it's been a while since i read a manga so irredeemable that it moved me to write a review. i read tokyo revengers a few days ago and i really thought that i would never read a delinquent manga as bad as that ever again. wind breaker isn't 100% a delinquent manga, but it does kind of fall under the umbrella. tokyo revengers was bad in the sense that it was a trainwreck but i was at least compelled to keep reading it because i wanted to see what bullshit would happen next, what terrible writing decision would the author make to further ruin this already unsalvageable story. wind breaker is terrible because there isn't a single creative idea around, and as a result i had to force myself even to read this many chapters, all in the hopes that the author would learn how to write something at least slightly resembling a story.
the "delinquents" in wind breaker are only delinquents in the sense that there is a hierarchy in the school based on strength and the school itself has some fucking graffiti on it. otherwise, these characters are just fighters, not delinquents. they don't smoke, drink, shake anyone down, nothing. they're just cops. they all just patrol the town to keep villains away. they only fight the "bad guys" and the bad guys are always just cardboard cutouts of characters you've seen a million times before, except even a cardboard cutout has a 2nd and 3rd dimension.
the bad guys consist of guys who harass women, guys who stir shit up, and guys who are members of evil gangs, which are usually led by equally shallow characters that the author desperately wants to convince you have depth by giving them those generic psychopath eyes and a halfassed backstory borrowed from some better story you can vaguely remember. there is never any moral dilemma when fighting these villains. there is no challenge in beating up a guy who is weaker than you and also a worse person than you and whose immoral actions have seemingly no justification.
this would be fine if there were something else interesting about the story, but there's nothing here. this manga is hollow. no vibes. no characters. no atmosphere. the art is expertly illustrated but just because you're competent at anatomy and perspective doesn't make your art interesting. in the damn near 60 chapters i read, there was never a panel that took my breath away or even left the slightest impression on me. tomorrow i will try to remember a page, a scene, a moment, a character, a movement from this manga. i will fail. tails gets trolled is unironically a far superior work both despite and BECAUSE its art is so amateur. at least the author of that story has some measure of ambition.
the protagonists aren't much better than the antagonists, though. they each are allowed a grand total of 2 emotions that they can toggle between. any more is asking for too much. there is a constant halfassed effort at character development with the main character but because this is written like fanfiction, you never understand where it's trying to go. like his central character flaw was diagnosed and treated in the first chapter. it would be way more charming if the MC just acknowledged it and tried to overcome it but we have to sit through this tired, laboursome attempt at character progression. most of the time, the way the MC interacts with the world doesn't indicate some major character flaw, just a general social ineptitude. it should be treated like a cute little quirk rather than a crushing pain on his soul.
there is nothing you're getting from wind breaker that you couldn't otherwise get from a better work of art. if you want delinquent action, go read crows or drop or nanba mg5. shit, read out too. if you want delinquent comedy, go read a-bout or bebop highschool or read crows again. if you want delinquent drama go read yankee go to juku or blue spring. if you want a generic delinquent manga that does all that stuff a little bit worse but isn't nearly as boring as wind breaker, read clover or sugarless. neither of those manga is great, but it's several leagues ahead of wherever this is at. and last but not least, if you want to read a comic about a boy scout defending his city and defeating laughably evil villains, read some golden age superman. i swear, it's better than you think it is.
it's clear the mangaka is passionate about fashion. you can see it in the pages between chapters in each volume, and on their social media. this is very cool, and i wish they showed off more of their fashionable sensibilities in the story. i don't care much for their taste in fashion personally, it feels too much like safe, curated, social media brand friendly fashion, but at least it's something. if i could give any advice to them, i'd say read some books, go outside your comfort zone, look at a painting, be moved by something, and stop writing fanfiction.
