Bakuon!!

This article is about the motorbike manga and anime. For the Jump manga creator series, see Bakuman.

Bakuon!!
Cover of Bakuon!! volume 1 by Akita Shoten
ばくおん！！
Manga
Written by	Mimana Orimoto
Published by	Akita Shoten
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Young Champion Retsu
Original run	February 2011 – present
Volumes	7
Original video animation
Directed by	Junji Nishimura
Studio	TMS Entertainment
Released	March 18, 2016
Anime television series
Directed by	Junji Nishimura
Produced by	Yosuke Tsuruki Takahashi Kazuaki Meiji Takuo
Written by	Kurasumi Sunayama
Music by	Ryosuke Nakanishi
Studio	TMS Entertainment
Licensed by	NA Sentai Filmworks
Network	Tokyo MX, SUN, BS11, Animax
Original run	April 5, 2016 – present
Episodes	12

Bakuon!! (ばくおん！！, lit. "Roar!") is a Japanese manga series by Mimana Orimoto. The series began serialization in Akita Shoten's seinen manga magazine Young Champion Retsu from February 2011 and has been collected in seven tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by TMS Entertainment began airing in April 2016.

Plot

The series takes place at Okanoue Girls' High School (丘乃上女子高等学校, Okanoue Joshikōtōgakkō), where girls are permitted to ride motorcycles to school, and follows Hane Sakura, a cheerful freshman who becomes awed after seeing another student ride a bike to school. Taking an interest, Hane joins her school's motorcycle club and gets a motorcycle license. After buying her own bike, Hane begins her exciting, two-wheeled, motorized high-school life along her new friends; Onsa Amano, Rin Suzunoki, Raimu Kawazaki and Hijiri Minowa.

Characters

Bike Club

Hane Sakura (佐倉 羽音, Sakura Hane)

Voiced by: Reina Ueda

The friendly, kind-hearted main protagonist, who rides a pink-colored Honda CB400SF Hyper VTEC Spec III.

Rin Suzunoki (鈴乃木 凜, Suzunoki Rin)

Voiced by: Nao Tōyama

A blonde, large-breasted, pig-tailed girl who is an avid fan of Suzuki motorcycles, to the point of getting angry when someone belittles any of their models, no matter how weird they look, and having troubles riding bikes from any other company. She rides a Suzuki GSX400S Katana which belonged to her father. Despite not being an official member of the club, Rin always accompanies the others with their activities nonetheless. Rin works part-time as a pizza delivery person.

Onsa Amano (天野 恩紗, Amano Onsa)

Voiced by: Yumi Uchiyama

A wild-hearted, passionate girl whose family runs a bike shop. She rides a Yamaha SEROW225W put together with parts from two other broken bikes.

Hijiri Minowa (三ノ輪 聖, Minowa Hijiri)

Voiced by: Rikako Yamaguchi

A wealthy girl in glasses who dreams of becoming a rebel and delinquent, but her kind nature usually leads her to do otherwise. Prior to turning sixteen and becoming old enough to ride a bike, she rides in a sidecar alongside her butler, Hayakawa. After turning sixteen, she obtains a moped license and rides a Honda Super Cub outfitted with a cattle skull and training wheels, until she properly learns to ride and switches to a customized Ducati 1199 Panigale S, tuned down to attend the Japanese regulations that ban minors from riding bikes with displacements higher than 400cc.

Raimu Kawasaki (川崎 来夢, Kawasaki Raimu)

Always wearing a helmet, Raimu never talks and her face is never shown, in a fashion similar to The Stig. She acts as the big sister figure of the group, but in reality, Raimu is actually a seasoned biker in her thirties who re-enrolled using a false 18-year-old student ID at the principal's request to keep an eye on them when they decided to reform the motorcycle club, which was disbanded twenty years ago after a serious accident involving her during a race. Her surname is actually unknown, as she uses a false one on her ID taken from her bike, a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R.

Chisame Nakano (中野 千雨, Nakano Chisame)

Voiced by: Ibuki Kido

The newest member of the club, Chisame is a prodigy with racing motorcycles, but has a serious height complex due to her petite figure. She rides a Honda NSF100 in races and a Honda PCX 150 scooter in streets, as she is unable to ride street bikes due to her short legs.

Other Characters

Yume Sakura (佐倉 由女, Sakura Yume)

Voiced by: Azusa Tadokoro

Hane's younger sister, who seems to be more responsible and level-headed than her.

