Wind Breaker Season 2

Episode 20

Now that so much of the emotional table has been set (lovingly so as it was), the fine fellows of Furin can follow onto a fully new storyline. I'm not going to make any assumptions about how long this Roppo Ichiza arc will last—I was already thoroughly wrong about the KEEL arc previously. But given how the scenery of Keisei Street factors heavily into the opening for this season, to say nothing of how much time was already spent setting up major player Tsubaki in the previous episodes, it's safe to say this storyline is going to be some kind of big deal. For now, it mostly lends a sense of momentum as the ass-kicking commences after so much time (appreciably!) spent having Sakura and the guys get in touch with their feelings.

Not that feelings aren't still a factor, however, as this episode still finds time to flash back to the previous downtime for more focus and development. This is still good, since this time the show is giving Nirei a bit more of his due. I noted the writing's efforts at advancing Nirei (well, him trying to force himself to advance) way back in this season's premiere, and also noted how he didn't amount to much after his little lunge. But Wind Breaker has clearly demonstrated its designs on playing the long game, and Nirei's new collection of bandages betrays his efforts even before the full deal is detailed.

Nirei is still Nirei at his core at this point, all the implied training be damned. So he's the one who gets skittish when he realizes he, Sakura, and Suo have wandered into the red-light district. He might not be wrong, since there's a decided air of the adult to Keisei Street amplified in the anime's production. Suo and Sakura seem to be able to handle themselves, but there's still a density, an oppressiveness already present in the ideas of the heavier problems to be confronted. That kind of stylistic salesmanship works given how the Bofurin boys are probably the sweetest, most innocent street toughs to ever beautifully break someone's nose. Sakura's an irascible rumbler, but even he's not fully prepared for the hard sell of a hostess cafe or random songbirds falling out of the sky onto him.

All of that grounded emotional exploration in the last few episodes can make it easy to forget how…high-flying the action in Wind Breaker can get when it sets itself up for it. Sure, I might initially raise an eyebrow at the incredulity of a couple of high school students taking on dozens of grown-up backstreet brawlers converging on the mysterious Shizuka. But then I that Sakura and Suo are two of the badass-est boys to ever beat down, and it's been a while since they got to show off doing so, and suddenly I'm thrilling after too long to the sight of them flipping and spin-kicking the bodily fluids out of dudes.The animators at CloverWorks cut loose with some flow to this particular fight, punctuated as well with what feels like more bone-crunching, blood-bursting brutality than usual. Maybe that's the serious style of Keisei Street coming through, or maybe I'm just jarred since it really has been a moment since I saw the guys go off like this.

That brutal toughness on display thus also serves to sell Nirei's new move, such as it is. As I said, the fact that he'd been training with Suo had already been well foreshadowed, so it's seeing precisely what Nirei will do in the face of a threat that is the surprise itself. I'm very down with the roly-poly tactic, too. It is cute, crucially, but it's also appropriate for Nirei's disposition, while also fitting as a basic "starter" move from Suo's overall fighting repertoire. In fact, there's the point that Suo's whole style, advanced-looking in how he deploys it, is actually perfect for Nirei and what he's trying to work up to here. Truly "fighting" can come later, for now Nirei just wants to be able to defend himself so he can feel like he's unburdening Sakura some. This fits with the moving parts of his team that Sakura's learned to accept managing, and naturally compliments Nirei for his efforts. This too is importantly adorable.

It all speaks to the idea that the other boys were getting up to their own character development over the same course of episodes where Sakura was being focused on. Keeping the audience abreast of how broadened things are is important in a storyline where they're walking into a wider part of the world and interacting with multilayered manifestations of it. The arc-titular Roppo Ichiza represents another angle of that more adult aspect of street tough struggles, and established interactions with the Bofurin of both past and present. It's interesting, and just as importantly, the guys filling out this gang are all pretty good-lookin'. So I'm intrigued to learn more about them on multiple levels. That's enough to make me hope this storyline really does last longer than that brief dust-up with KEEL!

Oh and they also reveal what Tsubaki does down in this district: part-time pole dancing at the cabaret club! Yeah, this episode rules.

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Wind Breaker is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursdays.