Fuujin Monogatari (Windy Tales)

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: 風人物語

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Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 13

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Sep 11, 2004 to Feb 26, 2005

Premiered: Fall 2004

Broadcast: Unknown

Producers: Tohokushinsha Film Corporation, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Sky Perfect Communications, Culture Publishers

Licensors: Sentai Filmworks

Studios: Production I.G

Source: Original

Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Slice of Life, Supernatural

Themes: Iyashikei, School

Duration: 25 min. per ep.

Rating: G - All Ages

Statistics

Score: 7.24¹ (scored by 4,249 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #3077²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #4943

Members: 19,239

Favorites: 126

Available At

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Resources

AniDB

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Synopsis

Nao, an 8th grader, is one of the only two members of a Digital Camera Club, where she also serves as the manager. It's a mystery that she shoots nothing else but the skies and clouds. One day, she finds a cat on a rooftop where she usually shoots her camera. It's a cat that knows how to manipulate the flow of a wind. Shocked to find a strange animal, Nao loses her footing and falls off from the rooftop!

Miki is the other member of the club, and also Nao's best friend. Mr. Taiki is the teacher who's taught the cat how to manipulate the flow of a wind. Ryoko is a girl who has a huge crush on Mr. Taiki. And there's Jun, who helps Nao and Miki look for a cat that can fly. Then, there's Yukio, who is the widow of Mr. Taiki's deceased brother.

On the outskirts of this big city, a town off the "Wind Handlers," has been formed—and a mysterious Wind Festival is about to begin...

(Source: Production I.G)

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Background

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Characters & Voice Actors

Ueshima, Nao

Main

Nazuka, Kaori
Japanese

Kataoka, Miki

Main

Hanamura, Satomi
Japanese

Nomura, Jun

Main

Irino, Miyu
Japanese

The Wind Cat

Supporting

Karin

Supporting

Noto, Mamiko
Japanese

Yoshino, Ryouko

Supporting

Iwamura, Aiko
Japanese

Makino-sensei

Supporting

Nakamura, Akio
Japanese

Yukio

Supporting

Mizuno, Risa
Japanese

Mr. Taiki

Supporting

Sugiyama, Ooki
Japanese

Atsuko

Supporting

Ogasawara, Arisa
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Oshii, Mamoru

Producer

Tanaka, Shinsaku

Producer

Ogisu, Hirotsugu

Producer

Nishimura, Junji

Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

"風の詩 (Kaze no Uta; Poem of the Wind) ~WINDY TALES~" by YuU

Edit

Ending Theme

"夕陽の色だけ (Yuuhi no Iro dake; Only the Color of the Setting Sun)" by Windy-S

Reviews

Apr 21, 2007

Kopanda

Recommended

First off I will admit that I am softy for Slice of Life series. My top five anime series are all about teenage girls exploring day to day life and Windy Tales (Fuujin Monogatari) is one of them.

Immediately the unique animation style struck me. Why is a story about a high school girl who likes to take pictures of clouds drawn in such an obscure way? The animation at times accentuates certain features we would not normally notice and obscures other features making the characters look a part of their environment. Whenever I see pictures of Windy Tales I get overjoyed, they satisfy ever corner ...

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Nov 9, 2014

Tien

Recommended

Fuujin Monogatari, or Windy Tales, was a real treat to watch.

It's a very experimental anime, which is a rarity in the slice of life genre. Right off the bat, one will notice that the art style is seemingly messy and hastily drawn. In fact, it could even be called ugly. However, I found that it complemented the wind element of the show and meshed quite nicely with the animation. What struck me most about the art were the character designs: those tiny hands and feet, as well as those angular eyes that give the characters a distinct Asian appearance. I was also impressed by how ... highly expressive the characters' faces were. Joy, surprise, and even fear were depicted very effectively, despite the rather simple facial features of the characters.

Wind is the primary element that drives Fuujin Monogatari. Or rather, it starts off that way. During the first few episodes, the characters learn how to control the wind, but by episode three, these wind powers sort of fade into the background as the show becomes more episodic in nature. A more conventional slice-of-life show would have probably shown the characters using their powers in everyday situations, but we don't really see this in Fuujin Monogatari. Although the concept of wind control is revisited occasionally throughout the show, it mainly serves as a motif and is often paralleled with the occurrences and themes in each episode. For instance, the act of controlling the wind is often likened to showing responsibility and taking control of one's life. Of course, this is never stated outright; it's up to the viewers to catch the subtle messages behind an event or a character's actions.

Although the show is soothing and even lighthearted at times, it's not afraid to show those darker moments in life. For example, one episode depicts the change in attitude of a character who was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. Another episode contains a metaphorical scene in which the act of suicide is illustrated with haunting imagery. Fuujin Monogatari is honest in its portrayal of events — a refreshing trait in a genre full of optimism and carefreeness.

As with all slice of life shows, Fuujin Monogatari is driven by its cast, and fortunately the characters here are quite likeable and respectfully represented. The main character of the show is Nao. Observant and thoughtful, she is one of only two members of her middle school's photography club, the other being her best friend Miki, who is more assertive. They are eventually joined by a boy named Jun, who becomes Miki's love interest. He's a bit of an airhead and provides much of the comic relief in the show. Although the characters don't get too much development, their personalities do get fleshed out and they feel delightfully genuine. I mean, Nao considers Benjamin Franklin her idol! Even the adults in the show, such as Taiki and even Nao's parents, are well depicted and play meaningful roles in several episodes. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the flying cats, who have their own special moments.

