Run With the Wind Episode Ten Review: Our Speed

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

Nira in his dog house looks towards the Aotake building and whimpers. Inside the building, we see all the members of the Aotake gathered at the door to Haiji’s room.

King and Yuki sit by his bedside as an elderly doctor examines him. When he finishes he turns towards the tenants whom all hold their breath as they wait to hear the verdict.

“He’s overworked.”

They all stare back in disbelief.

The doctor tells the residents that while Haiji is anemic, at the moment he’s just sleeping.

“Sleeping?” Shindo repeats with wide eyes.

It’s true. We get a close up of Haiji’s sleeping face before the opening credits begin.

This was a such a great scene. Having the ever-cheerful Nira whimper is a reflection of his (surrogate) owner Haiji’s state. Seeing all the members gathered around Haiji’s room, besides themselves with worry, was heartwarming. I would have thought Nico and Kakeru would have been closest to his bedside, but Kakeru is hanging back farthest than anyone else (out of fear, I think). Meanwhile eldest Nico is watching over Haiji at the door while his peers Yuki and King sit closest to him.

-This is actually the first time we’ve seen his room. It’s a reminder of how little we actually know him. We still don’t know much seeing as the only glimpses we got was the shopping bag hanging on a hook near the door, and a single bookcase full of books. We don’t even see what books he has ;_; Probably on long distance races, nutrition, and how to raise healthy and active children who like to run.

-Shindo’s reaction represents viewers as well who have probably come up with all sorts of scenarios on what was wrong with Haiji. But this makes the most sense, given the clues we had gotten in the previous episode.

-I like how the episode immediately dealt with the Haiji issue and didn’t make the mistake of milking it for more drama.

Act One

The team members all see off the doctor in the yard.

-Perfect example of manners in Japanese culture.

After they all sigh in relief, Yuki remarks that even the injection the doctor administered Haiji didn’t wake up him.

Yuki: “He must really be exhausted.”

The twins mention that they can never tell when he actually sleeps “I thought he was fine without sleep.”

Musa adds that it’s not just training. Haiji does all the cooking as well.

At his words, Nico scratches the back of his neck.

The doctor’s diagnosis sparks a discussion amongst the Aotake members, sending them all into a period of pensiveness.

Prince, Kakeru and Nico

In the next scene, Nico, Prince and Kakeru are cleaning up the ruined fried rice.

KK says “It’s my fault. I made him worry.”

Nico tells him “You know that’s not true.” Prince then says that he caused him much more concern. He’s probably thinking about how Haiji has been training him one to one from the beginning.

Nico then states “It was everyone. All of us can think of something we did.” I think he’s not doubt remembering how much he made Haiji run after him to eat, and how much he had been panting. It had been unlike him so he was probably already pushing himself at that point.

Landlord/Coach Tazaki and Yuki

The landlord stands at the door of Haiji’s room praying. Yuki tells him to please stop, since it’s ominous.

Coach Tazaki says “I don’t know what to do in times like these.”

Yuki replies: “You don’t need to do anything.” But he then looks away, as if in regret.

Perhaps he is thinking what he himself should be doing, or what he should have done before things got to this point. Like the other’s he looks like he’s has something he feels guilty for. One thing that comes to mind is how Yuki told Haiji that he was worried about Nico, that he thought he was dangerously pushing himself. Maybe he’s wondering if he should have been more concerned with Haiji, who was essentially looking out for them all, instead of burdening him further with his concern.

King, Shindo, and Musa.

The three are gathered in (I think) Shindo’s room, where he says that they should run practice themselves the next morning. Musa agrees. King then says, “Come to think of the, clerical procedures like registering for meets were all Haiji’s job, too.”

Shindo starts counting on his fingers: “Supervisor-cum-coach-cum-manager-cum dorm leader, huh?

The trio looks solemn.

Cultural note: Managers (stereotypically girls) for sports teams in Japan take care of various things like providing meals and drinks and general support for the team. Remember how embarrassed Hana got when Sakaki assumed she was the manager? That’s cause it’s a pretty big job usually handled by several people. By supervisor, I think Shindo means the registration for the meets and so forth. We already knew Haiji was the dorm-leader and cook. He’s also the (unofficial but literal) coach.

