Wind Breaker – Episode 5 “A Gentleman” Recap & Review

A Gentleman

In episode 5 of the Wind Breaker, team Bofurin, consisting of Sakura, Suo, Umemiya, Hiragi and Sugishita, along with Nirei for support, enter Shishitoren’s turf where they are warmly greeted by the over-exited Choji. We find Shishitoren’s side of the town covered with graffiti and closed pubs. Bofurin are taken to Shishitoren’s hang out zone: a rundown, abandoned theatre called The Orion. But only the letters ‘Ori’ are visible, meaning ‘Cage’. It is practically a caged mini-war zone.

The Bofurin enter the theatre to find Shishitoren members seated and making a ruckus. Umemiya comments about Choji on the stage, “he’s turned it into a gala”. They are seated and Sugishita’s opponent ask to go first. It seems like his opponent is a tough fighter and Nirei is worried about Sugishita, but Umemiya brushes off the worries.

Sugishita goes on stage and his opponent diverts his attention by mentioning Umemiya. The moment Sugishita turns his head, his opponent knocks a punch across his face much to everybody’s shock. Just when it seems that Sugishita will lose, since the opponent is known for one punch knockouts, we find him perfectly alright and he throws a counter-punch while commenting about how to properly address Umemiya as ‘Umemiya-san’, leading to his opponent getting unconscious.

Shishitoren are dumbstruck. Choji is overjoyed at this display of power. Their unconscious team member is treated like vermin and thrown off stage to clear space for the next fight. Suo calls out to his opponent, who’s biting his nail in nervousness. It seems nobody has any information about Suo, other than him being extremely strong in middle school. Since, Suo did not go to middle school in Bofurin’s town, nobody knows about him in much detail.

Suo begins the fight with just standing there while his opponent begins striking him. But interestingly enough, no matter what he does, Suo swiftly dodges all this attacks. Suo is so graceful that Sakura understands that he’s the type who plays with his opponents. Although, Suo may seem sadistic but during the entire fight, he’s trying to teach his opponent a lesson. It’s revealed that his opponent was amongst the ones who laughed and enjoyed when his team member was struck by Sakura and Sugishita.

With the fight coming to a standstill, Jo Togame calls it off and says that Suo’s opponent is not a part of Shishitoren. This is exactly what the man feared but Suo comments how being an adult is about being empathetic. And empathy comes from imagination and experience. This is how Suo taught him a lesson at empathy and it was basically a tit-for-tat for what the man did to his teammate.

The Episode Review

This episode as with every Wind Breaker episode was exciting! Who knew Suo the gentleman is so powerful! His fight with the Shishitoren opponent felt like a child’s play and as graceful as Suo himself. His character is so fascinating since he’s the kind of person who would possibly make his opponent go insane while he remains absolutely calm and composed. We are actually interested in how he got his eye patch; it seems that’ll be a good story and more action. The fights are so amusing and extremely typical of each character. Sugishita’s fight is without any fluff and done is one go, while Suo’s fight is like a graceful dance and play.

Through this episode, we also understand that Shishitoren are the antithesis of Bofurin. They have no empathy or team spirit towards their members. The only thing that binds them together is power and strength. While, Bofurin are like a family as Umemiya mentioned multiple times. Their characteristic differences also arise from the polarising difference in their leaders – Choji, the immature, childlike leader who wants to fight for play, and Umemiya, the mature, friendly, big brother who isn’t shaken by anything. All in all, an exciting and thrilling episode!