Anime Review: Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru (Run with the Wind AND NOT like the Wind)

Every once in a while or every season, there's always an "underrated series" or hidden gem that many people overlook due to popular series or series that get hyped due to their interesting premise. However, some with a keen eye may be able to spot these hidden gems due to their uniqueness, and that's how I got to find out about Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru (Run with the Wind). Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru started during Fall 2018 and ended during Winter 2018 since it was a 23 episode series. And why do I think it's a hidden gem?

For me, Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru is an interesting take on the purpose of life, but in the form of running and the questions everyone asks is: why do we run? what do we run for? who do we run for? Is there a purpose in running? What is the "top"? and the list goes on, but you get what I mean. It's a topic that people always ask, but can never answer, since it's difficult to describe or perhaps in many cases, we don't even know our purpose in life or the purpose of doing something. We start off with our main protagonist/running prodigy Kakeru Kurahara who is being chased after stealing something and is recruited by our other main protagonist Haiji Kiyose to live in a dorm.

Haiji has the dream of running together with friends or at least people who have the same dream as him at the iconic Hakone race. However, he faces a major obstacle - the whole dorm who has practically no running experience other than Haiji himself and Kakeru, who is seemingly reluctant because he sees how futile the dream is. Haiji persuades everyone eventually to practice for the Hakone race gradually and through small goals like passing the requirement and getting a record for their running to qualify for Hakone. The process itself is just amazing and we see the grit and hard work put in by everyone. Not only do we see this, but we see complications, fights, disagreements - everything that is present in life. And that's what this anime does so well - we can somehow relate to the events of this series.

Furthermore, the cast of characters are realistic and relatable, and there's no one you really despise (perhaps that's not really realistic), but the main thing is that these casts of characters, personalities and ambitions are realistic and there's a strong likelihood you will find similar people in reality. Realistic characters make it easier for viewers to relate to, especially for a series like this where it encourages to think about our purpose in life, or in the anime' case the purpose of running. Whilst the characters initially reluctantly runs just to train enough for the day, gradually they enjoy running and they don't see it as a chore anyway - it's something that's beneficial to them as well. Furthermore every character has different ambitions and different reasons why they ran, and I liked the final few episodes that focused on the mindset and what they were thinking in the Hakone race. It was a nice touch and interesting insight of how each character viewed the race.

Most importantly of all, the anime's purpose - we constantly see the characters question themselves of what is running, and we also see how people also view "results are everything", and "run for fun is just sweet talk". The anime doesn't want us to think that way. Think of life like the wind, many of us just let ourselves drift in the wind and many just aim to "run like the wind", but the anime doesn't want us to do that. Rather we should run WITH the wind, we ourselves create our own purpose in life, rather than a superficial/unrealistic goal. That's what every character in the group sees in the end - it's not just the act of winning that is important, but rather our trust in others, particularly whether we believe that we are working hard to aim to win. Furthermore, there's an obsession that there's a finish line/endpoint in life, that's a frivolous thing to find because all we can do is keep on moving forward. Sometimes there may be no finish lines, there may be multiple finish lines, but there's never truly one final point because if there is, it is the day where we cease to exist. As a result, our protagonists who shatter these futile views/expectations are rewarded. I also like the timeskip at the end that goes forward 3 years ahead and we see that the running club is still continuing and that's what is important - our characters have finally found their purpose in life through running. The ending where we never find out who Hana likes is kinda a "blue balls" moment and made me kek but I'm not mad for not knowing anyway.

Overall, the anime was an incredibly enjoyable watch and their adaptation and their selection of what is shown is superb - all the boring scenes/downtime are mainly cut and it made the anime easier to watch, even if you are person who gets bored easily. For me, this anime makes me wish I lived in a dorm and that would have been an interesting experience. But most importantly, it's the anime purpose and message that really struck a note with me - we should not randomly drift, but control how we drift and where we drift to - we should follow our own path even if everyone is going to move on different paths - that's life after all. Rather than running like the wind, we should always aim to run with the wind.