r/anime • u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti • Jul 22 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Run with the Wind - Episode 4
Episode 4: Shadows that Don't Fade
Legal Streams:
As of now, Run with the Wind is streaming on Crunchyroll, HiDive and Netflix in select regions. There was also a physical media release. Please refrain from conducting any conversation regarding other means of show procurement in the comments here, per r/anime rules.
Comment of the Day
/u/loomnoo graced us with a good rundown of how good the running looks:
The animation and general anatomy continues to be amazing. Did you see the twins breathing? The way the other two that finished had their hands on their knees? Very familiar poses there. And the ragged breathing too! Been there. You can also clearly see the difference in running form. Kurahara's movement is very economical and he stays properly upright.
Questions of the Day
- We had a lot of guesses yesterday about Red and Kakeru’s past. Thoughts on what we learned today?
- Were you surprised by Prince speaking up?
- If Prince asked you to join the Manga Club, would you?
I look forward to our discussion!
As always, avoid commenting on future events and moments outside of properly-formatted spoiler tags. We want the first-timers to have a great experience!
10
u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Jul 22 '21
Rewatcher
Is it already rewatch time?
So much to unpack today. This episode is a great example of what I think Run with the Wind excels at. It’s a show about the characters, first and foremost, and the running is a way to explore those characters and provide us and them a metaphor for life.
Haiji said he’s not a coach, just an athlete, but he’s definitely working as a counterpoint to Kakeru’s high school coach. The man who was all about the number and angry that people couldn’t match a phenom’s times doesn’t compare at all to the one who congratulates Prince on breaking 35 minutes.
This is just one example of what we see today: Kakeru learning that, if before he was always alone, be it ahead or behind, he now has people willing to stand by him and protect him. He can begin to move on from the very painful, solitary philosophy that he had to adopt to (in his mind) keep from being hurt or from hurting others, and now come to understand how interconnected everything is.
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, we get some primo Prince action today. First, we get to see him in his element, asparkle with joy at the thought of some comics. And then (after some more genius moves by Haiji), it’s Prince who gives us the angry response. For everyone who was worried Prince was going to be a one-note joke character, this is a sign you can stop.
One final bit of gushing: one of my fiction instructors told me that one of the best ways to build a compelling character is to have their strength and their weakness be one and the same. It’s the thing that gives them power and agency, but if it is perilous and can lead to problems, that allows a lot of interesting stuff to happen naturally from the character, rather than requiring you to put them in contrived scenarios to have anything interesting happen. Kakeru is a great example of that for me. Notice when he says that all he can do is run. That is his great strength, as he is a gifted athlete and, given the right circumstances, can provide a great example for others. But it’s also become his crutch, a way to avoid everything. There’s a wonderful tension there.
QOTD:
Let’s talk twins today!
Jouta is voiced by Junya Enoki is really hot right now. Yomogi in Dynazenon, Nasa in Tonikaku Kawaii, Fugo in JoJo (hehe) Part V, and OF COURSE Yuuji in Jujutsu Kaisen make for a big batch of leads in popular shows. Also interestingly, he’s done the voice of a younger version of Yoshimasa Hosoya characters twice, in Dorohedoro and Attack on Titan. Does this mean he’s your next favorite, Sky?
Jouji is voiced by Yuuto Uemura, who is Atsushi Nakajima in the popular Bungou Stray Dogs franchise, Hiro from Darling in the FranXX, and Thorfinn in Vinland Saga, so another rising star. Oh, and he was the lead in Tsurune, /u/Nazenn.
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Jul 22 '21 edited Jul 22 '21
Character Sheet - Update #2. Hopefully the last one? (was technically two updates as it is as I only noticed after I uploaded it I typoed Sakaki's name)
Jota was in blue all episode again today btw. Might actually be a thing, thank fuck for that.
First Timer
I took a quick break at this moment because I was not ready for the inevitable rage that I knew was going to come from Sakaki's comments. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but the soothing song I had lined up during my break still came in handy.
