Kaze no Haruka (2005)

I hope you enjoy Kaze no Haruka as much as I do! ♡

First of all, you should know that I am someone who is quite easily influenced by other people's opinions. So, after reading several negative comments about this Asadora, I decided to watch Kaze no Haruka without any expectations, especially since I had already been spoiled about the messy love affairs in the series, including who the heroine ends up with. BUT surprisingly, after finishing it, I realized that I actually liked Kaze no Haruka! ♡

Honestly, I feel a bit strange because my review differs from most people who have watched Kaze no Haruka. However, even if my opinion is different, I hope my review provides an alternative perspective for those who are unsure about whether to watch it or not.

☆ THINGS I DON'T LIKE:
1. Masami – He is one of the worst love interests for a heroine in an Asadora. Even though his character is written as straightforward and kind, he is ultimately a total failure, spoiled, cowardly, and irresponsible! The way he left Haruka was so cruel that I still cried at that scene, even though I had already been spoiled about it.
2. Who Asuka (the heroine’s younger sister) ends up with – I don’t usually mind age gaps in relationships as long as both individuals are adults. However, the fact that he became a teacher and knew Asuka when she was in elementary school is quite unsettling, even if their romantic feelings only developed once they were adults.

♡ THINGS I LIKE:
1. Haruka.
I can confidently say that Haruka is one of my favorite modern-era Asadora heroines! Even though she was mature from a young age, her character development is well done. She is kind, cheerful, hardworking, and warm. What I love most is her passion and charisma when working. Her only weakness is in the romance part, she is too naive when it comes to Masami, continuously falling for him despite everything. But aside from that, I absolutely love Haruka.
2. The heroine’s family.
At the beginning of the series, her parents' selfishness is shown. However, as the story progresses, we begin to accept, understand, and even grow to like her family as a whole.
3. The male lead.
He may not be the best, but I like how he is always there for Haruka when she is struggling and in need of support. He consistently offers insightful advice and solutions for her. The small things he does for Haruka may seem insignificant at first, but they unknowingly mean a lot to her.
4. All the supporting characters.
In this Asadora, there isn’t a single character I dislike (aside from Masami’s actions toward Haruka, of course). I really liked Haruka’s family, her co-workers at Soyokaze Tourist, her acquaintances in Osaka, and all the residents of Yufuin. One of my favorite characters is Momoe! I even feel like she could have been the heroine haha.
5. The opening theme song.
I absolutely love it! The Kaze no Haruka opening is one of the few Asadora theme songs I never skip. It’s a beautiful song, accompanied by Haruka’s sweet smile and stunning scenery of Yufuin.
6. The cultural aspect!
I love how the series showcases Japanese tourism, the Awa Odori dance, onsen, and tourism in the Yufuin area. It also highlights various festivals, from music festivals to food festivals and more!
7. The relationship dynamic between the heroine and the male lead.
I like how they compromise to maintain their respective jobs. In many other stories, the characters only focus on their careers and ultimately decide not to be together, but in this case, they find a balance.
8. The story’s perspective on the future of Yufuin’s tourism industry.
I like how it explores the idea of integrating farming, inns, and tourism, emphasizing that these sectors must work together to build a prosperous future. It’s portrayed as an era for young people to take charge.
9. The winter scenery! The snow!
Since the story is set in Yufuin, Oita, near Mount Yufu-dake, the snowy landscapes are absolutely beautiful! I really enjoy it when an Asadora highlights the local climate and environment.

Why I can say that I like Kaze no Haruka? There's two main reasons: it isn’t as bad as the romance in Mare, and Haruka’s younger sister isn’t as annoying as in Okaeri Mone!
☆ For me, the romance in Kaze no Haruka is not forced because it is like a big part of this asadora, of course the romance is messy, however I still think it’s much better than Mare, which was filled with toxicity. What I like the most is that the characters in Kaze no Haruka are honest about their feelings and don’t bring each other down like they do in Mare.
☆ Asuka (the heroine’s younger sister) isn’t manipulative. At first, I was worried she would be like the younger sister in Okaeri Mone, but thankfully, she isn’t. While there are moments when Asuka is selfish, blames others, and indirectly makes Haruka’s life revolve around her, she later acknowledges this and thanks Haruka for always supporting her. That moment made all the difference.

Overall I really like Kaze no Haruka! It’s one of the lighter Asadora series, and despite its 151 episodes, I never felt tired of watching it, I genuinely enjoyed every episode. I highly recommend giving it a watch!

Note: If you want to enjoy Kaze no Haruka as much as I did, maybe getting the same spoilers would help. Since I already knew Haruka wouldn’t end up with Masami, I didn’t dwell too much on their relationship scenes, which made the experience more enjoyable.

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"There's always a wind blowing through this town.."

"Kaze no Haruka" marks the 32nd asadora that I've watched. I picked it for no particular reason, just that there are few asadoras with subtitles for me to watch. "Kaze no Haruka" is a more of a modern asadora as most of the story takes place in the early 2000s, leading up to the year the asadora aired. For the most part, this asadora attempts to tackle taboo subjects in a sensitive manner. However, it does not always stick the landing with the execution. On top of that, it fumbles the romance element...

