Warning: this review contains spoilers up to the end of this episode.
Disclaimer: All images have been screen captured from Crunchyroll and belong to their respective owners. I am using them to promote this show and will delete them if/when I am asked to do so.
Prologue
We start with a stunningly beautiful visual of an aerial shot of what looks like to be a dense suburb. It is night with the lights from the closely packed houses lightening up the shot. A monorail cuts through middle of the dark shot, the lights from its windows disappearing as it enters the station.
The scene switches to a bus stop and a crossway, then to what looks like a back street full of pubs with people either entering or leaving them to go back home. The scene switches once again to a large statue (of buddha?) illuminated with a single light as it overlooks darks trees.
This montage is silent except for the rhythmic sound of running footsteps coupled with controlled steady breathing. We are finally shown the legs of our runner as he zips through a dark street, his torso lighted at intervals from the streetlights. We hear his speed cutting through the air and see a piece of bread in his hand, still in its package. A low desperate voice calls out from behind him: “Stop! Thief!” telling us that this item is stolen. The runner (and protagonist) continues forward, quickly putting distance between him and his pursuer who, unable to keep up with him, desperately squeaks out “Someone help!”
It seems like the victim’s call is answered. A beam of a bicycle’s headlight suddenly appears, following the culprit. The rider’s sandaled feet pedal furiously and he quickly closes in on the runner, but makes no attempt to catch him. Instead, he asks him in what can only be called excitement: “Hey! Do you like running?”
For the first time we seen the runner’s shadowed face as it turns towards the biker in confusion. He has black hair and eyes.
“Do you like running?” The biker repeats. We know this question will set the premise of the entire show. The rider is the deuteragonist. He has brown hair and eyes. The latter, big and bright shine in the light and his mouth is wide open in delighted anticipation. The scene cuts back to the runner’s suspicious black eyes. He utters a confused “huh?” before the opening song begins.
-This introduction was simply marvelous. It grabs your attention right away. Who is this person? Why did he steal? Who is the person following him and why is he more concerned with the young man’s hobbies rather than the fact that he’s a thief? The grim soft plinking of piano notes along with the cool blues and blacks of the scene set the tone moody tone, before it is changes into a more intriguing tune, just as the darkness is cut through with the flashing light of the bicycle. It illuminates both characters, promising that this chance meeting, this brown-haired man, will shed a proverbial light on the life of this unsuspecting runner in the dark.
Opening Theme
The music video of the opening song starts similarly to the show, with beautiful backgrounds and presumably the same runner in a teal blue tracksuit. Here, too, his face is not revealed. What we do see is how his outerwear changes along with the changing background in accordance to the weather and seasons. This is someone who runs every day, no matter what. It is therefore safe to assume that answer to the question posed in the intro is a strong “Yes”.
The scene then switches seamlessly to a runner heading towards a wooden a building. At first, I thought it was the same person, because he had been running in the same direction. But a closer look shows that this person is wearing a different tracksuit, navy and green. He is also accompanied by a dog. A closer view of the face shows us it is in fact, the brown eyed/haired biker. He enters the building and is greeted with smiles given by a tall strapping black man and short, thin, brown haired man with a mole under his eye. They begin speaking but are interrupted by a sound coming from the floor above. The camera moves up to show us a room filled to the brim with stacks of paperback comics. Collapsed in between them is a very thin very pale creature in jeans who is not only an obvious bookworm, but has the shape and demeanor of one as well, seeing has how his thin body slid face first onto the floor. He raises his face and unlike the rest of him it is anything but wormlike. Rather, it only be described as beautiful with wide eyes, extremely long thick lashes, a narrow nose, and silky feathery hair.
The scene then cuts to a bespeckled black haired man with a crew cut, a hoop earring in his right ear, and a silver medallion necklace. His good posture and upright manner are those of a cool-headed and confident man. But when he runs into a cloud of cigarette smoke his temper reveals itself. He holds his nose and waves his hands angrily while shouting at the source: another man that looks older than the ones we’ve met so far, based on both his facial hair and overall mature, nonchalant demeanor. He also has a bit of an unkempt feel to him. His brown hair is held back in a careless short ponytail and he carelessly continues smoking in his grey sweats despite the complaints he’s being showered with. We are quickly coming to understand that this building houses a number of young men.
The next we meet are a pair of smiling, energetic-looking blonde twins. They enter a room, I assume without knocking, since the person inside (a man with a dark brown crew cut) is in the middle of getting dressed and has an annoyed look on his face. We are then shown a montage of scenery similar to the one in the beginning of this episode (monorail, buddha, streets, etc.) only this time it is in daylight.
We then see the nine residents of the house walking across a bridge together. Coming from the opposite side is the black-haired runner (the main character).
He passes the group without looking at them, so we can assume they haven’t met yet. But the screen pauses a bit just as he passes the last member, the brown-haired rider (and second main character), to punctuate the importance of their meeting.
The protagonist is then engulfed in black while a group of runners in identical green tanks and shorts pass him in the background. One in particular stands out both because he’s brighter (the others are overlapped in gray) and because of his red hair and eyes.
Even though the main character is facing away, the maliciousness of those eyes reaches him as indicated by the ducking of his head and set of his mouth. His demeanor tells us he’d rather avoid this person. A breeze then blows Sakura (cherry blossom) petals his way and he finally looks up. We see a friendly looking Chiba dog (I think) sitting upright with a pair of old bowled legs standing behind it. Then we cut to a pretty, sweet looking girl in a high school uniform riding a bike. She is accompanying the dorm members we saw on a run, with the brown haired deuteragonist leading the pack. The camera then shows the main character glancing back at her as she gives encouragement to the last runner: the bookworm, who looks like he is a lot of pain as he runs in a hilariously freaky zombie like manner.
