The new anime series Wind Breaker has been a standout compared to others during the Spring 2024 season. It has placed 8th, 4th, 7th and 6th in the past four weeks for Anime Corner weekly polls. Drawing many comparisons to Tokyo Revengers across social media due to its setting, the series surprisingly has very little in common with it.
In fact, there are many things that make Wind Breaker stand out from its other teenage delinquent counterparts, making it one of the must-watch anime of the season. So here are five reasons why everyone should be watching Wind Breaker!
A Refreshing Take on Teenage Delinquency
A lot of teenage gang-related anime have recently gone down the path of bad boys and girls doing illegal things. Whether it’s the scheming in Tokyo Revengers, the all-out brawling in Bucchigiri?!, or developing a bad-girl harem in Rokudo’s Bad Girls, there comes a line that none of them tend to cross like Wind Breaker does and that’s simply one thing—the story is focused on a high school gang of guys protecting their part of town and not committing anything illegal.
I originally had no interest in Wind Breaker when the Spring 2024 season kicked off. But after giving it a chance, the premise is actually very interesting to me as someone who usually goes the way of cheering for the protagonist rather than the antagonist, which many anime fans seem to do the opposite of nowadays.
Wind Breaker isn’t void of violence, though. But it’s rooted in protecting the weak and innocent, not to harm…at least with the main cast. The main character of Haruka Sakura being a castaway due to his appearance and wanting to reach the top of the town’s local gang with his fist raised creates a new atmosphere around the gang-themed setting.
He never uses his fighting ability to harm anyone, despite his brash, tsundere nature, and that’s a nice twist for once in this realm of anime. And those who come to accept him as one of their own are the exact same way as well.
A+ Cast of Characters
One thing that Wind Breakers has going for it is the cast of characters. Sakura, even as a rare tsundere boy, has been a nice treat this season to follow and he’s easy to root for. His backstory touches the heartstrings and his development isn’t A-Z, 0 to 100 either. Bit by bit, he continues to grow as a character in this warm, welcoming setting that he’s simply not used to. This setting creates moments for Sakura to grow as a person, slowly but surely, giving way to wonderful character development.
The supporting cast of the series surprised me just as much. When I first heard about the series, I thought Wind Breaker would just be another typical teenage delinquent anime — I was dead wrong. All of the side characters at Furin High School are likable in their own ways. It’s a series where the fandom isn’t all gathered around one single character and each of them brings their own charm to the series.
On the opposite end, the “villains” of the series that have recently been introduced have already established their presence in a brutal, psychotic way. Wind Breaker isn’t just about welcoming each other and protecting innocent people — no. It definitely has its moments where you almost want to turn away. Luckily, the series is only five episodes in and the fans don’t have to wait for any big developments with the antagonists of the series.
Wind Breaker Has Great Animation
Despite some overworking controversy, it isn’t rare for studio CloverWorks to produce some gorgeous-looking anime. Luckily for us, the talented animators working on Wind Breaker brought their A-game, especially in the series premiere. So if you love your hand-to-hand combat in anime, Wind Breaker might just be a series you will enjoy.
I wouldn’t get hung out on the woes that Tokyo Revengers encountered with its own fistfights. The two series are produced by completely different studios and staff. The fights in Wind Breaker are well choreographed with some very intricate animation and camera work that adds a little bit of spice to the fights.
While I’m personally more of a fan of the artwork in other series airing this season, such as Urusei Yatsura and Go! Go! Loser Ranger!, the animation in Wind Breaker is still some of the best in the Spring 2024 lineup. Even the opening for the series, which I think may be the best this season has to offer, has downright beautiful animation.
Consistent Storyline
It may be hard to really determine a consistent storyline only five episodes into the series. That being said, as of right now, Wind Breaker is doing everything right from a story perspective. The exposition has been great, Sakura’s main goal of reaching the top of Bofurin through his fighting abilities isn’t “I’m going to be Hokage!” over-the-top nor is his goal completely absent from the story. The main setting is also well-established and can grasp the attention of different audiences no matter their taste.
The story has yet to steer off course for any particular reason and any events that happen tend to flow seamlessly from one to another. A meetup with certain characters can lead to a problem with others. Nothing feels forced or out of place, even the humor, and the timing of everything fits like a glove.
So far, Wind Breaker is a well-paced anime that doesn’t miss a beat nor does it feel like you’re being rushed into certain parts of the story. It has shown early on it knows what it’s doing and that comes from a combination of how Satoru Nii wrote the story and how the staff is adapting it.
The Humor
Look, I get it. You want a delinquent anime that really hammers home the delinquency. Wind Breaker does a wonderful job of establishing the delinquent storyline. That being said, the humor is a very underrated aspect of the series to those who don’t know much, if anything, about the series. But once you watch the series, you’ll know it’s a big part of it in the best ways possible.
There are a lot of chibi-faced comedic moments and characters yelling at each other or throwing chairs out of nowhere. The series does a great job of portraying how delinquent teenage boys would actually behave in certain situations. The mix between serious and humorous moments is a nice balance that leaves you feeling the episodes just ended as soon as they started.
So if you’re asking yourself “Should I watch the Wind Breaker anime series?” or “Is Wind Breaker good?” the answer is a resounding yes! There’s something in this series for everyone to love and you should definitely begin watching it.
Wind Breaker Anime Info
Wind Breaker is currently streaming new episodes on Crunchyroll with English subtitles every Thursday. The series is directed by Toshifumi Akai (Fate/Grand Order – Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia). Hiroshi Seko (Chainsaw Man, Vinland Saga) handles the series composition for Wind Breaker while Ryo Takahashi (Classroom of the Elite, Sk8 The Infinity) composes the music. Taishi Kawakami (Akebi’s Sailor Uniform – sub-character design) is handling the character design.
The Wind Breaker anime is based on the manga written and illustrated by Nii that has been in serialization since January 2001 on the official Magazine Pocket website. There are currently 17 volumes published with no release date for the next volume. Kodansha USA is publishing the series in English and has released the first eight volumes in print and up to volume 14 digitally.
The Wind Breaker manga has over 3 million copies in circulation.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
© Satoru Nii, Kodansha / WIND BREAKER Project
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