Run With the Wind Episode 11 Review: Overflowing Drops

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.

Note: This episode flew under my radar the first time around. Though, to be honest I went through them all like popcorn. But upon re-watching them and savoring them more like the most decadent Japanese cheesecake I realized that it had so many vital elements. Without further ado…

Prologue

It is raining. A sign tells us that the team is at the Kikui University track meet while a bell alerts us that is the last lap. King, Nico, Kakeru, Prince and Haiji cheer on the twins, Musa, Shindo, and Yuki who are participating in the race. The twins and Musa finish in time and managed to achieve records. They jump in delight.

Maybe it’s the heavy rain, maybe they had already expected it, but the rest of the team’s reaction seems a bit subdued. Except for King who has been endearing himself to me more as of late.

Look how happy he is for them!

Haiji turns to look at the track where Shindo and Yuki are still running with a solemn look on his face.

I know that look and how’s he feeling. It’s when you are so happy for one child but at the same time feel pained because the other isn’t doing so well. Parents want all their kids to do well. And in Haiji’s case all his runners have to all get records if they’re to go to Hakone. Because the celebrating trio’s times were barely enough to make it (Jouji: 16:20: 37, Jouta: 16:21:18, Musa: 16:29:31) we know that Shindo and Yuki didn’t.

Act One

The team is at the Tsuro no yo bathhouse where the team members are all soaking in the baths. Except for the twins who gleefully splash water onto Musa despite his protest that they’ll bother the others. So overcome with joy they do not seem to notice the moroseness of their friends a few feet away; a good thing to be honest.

Haiji quickly cuts through the silence. He tells Yuki and Shindo, “Everyone’s unique. Naturally so are runners.” He goes on to say that different runners do well on different terrains, inclines, etc. How some go for sprints at the end while others maintain a steady pace. “Everyone’s good at something different.”

-Haiji happens to be soaking closest to Yuki and Shindo. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. He probably did so knowing they’ll be needing moral support.

-I like how the rest of the team listens in absolute silence. Perhaps they are also absorbing the information he gives for their own benefit as well. Beside’s Kakeru, they don’t have records either. But I think its mostly because they don’t want to interfere; they realize Haiji is trying to set their friends’ mind at ease.

Yuki realizes this as well. He tells Haiji, “So we shouldn’t worry? Uniqueness certainly sounds nice but doesn’t that mean that some people aren’t suited to running at all?”

Shindo adds that he’s worried.

Haiji again tries to reassure them by telling them that times aren’t everything. Yuki points out that they have a time that they must achieve or they can’t get to Hakone. Haiji starts to say that if they feel what they’re doing is working, but get’s interrupted by Yuki: “But we’re amateurs. Unless you tell us what’s working, we won’t know what is.”

-It’s just like Yuki to be so persistent. This reminds me of Nico’s conversation with Kakeru when he told him it takes courage to face something head on. Yuki (means snow, but also means courage) certainly has plenty of that and so doesn’t want Haiji to spare his feelings. He wants an answer.

Haiji looks unhappy, as if he hadn’t wanted to get into this topic. “True to its name, long distance running is a battle of endurance. It’s not easy to compare results.” But before he can say anything else, Shindo stands up from the bath, scaring everyone when he says, “Sorry, but I’m at my limit.” When he senses everyone’s apprehension he quickly clarifies, “I meant with the water.”

The episode title is shown just then. The timing is foreshadowing that the Overflowing Drops of the title, isn’t just referring to the rain, but also to Shindo.

We next see the team gathered in the yard wearing identical large raincoats. King asks if it’s even possible to run in them. Haiji responds that they have no choice since not all of them have running wear suitable for rainy weather. A twin mentions that they really need to hurry and buy identical tracksuits. Haji points out that these coats are only temporary.

Nira barks excitedly, but Haiji tells him he’ll have to stay home today. The dog whimpers sadly, before shaking off his fur and splashing everyone.

-Like I said, I see Nira as an extension of Haiji. His being sad here is also foreshadowing.

The team runs with great difficulty in the rain. Yuki complains that it’s hot under the coats. King points out that they’re so stuffy they might as well be getting rained on. Only Shindo tries to find a silver lining: Let’s imagine that’s the point of this exercise. A truck with an ogre drawn on it speeds by splashing them all.

In Musa’s room, Jouta says he feels like he just came from the pool. Jouji agrees, saying that he’s exhausted. Musa tells them to dry off properly. The lazy two discuss not showering that day, counting the rain water as their bathing for the day. Their older roommate asks them to please go back to their room. They respond that it leaks when it rains.

-I love how these two just hijack whatever room they want whenever they feel like it/need to. I think they can only do that because their room is always used for gatherings, that, plus they’re so childlike it seems hard for the others to tell them no.

Shindo pops in to greet them before he goes to University, saying he’s got a class first period. After he leaves, Jouji remarks that he never skips his classes. The “unlike us” is inferred. Jouta then asks Musa if Shindo is ok, seeing as how “He seemed pretty depressed after yesterday’s meet. And he’s so earnest.” Musa seems worried, but doesn’t say anything.

A good friend.

-So, they did notice. It’s actually nice of them not to have said anything. Knowing Shindo, it probably would have saddened him for them to be concerned for him when they should be celebrating. That’s probably why Musa didn’t talk to him either, based on his depressed reaction.

-Jouta asking Musa about Shindo is more continuity how everyone knows that the two are best friends.

Jouji then points out that since Shindo has a girlfriend, they don’t need to worry about him. Meaning, he has someone to comfort him. Jouta agrees, annoyed. But then the two wonder when he has time to meet her, seeing how busy he is with training and classes. Musa says maybe during school. The twins ask if he’s met her. Musa says he hasn’t, and that none of the dorm mates have.

The twins then go off on a tangent, scared that maybe Shindo made her up because of the pressure he’s been under. They act a conversation with his imaginary girlfriend, meeting up with him apologizing for being late on a date. They then drop it realizing how scary that would be if it were true.

Seriously, these two

Even gentle Musa has had it with them.

At a convenience store, we see Kakeru buy himself lunch. On his way out he stops to look at the magazine rack.

“Monthly Track and Field Report” catches his interest.

The scene then switches to “Iimura Chiropractic Clinic” where we see Haiji getting a therapeutic massage from the chiropractor (I’ll call him Iimura-sensei).

Language note: Sensei is a title used in Japan to refer to teachers, writer, and doctors, amongst others). It can be used alone or added at the end after a person’s name.

Iimura-sensei tells him “You’ve been protecting the opposite side,” as he checks his non-scarred leg. Haji replies “I’m trying to be conscious of it.”

-I’m guessing he means the weight distribution on his legs? Maybe he’s been hesitant to run on the injured leg for so long that his other leg was starting to get affected, hence the decision to protect it. It’s all conjecture on my part. I’d love to hear what others may think.

Iimura tells him encouragingly, “Once something breaks you’ve got no choice except to take your time fixing it.” Haiji replies with a quiet “Yes, sir.”

-So Haiji isn’t yet fully recovered. He has a far away look in his eyes, like he’s forcing himself to accept that fact. You can’t blame him. It’s been years since his injury. He previously told Kakeru that it’ll take him six months to regain his speed. I guess he still hasn’t. I am glad to see he has someone helping maintain his leg. It’s totally in character. Like Yuki once told Nico, they’ll have nothing if they’re injured.

Back at Aotake, we see Haiji’s shopping bag on the kitchen table, along with a bookstore envelope. He is looking at something with boring eyes and a set mouth. It’s a new expression on him.

He is holding the same magazine Kakeru had been eyeing at the convenience store. But we can now see that it has a picture of Fujioka on the cover.

He lets out a breath through his nose and says, “Damn that Fujioka.”

-This is the first time we have seen Haji express something akin to jealousy. It’s fascinating to me that this emotion isn’t directed at Kakeru, whom we know he reveres as a runner, but rather at Fujioka, someone from his past.

It is still raining in the afternoon. We see that the public track where the team usually trains has been closed due to the rain. Shindo suggests running in the field where they usually do cross country running. Yuki refuses, as the mud makes it hard to run in. Nico points out that he just doesn’t want to get dirty, before glancing at Haiji and asking him what to do.

It’s Kakeru who answers, saying to use the roads, they just have to avoid the cars. Haji agrees, “We’ll choose the safest course we can.”

Prince looks insanely cute here, almost like a child.

When they finish the group once again goes to the bath house. We see Nico get on the scale in the changing room. This time he pumps his fist in happiness. Looks like his body finally started responding the all the exercise he’s been doing and he lost some kilos. Haiji’s advice to not panic and take it slow was on point.

In the washing area Yuki asks if they can’t use the club budget to buy rain-proof running wear, adding that the money should be used wisely. Shindo informs him that they only have 15 members in their fan club. Yuki is shocked to learn that. Shindo then adds that they don’t even have enough money to buy matching track uniforms. Musa points out that everyone in the shopping district is supporting them, but it’s still not enough.

Cultural note: It occurred to me that not everyone might know the etiquette of public Japanese baths. This is what I remember off the top of my head when I researched it many years ago and based on what Japanese people have told me: first you wash, then you soak. That way the bath remains clean and the reason it is so hot is that it’s usually set to boiling so that the heat disinfects the water. The soaking is strictly therapeutic for relaxation purposes, not washing. In family homes, the same bath water is used by multiple people after they shower, and it is boiled in between use for each person. That way the water isn’t wasted.

King wishes there was a Quiz show on that he could participate in, so he’d win them the prize money. Musa wonders if they can participate in something that would gain them recognition, and hence, more sponsors. Yuki concurs, and turns asks Kakeru if he knows of any. Kakeru confirms there is one: The All-Japan Intercollegiate Championship. Haiji, silent through this conversation, is shown soaking alone; hinting that he had been listening the whole time.

