This part was amazing, and it all came down from an incredible climax to a lame ending. Come on, really? AU Diego as the final fight? I would’ve enjoyed if he came in as a fight before the end, but the Valentine fight was such a satisfying and incredible fight, bringing Diego back for the final fight, now with The World, just seemed like fan service. It was a good fight but I don’t think it should’ve happened as the last fight of the part. People say the ending was bittersweet, but it wasn’t even sweet. Gyro’s entire reason for entering the race was meaningless because the kid died due to a cold, no one even got the corpse, fucking Pocoloco won the race (who cares about Pocoloco??), and Johnny was able to start walking again. His disability added a lot to his character and I think him learning to live with it and be content would’ve been so much better than him walking again.
I dunno, I really liked this part and I would’ve felt it was practically perfect if not for that lame ending. I entirely understand that it has to do with Johnny’s coming back to zero from negative idea, which I’m fine with, but I still feel like he’s negative. No corpse, no money from winning the race, no Gyro, but he can walk again and his dad supports him. His loss of Gyro now means nothing because the kid died anyway and he had nothing from the race, he’s still negative in my opinion. It was just disappointing to see at the end, after seeing everything line up for him after losing so much.