Summary
- Haruka helps Anzai rescue Nagato from the abusive gang Keel.
- Nagato struggles to leave Keel while being treated as a punching bag.
- Classmates unite against Keel with second-year’s unexpected help.
Wind Breaker season 2 kicks off with the showdown between the first-year students at Furin High School and the delinquents of a shady gang called Keel. They aren’t supposed to face each other until a minor character who needs obvious protection from Bofurin enters the story. Who is this minor character, and why does Sakura Haruka get involved with him?
In the last season of Wind Breaker, Haruka Sakura was hailed as one of the captains of the first-year students. While he struggled to understand his role, his classmate, Anzai, faced a bigger problem that involved Keel. This up-and-coming gang was worse than Shishitoren (Lion Head) due to their immoral acts. It’s now up to Haruka and the entire class to help Anzai solve his problem as soon as possible.
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This article contains spoilers from the Wind Breaker anime and manga.
Keel’s Atsushi Nagato Started It All
The Abused Member of Keel
- First Anime Appearance: Wind Breaker season 1 episode 13
- First Manga Appearance: Wind Breaker chapter 40
- Affiliation: Keel
Unlike Bofurin, Keel is full of delinquents who cause trouble for other people. They tend to steal money, gang up on one person, and beat their members for fun and entertainment. One of the gang’s newest members is Atsushi Nagato, a kind and mature guy who only wants to grow stronger to protect the innocent and at least come closer to his childhood friend, Masaki Anzai.
“Money or getting hit? What do I do?”—Atsushi Nagato
In a way, Nagato is similar to Furin High’s Akihiko Nirei, as both of them lack the combat strength and fighting skills unlike most of the guys in their respective groups. They also want to grow stronger and fight side by side with their friends. However, while Bofurin treats Nirei nicely, Keel treats Nagato harshly, abusing him like the rest of the weaklings in the gang.
Nagato Finds It Difficult to Leave Keel
It’s easy to become a member of Keel, but nearly impossible to walk away without consequences. As soon as Nagato discovers that Keel is not the gang he thought it was, he struggles to live a normal life. Desperate to keep up with the gang’s demands, he begins doing terrible things for others just to meet his quota and avoid getting beaten by fellow members. But Nagato isn’t the type of guy who can easily take advantage of others, so he ends up being Keel’s punching bag every single time.
Nagato’s Connection With Bofurin
Nagato Is Friends With Masaki Anzai
Luckily, Nagato has a reliable and dependable friend from Bofurin who’s willing to save him from Keel at all costs. He is childhood friends with Furin’s first-year student, Anzai, and they have always been there for each other. While Anzai wants to ease Nagato’s burden, Nagato refuses to seek help from Anzai, in fear that he would also get hurt. Even so, Anzai chooses to help Nagato, showing just how much their friendship means to him.
“If only I were stronger, I could’ve forced you to come home with me.”—Anzai to Nagato
The problem is that Nagato seems convinced that he’s not worthy of salvation for all the bad things he did to other people. Regardless, Anzai wants to rescue Nagato from Keel, even if he must do it by himself. After all, Anzai made a promise to their other friend, Mio, that everything would be fine and Anzai would be alright. It’s a good thing Haruka is observant enough to discover Anzai’s problem with Nagato, leading to Bofurin’s involvement.
Haruka Sakura Helps Anzai and Nagato
The First Challenge for the New Captain
Haruka did not hesitate to help Anzai recover Nagato from Keel, nor did his classmates such as Nirei, Suo, Kiryu, Tsugeura, and even Sugishita. Along with the rest of the class, they went to the abandoned shipyard to face Keel in their headquarters, knowing that they were a small-scale gang they could handle by themselves. Unexpectedly, Keel has gathered many members who carry weapons to fight. From metal pipes to bats, Keel isn’t embarrassed to use these weapons to their advantage against Furin.
The weapons, in addition to Keel’s overwhelming numbers, become a huge problem for Haruka’s group. They were beginning to lose the fight until the second-year students, led by Kaji Ren, came to their rescue. It wasn’t long before Furin turned the battle in their favor, beating every member of Keel to the ground. That’s when Anzai confronts Nagato about everything that happened between them.
“This is all my fault! Just admit it!”—Haruka Sakura to his classmates
Nagato may be a minor character in Wind Breaker, but his role in the Keel arc is significant. He is the root cause of the fight between Keel and Furin, and without him, Haruka wouldn’t have had a valuable experience with his classmates in his first few days as grade captain. While Haruka thought he needed to be a leader like Umemiya and Kaji, he later realized that he simply needed to do everything he could for the group since they could all just support each other.