-We’ve heard of this competition before. It’s the one Fujioka said he’d be focusing on in his interview at the team’s first meet. Based on the fact that he was featured on the magazine cover, it’s safe to say that he and his team won it.

Love the art in this show.

On the way back home the twins and Musa look it up on their phones, and find out that it was in May. Haiji asks Kakeru if he read Fujoka’s article. Kakeru replies “I happen to have.”

-He must have guessed so based on KK’s answer to the others. Or maybe Haiji left the magazine for him on the kitchen table to see.

Haiji then tells Kakeru that “There was some curious things written in it.” We’re then shown a picture of Fujioka’s interview, and hear it narrated in his voice: “I ran the race I wanted this time. But there are more strong runners hiding in Kanto (their district). We’re then shown the scene of his interview, where Fujioka is telling a group of reporters, “I believe they’ll be ready by the time Ekiden season rolls around. I’ll make sure not to underestimate them as I wait.”

-So we already knew this, but Fukioka really is a straight up guy. Very humble. I’m guessing he means Haiji’s team here, specifically Kakeru who tried beating him the only time they raced against each other.

Haji then asks Kakeru if he knows what the strongest compliment is to a long distance runner. Kakeru guesses “Is it to call him fast?” Haiji negates this.

Haiji: “It’s to call him strong.”

This is the word Fujioka used in his interview. Haiji put a lot of emphasis on this word when he said it. Kakeru is a bit surprised. He repeats the word, “Strong?”

Act Two

After the mid episode break we see Kakeru helping Haiji out in the kitchen.

-While he would do so occationally before, I think Kakeru now has taken this as a permanent role, after Haiji’s collapse. He’s cutting carrots, rangiri style which means he either has some background knowledge of cooking or Haji taught him.

As he does this Haiji elaborates on what he told him previously, “You can’t survive long distance running on speed alone. You hold out through difficult phases to keep on moving your body forward. Every day, you have to push yourself a little harder in practice. What long distance runners need is strength.”

Somehow he seems very morose as he says this. We find out why soon enough.

Haiji continues, “Fujioka is strong, both as a runner and as a captain.”

-How would he know this? Was Fujioka Haiji’s captain in the past? Or is Haiji comparing the current Captain Fujioka is to himself, as Kansei’s team captain?

His eyes seem like they’re looking at an invisible entity as he continues speaking.

“But Fujioka is Fujioka. I regret that we weren’t able to show him your abilities at the inter college. But there’s no need to panic. Believe in yourself. It takes time to become stronger.” 

-There’s a distinct feeling here that Haiji’s addressing himself, whether he’s doing this consciously or subconsciously, I’m not sure.

Kakeru who had been listening quietly finally speaks, and unwittingly points this out. He tells Haiji, “Fujioka is on your mind, too. I understand what you’re trying to say, but why are you telling me this now?”

Haiji is projecting his emotions onto Kakeru. The latter somehow sensed that Haiji’s words didn’t actually apply to his own situation. But he lacks the insightt that would allow him to understand Haiji’s intent in saying them. Hence his question.

Kakeru: “Are you anxious?”

Haiji: “Anxious?”

-For his part, Haiji seems bemused by the question. Well, that answers my previous query. Haiji “doesn’t miss anything” seems like he hadn’t realized his own feelings. It’s unlike him. And sad.

Kakeru answers that half their members still have yet to achieve official records. Especially Shindo and Yuki who haven’t improved in a month, “despite practicing so hard.”

-It’s nice to see Kakeru giving his teammates credit here. He has officially changed for the better as a teammate; no longer making assumptions based on his teammates’ performances. Rather, he is seeing the actual work they are putting in.

Kakeru then repeats his question, “Is that why?” thinking that Haiji must be concerned for the team as well. He goes on to say that after Prince improved, he felt like he started to understand running a bit. But now he realizes it’s still very difficult.

Kakeru: “Honestly, I’m anxious.”

Haiji doesn’t reply. There is nothing for him to say.

– I think the reason is, perhaps for the first time, the cause for his anxiety is Haiji himself. Kakeru was able to pinpoint Haiji’s emotion, but not it’s cause. He naturally wonders if Haiji’s anxiousness, like his own, was born out of worry for for teammates. This makes sense considering Haiji’s conversation with Yuki and Shindo. There’s also the fact that the team has always been his first and foremost concern.

-Kakeru here is being both expressive and honest. He has grown. But Haiji despite being so vocal, wasn’t being honest. I think, again, because he himself didn’t realize what he was out of sorts for. But after talking to Kakeru, I’m sure he now knows. Though I doubt he’ll share.

-Haiji hasn’t yet managed to recovered %100, and is therefore unable to perform the way he wants to. Add to that, Fujioka’s article triggered emotions of unease within him. I’m pretty sure he knows or at least suspects that Fujioka was referring to KK in his interview, not Haiji. I don’t think that in itself upset him. But he does seem to regret not letting KK race in the inter college. Even though he had been the one to decide they’d focus only on preparing for Hakone. Maybe, because KK is on his team, he feels like he can compete against Fujioka, if only vicariously. After all, we’ve never seen him look at Kakeru with anything other than admiration. Never envy. And so, he talks to KK as if wanting to mollify him for not joining the intercollegiate race. Then there is the possibility that he’s also mourning the fact that he himself would never have been able to do well against Fujioka, had he been able to join.

We next see Shindo, Yuki and Musa in Nico’s room. Shindo is giving Nico instructions for, we later learn, a website he decided to make for the team. Musa tells Yuki that this will help get support even from people who live far away. Shindo adds, “We’ll never get anywhere if we just wait.” Yuki, impressed, points out, “And you’ve got seminars tomorrow, too. You’re truly amazing, Shindo.” The humble Shindo is quick to remind Yuki that he passed the bar in one try. Yuki replies, “Well, yeah,” in a blasé tone, suppressing a yawn. Nico tells Shindo that he’s going to bed, and to wake him up if he needs anything. Meaning, Shindo is going to continue working late into the night. before going off to bed. Yuki takes off for bed as well. Musa asks his friend not to push himself before he leaves. Shindo tells him to not worry and bids him good night.

The next morning, Shindo is rushing to meet his girlfriend who’s waiting for him at the entrance of a café/restaurant. Over drinks, Shindo is dealt a huge blow when his girlfriend tells him they should break up seeing as how there’s something he’d rather be spending his time on more than her. The poor boy refutes this, but she’s not changing her mind. He hangs his head.

-It’s like a retake of the skit Jouji and Jouta played earlier in the episode, where they pretended to be Shindo and his make-belief girlfriend. Only we now know she’s real. And unlike in the skit where he managed to charm her into forgiving him, his real-life girlfriend is not as understanding.

Lady, you did not just do this.

Poor Shindo. You deserve better, son. Nothing against her, but it’s not like his training for Hakone is permanent. It might be that she has a needy personality. No problem there. But if she couldn’t support him during a few months then she won’t be able to support him through other things in his future. Life is hard. He deserves someone able to be there for him even if it means patiently waiting for him.

Parental advice: I have to give Shindo’s ex her due credit: she knows what she wants and if he can’t provide the attention that she needs then good on her for recognizing that. Self awareness is possibly the most important factor in making relationships work.

–Cultural note: In Japan there’s a belief, legend, or story (I forget what exactly) that those with beauty marks under their eyes, located on the path that tears take, are destined to be heartbroken. I should have know his relationship was doomed from the start.

It is afternoon practice and has Shindo just finishes being timed. Haiji tells them to cool down, since they’re done for the day, when Shindo interrupts him with an “Excuse me. I want to run one more.” He hangs his head, sweat, and what we the audience know are tears, dripping from his face.

The others can’t see it, however. Haiji tells him that he should stop, since his times are getting worse. “Times aren’t everything. Isn’t that what you said? It’s true that I want to improve my times, but more than that, I just want to run right now! Just until I’m satisfied. That’s all!”

By this point his teammates know something is up, based on the expressions on their faces. Though it doesn’t seem like they know what.

The innocent trio is mostly bemused.

Prince and Yuki seem particularly empathetic.

He repeats his entreaty, “Please!” twice, then takes off without waiting for an answer. It’s unlike the super polite Shindo so you can tell he had reached his limit.

Yuki’s the first to react. After gazing at him for a while, he say’s he’ll join him. Musa follows them, saying that he felt he could run some more today. One by one the others take off after them: Nico, the twins, Prince, King, Kakeru, then finally Haiji, who strangely, seemed the most reserved.

He only runs after Hana says that she’ll time them.

We soon find out why: as they run, we hear him muse: “I feel the same way. I want to run more. Even though I’ve been told not to run, I’m running,” now we know what’s been weighing on his mind. He then continues, “Maybe I’d forgotten to listen to my feelings,” meaning he’s been too worried that he’s been holding himself back.

Overflowing drops 💔

-The whole scene was just extremely sad. Shindo’s broken heart was bad enough, but then Haiji’s words sent up so many danger flags for me. It was, however, heartwarming how all the team members sensed Shindo was going through something, and ran with him as their way of showing moral support. In case that wasn’t clear, we have Prince’s shirt with the word “bond” written on it this time. Then there was the music, track “Reliance” from the OST. Very aptly named and a perfect accompaniment to the heart wrenching scene.

Back at the Aotake, Yuki tells Shindo that he saw his form during their last lap and noticed his center of gravity was different from fast runners like Kakeru. “I guess everyone runs differently. It’s the first time I noticed.”

-We understand that you were worried about him and hence tried to help him. You can just say it, Yuki. We won’t judge you. But it’s not this cool character’s style.

At this information, the two recruit Kakeru and have him observe Shindo as he runs on Prince’s treadmill. He gives him pointers, telling him to imagine his center of gravity higher, and not to curve his chest.

Prince tells them “you could be doing this outside” Yuki tells him “That’s rich, coming from you.”

-This was a nice bit of humor in an otherwise mostly heavy episode.

Shindo thanks Yuki and Kakeru for their help and asks if they’d be willing to do it again. The two agree wholeheartedly, with his upperclassman Yuki saying it was nothing, he just mentioned what he noticed.

Kakeru, looking at the laptop in Shindo’s hand asks if he’s still doing something after this. The shorter man tells him he wants to finish the team website. The two are taken aback at his diligence.

Kakeru immediately says he’ll make some tea and takes off. Yuki smiles and says that he’s becoming a bit more sociable.

-He is, and I absolutely love it. I think it also speaks to his newfound resolve to help the team. Properly, the way he learned how to help Prince in the previous episode.

The next scene is in Shindo’s room. Yuki tells him, looking at pictures on his wall, “I’ve been wondering for a while now. Is this your home?”

Shindo answers in the affirmative. Seeing what look like perilous mountains and a rope bridge, Yuki asks, “What kind of secluded region does your family live in?”

Shindo replies that they do have roads, but that its’ faster to climb the valley to get to his school.

-This explains the 10 kilometers to and from school that Haiji talked about when he said Shindo had potential.

Yuki goes on to ask if his parents wouldn’t drive him. Shindo replies that his family runs a farm and are hence busy in the morning. Ashe speaks, we see snap shots of his family working hard harvesting cherries. He adds, “If anything, they needed my help.”

-The images and Shindo’s words are continuity to how close he is with his family, enough that he first decided to run Hakone because he thought it would make them happy.

-Seriously, just when you think you can’t love him anymore. Yuki must’ve felt the same.

Yuki: “If I had a daughter, I’d definitely make her marry you.”

-Yuki is one smart cookie. I thought he might have suspected before, when he was the first to run with Shindo, but I’m pretty sure of it now: he recognizes a broken heart when he sees one. This is his way of trying to cheer the hurting genius.

Said genius, smiles awkwardly, “What does that mean?”

Yuki tells him, “You’ve really got your shit together.” Shindo replies, self deprecatingly, “I don’t. Not at all.”

You can just tell he’s thinking that if he did, he wouldn’t have been dumped. I could swear that I saw tears in his eyes.

Kakeru seems to sense his mood. He reminds Shindo that he was the first to declare wanting to run.”

“Is that right?” Shindo asks, seemingly he’s forgotten that fact.

Kakeru then apologizes, saying that at the time he was sure Shindo would quit. Shindo utters a mild, “Well, you know,” letting Kakeru that he isn’t holding it against him. Again, being self-depreciating as if he knows that he appears weak to others.

Kakeru goes on to say, “But I was wrong. This team never would’ve have formed without you and it can’t keep going without you. You’re strong, Shindo”

-Okay, Shindo really looks like he’s going to cry now. I sure am. Poor boy must have needed to hear this so bad, considering what he lost in return for investing so much time and effort on Hakone. He must have really loved that girl. It makes sense. A serious guy like him wouldn’t date just to fool around.

On another note, it’s nice to see KK employing the compliment he recently learned from Haiji, “you’re strong” which he now knows is the strongest compliment you can give a runner.

Shindo tells them, “The ten of use will run in Ekiden. It’s nice to dream.” We’re then shown a picture of the team on the website.

Kansei track team

He then continues, “But anyone can just talk about their dreams. It’s not about that is it? Neither is anyone else right? If you say you’ll do it, do it. Haiji’s the same way.”

As he talks, we get a shot of Haiji in his room, massaging his knee.

-It’s a great moment that explains Haji’s absence, when he would usually be the one offering comfort. He must be preoccupied considering the extra running they had done at that evening’s practice.

Back in Shindo’s room, he goes on to say “I’m not strong. I just do what needs to be done no matter what.”

-That, my dear boy, is strength.

KK however, knows when not to contradict his senpais. He just says yes, while Yuki, in a fit of sympathy, tells him, “You’ll definitely get that record.” Shindo replies, “This, again. But you’re normally so cool.”

-Cool-headed, he means. Also, the word “again” means that this isn’t the first time Yuki has reassured him. Nor will it be the last. Yuki immediately tells him, “Shut up. I said you’ll get it. Everything I’ve said would happen has happened.”

Shindo seems to have given up fighting his tears. He tells Yuki, “Then I’ll trust you.” And bows his head in gratitude.

When Yuki tells him, “What’s that?” He quickly raises his head, high enough that he’s looking at the ceiling, as he says, “Man working at night isn’t good for my eyes.”

Yuki seems to be going along with it. He smiles, telling him, “Seriously?” Kakeru, too, gives a knowing smile. But they both don’t say anything else.

-Seriously? Two of the most distant (Yuki, by choice, Kakeru, by nature) members of Aotake are the ones hanging out with Shindo, wanting to be near him to give him emotional support. Excuse me while I grab some tissues.

Music: the track playing is “Onward to Hakone” from the OST.

The scene changes. The rainy clouds have finally dispersed revealing a glorious morning.

Symbolism. Also, this show has the most stunning visuals.

We see that Yuki and Kakeru have spent the night on Shindo’s floor.

-Musa enters Shindo’s room to wake him up for his class, when he sees that someone has joined their fan club through their newly developed website.

Excitedly, he wakes up Shindo, who in turn wakes up Yuki and Kakeru to tell them the good news.

The next scene shows the team wearing their fan club recruitment t-shirts as they run through the shopping district, calling out that they have a meet at Tokyo Sport University, and asking people to come out to support them.

Shindo leads the procession

-It’s nice to see that they have all gotten over their initial embarrassment. Shindo, as always, leads the recruitment procession.

At Yaokatsu vegetable store, a reporter (we recognize him as being one who had interviewed Fujioka) is asking Hanako’s father about the Kansei team. He shows him a picture of their website. Hana’s dad is about to ask her to take him to the Aotake when the team passes them on their run. He points them out to the reporter, who watches them pass by with interest, particularly Kakeru.

At Tokyo Sport University, we see that the whole team, except for the twins and Musa who just got their records, is going to run. Haiji does his Hakone cheer with all the members. This time, they all join in immediately. The team is melding together nicely.

The cheering squad starts their encouraging calls early on. Unfortunately, the aggravations start early as well. Sakaki approaches the Kansei team, “You still haven’t given up?” This time, he’s in a running uniform, meaning he’s going to participate in the race as well. He says as much, telling them, “Please don’t get in our way. Our regular spot’s on the line.”

-As always, he seems to be showing off the fact that he’s in a prestigious athletic school to Kakeru.

But before he can rile him up, Shindo comes to stand in front of Kakeru, and tells him, “Don’t worry. We don’t intend to compete with you. Our battle lies elsewhere.”

At his self-assured tone, Sakaki is vexed. Haji smiles in pride that Shindo can hold his own. His interference isn’t necessary, and he tells his team to go.

On their way to the starting line, Yuki pats Shindo’s shoulder. I think he, too, feels proud. And it’s been canon that he expresses his respect for the others whenever the occasion arises.

We see the same sketchy looking reporter at the meet. When he sees Kakeru, he mouths something eerily. Unfortunately, I can’t lip read Japanese. Might be our boys name.

Conclusion:

This episode shows just one more reason to love the show: realism. Shindo’s relationship falling apart was done very realistically. It was nice to have him be the focus of this episode. Though the best thing about the show is how most of the time characters get equal screen time, mini arcs like this are great too. Then there’s the fact that Haiji, while present in the episode, was emotionally unavailable. It’s definitely a first and it allowed other characters to grow and fill in the supporting role he usually plays. This, too, is a realistic depiction of what healthy relationships should be like. Not one person being relied on for everything, rather, different people depending on each other at different points of their lives. No one is infallible or untouchable.

As much as I loved this episode, it was also very sad to me. Even its title is sad. At first, we suspect it’s referring to the never-ending rain. But soon we find out it’s actually referring to Shindo, crying in spite of himself at the pain of being dumped. Even the lovely scene where the team ran with Shindo was darkly overcast by Haiji’s internal soliloquy. When he says “despite being told not to run” it sounds like such an ominous statement. As if his knee can give out at any second. Seriously, I’m no longer young enough to enjoy angst the way I used to.

But seeing Kakeru and Yuki praising Shindo’s efforts and personality was lovely. He really needed that. 

Then there was the race, and how Shindo confidently stood up to Sakaki. The bright blue skies were also a welcome change from the rain that had plagued almost the entire episode. But then the creepy looking reporter keeps us from feeling that everything will be smooth sailing ahead.

Grade: 10/10

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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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Run With the Wind Episode Nine Review: Mismatched Runners

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 get a recap of Haiji and Kakeru’s argument and KK’s ultimatum to Prince.

Act One

The episode starts with the last two people who should know about the incident exclaiming “No way!” in disbelief: The twins know.

-I don’t think anyone told them. Neither Haiji nor Prince seem to be gossips nor thoughtless. We know Prince is slowest to run, and probably slowest to arrive at Aotake from their morning jog. Since he is just being served his breakfast by Haiji, the twins likely overheard the two talking about it in the kitchen before they joined them for breakfast.

Haiji says “That kind of talk is ineffective. I told you.” So he has already discussed this matter with Prince, perhaps the night before. He then adds that Kakeru went too far.

Jouji jokes “Well, he is fast,” and he and his brother nudge each other.

Haiji ignores them and points out Kakeru h zi

Haiji then tells the twins “I don’t want you two having weird biases,” and orders them not to tell anyone else.

-Kudos to Haiji. The gag-order keeps the matter from getting out of hand. He’s also tacitly asking the twins to not take sides.

They seem to understand. Jota points out “Well, we know he’s not a bad guy.” Jouji qualifies: “But he can be really irritable.”

