Run With The Wind Episode 18 Review
We caught a little of Haiji’s backstory at the start of this episode of Run With The Wind. They kept it short but gave us enough detail. Part of me wished they had taken a similar approach with Kakeru but that shipped sailed already. It is interesting to note how much I disliked Haiji early on. While I can’t say I approve of him coercing his teammates into joining him to achieve his vision, I must admit Run With The Wind has done an excellent job of giving him motive for acting that way so while I still dislike the action I just can’t bring myself to still dislike Haiji.
We also get a small newspaper scandal this episode dealing with Kakeru’s past. This leads to a fairly angry phone conversation as well as the actual running coach having to do some coach like work to smooth things over. It isn’t a big focus but is rather one of a number of events peppering this episode in the lead up to the race.
There was also a marathon practice in there where we established that the twins and Haiji were kind of making up.
We also celebrate Christamas and New Years with the team through a montage before we finally move to the morning of the race. However, even then, we flash back to Haiji telling the runners where they will be and what leg of the race they are taking.
It almost seems like this episode was frantically packing everything in before beginning the race (though given we’re at episode 18 and there are meant to be 23 episodes I wonder how many episodes of running we’re about to watch). Yet this episode never felt rushed and none of these events felt undervalued. It was the natural culmination of what had come before and the feeling of things moving faster as we got closer to the race itself was really well portrayed by this episode and how they chose to convey these events.
Of course, they can’t just let us enjoy the triumph of finally getting to Hakone. No, Shindo seems to have woken up with the dreaded cold but it looks like he’s determined to get to the race. I can’t imagine the team not finishing the race. At this point I’d suggest that they either finish it despite Shindo’s cold and Haiji’s leg, or it will be Haiji who doesn’t make it to the end rather than the race stopping midway along because one of them doesn’t turn up. Still, they might surprise us.
All and all, this has been a nice dramatic build up and now I’m ready to see this team in action.
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ULTRA DETAIL FIGURE KINGDOM HEARTS: KING MICKEY
- Run With The Wind Series Review
- Episode 1 – Another character dragging others along in pursuit of their dreams.
- Episode 2 – The hard sell
- Episode 3 – As the wind blows
- Episode 4 – A wind of change
- Episode 5 – Scattered by the winds
- Episode 6 – No need to be frantic; It will all blow over soon
- Episode 7 – An opportunity to knock the wind clean out of their sails
- Episode 8 – The Downfalls of the Pursuit of Perfection
- Episode 9 – You Really Have To Step Back To See What’s There
- Episode 10 – How Run With The Wind Shows Us To Celebrate Effort Rather Than Achievement
- Episode 11 – Why Run With The Wind is an Oustanding Example of the Use of Sound
- Episode 12 – The Change of Seasons Welcomes a Changing Wind
- Episode 13 – Clearing the Air With The help of Friends
- Episode 14 – Facing Forward is Easier When You Know Someone Has Your Back
- Episode 15 – How Did They Make Me Start Caring?
- Episode 16 – The Moment Of Truth From All That Training
- Episode 17 – Should They Follow The Course Before Them?
- Episode 18 – May The Wind Be At Their Backs
- Episode 19 – They Are Three Runners Down With Seven To Go
- Episode 20 – Blowing Past Your Limits
- Episode 21 – Finding Your Own Wind
- Episode 22 – Running With The Wind And With Your Team
- Episode 23 – The Final Wind
- Images from: Run With the Wind. Dir. K Nomura. Production I.G. 2018.