So far, it’s hard to tell — but fights are great, so fans can’t complain.
Summary:
- Wind Breaker seems to be mostly about fights.
- While it is about fights so far, the fights themselves look very good — and they are the main selling point.
- It revives a delinquent anime trend that was popular in the past.
To some otaku, Wind Breaker seems to be one of the most promising anime of the Spring 2024 season. Others, however, aren’t so thrilled: many believe the anime doesn’t have much to offer. Yes, delinquent fights are cool, but are we getting anything else?
It’s About Fights — but That’s What Makes It Good
It’s really hard to judge the entire series from just three currently released episodes. Yes, currently, we haven’t seen much, outside of the fights. However, there’s no reason to dismiss the series yet — it will get more and more hype.
Yes, the main selling point of Wind Breaker is fights — but that’s perfectly fine. After all, it’s an anime about groups of delinquent high schoolers. The protagonist’s entire motivation involves getting stronger and fighting his way to the top.
If you’re disappointed by it mostly being about fights, it’s not the anime’s fault — it was never going to be about anything else in the first place. Besides, the fights themselves are well-animated — the anime is practically a must-watch for action fans.
Wind Breaker Indicates a Revival of the Delinquent Trend
That said, Wind Breaker gives a fresh breath in a genre that has been getting stale. Many action anime recently — mostly battle shounen, although Wind Breaker technically isn’t one — have focused on intricate power systems with many supernatural elements.
It’s nice to see a series that has no supernatural elements at all, simply focusing on the characters fighting with their own strength.
Delinquent anime has existed since the 80s and 90s — rising to popularity with the delinquent biker culture in Japan — and it seems that they’re making a comeback. Another delinquent anime series that has been popular recently is Tokyo Revengers.
However, Wind Breaker is going into another direction — it doesn’t have a super-complicated time travel plot, instead focusing just on action.
What Can We Expect Later?
Overall, it’s hard to say in which direction Wind Breaker will go from now. So far, it’s just a decent action series with a cool theme. The plot might develop into many directions, and fans are excited to see more.
One thing some fans complained about was that the anime was too lighthearted and shounen-like, with rival gangs from different schools being introduced.
That said, it doesn’t need to be dark at all: in fact, it’s very close to battle shounens in structure and execution. It follows teenage delinquents, and the light-hearted tone actually makes it better.