Prince says he was so upset he stayed up all night reading manga. 

-I feel you Prince. I too drown my sorrows in fiction.

For some reason the twins feel the need to confirm it was manga that he was reading. I say, does it matter?

After the episode title: Mismatched Runners, we see Haiji opening the rice cooker and seeing that it has rice left over.

Haiji: “Someone besides Kakeru isn’t eating”.

-So not only did KK (presumably) go on his morning jog alone, he also skipped breakfast. To avoid the team? Or was he just too into his training that it ran late?

Prince asks if Haiji thinks he’ll actually acquire the required record.

Prince asks this haltingly, like he’s afraid of the answer.

-Its obvious Kakeru’s words were a huge blow to him, especially considering his genuine efforts and how supportive everyone else is being. But because KK is an actual runner, his opinion has more impact; like it did with Nico. So, it makes sense that he wants Haiji’s opinion, who is also a runner.

Wait. What if this is why Haiji was silent most of the last episode when it came to KK’s behavior? We know KK comes from a (presumably strong) running school. Bram mentioned in a comment to the previous review that most of what Haiji does is deliberate. I think so too, but I couldn’t figure out a reason for his silence in the face of Kakeru’s aggressive assertiveness. What if, like Nico, and Prince here, he too is was influenced by KK’s opinions as a runner, especially considering that Haiji isn’t a real coach. Even as he became increasingly worried about KK’s health, Haiji silently let Kakeru express his opinions because he thought they might help push the team forward. It is only after KK hurt Hana that Haiji intervened because he saw that, in his zeal, KK was starting to hurt others as well as himself.

Back to Prince, Haiji is quick to encourage him. He tells him that his time is improving. At Prince’s doubtful silence Haiji reveals he enjoys running with him, truly. “Running next to you makes me feel like I can reconsider what it means to run.”

Continuity: this is a topic we know occupies Haiji’s mind. Now we see exactly how much.

As he continues, we get a flashback of Haiji in physical therapy: “Right foot forward, left foot forward, slowly increasing your pace. You used to walk, but before you know it, it looks like you’re running. I’m re-experiencing the excitement of running.”

High school Haiji.

In contrast to Present Haiji’s words, Past Haiji looks like he’s suffering immensely as he forces himself to walk, while supporting himself with handlebars. I loved this scene. Haiji’s so mysterious that any backstory on him is interesting. This scene is also incredibly well done with gorgeous music (In a World Where Running Is from the OST) and just a hint of Past Haiji’s pained, shuddering gasps being heard through Present Haiji’s narration.

Admirable Fortitude.

The flashback reminded me of something Nico asked Kakeru about Haiji a while back: “Why is he so confident?” This might be it. When you overcome adversity, it leaves you stronger. Haiji sees his recovering self in Prince. But probably feels Prince has an advantage in that he is healthy and not recovering from an injury. Conversely, he sees Kakeru as himself pre-injury, presumably when all he cared about were times. I think this puts him a wonderfully unique position where he can emphasize with both. It is also probably why he was careful to tell the twins to not have a “weird bias”.

Prince says he’s not sure he understands Haiji’s words.

-Well, yeah. Unlike us, he didn’t see the flashback. As absorbed as he is in his manga. does Prince even know about Haiji’s injury? Haiji doesn’t seem the type to talk about himself, either.

But Prince then goes on to say that he thinks he does, however, understand enjoying doing something together. “We read the same comics together at the same time.” He describes the joy of counting down to start, flipping the pages in tandem and having their thoughts synchronized. “Even if we don’t share our thoughts, it feels like we’ve thoroughly discussed the content.”

Haiji hears him out, then says “I see. He then goes on to say that it is difficult for him to understand Prince. The bookworm replies, “Of course it is,” as if he never expected Haiji to, in the first place. 

Language Note: These last two quotes are my own translation. Not that it makes much of a difference. But I though viewers might be interested in how it could been translated.

-This conversation reminds me of Yuki trying to understand Nico’s reason for running. I said it at the time, and it seems especially true here: even if you can’t reach complete comprehension of another person, sometimes just the effort is enough. Prince and Haiji here are a perfect example

At the university cafeteria, our beloved idiot brothers have already spilled the tea to Yuki, Shindo, and Musa.

Shindo is horrified while Yuki, after logically arguing that it would be impossible for Prince to suddenly get faster, sighs carelessly that this means he’ll be their first drop-out.

-Oi! Stop acting flippant, Yuki. I saw that sweatdrop. You’re actually as worried as anyone else.

Zoom in and you’ll find it on his cheek.

Musa is quick to say that Haiji will never accept it. Shindo eagerly asks what Haiji had to say. The two recall his orders: not to worry, not to be biased, not to tell anyone.

The twins realizing they disobeyed Haiji.

Yuki speaks for everyone when he says “You guys are such idiots.” They are, but there are so freaking lovable. You can’t help but forgive them. It helps that the other teammates are all mature so we know they’ll heed Haiji’s instructions. No harm no foul.

Later we see Prince reading manga while on the treadmill. Despite what happened he doesn’t plan on quitting. Good for him.

We also see Nico for the first time at the Kansei University grounds. He has dark under eye circles and is drinking milk from a carton. As he laments his growling stomach he’s approached by Haiji, still in his apron.

Haiji stops to catch his breath. It takes him a while. We then see him hilariously chasing Nico through a flower field with a lunch box, like they’re in some sort of skit or commercial.

Nico yells at him to stop chasing him. Haiji’s pleased he found him despite Nico hiding in the last place he’d look; that place being the university.

-Lol! No wonder he fails his classes. This also explains why Haiji was panting so hard. He’s been running all over looking for Nico. Did he forget to remove his apron? And how much cooler can he get that he doesn’t care about how funny he looks?

He’s pushing Nico to eat the bento (boxed lunch) he made. Nico replies, “I don’t want it! It doesn’t look good for a grown ass man to accept a lunch from another grown ass man!”

This is because in Japan the stereotype is that homemade bentos are usually made by wives or girlfriends .

Haiji tells him not to worry, his food looks perfect.

Nico: “That’s not what I mean!”

Haiji says he knew something was up as there was exactly one extra serving of rice left over.

-I don’t get it. Earlier in the episode Haiji said someone “besides Kakeru wasn’t eating” , now he’s saying there was only one serving left. If Kakeru isn’t eating either wouldn’t there be two servings left? Unless, maybe KK had told Haiji before-hand that he wouldn’t need breakfast? That would make sense; despite his awkwardness he tries to be polite so it seems like something he’d do.

-I do wonder why Kakeru isn’t eating. The only other time he refused was when he first came to Aotake and told Haiji he didn’t want to owe him anything. Maybe after the fight he feels too angry/awkward to eat with them.

Nico comments on how close Haiji’s watching them. Haiji explains that he plans their meals carefully down to volume and nutritional value. Shocked, Nico finally stops his escape to ask how long Haiji has been doing this. The younger tenant tells him since he took charge of the cooking, so four years now.

After finally catching his breath, Haiji tells the astounded Nico not to rush and that there’s no reason to panic. “You’ll probably get it eventually.”(Kito)

Nico calls him out on not saying “definitely,” (Zettai) Haiji says he’ll change his mind if Nico eats properly. Then shows him the lunch which features bento art of Nico.

A man of many talents: Haiji’s instagram worthy bento.

-Incidentally, I think this is actually the first scene we’ve had of these two alone together. We’ve been told that they’ve known each other the longest. We’ve heard Nico talk to Kakeru about Haiji. We know Nico is older, but that he’s used to being looked out for by Haiji. Here, we see that even as a former member of track, he allows himself to be guided by the younger athlete. We also see them interact as equals with mutual respect and regard. No wonder Yuki approached Haiji about Nico in the previous episode.

At afternoon practice, Yuki impresses everyone when he overtakes both Nico and King on the track.

-Now that he’s decided to run seriously, he’s improving very quickly. This fits his perfectionist personality.

On the other hand, Kakeru’s times have been steadily decreasing, presumably due to him going overboard with his practice and not resting enough.

We also (finally!) see Haiji running during practice, and not just to supervise Prince. Rather he’s running off the track the same time as half the team is racing, with Shindo taking over the stopwatch to time the others.

Blink and you’ll miss him.

At their after-practice meeting, Haiji tells everyone that in three weeks their times have improved due to their sticking to his menu, which means they have a chance of doing well at tomorrow’s meet.

-Well, everyone except KK but then he isn’t listening to Haiji’s advice that he needs to rest too.

Haiji then states that the team needs all members to make it Hakone, since they do not have any substitutes.

He’s talking to you, Kakeru. You too, Prince.

-It’s interesting that these two ended up sitting next to each other. Prince’s posture however hints that he still feels a bit sad and/or uncomfortable, despite Haiji’s encouragement. He’s probably worried about what will happen if he doesn’t run well the next day. Conversely, Kakeru is looking up, so he’s probably looking forward to the meet.

Haiji adds “Let’s all attend tomorrow’s track meet so we can participate together.” But seemingly contradicts himself when he says he’ll announce which members will be running. 

Everyone is confused. Jouta asks “It’s not everyone?” 

Haiji tells him “It’s everyone. We’ll all go. Running isn’t everything.“

Prince and Kakeru become antsy. No doubt KK is recalling Haiji telling him that he won’t run while Prince is wondering if he’ll be chosen or not.

Haiji names Jouta, Jouji, Shindo, Musa, and Yuki as the participants.

-Well played, Haiji. Despite telling Kakeru in the previous episode that he’ll only let those without records run, Haiji splits the team in half.

Shindo, Musa and the twins have always done well, from the beginning, so it makes sense for them to be chosen. I think Yuki looked quite shocked that he’ll be running but it fits. This is probably Haiji’s way of encouraging him and rewarding his progress.

