#will still keep this here for record but I'll be posting a newer version some time later!!! a cooler version (hopefully)!!!

[chojiwithahat]

✨hiragi-san✨ and character agency in nii sensei's wind breaker

(archived version; currently under re-editing 🙏)

Chapter 15: Vow to Follow / Chasing His Back

*slowly takes off hat and puts it on sako* sako with a hat now-

"Character agency" in writing is when characters have the capacity/ability to make choices that affects the narrative. In fiction aimed for a younger audience that focuses on young characters as the active protagonists, adults (ex. parents) are often written to be more absent so that the young cast has more agency in the story.

However, a writing pitfall could be creating the implication that "adults are unreliable" (which can be true in some realities, but context and perspective is important. For example: the adult is absent just for the sake of it VS highlighting the issue of neglect, resulting in a character finding adults unreliable. A different spin can be when the kids purposefully hide their problems from the adults because they didn't want to burden them, and/or didn't trust them, in turn preventing adults from having the chance to help. Whether or not that has further weight in the narrative is another story).

That is unless the story is about the adult, too, which could invoke some thought provoking perspectives for both younger and older audiences. For example, the idea that adults can continue to grow just as they can make mistakes as well. I do find that it's important to have stories that could tell people confidently that there are adults out there who will help and in the way that matters—perhaps also inspire thoughtful action (as depending on the situation, one's idea of "help" can be another's "harm." At the same time, one's idea of "harm" can harm themselves, rejecting what might actually help—so on and so forth).

All of that, and also to acknowledge those who are already doing so, helping those in need in the way that actually helps.

Some manga that does this really well I feel is Shirahama Kamome's Witch Hat Atelier and Takamatsu Misaki's Skip and Loafer. Furudate Haruichi's Haikyuu!! is another example!!!! For perspective, here's a reaction of a volleyball couple watching the moment the protagonist, Hinata, asks his coach for advice (17:58-20:30)!!!!! (22:45-24:15) for their commentary >:)

Adult unreliability isn't universal, but one's perspective on the matter is dependent on their personal experiences. One's reality isn't the same as another's, and neither should be denied... something something yeah ✨

So what does this have to do with Hiragi-san from Nii Satoru's Wind Breaker?!! GOOD QUESTION *STARTS BREAK DANCING*

more under the cut. a lot more. the main point, even- ⚠️will have manga spoilers up to chapter 170⚠️

FIRSTLY, there are adults in Wind Breaker *points at the townspeople*. But yeah maybe there aren't any teachers visually at Furin school grounds, but I interpreted it as a visual metaphor as windbre's story has a very rich presence of those. Here is a post I wrote talking more about that, the second half detailing more about teacher/adult-presence in windbre.

But in short, I find that windbre's narrative is presented on a stage with three main worlds—as of the current story. These worlds are divided between the past and present (ex. the known/unknown world in the hero's journey):

PRESENT TIME 1. delinquent world (main plot conflict/arcs): little to no adult presence; the youths have full agency here using fight conversations to settle problems. 2. townspeople world (transitional scenes/arcs): has adult presence; only the adults who are received positively by the young cast exist in this world (so far). This is when patrols happen, too. PAST 3. flashback world (informs present time): with very few exceptions, teachers still do not exist in classroom settings. We also only meet adults outside of school grounds, and only the adults who've left positive impact has their faces shown clearly and/or named. I note that during flashbacks in main plot conflicts (when characters are fighting in present time), the flashbacks do not include like, story interaction with adults. Maybe allusions to it (like a panel as Tsubaki mentions Ito and Yui to Suzuri), but we only like have fuller interactive moments in flashbacks during transitional arcs (Tsubaki telling Sakura about Ito and Yui).

The “school” setting definitely made the lack of faculty presence louder, but I find that the visual lack of faculty in Furin further emphasizes the youth/students' actions and their identity as Bofurin (protectors of the town).

The adult harm/help told in the past do hold significant weight in the narrative. It's just that the way windbre is presented is very stylized, contrasting with the more grounded elements of the narrative contents—which might be a reason why the absent teachers throw people off!

BACK TO HIRAGI-SAN (I PROMISE THE CONTEXT HELPS)

So like, I was rereading windbre again and it was like.....damn.... 𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓲-𝓼𝓪𝓷🌹✨ but then one moment in Noroshi Arc jumped out to me, especially when contrasting with an earlier moment in the narrative:

Chapter 15: Vow to Follow / Chasing His Back || Chapter 130: Beyond Pain

I went like "Huh? What?" like sakocchan AND WHOAHAHAH!!!!!!!!

