One of the best in terms of character development and pacing. Wholesome. · Waifora

This is something I picked up to cope up with there being no more Haikyuu, but I never thought that it would be such an enthralling story and that I'd be so much invested in a running anime.

While Run with the Wind is a sports anime about running, the main premise is the character development. No joke, this story had one of the best character development arcs I've ever come across. The cast has so many characters but the story does such an amazing job in incorporating all of them without feeling that anyone was sidelined.
All the characters are likeable and relatable, very well fleshed out and the most important, realistic. You understand their backgrounds, behaviours and motivations.
Furthermore, the soundtrack is simply amazing. It packs a punch when it needs to but is super chill and relaxing otherwise, giving the whole anime a really cozy feeling.

Combine all that with what is arguably a perfect pace for the story, and it keeps you hooked throughout the whole anime. It starts with this scattered group of college students and slowly builds up their characters and the relationship between them, and delivers till the last episode.

There are downsides too though: The Running part in this seems pretty unrealistic.

Spoiler, click to view

Prince running like that to even achieve 30mins for 5k with no experience at all is pretty unrealistic. So is his sudden improvement in terms of his times in a few months. The author might have done this to keep the qualifier time realistic, but a team of amateurs achieving that time record in 10 months is unrealistic.

That said, If I had to describe this anime in a single word, it would be wholesome. The episodes always left a wide smile on my face.
Running is not sidelines for character development, but quite well incorporated. This was also my somewhat proper introduction to long-distance running apart from knowing that they exist.

If anything, this show makes me want to run now. To experience what it feels like.

Furthermore, I found this explanation of the title of the anime quite apt:

"Sometimes we run with the wind like Kakeru, and sometimes it blows against us. We cannot control the direction the wind blows, we can only choose whether to run with it or not."

~/u/Zalveris, ep 23 thread (r/anime)

Lastly,
__The Mountains of Hakone, are the steepest in the world!
__

Personal Note: Haiji is personal goals

End of Review

Name: One of the best in terms of character development and pacing. Wholesome.
Item: Run with the Wind
Rating: 95
Author: thelastcube

Because of this review word limit, I would share one of my favourite moments [ep 23 spoiler]

Spoiler, click to view

The whole anime revolves around Haiji and Kakeru trying to find what Running is to them. By the end, to Haiji, he still hasn't found his answer, but he is so mesmerised by Kakeru's running form that he thinks that if he chases him, he will get to know what running actually means. On the other hand, Kakeru in the end says to one of the twins that he loves running and in the end says that to him, Running is You (Haiji). While this could be romantic, this could also be him seeing Haiji's passion for running, despite being faced by a huge wall (his leg injury). Haiji never stopped believing in running, and kept going on to finally achieve ~~his~~ their dream of running in Hakone Ekiden.

Both feel that the other person is the answer to why they run, and in turn make each other stronger. It is quite poetic if you think about it.