The Change of Seasons Welcome a Changing Wind

Run With The Wind Episode 12 Review

Run With The Wind continues to be surprisingly compelling despite being a show about ten guys running around in circles. Okay, I’m not into watching marathons or track. What continues to sell this story are the characters and the way their progress is being handled. While not as overt emotional development as we are seeing in Tsurune, Run With The Wind excels at small moments and small triumphs. While Kakeru and Haiji continue to get the lion’s share of the focus each team member is given enough smaller moments scattered throughout episodes that we don’t forget them and they all feel like they are going on this journey.

After the gap between episode 11 and 12 we have a new OP and ED. I’m not sold on the OP at all but the ED is pretty great. The rest of the sound remains on point and this is one anime where the sound direction continues to need to be applauded.

Takashi and Yuki get a moment to shine and celebrate early in this episode and it was nice to see this small moment. They didn’t win the race but they both managed a qualifying time and it feels like a very natural development given how close both of these characters have been to this previously. I also loved that the team dynamic is still very much in tact with the twins stealing a lot of dialogue but each character having their moment. The one disappointment from this episode was the decided absence of Prince quips and his only real contribution was getting travel sick on the way to the camp.

However, by the end of the episode all the earlier moments may fade from memory as the episode veers very much into another round of Kakeru has issues and the red-haired guy from the other school whose name I won’t ever remember is still being a jerk. It kind of leaves a sour taste as it feels like this whole plot line has lingered far too long without either being addressed or resolving and at this point I’d really like it to as almost everything else in the anime is more interesting.

Still, Run With The Wind remains a compelling viewing experience and one that I’m still pleasantly surprised by. Looking forward to where it goes during its second cour.

• 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.