blushkurasakunyan

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK detail - Sakura and Bofurin

A nice detail of the subtle passage of time and Sakura's acceptance of being a part of community, is that at some point, he has accepted and considered himself truly a part of Furin/Bofurin.

Recall the entirety of S1 and the beginning part of S2 (aka only a week has passed since he's started school and life in Makochi), he considers himself an outsider and doesn't understand why EVERYONE is so nice to him. No one judges, no one discriminates. Only one who annoys him is Sugishita, but if they don't interact there's no issues lol.

Fast forward to the end of the season, when he's been a student there for 2 months already. He's had two full months to live his normal life of going to school, patrolling the town after class, hanging out with his classmates at school, and now hanging out with his friends, and most importantly, going on patrol with his friends + senpai to help the townspeople out with things they need.

Such low-key everyday things has become a norm to Sakura - he no longer wants to rush into a fight, is a lot more relaxed; but he's still ready to jump in if there's trouble to protect others.

Over time, being surrounded by good people, he really, truly has embraced being a Furin student - as well as being a member of Bofurin who helps protects their community.

So when Endo brings up how Sakura is an outsider who doesn't belong in that "community of Furin", that comes at a shock to everyone present. After all, although we know that Sakura is a "Furin student", we don't know his thoughts on being "a protector of town - Bofurin member".

But it must have been heartwarming for him to see Nirei, Suo, Tsubaki, EVEN Kanji, whom they just met, to declare so strongly that he IS a Furin student who belongs there.

And when Endo says that Sakura is the type to be alone, for the ever-calm Suo to react in shock - we definitely know Endo crossed a line. Suo and Nirei know very well how alone Sakura was, and they don't want him to ever feel that way again

So while Sakura was not too upset by Endo's taunts, he IS upset by Endo being a know-it-all arrogant asshole who called him "a little boy" and he's only 2 years older HAHA.

What I find most interesting is when Ume and the 4 kings share the threat of Endo coming back and harming the town/school. While everyone is scared/nervous, he's the one that boldly declares that they'll fight to protect EVERYTHING, because THEY are Bofurin, right??

There's our answer - in just 2 months, Sakura went from thinking how he was an outsider, how he didn't need to belong, he didn't need to care for others or to be cared for; now he declares that if there's any threat, he will be there to protect EVERYTHING that is important to them and their community.

He's so bold to declare something as absurd as that, but everyone's hearts are so warmed by how much he cares :')))))

And his sincerity reached them all!! :)

Its so heartwarming to see our Sakura, who is very much insecure, with fears of abandonment and disappointing others, who couldn't ever imagine finding a place that he belongs, to now finally really feel that he "belongs" :))

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK Blu-ray/DVD Bonus 7 - A Day with the Senpais Impressions

Thank you to the lovely @karasukarei for your hard work and @saoryshoyo-blog for making it possible!

It so heartwarming to know that the senpais of the senpais are involved whenever there’s a battle. We already saw this in the Noroshi arc, with everyone texting updates to each other in the group chat, but this is actually a normal everyday thing.

While Nirei was messaging Kaji/Enomoto/Kisumi, Enomoto was also giving updates to Hiragi the whole time (thats why Hiragi/Ume knew everything - because they were getting timely updates!)

Hiragi, the caring senpai he is, can’t help but take responsibility fo his Kouhai HAHA. He’s probably nervous of if the 1st years are OK, if Kaji is OK, and he’s groaning because it’s only been a week and the first years have gotten involved in trouble TWICE already HAHA

It makes me think that Hiragi was ready to run out and help out Kaji’s group, since only 3 of them came - but they probably reassured him it was ok and to hang out with the other 3rd years - his gut must have been hurting HAHA

It’s nice how we get confirmation that Ume and the 4 kings patrol together sometimes - after all, they’re all friends and hang out often!

I love when continuity works out - I estimated that the KEEL fight was about a week after school started, and yup, Hiragi confirms it’s been a week. :D

The first 200ish chapters focused on Ume/Tsubaki/Hiragi, so I’m sure the next big arcs will involve both Momose and Mizuki and their teams. The other three will still be involved, but of course less of a focus. (Although as Hiragi will always be the clutch senpai)

I love the gap moe of Mizuki - acts strict and rigid, good with computers (a techie?) who is weak to cheap plastic super sentai stuff and is easily bribed (Just like sakura who is easily bribed with Kotoha’s food loool)

Momose is so fun and energetic, hope to see more from him too

Hiragi’s task is to pick up a new recipe! (Nii-sensei had said in an in person fan interview that Hiragi would be the best boyfriend in Winbre because he’s really good at cooking HAHA)

Once again, we see Ume’s super charismatic ability to socialize and talk to people - he rizzes up the old men like its super easy to the point where Hiragi points out that really only Ume can do this —> which leads to the question of, if this is “Ume’s leadership style” of befriending anyone and becoming family/community, then what does Sakura have to offer, if he doesn’ t have such natural charisma as a rather quiet guy who otherwise minds his business? Can’t wait to see what is next in store for him :DDD

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK Detail - Togame’s favorite season

To my knowledge, Togame’s favorite season is the only one that changed during the series run. It’s a nice detail of character development!

The official windbreaker twitter was started in 2021 when the manga started and has been consistently posting updates, announcements, occasional question and answers from fans/Nii-sensei, sometimes even manga doodles. In 3/2023, the windbreaker anime animated by clover works was announced for a 4/2024 air date.

Around the time of the anime announcement, the official twitter was already ramping up posts and announcements, including this particular tweet (after all, Togame will definitely show up in the first season)

Q: What’s (Togame’s) favorite season? A/Togame: Summer, there’s a lot of fun festivals.

Usually when there’s an official twitter posting these things, it’s usually approved by the media teams, PR teams, Nii-sensei etc. So we can treat Togame’s answer as canon - he’s a very summer coded character, he likes festivals, that makes sense.

But INTERESTINGLY, in the official guidebook released 5/2024, Togame’s favorite season is no longer Summer, but Spring.

Spring?

Not only that, the person he looks up to is Sakura.

-

Fun fact, Togame’s first manga appearance was in late 2021, shortly after the series started, and his second appearance was around 8/2023 in Chapter 115.

That means, that it is true that originally his favorite season is summer (the first official tweet in 3/2023) however after his fight with Sakura, he was indeed deeply affected by Sakura’s ideals/convictions/expressions (thanks Wanijima) and developed a deep respect for him as he tried his best to reform Shishitoren to be a better team. By the time they meet again in Ch 115, about 2 months after their fight (8/2023), Togame’s changed a lot. He’s now much more calm, relaxed, and much happier because after a lot of hard work, Shishitoren finally changed for the better too.