Another aspect of the show I enjoyed was the dialogue. It's subdued and representative of what people would say in everyday situations. After all, Nao and everyone around her are just normal people living their lives, and it's great to see that the dialogue is driven by their characterization and not by drama or plot. For example, there's one episode in which Nao listens to two adults talking about traveling. The conversation is very matter-of-fact, almost boring, but it provides a lot of insight into the adults' personalities.

The music in Fuujin Monogatari is calm and very soothing, greatly enhancing the atmosphere of the show. There's the typical soft piano tracks, of course, but some songs incorporate bells and even the flute, which are very befitting for the show's wind motifs. In addition, the OP is incredible and captures the essence of the show very well. It's one of those OPs that you never skip.

With all that being said, Fuujin Monogatari is not a perfect show. The characters' wind control powers are never really explored in depth, which may be off-putting. Episodes vary in quality, which is to be expected of an episodic series. While I don't consider any of them "bad," there are undoubtedly some episodes that are weaker than others. Also, the concept of wind is not incorporated in every episode (and in some, it's very loosely connected at best), making those episodes seem thematically detached from the rest of the series.

From its unique art style to its down-to-earth nature, Fuujin Monogatari is worth a watch for anyone who's interested in something a little different from the typical slice of life fare.

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Feb 5, 2015

NavyCherub

Mixed Feelings

Slice of life as a genre has a small problem. By itself, there is not much to base an entire show on – there has to be some sort of focus, a setting or concept that allows for individual stories to exist while also providing a solid base that pulls all of the ideas together. Fuujin Monogatari takes its identity as an episodic slice of life show to heart, almost to a fault – the individual episodes contain themes and ideas that are usually interesting and sometimes even compelling, but there is just about no connection between episodes thematically. The consequence to this is that ... Fuujin Monogatari is a show of widely varying quality.

Not to say that there is not a string tying the show together, loosely at least. That string is the titular wind, which the main characters (among others) can control at will, for some reason. This seems like it might be an important mechanic that would set Fuujin Monogatari apart from similar shows, such as having the main characters using the wind powers in otherwise normal situations to make them more interesting. In execution it is actually not so. Instead, the show offers a low key usage of the wind powers, mostly used for interesting visual effects while the story and the characters take breathing time. This is also useful for the viewer, as this downtime provides a relaxing section of an episode where one can reflect on the events that have occurred; on the other hand, these scenes could be replaced by just about any sort of relaxing or visually interesting scene, making the wind mechanic seem like little more than a gimmick in the end. A very pretty gimmick.

The art in the show is a juxtaposition of purposefully rough character designs and almost impressionist background art, which works to a good effect and is most definitely the strongest part of the production. The minimalist design of the characters allows for exaggerated yet meaningful motions and facial expressions, and they also give the characters a definitively “Asian” look. There is not much detail in their designs; luckily, the show avoids characters looking too similar to each other by keeping the cast small, though in darker scenes where you can't see the color of their hair they look a little too similar. The backgrounds, though, are consistently beautiful. It's almost a shame that Nao is so obsessed with taking pictures of clouds, because the world of Fuujin Monogatari is lovely and detailed, contrasting in many ways the simple character designs – though they both share the sketchy, purposefully rushed-appearing aesthetic, keeping the overall feel of the show internally consistent, despite the huge difference in detail.

There are also some cool visual ideas used sparingly in the show - portraying texts with handwritten-looking colored text on the screen, or a phone call by overlaying the characters onto each others' settings, or flashbacks and dreams indicated with characters filled in with a single color. On one hand I appreciate that it did not abuse these things, but on the other they feel a bit wasted, sometimes only being used once in the whole run.

Similarly, the soundtrack and voice acting are lovely but subdued. This is a good thing – the sound is never overbearing, but is consistently supportive of the atmosphere that Fuujin Monogatari naturally builds. Voice acting is done in a subtle way, never overacting but also hardly ever relaying strong emotion, even when a scene calls for it, which is unfortunate.

However, the most hit and miss aspect of the entire production is the writing. As I stated before, there is little consistency when it comes to theme. Supporting others, avoiding responsibility, and finding your worth are all examples of ideas that Fuujin Monogatari plays with, but none is given a decent amount of time before the next comes along to take its place. In this sense, Fuujin Monogatari tries to live up to its main character Nao's goal as stated in the very first scene – to capture the wind. Like the wind, Fuujin Monogatari moves and changes as it pleases. Consequentially, not all episodes are created equal. There are a handful of absolutely amazing, perfectly executed episodes, and it is not a coincidence that these episodes tend to make good use of the interesting visual style matched with an equally simple concept as well as Nao as a competent narrator, but there are many more flops, usually too self-indulgent to come off as meaningful.

The episode about trying to get a perfect picture of a runner, for example, manages to use Fuujin Monogatari's strengths to much better effect than an episode about helping a momonga learn to fly, even though the latter has much more to do with the show's distinguishing idea. I should also point out an episode that takes place almost entirely in the nurse's office, featuring a fever dream contrasted by a completely normal conversation which utilizes Fuujin Monogatari's visual style to an extent never matched again.

If only every episode was as simple and effective as that one, this show would be an instant classic. As it stands, though, it is a compilation of mostly uninspired stories interspersed with small moments of genius. If you are a fan of the slice of life genre, you will definitely find plenty to like in this show, but people less patient with the trappings of the genre will frequently have their patience tested.

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Fuujin Monogatari

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Characters & Voice Actors

Ueshima, Nao

Kataoka, Miki

Nomura, Jun

The Wind Cat

Karin

Yoshino, Ryouko

Makino-sensei

Yukio

Mr. Taiki

Atsuko

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Ending Theme

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Fuujin Monogatari

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-