As to those not chosen, we already knew KK won’t be. But by keeping Prince out as well Haiji effectively voids Kakeru’s ultimatum. As to Nico, he has obviously overworked himself with exercise and dieting so he isn’t in the ideal shape to run. Then by keeping both himself and King from running (even though they’re probably fine) Haiji keeps the trio from feeling singled out. He also successfully diverts KK and Prince from thinking his choices were driven by their fight. Although I’m sure that was the case. Haiji is a loving parent putting an end to an argument between his children.

Said kids are all visibly shook and confused. Prince’s expression then becomes contemplative while Kakeru’s contorts in anger. He stands up and looks at Haiji menacingly.

Act Two

It is now the next day and we see the members preparing at the track meet.

Haiji is signing the team in, Musa and Shindo change, Nico and King are preparing drinks while Prince is helping Yuki stretch. Kakeru stands apart from the others, closest to the track with his arms crossed.

-As pissed off as he looked in the previous scene, I’m actually surprised to see Kakeru there and wonder how Haiji convinced him. He seems like he’s interested in the other teams but he might just be feigning interest because he feels awkward.

Jouta and Jouji, sitting closet to him ponder where the Rikudo team is. They talk about how strong and cool Fujioka’s team looked in all-white, highlighting their team’s strength. They then compare them to their team, Kansei Uni, that doesn’t even have matching track suits and how no one can even tell who they are unless their racing uniforms are in view.

Kakeru listens in on their conversation discussion and it gives insight into his mind. It reminds us how upset he was when he heard Fujioka will be skipping future meets. But the fact that even the twins are lamenting how lacking their team is makes it more likely that KK (who was in a strong team) is as well. Though I think he’s more concerned with the team’s overall inexperience rather than uniforms. Looks like Sakaki might have been right after all.

At the starting line, Shindo says that despite it being their second time, he’s still nervous. Musa points out that it’s because its their second time. Yuki says “Practice should be just as hard.”

–Language note: I felt the phrasing of this to be odd. Even if the translation is correct it would be easier to understand if it had been “It shouldn’t be harder than practice.” As I suspect that was the intended meaning. A literal translation isn’t always best.

While Musa ponders if they’ll lever get used to the atmosphere, Shindo says they probably shouldn’t. Yuki admires his sentiment.

Yuki: “Nicely said.” Indeed.

I like how vocal Yuki is with his praise to Shindo here. And in the previous episode he admired King’s energy. I want to say that Yuki’s a closeted supportive-type but that would be inaccurate. He stood up for Haiji when King wouldn’t train with them, he reassured Musa he was just as strong as his fellow exchange students, and he tried making KK feel welcome his first night. He also warned Haiji about Nico exerting himself. But he does most of this so smoothly that it’s easy to forget.

The twins plan their run, with Jouta saying he’ll run on the inside, and Jouji telling him he’ll create space in front of him, and that he should run ahead if he can. They discuss how similar races feel to their soccer games, when they would take each other’s positions to confuse the opposing team. They call the race a “game” and mention how they like it.

These two exchanges serve to show how invested our runners are.

The remaining members watch in anticipation the beginning of the race. King mentions that he feels nervous. Nico says it’ll be fine since “they’re the elite team.”

-Nico seems to have realized that Haiji chose the athletes who are at their best.

As Kakeru watches his participating teammates, he recalls what happened the previous day after Haiji’s announcement.

He had stubbornly declared that he will run, but Haiji takes the wind out of his sails by telling him that he registered in advance.

Kakeru angrily asks what he’s training for, then. Haji responds with what he’s been telling them all along: “Hakone. You’ve already got your record.”

Kakeru is infuriated. “That’s not what this is about! You should understand better than anyone how it feels not to be able to run when you want to!”

I live for these details. Kakeru’s in the dark.

-Ouch. I think this is the first time Haiji’s injury has been alluded to so openly.

-Kakeru here is directly quoting what Nico told him about Haiji. I wonder how Nico feels about that. A collection of sighs and low groans is emitted from the group at Kakeru’s desperate appeal.

Check out the sunset.

Haiji remains calm. He tells KK with an inward smile that he does understand, and he knows that he wants to run more than anything. But then adds more firmly that he also knows “you don’t see what running is about”.

Haiji’s in the light. Symbolism, anyone?

He tells a shaken Kaeru to stop and take in the view, then slowly start running again. He ends it what is perhaps the most surprising statement of all: “Be like Prince and Nico-chan Senpai,” shocking all three men at what he could mean, since Kakeru is obviously infinitely faster than those two.

– Haiji here is referring to both Nico and Prince’s mental strength. While Kakeru is fast, he is also emotionally fragile. This has been proven by how much the first meet damaged him.

Nico can’t believe he’s being used as a example for Kakeru

Neither can Prince. Both are partially highlighted by the sunset. Meaning is open to interpretation.

And here I was wondering how Haiji calmed Kakeru’s anger. By telling him to be like Nico and Prince, he forces him to recognize their tenacity. He also encourages these two who had been collaterally damaged, though in different ways, by Kakeru’s fixation.

– Haiji is a master at knowing what to say and how to say it. Also, him not getting angry even when attacked where it hurts, probably made an impression on temperamental Kakeru. But what makes his advice truly effective is the care behind it. He’s stern, but kind. He assuages KK by empathizing with him, but pushes him to grow past his obsession. The fact that he has Kakeru’s best interest at heart is what makes his words stick.

Back in the present, Prince’s shirt has “why” written on, undoubtedly reflecting his mood. He tells Kakeru “I don’t think I’ve narrowly escaped. If anything you could say I’ve got no way out now.”

-He’s talking about KK’s challenge and how his not being chosen to run is enough for Kakeru to demand he leave the team.

KK is perturbed at Prince’s depressed tone and words. Overhearing their conversation, King chimes in to say, “Oh, right. I hear you said something to Prince. You’re a first-year, right?”

-King, you’re the only one who cares about the senpai-kouhai hierarchy. Also, no one asked you to take sides, so don’t.

Thankfully, Nico warns him to not stir things up by simply saying his name in his usual mild tone.

KK seems a bit abashed, and, by way of apology, says “That was the heat of the moment.”

But when Prince asks if he takes it back, he stubbornly refuses, saying that he’s taking things seriously in his own way. Nico sighs and says “you finally said what was on your mind.” When Kakeru starts, Nico assures him that he’s not blaming him.

-Nico here makes Kakeru realize that he’s been expressing himself more. And even though his style leaves much to be desired, it’s still progress. Which is why Nico made a point of telling him he’s not blaming him. Otherwise, KK might go back to being his silent emo self who only shouts out his frustrations when they bubble over.

Before the race starts, Prince comments that he can’t believe he’s watching a race, and that he never would have imagined this a month ago.

-It wasn’t intentional, but Prince’s statement reminded KK that Prince, like the others, is completely new to this world, and that he hadn’t entered it on his own.

Meanwhile Haiji is looking at his watch, getting ready to time his runners, only to have his vision blur. Haiji’s eyes widen in shock, before he furrows his brows.

This is very concerning.

-I noticed here that Haiji too has under eye circles. We also recall that he was panting very heavily when he caught up with Nico to bring him lunch. What’s wrong with him?

The race starts. KK hears King say that, in the previous race, he was so focused on running he couldn’t even think about his time.

-Again, hopefully this serves to remind Kakeru that his teammates are all amateurs, and he should go a bit easier on them.

The race progresses, and the Kansei members manage to hold on even as the group of runners increase their pace. Kakeru, perhaps for the first time truly sees how hard his teammates are trying.

So hard, he recalls the wind in his own ears as he was racing against Fujioka. So hard, that their expressions remind him of the Rikudo champion’s. It’s like something finally clicks in his mind. So overcome is he that his mouth drops open.

And its not just the runners. He sees Nico, King, and Haiji cheer with all their might. It spurs him to start cheering as well, shouting as hard as he could. Even Prince stirs from his corner and stars mouthing something to his friends.

The cheering squad catches the attention of the runners, and they all give open mouthed smiles.

After the race, we learn that none of the team members got records, although they were close. King really thought they would, as close as they were. Nico points out that Yuki even achieved a new best time, and that it wasn’t bad at all.

Yuki: “When I think about how I have to run again it makes me want to puke.”

-Nice to see these two as friendly as ever in their own quirky way.

Shindo seems most down about it. The ever alert Haiji tells him it was too bad, and that he was close. Shindo admits “I waited too long in the middle. I should have gone sooner.” He also adds that he realized he isn’t someone who can win at sprints.

Haiji tells him “You sound like a long distance runner,” making Shindo smile in pleasure. After all that’s what they’re all aiming to be.

Dedicated Shindo.

-Seriously, how does Haiji always know just what to say? I want that super power.

The twins then mention how Haiji’s cheering made them laugh mid race. And that, despite feeling embarrassed, it actually made them run faster.

He looked absolutely insane. It was hilarious. And moving.

Musa concurs, saying that support is really truly essential.

Haiji is touched that his boys came to this understanding. He gives a small genuine smile.

Nice. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one.

Musa continues saying “Just thinking that these two were saying something to me made my vision blurry.”

Musa is such a sweetheart.

Which two? He means Prince an KK. He bows his thanks in their direction, much to their consternation.

But they can’t run from the truth. The twins inform them that Musa’s has amazing eyesight, he can even see the apartment building from the Skytree (look it up). Yuki yells that they souldn’t lie.

–Writing tip: this was a great way to slip in some characterization.

Prince doesn’t miss this opportunity to embarrass KK by telling the others that he was calling thei names.

Kakeru, mortified, counters “So were you!”

Prince: “I was barely speaking.”

Prince points out he was just barely speaking. But that KK was shouting. He adds, “I was so embarrassed I didn’t know what to do,” before walking away.

Prince is such a troll.