As the WINHERO game is also supervised and approved by Nii-sensei, I’ll also treat that as canon - in those 2 months, Togame and Choji had a lot of ups and downs trying to change Shishitoren. Plenty of members left - even Sako tried to leave - they were under attack by other teams who knew this was them at their weakest, but in the end, Shishitoren came back a stronger, more unified team than before.

The thing is, the old Shishitoren wouldn’t have been able to do this. They just let things fester and get worse and worse, but after the fights with Sakura and Ume, they now found their own reason for finally changing Shishitoren for the better, a team that is “fun for all as they seek to be the best they can be” (I believe a very wonderful fellow Tumblr user spends a lot of time and effort into summarizing these, please let me know who you are so i can credit you!! ^^;)

So when the official fanbook came out in 5/2024, it no longer reflects early Togame, but rather the current Togame. The Togame that finally opened his eyes on to how he should have been more proactive in stopping Choji, to be more assertive in voicing out what he thinks is right, in standing up and confronting others instead of just letting things get worse and worse and pretending it was all OK…

After all, early spring was when he met Sakura and had their conversational fist fight. It really meant something when the sky was cloudy/spring showers were going on (his clouded mind and tears), but when he “lost” his fight, he realized the error of his ways, and finally found the conviction to change and stand up for what’s right + Choji also realizing the same, the sky literally cleared and after a long time, the sun finally came out (beautiful subtle transition by Cloverworks)

More symbolism from a seasonal perspective: it is unclear of when Choji became the leader - maybe a year? Year and a half? In any case, recent seasons were fall and winter, meaning darker, colder skies, and based off manga doodles, seems that it snows in this area they live in. So imagine how especially for the past few months it was a super bleak, cold, dreary winter, things were getting worse and worse for Shishitoren - even Togame was at at a loss on what to do, because nothing was getting better, just worse/the same - suddenly this loudmouth 1st year punk comes out of nowhere, calls him and the team he leads trash, not understanding a thing of what he went through, majorly pissing him off to the point he’s ready to teach that brat a lesson - but HE’s the one that learned a lesson instead.

Literally the moment their fight ended after their fist to fist conversation, Togame got the light back in his eyes, the clouds parted, the sun is shining after months of being hidden behind clouds - and after Ume’s fight Choji’s smile returned too - really, neither one could have expected that SAKURA of all people could have contributed to such change.

Even more symbolism: in Ch 181 Togame says that while "Ume" may be the one who helps people in Winter (Ume/Choji), "Sakura" is the one who carries the torch and also helps people in the next season Spring (Sakura/Togame). ;w;

2 months later, we see Shishitoren again in Ch 116, and wow they look so much more relaxed, all smiles, all laughing, they feel like a really good team now. :)

And as Togame says - it’s because of Sakura :))

One more thing -Nii sensei created Togame with a “turtle” motif - Almost forgot that Turtles *hibernate* in the fall/winter, and emerge in the spring and enjoy summer; thus another layer of symbolism where Togame wasn’t at his best in the dark, cold fall/winter era of his life at the start of the series, but when Sakura (Spring) came, things really brightened and looked up for the better, so when Summer came around this year, he was able to see Shishitoren and Furin connect and all have a really great time :D!

[blushkurasakunyan]

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writing posts about sakura is too complex for my peanut brain, so will be working on various interviews I have planned (ideally) the 6/2025 RIDI South KR fan event the 10/2024 Thailand fan event the 7/10/2025 issue of Animage - Sakura interview the 6/18/2025 an an magazine - VA and Nii-sensei interview DONE

Some SUPER interesting tidbits - like i know Suo is super popular, but I feel like we get more info from these interviews and Q and A than the actual series HAHA. Nii sensei is definitely cooking

Suo and Kiryu are the smartest kids in class 1-1. Everyone else is... ok :'D

In terms of popularity with the ladies, Kiryu is #1, Suo is #2, and #3 is Hiragi

(With his cooking skills), Hiragi is actually the #1 boyfriend material in winbre LOOOOL

Between the vice-leaders, Togame, Hiragi, Endo, Togame will win an arm wrestling match, no doubt

Togame will always win eating competitions too

In order of spicy food tolerance, Sakura > Suo > Nirei

Is there really a demon in Suo's eye <--- confirms will be addressed in the manga in the future

How many evil spirits are in Suo's eye <--- (Nii-sensei paused)... maybe we'll find out in the future.. (LOL)

Endo likes girls with strong personalities (... /Sakura...)

If the Furin Trio ever argues, it won't ever escalate to a fight :3

Hiragi will never recover from his gut issues as long as he's around Umemiya LMAO

If the furin trio has a chance to travel, who wants to go to Thailand first? THEY ALL GO TOGETHER (awww)

Nii-sensei really likes Kenshi Yonezu and hopes he'll contribute a themesong to Winbre someday. (Artist of 'Lemon' , Shinigami , KICK BACK)

Who gets the most valentines day flowers/chocolate? Ume > Suo > Sakura

Sakura's charming point in how honest he is (awwww)

[blushkurasakunyan]

anan No.2450 - Windbreaker Interview

very much paraphrased and summarized interview with the Furin Trio's VAs and Nii-Sensei for this exclusive magazine interview!

Translation by me. Not 100% accurate.

Please do not share to twitter, Facebook, instagram, TikTok etc. only for Tumblr.

Uchida Yuuma (Sakura Haruka)

Sakura is a pure but naïve character. Since he’s been rejected by others since he was a child and has been alone his whole life, he doesn’t have much experience being with others. I think he was already hurt and broken before his inner self fully developed, so I think he’s a pure character as he still has a lot of room to grow. I think he’s naïve because he didn’t have a choice but to use fighting as a means to prove himself.

For Sakura, being given the position of Class Captain is a new experience for him, and in season two as he fights the enemy and watches his teammates fall one by one, he feels responsible for not being the Captain he thinks he should be and scared that he’s not the Captain that others wanted him to be.

However, everyone still accepts him, and he is able to notice things around him that he didn’t notice before, and they are able to move forward together. Sakura shows a somewhat turtle like progress with three steps forward, and two steps back, but that part is rather human of him.

Note:

1 - "Pure" - Hiragi says this in Chapter 161 as well, how Sakura is a very Pure character, he's so straightfoward, and that makes him worry. Nirei and Suo overhear, and they know very well how true that is.

In Japan, being a "pure" character specifically refers to the character trait is someone who is innocent, "untainted", wholesome, sincere and often naive/doesn't have a lot of experience in the word. This can also mean that they are pure of heart, in that they have morals, discipline and is a overall good person.

Shoya Chiba ( Akihiko Nirei)

Nirei came to Furin because he admires their strength and coolness, and vowed to be Sakura’s guide to the top that he’s aiming for. He’s not strong, but he’s honest and smart, and is the classes mood maker.

He loves collecting and analyzing data from the people he thinks are cool, and he’s a passionate person who isn’t satisfied with being just a support. He’s a powerful character who is usually thought of as a weak fighter, but he takes the next step forward, striving be someone who can be recognized by others as their equal.