We then get a montage of quick alternating shots. They show the group in various stages of exercise…or unconsciousness as is the case of the bookworm. Then we get a silhouette shot of ten people (the protagonist has now joined them) running in a single file at sunset. Finally, the protagonist enters a kitchen, and is greeted by the entire residents of the apartment building with smiles (except for the bookworm who is reading). The brown-haired man is standing at the head of the table.
He welcomes the black-haired main character whose lips slowly break into a tiny smile. Finally, we see him standing on a race track in a black tank and shorts, preparing to receive a sash from a teammate. The song ends as soon as he receives it.
-The opening theme was very well done as we got introduced to the characters very quickly and through it are already given insight as to their relationships based on who they are with and how they interacted with them. One of my pet peeves with shows that feature a lot of characters is that I always have a hard time remembering their names and differentiating between them. This intro helps solve this problem.
I think the writers/creators of the show recognizes this problem as well. The episode starts with an immediate formal introduction of the characters. People unfamiliar with Japanese culture should know that last names are given first.
Act one
We see a two-story building. The lights inside show that it is occupied and the bicycle standing outside it lets us know that this is where the brown haired second main character lives. The sign on the building says “Chikusei-so” which I assume is the name of the building.
The black-haired man looks dumbfounded, like he’s wondering “How did I get here?”
-We’d like to know, too.
The brown-haired man kneels in front of the same Chiba he was running with in the OP.
-I don’t know why he felt he needed to add “the dog” but I found it endearing.
He is then taken around and introduced to the residents of the building. Room 201 houses the blond-haired twins, Jo Taro (Jota) and Jo Jiro (Joji). Like the impression they give off in the song, they are bright and friendly and smile readily upon being introduced.
They also use (ore) to talk about themselves (Japanese masculine pronoun commonly used by most men). Next, we meet the man the twins had barged in on in the OP. He is busy hitting a tissue box, pretending it is a buzzer, as he answers quiz show questions on the TV in room 205. We learn that it is not his room, rather, it belongs to Sugiyama Takashi nicknamed Shindo (which means prodigy or genius in Japanese). He is the small brown-haired man that had been standing with the black man in the opening song. The deuteragonist tells the protagonist that Shindo is a third-year business school student.
He then goes on to introduce the man occupying the space in front of Shindo’s TV: Sakaguchi Yohei from room 202.
Note: the Crunchyroll translation says it’s rom 205 but that must be a typo because 205 is Shindo’s room. It took some time with my beginner’s Japanese but I confirmed that 202 King’s room.
Shindo adds that Yohei’s nickname is “King” since he is a self-proclaimed king of trivia. King doesn’t attempt to greet the new black-haired arrival, doesn’t even look at him in fact, as engrossed as he is in his show.
Next is room 204. We are greeted with the sight of mountains upon mountains of stacked manga (comics) volumes. I immediately recognize the room belonging to the character I was most looking forward to meeting from the opening song: a bookworm after my own heart. When the main character reaches for a volume, he is sharply warned: “Don’t touch that!” from an invisible entity. The pretty boy we saw in the opening theme song worms his way out of the stacks to say “they’re all exquisitely balanced. I can’t be held responsible for anything that happens.” Brown haired main tells us this manga lover’s name is Kashiwazaki Akane, a second-year literature student and is called “Prince”, obviously due to his good looks.
– I watched this with my kids and they all reacted very strongly to this character. The middle schooler said “His eyes look tired.” It’s true, Prince, while beautiful, also looks a bit sickly.
We are then introduced to the smoker from the opening song: the tall scruffy man in sweats is Hirahara Akihiro (room 104) also known as Nico-chan senpai.
Language note: (-chan) is a suffix to denote endearment, usually used for girls or small children, while (-senpai) is a respectful suffix meaning upperclassman in Japanese.
A science and engineering student, Nico is a third-year student. The second main elaborates that Nico was a year ahead of him when they first met, but is now a year behind, meaning he failed two years. This explains why he looks older than the others (he is) and fits with his unkempt look: he looks like a pretty careless individual.
He certainly isn’t concerned that he’s currently being yelled at off screen: “He’s a nicotine addict!” Hence the nickname. “How many times do I have to say it?! It stinks! It stinks!” We then see the person yelling. Unsurprisingly it’s the black haired bespeckled man who was also yelling in the opening song. He tells Nico “If I sue there’s 100 percent chance I’ll win!” He is introduced as “Iwakura Yukihiko from room 102.” He’s called Yuki and is a fourth-year law student who has already passed the bar exam on his first try. This tells us he’s very smart, hence the confident attitude. But his attempts to reason with his older housemate don’t work. Nico carelessly lights up another cigarette, saying that Yuki should calm down as he’s too high strung.
We then meet the landlord who is introduced simply as “Mr. Tazaki”. He’s the bowlegged old man seen in the opening theme standing behind the dog, presumably its owner. Next, we see the tall black man. We can fully judge just how healthy he is as he’s fresh out of the bath and fully naked. At the bathroom door, the brown haired second main character introduces him as: “Musa Kamara a foreign exchange student.” Both housemates are completely unconcerned with his lack of attire. Musa readily extends his hand in greeting with a friendly smile.
-I am extremely gratefully for its strategic placement on screen that keeps this show (mostly) family friendly.
We learn that Musa he is a second-year student of science and engineering.
