After a quick glimpse of the uncrowned champions of Hakogaku, the Sohoku High Bicycle Club is now back on the spotlight in the ninth episode of "Yowamushi Pedal New Generation". Naruko is finally back from his adventure from Osaka. Fans will once again hear  the empowering Love Hime Theme from Onoda himself. With the opening of a new school year, the first year cycling trio of Sohoku is now officially second years.

Episode 9 titled '"New Sohoku, Start!", started off with sakura flowers blossoming which often signifies the opening of a new school year in anime. Onoda is doing his usual routine climbing the back gate slope on his mommy bike singing the Love Hime song. Then we got to see the Sugimoto brothers on the front gate where the older brother, Terufumi is congratulating his younger sibling for passing the exam.

The episode featured another set of cyclist that will be joining the Sohoku team, the duo, Kaburagi Issa and Danchiku Ryuuhou. The duo has been a subject for numerous comedy scenes in the episode because of their polar personalities. Issa is portrayed with over the head arrogance while Danchiku is seen as a nervous wreck before big events happen, as reported by Anime News Network. The duo together with Sadatoki will make another freshmen trio which resembles Imaizumi, Naruko and Onoda.

In the latest episode, fans will see an awesome character development for Sugimoto Terufumi whose only role was to provide some comic relief during action-packed episodes. With his little brother joining the club, he is compelled to be a role model for him and he can't let others leave him behind. According to Lost In Anime, he even approached Imaizumi to coach him in order to get stronger and become an example for his brother.

All in all, the episode feels like it is the first of the season where new characters are introduced to boost the capabilities of the team. The previous episodes seemed like it was some filler episodes providing some backstory setting up the plot for future events.