Shimazaki Nobunaga (Hayato Suo)

Suo appears to be a cool character, but he’s actually an hot-headed person. When he’s angry or sad, he has a real sense of “youth”. I think it’s good that he is moved by emotions. I thought it was funny to see Suo, who seems so distant in season two, become uncontrollably angry, where he was stopped by a calm Sakura (or he was calmed down by Sakura?)

Sue is a character that could easily be written off as the perfect hero, who is cool and laid-back, but he’s not, and that and that’s what makes him fun to voice.

Nii-Sensei

Q: What are you cognizant of when drawing a "cool guy?"

A: the gap. Just like when a weak kid looks cool when he tries to stop the enemy,I want readers to be aware of such a gap.

Q. Among the characters, which one has the biggest gap?

A. I think Sakura, the main character, has the biggest gap, and Hiragi as well. He's a strong character, but he gets nervous, and he's always being pushed by Umemiya.

Q. What do you most want to express with WINBRE:

A. "Being with others." Sakura's used to being alone, so he forgot what it was like to be with others, but he did find people he wants to be with, and thinks "I want to be here".

It would have been difficult to express if I was aiming for such an message from the beginning, but as the story progressed, I feel like I could finally see it.

I originally drew it with a vague (basic) feeling, and it was cool to see the story develop and the message within it.

let me just drown in tears.. Yuuma san... what do you mean by " I think he was already hurt and broken before his inner self fully developed"???

[blushkurasakunyan]

I really enjoy reading all of your thoughts and analysis about the wind breaker characters! Especially your post about the slow burn towards sakura's backstory. So I was wondering what are your thoughts about the slow burn towards suo's backstory? Unlike sakura, we really don't know much about suo and we barely see glimpses/ flashbacks of suo's past as well. Though we do kind of see suo and tsugeura seem to know each other from before their furin days (esp since suo is so tired of tsugeura haha).

Also, i keep seeing posts about fans speculating that suo covers up so much because he has a huge mafia/ triad tattoo but personally i'm not so convinced about that. i wonder if it could be an injury, possibly from the same accident that led to him wearing the eye patch?

i have a lot of thoughts about suo's possible backstory and his personality but don't have anyone else to ask 😅 (eg. seeming to be so mature and collected most of the time, his dream being the emanciation of slaves which could be true depending on his past but also sounds to me like he's trying to act extremely mature for his age because it sounds like what an adult would say, etc.)

But yes, what are your thoughts about this? And no pressure to answer if you aren't comfortable with speculating things about the characters and their backstories! I totally understand not everyone likes to do so :)

Hi, and thanks! :3

Indeed, we dont have much on Suo. Apart from his introduction arc, he hasn't had any focus, and is a pretty stagnant character at the moment.

/at the moment/

Right now we're in the middle of summer break right after a town-wide war, and Nii-sensei is taking advantage of it to explore some characters - Sugishita, Kiryu, Furin/Shishitoren, Sakura crumbs, and currently Kotoha. We're bound to get Suo /at some point./

Until then, fans will continue to theorize left and right on what his arc will be like ~~ I'm sure it'll be something fun and unexpected. :>

In regards to the second half of your question, here we go:

hmm links look a little broken...

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK Character Analysis - Suo

Nii- sensei wrote Suo's character with such an amazing duality. Most of the time, he's a nice guy, but he can be terrifyingly scathing and sarcastic at times. So which is the 'real' Suo? (both)

From Nirei's files, he assumed Suo is a cold, strong fighter, but was suprised to see a rather chill, laid back guy. Except early Suo REALLY is a cold guy:

We have Suo with a generic fake smile that doesn't match his words. He's SUPER disrespectful, demeaning and taunting Kanuma, even though he's younger. He spits out infantile taunts to rile him up, and calls him stupid to boot.

He even calls SAKURA dumb. At this time, Suo is really straightforward and honest - he is NOT mincing his thoughts and words. He's saying things as they are. He doesn't feel the need to sugarcoat his words - he sees stupid, he says stupid. He even calls Sakura stupid twice in the same conversation!! (Sooo different to just a few weeks later, when he's having the time of his life teasing Sakura lol, and be becomes one of Sakura's top supporters)

Suo verbalized what many in Furin (Tsubakino, Sugishita most prominently) had thought at the start when Sakura announced he wanted to take the top - Sakura is a dumb kid who was spouting nonsense without the stregth or drive to push through with it. However, it didn't take long for Suo to warm up to Sakura, who he saw as a very genuine, good guy. So he does apologize for that.

Umemiya is a rather good judge of character, who determines Suo is a kind person. HOWEVER as we see, Suo can be snarky and disrespectful... and Hiragi points out that he's being emotional right now.

Both can be true. Suo is a character that's written to be at baseline, a very nice, chill person, but when he's agitated, he'll drop down the gentleman act and be ruthless.

As above, he doesn't respect Kanuma. He hated how Shishitoren bullied weaker people, and he hated how Kanuma was weak but pretended to be strong just because he was with a strong group. He's such an easy target that Suo just really really wanted to put him in his place (yikes). Later on when they encounter each other a few timse, Suo still has his sadistic moments where he taunts Kanuma (while Nirei and Arima sweat in the background), but he's really laid off the bullying.

Even at the start, Suo didn't respect Sakura. He saw an outsider that spoke big without anything to back it up, but after just spending a few hours with him he took back his words and apologized - Sakura's a good guy with strength and morals after all, and he respects that. If anything, Sakura's earnestness and righteousness riles him up too - that's what caused him to drop the polite mask for a while and spur him to /teach Kanuma that lesson he'll never forget their fight and his place/ (lol). Usually he doesn't step up to fight, but seeing Sakura be gung-ho towards Shishitoren motivated him to step up as well.

On the other hand, if Suo is not angered, he's a really friendly guy. He's supportive of his friends and always offers advice to help them out. He's especially nice to Nirei and helps him out with training, and he absolutely loves trolling Sakura and seeing him panic and be flustered. :'D He gets along with most of the class and senpais, and doesnt cause problems. He's a good respectful kid.

He LOVES teasing Sakura and seeing his reactions. He's normally polite to everyone else, but he is extra trollish to Sakura. Although annoyed, Sakura doesn't mind too much which makes Suo really happy. They also have such a great bond where he can be as rude as he can be, where he phrases insults as compliments, but Sakura knows his intent to help and he's ok with that.

Just like his default fighting style, Suo is very evasive.

He doesn't like

to eat in front of others/Is always on a diet

hang out with Tsuge (even during middle school?)

reveal anything about himself

denies disliking natto

only likes to share things that are obvious, like how he likes tea, tea makes him happy, he likes a specific type of tea, he likes to prepare tea in different ways etc

bullying others, weak ppl pretending to be strong

childish adults

others hurting his friends.