His daily routine must be packed. He wakes up pre-dawn to prepare the team for their morning jog. Then he comes back and prepares their breakfast, goes to university, oversees their afternoon training, prepares their dinner. I had asked in the previous episode’s review when he ever runs himself. I’m guessing he squeezes that in either before their morning jog, or after. If we go by the ending theme song, he basically runs all times of the day, maybe whenever he can, which is why he’s always in his track suit. The only time he relaxes is in the bath house. But even in the evenings he’s the last one to sleep as he’s busy cleaning up after dinner; though we sometimes see Kakeru helping him.

-In the review for A Dangerous Character I mentioned that, after the track meet, Haiji might have not been as vocal as usual because he was tired from cooking. Now we know he was just tired overall. From the meet, from having to deal with unhappy children. I know first hand how exhausting that is, yet I completely missed it here.

Twins

At their room Jouta and Jouji are cleaning up after the party which ended abruptly. Jouji says, “We should at least take turns cooking.” Jouta agrees, but says that all he can cook is ochazuke (rice cooked in green tea). Jouji says that he too only has one dish in his repertoire: boiled pasta. The two realize that they have a more immediate concern than helping Haiji at the dorm.

Twins: “Can we survive without Haiji?”

Prince, Kakeru, Nico (continued)

Nico then takes this opportunity to tell Prince and KK to reconcile, reproaching them: “Quit the team if you don’t run fast enough? This is no time to be saying that.”

-I forgot to say this in the last episode’s review, but damn those twins have loose lips. Did they manage to tell everyone before remembering Haiji’s orders?

Kakeru looks a bit chastened at Nico’s words.

Prince points out that it wasn’t his idea. But Nico doesn’t let him off the hook either. “You’re his senior.”

I guess he means if Prince were more authoritative KK wouldn’t have said it in the first place? Or maybe that he should have shot down the suggestion immediately.

At this point Kakeru becomes defensive saying he was just expressing his misgivings. Nico warns him with an “Oi!” But Prince is quick to answer, “If that’s what you hurled at me then you’re just being a nuisance.”

He’s right. You shouldn’t make complaints without offering possible solutions if you want to be helpful. Especially if you’re on the same team.

But KK isn’t backing down. He attacks Prince with: “Just now you said you were making him worry. You are making him worry, aren’t you?”

Ouch.

That was a little below the belt, using Prince’s guilt. The lit student is visibly upset but can’t say anything. Whereas in their first scene the two were both blaming themselves, they’re now like kids fighting over who’s giving mom more grief.

-Kakeru should know that his attitude is just as troublesome, if not more, than Prince’s lack of speed.

Nico demands they cut it out, “Don’t ruin what Haiji entrusted to you”. Both react angrily.

Prince, KK: “You make it sound like he’s dead!”

Nico asks with a straight face. “You guys sure you don’t actually get along?”

Cultural Note: Unlike the English stereotype “opposites attract” what I’ve gleaned from 30 years as a fan of Japanese anime/culture is that the stereotype there is similar personalities should get along. Nico’s using Prince and KK’S identical reply to imply that they have more in common than they think. This is probably true. They’re both quiet types who only ever speak when it comes to their passions (manga and running, respectively) they’re both somewhat loners, and both care about Haiji.

That being said, Nico’s sentence sort of came out of nowhere and had almost nothing to do with the topic at hand. He was being a bit melodramatic and I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, whether he said it expecting the reaction the two would have, to show that they have something in common.

But, the fact of the matter is, before Haiji collapsed, these two were getting along fine after the whole team came together, runners and cheering squad. I don’t even know why Nico felt the need to rehash the argument. Maybe he wanted to make sure it was put to rest before Haiji woke up, hence the whole “Don’t ruin what Haiji entrusted to you”.

Ugh. I really hated that line. Cause I feel it was just used to set up Prince and KK’s reaction and I can’t seem to convince myself it wasn’t just a piece of bad writing. There. I said it. But that’s fine. Even this show isn’t perfect.

