Fandom #44: Run With The Wind

As a middle-schooler, I used to run (badly) in cross-country and track & field. This anime hits all of my nostalgia points, and makes me want to go running again. It's been a joy to watch, and I genuinely haven't been able to predict nearly any of the plot, which is a rarity for sports anime. Perhaps being set at a college with older characters has made it more accessible - there's very little traditional high school antics here. The characters have been endearing - by being so realistic and balanced, while also gradually falling into place as a team united by a single goal: the Hakone Ekiden. It's a real-life relay-style race for college students only. It takes place over two days, 5 legs per day, with each leg around 20km for a total of roughly 218km. Not only that, but they have to run up and back down one of the steepest mountains in Japan. It's not a course for rank beginners, but we can see through the two-cour anime just how our guys are going to make it there... and how much we want them to succeed.

( The mountains of Hakone are...? )