Similar to Sakura, Suo is FIERCELY protective of his friends (especially Nirei and Sakura), and he absolutely hates bullies (like early Shishitoren).

/Speculation Corner/

From the character book/bonus info/details we have interesting information

he respects his master and brothers (fellow disciples under his master?)

his wish is the "freeing of slaves"

out of the main furin 6, we do not get to see his room

He is seen as mostly emotionally stable, mature but we see moments of immaturity when he gets emotional( does he hate immature people because it reminds him of his past immature self?)

he spent his break in the mountains taming a dragon (<-- something likes this)

has a dragon sealed in his right eye (but Nirei's notebook says it was from a past accident)

Suo is also always in a high collar shirt (it could be nothing, like how Sako likes to wear turtlenecks though)

Suo is almost always covered, but in the summer he exposes his forearms, and in multple offical merch (where the anime design team at least has to approve the design, with the assumption that Nii-sensei has some input in the original character designs that is passed over to the PR team) show him with exposed forearms, and under the knee.

Suo probaby also had a rough childhood, maybe also with bullies/childish adults considering he hates them so much. Given that he's considered a part of Makochi/Furin at the start, he's at least attended Junior high, where he already made a name for himself for his strength.

I don't usually speculate, but if I were to, I'd probably think

Suo probably also had a rough childhood, maybe also with bullies/childish adults considering he hates them so much. Given that he's considered a part of Makochi/Furin at the start, he's at least attended Junior high, where he already made a name for himself for his strength.

Maybe he had a really rough childhood, where his family was super strict. Maybe he felt so restricted, he felt like a slave and wanted to be free to live his own life.

Maybe he spent a few years training under his master and fellow students in the mountains, until an accident happened that gravely injured or disabled him and the others.

Maybe, unlike Umemiya/Kotoha/Tsubakino who have completely moved on from their trauma, and Sakura who is slowly healing, maybe Suo is a character that is still stuck in the past.

Maybe, he's still hanging on to the memories of his sensei, who taught him to control his rage and to always be calm and focused in order to protect others.

Maybe that's why, in critical situations Suo defaults back to a fist fight - when he becomes emotional he wants to beat the shit out of the person who offended him or his friends - that is the "true" Suo - a reckless, immature, kid that he's been masking.

That's why in the KEEL arc he says he can't beat Sakura - the usually hotheaded and emotional Sakura was able to calm down and reassess the situation again so quickly, while Suo was still raging after Nirei got hurt.

Maybe HE was the immature one and caused irreversible trouble to his loved ones and he can’t ever forgive himself for it.

Maybe he's afraid of revealing things about him too much, because he would get TOO close to others - he wouldn't be able to handle it if he were to lose the Furin gang either. It's one of those situations where it's fine if he gets hurt, but he doesn't want his loved ones to beat themselves up and suffer if he's gone :(

Or maybe he doesn't want to get too close to others, because the'll see through the cracks of his mask and expose the "weak and immature part" he desperately wants to hide.

Again, the above is just speculation. We simply do not have much information about Suo, and I'm sure his arc will come soon at some point.

/Hopium/

My personal hope, after thinking about it, is that I hope that Suo remains a good kid, and his "immaturity" is revealed to his friends, who accept that part of it, and thus leads to his own character development. He's been pretty stagnant so far, as someone who is always "super cool and strong". It would be great if he can reveal more of his true self to his friends (thus accepting them and himself to be genuine around them), and finally share a meal with the others as well.

For a story where the theme is "found family/friends and bonding through food" it would be unusual for Suo to never get off his diet :')

And for a story that repeats "conversations through fists", it would be nice if he finally gets injured at some point - he can't evade whatever he's hiding forever, he needs to accept that he needs to move forward and truly integrate into Furin/Makochi.

To note, it's been 185+ chapters, and Suo still has not sparred with Sakura on screen. We've seen him fight Ren and Nirei, but not the others.... come on.. fight fight fight..

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK - Thoughts on Sakura's eye color

There's some discussion on what color Sakura's right eye actually is? Is it gray? silver? blue?

I would say, a grayish blue.

In the manga version, Sakura's eyes range from silver/gray to bluish gray as the series progresses The inconsistently is probably because he doesn't save that PARTICULAR shade of blue gray, but rather chooses "something close to that area" in the color wheel on CSP + stylistic changes over the years for a manga.

What I notice, is that the Cloverworks anime instead goes for a gray color that matches his hair. Most anime artwork and merch also use the same gray color palette, EXCEPT for the recent Windbreaker x Vasara collab:

Usually the merchandise team gets very strict instructions on how to design things, so i found it super interesting that they called his right eye "blue", and his collar is also blue. Granted it COULD pass as a grayish blue, but its still more of a blue. (It doesn't have a japanese version, only english, so can't cross check ^^;)

Manga covers:

His eye in Vol 22 is definitely more blue than the first volumes.

Interestingly, he's been pretty consistent with coloring Sakura's eye with these particular shades lately

The hex code 7A8BA9 represents a shade of dark grayish blue. 

Neat detail, Nii-sensei still has the rights to supervise the series in all the multimedia formats: he supervises the anime and game, looks over the merchandise, do some extra work for the volume releases, and draw bonuses. (12/24 Kodansha interview) That means he has some input on ALL the promotional materials for the series... and if he's ok with the final product, then we as the readers should be OK with it and not nitpick on whether its gray or blue, its really just a dark grayish blue.

And there we go :'D

[blushkurasakunyan]

So you believe that the lack of Sakura's past doesn't affect his position as the protagonist. He doesn't get outshined by the others who have deep and rich past, right?

For me, nope. It's inevitable that Sakura's backstory will be revealed at some point, we just have to wait. There's a time and place for everything, and Nii-sensei just chooses to give his backstory as little snippets here and there, dropping casual crumbs every few chapters instead of the whole cake in one giant arc (at this time). For others, it might be annoying why we still don't have a backstory, and that's ok too. I would say as a generalization, readers prefer to read about characters who are 1) static characters - those that finished their character arc, is already OP, the strongest, at their peak, and we get to see them beat down their opponents with decent efforts, lots of victories. vs 2) dynamic characters - those that continually grow, who can still mature, get stronger, and continue to have character development.

For example, Volume 12 clearly establishes Umemiya's character, while Vol 8(?) establishes Tsubakino. Both characters are considered [static] in the sense that we have seen their colorful, deep, rich pasts that shaped them into the characters we see now. They are strong, compassionate, and kind. They are respected as the leaders of Furin and Makochi. They suffered in the past, and their experiences have shaped who they are. They are comfortable with their current selves.

That's the thing - these two have already completed their character arcs before the series even began. They've found what was important to them, and they strive to protect it. They are established characters that will continue to fight for what they believe in, and they will unlikely have any additional major focus or attention. They are already the strongest characters in the series. Some readers prefer this type of character.