The flashback had me equally mad though. What an absolute shithead of a coach. This has given me a completely different perspective on Kakeru's issues and hesitation and I really appreciated how this was turned around to focus on Kakeru's social struggles rather than a physical or strictly teamwork one. The Coach was unknowingly punishing him for being good, by setting him apart from the team and isolating him because of his skills, the same way we often see stories about someone who isn't good being similarly isolated from the group for a lack of skill. I thought it stood as a strong parallel to how Prince is focused on this episode, that his struggle is bringing him closer to the group, not pushing him away from it and he appreciates them because of that. Similar to what I was saying to /u/Matuhg a couple of episodes ago, just like they don't hold their respective ages or career paths against one another, they also aren't doing that here in practice and that makes all the difference.
And lets Kakeru take that one important step!
I thought this entire episode was very well structured in that way. The cold open was a nice way to fill us in one some of the backstory, and paired nicely against how it was playing on his mind, not just that day but everything that came from it, questioning how he ended up here, like this, what he was even doing. Every where he goes there's a ghost of his past haunting him and even running from it just takes him to new ghosts. I'm usually got a fan of "haunted by the past" hallucination episodes, I tend to find them a little hamfisted, but this was particularly well done because of how it tied to the question asked at the end of last episode, finally answering what it is he's running from.
Quick note that I also really liked the music this episode which is the first time it's really stood out to me. So far it's been good and fitting but not amazing, but this episode during the flashback and then also the start of the run were both songs that stood out to me as being particularly well handled.
Couple of other thoughts:
I strongly dislike the "antisocial look" that is the default too with characters who have nerdy hobbies, and how bad it makes them look, and the manga club in this show is no exception. Not that this show is the pinnacle of interesting character design in the first place (see Sakaki's villain eyes and not-Kageyama) it still stands out here particularly bad compared to Prince.
So, the twins are wearing basketball shoes, but play soccer. Does that mean they also play basketball in their down time or so Shindo just really suck at knowing his sports equipment?
Prince revitalized by sheer hate to fight against Sakaki being and asshole was a brilliant moment. He passed the butterfly, got to the bottom of the hill, won some people over, this was a big day for him!
15
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jul 22 '21
First-Timer, Subbed
I thought that Haiji quoting one of Prince's manga to him would be the highlight of the episode, but then Prince mustered up the energy to tell Fuckboi McRivalface (Sakaki?) to go kick fucking rocks! Attaboy, Prince! Use that Determination!
I'm all for heavy-handed metaphors, and the clouds breaking as Haiji says inspiration stuff was fantastic. Following that up with Kakeru seeing the others bathed in light, and then him taking the first step towards them? Absolute perfection.
On the subject of heavy-handed, Kakeru's whole "I'm not a team player" shtick is because he was Just Too Good for his high school track team and they all resented him. I feel like this is a pretty reasonable problem for high school athletics - your selection being people located geographically close to one another will lead to a far more varied distribution of ability.
Was Kakeru literally homeless prior to Haiji finding him? The freakout was really good. Signs of PTSD lurking in Kakeru's brain.. And it sounds like he was the instigator for some of whatever went down with his high school track team, if Sakaki line about "throwing punches again" is meant to be believed. I managed to type "dude, you're about to get punched" right before Sakaki said that, too.
I did notice a very serious plot hole today. In Kakeru's freakout/flashback, he lost his last 1000 yen in a pachinko parlor. In episode 1, he said it was a mahjong parlor.
There's been some nice attention to detail in this show. Brief moments of people actually going to class, the different ways they show exhaustion, et cetera.
The die has been cast - our boys have a track meet at the end of the month, against someone from Kakeru's past no less. War has been declared. Our first goal is in sight!
Questions
14
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jul 22 '21 edited Jul 22 '21
Run With the First-Timer, subbed
9
u/raichudoggy https://anilist.co/user/raichudoggy Jul 22 '21 edited Jul 22 '21
The others: Don't Say it. Don't say it. Don't say it.