-Methinks that in his two years in Japan he has quickly become accustomed to some of its citizen’s general indifference to nudity (i.e: hot springs, public baths, etc.)
The black-haired main is now in the bathroom and has just taken off his clothes to take a bath when brown haired dude barges in. Protagonist is righteously scandalized and quickly covers his privates while second main carefreely tells him to find him (his room is 101) when he’s finished. He closes the sliding door, only to open it again, to add “take your time”. The black-haired dude is once again shocked at this indecent invasion of privacy.
–And this, boys and girls, is why you should ALWAYS lock the bathroom door. That aside, I think this scene was used to contrast the ease of the current apartment tenants with the cageyness of the new guy.
While the newbie is in the bath, he rightfully asks himself “What am I doing?”
The scene then shifts back to the landlord Takazi, who asks the brown-haired deuteragonist: “Where did you find him?”
Instead of answering the question, the secondary main says: “Kurahara Kakeru. He’s a first year.”
-It makes sense that he wouldn’t want to mention to the landlord he found him as he was shoplifting. And now that we finally have a name for the protagonist, I will henceforth call him KK for short.
Takazi mentions that he heard that name somewhere before, giving us a nice piece of foreshadowing that KK might be famous.
The still unidentified brown-haired dude tells the old man: “Coach, that’s ten.”
-The fact that he called him “coach” rather than “landlord” or his name “Mr. Takazi” is also foreshadowing.
The “coach” chuckles and tells the young man that he wins, and that he can do what he wants. His brown-haired tenant bows in respect.
Next, we see most of the tenants gathered in one of the rooms.
The twins ask everyone to keep it down since their room is so tiny. King argues it’s the biggest which presumably is why they’re partying in it.
Brown-haired guy enters the room holding Prince from the collar like a caught cat.
“I was just about to finish,” the bookworm complains, obviously referring to whatever comic he was reading.
His captor doesn’t answer and sits him down with the others. Seems like he’s used to catching people. We see this scene from KK’s perspective whose attention is then called by law student Yuki. He tells him to eat up. Shindo (short thin guy with the mole) adds “It’s your welcoming party, after all.”
Yuki then adds that “Since Haiji made it, it’s all country cooking.”
This tells us that Haiji isn’t from the city. But who is Haiji? Since this is the first time it’s been mentioned I am hopeful it’s the name of the brown-haired guy, since he’s the only person who hasn’t been formally introduced to us yet.
Shindo then asks KK where he’s from, adding he’s from Yamagata.
When KK hesitates to answer Shindo considerately tells him “You don’t have to answer.”
-For those who don’t know, this is called taking a hint, and is the polite thing to do.
Musa (currently being head locked by Nico-chan) says he’s from Tanzania, and asks if KK knows it. The newbie identifies it as an African nation. Musa eagerly questions if he’s ever been there. The answer is negative.
Shindo smiles informing his foreign friend that most people haven’t been. He then goes on to say that Musa’s a government sponsored exchange student, that he’s incredibly smart, and isn’t his Japanese great? The humble Musa denies this.
-This exchange confirms what was hinted at in the opening song when we first see these two standing together: they are good friends. It makes sense. Both seem like thoughtful well-mannered people.
Language note: They even use the same polite pronoun to refer to themselves: (boku) which is I in Japanese, used mostly by male children, less so by adult males who tend to use the more masculine (ore). Incidentally, Prince uses (boku) as well.
Meanwhile the twins grin at each other mischievously, and take out party poppers. The others join them. The brown haired deuteragonist frantically warns them that they are all sitting way too close. No one heads his this, even Prince, to Haiji’s suprise in dismay. With an expressionless face joins in on this ear busting exercise.
A wide-eyed Kakeru holds his ears in pain at the noise while everyone drinks up.
The party continues. We see Prince pitching a manga/comic for the twins to read (been there done that) saying that it will change their university life. The twins ask to borrow it to which he tells them to buy it themselves.
We then see King discussing what is proper interview attire with Shindo and Musa. Apparently, he doesn’t own a suit. Shindo asks what he wore to his coming-of-age ceremony to which he replies that he didn’t attend it.
Cultural note: its a ceremony in Japan that takes place when someone reaches age 20, the age of adulthood in Japan.
-This follows up King’s scene in the opening song. He was alone (as was Prince). Along with the fact that he didn’t attend his COA hints that he’s either careless or not very sociable.
When KK finishes his drink Nico refills it, asking him: “How’d you two meet?”
“Huh?”
Our boy is not quick on the uptake.
“Haiji.” Nico adds, pointing at the brown-haired dude who caught our thieving main character on his bike.
We finally have a name!
Haiji is currently wiping off something off one of the twin’s shirts.
So Haiji not only cooks for the tenants, but mothers them as well.
Kurahara answers quietly that they “ran into each other on the street”.
Yuki then points out “You’re Haiji’s long awaited tenth man,” adding he’s glad that KK seems decent.
-Well, as decent as a bread thief can be. But they don’t know that and KK doesn’t correct their assumption.
Nico adds that they were worried Haiji would bring someone ridiculous.
-This tells us two things. First, Haiji is basically in charge of this place. Secondly, he’s either thoughtless or desperate when it comes to finding tenants, and that these two older tenants knew that.
The twins join the trio, asking to be included in the conversation with the new guy.
Nico looks a bit annoyed, and answers with a lie saying “We’re talking about how to tell you two apart.”
The two immediately challenge KK to differentiate between them. Yuki plays along, saying if he wins, he gets a beer, to which KK replies he’s underage.