I love Prince here. His teasing is a bit petty, but I think, in his own way, he was also sticking up for KK. Letting the others know that Kurahara was cheering for them is his way of showing that he isn’t harboring any grudge against him.

Of course, this goes over our dear Dunce Kakeru’s head. He thinks he’s being mocked as revenge for telling Prince to quit. He’s conflicted, and reaches out like he wants to say something to Prince but doesn’t know what. But Nico gets it. He happily grabs him, rubbing his head as he laughs, and says “He’s a good guy at heart.”

Nico is such a Dad.

I think this is Nico’s way of letting KK know that Prince wasn’t actually being malicious. But again, it goes over KK’s head, instead, he’s annoyed at Nico’s roughhousing and feels upset and embarrassed at being teased.

Kakeru’s such a teen.

-It’s a beautiful moment and while no one got records, I think Haiji considers it a great victory for their team

He says as much. Haiji happily thanks those who ran and those who cheered, and says that because of everyone’s efforts their times improved a lot. He reiterates that they took a huge step forward, and they should have faith. They have plenty of chances.

Smiles all around. Except for KK.

Shindo gives an energetic “Hai!” (yes) while Yuki coolly says “Well, it’s not my style to end on a loss.” Damn straight, Mr. “Passed the Bar on my first try as a third year”.

As always, it takes a while for Kakeru to react. But Haiji’s words seem to finally resonate with him. He slowly gives a tiny smile.

Nice to see this. Again, it’s been a while.

The smile also gives hope that, after regressing a bit, KK’s starting to move forward again.

At the Aotake, the team is having another after-meet celebration in the twins’ room. Haiji is cooking dinner in a wok. It’s fried rice and we’re reminded of his culinary prowess. Those things are HEAVY.

My favorite place, where poignant conversations happen.

Unlike with their first after-meet party, where Kakeru was so annoyed, this time he’s helping out in the kitchen, as he was prone to do, before that cursed TSU meet rattled him.

-This, too, hints that he’s returning back to normal, or his new normal where he had been slowly but surely starting to fit in at the Aotake.

As he cooks, Haiji asks Kakeru what it was like, watching from the outside. “Did you see anyone run half-assed?” he says gently, quoting Kakeru’s unfair accusation. Without waiting for an answer, he adds “I didn’t. Everyone was running as hard as they could. Not just us. Everyone was.”

Kakeru’s reply is sincere: “I understand what you are trying to say. When they failed to achieve official records, I was as disappointed as if it was me.” He adds “I felt for the first time the earnestness of the people cheering around me.”

I do not doubt this. We’ve seen Kakeru’s old coach cheer for him, but that was for his own selfish reasons. And his high school team members, jealous as they were of Kakeru’s talent, probably never cheered for him so honestly.  

Kakeru repeats that he does understand Haiji, but adds “I still don’t think we can do it. Even if everyone achieves an official record.”

-Like Nico said earlier, he’s finally able to say what he thinks, what has truly been bothering him all this time. He wants to go to Hakone, but doesn’t think they can.

Haiji continues cooking silently. It’s unlike him, and we see him sway a bit. KK continues expressing his fears, looking away, perhaps in sadness, when a sudden thud interrupts him. Haiji has collapsed on the floor.

A stunned Kakeru can only watch as the wok follows the same path, dropping on the floor, and spilling all the rice.

Kakeru: AKA “slow at everything except running.”.

Damn. That was unexpected. It was so good. Having Haiji drop off-screen was genius as it adds to the intrigue of what’s wrong with him. The symbolism of the spilled rice creates feelings of apprehension to viewers. Then there’s Kakeru who was paralyzed with horror.

Symbolism.

Poor boy can’t even save a wok from falling off a stove. All joking aside, it just shows how affected he was. The fear and concern on his face and in his voice were genuine. Loved it.

Kakeru: “Haiji-san!”

Grade: 10/10

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Run With the Wind Episode Six Review: The Emperor’s New Clothes

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 get a recap of the last episode where King tells everyone that he won’t just spend all his time running. There are varying looks of shock on everyone’s faces. Shindo especially looks affected while Haiji looks pensive.

Act One

The episode starts with King engaging in his favorite hobby: watching a quiz show. He gets all the questions right and comments that “entertainers suck at sports questions.” As usual, he’s borrowing the tv in Shindo’s room. The younger housemate calls out to him several times to get his attention, finally telling him that he’s about to go for his night jog. King tells him to go on ahead. Shindo then asks him if “he’s sure”. King thanks him for the use of his television, “It was a nice change of pace”, and apologizes for bothering him.

-King is intentionally misunderstanding Shindo, acting as if the younger housemate was hinting he wanted him to leave, to avoid discussing the scene he had made earlier.

Shindo clarifies that wasn’t his intent, then asks King if he’ll show up to practice the next morning. He parrots Kings words back at him with a sincere smile, telling him that it would be a nice change of pace. King doesn’t reply and shuts the door behind him.

After the episode title, the Emperor’s New Clothes we see that it is now the next day where the team, including King, have reached the river bank, having finished half of their round trip. The twins, Musa, and Shindo talk about going on another night time jog that evening.

Yuki calls them “Damn honor roll students,” before warning them “don’t blame me if you burn yourselves out and can’t run anymore.”

Jouta is glad that Yuki cares. Musa invites him to come along with them. He declines, as does Nico when they ask him, saying morning and afternoon jogs are enough for him. Yuki adds “Respect the elderly”, much to Nico’s dismay.

Jouji reminds him that if they don’t get good times they won’t be able to run at Hakone

“As if we’ll get to run in that, idiot. Hakone’s a distant dream.”

-This goes back to the dreams vs reality theme first brought up by Haiji in the previous episode.

-Yuki seems to be showing up to practice now without complaining much. As I mentioned in the previous review, he also doesn’t seem interested in using King’s anger to help him in his resistance against Haiji.

Hana stops on her way to school to greet them. up. King is pulling out grass listlessly. Haiji, trying to cheer him up, announces Haiji’s arrival to King. He doesn’t respond at all.

-I love Haiji, but he was off his game here. That was a bit too obvious. And desperate.

The twins, Shindo and Musa tell Hana about their night jogs and ask her to join them. She agrees to ride her bike with them. Here, King stands up and says he’ll go back first, saying that he doesn’t have time. Haiji says that they’ll return together but King takes off without waiting for them.

-King is obviously depressed over the job thing, but I think seeing how easily Hana gets along with the others didn’t help his mood either. His previous conversations with her seemed forced like he was trying too hard to impress her. I don’t think she realized it or even minded it, but now he might be too anxious to even try.

The scene switches to the university cafeteria where Yuki, Shindo the twins and Musa are having lunch together.

-Yuki is having a steak set, Shindo an Unagi-don, the twins are having ramen (or udon) while Musa looks like he’s eating curry. And now I’m hungry.

Yuki comments that King has completely closed himself off. The twins ask if it’s stress from his job search. Always the pragmatist Yuki replies: “Maybe it’s overall, but guys who can’t handle it aren’t going to do well.”

-Far from using King to quit the team, Yuki’s actually worried about him. Looks like after talking with Nico in the previous episode, Yuki is no loner resisting running.

Shindo is worried as well, but he says he’s also concerned about how their track club doesn’t have any money. They’re an official club, but aren’t even allowed to use the track field.

The scene switches over to the landowner’s Tazaki’s home. The first image we see is a statue of the money bringing cat, Maneki-neko.

This is symbolism.

Haiji is there, sitting in a respectful seiza as the old man cuts his toenails.

The contrast in their moods…

The coach tells Haiji that he doesn’t have money, or he would’ve fixed up Aotake from being the decrepit building it was.

Haiji respectfully says, “Of course,” then takes his leave when the old man stays him by saying “Since you said you’d do it, I’m allowing it…”

-He means aiming for Hakone. As suspected from the very first episode he must trust Haiji enough to give him free reign of things. 

He goes on to say “but this world isn’t just about who’s fast and who’s slow. Naturally you need money as well. And there is no guarantee your peers will acknowledge you. That’s also part of running.”

-Haiji concurs but nonetheless looks troubled. I’m guessing he was hoping to get advice on how to obtain necessary funds. And because the team hasn’t proven themselves yet no one will recognize them; either to give them time on the university track field or to help them financially.

Meanwhile Kakeru is in Nico-chan’s room.

The oldest resident types rapidly on his computer and asks Kakeru not to tell Haiji that he’s working, “He’ll get mad at me. I’m supposed to be older than him though”

-Nico here mentions the reversed senpai/kouhai relationship dynamic he and Haiji have. What makes it even more noteworthy is that it’s not a cliched reversal where the older person is hopeless and irresponsible. Nico’s pretty mature and the fact that he failed a few times is probably because it he works for a living, unlike the others who are most likely all supported by their families. Haiji probably worries about Nico’s finishing his graduation requirements; we’ve seen him reprimand Nico for working even before Haiji forbade all members from doing so to concentrate on Hakone.

Nico then asks KK what he needs from him. Kakeru asks him about Haji, “What kind of person is he? You’ve been living together since his first year, right?”

More symbolism. Kakeru is trying to see through an unclear window.

-This is continuity on KK trying to figure Haiji out, ever since he asked him if “only the chosen once are allowed to run.”

Nico answers, “What he’s like? Exactly what the way he looks.”

-Furtive as always. I think Nico knows Haiji a lot more than he’s letting on but wants to protect his privacy.

Kakeru then asks “How about as a runner?”

-It’s a valid question, and one we viewers still do not know the answer to.

Nico pauses a bit to look at KK shrewdly.

It’s like he’s gauging the intent behind those questions, to decide if he should answer. He then says: “I think Haiji was a good runner. I’ve never seen him run all-out, though. Apparently, he was told to stop for a while. He must’ve wanted to run even though he couldn’t. His first year, when I told him I ran track in high school, his eyes were glittering. It was a pain. I’d completely quit running.”

