Original text at the nekoheadz.org forum

Another Friday, another review typed away in the dark. I don’t really feel like dancing around too much today, so let’s get right to it. I’ll try to avoid spoilers, but there may be the occasional minor one here or there.

Windy Tales is an anime about the last middle school year of a girl and her friends as they discover one of their teachers can control the wind. So can every cat in town. That’s right, all of the cats can fly. Also, it turns out there is a whole village of “wind manipulators.” But that’s not really important. See, this series, as the name suggests, is a series of tales with one over-arching theme: wind. It also happens to involve our main characters every time, but hey, we need something consistent to reference as we go. Anyway, that’s enough of a summary from me, more may or may not come out later.

The first thing that will strike you about Windy Tales, and don’t take my meaning lightly, is the art style. If you’ve seen Crayon Shin-chan, you’ll recognize the rough artwork, but thankfully things are a little more refined this time around. Windy Tales is rough in the same way impressionist paintings lack detail; sure, you don’t get all of the fine lines and lens flare that you do with some of the other series, but you do get a smoothly animated style that fits the wind motif perfectly. You’re either going to like the art in Windy Tales or hate it, but I think you’ll have a hard time arguing with the way they present wind in this series. As Nao, the main character, is quick to point out in the first episode, we never actually see wind: we only see the things moved by the wind. With a traditional anime style, wind would only be seen as fluttering leaves and various bits of debris, but in Windy Tales we actually get to see the wind in the form of sometimes colored broken lines. While not the most elegant presentation of wind, I think it’s pretty intuitive and works well with the art style. That said, the more basic, stylized art works really well to keep us from getting mired down in more common themes we would usually focus on and pushes us right into the story. Instead of using that logical segway to jump into the story, I’m gonna be a rebel and focus on the music (which is all the more rebellious since I’ve done that every time).

The music in Windy Tales is, well, it’s there. Actually, it fits so well you don’t even notice it. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I don’t have as much to say here simply because the music blended so well with the scenes and was so quiet about it that I forgot it was there. Kind of like a soft breeze, to keep with the theme. Of course, the opening and closing get special recognition for almost making me sleep and totally not fitting the show, respectively. Again, not a show you’ll find me buying soundtracks to, but I can’t help but admire how well the people making the series used it. The music is masterfully used and not repeated to the point of stupidity such that it really adds to the whole of the series.

As you can tell, I like to save the story for last because it’s where I have the most to say about a series. Windy Tales, as I mentioned before, is actually a series of mostly stand-alone tales involving the main characters and the wind in some way. The fact that Nao and her friends can control the wind is less important as it functions more as a way of giving us a different lens through which to see each tale. For example, sakura viewing (the time of year when people go out and watch the cherry blossoms fall from the trees), has an entirely different flavor when a teacher whips the wind around and dazzles our young protagonists and an old lady with quite the show. Another example would be the sheer joy of kick the can in a construction site when all the players can fly. Or in a more subtle manner, the wind a runner feels as she trains. Each tale is pretty interesting on its own with interesting characters and situations to add to the whole of the series. The characters are noteworthy not just for the fact that they aren’t your run of the mill anime stereotypes, but they are in fact down right quirky and will act real enough to remind you of people you know real life. (I would like to point out a certain affinity I have for the main character Nao, as she is something of odd duck and she likes to look at the sky and take picture of it a lot and I can really relate to both of those things.) Also, time doesn’t always go straight, making for some dynamic story telling in a couple episodes. However, the best part is the theme that carries along with the wind. See, Windy Tales is another show about growing up (intellectually referred to as coming of age). While it’s not as violent, confused, or sexually charged as FLCL, Windy Tales captures the same magic of adolescence at an end. Whereas FLCL could be seen as growing up as it happens, Windy Tales is like a calm reflection upon it some years later. While each tale doesn’t necessarily have a related theme of its own, overall the general experience of those years when you realize that you will have to grow up but not just yet is present everywhere. From the old lady reflecting on love under the cherry blossoms to the teacher that hides in the nurse’s office when not telling horror stories, the series is filled with all of the events that surround the border between childhood and what comes next. However, there isn’t a lot of depth here, so if you’re looking for crazy symbolism or sexual metaphor or anything like that, you’ll have to keep searching elsewhere. The story in Windy Tales is elegant and straightforward like a good wind: it’s graceful to watch, meanders a bit, but is reliable and consistent in the direction it’s going.

A note about cats before we reach the conclusion: whoever made this series really likes cats. Cats are everywhere. A flying cat sets the series in motion, cats bring some of the characters together, and the little mid-episode break screens are drawings of cats. The way cats fly looks like it was drawn that way because someone thinks they just look cute like that or that the thought of a cat being spun away in a whirlwind is just too amusing for words. So, if you are greatly offended by cats or by the fact that someone really loves cats and is really intent on letting you know it, take a deep breath before watching Windy Tales. Anyway.

Windy Tales strikes me as one of those shows that people are going to really enjoy or flat out hate, but is ultimately forgotten either way. There’s a certain amount you need to know about Japanese culture, particular in relation to schools, that you need to know before watching this series if you want to understand everything; but I have a feeling if you’re looking at this show then you already know what you need. Also, I think this might actually be a show intended for a female audience, but it’s accessible to both and the only time it’s ever really girly is in the idol episode (which was brilliant, I might add). I was grooving with the art style, but I know not everyone is going to like it and that’s going to contribute a lot to what people won’t like about it. I think, though, that the art, music, and story really come together in the presentation of these stories of wind. Windy Tales doesn’t take the bold step towards greatness necessary to make it stand out in the history of anime (epic story, music, or whatever else it would need, probably a stronger sense of direction and purpose); but whether it really needs to is a question I’ll leave to you. I could ask for more about the wind manipulators, the teacher, or what his relationship to that woman in the wind village is, but somehow I feel that would be getting away from the point. Windy Tales does such a good job of being what it is that it’s hard for me to want it to be anything else. From my earlier reviews, you might think that I expect every series to be groundbreaking or epic or somehow so utterly spectacular I might go blind from the sheer awesomeness of it, but the truth is far more insidious than that: I expect competent execution and progress. Windy Tales is not earth-shatteringly original, but it is a welcome breath of fresh air and good sign of things to come.

~Whim

PS – I watched this series as fansub from Faith & Shi-Fa; good quality but the translation notes could use a little work (especially for that poetry episode, c’mon guys).
PS2 – I’ve got some other fun reviews coming up; I’ll do at least one a week, maybe two if you’re lucky. Depends on how much anime I can get through and whether or not I give in and do reviews of stuff I’ve only partially seen. There are series that were so bad I had to stop watching them, but I don’t think it’d be fair to review them without giving them a full viewing. I mean, if I’m gonna rip a series a new one, I should probably watch it.
PS3 – I swear I write these and post them and I always always always think of something else to add the next morning.
PS4 – If we keep buying the same thing, we’ll never get anything new.

PS extra special super secret – These reviews are written with less emphasis on grammatical structure on purpose. It helps keep that straight out of the mouth tone I’m going for. Also, I like to think it’s ironic.