King ruins the game by answering correctly. The others are angry since the question wasn’t directed at him to which he replies: “You think I wouldn’t answer a question?” further ingraining his obsession with quiz shows.
-I find Nico’s white lie to the twins interesting. Maybe he and Yuki aren’t as close to them which is why he changed the subject when they showed up? Or did he feel that the conversation was too private? Or were the twins who he meant by “someone ridiculous” and he didn’t want to hurt their feelings?
We are immediately given a clue to the answer when Shindo suddenly yells out. He discovered a hole in the floor in the twins’ room. They start blaming each other for the damage while Haiji lets out a long-suffering sigh and tells them to cover it with a magazine or something and make sure the landlord doesn’t find out.
Musa remarks that the two have only been there for a week, and they’ve already started causing damage to the building.
-In conclusion: the twins are a bit ridiculous. More importantly, they are also new so naturally are not yet close to have intimate discussions with the older tenants. But that begs the question, why then would Nico and Yuki be so open with KK who is the newest one there? Maybe they sensed his apprehension and were trying to make him feel at home?
If so, it doesn’t seem to be working. This whole time, he hasn’t smiled once, hasn’t talked without being spoken to first, and the only expression on his face had been that of moroseness.
Haiji suddenly pops one more party popper, surprising everyone and asks for their attention. “this is important.”
Nico quickly asks: “Is it a girl? You finally got a girlfriend?”
Yuki is just as excited for him saying “we’re all ears.”
-This isn’t asked with any sort of lewd undertone. The two seem generally interested and happy for him.
He disappoints them saying they’re wrong.
“Since Kurahara moved in, there are finally ten of us.”
At this statement, the silent KK bursts out that he hasn’t yet agreed to move in yet. Nico is very surprised to hear this. It’s understandable, why else would they be holding him a welcoming party then?
Haiji ignores KK and restates “We are finally ten.”
“You’ve been saying that ever since the twins moved in,” Yuki points out.
“Just one more. Just one more.” Shindo (I think) mimics him.
“Almost like he was uttering a curse,” Nico adds, laughing.
Musa states that Haiji must be happy they filled in the last room so quickly.
He replies “Yeah, it’s not enough to just think about it. You should always state your wishes out loud. You’ve got to seize your own destiny.”
KK looks like he’s getting more worried by the second. His eyes bore into Haiji’s, like if he stares at him long enough, he might start making sense of his words. Meanwhile, Haiji stares straight back at him, even as he is addressing everyone in the room.
-So, everyone knew Haiji was obsessed with filling the building. Not only that, they are all happy enough for him that Nico suggests taking a trip together to celebrate.
What I find interesting is that no one seems to wonder why he wants a tenth man.
Unaware of the stink eye contest going on right in front of them between the head of the house and the newest (would be) tenant, the others unsuspectingly wonder where they should go.
“I know the perfect place,” Haiji says.
The others are all ears, but when he says “Hakone” the suggestion is met with brief silence.
-Japan enthusiasts will know this is a popular spot amongst older people and tourists; known for its hot springs. But based on the boys’ reaction, or lack thereof, I assume it’s not the dream spot for a group of rowdy young men.
King says “I guess,” reluctantly. The ever polite Shindo then points out “It’s easy to get to, and has hot springs.” Everyone quickly warms up to the suggestion, with Yuki saying “it’s a great idea.”
-The scene was quite wholesome to me. It felt like while they weren’t crazy about the idea at first, they didn’t want to rain on Haiji’s parade since his heart seemed set on it. They are also easy-going enough to be down with whatever he had in mind.
Haiji continues looking at Kakeru in the same meaningful way and we start to realize that for these two Hakone means something very different than a vacation spot.
When Yuki starts looking up how to get there Haiji says they’ll run. The cat finally comes out of the proverbial bag.
“Let’s aim for the top together. Let’s run it together. The Hakone Ekiden.”
We don’t get to see the response of the others because we are taken to the mid-episode break which consists of watching Nira the dog chase a butterfly around to a fun tune before signaling the end of the break with a bark.
-This was ridiculously cute. It made me smile.
Act Two
When we return, we see Haiji just coming out of the tub in a public bath. There’s only one other person there, a middle aged man who gives off a friendly Uncle-like vibe. He remarks that Haiji, as always, gets out after only soaking for a minute. The young man replies “It’s been three years but I still can’t get used to this heat”.
-To confirm Haiji’s statement we see that his skin which was immersed in the bath is a dark crimson as opposed to his face and neck. I love when details like this are included in anime. How hot is that bath? Haiji’s statement also gives us a time frame of how long he’d been living in the area.
The man is looking at Haiji, his gaze is resting low and just when I start to worry that he’s being inappropriate the scene moves to show just what he was looking at: a large surgical scar that cuts across the top of Haiji’s knee and extends down his leg.
Writing 101: your character’s physical appearance helps flesh them out and bring them to life. The use of scars in fiction is common but when done well can nonetheless be effective. We’ll see if that is the case here.
The man then adds “You’re already a fourth year, right? How time flies.” Further establishing not only Haiji’s age (probably 21 or 22) but also how long he’s known him. He then goes on to say: “It’s your first and last chance, right? Just one more. Just one more?”
Haiji, looking a bit melancholic, answers that he’s not there yet to which the man replies, encouragingly, “New students will be coming in. I’m sure you’ll find someone.” Lost in thought, the student leaves without answering.
-This conversation was quite informative. The impression we get is that these two have are a casual and easy acquaintances despite the age difference.