Hayakawa (早川)

Voiced by: Unshō Ishizuka

A butler who serves the Minowa family and rides Hijiri's bike for her until she is old enough to get her license. He rides a Ducati 750SS Imola Replica.

Tazuko (たづ子)

Voiced by: Yoko Hikasa

The Principal of Okanoue Girls High School and an old friend of Raimu, who is older than her. She later buys herself a BMW K1300R.

Onsa's Father (恩紗の父, Onsa no Chichi)

Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata

Onsa's father who runs a used bike shop that runs some shift business, much to Onsa's dismay.

Rin's Father (凜の父, Rin no Chichi)

Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki

Rin's father who is always seen wearing a helmet. Like Rin, he is also a Suzuki fan, but not as passionately as her. He rides a Suzuki 1135R Katana Yoshimura that Rin won for him on an essay contest. He has the tendency to be reckless and ends up getting into accidents frequently.

Enko Saruyama (猿山 猿子, Saruyama Enko)

Voiced by: Kazusa Aranami

The motorcycle club's adviser who has bad luck with men. She also has the habit of attacking other girls (including her students) when drunk and rides a 50cc bike.

Baita (バイ太)

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue

A Honda CB400SF training motorcycle Hane piloted during her license examination and somehow could communicate with her, giving her hints. Baita talks with a feminine voice as she claims that she was emasculated due to being tuned down for training use only. After Hane got her license, Baita was retired, but satisfied that Hane was the 1000th student that lost her "virginity" with her. Hane's friendship with Baita is what inspired her choice of personal bike.

Media

Anime

An anime television series adaptation by TMS Entertainment began airing in Japan on April 5, 2016. The series is being directed by Junji Nishimura with scripts written by Kurasumi Sunayama and music composed by Ryusuke Nakanishi. An original video animation was bundled with the seventh manga volume on March 18, 2016. The opening theme will be "FeelXAlive" by Sayaka Sasaki, while the ending theme will be "Buon! Buon! Ride On!!" (ぶぉん! ぶぉん! らいど・おん!, Buon! Buon! Raido On!) by Reina Ueda, Yumi Uchiyama, Nao Tōyama, and Rikako Yamaguchi.

