Bakuon!!

Lore & Background

The series takes place at Okanoue Girls' High School, 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 Kawasaki and Hijiri Minowa.

The characters include Hane Sakura, who rides a pink-colored Honda CB400SF Hyper VTEC Spec III; Rin Suzunoki, a blonde and busty Suzuki fan who rides a Suzuki GSX400S Katana; Onsa Amano, a tomboyish girl whose family runs a bike shop and who rides a Yamaha SEROW225W; Hijiri Minowa, a wealthy girl in glasses who dreams of becoming a rebel but is too kind-hearted to pull it off. Her butler, Hayakawa, is an elderly male who accompanies her on rides, with no canonical indication that he had the appearance of a girl in his youth.

Reader's Guide

Bakuon!! is significant as a niche motorcycle-themed comedy that blends high school slice-of-life with detailed motorbike knowledge. The series appeals to gearheads and fans of character-driven humor, with a focus on specific motorcycle models and brands. Its legacy includes multiple spin-off manga expanding on individual characters, and an anime adaptation that was simulcast by Crunchyroll and later licensed for North American release by Sentai Filmworks. The series received mixed reviews from Anime News Network editors, with some praising the comedic content and motorbike knowledge while others criticized the fanservice and generic character designs. The anime's opening theme is 'FeelXAlive' by Sayaka Sasaki and the ending theme is 'Buon! Buon! Ride On!!' by the main voice actresses. The series also produced two original video animations bundled with manga volumes.

Did You Know?

• The series features a talking Honda CB400SF training motorcycle named Baita that gives hints during license examinations.
• Raimu Kawasaki never talks and her face is never shown, similar to The Stig.
• The character Raimu has re-enrolled at the school for at least 20 years using a false student ID.
• The butler Hayakawa, despite having the appearance of an elderly male, has the appearance of a girl in their youth.

A Two-Wheeled Campus Life

The story unfolds at Okanoue Girls' High School, a campus where arriving by motorcycle is not merely permitted but woven into the everyday rhythm of student life. Hane Sakura, a bright and cheerful first-year, stumbles into this world after catching a glimpse of a fellow student rolling in on a bike. That single flash of wonder sets her down a path: she joins the school's motorcycle club, earns her license, and ultimately purchases her own machine. From that point forward, her high-school existence is redefined around the open road and the company of her new companions—Onsa Amano, Rin Suzunoki, Raimu Kawasaki, and Hijiri Minowa. The manga, penned by Mimana Orimoto, first appeared in Akita Shoten's Young Champion Retsu in February 2011 and had accumulated eighteen tankōbon volumes by July 2025, building a long-running narrative on the simple, joyful premise of girls, bikes, and friendship.

The Riders and Their Machines

Each member of the Okanoue motorcycle club is defined as much by her bike as by her personality. Hane rides a pink Honda CB400SF Hyper VTEC Spec III, a choice rooted in her bond with Baita, a training motorcycle that somehow spoke to her during her license exam. Onsa, whose family runs a used-bike shop, pilots a Yamaha SEROW225W cobbled together from parts of two wrecked machines. Rin, a fiercely loyal Suzuki devotee who bristles at any slight toward the brand, rides the GSX400S Katana that once belonged to her father and works part-time delivering pizza. Hijiri, a wealthy girl who dreams of rebellion but is too kind to pull it off, progressed from a sidecar ride with her butler Hayakawa to a Honda Super Cub decked out with a cattle skull and training wheels, before settling on a tuned-down Ducati 1199 Panigale S to stay within Japan's 400 cc limit for minor riders. Chisame, the club's newest and most technically gifted member, races a Honda NSF100 while commuting on her father's PCX 150 scooter, convinced that motorcycles were never meant for public roads.

The Ghost in the Helmet

Beneath the cheerful surface of the club lies a shadow stretching back two decades. Raimu Kawasaki, the group's silent, helmeted elder who never reveals her face or speaks a word, is far from a typical student. She has been enrolled at Okanoue for at least twenty years, re-entering the school under a fabricated eighteen-year-old identity at the principal's behest. Her true surname is unknown; the name she uses was borrowed from the nameplate of her Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R. The reason for her long, watchful presence is the club's own history: the motorcycle club was disbanded twenty years ago following a serious accident during a race that involved Raimu. She was asked to return and keep a protective eye on the members as they reformed the group. Her relationship with the principal, Tazuko—an older woman and old friend—adds another layer to this quiet, enigmatic figure who functions as the club's big sister while guarding a past no one else fully understands.

Beyond the Pages

Bakuon!!'s reach extended well past the manga pages. TMS Entertainment and 8Pan produced a television anime adaptation that aired from April through June 2016, bringing the Okanoue crew to a broader audience with a full voice cast including Reina Ueda as Hane and Nao Tōyama as Rin. The manga itself, serialized in Young Champion Retsu since February 2011, had grown to eighteen collected volumes by mid-2025. In May 2018, Akita Shoten announced two spin-off series: one following Onsa's adventures in jury-rigging broken bikes, launching on the Champion Cross website in April 2018, and another centered on Rin's ambitions, set to debut in Champion RED magazine that same month. A third spin-off was also mentioned in the same announcement. These extensions, alongside the anime, cemented Bakuon!! as a multi-platform property built around the enduring appeal of girls, motorcycles, and the freedom of the open road.