that even if their wants differ they both celebrate their accomplishments. Koguma doesn’t have to have a grand-scale goal of riding up to Mt. Fuji to connect with Reiko, and Reiko, even if she’s much further along than Koguma, can celebrate her victories because she knows how much they matter to Koguma.
I keep waiting for something extremely tragic to happen, mostly because years of anime watching has me paranoid. I keep waiting for a motorcycle accident, or some other heartbreaking event, to tear at these girls. I truly hope the series doesn’t take a dark turn and, instead, continues to be this sort of warm hug that reminds you to take pride in what you accomplish throughout the day. No matter how small it may seem, if it matters to you, then it’s an important achievement.
Like. I did the dishes before work today.
Mission accomplished.
And that’s perfectly fine.
(image: Tone Kōken, Hiro)
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