Versus characters like Sakura, whom we barely know about. It's not only Sakura, we barely know anything about Suo, Nirei, Tsuge, Mizuki, Momose etc. In 22 volumes, we've barely explored so many characters!

But that's the point. Nii-sensei wrote Wind Breaker as a series where it's "fun and enjoyable to read". He wanted it to be a series where people would appreciate and like the characters and understand/empathize with them. He felt it would be hard for a lot of readers to relate to Umemiya, who was designed to be a cool, strong leader character. Meanwhile it's easier for readers to be introduced into the winbre world if an outsider such as Sakura was the protagonist instead. (interview from pocket shounen magazine)

For me, I am very much a person who loves the slow burn character development. Sakura was introduced as a character with a heavy past, and the current summer arcs have started to reveal bit by bit.

In 5/2021, Nii sensei mentioned in the pocket shounen magazine interview he vaguely has the ending in mind, he just needs to figure out how to get there (lol). in the most recent Kodansha interview 12/2024, he's already actually decided on the goal (ending) for the series, but he has soooo much more story to tell. He has so many character stories to develop in great detail. He believes that the fans will get a chance to learn about these characters on the same deep level as the other characters he's written about so far, and hopes fans will look forward to it.

In terms of characters who have a 'deep, rich past', I wouldn't necessarily want to have a competition of "which winbre character has the best backstory/development" - but I'll be happy with "will Nii-sensei be able to elicit an emotional response from the reader when he finally reveals Sakura's backstory, and is it something that the fans will understand and accept and be satisfied with?"

As a reader who's already been happy with the crumbs we get in the current summer arc chapters, I can't wait for the next crumb to drop. I don't think Sakura will be outshined, because he's already brilliantly blindingly bright to me :)

[blushkurasakunyan]

Anime Expo 2025 - Windbreaker report

as someone who didn’t actually attend :’D

I had a few friend groups who went to AX, and it’s so nice when they saw the Wind Breaker poster, stop, backtrack, and send me photos of the banners :D it’s always nice when someone thinks of you ~

it was wild how much effort it took to get the windbreaker shikishi boards from the Kinokuniya panel.

The promotion was grab 1 volume of winbre to get the winbre shikishi, grab 1 volume of Fragrant Flower and grab the FF shikishi, and if you grab both series you get the letter-sized poster.

Day 1 (Thursday) - Fragrant Flower was sold out by 4pm, so my friend was only able to grab Vol 12 of Wind Breaker. The staff was nice enough to tell her she could come back, grab the restocked Fragrant Flower, and grab that shikishi and poster too in the morning

Day 2, 9:30 am - My good friend was able to show up first thing in the morning and grab FF and thus the bonus poster too. Thanks!! : 11:30am - Multiple reports on twitter, and my friend at 11:30am that there were tons of visible shikishi left, but as the wind breaker volumes were sold out you couldn't get the winbre shikishi, AND the poster was impossible too

Day 3: 11:30am, my friend tried again, and winbre still out of stock

Day 4: 2pm, winbre STILL out of stock. I saw some reports that i guess kinokuniya managed to restock SOME by the end before the event ended.

It just sucked that Kinokuniya didn't do a good job of stocking wind breaker for this event- they should have known it was hot off S2 ending and people would be super interested in it. The staff even told some attendees to bus over to the LA physical store to grab a copy.... would be very inconvenient.

One of my friends went for all 4 days, visited the booth 3 times and STILL couldn't get it. Yikes.

The winbre cosplay meetup seemed to go well, I think there were about 20 cosplayers? Lots of sakura, some shishitoren, a chika, some suo and nireis... a good balance!

I did hear there was a good amount of winbre merch sold at the artist alley, so im glad! support small artists, it's hard out there! the LA Animate in Torrance has a good sized Winbre section last I heard in May 2025, so for those who are looking for official merch, there's some there too!

But alas, my friend snagged a set for me, and I am happy. :)

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK details: Furin Trio (Suo)

Overall I think Suo is an overall great guy. He's a guy that can be sweet, considerate and polite, but when offended, he'll be cold, cruel, and snarky. He can be mature, but he can also be an immature emotional brat who terrorizes others :'D. He's still a 15 year old who has plenty of time to grow, after all.

I love his relationship with Sakura and Nirei, he very much treats them as brothers-of-sorts.

Nirei

I see his relationship with Nirei as a younger brother he needs to look out for. Nire's not physically strong, but he does work hard and tries his best, and Suo really appreciates that. As the vice-captains of the class, they work together to best support Sakura they best they can, and that involves making sure Sakura never feels alone or that he has to shoulder everything.

Suo normally doesn't like to do bothersome things, but he doesn't find it a bother to help out his friends. Even when Nirei asked for him to train him, he readily agreed and trained with him outside of class, and even during training sessions in the gym too. So far we've seen Nirei be proficient with the "roly poly stance", and he's getting more of an eye for a fight as well. It's only been a few months, there's no way Nirei can hold his own in a fight, but he can at least protect himself a bit now. Nire's specialty is moral support and information gathering anyways.

They have such a good relationship now, where Suo is free to joke around (and terrorize Kanuma) where Nire's just massively silently sideyeing him :'DDD

But when it comes to Sakura, they both are so strongly supportive of their friend that they are the best vice-captains one could hope for.

Sakura

As much as Suo presents himself as a very mature person, he does have bouts of immaturity (like during Kanuma's fight or with KEEL) when he gets emotional (From Sakura's influence), and shows moments of immaturity.

Suo doesn't like immature people. He thinks people who talk big who can't back it up are stupid. Of all people, his first impression of Sakura was that he was also such a dumb immature person. However his mindset immediately changed the more he interacted with Sakura - it didn't take long for Sakura to earn his respect - he's actually a guy with morals and strength and a desire to set things right, someone full of convictions to do the right thing (Shishitoren arc).

He was so impressed with Sakura, that he immediately volunteered him as Class Captain, and everyone agreed. After all, Suo's known to be super strong, and if Suo vouches for him, then Sakura MUST be amazing right?

Despite this respect, Suo still likes to joke around and play pranks on Sakura. Despite Sakura being rather naive and easily trusting, Suo LOVES it. Such naivety is usually seen as childish, but not Suo, he gets a kick out of it when he sees Sakura blushing and getting embarassed. He doesn't do it out of maliciousness; he just likes to poke fun at people but Sakura just happens to have the most amusing reactions. As Suo says, Sakura is a tough guy and he'll be ok. As much as Suo annoys him with such pranks, Sakura doesn't mind it too much and gets over quickly without a grudge. He may hiss and bicker, but again, he gets over it quickly.