Episode list

No.	Title	Original air date
OVA	"Bakuon!!" "Bakuon!!" (ばくおん!!)	March 18, 2016
While taking a drive on the highway to try a "100-mile blend" of coffee, the girls stop by a service area, where they find cans of coffee with motorbike figurines included. Rin manages to obtain a figure of her Katana, only for it to get run over. Later on, everyone's bikes simultaneously break down due to an alleged curse, but they are soon aided by Raimu. Onsa becomes upset when she discovers the café serving the blend has been shut down, but Hane cheers her up with a can of coffee she had saved during their 100-mile journey. Afterwards, the girls enjoy a hot spring before returning to buy Rin a new figurine.
1	"Club Registration!!" "Nyūbu!!" (にゅうぶ!!)	April 5, 2016
On her her first day at Okanoue Girls' High School, a school that allows students to ride motorcycles, Hane Sakura takes interest in her classmate, Onsa Amano, after seeing her ride her bike to school. The two go to the school's Bike Club, whose only club member is a silent girl in a helmet named Raimu Kawasaki, who takes Hane for a ride on her Kawasaki ZX-12R. After joining the club alongside Onsa, Hane applies for a motorcycle license, initially struggle with lifting a bike but managing to pull it off after seemingly hearing a voice coming from her bike. During her lessons, Hane comes across another classmate, Rin Suzunoki, who takes her and the others to a bike shop to pick out a bike, only to argue with Onsa when she disses her taste in Suzuki bikes.
2	"School!!" "Gakkō!!" (がっこう!!)	April 12, 2016
As Rin manages to get her bike license, she remains angry at Onsa over her prejudice towards her Katana, but is awed by Hane's honest compliments. Later, a freshman named Hijiri Minowa comes to join the bike club, giving Hane the idea to have Onsa and Rin settle their dispute with a chicken race. Though Onsa and Rin stop in order to keep their bikes safe, Hijiri and her butler Hayakawa go full force against Raimu. On the day of her license exam, Hane becomes nervous when she has to ride a different bike than from her lessons, but Hijiri and the others manage to cheer her on, allowing her to successfully pass her exam.
3	"Debut!!" "Debyū!!" (でびゅー!!)	April 19, 2016
With Hane now having her license, the girls visit the Nicoichi Motors used bike store, which turns out to be Onsa's family business. Despite the poor condition of most of the bikes on sale, Hane decides to buy a pink Honda CB400SF Hyper VTEC Spec III that catches her eye. Later, the girls overhear Rin being cheerful after a microphone is installed in her helmet, encouraging her to join them on their trip. Afterwards, the girls learn that the Bike Club has been defunct for twenty years and look to getting it reapproved, while Raimu and school principal Tazuko reminisce about how it came to be defunct in the first place. After Raimu promises to protect the other girls from harm, Tazuko presents Raimu with a new student ID and has the Bike Club officially reinstated.
4	"Hot Springs!!" "Onsen!!" (おんせん!!)	April 26, 2016
The girls plan a trip to Hokkaido, with Rin reminiscing about when she went with her father as a child. After the girls barely miss their ferry in Oarai, the girls decide to race to Aomori in order to catch another one. As Hane gets left behind, she comes across a peculiar biker with a halo who she helps get to a gas station. After receiving a supposed Holy Grail from the biker, Hane finds herself in Aomori ahead of her friends. Everyone soon arrives in Hokkaido and enjoys a dip in a hot spring the next day, where Rin discovers she has a Suzuki-shaped mark on her bottom.
5	"Touring!!" "Tsūringu!!" (つーりんぐ!!)	May 3, 2016
While heading up north, Rin attempts to go at her maximum speed but gets stopped by some foxes, managing to stop herself from running them over. The girls soon reach Cape Soya, where they come across their teacher, Enko Saruyama, who is heartbroken over a recent breakup. Needing an advisor for the Bike Club, the girls try to cheer her up only to become subjected to her drunken behavior. Upon returning home, the girls try washing their bikes in a rather dubious manner.
6	"Prep!!" "Junbi!!" (じゅんび!!)	May 10, 2016
As the Bike Club makes plans to hold a race during the upcoming school festival, Tazuko recalls how Raimu won a lot of money through betting only to spend it on a load of bikes her friends considered to be ugly. Later, Hane learns about the various ways people mod their bikes and the difference they actually make. Put in charge of designing the race, Hijiri decides to add betting and a cash prize to make it more interesting. Meanwhile, Onsa receives a modded Yamaha TZR250 3MA from her father, discovering it to be more powerful than its reputation suggests.
7	"Cultural Festival!!" "Bunkasai!!" (ぶかさい!!)	May 17, 2016
With the culture festival underway, the girls tour the school in order to advertise the bike derby. As the students place bets on which rider they think she'll win, Tazuko places a large bet on Raimu, who ends up crashing at the start line, leaving Hane, Onsa, and Rin to continue the race. Raimu soon gets back up and starts catching up to the others as they approach the final lap, leading to a photo finish. As Rin is announced as the winner, a friend of Hane's younger sister Yume shows interest in enrolling in the school.
8	"Winter Break!!" "Fuyuyasumi!!" (ふゆやすみ!!)	May 24, 2016
With her birthday approaching, Hijiri reveals she has a motorcycle license purchased from a foreign country, but Onsa destroys it when it becomes apparent she has no knowledge of traffic rules. The girls soon have her begin practising on a Honda Super Cub, but after several failed attempts, Hijiri takes a mallet to it. After discovering it can survive a whopping, however, Hijiri decides to stick with it and obtains a moped license. Later, as the girls get together for a Christmas party, Hane decides to play the role of Santa to deliver a present to Rin, who had to work. Afterwards, the girls go on a drive to watch the first sunrise of the new year, where Hane faces trouble after drawing a bad luck fortune at the shrine.
9	"New Classmate!!" "Shinyūsei!!" (しんにゅうせい!!)	May 31, 2016
Chisame Nakano, Yume's friend who has enjoyed bikes since she was a child, takes the entrance exam for Okanoue, struggling to keep her mind away from bikes during the test. Later, as both Chisame and Yume make it into Okanoue, Raimu overhears her underclassmen planning a surprise for her graduation, ultimately deciding to repeat yet another year in order to protect them. At the start of the new school year, the Bike Club has to find a way of promoting their club during orientation without bringing a bike onstage. Despite their presentation coming off a little awkward, it resonates with Chisame, who gives her own addition to the presentation.
10	"Juniors!!" "Kōhai!!" (こうはい!!)	TBA

External links

• Anime official website (Japanese)
• Bakuon!! (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia