Hello again! :) Now I'm really curious actually, what would be your top 5 favourite wbk characters and why? (i feel like you've got lots to say about Nirei and would love to hear it >v<)(also by 'why' i don't mean you've got to justify it if you don't wanna, but more like 'what caught your attention about said character? What character traits and/or arcs do you like or find interesting about them and why?)
So we know straight out the gate that - of course my favorite is Kaji lmao. There is no doubt or question on that. But since you asked why I would love to yap a moment about my reasons for him being my overall favorite.
In shortest terms I see myself in Kaji. From his "real" introduction in ch. 34, I personally immediately pegged him as a "straight from the DSM-5" autistic kid who is overstimulated at all times and reactive as all hell. And then the rest of his reveals and scenes really did nothing but solidify this fact. He's not good at communication either and later we learn he struggles with the idea of his own "humanity". Both of these things are personal struggles of mine so I'm always bound to get attached to characters like this - especially when he's also portrayed with such close friends? Living vicariously through him ngl.
Close second to Kaji (and when I say close second I mean they might as well be brushing shoulders in the race LMAO). Nirei was my favorite character initially before Kaji was properly introduced so he held the top spot for a bit. Nirei is another immediate case of seeing myself in a character and being overwhelmingly fond of those traits. I've mentioned a couple times that I think I'm what you would get if you put Kaji and Nirei in a blender pfft. But Nirei is very AuDHD coded to me. Not only does it seem to be his favorite thing to have knowledge about people and other stuff he finds cool, it's also canonically considered his special skill (according to his character sheet) - so he's also REALLY GOOD AT IT. He is the golden epitome of an info dumper and Sakura and Suo LOVE and RESPECT him for it. (When he's telling them about memorizing all the students in the school, he looks kind of freaked out and idk if he's just nervous to be helpful or if he's scared they will think its a little too "weird". And then Suo tells him that its amazing?!! OUGH T^T). But also bonus is that Nirei is also sunshine coded. He is so soft-hearted and loving and just wants good things in the world and is also going to do what he can to make that a reality? Love a sunshine character that's also DRIVEN. Like not just...there to provide warmth but never going to orbit? If that makes any sense? Getting to see that his training with Suo is actually resulting in progress (the way he fought during Noroshi and also rushed right in during the gang fight to get Momijikawa) Anyway I think he's amazing.
Third favorite character is Sakura. I don't have any speal reason for liking Sakura really lmao. He is the main character so I feel like it would be silly if he didn't rank high on my list but it would not be the first time I enjoyed a media and didn't like the MC but I digress - this is not a problem I have with wbk. I guess in some ways I like Sakura because while I don't see myself much in his personality, he is definitely a character whose pain I inherently understand and getting to follow the story of him making friends and learning to be loved and to open up is just....another moment of living vicariously through the media lMAO. And I love Sakura mostly for being a vehicle for that tbqh. (But his traits are super cool. I think genuinely I love that he can be seen as a violent, brash character but he is also so genuinely soft? And half the time he himself isn't even aware of this. It's chef's kiss to me.
Fourth favorite has me in minor character hell LMAO because it's Kusumi, one of Kaji's vice captains. I latched onto Kusumi because he feels similarly sunshine/soft coded as Nirei and I have an odd unexplainable soft spot for characters that are mute or just aren't known for talking much at all. I love how he's always handling Kaji and that he always has this silly little smile on his face 90% of the time, no matter what nonsense has just been happening. But also I'm really attached to him because he reads as a trans man to me. Characters that are canonically described as wearing bulky/large clothes that specifically affect their silhouettes in some amorphous way lowkey always read to me as someone experiencing dysphoria or dysmorphia of some kind. And even if it's never something that's addressed or legitimized, living in my little make belief world about it still makes me love him so much. ^^
Last but not least I think is going to be Suo. He only ranks "low" on the list simply because the other's resonate with me so much on a personal level. Meanwhile Suo I like mostly because he's just so fucking cool to me LMAO. His fighting style is badass imo and I'm a big sucker for that kind of style (it's a lot how I personally fight so its one of my favorite things). I also love that he's just a walking mystery. We don't know shit about him. He's one of those characters that plays the open book so well that no one ever actually stops to realize that his entire being is under lock and key and that he's been fooling you the entire time into thinking he's given so much away.
And I love that he does genuinely love his friends? No matter what history he has or what type of person he might really be under all those layers - there is never any question that he cares so much about Sakura and Nirei. My favorite scenes with him are him training Nirei but also I think his fight on the bridge with Kaito Obiki was really something. Sassy little asshole. Cannot wait to see what Nii-sensei has planned for him.
And ye those are my top 5s! Honorable mention to share though is that I genuinely only dislike one character in the entire series (its Tsugeura and I don't even have a good reason really he just annoys me for some reason which a lot of the characters also dislike him for the same reasons so its not that deep to me LMAO) but I do love that I like the majority of the characters. It's rare and been a long time since I've genuinely liked such a large portion of a media's cast.
Thank you again for all these asks! They're making my week! ^^
The words hit him as hard as the initial realization all those years ago as the Master told him what had transpired before his capture. How it had been their plan all along to get him, that Oboro had been nothing but collateral damage.
Maybe if he'd been a faster hero, a stronger hero.....he could've saved him. Aizawa's hands shook as he thought about it, the idea, the memories threatening to swallow him whole right where he stood.
But he wasn't dead. And gods Aizawa hated himself more for wishing that it was true that he was. That he could at least be at peace.
"I won't take responsibility for the actions of evildoers," he hissed out, forcing his voice to remain steady, "But I will likely be his final end and I will take responsibility for that then - and not before."
He was good at lying - particularly to himself. He'd been doing it for fourteen years.
Everyone loves you. So stop it, rn. I know that's not how sadness works but we all do care about you and think that you're the bomb dot com.
unfortunately saying everyone is kind of pushing it i know, especially considering recent events in my life but i do appreciate knowing someone does <3 thank you very much, genuinely ^^
Kaji travelling in time over and over again just to save people he cares so much about from serious harm. (like Kaji's cllassmates, Kusumi, Enomoto or Hiragi, for instance getting seriously injured.. or worse). Kaji travel back to timelines whenever he couldnt prevent the events and he has lost count of it.
This is perfect!! And also so painful!! Ough.
o7 I'm on it though! Something like this will probably get written in the near future LMAO
It’s frustrating how Sakura’s trauma is reduced to silent panels and brief hints. We’re told he was yelled at, rejected by his father, isolated and bullied, but we never see the actual moments—the words said to him, his reactions, his feelings. Without real flashbacks, his suffering feels deliberately muted. I don't understand why nii sensei wrote summarized backstory for his mc , the detailed ones for the side cast!
Okay - I'm assuming you're probably the same nonnie as earlier and I'm going to preface this reply with the fact that this is going to be my last interaction about this and I will block any more incoming asks like this.
I'm not Nii-sensei, this is not my story to tell so I'm not really here to listen to anyone's complaints about it. Not because I don't think you're not allowed to have them, but because I don't feel like having to defend one of my favorite things at every turn. Especially because most of my answer can likely be summarized in "man i don't know what's going on either, I'm not the creator".
But as someone who has a degree in storytelling basically, I feel the need to express to you that this is very likely the POINT of Wind Breaker. Sakura is the main character, this is his story - his journey. The story is far from over. Up to this point we've gotten little tid bits of Sakura's background and now we have more concrete information. I genuinely believe that more will be revealed later on. I don't think that Nii-sensei isn't giving a detailed backstory for his MC, I think they're allowing us to learn it along with the rest of the ensemble, as a literal metaphor for how Sakura is learning how to open up to his friends.
But also on another side of things, I personally believe it would be equally fine if we didn't get more in depth information on Sakura's backstory. Again this is Sakura's journey. He already KNOWS his backstory - this is about his journey towards the future, to learning to love, be loved and the mortifying ordeal of being known - not about his past. We get to learn everyone else's backstories because Sakura himself is experiencing them for the first time.
I will also say personally I don't think anyone's backstory has been more detailed except perhaps Umemiya's. Everyone else's seems equally as hints and little tid bits dropped here and there or mini flashbacks but nothing long. No longer than what we're given with Sakura's reveal. Unless you're talking about the arcs like Togame and Choji's backstories, but that's not even backstory reveal so much as plot relevance. Which I mean Umemiya's reveal might also be similar in that regard but yeah...
That's all I have to say on that really. Thank you for your time nonnie. <3
I don’t buy that Sakura went his entire childhood with absolutely no one caring about him before Furin. Kids don’t raise themselves. How did he survive? Who fed him, taught him, protected him? The gaps in his past are too big.
Nonnie, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you're here to be legitimately confused rather than trying to antagonize me and I will give you a genuine response here.
First of all, I want to genuinely express how happy I am for you that you sound lucky enough to not know any better. The fact that you don't buy it sounds like you've lived a decent enough life that, even if not perfect, was still filled with enough people that cared that you cannot wrap your head around the idea that this could happen to anyone.
I, on the other hand (and also many other fans of wind breaker I believe), have not been so lucky. First and foremost it's very important that you understand that the concept of caring for someone's basic essential needs (food & shelter) are not equal to caring on the level of affection and love. Human beings need both. It is very important to development.
Kids can and do often absolutely raise themselves sometimes but let's just focus on Sakura's specifics for a second. I don't think everything has been fully revealed and even then I think some things are left vague and unknown so I may be guessing in some ways but I'm trying to go with what we do know.