It's just another day with the Furin trio where Sakura falls for Suo's joke, and Nirei pointing out that Suo was joking, and Sakura being a hissing offended blob lol. This just shows how close they are, just being able to laugh and have fun.

But there are moments of seriousness: Suo knows when to be serious and drop the jokes. Like when Sakura is sick, he tries to make a comment of how he's normally hungry, expecting Sakura to vehemetly deny it, or that he's too sick or something, but Sakura doesn't even have the energy to retort back, and both of them know how unusual that is. This isn't the time to be poking fun at Sakura, this is serious.

Suo being observant, knows that this is no time for jokes, that Sakura's really sick, but doesn't want their help, and he just wants to be alone. One glance at his apartment is pretty telling: Sakura's been alone, he's probably been alone for a long time, he's definitely living alone, he doesn't have a furnished room, and he doesn't have any food or medicine. He's in pretty rough shape, but if Sakura doesn't want them there, they can't force it (but they CAN make Kotoha visit him lol, Sakura likes Pothos food, he can't say no :'D)

But he's very considerate and respectful, and lets Nirei know that they accomplished their goal of visiting the sick sakura, checking up on him, he's reassured them he's ok, so they'll leave the snacks and go home to let him rest up.

In this context, Suo did what a good friend would do: give Sakura the space he needs to recover. It's not good to be pushy, and he knows that it will overwhelm him instead. Instead he reports to the others that they visited, and if he doesn't show up to school tomorrow the'll visit again.

When Sakura returns to class and admits that he's scared that the class will lose faith in him as their grade captain because of his "weakness", Suo gives a gentle smile and rebuke, that Sakura would think of such a thing, he should trust and rely on them more. This is Suo being genuine, he really does like Sakura as a friend and he's still supportive of him as before. It's his job as the vice-captain to help him out anyways, and mistakes happen - such words were what Sakura really needed to get his confidence back! :) Later on, after the Furin trio have more adventures together and get closer and become more of a tightly knit team, Endo drops this bomb:

It's been a while, but they recall it vividly: Their first time at Sakura's apartment and it is lonely and dark. The time when Sakura was so sick he couldnt move, and as friends they couldn't do much for him. Suo doesn't usualy attack first, but after Endo made such a rude and demeaning comment, Suo became more aggressive and lept in with punches and kicks alongside Kanji and Tsubakino. To Suo, Sakura has already become a beloved member of Furin and Class 1-1 and he won't tolerate anyone disrespecting his good friend and Captain.

----

While I see Suo treating Nirei as a younger brother of sorts (master and disciple/younger person he takes care of), I see Suo treating Sakura as more of an equal, where he is free to poke fun at tease ONLY because they are so close, but Sakura is also that 'brother' that needs pointers here and there with advice to help him grow too. Suo overall is very nurturing to his best friends and helps them out however he can so they can grow properly, happy and healthy :)

As sarcastic as he sounds to Sakura, Suo really does like to give out positive words of affirmation that he did a great job :)

And after the Endo battle, he made sure, along with Nirei, pass on the information to the rest of the class how much Sakura struggled to protect them all, and he still has really low confidence and that they need to work together to somehow make it better -- they really are supper supportive vice-captains who care a lot for him!! :)

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK Leaders and their Impact on Sakura

Nii sensei does a fantastic job of showing Sakura's journey in becoming a leader, by starting from zero: he's been alone this whole time, but for some reason when he moved to Makochi he's seen as someone reliable who has leadership qualities. He has no idea what to do, but he's in a unique position to personally witness other leaders in action:

Shishitoren (Choji)

On his 1st day of starting school, Sakura meets Shishitoren. He thinks they're scum, who say they try to achieve the peak of strength, but from what he sees, they're just bullies.

After their 1:1 fights, he realizes that they were just a misguided team who made mistakes and had lost their way somehow. Their team used to be so bright and strong, but after some misunderstandings and misshaps, they're broken and in need of change.

Choji is astronomically strong, however he failed as a leader. Once he reached the top, he changed for the worse. His second in command, Togame make the wrong call to enable his behavior, and both of them turned Shisitoren from a fun group to a depressing, bleak one. They intimidate and no longer protect their own. But after Togame vs Sakura, and Ume vs Choji, they realize the error of their ways and vow to become "less lame" and try to reform Shishitoren.

Sakura sees they aren't bad people, and they leave as friends. However, afterwards Sakura re-thinks his goal of becoming "the top" of Furin - what if he'll become like Choji? someone super strong who reaches the top but loses everything? Vs Umemiya, who is strong, reaches the top and is loved?

KEEL(Natori) + Kaji

Sakura's first choice as the Class rep of Class 1-1 is to rescue Nagato from KEEL. In that fight, he sees KEEL and Natori for what they were: bullies. They bully others and force them to join, extort money from their memors, and control them with fear. KEEL uses weapons and relies on numbers to compensate for a lack of strength, and resort to tricks to overwhelm their opponent.

Kaji says it: Natori is not a leader type, but the group still follows him (probably from Endo's influence). Natori is someone weak who became drunk with power, thriving on proving his strength over those helpless to fight back. KEEL pretty much disbands after this (?) although there are a still active members floating around.

Sakura hates how they operate through fear and intimidation, and he hates Natori to the core. He's just trash and needs to be punched at least 10 times. Kaji-senpai is here to knock some sense into Sakura, to prioritize what the most important thing is - to protect his class as the Grade Captain

Gravel (Suzuri) + Tsubakino

Even though this wasn't Sakura's fight, he still understood that Gravel/Suzuri had his own painful past and circumstances - especially when he shouted out "Someone that has things, will never understand those with nothing!"

He witnessed Tsubakino (who IS a leader figure within Furin) have a conversation with Suzuri, that he can understand that he's suffering, and he still wants to help him.

Tsubakino endured his own suffering in the past, and he doesn't want others to suffer. So when he sees others in a painful situation, he still wants to help him to his ability. In Suzuri's case, him and the gang are all dirt poor and just want to survive one more day with food in their bellies; they even want "luxuries" like playing video games, something most people take for granted.

Sakura sees the kindness that both Kanji and Tsubakino offer to Suzuri. Suzuri is not an inherently bad person - he knows right from wrong and tries to set things right. He has unfortunate circumstances but he will try to make things right now. These three leaders were able to reconcile and make amends. Even at the "top", these three are still good people who understand the struggles of those below them.

Roppo Ichiza

Sakura took an instant liking to Kanji. He's older, and mature, and is fair to his teammates, who all respect him. He even says cool stuff, that "Whoever the winner is, whoever the loser is, it doesn't matter. Even if everyone is down, as long as the street and Shizuka is protected, then that's fine".

At first Sakura thought that was a really cool way of thinking, but in the end, it wasn't.

