The Essentials
Name: Wind: A Breath of Heart (TV)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 13 + 4 OVAs
Released: June 30, 2004 - September 22, 2004
Based On: Wind: A Breath of Heart visual novel by Minori
Director: Mitsuhiro Tougou
Produced By: Radix, Rondo Robe
US Distribution By: N/A
Major Japanese Cast
Makoto Okano: Hisayoshi Suganuma
Minamo Narukaze: Miwa Kouzuki
Hinata Okano: Ritsuko Kasai
Nozomi Fujimiya: Junko Okada
Tsutomu Tachibana: Akio Suyama
Hikari Tsukishiro: Riko Hirai
Akihito Narukaze: Jin Horikawa
Wakaba Fujimiya: Sayaka Aoki
Kasumi Shikouin: Satomi Kodama
Major English Cast
N/A
Scores
Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 8/10 (x 2 = 16 pts)
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 9/10 (x 5 = 45 pts)
Total: 165/190 (86.8%)
Review
Wind: A Breath of Heart is about two high school students, Makoto Okano and Minamo Narukaze, who are reunited in their hometown of Kazune City after the two both moved out of the city two years prior. Makoto has moved back to the town with his sister Hinata after their mother mysteriously disappeared while Minamo moved back due to her father wanting to investigate the mystery behind the magic in the town.
Makoto soon starts hanging out with other people in the town, including two waitresses, Nozomi and Wakaba, who work at a resturant he frequents, as well as Hikari, who runs a shop and keeps very much to herself, leaving Minamo confused as to how Makoto feels about her.
Also, veryone born in the city is gifted with a certain power, save, seemingly, Makoto. However, everyone’s powers start to come and go and soon Wakaba is suddenly attacked. This starts Makoto down a road where he learns the truth about the magic powers granted to those in the city and what really happened to his mother.
Wind has one of the better written stories that I’ve seen in a while, I think. The show starts off innocently enough, looking like it may just be a regular harem show. Then suddenly all of these mysteries pop up, such as the history behind the magical power in the city. However, instead of the show answering “what,” it’s more about answering “why” and what can be done about it, since the “what” is answered pretty early on.
The one weakness in the story, however, is that while the plot, generally, is pretty well formed, there are some things which I didn’t think were really explained (such as what determined against whom and, especially, how often the “what” above occured). However, I’m not sure that really negatively impacted the show too much.
I’ll just add a couple notes about the show, however. First, the episodes are half-episodes. Second, make sure you watch the 4 OVAs where they are supposed to fit in the story, as it will explain things better. I think the show can be watched with just the 13 TV episodes, but it’s better with the 4 OVAs included.
In the technical aspects, the animation was very good I thought, and the music was also good.
Overall, if you’re looking for a show with a little different story to it, and you’re not afraid of either mystery or some harem-ish storylines, then I think that Wind is a show that should definitely check out.
First Watched: July 2008
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes
I’m finally getting around to watching some of the other series from the summer season which I wanted to watch, and the first one is Natsume Yuujinchou.
July 15, 2008
July 15, 2008