Let's start with his essential needs:
Who fed him? Probably his caretakers did feed him because that is a legal expectation of caretaking a child or at minimum he was fed a school-required lunch and got by on that alone (considering his interest in eating food it could be a reaction to not having access to food a lot when younger)
Who taught him? For book smarts/academics, likely school teachers of course. But otherwise, Sakura has been shown on multiple occasions to not know how to act in certain moments. So in a lot of cases the argument could easily be made that no one did. Some quick examples: he struggles to use cutlery properly, during the Shishitoren battles its obvious there's a social hierarchy order to the fights that Sakura is not aware of and has to keep being reminded about, he doesn't know how to interact with people positively (he doesn't understand handshakes), he doesn't know how to act at funerals which I think is a thing that Japanese families usually teach children at some point (dont quote me on that one tbh) etc.
Now I'll interject here because I'm sure in your confusion you're thinking still that its not possible that no one taught him these things. Unfortunately, it is wholly possible. From personal experience I can attest that there were many things growing up that I was not taught because my parents were negligent and abusive. If the people taking care of you are spending most of their time making you regret being born/treating you like a burden with their words and actions, they are not dedicating a lot of extra time into teaching you how to act or exist. At best you learn by watching and even then, if you are isolated in an environment that is simply filled with people who will not let you close, you're not going to get the chance to watch much of anything.
Who protected him? Another one for the "no one did" pile. The most "protection" Sakura seemed to receive was in the form of a roof over his head. Beyond that it is both implied and blatantly said that Sakura was subject to relentless bullying (at the very least from fellow kids, if not also caretakers and teachers) that was not stopped by any sort of authority that should've done something. He was also subject to verbal and emotional abuse (if not highly implied physical abuse as well) so his guardians were doing zero in the protection department either.
Interjecting once more to insert personal experience with a "yes this does happen to kids". I was relentlessly bullied for a variety of reasons throughout my entire time in grade school, this was never stopped by authorities and often encouraged bc I was considered a "nuisance" and bad kid for those very same reasons I was being bullied. (Sakura is known to be bullied over his appearance at the very least but also very likely for his inability to interact socially due to already built up issues from prior to school age developments).
These are just the essential things that he was not getting. And I'm going to continue below the cut into the blatant lack of care in the form of any sort of affection or "warmth"
I mentioned already but human beings need affection. Babies need to be shown love and care. It is an inherent part of human child development. When you do NOT receive that care, it actually does shit to you mentally, emotionally, and sometimes even physically.
Do you know the damage not holding a newborn baby can do?
Among a few things it can harm a child's ability to regulate their emotions, and also their heart rate, breathing and temperature. It also avoids giving the baby a chance to build any type of secure attachment to a positive force. We haven't been told when or how Sakura's mother died yet, but if it was very early or in childbirth, then Sakura has likely never known being held lovingly. His father hated and blamed him and seemingly gave him off to relatives and other caretakers who seemingly also did not care for him. If they were relatives of his mom they probably shared some kind of disdain for the burden of his existence over her death etc. Or, as its been mentioned, he's Othered because of his appearance and how it's very likely people being superstitious. People did not like him from the time he was small and that very likely had an affect on his development from day one.
Growing up continuously with that I'm sure it never got better. No one offered him a helping hand or a kind hand. One of his guardians blatantly had him living in a shed outside of the main house, completely alone and isolated from any sort of familial attachments or affection. And having that rough start right out the gate, along with all the other abuses he suffered - Sakura very blatantly started to shut people out and stop trying to look for affection from others. So at that point if anyone did try, they saw him closed off and didn't try any harder. Makochi residents seem to be the specific mix of affectionate but also stubborn about it. But his guardians did THE BARE MINIMUM at best and probably only continued to influence the reactions and treatment from other people around him.
But I rambled on about the proof we've been shown but I guess that doesn't really explain how believable any of this is. So I need you to take my own experience as proof again. I was lucky in that I still had my biological parents in the picture. But I was treated poorly, I was neglected and abused. I was given the bare minimum of what I needed to keep breathing and functioning and little else. I was isolated outside of school and I brought to school a lot of poor social skills developed from autism and abuse that made teachers and students dislike me and treat me poorly. The first time I was treated with any sort of kindness and care that was not layered under the "legal requirements of being a parent", I was Sakura's age and meeting my first friend for the first time. Her mom was the first person who loved me and didn't expect anything from me, did not lay a hand on me in the same breath that she said the words 'i love you'.
While in some ways Wind Breaker can be a little fanciful and unrealistic, the idea that a child can be treated cruelly and never know true care from another human being is not one of the reasons and I again am really happy that (if you're being genuine here), you have the ability to not know that fact. But it is very much the case for a lot of people unfortunately and is very much why Sakura's story - and Wind Breaker's purpose I think - resonates with a lot of folks.
Thanks for reading if you reached the end of this. ^^