Back in his room Prince is on the treadmill, but it is now set on a higher speed than it was at first. In fact, I think he’s been steadily increasing its speed.

On the first floor, the motion of the treadmill sends dust flying once again through the ceiling of KK’s room. He’s sitting in contemplation, before he looks up at the ceiling.

Kakeru: “That’s not good enough, Prince.”

I’m pretty sure he means Prince’s speed, which would make sense seeing as how Prince is walking, not running, to be able to hold his manga.

We finally the episode title: Our Speed.

A clock shows the time is 6:05 am. It’s next morning. The team should have already started practice. But they haven’t yet.

Shindo asks Nico to take over as substitute Captain. Musa agrees, seeing as he’s the oldest and has most experience in track. Nico refuses saying he can’t afford to look out for others. King mentions that they never actually discussed who would be Captain.

-This makes sense as everyone (including viewers no doubt) naturally assumed it would be Haiji.

Shindo next turns to Yuki who says he expected to be asked but, but “I refuse.” This sends Prince’s heart aflutter thinking he’s referencing Jojo’s Bizarre adventure (haven’t seen it, but recognized the art style).

His T-shirt has “heart” written on it

Jouta, to Prince:”What are you doing?”

Prince: Don’t you know? “I refuse”?

Yuki of course isn’t doing anything of the sort. He tells the others that he still doesn’t think they can make it to Hakone.

King: “You’re still saying that?”

The twins too, are disappointed that even after all the practices they’ve had, Yuki is being skeptical. He doesn’t care, says that he wouldn’t know how to lead the team, and that he won’t do it.

-This completely fits Yuki’s perfectionist personality. He’s not the type to take over something just because he was asked. One thing I thought/felt is that he seemed annoyed as he said this. We know that he started reading up on running. Maybe he wishes that he did know enough to take the job, in light of how much pressure Haiji has been under.

Shindo then asks Kakeru to take over, much to King’s disappointment. Shindo points out that he knows King would never want to do it. The older man says that he would at least like to be asked, to be able to refuse, as a Senpai.

Jouta (under his breath): “I can’t respect him even a little bit.”

King’s obsession with the Senpai/Kouhai hierarchy rears its head once again. Methinks, outside of it, he has a hard time dealing with people.

Kakeru says that he doesn’t mind taking over practice, but adds, looking at Prince, “I may not be gentle.”

This sends the team into a frenzy, with the older ones getting angry and the younger ones excited. The twins look like they might be mocking him, though.

Everyone has something to say, except, ironically, Prince, who knows that Kakeru’s words were directed at him. His shirt still says “heart” on it though, so he might be nervous.

Meanwhile, Haiji tries to leave his room only to find out that he can’t. The door has been blocked from the outside with heavy cardboard boxes.

A sign has been taped to his door “Absolute and total rest.” And some tea flavored rice porridge left on his bedside.

Haiji: “Is this torture?”

Hee! It would be to someone used to being up and about most hours of the day. But next to the food is what looks like a white board propped up with books with messages written on it from the boys. Also an African mask which looks a bit eerie and could be the reason for Haiji’s apprehension.

The messages were very interesting to me. The twins tell Haiji, “Have some porridge!” and that’s it. It’s probably the only thing that came to their mind and I can’t hate them for it. They sign with their nicknames which we know are a mashup of their first and last names and probably what they’ve been called their whole lives. It’s as endearing as they are.

Prince wrote: “I’ll lend you some of my comics.” So the books behind the whiteboard might actually be his manga. By now viewers should know that to him this is the ultimate expression of love. He signs his note using his last name, Kashiwazaki. This fits his manner of speaking; polite, if a little distant. Also fits his character: I think Prince is a name given to him by others based on his looks, not something he chose himself.

Kakeru’s message is very simple and to the point. “Take care.” I can see him agonizing over what to write before finally settling on those two words. Knowing him, they’re actually very expressive. He also signs using his last name, Kurahara, despite Haiji always calling him by his first name. Like Prince, he’s being formal, maybe too formal for friends. Another similarity between these two.