As Nico says this, Kakeru remembers a conversation he previously had with Haiji: we are show images of when he saw Haiji’s scar in the park, and hears explanation for it.

Nico continues, “It’s been four years since then, and his eyes are still glittering. Surprising, isn’t it? It’s only gotten worse since you showed up.”

-Haiji just started his fourth year so wouldn’t that normally mean he spent three years in Aotake? Does this mean that Haiji moved into Aotake even before university began?

-Nico’s word choice here seems intentional, like he’s indirectly encouraging KK to live up to Haiji’s expectations. We saw in the second episode that he feels sympathy towards Haiji.

Kakeru response is not enthusiastic: “Even with me on the team, we can’t win.”

Nico’s replies matter of factly: “I know. I feel bad for Haiji, but I don’t think we can make it to Hakone, either.” He adds it’ll become clear enough once they run in the scheduled track meet.

-This matches what Nico told Yuki, that he’s not taking Haiji seriously, and is taking this opportunity to become healthier.

-At this admission, KK seems a bit sad too. Maybe he’s starting to sympathize with Haiji as well.

– It should be noted that it took Kakeru much less time than it did Yuki to get information out of Nico. This is because, unlike Yuki, Kakeru, from the start was asking sincerely. We’ve seen now for the second time that when asked something straightforwardly, Nico tends to answer. It’s a good life lesson. If you want direct answers ask direct questions. This actually makes me wonder why Yuki, who has known Nico much longer than Kakeru, doesn’t follow this strategy. Maybe it’s a personality thing. Some people click much faster than others.

At afternoon practice, to half of the team’s dismay, Shindo is handing out t-shirts he and Musa made for the team. They are plain white, but on the back have the following written:

We’re trying to make it to the Hakone Ekiden. The Kansei University Track and Field Team Fan Club is now recruiting!!

Shindo explains that they want to form a fan-club that will support them so that they can focus on training. He adds “we appreciate your cooperation” with a sweet encouraging smile.

-My eldest (who’s the same age as the first years) got second hand embarrassment watching this. It was hilarious.

Yuki and Kakeru must have felt the same. Kakeru’s face is dark in mortification when optimistic Musa innocently attacks him with his shirt. Yuki’s reaction is much louder. He calls the proactive Shindo and Musa “Damn honor-roll students” then yells out, like he can’t help it: “God, these are lame! These are so lame!”

-It makes sense that Yuki, with his piercing and medallion, and who seems to always want to project a cool demeanor, wouldn’t want to wear these. I also just answered my own question from the previous scene: maybe the reason why Yuki beats around the bush with Nico, instead of being forthright, is because he always wants to appear aloof. Nico probably knows this and doesn’t want to cut him any slack. It’s probably his way of wanting to teach future lawyer to be more honest, at least with his friends.

Speaking of Nico, his concern with the shirts is more practical “These won’t run when we sweat, will they?”

The twins happily tell him it’s oil-based ink so it should be fine.

The difference in their moods 😂

Haii is happy with this initiative. Makes sense. We know he and Shindo have previously discussed the club’s finances, and seeing as how the landlord/coach didn’t come up with anything, he would be happy with Shindo’s plan.

King shows up Jouji cheerfully greets him with “Did you find a job?”

For his lack of discretion, he gets a kick in the behind from Yuki and falls face first on the floor. Nico then saves King from having to answer by saying it’s too early for anyone to reply.

-I love how merciless Yuki is here. Poor Jouji never knew what hit him. Also, it looks like he started writing something on the dirt, probably the first character of an apology.

King asks about the shirts, Haiji tells him “Surprisingly they’re not bad,” he and the others then all turn around to show off the message written on the back, everyone except KK who only puts his on after realizing everyone else already has.

Jouji teases him.

Jouji: “You’re slow at everything except running.”

-Nice bit of continuity there. It takes awkward Kakeru a bit longer to comprehend what’s going on around him.

King tells them good luck and makes to go inside, with no apparent desire to join them. Shindo and Musa invite him to afternoon practice, to which he replies, “I told you, I’ve got my own shit to do. I’m real busy right now.”

Haji easily replies that he should forget it and run.

-Yuki tries to intervene here, as if he knows Haji’s going to rile King up.

King asks if he’s telling him to run from reality, Haiji replies:

“Tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that…What you need to do won’t ever change. Reality will always be there in front of you. So instead of running from it, why not try running with reality?”

Best quote of the episode, and possibly the entire show.

King doesn’t respond to these pearls of wisdom. Instead he asks Haiji

“Will running help me get a job?”

-Here he’s referring to how Haiji convinced him to run in the first place.

This time Haiji answers sincerely, “I don’t know. But standing still will make you anxious. I was like that once.”

-Another wise phrase. King has already applied for jobs. Why just sit and worry while he waits for an answer?

-Based on the reaction of the others, they seem to realize the gravity of the information Haiji had just given about himself.

Haiji: “I was like that once.”

King however, is too upset to comprehend it. He calls Haiji a dreamer. Then asks him “Why am I here.”

-Wow. It’s like King’s job search has him questioning all sorts of things, including his very own existence. I wouldn’t want to be in Haiji’s shoes.

But said Haiji is completely unfazed. He instantly replies: “For us,” to King’s shock, and even goes as far to ask “What’s wrong with that?”

King angrily snaps back, “It’s my life!”

Yuki intervenes by resting his arm on Haiji’s shoulder and saying, “I know this guy says some crazy things, but you shouldn’t freak out so much. Yuki goes on to tell King what I’ve been wondering all along “It’s only April. The battle’s just begun.” Meaning, he still has a lot of time (almost a year, I assume).

-Haiji seems shocked at Yuki’s strong show of support here; both physical (the arm on the shoulder) and verbal.

His mouth literally drops open.

It’s no wonder. This is the same guy who, when Haiji recruited him, told him “I don’t exist for your purposes!”

The twins seem skeptical, too. They say that coming from Yuki, the words sound sarcastic.

Nico then hands King his t-shirt and tells him: “At least wear this. We’ll all suffer the punishment together. You can decide for yourself.” He then walks away and tells everyone to start running.

-Nico here is trying to make King feel included, despite himself. Him ending the topic was a wise decision as there wasn’t anything that would be said that would have taken the discussion any further.

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Everyone leaves, except Haiji, who apparently still has something to say. He tells King: “Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not just you. I’m here for you guys, too.”

King angrily says “That’s just lip service,” before throwing the shirt on the floor and disappears into Aotake.

Haiji is as impassive as ever, while Shindo who had stuck around, looks saddened.

I don’t know what it is about Haiji that King finds insincere, here. Maybe he feels that he’s just being used. But this emotion only came about after his job search started. Yuki, as a lawyer, seems to feel his future is set. The others still have time before graduation, while Haiji only cares about running. Maybe King feels that no one can emphasize with him at this point.

Act Two

After the mid-episode break and the adorable dog Nira, we see that the “busy” King is wiling away his time in a Mah-jong parlour, and losing.

-What is it with gambling and depressed people in this show? Kakeru wasted his entire apartment deposit there as well.

-I said in the previous episode review that King is taking out his frustration at Haiji and the others. But seeing him gamble reminded me that when people feel out of control of their lives, they try to exert control whenever they can. King refusing to run with Haiji and the others, even gambling here, is just him turning towards behaviors that make him feel in control. It’s understandable, but unwise. He can just as easily turn towards something that will not ruin his relationship with the others, nor deplete his funds. Like running.

On his way home he sees Musa and Shindo on their nighttime jog while wearing their “Please join our fan-club” t-shirts. Unbeknownst to the two, a couple of high school girls laugh at their attire and wonder if they are being forced to wear them. On the other hand, Haiji’s bath-house acquaintance sees them and says he’ll be the first to join. Likewise, Musa’s kind employer (er, ex-employer) sees them and says she’ll join as well. The twins then join them with Hanako and say they manged to get more members, too, and that Hana’s presence makes it easy for people to approach them.

King sees and hears all this while hiding in what seems to be an alley to stay out of their sight. Upset, he goes home alone.

Back at Aotake everyone is gathered in the kitchen. Everyone, minus King. At Shindo’s query, KK replies that he hadn’t seen him since they returned. Haiji is explaining his new training menu for the boys. He tells everyone that he found the perfect place two kilometers away for cross-country runs.Yuki asks him when he had the time to do that.

-It’s true. Haiji is so busy training the others, we haven’t even seen him run himself. Hmm. Maybe he’s running on that cross-country place. Though I don’t know when that would’ve happened. He seems to be at Aotake all the time.

The boys start panicking when they realize that they’ll all be running 6 laps of 2.6 km (!) but are stunned into silence when they realize that Kakeru will be running 8 laps of the same distance. Everyone looks at him.

Awkward Kakeru: “Sorry, I think.”

Jouji points out “No, you’re the one who has to run it,” enlightening Kakeru that he has nothing to apologize for.

-I think Kakeru’s reaction here is a result of him always being the envy of others (i.e. Sakaki in his previous team). Haiji giving him more training is due to him being more capable and experienced than the others. But unlike in his old team, the boys here are all amateurs, and therefore have neither the ability or desire to compete with him.

Yuki laments how Aotake has completely turned into the track and field team and adds “I feel so small.”

Yuki, admitting his defeat, has joined the team.

Haiji good naturedly tells him that he’s keeping up with the others. Yuki then accuses him of going easy on him.

-I loved this exchange especially after Yuki’s earlier show of solidarity with Haiji. It’s like he’s officially announcing that he’s decided to seriously join them.

The others joke around but Shindo feels bad that King isn’t with them. He goes to King to tell him that he recorded a game show for him. King turns him down and at Shindo’s disheartened demeanor tells him not to worry about him, it just makes him feel awkward. Nonetheless, when Shindo bids him goodnight, King calls him back to ask him why he’s running with Haiji, when he’s never been to the Ekiden before.

