恋風

KOI KAZE

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
5
RELEASE
November 9, 2004
CHAPTERS
35

DESCRIPTION

Born twelve years apart, siblings Koshiro and Nanoka were separated when their parents divorced and moved to different parts of Japan; as a result, they both grew up hardly aware of the other's existence.

The story begins when 15-year-old Nanoka moves to Tokyo to live with her father and brother, the latter being 27 years old and employed by a marriage-arranging company. Koshiro first encounters Nanoka on the train one morning, and returns her dropped train pass. Despite their age difference, they feel a brief spark of connection before they go their separate ways.

Soon after that, they encounter each other once again near an amusement park, where they go on an impromptu date. While riding the Ferris wheel, the two open their hearts to each other and discuss their recent romantic woes. Nanoka comforts Koshiro when he breaks down and cries, and he realizes that he is very attracted to her. Right after the date, they meet their father, and are startled to realize they are siblings.

Koi Kaze is about Koshiro's love for Nanoka, his conflicting drive to obey societal norms, and Nanoka's growth into womanhood and her growing feelings for her brother.

(Source: Wikipedia)

CAST

Nanoka Kohinata
Koshiro Saeki
Kaname Chidori
Ouko Tamaki
Shoko Akimoto
Futaba Anzai
Makie Kohinata
Zenzo Saeki
Kazuya Miyauchi
Kei Odagiri

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO KOI KAZE

ANIME DramaKoi Kaze

REVIEWS

holographer
77/100
This is probably my least favorite work of Yoshida's but that is not to diminish that it deserves a read. High 7.
Koi Kaze or "Love Wind" is a manga illustrated and written by Motoi Yoshida, one of my favorite mangaka, she is known for stories on often complex and messy romantic relationship's. Koi Kaze while not my favorite work of hers is the one she is known for and is her only manga to have an anime adaptation. Koi Kaze is not only the work she is most infamous for, it is also her most controversial. The story center's on 28 year old Kashiro and 14 year old Nanoka two siblings separated by their parent's divorce getting the opportunity to live together. There relationship starts as simple familial love and blossoms into mutual romantic attraction between the two causing conflict and emotions to run high between them and some of their familiar's.

Koi Kaze takes a different approach from similar media that deals with incest like Oreimo, kissxsis and Eromanga Sensei by offering a deeper and more negative view of a incestuous relationships. In those mentioned manga their are often many ecchi and comedy moments added to it's story, Yoshida opts to leave that making it bare bones, focusing more on the character's romantic emotions and conflict throughout the story. The lack of the mentioned elements leads this story to feel a lot more grim and melancholy than any of it's counterpart's, and there is a feeling throughout the story even during the happier parts, of the question of will this work? Doing a somewhat realistic and negative portrayal of not only an incestuous relationship but one with a large age gap can lead to the pitfalls of a story being boring or too preachy. There is no really funny moments that make Oreimo such a joy to watch or anything ecchi enough to get you excited like kissxsis but Yoshida counter's that with realness and good character writing. Realness not in the sense of their incestuous feelings but in the general feelings of romance. Although the character's in the story are facing a far more serious conflict, the feelings of uncertainty, connection, and joyful moments together are the same as any relationship one may have. They deal with insecureness in how they appear physcially and mentally, you can feel the budding romance even if it feels wrong, and you most importantly you get a sense of characters trying to grasp who they are as a person. This all sounds sweet but the main things happening in the story are conflict. Nanoka realizing her feelings for her brother and being ashamed for who she is, Kashiro isolating himself so he doesn't respond to her feelings, Chidori confronting Kashiro and Nanoka about their intentions. Their are numerous examples and warnings throughout the story that this relationship is not really healthy or all there. The path of to their romance is rocky and their is tension at various points on getting caught. This is what I like about Yoshida's writing, making their romance and their lives like a house of card's feeling like it can topple at any moment. She usually likes to end her chapters on a revelation or a question making the reader wonder what is going to happen next and that thought is usually anything but good. If I could critique anything in the story is that their relationship feels stronger than it should have, and I would have liked more showing them strengthen it. They both have this strong resolve that they like each other but the event's of the book don't show that as evident as I would like. The age gap between the two is also very weird and is much more problematic than the incestuous relationship, yet the conflict in the book focuses mainly on the taboo of incest. I feel the author aged the characters the way she did to show us the development of the characters two different stages in life and contribute to the plot more than use it as a topic to have commentary on age gap relationships. It still doesn't sit completely right with me though and I felt this book could have been better telling if they were similar in age as I felt the age gap added unnecessary complexities. I also disliked how they choose the easy route of not showing the parents reactions to their relationship as I felt it could have have really benefited the story by adding to the tension.

The main two character's are Kashiro and Nanoka who both go through major character development of themselves in this manga. Nanoka feel's like a very accurate portrayal of a 14 year old for the most part. She feel's childish at times and puts up a responsible facade in others. She seem's more sure of her feelings than Kashiro which kind of bug's me little, I feel the foundation for why she is attracted to Kashiro and goes through various actions feel's shallower than it should be. Kashiro is the more complex character of the two and one I feel conflicted about. Kashiro should be hated as a character right? I mean he has feeling's not only towards his sister but his sister 14 years younger than him, he should be regarded as a immoral character. Yoshida writing really shines through his character the most he feel's so restrained, so lost, and so tired I personally more sympathetic for the character instead of angry. That is not to say he is right though, the action's he takes are morally disgusting after all. Without Yoshida writing him so immature and holding back he would be thought of a revolting character.

The art here is pretty average and is not as quality as her newer works like Kannou Sensei, you can tell this is one of her first manga. Her usual drawing style is ever present with a rough appearance and the use of cross hatching to add detail, which contributes to this. The panels and layout here are well designed and feels effective. The character design is basic but her expressions are one of her strong point's, they show plenty of emotion. Some of my favorite panels in this manga are the one's that display Nanoka beauty they have a shine to them and are usually more clean than the other panels.

The ending of this manga gives a lot of debate of what happens and people's perception of the relationship. The ending is set at the amusement park they first met, at this point they have both decided to give in to their feelings and start dating. The amusement park is closing down and Nanoka replies "I thought this place would be forever", maybe foreshadowing that their relationship might not last long and there is an end. Nevertheless, they both reaffirm each other by stating their feelings and Nanoka takes a previous statement Kashiro said as a proposal. The manga's last couple of panel's are really joyous and there is a feeling that the relationship will last as the last panel shows Nanoka giving a big smile. The manga shows this relationship as unhealthy and having a lot of conflict a lot of the time but at the end seems to state love is above anything else. I think the conflict in this ending is mostly due to if people think Yoshida did a good enough job of making are character's likeable and what the message is suppose to be for their relationship. For me, I can see why many people dislike Kashiro and feel that he is hurting Nanoka by continuing their relationship. If Yoshida didn't write him so sympathetically lost and broken his actions would be unforgivable, fortunately I think she succeeds in writing him in such a confused state that we can all relate to at a point in our lives. I think the relationship between Kashiro and Nanoka is unhealthy but at the end I can't hate the relationship because they both have to an extent a effect on each others lives that makes them happier.

This manga shines in it's characterization and it's very serious and thoughtful approach to a incestuous relationship. Many manga and anime try to sidestep the antagonism of an incestuous relationship but Koi Kaze tackles it directly providing interesting conversation on the subject. This is probably my least favorite work of Yoshida's but that is not to diminish that it deserves a read. I'm giving this a high 7.
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