There's also this visual parallel moment:

Chapter 15: Vow to Follow / Chasing His Back || Chapter 129: Fury

Something something quoting @causticsodaa (thank you for listening to me ramble about this again!!!!!!): “I'm sorry I couldn't live up to your expectations” vs “I will live up to your expectations”

AND SO I took another dive at the backstories involving Hiragi and like *puts hands together* HERE'S SOME OBSERVATIONS:

1. Sako's backstory is the first fuller backstory flashback in the plot, and it's centered around Hiragi. (Chapter 15: Vow to Follow / Chasing His Back) This aligns with how no adults are shown in flashbacks during major conflicts, like Togame and Choji's (Chapter 19: The Setting Sun; Chapter 26: Good Old Days / Nostalgia).

2. Comparing Ume, Tsubaki-chan, and Hiragi, and how they supported fellow youths around them: During Ume and Tsubaki's elementary school days, they are faced with a major obstacle in their lives and is supported by adults (Shitara Yuki / Ito and Yui) (Chapter 93: Umemiya Hajime's Childhood Days - Chapter 64: Childhood Days) Hiragi is currently the odd one out in that during his elementary school days, HE was the one helping his fellow kids (Sako and Kaji). Sako and Kaji as elementary schoolers also does not get shown to have adult help, contrasting with Ume and Tsubaki. (Chapter 15: Vow to Follow / Chasing His Back - Chapter 124: Hating Myself) If this pattern continues with Momose and Mizuki, Hiragi being the odd one out suits how he's not from the same middle school as Ume and the rest of the Four Kings, and how Hiragi's the last piece to Ume's master bofurin keikaku. (Chapter 165: Haven)

3. When we finally got a Hiragi thinking back to the past, he thinks about Kaji, someone HE helps (Chapter 129: Fury). This also happens during present-time fighting, which contrasts with Ume and Tsubaki telling their stories during transitional arcs. Many characters also think back to their benefactor rather than the one they helped, like with Togame's flashback during Shishitoren Arc, he thinks of Choji (his benefactor; the difference between Choji and Hiragi as benefactors though, is that Choji didn't "help" Togame in the mind of he wants to help Togame. It just happened to end up that way just by Choji being himself. Hiragi helped with the intent to help). A side tangent, for Tsubaki's second flashback (during Noroshi Arc), Tsubaki thinks of Ume, who helps Tsubaki and when they're both as middle schoolers (Chapter 120: War - Chapter 121: My Prince). Only when Ume's in middle school do we see his active support towards fellow and younger kids, like Tsubaki and Sugishita.

AND THEN HERE'S A PRESENT-TIME OBSERVATION

4. Ume as a third year furin high schooler has a tendency to intrude into talking spaces where he isn't involved. (Chapter 59: The Sempai's Teachings)

This contrasts with Hiragi, who actively takes a step back and let his underclassmen figure stuff out, only giving minimal pushes to get the conversation going. (Chapter 170: Resurgence)

And then here we have Ume and Hiragi clashing HJSDGHS (Chapter 61: Get-Together)

And then, one more important pattern: Kaji is known to be someone who "no one really knew how to handle" (Chapter 35: Kaji Ren). Banjo in present time, without any doubt I feel, would also be categorized by society as someone "no one really knew how to handle."

In both cases, it's Hiragi, someone of their age group, who steps in to help. He stopped attacking after Banjo screamed "no," which I find very telling of Hiragi's character.

He also explains to Banjo about why he felt disgusted fighting him and about boundaries, something that Banjo probably never learned of OR just didn't understand. (Chapter 130: Beyond Pain)

*PUTS HANDS TOGETHER* SO.

Something something about Hiragi, ever since he was an elementary schooler, takes on a position that would usually and ideally be reserved to an adult (Shitara Yuki, Ito and Yui, and Sugi grand parents). He creates a space of safety for his fellow elementary and middle schoolers before Bofurin existed. This is especially the case for those who do not get shown to receive adult help—

—for reasons like "no one knew how to handle [Kaji]" or inattentiveness and neglect (Sako getting bullied).

With that in mind, Hiragi is similar to Suzuri, who stepped up for his fellow kids in an environment where it's explicitly stated that "no one in this town had the luxury to save anyone else" (Chapter 80: Ideals and Reality). Throughout his school career (elementary to high school), Hiragi's the one catching the kids who slipped between the cracks of a "normal" society.

The reason why I talked about character agency earlier, is to connect with how, once again, Hiragi takes on a position that's usually for adults in windbre (he's also the first character to be shown with this role in a flashback to begin with, to approach another with the intent to help). So if we put him as that "adult" role in the narrative sense, he's the only "adult" (aside from Suzuri) who steps into the delinquent world where "youths" have full agency.

