English Dub Review: Wind Breaker “Clash”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

A fight breaks out between Bofurin and Shishitoren as Bofurin tries to protect the town’s middle schoolers.  Sakura receives a declaration of war from the group’s second-in-command, Jo Togame.  Sakura and one of the Four Kings of Bofurin, Toma Hiragi, tell Umemiya what happened.

Our Take:

The battle between the two hardcore groups has been declared, and the only person capable of helping Bofurin achieve victory is its representative, Umemiya.  The problem, at least from Sakura’s perspective, is that Umemiya appears more cheerful than tough, as we’re left to believe.  Based on the ending of last week’s episode, the supposed leader of the Bofurin group seems to care more about his plants than his students, making Sakura question Umemiya’s status as a leader.  However, if there’s one thing I learned from watching this episode, it’s that you can’t judge a book by its cover, or in this case, two books by their covers.

This is proven in “Clash”, which occurs immediately after the previous episode, with the Bofurin gang explaining to Umemiya their encounter with the Shishitoren clan.  This is where Umemiya starts proving us viewers and Sakura wrong through his personality.  He can be loving and very optimistic, but when it comes to his students and those threatening to tear them apart, Umemiya isn’t afraid to put his game face on regarding his loyalty and toughness.  We also learn that Umemiya is Kotoha’s adoptive older brother, who grew up in the same group home as her.  Unfortunately, based on Kotaho’s expression and Umemiya’s gleeful nature, the cafe owner doesn’t seem thrilled with his visit.

Additionally, the episode introduces us to Choji Tomiyama, the leader of the Shishitoren team.  At first glance, he may look and behave like a child, but he’s actually just as tough as Umemiya, explaining his desire to fight the Bofurin representative.  However, that doesn’t mean both leaders can have all the fun to themselves.  Choji decides to have the rest of the teams join in on the clash by having them compete in a one-on-one tournament on Shishitoren territory.

Overall, the episode introduces the teams’ leaders with surprising and even amusing results.  Umemiya proves to be one of the characters who’s silly and joyful on some occasions and serious and strict when they’re picking a fight with him.  It does raise concern about whether his optimistic side would grow more irritating as the season progresses, but as long as it maintains his balance between humor and drama, he should be fine.  As for Choji, he’s pretty formidable despite his young age, but we’ll see how formidable he really is during the tournament.  With the matches set up for the competition, the real fun can finally begin.