#Kazetsuyo MANIFEST!!!

[syncopatedid]

Run with the Wind Novel (official EN release!)

The dream of Kazetsuyo fans to finally get the novel in English has MANIFESTED!!! I'm sure it's later news by now to a lot of us, but just putting it out there because you never know!

I'm not a huge fan of the cover arts of western publishers as much so I'm holding my breath to see how the final cover artwork is going to turn out, especially given the USD pricing they'd be asking for. But I'm hopeful it will be treated more as a classic title than YA. I do not think they'd be able to get rights to have the OG cover art to use so I'd expect them to come up with their own, and so I've been browsing HarperC's range to see what they tend to put out (anything but human stock photos please I am begging, pay for illustrators). These are some of their cover styles I'd at least be all right with...

...with some added caveats I don't care for (though I doubt my feedback counts since I'm not the market they need to appeal to), but can we NOT have those annoying love review bombs plastered all over the covers, please? Who the heck are all these people anyway. If you must, have them on the back of the cover; I swear people do pick up and turn over to read the synopsis. I don't know about you guys, but I personally think they have no business taking up the same space as the author who wrote the dang thing, only acceptable other name will be the EN translator/localizer, as they deserve credit.

But anyway, still good to have an official English version out, it's about time!

[begrudging-fudanshi]

Kaze ga Tsuyouku Fuiteiru Week - Day 3: Favorite Relationship - Kakeru and Haiji

Kazetsuyo has a ton of great relationships, but I have to pick the easy one: Kakeru and Haiji. I'm definitely biased because their relationship has this beautiful build up that I read as totally gay, but even beyond that I love the way they're balanced and shown getting closer throughout the series.

Because I’m lazy, the rest of this post is based on a meta that ended up being the basis of my Kakehai fic Afterword.

Because I've been studying Japanese, I looked up the definitions of Kakeru and Haiji's names and found some interesting parallels with their overall arcs.

Kakeru's name has a lot of possible meanings, including “he gambles”, “he soars”, and a few variations on “he runs”. In fact, his name is written with the character for "run", so clearly this is the meaning his parents intended. However, Kakeru can also mean "he lacks" or "he is broken." This latter meaning feels particularly relevant given where he is at the start of the series.

Haiji's name, on the other hand, only has two definitions. It could mean “resigning,” but I think the far more apt interpretation is "temple ruins". It's an evocative term and a very poetic description of Haiji's relationship with running.

The fact that both of their names relate to brokenness or being damaged is significant. In a sense, Kakeru and Haiji are mirror images. Kakeru ran to escape what broke him, and yet it was his running that struck Haiji as the ideal that he could never reach. Haiji ran until he broke, but it was his breaking that finally allowed Kakeru to answer Haiji’s question: What is running?

To Kakeru, the answer is Haiji, naturally, but personally I don't find this to be a satisfying conclusion. Haiji personifies the answer, yes, but that leaves us with a nagging ambiguity: what, exactly, does Kakeru witness in Haiji on that fateful day in Otemachi?

Haiji ran initially because it was expected of him, but it took his injury for him to run purely for the love of running. In an almost religious way, it gave him something he could pour himself into in search of something higher. Haiji manifests this through his own self-sacrifice and love of the sport, which is exactly what awakens Kakeru to the answer.

If Haiji is a ruined temple, then his body is a temple to running, but it is his ruination that makes him holy to Kakeru. It's only when Kakeru realizes that Haiji’s performance in the Hakone Ekiden is an act of self-destruction done out of his love for running that he finally understands that Haiji’s devotion, Haiji himself, is his answer.

What Kakeru loves about Haiji is the opposite of what Haiji loves about Kakeru. Haiji loves Kakeru for his embodiment of the ideal he could never attain, his natural ability to excel beyond the others. Kakeru loves Haiji for his determination, the fact that he keeps running despite having everything against him. What really intrigues me is thinking about how that comes together off screen. Do they realize this? Does it lead to jealousy or conflict? And where does the synthesis of their mutual admiration lead them?

