YMMV / Run with the Wind

• Adaptation Displacement: The novel is well-regarded in Japan, to the point it got manga, film and stage play adaptations within a few years after it was published. Outside of Japan? No one knew a thing about either of those prior to the anime's announcement (unless you caught the film at one of the festivals it showed at). Not helped that none of them have been officially released with English translations, with very few fan translations to go around.
• Adorkable: Kakeru has some endearing moments, most often caused by his lackluster social skills.
  • In Episode 1 he is comically flabbergasted by the noise caused by the other dorm members.
  • In Episode 6, when he sees that he is the only one not donning his Fun T-Shirt made to promote the team yet (aside of King who barely arrived at the time and initially didn't want to wear them in the first anyways), Kakeru awkwardly rushes to put on his as quickly as possible.
  • In Episode 10, when he attempts to make peace with Prince after trying to kick the latter out of the team, Kakeru uncouthly tries to ask him to lend him some manga.
• Audience-Coloring Adaptation: Due to the success and availability of the anime (especially for international audiences), the fandom's impressions of the story are largely based on that adaptation. Although generally faithful, the anime does add or change some aspects of the original novel which the audience is either unaware of or chooses to ignore (eg. Kakeru's internal monologue when Haiji finishes off the race is completely different, the team has a harder time achieving official records to enter the qualifier, and Kakeru lack of romantic interest in Hanako is a stark contrast to the crush he develops on her in the novel).
• Awesome Music: The soundtrack is well-liked and does well to bring out the emotional or hyped up feelings of the scenes, which probably isn't surprising considering the composer Yuki Hayashi is known for his well-acclaimed soundtracks for Haikyuu!! and My Hero Academia. In particular is the main theme and hype song "We Must Go".
• Cliché Storm: While there are many common tropes related to the sports anime genre, the anime adaptation manages to stand out thanks to its focus on characterization, good pacing and stellar animation.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Nira plays no significant role other than being the dorm's adorable dog. Despite that (or because of it), he's caught the hearts of majority of the audience and is frequently joked to be the best boy of the series.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Haiji, thanks to his Team Mom status, gets along quite well with other members on the team (plus Fujioka aka his Worthy Rival) which makes it easy to want to ship him with any of them.
• Moe:
  • Prince often worms the way into many readers/viewers' hearts, as a result of his Butt-Monkey moments and personality.
  • The Team Pet Nira is loved by majority of the audience for his adorable canine ways.
• Memetic Mutation: Calling Kakeru the running version of Kageyama from Haikyuu!! or saying Kageyama's been running during the anime's hiatus is a popular joke due to how similar Kakeru's anime character design is to Kageyama.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: While Kakeru isn't wrong for having doubts about Kansei's chances for Hakone, his lone wolf tendencies and condescending attitude at the beginning can make him offputting for a main character, especially when he lashes out on Prince and goes as far as to demand he leaves the team. The audience warms up to him much more afterward, however, when he realizes how hard Haiji and the others have been working and genuinely bonds and trains with them. Especially applies in the anime adaptation, where Kakeru puts his discord with Prince to rest and makes an effort to spend time with him and improve his running, to the point of him slowing down during an official meet just to encourage Prince.
• The Woobie: Shindo has a relatively sad A Day in the Limelight episode compared to the others where his girlfriend (understandably) breaks up with him and he reveals his insecurities about not being strong enough. Then the entire fandom felt nothing but sorrow for him after Episode 20, where he forces his ill body to run at Hakone so that he won't let his team down, even though it drives his family and team mates to tears and leads to him collapsing at the finish line.

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