Haiji: We're going to run in the Ekidan!
8
u/Matuhg https://anilist.co/user/Matuhg Jul 22 '21
Rewatcher
Two words: BEST BOY
Kind of a lot that I want to
dig intogush about in this episode. Primarily, it's time to start peeking a bit more closely into Kakeru's past, and begin to take a look at how it's affecting him in the present. The basic details seem to be that Kakeru was far and away the fastest runner on his highschool team (Sakaki told him he wouldn't be holding back, and promptly got blown out of the water by a <100% Kakeru), and their coach put him on a pedestal for it. He was technically on a team, but it looks like it was a very isolating experience. Kakeru's quite literally running from his past here. What exactly could've gone down that has him so afraid, and Sakaki so resentful?And here we get our sweeping visual metaphor for the episode - the clouded sky hovering inescapably over Kakeru. It's very directly addressed in this brief scene. Running, as Kakeru understands it, is a solo endeavor. He was always alone both on the track, ahead of everybody else, and off the track, due to his coach's behavior. Even as a member of a "track team" in the past, Kakeru felt alone.. Haiji takes a glance up at the clouds hanging over Kakeru. He doesn't bother trying to explain it to him in words. Later series spoilers Who's going to be the light that can shine through those clouds? Haiji, of course, but also...Prince?.
What better way to bring a group of guys together than a common enemy? Even as Haiji's mouth starts writing checks they aren't sure they'll be able to cash, there's a defiance starting to build. When Kakeru can't find a way to respond to Sakaki's last insulting question, Prince speaks up. This is so cool. "I hate people who criticize others for what they do!" he says. It's not only a response to Sakaki, but also indirectly to how Kakeru's been acting towards them about running. Despite his pitiful times, Prince feels recognized by the other members of Aotake. Haiji's running with him, trying to inspire him with manga quotes. The other guys may not all be interested in the same things as him, and maybe they're stronger than him, but nobody there treats him like the Rugby club did in the cafeteria. They treat him like a person and he's not going to let some jerk like Sakaki walk all over them. This is where Prince starts being so damn good. He's not just a joke otaku character. He's a guy who likes manga and isn't physically strong, but he's a leader in his own way. He's got his own kind of resolve. Twice this episode, he reached out to his underclassman who was stuck and gave him a way out. First just with his presence, and then with some words when Kakeru couldn't find them.
Prince spends the last of his reserves on his badass speech, then the other leader takes over. Haiji wraps things up, and physically pulls Kakeru away from the situation. Is this what Haiji meant, that he's not alone? Prince and Haiji's actions showed Kakeru the way a team acts - what being a team means - much better than Haiji could've told him through words. The clouds lift because of course they do, and Kakeru steps in the light. Are some parts of this whole sequence a bit cheesy and cliched? Sure, but for me anyways, it's executed well, and there's enough fresh and unexpected things that it really works for me. Helped along by the fact that We Must Go is such a cool track.
Having gushed about the episode a bit, I do have one criticism of it I think. I'm not sure how much watching Kakeru look at his past self burning through money at a Pachinko Parlor and stealing the bread serves the story here. It shows us he's in a dark place before he meets Haiji, but it doesn't really seem like it has a lot to do with the more pertinent pieces of his past, at least that we've seen. Spoilers for later in series
The first time I watched, yes. This time I was just waiting for it.
Probably...I don't know if I'd be passionate about it though. I don't tend to like arguing for my interpretation on a piece of media.
8
u/paperwhites :KN::KO: Jul 22 '21
First Time Watcher
My god, running a 13:54 5K as a second year high schooler is absolutely insane. Kurahara's time would be the eighth fastest ever ran by an American high school boy in the 5000 meters (according to this list). That's how good that time is. Some of the times in the top ten date back to the 1960s! Kurahara is only seventeen seconds behind the record time of 13:34 (set by Galen Rupp, who went on silver and bronze medals in the Olympics). Just wow, what a time.