King’s message also has Haiji’s well-being in mind. Not surprising as we saw how worried he was sitting by Haiji’s bedside: “You need to rest!!” But the rest of it isn’t too helpful, “They said eating meat when you’re sick is good for you”. If you’re going to recommend meat, you should provide some, King. This awkwardness and him signing using his “self proclaimed” title matches his personality.

Musa tries to be helpful: “This African mask will protect you from evil!” It’s a lovely gesture from the considerate exchange student who signs using his given name first then his family name. I think he does this because it’s probably how he signs all his exchanges, like they were official memos. At least in my head he does.

Cultural Note: In Japan first names always come second. Of course Musa knows this, so it was a personal decision. Subtle but nice characterization.

Language Note: Musa is Moses in Arabic, Kamara is the feminine form for the masculine word Qamar (which means moon), so Musa might be from the Arabic speaking regions of Tanzania.

Shindo, likewise, signs with his first and last name, though like all Japanese his family name comes first. It matches his serious personality. It also shows that he doesn’t have any particular attachment to his nickname, which means “genius” or “prodigy”. He’s humble and his message reveals his trademark conscientiousness: “I’m sorry for always relying on you for everything! Get well soon.” This remorse from the only member who went out of his way to do something for the team, thinking of the budget and making T-shirts to help create a fan club and jogging evenings to promote the team. Like Yuki always says about him, Shindo really is a “damn honor roll student” which I’m guessing is Japanese for “goody two shoes” but in the positive sense. His parents sure raised him well.

Yuki’s message touched me a lot because it shows what I’ve been suspecting for a while now: “Sorry. Get some rest!!! Sleep well, rest well.” He’s a very caring individual and he actually feels guilty for not having done more to help Haiji. I like how he signs his message with his nickname. Unlike the others, it’s just an abbreviation of his actual name. Like the twins, it’s probably what most people call him. He’s also close enough to be on a first name basis with Haiji and isn’t concerned about showing it. And why should he be? They are the same age and have been living together for four years. It’s normal.

Last but not least is Nico: “Get well soon!” Well, maybe least on the board, but surely not emotionally. He didn’t even bother signing his name. Nico is a private person, so I think what’s not being said is as important as the generic message that is there. And Haiji would probably get that.

Back to the team: It looks like Kakeru won’t have time to make any changes to the training menu, as he takes over Haiji, tagging along with Prince during morning practice. Not that I think he had anything planned. Like I said, his “I may not be gentle” was mostly directed at Prince.

Prince tells him “You don’t have to do what Haiji does.” Kakeru argues “If I leave you alone, you’ll fall farther and farther behind. Everyone’s else’s pace is increasing. Their efforts will be ruined because of you. Buck up and take this seriously.”

Prince and the Zombie. Which is which?

Well, he didn’t lie about not being gentle. Though his tone wasn’t cruel either, just matter of fact. Actually, that might be worse. Being dispassionate could be interpreted as being uncaring.

Prince takes it pretty well, however. He asks Kakeru how long he’s been so fast, and guesses since he was a child, since he’s a genius at it. KK tells him that’s not true. Prince replies, “Then try talking at my speed”.

In one sentence, he managed to silence Kakeru completely. Everyone knows Kakeru isn’t good at talking. Just like Prince is terrible at running. Him asking Kakeru to talk at his speed is his way of reminding him that different people have different talents…and weaknesses.

Kakeru stops for a bit and studies Prince as he runs. When they return to Aotake, he berates him for going to read manga, and tells him he has to change out of his sweaty clothes first. Prince snaps back “Freshness is everything!” Much to Kakeru’s confusion.

A feminine voice agrees and the two looks towards the door to see that Hana-chan has come to Aotake. After hearing that Haiji collapsed she brought ingredients from her father’s store, knowing that he won’t be able to go shopping that day. As soon as she arrives the twins run up to her like she’s a savior, and ask her to cook for them.

We’re taken to mid episode break and the adorable Nira.

Act Two

After the break we see the Aotake members outside the WC, holding their stomachs in pain and waiting desperately for Musa to finish so that they can have their turn in the bathroom.

– I love how there was a shot of a flower in the garden giving us a hint of how this mysterious case of food poisoning come about.

