Best Way to Get from Hiroshima to Imabari?

I’m planning on doing the Shimanami Kaido next year and am looking at options of starting in Imabari and ending in Onomichi or vice versa. My end destination is back in Tokyo after competing the Shimanami Kaido.

I’m seeing a lot online about taking a ferry from Hiroshima to Matsuyama then taking a train to Imabari. On Google Maps, it’s says there’s a direct bus from Hiroshima to Imabari but I haven’t seen a lot of information on it and that most people online seem to take the ferry route for some reason (not sure if it’s because they want to see Matsuyama, have a different mode of transport, etc). Between a ferry then train versus a direct bus, I personally think the bus would be better since it’s direct and you don’t have to worry about transfers. But because I haven’t seen anything online about people going this route instead of the ferry route, it makes me think there’s something wrong with doing this direct bus route haha. I wonder if I am missing something? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated! (Especially if someone has taken the bus themselves)