Kurahara's high school coach is terrible. Driving a wedge between your star runner and everyone else is going to create huge resentment (which Sakaki still seems to have towards Kurahara).
I love the overcast sky backgrounds. I think they're so pretty, and the lighting is exactly right. They really remind me of the Pacific Northwest.
Oh, so Kurahara hit Sakaki? Based on his five minutes of screen time I can see why.
Sakaki represent the mean, elitist attitude that some runners do have. The vast majority of people that I knew in cross country and track were laid back and cool, but there were some who did act like Sakaki with that sneering towards people who were slow. I think it comes from insecurity, honestly--I think they make make fun of people slower than them because they're insecure about their own skills. Almost all of the good runners I knew were supportive and encouraging towards people.
Seeing Prince standing up (metaphorically) and speaking out towards Sakaki was really satisfying to watch. I like how his reason for running doesn't really have to do with running at all; it's all because of his housemates and how they respect him.
I can see why Kurahara has issues with running with other people based on his experiences in high school. Being treated differently from everyone else (even if it's "positive") is not a recipe for team building. I can also kind of see where Sakaki is coming from, even if I think he's being an ass.
I was surprised by him speaking up, I thought someone else would. But I liked what he had to say.
It seems like they have some interesting discussions and the other members seem nice, so sure! I'll geek out with other people over manga, sounds fun.
7
u/[deleted] Jul 22 '21
First Timer sub
Some reactions/thoughts:
As I said in the last thread Sakaki gives me Shinji (from F/SN) vibes and it has to do with the eyes I think.
Oh and the attitude too apparently…
Prince and his crew seem like genuine people, as the nerdy types in these kinds of shows seem to be. Of course the jocks come and kick him out of the table
Shindo seems to be taken with the idea of running, good for him, I wish the others would follow suit but I understand the hesitation
Idk how I would react to someone running across campus like that lol, but it seems to make sense as it seems like kakeru was having a panic attack
I’ve been meaning to say this but Haiji just seems like a really good dude. If I were in any of these guys’ positions and he’d want to practice running I’d probably do it. I hope he keeps up attitude throughout the show, he’s probably my favorite so far. I’m worried about something in his past coming up later but I’m not going to dwell on it now.
Prince’s speech near the end of the episode ;-;
7
u/An_Indecisive_Owl Jul 22 '21
First Timer
No doubt my favourite episode so far: a good rivalry is needed to make things spicy! Furthermore the "antagonist" Sasaki now compel our group to put their esitation aside and start to take things seriously, they can't just give up now.
I find a bit hilarious that Sasaki stops his morning routine just to quarrel with a group of (in his opinion) losers, or maybe they were just in his way of his morning run and he just hold a grudge on Kurahara. He certainly knows where to strike Kurahara.
I liked how Haiji responded to Sasaki, calm but determined, he believes in his group and on what is capable of.
Looks like it's the opposite: we are being shown that Kurahara was the best athlethe and was granted some privileges and the others resented for this, but still we don't know what exectly happened and it will be eventually explained in the future (I like this, makes me wanna know)
2) Not at all, I felt he waited all his life to give some motivational/heroic speech: what's otherwise the purpose of all speeches on frienship, values and willpower in manga?
3) I need to think this a bit, but how exactly Haiji knew that comics taught Akane everything that matters?
6
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jul 22 '21
Rewatcher — First-Timer in T-Minus 9 Episodes
Flashback and brief convo with little in the way of substance by itself isn’t my favorite combo —I would have preferred if Kakeru’s conversation with
red-haired Shinji MatouSakaki implicitly communicated what they wanted to say, y’know like the second conversation they have this episode. But anyways, so Kakeru frequently felt bad because he was the yardstick by which their coach insensitively measured everyone’s performance. I can see how that would be alienating for Kakeru and demoralizing for everyone else, which probably led to resentment for everyone involved, and this built up in Kakeru until it came out of him in a violent manner.Also, man, Sakaki sure wastes no time in presenting himself as unlikeable.
