Introducing: Run with the Wind
The first episode for the new sports anime Run with the Wind was released October second. The sport itself is smoothly introduced in the title; it’s about running. Who could have guessed.
Poster for the anime Run with the Wind. Kakeru is shown in blue, and Haiji in red.
Jokes aside, I truly like the first episode. I have watched a fair deal of sports anime (sports being a genre I absolutely love, and can’t quite get why the general anime community doesn’t seem to like as much as I do. Though, it seems like it is gaining in popularity with hits like Free!, Haikyuu!!, and Yuri on Ice!!!). The main character is called Kakeru is introduced to us hilariously by being chased after stealing food. He is saved by a student from his university, Haiji, and then quickly ushered into coming and living with him and several other students from various years in a dorm.
From a character-perspective not much can yet be said about Kakeru, he literally had almost no dialogue in the first episode. But I get a Kageyama Tobio (from Haikyuu!!) vibe, blended together with a little Nanase Haruka (from Free!). Kakeru seems to have natural talent, very much like Kageyama, and is so far a little silent and broody, which could also be seen in Haru. I am sure that we will get a back-story (this is anime after all) that will explain everything.
Main characters Kakeru in episode 1
The animation is pretty similar to that of Haikyuu!! which might be because both are done by Production I.G. The characters all have very distinguishing physical traits (and I’m not only talking about the colour of their hair). As you can see in the picture Kakeru’s character resembles Kageyama’s a lot in both hair, shape of the head, and eyes. Other characters show similar traits. The scenery is very nice, which is nothing less than I expected from Production I.G. But from what I have seen so far it seems a little bit rawer than Haikyuu!!. For some it might bother, but to me it’s just charming. When it comes down to it it’s just a matter of personal taste.
The anime will air 23 episodes, and I assume (and can almost assure you all) that we in these 23 episodes will encounter the usual in a sports anime. The back-story to why a specific character refuse to perform the sport, a natural born genius, a hard-working member, an enthusiastic coach, injuries, and naturally one or two rivals. It might be a somewhat predictable content, but then again aren’t nearly all animes like this? When stripping the majorities of all shounen anime down to the bone they all follow similar concepts. But have the people stopped watching them because of this? Not really. So why should this not also apply to sports anime?
To be completely honest I at first found it hard to see where this anime would lead. With a sport such as running as the main theme I couldn’t quite understand how to bring forth a message of team-work (which usually is the message of nearly all animes in the sports genre). But I guess that I can’t judge it because of this. Free!, which is about swimming and considered an individual sport as well, managed to really turn the tables on me and proved that even individualistic sports can somehow result in team-bonding and growth. In the case of Free! they worked together, not only by working on their own strengths and support each other emotionally, but relays in their relay. By that I assume that running can be made in a similar way. Instead of having the characters sprint by themselves they can compete in a relay or something else related to relying on each other.
I am very much looking forward to watching this anime. It seems like it holds lots of promise, and I am eager to see what it will offer. I do recommend it to the audience that have previously enjoyed animes such as Haikyuu!! and Free!