Language note: The man’s lack of Keigo (polite speech) shows that he doesn’t stand on ceremony so we see Haiji speech pattern being a bit more casual as well, as opposed to when he is with the landowner, for example.
We also suspect that, unlike Haiji’s housemates, he has a clearer understanding of Haiji’s goal since he says “It’s your last year.” Last year for what? We also now suspect that we have been taken back to the time before Haiji met Kakeru.
Haiji is now fully dressed and in the same attire as when we first met him: ….is it a kimono jacket? Haori? I forget what those are called. Anyway, it’s a short traditional Japanese jacket with wide sleaves and ties to hold it shut.
“Just one more,” he says to himself, standing at the entrance of that bath house, holding his bike.
Kakeru suddenly zips past him, followed by the convenience store employee shouting “thief!”
-This shot and the entire scene following it was gorgeously animated.
We now know for sure that we’ve gone back to the opening scene. But now that we know Haiji was desperately seeking a runner, his chase has more meaning to us. He immediately hops onto his bike, carelessly dropping the small towel he previously had wrapped around his neck. All he sees is the beautiful running form of the person in front of him. Through his perspective, we see the fluidity of KK’s actual muscles. This image is reflected in Haiji’s wide shining eyes, lightening them up from within. Kakeru looks like a comet speeding through a starry night sky.
Haiji’s strange question (to Kakeru, at least. We know his motive) “Do you like running?” is repeated, and ends up stopping the confused runner.
The biker tells him “Let’s have a chat” and leads him away.
-It is gratifying to have us taken back to this moment. I wanted to know how the thief ended up moving into Haiji’s apartment.
Next, we see the stolen piece of bread in Haiji’s bike’s basket. The two young men are standing next to some vending machines. Haiji buys KK green tea and asks him why he stole.
Kakeru doesn’t take it and instead turns to leave but is stopped by Haij’s firm hand on his shoulder.
“I won’t call the cops. I promise. I just want to know who you are.”
He then goes onto to introduce himself.
“I’m Kiyose Haiji. A fourth-year literature student at Kansei University. Who are you?”
-This is actually the first proper introduction we got of Haiji. Recall Haiji introduced us viewers, along with Kakeru, to all the tenants in the building at the start of the episode. We were even given Kakeru’s full name when the landlord asked Haiji about him. But we only found out Haiji’s name during the welcoming party when Nico asked Kakeru how they met. Before then, that whole time, it was a huge pain not knowing what to call him. But I think it was a fantastic creative decision. Leaving Haiji’s introduction for last gives his character a mysterious air. I could have simply looked up the names of the characters (they are both in the episode description) and used them, but doing that would have lessened the impact of the introduction, I think. So in writing this review I went along with what the director did.
Kurahara answers Haiji’s query, albeit reluctantly: “Kurahara Kakeru”.
-This speaks volumes to the norms in Japanese society, and society in general. When someone introduces themselves, you are obligated to do the same.
Haiji then asks where his home is, if he lives around here.
-Shindo asked the same earlier in the episode (though chronologically, it was actually later, during KK’s welcoming party. At the time, Kurahara didn’t answer.
He’s just as furtive here. Instead of answering where he’s from he tells Haiji he’s also a Kansei university student.
Haiji, for lack of a better term, goes completely apeshit.
He repeats the words loudly, his eyes bugging out and all shiny. The hand on KK’s shoulder squeezes it tightly, and he tells Kurahara that he can’t ignore him if he’s an underclassman (kouhai) at the same university, then demands to know what department KK is in.
“Sociology,” he answers hurriedly, “Seriously, can I go now.” Without waiting for an answer, he quickly shrugs off Haiji’s hand and attempts to escape. To his utter shock he finds Haiji, which he should have left behind, right in front of him. The upperclassman has seemingly gotten over his freaky mood and calmly asks KK to wait.
While the poor boy is wondering if Haiji has teleportation powers (he doesn’t, it’s not that kind of anime), Haiji takes advantage of the confusion and asks if KK is broke. A reasonable conclusion seeing as how he stole food.
“What about your allowance?”
-It seems normal for students in Japan to be supported by their parents while they are at school. Isn’t it true for most parts of the world? University is expensive.
Kakeru admits he lost his apartment deposit playing mah-jong (gambling? Seriously?)
Haiji tells him to come to his place, clarifying that there is an empty room in his apartment building. KK repeats that he doesn’t have money. Haiji tells him he can pay whenever.
“Trust me. I’ll make it work”.
-This statement backs up the idea that Haiji is pretty much in charge of the Aotake building. He has this friendly easily authoritative air. It explains the respect he seems to command from the other tenants.
Haiji tells Kakeru: “First let’s go the convenience store and apologize”.
-Here, he gets the respect of viewers too. I assume they will either return the stolen item or Haiji will lend Kakeru the money to pay for it. You also get the feeling that he’s well known in the neighborhood; he’s confident enough that an apology will be enough and the clerk won’t call the cops. Or he might just be betting on Japanese kindness, which isn’t unreasonable, I think.
– On another note, we saw in this scene, when Haiji had his hand on KK’s shoulder, that the two are almost the same height, though I do feel Kakeru is a tiny bit taller. We know KK is about 18 years old (being a first year). However, Haiji is a fourth year and can’t grow anymore.
I might be making too big a deal of it but the shot clearly showing their heights coupled with the indirect reference to their ages set off my reviewer’s radar for possible foreshadowing or the establishment of a recurring theme. KK might still have room to grow. Both literally and figuratively. This could end up being important.