Shindo admits that he’s not sure. When King asks him if he considered not doing it, Shindo admits he hadn’t. King then points out that he doesn’t have to run if he doesn’t even understand why he’s doing it.

Shindo answers that he thought he’ll come to understand once he starts.

-In the previous episode, when Yuki asked Nico his reason for running, he had sarcastically warned Nico, “don’t tell me I’ll understand once I start”, meaning he had wanted a more concrete reason. We know he never got it, as Nico’s “I feel clean when I run” wasn’t something Yuki could understand. But I think the fact that Nico shared this information with Yuki in and of itself became part of his reason to run. Like he owes it to Nico, after getting him to share something he felt was so obviously private. Or maybe it really was peer pressure.

-But here Shindo is trying to find his reason to run from the act itself, a method which Yuki had scorned. It shows that running is highly personal, as personal as peoples’ motivations. And, genius that he is, Shindo manages to present this in a way that King can relate to:

Shindo admits that he doesn’t know what it’s like to search for a job, since he hasn’t started yet, then asks King why he wants to work, if he loves it so much that he’s desperate to find a job. King naturally negates this, saying he’s just doing it because he has to. Shindo points out that this is common ground. He says that he first ran because he was forced to by Haiji, but he then thought it would be more fun if he chose to run instead, that he might even start enjoying it.

-This completely fits Shindo’s earnest personality. Basically he’s saying since he’s going to be doing something, he might as well give it his all. I swear to Allah I’ve been saying this to my kids for years now. I remember telling my eldest when she started the first grade that school was a “fact of life” and since she was going to go no matter what, she might as well learn to enjoy it. Not saying Haiji forcing everyone to run here is the same, but people who make the most of, and indeed, learn to enjoy situations they otherwise cannot avoid, are truly smart. I have no doubt Shindo is going to become very successful in his life. He’s a fantastic character.

King’s reaction to Shindo’s words is telling. He eyes the t-shirt that he had previously thrown; Shindo had brought it with him, and eventually interrupts Shindo’s incredibly polite and delicately given advice to gripe, “why am I being given advice by an underclassman?” before getting the flustered Shindo in a headlock to cover up his own embarrassment.

-King here seemed incredibly insecure. He holds on to the label of “Senpai” (upperclassman) that Japanese society automatically bestows him, possibly because it gives him a sense of security; like with it, he knows where he stands in the world. I think Shindo sort of senses this which is why he was quick to apologize when King complains. He seems a bit immature, especially when you compare him with Nico. Earlier in this same episode Nico brought up his and Haiji’s reversal of the Senpai/Kouhai relationship to Kakeru, and he didn’t seem to care. Nico’s maturity is due to his acknowledging both his and Haiji’s strengths and weaknesses. He also doesn’t mind when Haiji berates him from working because he knows he’s just looking out for him. He isn’t hung up on labels because he doesn’t need them to feel comfortable. Unlike King.

The next morning, King shows up to practice wearing the fan club advertisement t-shirt, to everyone’s shock and pleasure. Nico tells him he’s late, nobody’s wearing theirs today, Shindo (who unlike Kakeru is very quick on the uptake) immediately put’s his on. He encourages King with his kind smile. The embarrassed man then goes on to make excuses, saying that since he’d already promised to run he had to go through with it. Everyone gives him wide, knowing grins (except Prince, who’s as always expressionless and KK whose face is conspicuously absent from this montage).

We get it later after they finish practice. Hana is telling everyone how their times have improved, even Prince’s. (33:13:13). Everyone is in high spirits and the twins suddenly notice that Kakeru is smiling.

Twins: “Did you just smile?”

When he notices their stares, he takes off, and they follow him, teasing him mercilessly when he denies smiling.

-I think it’s the first time since the series began. It only took KK six episodes. Better late than never, I guess.

Back at Aotake, Kakeru is helping Haiji clean up after dinner. Haiji asks him if he wouldn’t rather go jogging with the others: “You finally found friends to run with.”

-i don’t know how Haiji came to this conclusion. He probably figured, based on Sakaki’s cold interaction with Kakeru, that he wasn’t popular in his old team.

Kakeru explains that the difference in their paces makes it difficult for him to run with the others. He then takes the opportunity to ask Haiji the question he couldn’t in the previous episode:

“Why did it have to be these guys? Remember what you asked me. You asked me if only the chosen are allowed to run. You’re right that anyone can just run. They can run all they want.”

-At his words we get a montage of Nico (working), Yuki (listening to music), Prince (reading), and King (watching a quiz show). These four are probably the slowest amongst the Aotake members so it makes sense to have their images shown as KK speaks about “chosen ones” seeing as they are probably the opposite of that.

Kakeru then goes on to say, “But is that the kind of running you’re talking about? Not everyone can run in the Hakone Ekiden. I don’t understand. What kind of running are you talking about?”

Haiji answer’s “That’s it. I want to know, too. What is running? What does it mean to run?”

Kakeru is astonished, “You mean you don’t know?”

“Not yet. I don’t have an answer yet,” he then adds happily, “we just finally started running.”

Kakeru is now visibly upset.

“I’m amazed you were willing to get us involved.”

– He means that Haiji would dare to have them all set their sights on Hakone when he doesn’t even have a clear understanding of what running is.

Kakeru then adds, “You finally got them all together. If we just keep having a good time training together, they don’t have to get hurt.”

-Once again, I like how Kakeru’s reasons for wanting to stop Haiji have shifted, from thinking the attempt is ridiculous, to wanting to spare the others the hurt of realizing it can’t be done.

Haiji then tells him “We can’t expect to stay unscathed if we’re going to run at Hakone.”

Considering Haiji’s scar, he might mean this both physically, as well as emotionally. It could also serve as foreshadowing.

At his unconcerned tone, Kakeru tells him that reality is hard, and that if Haiji insists on having the guys run at a track meet when they are woefully unprepared, it could be the end of the team. Haiji answers, “I believe they can overcome it.”

-Throughout this conversation, Kakeru’s words were delivered in an unchanging crystal-clear voice, matching the rigidness of his ideas. On the other hand Haiji’s tenor is more throaty, full of conviction, mirthful at times, deceptively low, and even languid at others. But then he asks Kakeru if he doesn’t need to prepare, adding, “Reality is harsher than that, right?”

It almost sounded like a challenge. Kakeru certainly takes it as such, based on the subsequent determined expression on his face.

Best Lines:

Shindo adorably asks “How is this a punishment?!” When Nico tells King that they’ll suffer wearing the shirts together. I love how he, Musa and the twins are completely unaware of how self-conscious everyone (minus Haiji) seems to be over wearing them. Only Prince seemed to not care either way.   

Yuki: Why am I running first thing in the morning?

Prince: Should we flee together, Yuki?

Yuki: They’d catch us. You’re too slow.

Prince: You’re right.

This was probably the funniest scene of the episode. Prince was once again tied to Nira. Now that he’s come around to running, Yuki’s complaining here was good natured.

Prince: Your attire doesn’t matter.

Haiji: You can’t wear denim.

Seriously, I get that Prince probably doesn’t want to spend his precious money on running wear when he can spend it on manga, but how the hell can he run in jeans?!

Best Scenes

I love intimate conversations and there were so many in this episode: Haiji with the landowner, Nico and Kakeru, Shindo and King , then finally Haiji and Kakeru. The tracks were all fantastic as well (numbers 13, 4, and 11 in the first CD). But I think my favorite moment was when Kakeru was caught smiling by the twins. It’s like, for the first time, we get to see him acting and being treated like the teen he is.

Icings on the Cake

I already mentioned several instances but there’s one major piece of symbolism that needs to be discussed: when Shindo is talking to King, he sits just outside his room, with the door being open. Afterwards, when he eyes the t-shirt Shindo brought, King headlocks him and they both end up inside the room. Earlier in the episode, Yuki had commented how King had closed himself off completely. And in the previous episode, we saw King looking at the floor of the twins’ room, at the magazine covered hole with what could be a wistful expression. So we’ve seen him be completely isolated, with a number of barriers (of varying sizes) between him and the others. The theme of loneliness and isolation that had been prevalent with regards to King in this mini-arc is finally resolved when he puts on the shirt Shindo gave him, hence the title of the episode; “the Emperors’ New Clothes”. It’s also ironic that by putting on the t-shirt, he actually removed the wall he had set between himself and others.

Shindo is what my eldest calls a Cinnamon roll. Apparently, that’s Gen-Z speak for “sweet and precious”. He’s also wise beyond his years, clever, and proactive.

Yuki is quickly becoming a favorite character. Which is funny, because I love every single character in this show. Yes, even Sakaki (I’ll explain, eventually). But him supporting Haiji here really earned my respect. Especially since he could have used King’s dilemma to cause more friction and therefore avoid running. The fact that he didn’t shows that he’s a decent person who values the greater good over his own comfort.

Grade: 8/10 The art quality dipped a bit in this episode, especially in the scene in King’s room. It’s a shame especially considering the gorgeous track that was playing in the background. Otherwise, the episode was perfect.

Conclusion:

It could be that this whole time Kakeru has been projecting his own concerns on the others. It might be that he’s feeling worried about facing Sakaki, since the track meet will be at Sakaki’s University. The red-head has already made fun of the team once, when he saw them train. Maybe Kakeru asking Haiji to delay having a meet was just so that he can avoid the meet at Sakaki’s school. It might also be that Haiji realizes this, and is calling Kakeru out on it.

I don’t know. It’s most likely that KK knows the team isn’t ready, and wants them to avoid confronting reality. Haiji’s last line was just a reminder that he should worry about himself, since he’ll also be running at the meet.

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