“At the very least, I want to find some value in me”
Hello Everyone! It’s been a few months since I’ve been in the blogging space, but I am excited to dive back into it with this Spring season. And what a series to kick off my return with! These first two episodes of WIND BREAKER were a ride from beginning to end and I’m excited to see how things develop from here!
First and foremost, let me say that I absolutely loved the visuals at the start of the first episode. The sketchy imagery of a boy walking along a tightrope until it snaps and he falls really sets a good stage for our protagonist, Haruka Sakura. Sakura, a boy with two-toned hair and heterochromia has been looked down upon by society for his entire life, with most people taking one look at him and discounting the kind of person he has the potential to be – in short, he has always been painted as a delinquent. Rather than spending his life trying to prove everyone wrong, Haruka has decided that he will lean into the stereo-type that everyone has boxed him into. And how is he going to prove it? By enrolling in a school known for being the hub for delinquents and fighters. He wants to fight to be the scummiest of the scum. At least if he does that, he’ll find his place in this world.
You know, most people choose their school based on the sports team or the ability to get into impressive universities. I mean even choosing a school based on where your friends are is more common, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen someone choose a school based on the fighting scene that surrounds it. But hey! I’m down to see how Sakura does in this new school. After all, it’s quickly shared with the viewers that Furin is not the school built solely for scum, but instead a very important thing for everyone in his new town. I loved this development and I loved how it tied into Sakura’s character. Like I said before, Sakura has been type-cast as a hopeless delinquent but he actually has a good heart – he returns forgotten goods to the man from the cafe and he protects Kotoha multiple times in the episode. If he was truly a bad kid, he wouldn’t have done either of those things. Yeah, he’s good at fighting, but he doesn’t seem too good at putting on the whole tough guy act – which is fine with me. It just shows me that he has a lot of self discovery to do.
The surprise of Bofurin being defenders was absolutely lovely. How these boys, who would otherwise be seen as dangers are actually praised for their protection of the city. I’m really vibing with this setup because I’m hoping every character we meet will have a lot of depth. Kids don’t snap their fingers and become delinquents. Some of them are pushed into that archetype and others just end up in a series of circumstances that lead them to that fate. So, I’m hoping we’ll be getting a lot of good character stories (or at least as good as we can get in 13 episodes). I already love how this new town is treating Sakura differently than what he has experienced and the fact that he seems so conflicted about it. He expects to be an outcast. He expects to be ignored and scoffed at, but here, most people seem very open to him – even going so far as to give him candy and praise him for fighting! It’s interesting and is a nice twist to see! I can’t wait to see how he navigates this new environment.
“Anyone past this point, who causes pain, who brings destruction, who holds evil in their heart will be purged by Bofurin without exception!”
Episode 2
It’s finally time for the first day of school. But before that, we need to introduce Sakura’s right-hand man (err, acquaintance?), Nirei! This kid waltzes into the café still wearing the tags on his uniform and all around comes across as a clumsy kid who is a bit of a loser. Therefore, I will defend him with my life. After all, he’s going to be the next hero of justice!
Sakura is quick to brush him off as a coward who will run away the moment danger presents itself to him. That Nirei is just a flashy guy who only cares about appearances and not someone who will actually live up to his words. It’s kind of funny that the guy who had so many assumptions made about him is so quick to make them himself – and by funny, I mean it’s not surprising, but certainly ironic. You’d expect Sakura to potentially consider that people are more than the persona that they put on and that looks don’t actually dictate what kind of person you could be… but in the end, he’s a character that has, instead of breaking the mold, decided to fully set himself in it.
Kotoha is the one who ultimately tells Sakura that he is able to believe what he wants to believe, but that it would be good if he wasn’t so quick to make the assumptions. She uses an analogy of a coffee bean – at the beginning it’s a red fruit, but after all the processing to become the coffee bean that’s when it becomes the brown bean that everyone has come to understand. There’s more to people than what there is on the surface, something that Sakura hasn’t really been led to believe. People never gave him the benefit of the doubt. They just immediately decided he was a delinquent and treated him as such. Whereas everyone in this new town, at the very least hasn’t completely shut him out yet. They’re treating him in a way he has never expected. There are people who comment on his appearance (which is an apparent sore spot for him), but rather than saying he’s a bad guy, they actually take a closer look and realize “Oh! That’s natural” or “Poor you, you are so young and so stressed.” It’s refreshing to see! I like seeing Sakura be wrong about his perceptions!
But back to Nirei. Sakura doesn’t really see a reason to care about this kid. He’s already decided that Nirei is nothing but talk and isn’t worth anything as a fighter. Which is probably partially true. Nirei is not muscles for sure – but it quickly becomes apparent that he is not just all talk. He still has a strong sense of justice even though, physically, he probably can’t stop anything. We see him in an alleyway squaring up with some men who were bothering a female clerk on the street. His strategy is just to hold on to the main guy’s torso for as long as he can – probably not the most effective strategy when you’re up against a full group, but at the very least he is doing something. Then of course the day is saved by the new kid in town and we get Nirei’s backstory. It’s not new or inventive, he’s just a victim of middle school bullying and was ultimately saved by someone which solidified what he wanted his future to be: a member of Bofurin who protects people. Granted, I think he’ll quickly find his role as the informant of the group (probably for the best to save on some hospital bills).
Naturally, Nirei attaches himself to Sakura to provide the audience and our protagonist a lot of background information. And thus, we enter the classroom. There, we’re introduced to their fellow classmates, focusing on a handful of faces in the crowd: The one with an eyepatch & earring, one doing pull-ups, and a much more fashionable looking student (honestly, he looks like he could be in Hypmic). We really only get to talk to the eyepatch & earring guy, introduced as Suou – and he’s already gone against what Nirei has written in his notebook. I so desperately hope that he is a chuunibyou because he will quickly become my favorite character. But! In addition to Suou, we also get to meet definitely not Baji Tokyo Revengers. Another student who is 100% ready to fight Sakura. But! That’s where it cuts us off for the week, so I’m excited to see how things develop!
Overall, I’ve really enjoyed these first two episodes of WIND BREAKER. So much so, that I wish all of the episodes were out already. I just want to marathon through everything to see what happens. Of course, I could always pick up the manga, but I want to go in as blind as I can. Anyways, good luck on your fight to the top, Sakura!!
Continue Watching? Absolutely! I have high hopes for this series!!
Blogging? Yes!