That's because Sakura prioritizes the well being of HIS team. He doesn't want to win with his friends hurt, he definitely doesn't want to lose with everyone hurt. Although naive, he wants everything: he wants to protect his community AND his friends. (Ch 84)

Although very idealistic, Kanji and Tsubakino encourage him to try his best and even though Kanji was unable to obtain that ideal result, maybe Sakura could.

Furin + Umemiya

By Chapter 90, Sakura has learned so many lessons from those around him; from Furin, from the outside teams. With EVERY interaction he has, he internalizes the lessons learned. He has amazing senpai - Kaji and Hiragi, even Ume all giving him life lessons. He takes all that he has learned, and they all shape the leader he wants to become.

By this point, Sakura has the confidence to say that he is a part of BOFURIN, and he will help protect the school, the community, the memories, EVERYTHING. He no longer sees himself as an outsider; its not just Ume and the 4 king's job to protect the town alone; he is here too, and he will also join in to protect them.

Of course, everyone is happy that Sakura feels so strongly about the community, and they're super happy he's here part of the team! :)

It really hits different when the TOP OF FURIN, UMEMIYA himself tells Sakura that he's relying on him; this really drives the point home that Sakura is completely accepted by those in Makochi now. This is where he belongs.

Endo/Chika + Umemiya

Sakura's fight with Endo is a very desperate fight. Clearly, Endo is stronger. Sakura's love for Furin and the town are dangerous - his strong drive to protect the town gives him the strength to fight, his desire to protect everyone gives him the extra push he needs, but that comes with a dangerous caveat - the more enraged he is, the more emotional he is and thus easy to manipulate.

And that's what Endo does.

He pinpoints Sakura's weak point as his desire to protect his friends, and he spreads and proliferate those seeds of doubt in Sakura's already weak mental state. Even though Sakura is usually seen as a tough guy, there's the cracks of his past that are still slowly healing. It just takes one push from Endo and all those wounds start growing and festering again, the doubt proliferating until it was almost too late.

Sakura spiraled in despair so quickly, so deeply, that it took the team of Suo, Nirei, AND Sugishita to knock some sense into him. He even needed the encouragement from Hiragi and Togame.

Sakura hates Endo to the core. Endo facilitated this whole war just to provide entertainment for Chika, and completely messed everything up and dragged everyone into it. He even used low tactics like emotional manipulation to really drag him through the mud. He's just an asshole.

Although his fight with Endo didn't directly give him any lessons, the fight he witnessed between Chika and Umemiya did.

He witnessed the normally goofy Umemiya turn into a raging inferno in the face of having something to protect.

Sakura was shook; this is NOT the Umemiya he knew. But this Umemiya is so brilliant. He has such strength and resolve, and he will fight until the bitter end to obtain victory - and he did. HE IS AMAZING.

Togame

After the War arc, Sakura was feeling down. The dream he had of being the Top that helped motivate him to propel him forward is very shaky. He sees Umemiya and the top position as something so incredibly far and out of reach. He's absolutely AMAZING. How could he compare?

But thank goodness he has Togame, who reminds him he's his own person. He's Sakura - not Ume - and he needs to find his own dream. Once he finds out what he wants, then he'll have a direction to go and he'll manage something.

After all,

and that is enough to give Sakura his confidence back :)

Sakura says it himself: he likes being at Furin, he likes the town. He wants to be with his friends from Furin and from the outside groups. He wants to protect them from outside threats and more.

He's not quite sure how to become his own leader, but as Togame says, he's still just a first year, and he has plenty of time to grow.

And so the next arcs will continue to focus on Sakura's development, slowly and surely.

---

I love Nii-sensei's portray of Sakura's growth. It feels so natural. There's always some lesson learned at the end of each arc/fight, and we see Sakura reflecting on the previous lessons he's learned, incorporating everyone's advice and the things he's learned to grow and mature as a person.

This posts points out the lessons he's learned from the other leaders from the main arcs, this doesn't even include all the advice he's gleaned from his best friends Suo and Nirei; Kotoha, the supportive townspeople, Hiragi, and Kaji, who are amazing senpai.

To think , we're only in the Summer of his first year - how much will Sakura grow? He already shows a drive to improve himself… he’s such a good guy!

[blushkurasakunyan]

What do you love the most about the slow reveal of Sakura's backstory?

I absolutely love the slow burn reveal of his backstory. From what was revealed in episode 1, I already saw Sakura as a very broken, hurt kid on his journey to healing, finding his identity, finding a community of friends and family who love and appreciate him for who he his, him finding a place he can belong without masking or hiding who he is - he can be himself and not worry about judgement or discrimination etc. I tend to favor the slow reveals of a character vs one episode of backstory dump. If all of his backstory was revealed in one go, then that eliminates the ~mystery, intrigue, excitement, anticipation~ factor. We already know all about him - DONE. NEXT. Here, we are given a big chunk of fractured information at the start, and once in a while we get an indirect reference to what happened in his past. This is brilliantly done by Nii sensei; he gives us Sakura backstory because he's experiencing something in the present that makes him remember his past. No forced random flashbacks, everything is revealed so naturally without disrupting the story's flow.

For example, when he visited Kiryu's home he nonchalantly asked "dont most houses have a shed?" because he grew up in one away from the main family. When he said Akari made such a fierce expression, it was because in the past he didnt have the strength to retaliate, protect himself, or stand up for himself. When summer break started, he had no plans - he'd probably just do his usual of taking strolls around the town alone when bored and was excited at the beach trip as he's never enjoyed the beach before. When Natsuki revealed she was abandoned and scared, Sakura confirmed that he too, experienced such a thing.

All of these are small details that are very easily missed, but it's such a treasure to be able to identify them and add it to the building list of /what happened to Sakura before Furin?/

I also have a few posts planned analyzing/commenting on Sakura's character development precisely about the slow-burnness of it all - at some point it will be coherent enough for posting :'DDD

[blushkurasakunyan]

Detail - Suo's distinct fighting styles

For most of Suo's fights, he prefers to not be at the forefront of battle, opting instead to support the rear. He seems to have a mixed martial arts/kung fu style, where he is able to pull his punches and kicks, but he most often uses moves with flowy movement, open palms and reflective actions to knock his opponents off balance to land his hits.

With his fight with Kanuma, Roppo Ichiza arc fight, training sessions with the senpai, and the War arc with the gymnastics guy, he uses his usual style above.

Interestingly then, he only uses direct hand to hand offensive actions - fighting with his fists - in certain, specific situations:

In Episode 15, during the KEEL fight: Suo is pissed that they're such scum who treated them like fools, who resort to such underhanded methods to try to get the upper hand - and the most offensive was how they dared to strike Nirei down out cold. While Suo is full of hatred for KEEL, he snaps out of it when Sakura says that he's pissed at *himself* for his inability to protect the class. But he says with maturity that getting upset changes nothing, he has to do what he can NOW to protect them in the present. Once calmed down, he seems to be his usual chill self.

