Super Cub is a beautifully crafted slice-of-life series about a young girl who lives a sedentary lifestyle until she decides to purchase a motorbike to make her daily commute to school easier. Koguma lives alone without parental support, has few friends and doesn’t participate in any hobbies. However, as the story progresses, the world begins to expand before Koguma’s eyes, giving her a newfound purpose in life. After connecting with one of her classmates, Reiko, who also has a passion for Honda Super Cubs, Koguma starts to build relationships with those around her and opens up to the possibilities that life has to offer.
While the series is slow-moving, simple and understated, it remains thrilling at every turn. Viewers will take great joy in the daily progress that this series’ characters make and have the feeling that they are part of their journey of self-discovery and improvement. Even people who don’t have an interest in motorbikes will likely be surprised at their appreciation of the mundane yet technical details that are discussed throughout the show. Koguma, Reiko and Shii’s passion for driving are infectious.
Super Cub’s Theme of Self-Improvement
Throughout the series, Koguma continuously seeks to learn more about her Honda Super Cub 50. Initially, her discoveries are as simple as learning how to ride her bike or change its engine oil. However, as the story progresses, she encounters more intricate problems, from increasing the bike's speed to how best to fit it out for the harsh colds of the winter months. While these challenges may appear to merely be mechanical, they are anything but.
With each improvement Koguma makes to her little bike, she too develops as a person and advances in her goal to become independent. Purchasing gloves or a windshield may seem like inconsequential steps forward to becoming an adult; however, as Koguma attempts to gather parts to make the perfect vehicle, she is also building her confidence and the skills necessary to tackle the challenges that lie ahead in life.
Before purchasing her Super Cub, Koguma’s world was small, uninspired and held few moments of joy. As her story advances, this all begins to change. Koguma is able to easily travel around the country, find bargains at stores that would have otherwise been impossible to access, work as a delivery driver and even help out her friends when they're in a pinch. While motorbikes are certainly at the core of this series, they are also a conduit that allows each character to grow and carve out their independence. The Super Cub is a symbol of these girls becoming women with both purpose and direction.
Super Cub’s Theme of Freedom and Happiness
The series highlights how movement can be an incredibly freeing experience. From roaming the streets at night to climbing the steep peaks of mountainous landscapes, Koguma and Reiko relish each moment that they are outside the confines of their school or apartments. Throughout the series, these characters manage to capture a childlike innocence and sense of play, in which every encounter is new, exciting and magical.
Whether it’s the wind rushing through their hair or finding an open snowy field to practice their jumps, Koguma and Reiko take immense pleasure in the smallest of things. While this might initially come across as an act of immaturity or small-mindedness, it instead reflects a degree of wisdom that is often lost by many as they grow older and enter the modern world.
Koguma and Reiko are by no means enlightened characters who walk through life without fears or desires. However, each appears to live in the here and now more than most. They are detached from the chaos of the busy world or those clinging to big dreams that drive them headlong into the future. Instead, they often live in the present and gain joy from everyday occurrences.
Super Cub’s Impeccable Score
To match the series’ calming pace and serene scenes, an impeccable score has been incorporated to encapsulate each moment of its characters' journeys. Classical tracks like Claud Debussy’s Clair De Lune and Franz Liszt’s Liebestraum voice the immense beauty of the places, people and even smells that these characters experience. Rather than simply visualizing emotion, the series simultaneously captures the highs and lows of each character’s undulating story through piercing strings and presses of piano keys.
However, Super Cub is not overwhelmed by noise at any point and instead has moments of pure silence, or at the very least little sound. This allows those watching to soak up each experience without having to follow long periods of dialogue or other distracting sounds. This balance makes the series an incredibly relaxing affair, and one that allows viewers' minds to wander over its themes and ideas.
Super Cub creates a sense of wonder around the machine. Both Koguma and Reiko’s motorbikes take on a life of their own and are arguably protagonists in and of themselves. While they don’t speak Japanese, English or any other human language, the constant humming of their engines and sporadic revs speak to their owners in a way that maybe words never could. From the moment each character gets on their bike, they become more self-assured and confident about their place in the world. They are no longer alone or bound within time and space like everyone else, but instead have a vehicle that can puncture through the borders and the confines they were once placed within.
The series is an underappreciated gem and perfect for anyone who wishes to take a step back and appreciate the smaller things in life. In an era that is constantly changing and moving at high speeds, this animated show about motorbikes -- as dichotomous as it might seem -- offers its viewers the opportunity to sit back and simply watch the world go by.