But like, the thing is, he's still a kid, and so far (Shishitoren -> Noroshi arc) we haven't met a significant adult who changed the trajectory of his life, and I find that very *grabs my nonexistent hiragi-nui plush and shakes him around*

Coming back to these two moments:

Chapter 15: Vow to Follow / Chasing His Back || Chapter 130: Beyond Pain

With adults and character agency in mind, Hiragi ("adult") attempts to "return agency" to his followers ("youths"), in that he believes they need to find their own goal (sounds kinda contradictory here ain't it *waggles eyebrows*).

There are two highlighted ways this is taken by his followers:

1. Hiragi takes away [Sako]'s agency to follow him. 2. That's what Hiragi thinks, so [Kaji] has the agency to continue following him.

Chapter 126: By Your Side

The funny part /silly is that after Kaji shared this with Sako, Sako doubled down on his decision to not follow Hiragi anymore because that would mean Sako's a dumbass for following what Hiragi says hgdjkshjkgh

And then there is the exception of Banjo, who Hiragi says "come to me" to.

Hiragi takes away Banjo's agency to fight/hurt other people.

In the case of Hiragi and his followers, while there's also the upperclassmen to underclassmen power dynamic difference, as the delinquent world only has youths (so no extremely obvious power difference between like, authoritative figures like teachers/police and the youths), they're really all narratively at the same level. To me, Kaji's assertion is what highlights this.

Edit: Connecting this with Hiragi's commentary about boundaries with Banjo, Sako.... kind of's also the only one who respected Hiragi's words/feelings. As much as he wanted Hiragi to say "come with me," he didn't get it, so it's akin to not getting Hiragi's consent to continue following him—which also contrast with Sako originally being the one who demanded Hiragi to train him to begin with! The way Hiragi worded his "you shouldn't follow me anymore," it's also focusing more on his followers than himself... I'll have to reread the full flashback again with Sako's commentary hdgjkdsjs

Though there's also the question of translation and nuance; so here I will be taking a look at the original Japanese text:

「お前(まえ)はついてこない方(ほう)がいい」

お前(まえ)は: You ついてこない方(ほう): the act of not following がいい: is okay (いい means good/good connotation)

So literally, it's something like, "it's okay if you don't follow me." or even like, something along the lines of "the act of you not following me is a good thing."

But because I'm not that familiar with the nuance in this kind of context, this could totally sound like "you shouldn't follow me anymore"—AND THAT SAID here's digital edition 1.0.1's version of the same dialogue!!!!!!!!

(There's different official english editions; the one I've been showing earlier is 1.0.0. I think the print versions are following 1.0.1? Based off of my copy of vol 2, at least!!)

YEAH.

Either way Hiragi's definitely deciding what's best for his followers (which, can in a way resonate with like, for example the idea of adults knowing better than the kids? which in turns invalidates what kids think/feel?). Though, this dialogue can also be quite telling about how Hiragi sees himself, too. Kinda like...... that part when Ume's talking about Hiragi's good points and he responds with "you can find anyone like that".... or something..... yeah.......

Chapter 97: Umemiya Hajime's Ambition Arc 2

That being said!!!! These two panels:

Chapter 130: Beyond Pain

Something about this moment (Sako and Hiragi's awkward "sorry" "no uh I'm sorry" "wait I'm not blaming you" "hauwhgh I mean, like, sit down you're the one who asked me to handle this" followed by Hiragi's expression and sigh of relief here) made me go ow ow ow owow- /pos

Rarely does Hiragi have light in his eyes (even more obvious in the anime, with how they colored his eyes), but that panel above, and the following below, are the moments we get to see the light clearly—at least from what I remember distinctively:

Chapter 97: Umemiya Hajime's Ambition Arc 2 Hiragi after hearing Ume out.

Chapter 124: Hating Myself Kaji's first meeting with Hiragi, and how Hiragi helped him.

Chapter 161: The Fog Lifts Hiragi thanking Inugami.

Chapter 170: Resurgence Kaji, post-reverting to "that," proving his determination to continue training and growing stronger. This is also after a flashback where Kusumi, Enomoto, and Kaji had their conversation, with Hiragi lightly mediating and witnessing their growth himself. I note that he got a bit peeved that Kaji didn't tell him that Kusumi and Enomoto was visiting, too. Perhaps because he didn't like the idea of intruding on them?

And then if we're counting colored pages, Chapter 100: The Great Fires of Extinction Opening Act, too, when the Four Kings + Sakura yells the Bofurin motto.

By the time Hiragi first met Sako (who I'm pretty sure joined Hiragi's group later on, considering how he's depicted farther away and behind the group), there is no light in his eyes.