These questions are why I love Kakehai’s relationship and why I keep coming back to it. Their dynamic is so potent and their difference is so balanced that I can’t stop thinking about them.

[syncopatedid]

100回箱根駅伝✨🎽🏃‍♂️

The kazetsuyo fandom-adjacent fandom that is the Hakone Ekiden has peaked for me because Otemachi I AM IN YOU for your 100th run!! I've been wanting to attend one since 2019 but had to delay that because of the c virus, so this has been a thought that took four years to finally manifest! I secured a really good spot to watch the runners take off from behind and while I'm underdressed for the occasion I've thoroughly enjoyed the moment. Morning and flag off happens in a flash, but the moment will be one to hold on to for the memories.

[syncopatedid]

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18.12.19: Kazetsuyo Episode 8: Dangerous Character

“No one here is running half-assed! Why won’t you try to acknowledge that everyone’s trying their best?"

Production IG really gave us some A+ humor between Akane and the Twins for this episode, but it did very little to cushion the pain of the Big Fight between Haiji and Kakeru. Also, the camera panning to Haiji’s knees just as he says “It’s futile”? I felt that. ｡ﾟ(*´□`)ﾟ ｡ 

It’s obvious from his dark circles that Kakeru was having trouble sleeping, so you can tell he’s been pushing himself really hard. Imagine how displaced Kakeru must have felt ever since he lost his sports scholarship in his second year of HS. The running world was all he knew. By now, his previous record would have been broken/erased by someone else, and his sound defeat at the track meet only confirms his worst fears, that he’s lost his place in that world. Now that he’s finally found his way back into the competition circuit, his impatience to leave his mark in that world again is palpable, and he is anxious to make it happen whatever the cost. 

Akihiro knows that feeling well. Like Kakeru, he’s been offered a second chance at re-entering the competition circuit, and his desperation to leave his mark in that world before time runs out is also manifesting in unhealthy ways, thanks to Kakeru’s influence. I’ve thought about why Yuki wouldn’t just confront Nico-chan when he found out he’s been over-exerting and starving himself. Yuki’s never had reservations calling Nico-chan out on his behavior before (e.g: for smoking), but it’s always framed around the reason that it inconveniences him. Yuki does not want to bother himself with others because of his personal hang-ups with his family, and without a plausible excuse, he is reluctant to step in to stop him because it would mean admitting that he actually cares for the guy. 

And then there’s also Haiji. He too, had lost his place in the running world and had been patiently biding his time to return, and he too, shares the same fears and anxieties as the others. What must be going through his mind as he sat Kakeru down for this intervention? To see a reflection of his past self repeating the same mistakes he did? Haiji’s been there. He was Kakeru once. And having to ground Kakeru, to force him to stop running, something he knows is the most cruel thing one can do to an athlete, must hurt him as much as it hurts Kakeru. 

Haiji knows that feeling well. 

[syncopatedid]

Finally, a sneak at my WIP (surprise! it’s not a writing wip, though I have way too many of those too, oh man...)

So basically the fandom's consensus has always been that Kakeru Kurahara is Tobio Kageyama version 2.0, and back in Feb 2019 when Kazetsuyo ended and I had this mighty need for merch that I know will never happen, I had a thought that, maybe... maybe. One could just repaint Kageyama's uniform and get an instant Kakeru nendoroid? Which would have been a pretty safe, totally manageable mini customisation project for a first timer, right? I mean, heck, even their uniforms look kinda similar.

It’ll be easy, I said. Just paint a K over the shirt, I said. WELL.

In the course of the months that followed, that little snowflake of an idea kind of spiralled and manifested into this ambitious idea of FOUR now, and the only reason I still have yet to abandon it despite running into many snafus (did you know. sleeveless nendoroid arms do not exist?!). is that I still deeply love my Kazetsuyo and I really really want a nendo, and I’ve come too far to quit now, so I guess it’s do or cry. Or both at the same time. Ooh, multitasking.