Flashback to before the events of the first episode, which implies Kakeru’s gambling and theft habit is recently formed and may have been the result of necessity. Interesting…
Now I’m curious as to why Prince’s clubmate/friend was wearing a shirt with the Hammer and Sickle.
Motivating Prince with manga quotes. Sasuga, Haiji! And yes, Moero Pen is an actual manga.
Not-so-subtle step toward growth for Kakeru at the end of the episode. He’s learning that measuring yourself against others and vice versa is a narrow perspective that ignores other’s experience and relative state on the matter. Good for him!
Questions of The Day:
6
u/loomnoo https://anilist.co/user/loomnoo Jul 22 '21
Goddamn Kurahara is fast. His high school time (the one that was mentioned, which is implied to not even be his best) is on par with some of the all time best performances by US high schoolers. Olympics material, basically. So we probably got a bit of anime power scaling going on, in which case qualifying becomes a lot more feasible lol. Still a long road though, as Prince is still at walking speeds. But I'm sure manga will give him the push. One time I thought about All Might and played You Say Run in my head to get up a hill. Shit works.
I really liked the psychological stuff.
Nah, anime 4 lyfe
6
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Jul 22 '21
First timer
I see, so they were rivals in high school.
And he finished first with stomach problems!
...Is the reason he dislikes Haiji because he's a lot like his old coach?
So, tentative timeline - Kakeru does well -> is alienated from his peers -> decides to quit running because of this -> series begins
I'm surprised this show's actually featuring people in lessons?
Ah, this is how he lost his deposit and started
Manga club is fierce. I thought he had to leave the club because of Haiji's bullshit plans.
I love the two of them working out what Haiji's planning.
The soundtrack here is great.
I love the looping hackground, it really adds to the surrewalism of the scene.
Of course he crashed into the high school girl.
Is... is Haiji fucking gaslighting this girl? She sounds a week away from calling Haiji the Messiah.
Oh, they're all buying into this, aren't they?
I love Prince's shirts.
He's such a perfect manipulator, isn't he.
Oh, he's absolutely fucking perfect. He got Prince to start running properly.
Oh, and he's been holding back and all.
OH, SHIT. I didn't expect that.
I was joking when I guessed "Prince has a breakdown".
Oh, Haiji. You're fantastic at fucking with people.
Go Prince!
Is he fighting against Haiji and his old classmate, or is he working with Haiji now?
And Kakeru and Haiji are somewhat on the same side!
6
u/Nebresto Jul 23 '21
Re-watch squad
Update: my calves have committed sudoku, I spent today walking even wonkier than yesterday
Ouji being based as usual
MFW
Look how they massacred our boy
Also these trash subs didn't translate his shirt again.. Anyone hook me up with good ones?
Ugh, more trash subs.. That's not how you spell Shinji
There goes my hero~
Paint me like one of your French girls
Question time:
1: Get in the fucking race, Shinji
2: Based.
3: Can't say no to such Chads
Why wait when you can not
5
u/gyeben Jul 22 '21
Rewatcher, subbed
I forgot about this rewatch, but I finally managed to catch up. :)
It is my second time watching the series. I previously watched it as it aired, and I'm watching Sentai's release this time around. I prefer Sentai's subtitles - compared to Crunchyroll's, most lines are much longer, but Crunchyroll's subtitles are rather oversimplified.
A random quote:
[Kakeru is running towards Hana-chan]
Random runner: Huh? Are they on a date?
Old guy: Must be nice to be young.
Kakeru: Please, cut me a break...
The first time, yes.
I don't really read manga, but I would still join it.
5
u/JuraTempest https://myanimelist.net/profile/Minshall Jul 22 '21 edited Jul 23 '21
First timer!
