Our Wind Breaker episode 8 review talks about the bloodiest fight in the series so far, the tease for the fight between the faction leaders and not ignoring the actions of someone.
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The Wind Breaker episode 8 review
Continuing right where the last episode left off, Togame has no clue as to what he’s doing and isn’t putting any effort into fighting Sakura. Sakura uses a little Talk no Jutsu, saying that no matter who his opponent is, he won’t change who he is or pretend as if they’re not responsible for whatever acts they’ve committed. These words resonate with his opponent and reignite the fire he has inside of him.
They then go back to scrapping with each other, until Togame decides to give up, thinking he should’ve fought with Choji instead of deciding to follow his lead. Speaking of his leader, Choji is none too pleased with his best bud and declares Togame weak after landing a swift kick to him. Umemiya stops Sakura from attacking the Shihshitoren leader and says he’ll handle him. The episode ends with Choji and Umemiya fighting for a little bit, with the latter giving the former a bloody nose after Choji says he doesn’t understand what the Bofurin leader is trying to tell him.
The followers…
The episode really gets going when Sakura uses the “using strength to push through in a fight” idea and says that he won’t change no matter what. Once the main character reignites the fire Togame had in the last episode, they both start beating the utter hell out of one another. The punches and kicks these two dish out and the way speed at which they and the fight moves make the previous brawls in the series seem slower and less painful.
Nearly every attack the two of them deal results in blood, spit, or both escaping from their mouths and/or noses, which helps to show that these guys are enduring a LOT of pain while simultaneously trying their damndest to win. The same sound effects from previous fights are here and (along with the blood and spit) make it feel like this tussle is a harsh, painful, and incredible spectacle.
The same high-energy song that played during the Sakura vs. Togame fight in episode 7 plays during their match here and it still works incredibly well in this fight. The culmination of the fight, when both fighters land their kicks at the same time in mid-air and when Sakura soon after punches Togame one last time is very memorable.
During the episode, Togame and Sakura get a bit of character development. Togame comes to realize that he should’ve fought Choji and shouldn’t have changed who he was just for the sake of his friend. He tries to tell the Shishitoren leader that their faction isn’t the righteous one, only for him to get kicked by his “friend” and be told to shut up since he’s weak now.
The guy knows now that following Choji’s lead and changing himself for him weren’t his smartest moves. That’s about it. I do like the bit about not distorting yourself for the sake of another or ignoring their actions, since that’s applicable to many bad relationships where some people get away with doing terrible things while someone else ignores what they’re doing.
In response to this, Sakura tries to beat up Togame’s aggressor, only to be stopped by Bofurin boss Umemiya, who says he and his opponent seem to have had a good “conversation” (i.e. the fight they had this episode). The main character says he “didn’t hear any words from his fists,” but he does say he feels comfortable when Togame gets back into the fight and addresses him by his name instead of the nickname he gave him.
It’s clear that Sakura is still not used to being treated with respect by someone and that maybe he enjoyed the fight because Togame seemed remorseful of his previous actions and that he’s no longer the person from episode 3. He also witnesses the fight between Umemiya and Choji and vows to become stronger since he doesn’t like it when someone (Choji, in this case) attacks others. Sakura still doesn’t understand why he’s angry when something like this happens, though it might be because he doesn’t realize he has a good heart.
…and their leaders
As for Choji and Umemiya, their battle begins near the episode’s end, though we get enough of it to hype us up for their true fight next week. Choji immediately shows what he’s capable of by not only being one tough customer, but an acrobatic one at that. He uses his acrobatics to put himself in unorthodox positions to give himself an advantage and deal damage.
For example, early on in the fight, Choji manages to get himself onto Umemeiya’s shoulders and lands a few punches on the latter’s head. Choji then escapes his grasp when Umemiya tries to toss him off by using the momentum from Umemiya to hold on and ends up sliding between his legs, positioning him for another unexpected attack that the Bofurin leader ends up countering. It’s a wild fighting style that immediately sets him apart from the rest of the cast and presents a tough challenge for Umemiya.
Speaking of whom, he seems proficient in blocking blows, tanking the attacks from his opponents, and dealing what look to be powerful punches and kicks of his own. So far, we haven’t gotten a real look at how powerful he is, but here we get a glimpse of it.
After Choji says he doesn’t know what Umemiya is trying to teach him, the screen turns monochrome and the Bofurin looks up at his attacker and he looks angry. The Shishitoren leader manages to dodge his opponent’s punch, but blood suddenly gushes out of Choji’s nose, with Umemiya saying that he’ll win since Choji can’t understand a simple concept. His serious tone of voice during this fight gives away that he’s not planning on messing around with his dance partner. Though he hasn’t done much so far in the series, Umemiya still looks and sounds awesome in this scene and it feels like Choji is going to be ripped apart in the next Wind Breaker episode.
Besides this, Umemiya doesn’t do much. Choji, however, shows just how much of a nutcase he is when he attacks Togame and immediately goes back to his childish personality. There’s also one moment before the fight between the two faction leaders kicks off: after it starts raining and thunder cracks outside, Choji’s face is partially hidden and one of his eyes glows white.
The fact that he just sees fights as fights and felt/learned nothing from the match between Togame and Sakura illustrates that this kid is way too obsessed with becoming strong and free. His obsession is harming others, yet he can’t see that because he’s utterly consumed by it, probably to escape something that happened to him in the past as Umemiya said in an earlier episode.
Wind Breaker episode 8 gives us the best and bloodiest fight in the series so far, as well as decent character development for Sakura and Togame. The fight between the faction leaders is just enough to show what they’re capable of and still hook you in to see what happens in Wind Breaker episode 9.
Final score: 8/10
Wind Breaker can be streamed through Crunchyroll.