Interestingly, the guy who knocked Nirei out cold is NOT the guy who Suo pummeled in retaliation. After the 2nd years come back and provide motivational support for the 1st years, Suo's fight is largely off-screen until we shift the focus to him. For all we know, he could have pummeled a bunch of KEEL members with his fists and kick, and the one we happened to see on-screen is the last one before Sakura steps in. After all, Suo did say that he'll clean up his area in the meantime while Sakura goes off to do what he needs to do.

In Episode 24 when Endo was insulting Sakura, calling him unfit in Furin and he would thrive if he remained alone.

By this time, Suo considers Sakura a good friend and flashes back when they first visited Sakura's apartment - dark, empty, with nothing inside. He knows Sakura was alone in the past, still struggles with loneliness, and he feels offended on Sakura's behalf, enough to jump in battle when he normally wouldn't.

The above scenes suggest that just like the others, Suo is still a high school kid who can get emotional. His default fighting style in lower-stakes, normal fights is an evasive, open palm elegant style where he prefers to watch in the background and intervene when necessary, but when he feels that the situation is dire, if his friends and loved ones are in danger, he will shift gears and go into the offensive and switching to literally a less elegant fistfight and landing direct hits on his enemies with his fists instead of just knocking down with his palms or kicking/knocking them away.

-----

My ultimate favorite though, is in Ch 145 when Sakura is drowning in low-self esteem despite him working so hard to protect them all, Suo smacks Sakura with a very powerful bitch slap LOL. That slap was so strong Sakura's weight shifted over to the other side and knocking him off balance :'DDD

Even Suo has his childish side of "Ok Sakura, I love you a lot and I know you're hurt, but let me knock some sense in you you're being stupid" :'DDD Such tough love. As much as Suo enjoys teasing Sakura and riling him up, he does treasure Sakura as a good friend and won't hesitate on protecting and defending him... even from himself :3

Again, even though Suo is normally very evasive and deflecting others with words and in a fight, during critical moments where he feels there is something at stake, he is more than capable of switching gears and pummeling his opponents to the ground.

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK detail - Sakura and water 1

When I first watched episode 12 of the anime, i found it interesting that as cat-like as Sakura is with his flexibility, agility and quick reflexes, he stopped when Risa-chan leapt off the bridge:

He can parkour and scale buildings

He can flip over sudden obstacles and land on his feet

Yet at the last moment, he stops, while Kaji flies on ahead and jumps in the water. I did think it was weird... I did expect him to be just like Kaji and just plow on ahead. Why did he stop like that? Was he scared of the water? For a guy who rushes on ahead and is pretty sturdy, he can handle a fall into a river like that. We find our answer much later in chapter 169 during the beach episode:

Turns out Sakura just can't swim.

These panels suggest to me that while he HAS gone to the beach before, he may not have set foot in the water until now. Otherwise, he got his first pair of swim trunks, he's in such awe at stepping in the water, feeling how cold it is, and he was excited when the others brought those inflatable rings so he can wade in the water with the others. Its ok if he can't swim - Nirei's floating along with him in shallow waters, Kiryu and Suo aren't even the water at all. The other dues are playing beach ball or swimming around, everyone's just having fun at their own pace!

So in the end, Nii-sensei had foreshadowed to the readers that Sakura is wary of water since he can't swim, but it's not like he's afraid of it - as long as he has tools and support he's willing to go into it and have fun :>

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK - Thoughts on Sakura's appetite

As cute and endearing Sakura's nonending appetite is, a part of me wonders Nii-sensei is playing down Sakura's issues of not having enough food to eat at home. We know that - Sakura's apartment has no fridge, and a pantry is not shown - Sakura rarely cooks food for himself, and the one time he made instant ramen for himself until he ran out of the gas in the portable stove. Suo and the gang drag him over to the mall to stock up on supplies. - He gets food from Pothos or Cactus often (but not every day apparently) - The townspeople feed Sakura A LOT - Ume, Tsubaki treat him to food often during the parties, and the townspeople give him food often or discounts at their stores in appreciation for his help in protecting the city Speculation - Sakura as a student, has no job (thus no income), but he gets by on finances somehow. - The small food gifts the townspeople give him, are graciously accepted and helps him tide over until the next meal. - Sakura always gets hungry after a fight - maybe because he's always hungry and quick to burn calories after a workout? This makes me think that maybe the reason we see Sakura stuffing his face whenever he has a chance... maybe because he skips meals because poor and takes advantage of every food opportunity he has?

That could explain why he's always so happy eating food, how he's appreciates the food, how he stuffs the food down with no reservation - as if he's eating as much as he can because his next meal might be tomorrow. Maybe when he grew up he had to fend for himself/he wasn't allowed to eat with his "family"; (We know he never ate with friends during elementary/middle school, he only ate lunch by himself), so he had to eat whatever is available and whenever he had the chance - so he graciously accepts food whenever he's offered some ;_; We know that his favorite food is Kotoha's omurice - and it's also the first homecooked meal he's ever had - so definitely no one cooked for him in the past. He probably lived off the leftovers in the fridge, or just food from the convenience store since he wasn't familiar with "takeout" food from a restaurant either.

Episode 21, is pretty much Sakura eating non-stop in the background for the first 10 minutes (that's like half the episode!) while the others talk and socialize

Episode 24 He's still scarfing down food, despite just having food a few hrs earlier :'D

In Ch 185, Sakura downs 3 plates of food and still has room for more

... or maybe Sakura is just a hungry growing boy that loves most food + Ume who also probably doesn't have a job, doesn't have the finances to repeatedly throw parties for the Furin kids, but he still does because the townspeople gives them a deep discount (like at Pothos) which makes things very affordable

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK 185 - Natsuki

I love how clingy Natsuki is - she's such a upfront girl. I interpret her character to be "normally speaks her mind, but is quiet and reserved in new places and around new ppl and starts opening up once she's comfortable"

Even though she's the "main character" of the day and should sit at the main table, she wants to sit next to Sakura wherever he is.

She's a little shy about it, but she holds her ground. Aww she's feeling comfortable enough to bicker with him and being pushy.

Letting her inner cat out with that flinch of surprise, and nudging closer to Sakura when the others start swarming over. (shoulder to shoulder now!)

We get three angles of how close they're sitting now. Sakura doesn't notice, his mind is full of "Where is that omurice? i didnt see it.. FOOOD"

Absolutely no shame, Natsuki wants Sakura to sit with her longer, and not even letting him go get more food HAHA I hope we see Natsuki again in a later chapter, I hope we'll see her grow into a more mature, confident, outspoken young lady who is comfortable speaking her mind :))

On a random note, I don't think there's too many scenes where Sakura has a chance to visit the group home... maybe we'll see Natsuki as she helps out after school at Pothos for a chance to see Sakura here and there ;) ;)