Burned and drenched in seasoning.

The culprit can be seen occupying the kitchen. Hana apologizes and wonders if her cooking is not to the team’s taste.

She asks Prince and Kakeru what they think of the food. The two reply simultaneously.

“It’s good.”

Then glare at each other, annoyed that, for the second time they had the exact same reaction. The thing is that they really do look like they’re fine with her food and not just being kind. It’s a unique thing to have in common. They must like strong flavors.

Hana is glad, and tells them her family loves her cooking, so much that her dad cries every time he eats it.

-Dear sweet unsuspecting Hana doesn’t know the rest of the Kansei team has turned into dried up husks. Or that her dad probably cries out of misery as he’s eating.

That evening the twins check in on Haiji thinking he must have had enough rest. They find his room empty.

The two inform Nico and Yuki that he vanished. Their elders panic, but when they learn that the twins forgot to account for Haiji’s window, and the fact that his room is on the ground floor, they in turn realize that they forgot to account for the twins’ stupidity.

-This scene where Jota and Jouji were analyzing what must have happened like it was a great mystery from Detective Conan was fun. As were the reactions of Yuki and Nico.

The would be lawyer says,“We were stupid to let them handle it,” meaning that the window should have been blocked, too. Nico wonders where Haiji went. The twins don’t know but tell them the Ochazuke they’d left for Haiji was finished. “So, he’s well enough to eat and escape through a window?” The older two conclude that he must be fine, then.

-Yuki is hanging out in Nico’s room. This is progress. I like to think they were talking about Haiji and how to lessen the burden on him.

It’s almost sunset and Kakeru is running by himself. Afternoon practice must have been cancelled due to most of the team having food poisoning and dehydration.

He’s surprised when he sees Haiji, with his shopping bag and Nira, at the doctor’s clinic. He’s thanking him for his house call. Nira’s bark, as always, alerts him of KK presence.

The doc tells Haiji he shouldn’t have come just to thank him and puts a hand on his shoulder, telling him he’s a fine young man.

It only lasted a second, but the shot felt poignant, somehow. Like it was meant to show how those living outside the Aotake see, and are able to support Haiji, in ways those closest to him can’t. Particularly Kakeru, who was in the center of shot.

Or he may just be considering how respectful Haiji acts with the adults. I wonder what other fans think.

The next scene shows the two runners sitting at the park bench with Haiji laughing after being informed of Kakeru and Prince’s conversation. “You totally lost that argument,” he tells his unamused companion. He then adds “There’s no beating Prince when it comes to sophistry,” before adding that it’s not actually sophistry, meaning Prince does have a point.

Kakeru surprises Haiji when he asks “Will he be all right?” Then points out that he saw Prince properly for the first time, and that he has no form at all. “He needs to be corrected.

Haiji doesn’t respond to this. Rather he repeats Kakeru’s words: “You got a proper look for the first time.” 

Caught, Kakeru starts to respond, but doesn’t know what to say. Haiji saves him the trouble and kindly says,

“I’m not criticizing you. You had your own problems. But I think he was watching you and waiting to see when you’d look his way. You’re always looking forward.” He then adds, “Prince isn’t the only one. Everyone is running behind you. Until you turn around, you’ll never see them from where you are. You won’t see who is running where, and how.”

It’s a continuation of their conversation before Haiji collapsed. At Haiji’s words, Kakeru remembers the meet the day before, and how, for the first time, he saw how hard his teammates were running.

I think he understands what Haiji is saying. Prince, like the others, is trying just as hard in his own way. He’s not running “half-assed” any more than the others were. But Kakeru had been treating him as if he was.

I love how Haiji seamlessly switched the topic from Prince’s form to Kakeru’s attitude. He knows, even if KK’s concern is genuine, he won’t be able to help Prince if he doesn’t change the way he sees him. Before correcting Prince, Kakeru has to correct his misconception about him.

Kakeru takes in Haiji’s words silently and thoughtfully. There is tangible remorse in his contemplation, even. I think he realizes that if he hadn’t been forced to sit out the meet, he might never have considered, or even bothered, looking at his teammates.

