Every once in a while animation really can surprise you. It’s no secret that I like shows that are more along the slice of life genre. In watching these I find myself wondering why I like them, and part of me just likes to see how the other side lives and how they would deal with life outside of my bubble. I also realize that an anime show about my life would be pretty worthless and that no one would even dare to watch it. Then again we do have the upcoming Bartender.
Back to animation surprising you; I give you Windy Tales. Actually called Fuujin Monotogari, which roughly translates to Wind Girl Stories (pardon my lack of Japanese knowledge, I consulted my own lexicon for once and not ANN). Back in 2004 this show started being subbed, and roughly two years later it has now been completed. I fell in love with this show from the first frame, mainly because of it’s simplistic animation style. Production IG took everything and made it look like a rough watercolor painting. The surreal setting lends itself to the stories in a wonderful fashion that conveys a sense of happiness and love of life.
The show is rendered in this water color style along with some rather blocky character designs that are like a surreal painting. The paintings come to life through simple movements and animation lines that simulate the wind flowing through the atmosphere. Coloring is mostly pastels and earth tones. Occasionally a splash of bright color comes in, but the colorful stuff is usually reserved for the winds that these stories are about. It’s an encompassing setting that sets it apart from its counterparts very well.
Story wise, we follow Nao and Miki and a few other side characters through a normal middle school life that one day all changes when they meet a ”Wind Cat”. To be more precise this cat seems to float on the wind and intrigues Nao to the point that she loses her footing from the school roof and falls toward the ground. At the last second a gush of wind from nowhere rushes up to save her and cushion her fall into the bushes below. Everyone is of course distraught with the fact that Nao tried to commit suicide and doesn’t believe her stories about the Wind Cat. We find out later that Nao was saved by a wind user (Kaze Tsukai) named Taiki that’s a teacher at their school. Investigation into his amazing ability and finding out that the cat really can control the wind, leads Nao and friends to follow Taiki to his yearly pilgrimage to Windy Valley. There they beg him to teach them to use the wind as well, but he refuses, and the youngsters turn to other village elders. Slowly they learn, but are interrupted as the yearly gathering of wind users has to come to a climax. All of the wind users must now actually decide the year’s weather in what is a grueling typhoon like scene that seems like they’re trying to hold the winds back from the village and protect themselves and the ones they love. Nao and friends return home a little wiser about the winds and with a little bit of usage of their new abilities.
That’s about all the plot for this show. That encompasses the first two episodes. The rest of the series deals with other simple life issues. Like looking for a flying squirrel, riding out a typhoon, a game of kick the can, and idol auditions. Throughout the progression of the series the girl’s powers grow and they are more capable in their usage of the wind. There not much more to it than that. It’s a slice of life show, only more true to that meaning than some have been.
There are many things about the show that strike you when you watch it. One of which is the music, which is very fitting and brings about a calming mood to the show’s already calming backgrounds. Opening and ending themes are similar. The ending song is a little more upbeat, with the ending animation actually using real photos of clouds and similar backdrops.
Overall this show made me appreciate why I love animation so much. Daring to be different from the average show filled with fanservice and action, this show went above and beyond many levels that I thought it could attain from that first frame I fell in love with.
