Ever since the adaptation of famed mangaka Ken Wakui's Tokyo Revengers dropped onto the anime scene back in Spring 2021, we're still memeing the hell out of that series even after a good 3 years, when it comes to delinquent-centric shows. It's especially the case for what could be a great series, that slowly and eventually crawled to such oblivion that it left a bad taste in the majority of the audience's mouths. So then, we're left questioning: What IS the next wave of delinquent-type shows that can outdo and/or outgun the still-ongoing anime craze of Tokyo Revengers. And boy, do I have the perfect show for you: mangaka Satoru Nii's Wind Breaker (not the Webtoon series of the same name), which sounds cliché on the surface, but boy, is it a very good Yanki a.k.a delinquent show.
A tale of the high road from hell to redemption, and this sums up Wind Breaker's rather antagonistic protagonist, MC of Haruka Sakura (that's a tongue twister) in a nutshell. The young man who knows nothing but violence in his growing up years was a repertoire on and off, he was labeled as an outcast for his unconventional appearance and lack of social skills, but his punches and kicks made him a skilled fighter, which is the only thing in life that he wants to do: to stand aloft at the top of the fighting scene wherever he goes. And like his unconventional status, coming into what seems to be the typical street brawls within a town where groups of gangsters go head-to-head against each other, this town of Makochi is rather different: its centered school, Furin High School, where strength is valued over academics, everyone wants to be strong to become the best. But there's a catch: you grow to become a gangster...to become righteous heroes to be the authority of justice in the town — hence why the students at Furin High call themselves "Bofurin", with a sign and a pledge to protect the peace and harmony within. And Haruka Sakura has to learn the literate quote of "the grass is greener on the other side," where things like kindness and reciprocating are very foreign to him, its this state that he grows to fight not just to become the best, but to fight for the sake of others and learn what he is truly fighting for.
It's actually interesting how a newbie mangaka like Satoru Nii conceived the idea for his series, though it's not as typical as it sounds. Being inspired to draw manga while reading Shonen Jump during his childhood, his first work was the Kodansha-published serialization of the 5-volume long gender-bender sports manga Danshi Badminton-bu ni Joshi ga Magireteru: Secret Badminton Club back in 2016 and 2017. But when developments around that stalled, with the advice of a fellow editor, he gravitated towards stories about male characters being "cool," which served as the basis for Wind Breaker, with inspirations coming from similar works, and also iconic manga from the likes of Hiro Mashima's Rave Master and Akimine Kamijyo's Samurai Deeper Kyo. In fact, Haruka Sakura was close to not being the MC at all (that would be Furin High's representative Hajime Umemiya), but it was only because of Satoru Nii's expression to embody the "cool" character factor that he was chosen to be the lead who can lend to the story and its plot from an outsider's perspective.
From the outset, if you think that Haruka Sakura was designed to be this kid where he only has two expressions: get all heated when fights come his way, and being a branded Tsundere when he gets angry or flustered that the trope becomes old very quick, you'd be right...but it's intentional. Being the face of the series, Satoru Nii wants Haruka's story to be "cool", and being the favourite character of all, he purposely designed said MC to be as striking as possible: from the heterochromatic eyes and hair to add visual complexity to make him distinguishable that's likened him to a stray cat in his design, stating his light movements and lack of body thickness were unlike those of normal humans. And because Haruka doesn't have much going for him as a personalized MC in the first place, the Tsundere trait is pretty much embossed on him when he receives goodwill. You can't really miss it. Still, as cliché as Haruka sounds and looks, this is his story of character development and change, not just as a delinquent, but as an able-bodied and growing young man to see that violence is not the answer to everything (though that is assessed on a case-by-case basis).
Helping Haruka out are the fellow students of Bofurin, represented by their team colour of green, which represents plants. The quote "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going" is apt for Bofurin, as the people that Haruka will meet along the way, all have their various backstories that fill them with conviction, leading them to the reason why they're using their feet and their fists to do the talking for them. It's also a tale of friendships, regardless of rivals and the like, in that Haruka is progressively shaped from the inside out by fellow rivals-turned-comrades who're just as eccentric as him. Needless to say, for being only his 2nd work, Satoru Nii got that formula just right with great characters that you just want to root for (both frenemies alike), even if it does feel tropey to the degree that you can't unsee it.
Being a martial arts-centric show, the action is just as important, and this is where the anime upstages the manga by delivering on par against what is already very elaborate panels of drawing. Under the direction of director Toshifumi Akai, CloverWorks may only have the recent memories of the Spy x Family franchise to go for in the action department (the other one being Fall 2019's Fate/Grand Order: Zettai Majuu Sensen Babylonia a.k.a Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia), but boy is this a Sakuga-fest of non-stop action. With the help of acclaimed sound director Jin Aketagawa, every punch and kick has weight to it, not to mention the stakes involved in the brawls, which, when you add that to the complexity of the characters as a whole, is a fit-and-finish of the immaculate kind. If that doesn't sound like conviction, then there's no way to convince someone.
The only miss that I would have to say is in terms of the music. The OST is great, don't get me wrong, it's just the OP/ED theme songs from Natori and Young Kee that were a bit of a miss, though they fit the thematics of the series to a T.
Wind Breaker is a series of clichés done right, even when they're flawed at best. At the end of the day, I'll admit that it'll take time to get used to how Haruka's personalities play out since we always see things from his POV, but don't be mistaken that as much as it's a hilarity to see blushes coming out from an insecure and under-developed panda-haired Tsundere of an MC, this is ultimately his story of growing up and learning what it truly means to be a man, alongside the Power of Friendship of friends and neighbours alike that is willing to accept him for who he is, without any prejudice, and fight with strength like brothers in a team.
What can I already say? Wind Breaker is Tokyo Revengers done right, without any of the goofiness of the latter. And this fight isn't all over just yet, for Season 2 is coming next year to deliver more of the delinquent awesomeness.