Chapter 15: Vow to Follow / Chasing His Back Edit: I realized this panel isn't really a good example but do check out the chapter and take a look at Hiragi's close ups👍

That in itself implies a lot I think, but one thing I feel strongly about that is that he only gets the light back in his eyes when he gets some sort of reassurance:

With Ume, it's that Ume is not messing around with his ambition to change the town—and perhaps how Ume acknowledges Hiragi in the way that matters to Hiragi.

Ume needs Hiragi because he doesn't put Ume on a pedestal. Hiragi hears the words he probably needed to hear, from someone aside his own followers (see: Sako praising him in the past). Both of their criticism/praise towards each other has actual weight to each other. At that very moment, they were equals through and through, even more than just being in same age group. (something something both of their charisma + merit points puts them on pedestals, isolating them from even their own friend groups and in a different way as them all "delinquents" gets alienated by the rest of society.... something..... yeah. There's also the fact that the way Ume takes Hiragi seriously. Like back with Chapter 16: The Power of the Second-In-Command / The Opponent's True Power, when Ume says "But talk to me it when you feel like it, okay? That's the story I absolutely want to hear" followed by Hiragi's surprised expression.... It makes me think of how sometimes, like... for example: adults don't take kids seriously. In Hiragi's case, we don't know how often adults takes him seriously or not, at least not as of the current story. As for Ume, he has an adult who take him seriously. In fact, he had and still has many adults taking him seriously. Ume's heart bucket is full of care and love....)

And then with Kaji and Sako, the two kids he'd been looking out for for so long, it's the reassurance that they will be fine. That they're going to be okay—that they are okay. They got people by their side. He can also stay by their side.

Chapter 161: The Fog Lifts

in conclusion.....

uhhhh uhhh so yeah I really like how windbre shows a variety of examples of how adult help/harm/absence can affect the young cast, all of them having weight in the narrative!!!!!!! With Hiragi, it's how he, as a kid, looks out for fellow kids who didn't get to receive the guidance from adults who probably could've helped.

now with all that out of the way here's Hiragi getting laughed at for looking old and worn out:

Chapter 104: Uninvited Guest

something something the jokes about kids in (ani)manga not looking their age but this time there's actual narrative weight to hiragi's old looking design >:3 For the source material manga, at least. The anime adaptation uhhhhuhmhgm yeah everyone looks a bit older! Kinda~ Sells better I guess? *tackles myself into the ground before that can of worms opens WAHOO*

BUT SPEAKING OF THE ANIME ADAPTATION

One thing I really love that they added: a flashback cut in EP 6 where Hiragi spots Sako getting bullied.

When Hiragi pulled up at the scene, the OST WIND BREAKER(Main Theme) starts playing, just like when Kaji, Matsumoto, and Yanagida pulls up after Hiragi at EP 1. The use of that OST in that added Hiragi flashback scene evokes the Bofurin spirit during a time when Bofurin haven't even existed.

Umemiya created a world where kids like Hiragi wouldn't be alone when they find themselves in an "adult" caretaker role.

bonus: comparison list between a few more windbre characters with agency in mind:

Hiragi Toma: The type to carry things out to the end responsibly, gets worried over his followers' agency so tried to return it to them (but that instead could be interpreted as him taking away their choice to follow him (Sako) and so Kaji was like raises an eyebrow "bruh what, it's my choice to follow you")

Umemiya Hajime: In his childhood, his agency got violently taken away so he attempted desperate ways to get it back (there's a connection between self destruction and one's perception of their agency; his parents' deaths were out of his control, so he blamed himself to regain control in his life) -> develops a tendency to self-blame, which takes away other characters' agency (responsibility, like Takiishi's) with "I'm the one who made this decision/became leader" as an argument for his side.

here's @causticsodaa's analysis about ume's self-blame tendencies~

Choji jumpscare: Lost direction/grasp of himself and blames everyone else (which can be read as like, taking away their agency that they didn't actually do anything that resulted in Choji's "boredom." Choji decided for them and acted on it). (Chapter 23: The Top VS The Top)

Surprise Sakura: After being constantly rejected, he tried to regain agency by giving up/rejecting others (rather than taking the risk of others rejecting him again). (Chapter 58: Discussion)

Walking up the staircase with Suo Hayato: Whatever tf this implies!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 11: A Kind Man / A Gentleman - Chapter 12: Step On Up / The Staircase to Adulthood

Lil awkward guy Sugishita-kun: "Fanatic" who doesn't think for himself, in a way giving up his agency (but now, he got it back!!!!!!!!! with his own words at that!!!!!!) (Chapter 165: Haven - Chapter 168: To Show Color)

*breathes raggedly*

thanks for reading🌹✨