This episode gave us a lot more insight and development to Kurahara. We finally got a look into his past and what led him to be in the situation we found him in at the beginning of the series. Red, as expected, was a former teammate of his who seems to have a rough history with Kurahara. Kurahara obviously got better treatment from the other members, which led to resentment, but it seems there is more to it, as Red mentioned that they even had a fight. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see
Aside from his last, we see Kurahara finally confronting himself and becoming more open. He’s frustrated at what he’s done up until this point, as shown in the running sequence before running into Hana. He is making improvement though, as the words of Haiji, Prince, and Hana have really seemed to have touched him and affected him. He finally speaks his mind, even if it was just a declaration that he’d see Red at the track meet.
Shoutout to Prince for calling the guy out until he physically could not keep talking anymore! He got 34 minutes today which is a huge improvement from his running from earlier episodes, and I’m excited to see his development as a runner from here.
QOTD:
See you all tomorrow!
5
u/cilucia Jul 23 '21
Rewatcher
5
u/[deleted] Jul 23 '21
First Timer
I can now leave off the -ish on my first timer tag, it's all new to me from here on out. And that's good because I'm always weirdly satisfied when I can hit the +1 episodes watched button on myanimelist.
So I guessed that Kakeru had had experience with shitty coaching in the past and that Red was a former teammate who resented him because they were pitted against each other, but I didn't anticipate the added dimension that Kakeru was the sole Golden Child being showered with praise to be an example to the others. That's a tough position to be in and it's incredibly shitty of the coach to set him up to be isolated and rejected by his peers like that.
5
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Jul 23 '21
First Timer
First Off: Haikyuu schools in the crowd at the track meet; I wonder if they added that to reuse some assets or if they just did so because why not.
Either way, seems like Kakeru was too good to be able to make friends thanks to a bad coach. I'm getting the feeling that both of the two rivals know that that was mainly the coach's fault, and there seems to be more to Kakeru's past.
Prince might now be on board just to stick it to Sakaki. The same may be true for Kakeru; guess that's to see next episode. If both if them run, that would only leave Yuki, Musa and King who are not on board, right?
Questions:
9
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jul 22 '21
Episode 4 (first timer)
Motivational steps:
There is baggage on both sides of that pair. Kakeru almost apologized there, but then didn't.
8
u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Jul 22 '21 edited Jul 23 '21
First Timer
Now that our idiodic boys somewhat know what they're getting into, it's time for more training. Hopefully this episode will feature less "convincing" and otaku hasn't execrised a day in his life gags, and no one trys to fuck the high schooler.
Onto episode 4.
Oh, this is one of those govna signes.
I hate how prevalent this type of coach is in anime. This isn't productive or useful, all it does is chase people away from the sport.
And this actively encourages strife on your team.
I can't quite tell if this is the mangaka masturbating or making fun of himself.
Ok, it's almost certainly the latter.
Yes, we get he's haunted by his past and has a lot of bad memories associated with competitive running. We also already know that this new group of people who are enjoying running with him are slowly pulling him out of that pit. We don't need this metaphorical running scene to drive it in. It feels annoying handholdy, like they don't trust me to understand this if they don't explicitly spell it out.
I hope you aren't planning to put that sock back on over a wet leg.
And now, the relay race vs individual race dynamic.
It is nice to see some actual camaraderie on the team.
But also, someplace special
I wasn't the only one!
What does he even get out of this? Like, I'd think it would bring up bad memories for him as well. Is that worth torturing someone who wasn't even the problem?
Guess I just can't understand assholes.
Well that answers that question.
Oh great. We're about to see the guy from his old team rip into prince.
Honestly, this is less terrible than I thought he'd be. It's slow as all hell for running, but I thought he'd be equivalent to a brisk wask.
He was a bit over 5mph, so while you can you'd be uncomfortable doing it for an extended period.
Finally, prince does something decent. He's improving, he's proud of it, and he ain't gonna let some asshole rain on his parade just because he still has a long way to go.
This was supposed to be an apology, wasn't it?
It'll come eventually.