The asadora follows Haruka (played by Murasaki Maya→Murakawa Eri). When she was a child, her father Yosuke (Watanabe Ikkei) decides to follow his dreams and open a restaurant. He settles in her mother's, Yuko (Maya Miki), hometown of Yufuin. Yuko, however, wants to stay in Osaka to pursue a career, which leads to their divorce. Haruka and younger sister Asuka (Kurokawa Mei) decide to stay with their father. The family struggles for several years and then there's a time-skip. Asuka wants to go to college in Tokyo after winning a contest with her first book. Haruka is reluctant to ask their mother for help, but eventually does. There's a compromise and Haruka comes to Osaka to live with her mother. She begins working for a travel agency to send Asuka money and comes to love the tourism field. That's the basic plot of the first beginning of the asadora. I'll elaborate on some more of the plot later on. For me, this was a very good beginning full of emotion and potential.

Unfortunately, I hate judging an asadora based on the romance plots. There are several asadoras with okay romances but a great overall plot. Sadly, once Haruka is settled in her job, this asadora becomes all focused on the romance so I kinda have to judge it on that. Now I have to address the character I hated the most in this asadora, Haruka's childhood friend Masami (Kikawada Masaya). He's basically a spoiled child in an adult's body who runs from his responsibilities at every opportunity. Masami's also the heir of an traditional inn, which most of his insecurity stems from him. Despite his immaturity, Haruka develops a crush on him early on in the asadora. However, he doesn't feel the same and they part ways for a bit. Watching this is kind of painful for the viewer. Haruka even tries to help him win the heart of his crush Aya (MEGUMI), whom later becomes a good friend of Haruka's. But, I thought it was done once he rejects her but no...

Haruka never seems to get over Masami, though she dates some other loser for some time. Around the middle of the asadora, Haruka decides to return to Yufuin to put her tourism skills to good use there. Masami had already returned earlier and was trying the whole "fake it til you make it" thing at his family's inn. Now that Haruka is more beautiful and sophisticated, Masami becomes interested in her.... They start dating, despite her initial misgivings, and eventually become engaged. [Imagine me being tortured the whole time I'm watching this btw.] Of course, Masami runs away AGAIN. This is very painful for Haruka. The actress did do a good job portraying these emotions at least. After some time, he returns but Haruka can never trust him again. Later on, he develops feelings for another childhood friend Nanae (Mizukawa Asami) and they start dating. How two girls could fall for this man is news to me. I truly hate this character, but I will say that the writer tries to give him an arc and doesn't just excuse his spoiled, jerky behavior. That doesn't mean I can like him remotely though...

Haruka's real love interest is Sarumaru Keitaro (Matsuoka Mitsuru). He's a little ridiculous, but he quickly grows on you. Unlike Masami, he truly cares for Haruka and wants to see how grow as a person. I don't understand why she couldn't fall for him earlier. It's definitely unfortunate that the asadora waits until the last two weeks of episodes to establish their relationship. However, the moments of them together are worth watching. I love their first kiss and their confessions to each other. And the last episode was great. But why? Why couldn't we have gotten this earlier? I can only think the writer was really trying to drive into the ground that you can have more than one love in life. [Haruka makes a nasty comment to her mother about this early on.] Why as viewers did we have to be tortured?

On to the "taboo subjects." First, there's divorce. I'm not a complete fan on how the asadora portrays divorce. If they wanted to normalize it, they should've portrayed it as a net positive. But, if you blink, you could swear divorce was the worse thing to happen to these people. Any logical person though can tell that the family would've been miserable had they go on as they were. The other taboo subject is premarital pregnancy. This was handled horribly lol. Asuka is like twenty-three and everyone is like "How could this have happened?" Hmmm... I can think of few ways. Of course, this also leads to her marrying a man at least fifteen to twenty years older than her. Thanks I hate it. I wish Asuka had instead raised the child on her own. The only good thing about this plot is that she's not forced to quit her job as a successful writer.

I'll talk briefly about the other characters before closing out this review. It's getting a little long. I didn't really like Haruka's parents Yosuke and Yuko at first. He's a little too pathetic and she's a little too career oriented. The drama, thankfully, puts a lot of character development into these two and I ended up really liking them. It's also always nice when an asadora portrays the parents as not perfect. Both of their endings are great, though it's dragged out too much. I also really liked the townspeople of Yufuin. By the end, I felt warm feelings towards everyone and I understood why Haruka wanted to return to that hick town [lol].

In conclusion, "Kaze no Haruka" is a far from perfect asadora but I really enjoyed the parts that were good. Haruka's first romance with Masami really brings down this asadora. I felt miserable watching these parts. Besides from that, the asadora feels very unfocused when it comes to Haruka's career. She kind of just falls into it, and later on it's just ignored completely. By the end, you're just waiting for everyone's arcs to conclude.

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