We once again see the outside of the apartment called Chikusei-so (nicknamed Aotake), and a smaller one-story house to its left which Haiji says is the landlord’s place. At the entrance is a large foyer with shoe cubbies on the left, a hall leading to the rooms on the ground (first) floor, and stairs leading to the rooms on the second floor. We can’t see the kitchen but I think it might be somewhere on the right of the stairs since that area is offscreen.
Haiji shows KK his room (103) and gives him the key. He tells him he’ll get him a futon (Japanese style bed) tomorrow but for tonight he’ll have to make do with his blanket. Kakeru is silent and confused the entire time. But his gaze on the key and the way he looks at the room gives the impression that he can’t believe his luck.
This is an allusion to the title, which in Japanese is “The Wind Blows Strongly”. The phrase “winds of change” comes to mind in this scene.
Haiji then tells him: “I’ll introduce you to the guys.”
We are then given a speedy replay in Kakeru’s mind of all the events that took place after: the introduction to the tenants, the party, and finally the present moment where Haiji says “Let’s run it together. The Hakone Ekiden.”
-This montage was very useful. One thing I dislike about time skips is that they sometimes lead to confusion. Here, we were seamlessly taken back to the present. It was very well done
KK’s wide eyes, anxious and shocked, for the first time, narrow in grim understanding.
-I love this contrast. Ever since Kakeru met Haiji’s he’s been suspicious of him. Then the whole time during his own welcoming party, he looked like he felt out of place. He couldn’t hold a conversation, didn’t even attempt to really, barely made eye contact, and only spoke when spoken too. He looked like he had no idea what he was doing there, when he should speak and what he should say. Like he was insanely out of his element. But now he’s the only one who knows exactly what Haiji is talking about.
Conversely, the others who had been socializing freely the whole time are now the ones who seem confused and are in the dark.
Especially Musa, the exchange student. When he asks Haiji what they’re all talking about, Haiji answers by bringing out the sign that was on the front of the building and places it in front of everyone. The twins squint and for the first time everyone sees what is written in fine print next to the building name: Chikusei-so: Kansei University Track and Field Club Training Camp.
Everyone is appropriately shocked.
Prince demands in his quiet voice to know when Haiji added those words to which the latter replies:
“Does this degradation look new to you?”
It doesn’t. Also, hilarious.
“It was so dirty we never noticed it,” Musa exclaims.
Nico asks Haiji to wait, as if he’s about to do or say something dangerous, while the others retrace the conversation to wonder about the Ekiden. Jouji asks if it’s a marathon while Jouta corrects that it’s a relay.
-After multiple viewings I can finally differentiate between these two. The younger brother Jouji usually wears a black cord on his neck, but when he isn’t, Jouta is usually wearing some shade of blue, while Jouji prefers reds and bright colors).
Haiji clarifies that this building is the Kansei University Track and Field club member dorm, and with a smile explains that this means they are all members of the team.
-I love Haiji here. I wouldn’t want to be in his dormmates shoes and would be enraged with him in real life, but as a viewer Haiji’s unapologetically sly face and tone is incredibly entertaining.
Kakeru doesn’t speak but we see his hands fisting on his knees.
King yells that he never signed up for this. Haiji calmy responds that moving here means he did, before adding: “Didn’t you think it was strange? A mere 30,000 yen pays for rent as well as both breakfast and evening meals?” King looks mortified.
-As of the time this review was written, that’s a bit over $273. Dirt cheap for room and board in any city, more so Tokyo where I presume this show takes place. Truly suspicious.
Shindo wonders in his gentle way if this isn’t a scam? Yuki demands to know why “Senpai” (Nico), who started living in the building a year before Haiji, didn’t know about this. Nico is abashed but defends himself saying the old man never said anything to him.
-We viewers know the reason: the fact that the old man told Haiji to do whatever he wants means that this whole thing is being orchestrated by Haiji.
At Nico’s reply, Yuki face-palms saying, “I can’t believe my first case after passing the bar will be my own civil trial.”
I think I love this character. He’s so funny. Just as funny as his words is his facial expression when Haiji calmly tells him he shouldn’t bother suing, since his rental application was also the club application.
It takes a while to get the message across but, long story short, Haiji was obsessed with getting ten people because that is the number needed for a team to run at the Hakone Ekiden which is a famous annual relay race for universities. How famous? It is broadcast live on New Year’s Day.
-Like I mentioned earlier, it is interesting to me that, while everyone was glad Haiji found his final man, no one bothered asking why it was so important to him. I mean, yeah it looks like he’s in charge of the building, but he’s not the owner. He doesn’t stand to gain anything from it. They all look appropriately ashamed now.
Kakeru finally speaks, and the first thing he does is ask if they are registered with the Inter-University Athletic Union of Kanto province.
Haiji replies “of course.”
KK seems unconvinced and asks who their coach is.
Haiji replies it’s the landlord Tazaki Genichiro, this time, using the man’s full name, unlike when he introduced him to KK.
At everyone’s incredulousness Haiji informs them that the coach was known as “the treasure of the Japan Association of Athletics” and that “by the time Tsuburaya Kokichi wrote his food-based suicide note and died” the landlord was already considered their university’s great coach. We see a shot of the old man sneezing while walking in front of a bunch of framed photos of runners.
Cultural note: According to anime, in Japan, when you sneeze it means someone is talking about you.
-The mention of Tsuburaya Kokichi is not to be taken lightly. I will come back to it later.
The twins point out that the newbie knows a lot about running, based on the questions he asked. He doesn’t reply and as they try to figure out what an athletic union is, our resident Otaku (comic and/or video game geek) goes off on a tangent and assumes it’s something out of a manga (Japanese comic) he read.