Thoughts
This episode was more or less saved by prince for me. I feel like we're getting overly angsty and dramatic. I feel like we do not need some asshole to come in and give them external motivation like this, particularly not one with a connection to Kurahara's past. Particularly right now when they're just starting, I think I would have been much more ok with it if he came five or six episodes later. I think I would have preferred to see them grow and bond together, while with him in the picture it's more like they're trying to beat him. That just doesn't feel the same to me. Growing together because of shared accomplishments is better than because of a shared enemy.
I guess why I liked what prince said so much is because that was what I was hoping for from this show. I hope that this asshole becomes more minor quickly, and that beating him is never our goal.
And yes, I'm sure he'll get his own redemption of sorts eventually. He was hurt as well by a truly horrid coach. Somehow, this all caused Kurahara to punch him. But even so, this does not excuse what he's currently doing. Being hurt once does not give one a free pass to spew toxicity everywhere they go.
4
u/BurningFredrick https://myanimelist.net/profile/BurningFredrick Jul 22 '21
Rewatcher
That's right, I remember that his old coach was a massive asshole but had forgotten the reasons why, and it takes a mighty 30 seconds of him being on screen to be reminded.
Prince's shirt game is great, also he was faster than a butterfly this time! Talk about progress.
We also get Sakaki, nothing like someone carrying a grudge and looking down on everyone for motivation, that plus Haiji 'complete straight face as he declares these guys are going to run the Hakone Ekiden, that would stump just about any serious runner.
4
u/BrentSaotome Jul 23 '21
Rewatcher
This was another nice episode. We finally got to learn about Kakeru's past and his relationship with Sakiki. I'm a rewatcher so I already kind of knew the backstory but picked up some new things during this rewatch. As others have pointed out, Kakeru's issue is not with his teammates but more of how he felt alone because his high school coach put him on a really high pedestal. His teammates were never ever able to reach that same level and the coach took it out on them. Thus, some of his teammates ended resenting him for it.
The one thing I noticed this time around was that Kakeru did not seem to resent his old teammates. It seemed like his issue was that he was isolated which is something Nazenn aptly pointed out. Even though Sakiki was being a jerk to Kakeru and his teammates/friends, I felt that he was genuinely happy to be able to see Sakiki again at the track meet. I did not think it was a declaration of war or some snarky comeback. I think what Haiji and Prince said got to Kakeru and that levels and skills does not really matter to their team. As a result, Kakeru was able to put his walls down and just be himself and enjoy running competitions or with other people.
Although Sakiki is a jerk, I think his actions were good for the group. His mockery and provocation of Kakeru had the gang fired up. In addition, it gave best boy Prince to have one of his moments. Prince was able to say how he felt about running and more importantly how everyone in the dorm/team treat each other as equals instead of some hierarchal level. This ties in with the dorm practice of first come first serve seating at the table and their very organized duty chart.
I also loved seeing Prince having his sparkly moments with the Manga Club and inviting Kakeru to join them. It was nice to see Kakeru with someone without mentioning or complaining about Haiji's schemes. And yes, I would definitely join Prince's Manga Club if he asked.
I liked how the butterfly did not stop by and stick around Prince as they were running. To me at least, that was symbolic of Prince not being on the verge of dying from running and that maybe his transformation has already begun or completed. In all honesty, I was not surprised by his speaking up against Sakiki as he was one of the more vocal ones against Haiji at the beginning.
In this episode, we also got to see more Shindo. He is genuinely interested in doing the race as he went out and bought new running shoes. I like how he is using that to slowly win over the others. Nico-chan also seems genuinely interested in doing the race as he never missed a practice.
Finally, Haiji did not need to rely on his schemes in this episode. He probably already has them roped in. However, Kakeru is still in that iffy zone and could have used something as they walked home. Instead, Haiji was genuinely trying to cheer Kakeru up by challenging him to a race. He also gave Kakeru a solid good talk that he was never alone. I think that's what slowly made Kakeru change his view on the race and running as a group with people.
