Run with the Wind... is a really amazing anime!

Ever since finishing Haikyuu!!, I had a sports anime shaped hole in my life that I just couldn't fill. Kuroko's Basketball didn't really help at all. It was fun, but it didn't have that emotionally satisfying, beautifully romantic air about it. Free! didn't quite focus enough on the actual sport of swimming. Sk8 the infinity was a little over the top and campy... So maybe it's a stupid quest... It's impossible to find a show that executes on the perfect balance between character development, drama, comedy, and athletic excitement. And let's say you can find another show to satisfy that desire... You'll just end up in the same situation again before long. When you finish the new show, you'll be left with the same hole. Well, actually, I think my situation has gotten even worse. The hole has just gotten even bigger. Because I did it! I found the show that scratches the same itch that Haikyuu!! did... Actually, I think it might be even more satisfying. Over the last few days I started and finished another sports anime called Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru, or in English, Run with the Wind. And it's incredible!

Visually, Run with the Wind is on par with Haikyuu!! probably. It's not as flashy, but the character designs are a good mix of distinct and realistic. There are really beautifully executed symbolic moments as well.

But the story telling and character development is where Running with the Wind really excels. It's one season of 23 episodes featuring a cast of a few more than ten characters. It follows a somewhat reluctant college long distance track and field team. The members of said club are comprised of students with varying fields of study, levels of physical ability, and actual interest in participation in the club. See, they are sort of tricked and coerced into training for the Hakone Ekiden, a long distance relay race, by their 4th year roommate Haiji. So the story begins with the task of convincing them to run in the first place. Each of the ten members of the team find their own motivation to run eventually. Watching them progress from total amateurs into fairly competent runners is really exciting and satisfying. It doesn't come easily though, which makes it feel fairly realistic and earned.

The development of their friendships through running is what kept me watching. The protagonist Kakeru in particular goes through a very moving arc. He was a prodigious runner while in high school, but the pressure of being on the top and therefore held to a different standard than his teammates soiled his high school running career. But his college roommates turned teammates show him that running isn't just about being fast. It's so much more than that. This slow shift in his perspective makes for some of the most beautiful and heartfelt scenes.

The final episodes devote time to each individual on the team. We see them face themselves through the sport and each of them get their own conclusion that feels meaningful. I won't spoil what happens in the show, but I was totally satisfied by the ending. To me, sports anime is where the themes of friendship are best developed. The characters' relationships could best be described as devotion. It feels as passionate as a romance, but without the actual romance. I think that kind of relationship is seldom portrayed well in other media. And Run with the Wind portrays that devotion better than any other sports anime that I've seen. Kakeru and Haiji's relationship is the most touching I've seen in a while. It's like they find meaning in each other. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it!

All in all, I would recommend this show to anyone. When I finished the series, I was just stunned. I had never been so pleased with a show's conclusion. Every question asked by the characters and by the story itself was answered by the end of the show in the best possible way. Each character was lovable in their own right. The team really came to feel like a family, and not in some cheesy forced way. I feel emotionally wrecked in a positive way. It's a total feel good story that can and will make you choke up on multiple occasions. Now I just need to find some other show to fill the void that has now entered my life. Ah well! It was worth it!