Wind Breaker

Episode 4

Since we first learned about how Bofurin operates, the burning question at the center of this setup was simple: what kind of person is this enigmatic leader who turned a school of hoodlums into a community defense force? Until now, we've only had hints and conjecture, like knowing that Umemiya instituted his reforms two years prior, which means he managed to wreck shop and take control of the school's gang as a freshman. Between that and how every member of Bofurin talked about him, Umemiya must be quite a guy, huh?

Now that we've finally met the guy, he lives up to his reputation, though the broad strokes of his personality will be familiar to fans of Delinquent anime. When they're not stone-stoic fight machines, gang leaders in these shows are almost always disarmingly cheery dudes who can flip the switch into Battle Mode whenever things get serious, and that's Umemiya to a T. Some quirks make him stick out a little – He's so into vegetable gardening, for one – but mostly his charm comes down to execution, and how easily he cuts through Sakura's defenses. Watching this guy no-sell our little fight-tsundere's sass is just as funny as always.

There is one detail I find rather interesting, dropped towards the end of the episode. No, I don't mean the revelation that Kotoha is somehow 16 and running her own diner, though that's certifiably insane. Rather, it reveals that she and Umemiya grew up together in a group home. It's not hammered on, but knowing that Bofurin's leader grew up in a nontraditional familial situation immediately gives us a good idea of why he's so gung-ho about turning the whole town into his family. I like, too, how Kotoha seems defensive at first about revealing that part of their past, only to soften when Sakura barely reacts to it. Little moments like that do a lot to inform us about these characters without going fully into their pasts, and they make the crew feel closer in an organic way.

On the opposite end, we have our villains. The Shishitoren roll up with all the grace of a fighting game roster, complete with a contrived excuse for fighting our established characters 1-on-1. They also don't have much interesting going on in terms of personality right now. The leader, Choji, is a fight gremlin who only cares about challenging Umemiya, while his shadow leader, Togame, is the kind of sneering schemer who screams "starter enemy" with every line. There's some intrigue questioning why the group changed from the regular violent teen gang into the ruthlessly evil kind. Right now, they feel more like a narrative device to develop the Bofurin Bros (Bro-Furin?) than characters in their own right.

If that's all they amount to, I won't complain as long as we get some good fights out of it. After a slower, set-up-focused episode, I am raring to see these boys speak with their fists, so here's hoping the Shishitoren can at least be solid canvases for Sakura and co to paint on with blood and sweat.

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Wind Breaker is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.