Michelle Topham 
Wind Breaker Episode 7 recap – the fight between Bofurin newbie Sakura and Shishitoren second-in-command Tomage
Episode 7 of Wind Breaker, titled “Fight to Win“, opens with a flashback of Tomage remembering when his path first diverged away from the Shishitoren mission to one of blindly following, and covering for, the gang’s now-leader Tomiyama.
The two were once close friends, but a rift has grown between them over time. This backstory is crucial as it sets the emotional tone for the upcoming fight between Togame and Sakura.
The scene then shifts to the present, where the fight between Togame and Sakura is about to begin. Bofurin leader Umemiya reminds Sakura to have a “good conversation”, as he believes a fight is nothing more than a talk with the person you are fighting.
The atmosphere is tense, with both characters displaying a mix of determination and anxiety, and with Umemiya watching from the audience pointing out that Togame is in a completely different category than the first three Shishitoren fighters.
He really is that strong.
The fight commences, and Togame initially seems to have the upper hand, using his skills and agility to outmaneuver Sakura and knock him to the floor.
However, Sakura is not to be underestimated. He quickly adapts to Togame’s fighting style and begins to counter his moves effectively.
Togame retakes the upper hand, however, and slams Sakura to the stage floor appearing to knock him unconscious.
But, as he picks him up by the collar, Sakura first dangles there, then breaks free, starts to fight back and eventually kicks Togame in the face yelling about his so-called “devotion” to Shishitoren being pathetic.
Togame returns the kick, but this time into Sakura’s midriff.
He then starts to tell him about that “devotion”, by smashing Sakura into the stage floor with his shoe but Sakura, having none of it, again calls out his “devotion” as nothing more than being a member of a Bully Club.
A club that goes after the weak, as it smashes guys who are already down, and chases middle-school students.
At the mention of middle-school students, Togame stops his kick to Sakura’s head mid-kick, asking him what he means as he knows nothing about that.
He then walks off the stage and confronts previous fighters Arima and Kanuma, asking what they were doing chasing a middle-school student.
As the two start to make excuses, Togame beats them unconscious and removes their Shishitoren jackets, intimating they are no longer members of the gang.
Walking back on stage, he returns to his fight with Sakura, which is when we get a flashback to when Togame joined Shishitoren after he destroyed five Shishitoren members by himself, and Tomiyama asks him to join the gang in response.
We see the first few months of Togame’s membership of Shishitoren, when Tomiyama was having fun fighting, and before he decided “everything is boring” and became ruthless in its place.
Togame also remembers how much fun he himself had in the gang. Before he supported Tomiyama for leader, and everything changed for the worst.
On that day, Tomiyama not only didn’t empathize with a Shishitoren member who had been beaten up by a rival gang, he knocked him unconscious himself, then kicked him out of the gang.
As he commented, weak guys are not wanted in Shishitoren.
It is that day Togame decided, rather than let Tomiyama kick out the weak members and stain his reputation, he would do it himself. That way, he surmised, Togame could keep on smiling. (Yep, the actions of the little psychopath were covered up by Togame).
The climax of the episode again sees Togame and Sakura fighting, but Sakura accusing him of suddenly not wanting to fight.
It ends as Togame agrees and asks himself what the hell is he doing?
While Wind Breaker, Episode 7 concentrates on the fight between Sakura and Togame, it is so much more than that as it is here we first learn about the history between Togame and Tomiyama, as well as where everything started to go wrong.
While you might disagree with the path Togame chose (who wouldn’t, unless you’re a psychopath like Tomiyama), it does give the viewer an insight into why Togame behaves as he does, and how loving someone can make some people do things they never would have done otherwise.
The fight between Togame and Sakura will now continue in the upcoming Episode 8.
You can check out recaps of other Wind Breaker‘s episodes — Episode 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, and finally Episode 6 here on Baozi Buns.
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