Run with the Wind (Japanese: 風が強く吹いている, Hepburn: Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru) is a 2006 Japanese novel by Shion Miura. The novel has received a manga and a live-action film adaptation, as well as an anime television series adaptation produced by Production I.G that aired from October 2018 to March 2019.
Kakeru, a former elite runner at high school, is chased for stealing food. He is saved by a Kansei University student named Haiji, who is also a runner. Haiji persuades Kakeru to live in the old dormitory "Chikusei-so" where he plans to team up with fellow residents to enter the Hakone Ekiden relay marathon, one of the most prominent university races in Japan. Kakeru soon finds out that all of the residents except for Haiji and himself are complete novices.
The novel was written by Shion Miura, and Shinchosha published it on September 22, 2006.[5] Shinchosha published a second edition of the novel on July 1, 2009.[6] In January 2024, HarperCollins announced that they will release the novel in English.[7]
A manga adaptation by Sorata Unno launched in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump on October 18, 2007.[8] It moved to Monthly Young Jump in 2008, where it ran until November 17, 2009.[9][1]
A live-action film adaptation premiered in October 2009.[1]
An anime television series adaptation premiered from October 2, 2018 to March 26, 2019, and was broadcast on NTV, SDT, YTV and BS-NTV.[1][16] The series is directed by Kazuya Nomura and written by Kohei Kiyasu, with animation by Production I.G.[1] The series' character designs are provided by Takahiro Chiba and the music is composed by Yuki Hayashi.[17] It aired for 23 episodes,[18] and Crunchyroll simulcasted the series.[19] The series is licensed by Sentai Filmworks for streaming and home video release.[20]
An English dub of the series was confirmed by Sentai on November 16, 2019.[21]
In the first half of the anime, the opening theme song is "Catch Up, Latency" by Unison Square Garden and the ending theme song is "Reset" by Taichi Mukai.[22] In the second half of the anime, the opening theme song is "Kaze Tsuyoku, Kimi Atsuku" by Q-MHz and Sky-Hi, and the ending theme song is "Michi" by Taichi Mukai.[23]
The anime series' soundtrack is composed by Yuki Hayashi. A two-disc soundtrack album published by Toho Animation Records was released on December 19, 2018 with a total of 51 tracks.[24]
All music is composed by Yuki Hayashi.