-Prince is utterly relatable to all fellow geeks. I love how diverse this cast is. Not only do we have a black character (beautifully drawn, might I add) we also have Prince representing all manga/anime lovers.
KK then busts out saying, “We can’t. Not the Hakone. There’s no way.”
-For the first time since his character is introduced, his voice is loud and clear as he looks squarely at Haiji while speaking. Until now he was mostly ducking his head or averting his gaze while mumbling almost incoherently. It is ironic that the most able runner in the group (why else was Haiji crazy about recruiting him) is the most adamant about the impossibility of this venture.
Haiji is undisturbed at this antipathy. Instead, he smiles and says with quiet confidence: “No one knows that for sure.”
The scene ends. Next, we see the same city as in the intro scene and in the opening song. But whereas they were in darkness and day, respectively, here we see the same scenes under twilight. KK is running alone. As he cuts through the park, he is confronted with the sight of Haiji, sitting on a bench with Nira near him. KK looks on while Haiji, whose right pants leg has been pulled up, massages his knee. His scar is clearly visible. The dog catches wind of KK and barks, alerting Haiji to his presence.
“Hey,” he says in greeting. He seems a bit surprised but is unperturbed.
KK, caught staring, recoils a bit, awkwardly. His averts his eyes even as he bows his head slightly in polite greeting.
“Do you run every day?” Haiji asks him, rolling down his pant leg.
KK walks up to him but doesn’t reply.
Haiji takes KK’s silence as an affirmative and says “So do I, while taking Nira for his walk.”
“For your health?” The younger man questions.
-It’s an odd question, considering what Haiji told the building residents the night before. I wonder if KK is just too awkward to ask what he really wants: “for training?” Or maybe the question is one more challenge, like the “are we registered?” And “who’s the coach”. Maybe in his mind he wants to know if Haiji is serious or just runs as a hobby.
Haiji refutes KK’s query with a simple “No.” He is looking at Nira as he rubs the top of the dog’s head. He then stands up, as if he made a decision and says: “Before you ask, I’ll tell you,” referring to the scar on his knee. “I injured it in high school. I’m almost back at full speed. In six months, I’ll be able to match your pace.”
-I found this quick insight refreshing. It’s nice to have the story of Haiji’s injury out in the open rather than making a big deal out of it and making it an overly dramatic plot point.
KK plays dumb.
“What are you talking about?” and walks past him.
Haiji blithely tells him “I’m serious,” his light tone contrasting his words. Kakeru stops and the two are facing opposite directions while Haiji continues “I’m going to run in the Hakone Ekiden. Starting today I’m going to win over all the guys. Of course, that includes you. Sendai Josei high school graduate, Kurahara Kakeru.”
At the mention of his high school, KK’s turns to look at Haiji so quickly it’s a wonder his head doesn’t spin off.
-KK aghast reaction here is telling. Like, just by knowing what school he went to, Haiji has uncovered a deep dark secret.
Meanwhile, Haiji, too, has turned to face Kakeru. The two stare each other down and Haiji’s usually amiable face has a dead serious look on it.
-Since Haiji is now a fourth-year university student, this means that for the past four years he has been slowly but surely recovering from his high school injury for the sake of running at Hakone. Rather, he still hasn’t fully recovered, since he tells KK he’ll reach his speed in six months. I wonder what kind of surgery he had.
It is then fitting that he had been so desperate to get team members. It is his last year, so of course he is serious. It should be interesting to see how Haiji will convince the others to run.
As the sun rises behind Haiji’s, its rays create a halo around him. He then softens his expression a bit by smiling.
-This was a beautiful end which I felt ties in nicely to the opening. Just as light was cast on both characters in the dark street scene, the dawn’s rays did the same here. Both times, that light is connected to Haiji. In the entrance scene, it was his bike’s headlights. Here, it was the sunrise behind him. I think it promises that this chance meeting will shed light on the life of Kakeru who looks like he desperately needs it. He has this emo edgy look to him that is a bit at odds with his awkward manner and polite way of speaking. We still do not know his back story. I look forward to seeinit.
Additional Analysis
I’ll add a few points here that made this episode work.
Music
The soundtrack of the entire show is fantastic. But my favorite track from this episode was after Kakaru shot down Haiji’s proposition, when he was running in the park, until he met Haiji and their conversation there. The track is called “Mutual”. I felt it an odd title as, in the scenes it was mostly Haiji and KK having opposing views. Unless the “mutual” here is referring to their mutual stubbornness. In the words of my eldest, it’s quite a “bop”, whatever that means ;^_^.
Good Storytelling
The format of this episode was very well done. While I usually don’t like traveling back and forth in time, this was a very creative decision that worked splendidly. We got hooked very quickly seeing as to how the two characters met, then switched over to get introduced to the rest of the cast. Format-wise, this allows the viewers to immediately get invested in the characters.
Character-wise, it’s a clever decision on Haiji’s part. By introducing the tenants, he quickly puts Kakeru at ease. Having him see a bunch of decent friendly guys allows him to lower his guard a bit. Then, Haiji stating his purpose immediately afterwards to Kakeru, showing that he has nothing to hide: Yes, I’m taking you in, you are right, there is a catch, but I’m not about to murder you. I just want you to run.
As I mentioned earlier, I found it fascinating and very clever that Kakeru and Haiji are the last two to get introduced. I think this gives both characters a sense of mystery and keeps the viewers in suspense with regards to just who these two people are.