Kakeru in the light, for once. Symbolic of enlightenment

This was such a gorgeous scene drawn and voiced perfectly. Then you have the wind slowly swaying through Kakeru’s hair, again hinting at a coming change, with Haiji calmly watching over him, and the background music. These are the type of scenes I search for in entertainment: intimate, revealing, thoughtful, and above all, beautiful.

Haiji smiles gently in satisfaction, as if he knows something is shifting for the better within Kakeru. He gives him a moment to gather his thoughts before telling him it’s time to go home. And that he might actually get sicker, seeing that he only had Ochazuke to eat all day.

Music: The title of track here is Meteor and I think it refers to Kakeru. They’re both beautiful when they move. They’re also fast and never stop till they’re done.

Back at Aotake, the Kansei track team members have gathered for dinner and are in tears upon seeing the glorious spread Haiji has set for them.

He apologizes for worrying them and tells them to eat as much as they want. Everyone cries in happiness. The uninhibited twins even hug him.

He then mentions that he learned that Hana cooked for them, with her own ingredients and how he has to thank her.

-Kakeru really must have been fine with Hana’s cooking. I’m guessing he’s the one who told Haiji, as the dorm cook obviously hasn’t yet heard of the collective case of food poisoning. At his reference to the incident, everyone suddenly turns to ashen mannequins, remembering their ordeal.

Later, Kakeru visits Prince in his room, asking Prince if he can borrow some manga.

He’s so delighted he can’t breathe.

Kakeru misunderstands Prince’s reaction and becomes defensive, saying that he doesn’t have anything in his room.

-Oh, boy Kakeru, you’re in for a ride. Basically, you have just fulfilled every otaku’s dream: the chance to introduce/talk about their favorite fiction. Just so you know, there’s no going back here.

But I think Prince may be a bit skeptical as he asks Kakeru if he’s fine with romance, like he’s testing him. Or it could just be what he’a currently into.

Later, We see KK sitting on Prince’s futon (the only space available) with a manga in hand. He watches as Prince reads while walking on the treadmill and tells him he’s good at that.

Kakeru here is making a genuine effort to get closer to Prince and make amends, after giving him so much grief. He probably remembered how excited Prince was when he tried to recruit him for the manga club. It’s such a Haiji thing to do! Remember Haiji telling Yuki he’ll go clubbing with him as teammates need to respect and understand each other.

As he sees Prince on the treadmill an idea occurs to Kakeru.

He exclaims “That’s it!” Surprising Prince and causing him to hilariously fall.

The next day he tells Prince he’ll hold his manga for him as he runs, seeing how on the treadmill Prince’s form is much better than on the road, because he stands straighter to be able to read. “It brings your center of gravity forwards. “

With Haiji leading the way, to keep them from running into anything, they conduct the experiment. It works! Prince then asks them to wait as he puts up his hair so that he can see better.

-Like girls cutting their hair, this is symbolic of a new resolve.

Prince explains that he couldn’t see before because of his bangs. Haiji ruefully asks “What were you looking at all this time” but not loud enough to be heard by anyone.

When they arrive at the river, Kakeru ask Prince to try running, only this time alone without a volume in front of him, using his imagination alone. The others observe and they all notice the bizarre way his hands swing, even though his posture is better.

Shindo says quietly, “There’s a lot I want to say about that.” While the younger twin points out, “I bet it would be fun if we put bells in his hands.”

-LOL!! It would.

Their collective reaction is priceless.

Jouta tries mimicking him as he thinks, “Why does he do that?” Before coming to a realization, “I know! It’s like when he’s reading comics!”

Kakeru agrees that Prince arms are fixed in a reading position even when running. Yuki states how amazed he is that Prince could run like that.

-You and everyone else, Yuki.

Kakeru says, “We’re not short distance runners so there’s no need for sweeping arm movements. But I’d like to fix his habit of holding them in place.”

The problem is solved by putting a few manga volumes in each hand and asking Prince to pretend he’s running to his room to read.

Prince: “I can’t wait to go back to my room and read.”

As they watch Haiji tells Nico, “You’ve got your color back.” The older resident responds, “I’ve been eating. I don’t want you worrying unnecessarily.”

