Welcome one and all, to the most wholesome episode of Kaze Fui yet. This week Prince and Kurahara finally connect, Hana cooks dinner and a track meet comes to a curious end. Lets jump in!
Kaze Fui continues strong this week, not content to sit back and simply milk Haiji’s condition. No, instead of spending an entire episode hemming and hawing about it, Kaze Fui focuses instead on its consequences. We see how Kurahara does truly step up to lead, and learns in the process. The rest of the dorm also got to see just how much Haiji did for them. From the twins and Hana cooking, to Shindo and Yuki with leading their exercises. I liked how Kaze Fui spread out the effect of Haiji’s sickness to hit each of them. Yes, Kurahara and Prince are the central figures of the episode, but Kaze Fui didn’t forget the rest of the cast. And its details like that which make me love each and every member of the cast.
As I said though, the real meat of this episode is Kurahara and Prince, and Kaze Fui nails this. It takes it’s time addressing this relationship with no one scene ever truly solving it. Throughout the episode we see Kurahara and Prince continuing to bicker. It’s only when Kurahara starts observing Prince, starts watching what he does, that he starts to change. It’s just like at the track meet last episode, except now focused on one person. Kurahara started to see Prince as an individual, instead of just a dorm-mate. This was also an episode were we got to really dive into Prince’s character with Kurahara. One of my favorite lines of the episode was Prince’s “Try to talk as fast as me”. Throwing Kurahara’s elitism about running back in his face. Like Haiji said, you can’t beat a literature major at Sophistry.
Kurahara is not without his own strong points though. This episode proves that, when he decides something, he commits to it 100%. We saw that before with how much he was over-working himself, and now we see it in his leadership. He decided to try and understand Prince, and in doing so, started to motivate him through his hobby. Kurahara did everything in his power to facilitate Prince learning through his hobby. Carrying his manga as he ran, motivating him with getting home to read. He even got the the point of flipping pages in a manga at the same time as Prince, so fully did he dedicate himself to it. Considering this analogy flew right over Haiji’s head last episode, when they were talking about understanding another person and working as a team, it was simultaneously subtle and obvious way to show how much closer they were.
Kaze Fui wasn’t content to stop there though. We even got a track meet this episode, however short it was. And the highlight of Kurahara’s character arc here was such a simple act, that meant so much. Up until this point Kurahara has been obsessed with winning, with getting the best time. In this meet he was on pace to do just that, with an almost sub 14 minute time. Yet when he saw Prince struggling, he stopped. He sacrificed his time for the team, for Prince. He looked behind him for once, and saw a teammate he could help, and so he motivated them. Prince knew how big this was for Kurahara. As did Haiji, with how violently his hand was shaking. For such a tiny event to hold such large narrative weight is amazing. Kurahara has become to Prince, what Fujioka no doubt is to him.
I do still have some small gripes about the episode, but I want to make it clear. These in no way detract from the narrative weight of the episode. Naturally all of these gripes have to do with how Prince runs. First off, no way in hell does he make a sub-30 minute time running like that. A 10 minute mile pace, while not amazing, does require you to actually lift your legs off the ground. The way he runs would net him closer to a 15 minute mile, since Prince is almost at a walking pace. The way he moves his arms also continues to pain me. I get that he is supposed to be inept at running, but normally that just means leg motion or straight back. Not… raptor arms.
As far as the rest of the cast goes this week, Kaze Fui kept them busy and involved. I mentioned earlier how each of them had their own moments of realization of how much Haiji did. From the twins cooking to Shindo trying to find a new coach among them. What I love about this though is how it is turned into both a comedic moment and one of bonding for Kurahara and Prince. It even managed to develop Hana a bit, though I am glad the focus is still on our club.The actual gag itself, of her terrible cooking and single bathroom, was alright. The expressive animation really carried the gag, and the color-coding of the characters really helped us tell them apart in that on-screen instant. A great example of the “greater than the sum of the parts” argument.
So now, I suppose the question is where do we go from here. Kurahara’s character arc of Lone Wolf to Team Player was the central conflict for the last few episodes. With Prince’s new time, that transformation is all but complete. Sure, he still has a way to go, and will no doubt be an ass some more. But the big one is done. So let’s take a look at what we have left. There is still Droopy Eye’s, Kurahara’s friend from high school, who I assume we will race against soon. Then we have Fujioka, who needs more time on screen if he is going to matter by the end. And lastly there is our dorm mates, such as Musa with problems of their own. Musa’s lack of confidence in regards to other foreign runners was brought up before, so maybe that will come up? Either way, plenty left.
All in all, another great episode of Kaze Fui. I said it last week, I will say it again this week. Kaze Fui is my anime of the season. The detail, the care, put into these characters? Its downright phenomenal. Every week, running 12 times around a track is somehow made more engaging than a sex-fueled story of drug powered world domination. But what strikes me every time is just how… colorful, Kaze Fui is. Its so bright and beautiful, that every scene is a standout. Sure the animation is iffy in places, but the actual style? One of my favorites.
But tell me what you think of all this. Of Kurahara’s recent character arc and Prince’s new backbone. Hana’s complete lack of character. Let me know below and I will see you next week!
