Review of Wind Breaker Season 2

Wind Breaker, Round 2 — Gang fights and manhood galore, though its appeal loses its lustre over time...where is the fist-fighting delinquency that caused this disconnect? Ever since the outing of the premiere season last Spring, mangaka Satoru Nii's Wind Breaker has been one of the shows where, like most Aniplex shows in the vein of riding the overhyped Shonen train, animation trumps storytelling and vice versa. Although throughout the anime community the show has developed its naysayers, being either in full support or hate, there's just no denying that Season 1 was a great outing of an adaptation for the majority of people, especially withthe onslaught of Season 2, which comes back to yet another Spring season, expecting nothing but the best from a Yankee/delinquent-based show that could do no wrong.

Well...maybe I spoke too soon to admit my shallow-mindedness from my review of Season 1, because TL;DR: the more I watch of the series, deep in my heart, the more disinterested I become. No thanks for the ripple effect of how the premiere season has the copium to raise expectations higher, only to come out being disappointed by its very strengths becoming its own Achilles' Heel, I can't help but lament that the watch experience comparison between both seasons was objectively and narratively different at best. Still, I digress, though.

With Season 2 here adapting Volumes 6 to 11 of the manga (which, as of this review, is halfway through the current ongoing serialization), it's clear that Season 1's story surrounding the profound fight of Bofurin's natural opponents through their other half of Shishitoren that resides in the neighbourhood just next door is only the first of many cases of rowdiness that are to come for the rise in fame for Furin High and its students of different years, which, by that point, the MC of Haruka Sakura and his 1st-year team of fresh Bofurin delinquents were only well equipped for a fight of that stature. So then, the story expands to outside the walls of Bofurin, where the seeds of discontent would slowly sow and create quite the disparity for the series to come, exploring life outside of their comfort zone. Through the external gangs that form part of a coalition network that aims to bring Bofurin to the spotlight through its leaders and people that are affiliated with the school in one way or another, Sakura and his team find a much more sinister premise brewing in the background, that while not a part of his concern, his loyalty to become the best delinquent in all of Bofurin intertwines with the very setting he would continue to pursue and encounter, eventually changing his life forever.

What Season 2 brings are rival gangs that, at first glance, don't seem to be connected to the bigger picture within the walls of Bofurin, though with the growing reputation comes the sense to annihilate for superiority. It's there that Sakura learns about sobriety and continues what he's done with moving out of his comfort zone to consummate trust with Bofurin's students in Season 1, whose significance is amped all the more here. Both the Keel and Roppo Ichiza story arcs move the story pace one rival gang at a time, which introduces even more layers to the otherwise generic story about guys throwing fists at each other, with MORE guys throwing fists at each other, but with ulterior motives.

It's also at this stage where, although Bofurin's 4 High Kings were generally briefed over in Season 1, one of them is covered in more detail here: Tasuku Tsubakino. Bear in mind that Bofurin is an all-boys school, and the only detractor here is that Tsubakino is implied to be a transgender woman by the way he dresses up as a girl (which at first gets Sakura all embarrassed thinking he's dealing with an actual girl), though don't ever underestimate the power that he amasses, proven by Umemiya as a "tomboy with a trustworthy heart of gold" with a caring heart to fight for the people that he genuinely cares about.

So then, it comes as no surprise that director Toshifumi Akai and his team working at CloverWorks still retain their positions for Season 2 here, and although it's not as flashy as Season 1, the fight choreography still holds up and continues to be the key selling point of the series in general.

The only downgrade, however, would be one-upping the rather perfect OST from Season 1, which, given natori and Young Kee's work on their respective OP and ED songs being bangers at that, leaves quite the gap for proceeding seasons going forward. And of the new set of theme songs, J-Pop rock band shytaupe's ED song for their debut Anisong is better than I initially gave it credit for, though I can't say the same for the juggernaut that is the popular J-Pop boy band SixTones and their rather average and forgettable OP here.

It's rather obvious that for Wind Breaker's anime adaptation, Season 2's content was rather mild and tame as compared to Season 1, with much of the animation prowess and serviceable story going for it, but I've got a strong gut feeling that it's going to take yet another season of mangaka Satoru Nii's work to TRULY stand out, just like how Season 1 was done that's close to perfection. So think of what you will of Wind Breaker; it's just like DanMachi in a way, where the story notes don't beat as much in their sequel seasons, only to be disproven by the following sequel season and beyond.

The anime, as of this sequel, is generally overall decent and good, but it could be better with a touch more push.