I always knew he cared.

Haji thanks him. Nico then tells him “You really don’t miss a thing,” then looks at Kakeru and Prince, “What about them? You could have intervened anytime. Did you stay out of it because you knew this would happen?”

Haiji says “No way. I intended to fix things if I had to. But I didn’t think it would ever really be his if he’d learned to run that way. A truly fortunate error.”

-It’s just like Haiji to want Prince to discover his running form on his own. Though I think it wouldn’t have hurt to give him more pointers. Even Haiji isn’t perfect. Like he said, it was an error on his part, but it worked out in the team’s favor.

Next, we get a wonderfully edited montage that depicts how KK has taken a genuine interest in Prince. Even after Haiji gets better he continues training with him, holding manga up for him as he runs on his treadmill and helping him stretch.

We even see them reading manga together, though Prince is, of course, the faster reader as shown by how quickly he flips his pages. It’s not just about running anymore. They’ve become friends. During training, Prince starts watching Kakeru’s form as he runs and tries to copy it. He can do this now because Kakeru is no longer running ahead, he’s running close to him.

Prince’s form becomes better. So does Kakeru’s reading. The scene ends with the two, finally, flipping their respective manga pages at the same time.

How beautiful and uplifting. I love this show.

At their next meet, when Prince’s exhaustion has him reverting back to his improper form, Kakeru yells at him from behind and stops next to him to encourage him: “Forward!”

Zoom in to see the reflection in his eyes.

Prince is as shocked as everyone. But KK’s words pull him up, he straightens his back once again and tells Kakeru “Seriously, you never shut up!” He then says that he’s fine and to go on ahead.

It is an extremely touching moment. Especially given that KK had been about to break his old record. A few onlookers exclaim at Kakeru’s action, saying that he was going to get a great time. Even his teammates are touched, but none more than Haiji. I wonder if he was hoping for this, given that he only registered Prince and Kakeru for the meet.

More than Prince’s corrected form, Kurahara looking out for his teammate, rather than be obsessed with his time, was the greatest achievement. You see Haiji’s hand quiver as he holds the timer, obviously overcome with joy at KK’s emotional growth.

Even when he crosses the finish line KK doesn’t even look at his watch. Instead he turns and immediately starts cheering for Prince. The entire team is doing so and Prince manages to put in the smallest increment of speed.

The Kansei members all meet him at finish line. Kakeru, who was in the race, is naturally the first by his side.

Kakeru: “You did it. You made it!”

“Don’t make a fuss. I still have a long way to go.” Prince gasps out as he’s stretched on the floor. Kakeru replies, “Yes you do. You can go much faster.”

“Shut up!” Prince shouts, hilariously angry. I don’t know why he’s so pissed but it’s funny. Maybe because he’s already dead tired but is being told he has to go even faster (though he knows at well, but it might grate coming from “faster than the speed of light” Kakeru). I think he’s also still astounded at how Kakeru matched his speed during the race and that while it must have made him happy it must have also frustrated him somewhat, having to be looked after like that.

To further ingrain just how amazing this team is, we see the confused expressions of random onlookers trying to figure out why they are making such a big deal over Prince’s time: (29:26:26).

“What’s so great about that?”

His companion replies, “Who knows.

The cheerful twins quickly yell out “To celebrate breaking 30 minutes!” And to the random pair’s astonishment they see Prince’s teammates flinging him in the air in absolute joy.

The terrified Prince yells with tears in his eyes the entire time.

Conclusion

The title of the episode, Our Speed, refers to Kakeru’s understanding that, for better or for worse, the team’s speed is what really matters. Whereas he used to see this as a weakness and expected everyone to just be serious and become faster on their own, he now knows speed is a goal for the team to work at together.

This is one of the best parts of the show. It’s not about comparing yourself to others, rather comparing your progress to yourself and celebrating even the smallest of gains and using them to push yourself further. And to have people close to you who are able to understand that and celebrate it with you is one of life’s greatest gifts.

Kansei may not be the fastest team, but you know that they’re the most special one.

Grade: 10/10.

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