This Is What I’ve Been Waiting for: Run With The Wind

The past me from a year or two ago thought I would never get into sports anime but now look at me. On MyAnimeList, Haikyuu is still sitting at a 10 with anime like Welcome to the Ballroom hitting high scores too. I initially thought maybe I’ve just become more open-minded with anime(there I go giving myself credit I don’t deserve) but nope it’s just a genre I didn’t give a chance in the first place. I never understood what makes a sports anime so good until I got a sample of a few great ones and really analyzed the anime that made me completely lose interest. After only watching episode 1 of Run with the Wild, I believe it’s safe to say that this will be a great sports anime and will probably become one of my top 3 for the Fall Anime Season.

This anime series is mainly focused around Track and field. Because I’ve been pretty interested in getting into running, I thought it would be pretty cool to check out. I may learn some stuff I didn’t know about running. Many sports anime, find a good time to pause and break down the mechanics of a sport. Pretty much killing two birds one stone. Watching anime and getting information on something I want to do.

Here is the synopsis from MAL:

Kakeru, a former elite runner at high school, is chased for stealing food. He is saved by a Kansei University student Haiji, who is also a runner. Haiji persuades Kakeru to live in the old apartment “Chikuseisou” where he plans to team up with fellow residents to enter Hakone Ekiden Marathon, one of the most prominent university races in Japan. Kakeru soon finds out that all of the residents except for Haiji and himself are complete novices.

So I guess you are wondering what I found so special about this anime after only watching one episode. Let’s jump right in!

Just from the OP and ED I knew this show was for me. Visually, the OP has the standard introductory format with all the characters but doesn’t give much away to the viewer. BUT the band behind the OP is UNISON SQUARE GARDEN! I love them. They are always a great choice for an OP. The main goal for the OP is to get you hyped and ready for the episode and they were definitely able to do that for me with Welcome to the Ballroom. The ED, on the other hand, is a great cooldown after the episode. Great song and visual for both the OP and the ED.

As I said before, I loved Haikyuu and sports anime like it. This series just seems to fully embody that style and that’s mainly because Production I.G is behind it as well. I just can’t wait to get more background story behind this large cast and see the kind of character development is in store for us.

Speaking of the characters, most of the character designs are pretty new and refreshing. I feel like most of the time with anime, you tend to see the same style of characters on shows but all of these characters just seem to bring something new. Though, the main character does look a lot like Tobio Kageyama from Haikyuu in the cover art. In the show, not so much. I’m also hoping that we get to see not just the development of these characters but the bonds that will build throughout the season.

There are some small touches that they added that some may people may not notice or be as interested in as I am but when I saw these small things, I lost my shit. There a few minor things they add like the scrunched up back of Kakeru’s neck when he is in the hot tub or when Haiji’s hand is tightening up on Kakeru’s shoulder from the excitement building up from hearing about Kakeru. For things a little more impressive to anyone, you can see how well designed many of the backgrounds are. Just so much detail that many other studios wouldn’t bother with. I felt it was very comparable to a feature anime film’s backgrounds.

There are so many reasons why you should check out Run with the Wind! I’m really enjoying it now and starting with this post, I will be doing episodic reviews for this series. I never really tried my hand at episodic reviews but I’m only going to do it with the series I really enjoy… or hate so much that it’s actually fun to talk shit about. Hopefully, you enjoyed this and you should see more post for me moving forward! Have a great weekend and let me know what you thought of episode 1 of Run with the Wind if you checked it out!