It's a testament to how good it is that Run With the Wind is one of the few sports anime I've actually finished. With its character-driven story and focus on how individuals, each with their own unique personalities and struggles can come together as a team and achieve something inspiring, it has a wider appeal than your typical underdog play-to-win team-spirit sports anime.

The coming-of-age aspect of the show was really nice- I appreciate character growth more than anything else, but the setting has to be appealing too, and it was handled pretty well through running. It's true that some of that growth was a bit rough around the edges, but I appreciated a story that happened more naturally, rather than being shoved in your face like a shonen anime might. The character development is less than I could have hoped for some of the characters, but still very satisfying for what we do get. With ten characters to cover, it managed to make them unique and not rush their stories.

I found the character growth in this series much more relatable than your average high school anime, because unlike how college often seems the endgame for most anime stories, it's actually just the beginning of adulthood, and figuring out who you are and what you want from the world is a challenging thing- something which this anime portrays really well. The characters are all different, and they don't give up their individuality for the good of the team. Most impressively, they're not all sports fanatics- they all run for different reasons, and running comes to mean something different to each of them.

I really enjoyed the music, and the show knew how to use it effectively. It's not anything bombastic, but in keeping with how the show chose to show rather than tell, it subtly set the mood. And that piano theme that plays during emotionally powerful moments is really delightful. Otherwise, the sound design was good and the voice acting was suitable for the characters.

For the most part the show has a very good sense of dramatic timing, and consequently the situational humor, while often subtle, is very well-done. While it gets more serious as the story progresses, the little humorous moments really help balance out and brighten what could otherwise become somewhat of a slog at times. The show goes at its own pace, which can seem rather slow at times, but I think it worked in this situation. The viewer gets to experience the endless practice and exhausting effort along with the characters, which gives the final outcomes more weight.

 The art and backgrounds are very nice. All the characters look unique and move and act in different ways. However, the animation is probably the show's weakest point because it's not consistent. The characters are incredibly expressive, but it gets a bit off when it comes to the running at times. That said, many of the running sequences are absolutely beautifully animated.

In all, I'd recommend Run With The Wind to anyone who enjoys a nice mature coming of age story. If you like slice-of-life, sports, character drama or coming-of-age stories, this is likely to appeal to you.
-Akishima 2019 - FROM ANIME PLANET <3