English Dub Season Review: WIND BREAKER Season Two

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Sakura’s (Austin Tindle) idea of what it means to be at the top has begun to change.  After making new friends and encountering new enemies in his time at Furin High School, he has gained some perspective.  Now, he stands tall as a Grade Captain, fighting to protect others.

Our Take:

WIND BREAKER is another example of how a seemingly simple premise can evolve into a worthy champion in the action genre.  With its combination of lovable characters, eye-catching animation, and unexpectedly heartfelt themes of trust, friendship, and acceptance, the show packed a powerful punch in its storytelling that impacted me more than I thought it would.  After the season one finale, where Bofurin embarks on a rescue mission, I was left truly amazed by the show’s consistent quality and enjoyment, leading me to regard it as one of the best anime of the previous year.  

It also left me eager to see how the team’s latest confrontation against KEEL would get resolved.  Fortunately, me and the rest of the show’s fans didn’t have to wait more than a year to find out the answer.  The second season of WIND BREAKER reunites us with Sakura and the rest of Bofurin, as they face off against two new formidable teams to protect innocent civilians and even one of their own.  The result is unsurprisingly what we’d expect based on our experience with season one, not just in its presentation and action set pieces, but also the emotional beats in its storytelling and themes.  It may not hit every emotional beat as perfectly as season one, particularly in its more contained second half, but it’s nonetheless another series of white-knuckled mayhem that’s well-balanced with its sentimental character development.

The season’s first half launched into action right from the start, with Bofurin rescuing their member, Atsushi Nagato (Travis Mullenix), from the ruthless gang KEEL, notorious for its brutal aggression.  The standout figure among them is the team leader, Shingo Natori (Alejandro Saab), whose obsession with control through violence enhances the team’s strength, making KEEL more formidable than Shishitoren.  Thanks to CloverWorks’ captivating animation style and tension-filled sequences, the second season delivered exactly what viewers craved, even though the struggle lasted only two episodes.  Of course, the arc’s action sequences weren’t made just for the spectacle, as they included moments of character growth that didn’t break up the pace of the violence.  

One significant example is Haruka Sakura, who experiences sympathy for his new friends for the first time after witnessing Nirei (Bryson Baugus) get hurt during the conflict.  This moment emphasizes his internal struggle that has him learning to open up to others as he adjusts to his new role as the class’s Grade Captain.  Despite still exhibiting a tsundere personality, Sakura displays numerous signs of character growth that have him overcoming his fear of discrimination and trust issues that made him an outcast.  He also continues to display his overly sensitive side whenever he encounters a single instance of romance, adding to the show’s humor through Sakura’s embarrassment.

This was one of the reasons I loved the show’s first season.  While Sakura initially comes off as stubborn and unlikable due to his temper and rude attitude, the anime portrays him as an internally vulnerable and selfless protagonist who conceals his pain and doubts behind his tough-as-nails persona.  As his new friends begin to rely on him as their Grade Captain, Sakura’s personality clashes with his phobia of letting his team down, especially highlighted in the episode “A Place I Belong”.  That episode featured a well-animated metaphorical tightrope sequence that portrayed Sakura’s inner battle involving him overcoming his fear of discrimination and learning to open his heart to others.  This ongoing growth further establishes Sakura as a well-rounded protagonist filled with charm, attitude, and heartache, showcasing Austin Tindle’s commendable talents in conveying Sakura’s complex character.

The season also introduces viewers to another member of the school’s Four Kings, Tasuku Tsubakino (voiced by Kiba Walker), who plays a significant role in both the latter part of the first half and the second half, which centers around the source material’s “Keisei Street” arc.  One notable aspect is his distinct personality, marked by his crossdressing as a woman, stemming from a childhood admiration for women’s makeup.  This element highlights the series’ handling of LGBTQ+ themes, which could easily get knocked down in one punch if not executed thoughtfully.  Instead, it emerged as one of the standout aspects of season two, as I surprisingly found myself loving Tsubakino’s presence more than I anticipated.  This is primarily attributed to Kiba Walker, a queer POC actor, who infused Tsubakino’s personality with charm, heart, and even humor through his vocal performance.  More importantly, Tsubakino’s arc, particularly his backstory in the season’s best episode, “Hidden Feelings,” brings a genuine depth that illuminates themes of acceptance and love.  Tsubakino embraces his true self and his interests, regardless of what others think, with his love for both himself and others serving as his strength in the battle against GRAVEL in the second half.

By the way, the season’s second half sees the source material’s “Keisei Street” arc being adapted to the screen.  This storyline features Sakura, Nirei, Tsubakino, and Suo (Dallas Reid) attending the neon-lit entertainment district, motivated by Tsubakino’s gratitude.  However, their outing is soon disrupted by the emergence of GRAVEL, a gang of thugs seeking to escape their impoverished lives by partaking in ruthless business tasks.  One of which includes retrieving a young singer named Shizuka Narita (Alexis Tipton).  Alongside the Roppo Ichiza, led by Kanji Nakamura (Chris Gardner), Sakura and the others take on the responsibility of shielding Narita from GRAVEL, which is led by Shuhei Suzuri (Eduardo Vildasol).  

With a total of twelve episodes this season, the second half wasted no time in dragging the characters straight into this dilemma.  However, its pacing resulted in the narrative feeling slightly rushed, particularly regarding GRAVEL’s origins.  If it were to add in at least one or two episodes to explore more of Suzuri’s backstory, then it would have provided the emotional depth necessary to make Suzuri more intriguing beyond his typical “revenge against the rich” trope.  The previous season’s arc involving the Shishitoren remains the top fighter in making Bofurin’s opponents as human as the protagonists.  Nevertheless, the “Keisei Street” arc still succeeds in conveying as much emotion as possible to the character arcs, particularly in the development of Tsubakino and Suzuri during their intense confrontation.

WIND BREAKER achieved an impressive feat by balancing hard-hitting thrills with genuinely thoughtful messages, making a strong first impression on the anime battlefield.  The show’s second season aimed to utilize the same methods to continue its winning streak and show potential in its future.  The result is another fantastic round of Bofurin mayhem that highlights its immaculate presentation and lovable characters well enough to complement its themes, including its LGBTQ+ representation.  The “Keisei Street” arc was slightly rushed in further developing its antagonistic GRAVEL team, but it still hits hard in its emotional depth through its direction.  More importantly, it provided plenty of worthy teases that would play a role in a potential third season, such as the introduction of Yamato Endo (Aaron Roberts), who has a personal connection to Furin, and his formidable boss, Takeshi, who’s seemingly more ruthless than Endo.  With CloverWorks’s exceptional animation and a surprisingly good dub cast, the second season reinforces WIND BREAKER as a testament to an action-packed and heartfelt anime that punches through more than just one’s face.