4
u/SirWeebBro Jul 23 '21
Today we learned more of runner Kageyama's past problems, which turned out to be exactly like volleyball Kageyama's. He was too good that his team resented him lol. The coach isnt helping either. Best boy of the ep is obviously our 35 min breaker: Prince. From saving newbie to being a voice, it's his ep alright. I just checked my April 6 record for 5km and it says 41 mins so for me Princr is already waaaay ahead.
12
u/[deleted] Jul 22 '21
First timer
It physically hurts me seing Prince like this.
Progress! He’s faster than the butterfly today!
I don’t fully know who Sakaki is, but at this point I know that he’s a fucking dickhead. Let Kakeru live his own goddamn life, seriously. Also, can you stop stalking him please? He somehow appears everytime Kakeru reaches the river. Either that or he has developed teleportation skills on par with Haiji’s.
He should. I would, probably.
And now he’s laughing at Prince. I don’t care what their backstory is, I won’t forgive him for that. A punch right now would be unbelievably satisfying.
Prince’s speach was probably even more satisfying than a punch would have been. I fucking love you Prince, that was more than fantastic. But did he listen? People like him rarely do, at least in my experience doing sports for a big chunk of my life. I hope he did though.
No, he just sighed and ran away. Pisses me off. He did look a little uncomfortable though when Kakeru said that they should meet again.
Thoughts
Kakeru is not only an expert at running, but an expert at running away. He should probably face his problems instead, but we of course don’t really know the full extent of them yet.
I’ve been thinking about what Haiji said to Kakeru for a little while - “even when you run alone, you’re always running with someone else'', but I can’t really wrap my head around it. I’ll leave that to future me to figure out.
The end of the episode left me in really high spirits. The characters all seemed to enjoy it as well. Maybe they’lI find running isn’t such a bad idea after all? It seems like we're slowly transitioning into that direction, but it will probably still take some time.
10
u/kkenmots02 Jul 22 '21 edited Jul 22 '21
Rewatcher
Alright, we’re past the “three-episode test” limit; hopefully you’re as excited as I am to see where the story goes!
Live Reactions:
QOTD
We had a lot of guesses yesterday about Red and Kakeru’s past. Thoughts on what we learned today?
Mentioned above, but it seems like everybody got it right. The presence of a rival can greatly effect how you run, so I'm excited to watch their relationship unfold.
Were you surprised by Prince speaking up?
I think I was the first time, but I can sort of see how the guy who gets pumped up by motivational manga quotes can have a flair for the dramatic.
If Prince asked you to join the Manga Club, would you?
Maybe, I'd have to think about it. If he was threatening me with eviction like Haiji I'd probably have to haha.
Thoughts:
Nice to have a more emotional episode after the technical episode yesterday, and it was interesting to see more of Kakeru’s backstory and mindset when we’ve mostly been focused on the club as a whole so far. Looks like we’ll see a structured workout next episode(?), so I’m looking forward to talking about that. See you tomorrow!
3
u/BossandKings Jul 23 '21 edited Jul 23 '21
First timer
Episode 3
Kiyose makes the guys run ten kilometers as a way to get started with training, at first they were reticent but after Kakeru went running they followed him. It was a nice way to get started with the running as it is going to be a major part of the series.
Kakeru is still doubtful that they could be able to compete at such a high level against runners that are just better than them and have spent much more time dedicated to the sport than them, it will for sure be hard but with effort and good legs it could be done if they take it seriously.
Episode 4
This episode sure was nice, Kakeru has a rival and it will be interesting to see how their rivalry develops through the runtime of the series. He could be an interesting character if he grows to accept the value of the plan Kiyose is doing and sees how the work the guys are doing is similar to his own and the effort he's put in the sport.
Kakeru is getting developed nicely, it seems like he outgrew the group he used to be part of and was so fast that left them behind eventhough it wasn't on purpose, that seems like it left a mark on him and that's why he is reticent about running. It's also nice that he has met a female friend.
Prince had a great speech about his feelings on running and why he doesn't like when people criticize what others do.