Best Quote
Yuki: “I can’t believe my first case after passing the bar will be my own civil trial.”
Nice touches:
I like how the dog barked when the fireworks went off, but only yawned at the tenants’ outraged outburst at Haiji’s announcement. Nira’s reaction could be considered as a reflection of Haiji’s character; the idea that dogs being similar to their owners (in this case honorary owner) and all that. Plus, that cute creature just makes this show better. And I don’t even like dogs.
Grade: 10/10. For all the reasons mentioned above, and additional ones mentioned below.
Voice actors:
Prince’s Seiyuu (what Voice Actors are called in Japanese) is Irino Miyu, one of my all-time favorites. Anime fans might recognize him as Shoya from “A Silent Voice”. If you haven’t already seen it, please do so. Feel free to purchase the manga collection while you’re at it. It’s available fully translated on Amazon.
Shindo’s Seiyuu is Uchiyama Kouki, another favorite. Anime fans might know him as Benedict from Violet Evergarden franchise, Yuuta from Me and You, and the blond kid from Barkamon.
Haiji’s VA was a lovely surprise to me: Toyonaga Toshiyuki is a prolific voice actor and singer but he sounded so different from where I have seen him (You and Me’s flowery character Shun) that I couldn’t recognize him. His layered performance here was the perfect choice for Haiji.
Kakeru’s VA is completely new to me. But he does a fantastic job and, like his character, his voice is the perfect foil to Haiji’s. I will be looking out for more of his work in the future.
Life Lessons (AKA the parent in me cannot help but give advice):
- I already mentioned this but it needs to be repeated. Always lock the door to the bathroom/changing room in public places.
- Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t follow them home. They could be psycho killers. Or human traffickers. Or organ thieves.
- Please have the decency to not smoke in-doors or where you might bother people who would rather not be subjected to second hand smoking. You are not only bothering them, but putting their health at risk. And being an a$$. Also, if you a Muslim, like me, it is against our religion to partake anything that may cause us harm. Your body is a gift from God, dear people. Please take care of it, for your own sake.
- The amount of alcohol consumed in the first episode alone is scary, although I’m glad the minors seemed to be sticking to juice (or was that green tea?). See above comment i.e. health.
- The fact that KK would rather walk off with Haiji rather than call his parents for help is disturbing to me. Maybe he’s afraid of being told off after losing his apartment deposit, which is understandable, but wrong. I hope most people know better than to do this. Also, parents, please raise your kids with enough love that, for any reason, they can come back to you if they are ever in trouble. That said, I do want to give Kakeru credit for being suspicious and on edge of Haiji the entire time, and only seeming to relax after meeting the rest of the guys and making sure he’s not being taken advantage. Well, not in a way that is harmful, anyway.
Trivia:
Shindo mentions that his hometown is in Yamagata. Anyone who has seen March Comes in Like a Lion (If you haven’t, add it to your “to watch” list. It’s fantastic) knows that this a mountainous rural region in the countryside (it’s Shimada’s hometown).
History:
Haiji mentioned “Kokishi Tsuburaya” in the episode. The author included him for a reason so I thought I’d be remiss not to look him up. I’m glad I did because it is quite possible that the whole premise of this show (and the novel it is based on) was inspired by this real-life tragedy. Here’s an article that I came across that I found extremely interesting and talks about him in detail.
Brief summary: Tsuburaya won the bronze medal in the Olympics despite the fact that he had chronic pain and an injury. But in the race he had almost won the silver medal so you could say he felt frustrated despite his achievement. He continued training hoping for a chance to win a bigger prize when his health deteriorated (he also suffered heartbreak). When he couldn’t run any longer, he committed suicide leaving behind a note thanking his entire family for all the food they had shared with him.
Conclusion
The fact that Haiji is the one who mentioned this athlete, Haiji’s injury, his wanting to run, and the fact that the ending theme song’s video is just a montage of Haiji running alone, raised a huge danger flag for me. In addition, I looked up the definition of Haiji. In katakana i got “Heidi” which is probably just a transliteration. But the Chinese character for “Hai” means “ash”, as in, the remnants of something that has been burnt. “ji” is usually used to denote time. It was written with two lines so I’m guessing it means “two”. All these facts give me a very bad feeling. Please know I am not a fluent Japanese speaker/reader. Babies probably know more. But this is what I got and if someone can confirm or clarify my efforts I would be grateful.
Disclaimers:
- With regards to discussion, I know it is very difficult but please only discuss the relevant episode in the comments so as to not spoil the show for others. I promise I plan to put up a post for every episode; I’ve already written notes on most of them, so be patient. I’m attempting to present the most comprehensive reviews possible but this will take time. This one took two weeks *_* Hopefully that’s because I’m out of practice. Plus, the first episodes always take the longest to write about. That said, while waiting for the next review, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this one. Which character made the biggest impression on you? What was your favorite quote and/or scene? Does anyone recognize the setting? I’m almost certain it’s in Tokyo, but I haven’t been able to find a picture exactly like the Buddha statue online. Sendai, where we know Kakeru is from, is from a neighboring prefecture about three hours away. It would be great if someone can confirm/correct these conclusions.
- Finally, I absolutely love this show. It is a rare gem full of relatable characters of unique personalities. The friendships within are gold and the writing is solid. That said, this is a blog that encourages canonical discussion. It is not a place to rant about your favorite pairings. Such comments will be deleted. I want to create a safe community for people to enjoy their favorite shows without being subjected to the (often depraved) fantasies of other fans. If this sounds like your cup of tea, welcome. Otherwise, there are other places that can cater to you better. I wish you well.
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