You certainly won't find here unblemished characters, cute innocent eyes, idyllic relationship or explicit solutions...

Kaze to Ki no Uta is difficult to classify since it's absolutely outstanding representative of its kind. Its unconventional plot includes sexual exploitation, physical and mental violence, pedophilia, sadism, trap of poisonous/forbidden love, religious fixations, maturation problems, rigor of social rules, various addictions and many other difficult issues... All of them well balanced and presented with taste and sensitivity. Sophisticated game between literality and insinuation in conjunction with classical, gentle drawing style created extremely beautiful story that avoided moralizing or giving easy answers. I'm sure that KazeKi is able to give you great satisfaction but nothing's for free. It requires your attention and patience in return. I assure you it's certainly worth that slight sacrifice.

Takemiya Keiko sensei created brilliant story, trully entrancing and far away from a cheap drama. I simply love it. Although it's ambiguous, bitter and desperately sad. It captivated me much more than all other BL stories gathered together.

Splendid proposal for mature, exacting readers.

... Last updated on May 20th, 2010, 10:03am

This manga revolutionalized the BL genre with it's classical characters and fascinating storyline. Unlike most modern day yaoi mangas, this story draws out the plot in a breathtaking way, always compelling you to see what happens. It's also very realistic for it's time and age. Just a warning this story is very tragic and heart wrenching. If you like cute stories with a fairytale ending, this is not for you.

This is one of the more psychological twisted shonen ai mangas I've ever read. Its a long series with a lot of depth so if you're looking for a quick read this isnt it. It takes patience and probably an open mind while reading. It combines prejudice, racism, incest, rape, abuse, homophobia and more. I got more frustrated with Gilberts character than anything. I found myself hating him while trying to understand him. And even discovering his past I still ended up hating him in the end. It's different and a unique story in the shonen ai world. A must read for those tired of cliche plots and quick resolves.

It is a bitter ending between the two boys but rather fitting for the story. If you have the chance you can watch the movie made for Kaze through youtube. Be warned though, the anime DOES give away the ending of the manga, but its VERY SUBTLE about how it does it. So you might miss it...

... Last updated on September 18th, 2007, 3:52pm

This story isn't so much about BL as it is about the characters and the twisted, unique and timeless story. I don't usually like tragedy at all, but this one is beautiful. Kaze to ki no uta leaves an imprint.

... Last updated on May 12th, 2009, 5:22pm

Heart-wrenching.

Perfect.

The ending is just... I feel like crying every time I think of this manga, yet I don't want to keep away.

I really did enjoy reading this even though i only got to vol 6. all in all, this is a great read. i havent felt this enraptured in a manga in a long time. To be honest, i really hope Gilbert, at the very least, has some good times with Serge. I was told that someone(i know who but dont want to spoil it for anyone else) dies but i still want to read it til the end. Gilberts life is, at the very least, screwed up. I dont know how he'd have ended up if he was alone all his life but... i really want him to be happy, even if its just for a second.

This revolutionary shoujo manga is one of my all time favorites. There is too much to say about it. From start to finish, I was so engaged with everything that happened, I can't even explain what it made me feel. I was scared to read the final volume because I didn't want it to end. Words are not enough for me to explain what this does to me, but I'm glad that the people who read the whole thing seem to like it, too (not everyone is into older Manga). Anyways, here are some thoughts:

[contains minor spoilers]

Before I get into my thoughts on this manga, I would like to address the concerns people have about the nature of some of the themes here. I very much agree with Oscar Wilde when he said that there are no moral or immoral books - they are either well written or they aren’t. That being said, I have no problems with the things I encounter in fiction at all. Especially in this Manga, which is loaded with things that I wouldn’t tolerate for a second should I happen to encounter them in real life.

That being said: I fell in love with this Manga, so my review will be heavily biased. When somethings stirs something in you, it’s hard to stay completely objective, although I will try my best to do so. You may want to keep that in mind should you decide to continue reading this review.

This Manga almost seems like it was written for me - meaning, it has a lot of elements I always look for or dream about, so seeing something so ‚dreamlike‘ in the real world, I got excited.

Set in one of my favorite historical periods (fin de siècle) in France, I expected a regular love story between two teenagers. It’s an all-boys school, so what else would happen, right? Well, to a degree, it is what happens, but the road to that is hard and long with no end in sight, and even when you think that they have finally reached their destination, this element of the story isn’t even half of what this story is about. Let me elaborate by talking about our two main characters for a bit.



Gilbert - he is the ultimate manifestation of addiction and fear. He has no sense of self since he was raised to be nothing more than a pet, causing him to lose himself in what he considers freedom - music, alcohol, dreams and of course, ‚love‘. He can’t be alone for a reasonable amount of time, and when he doesn’t get what he feels he needs, he will do anything to get it, anything - even if it inflicts pain on those the claims to love. The way he has been treated and continues to be treated by basically anybody other than Serge seems to only reinforce his idea that this is just the way things are. He can’t change. He doesn’t want to change, he wouldn’t mind staying like this forever, since reality is too much for him to handle anyways. The eternal boy.

Serge has always been a serious boy who is used to putting effort into everything he does. He soon realizes that being with Gilbert is to abandon everything - his dreams, his friends, his future. He suffers, but can’t leave Gilbert. Only when he realizes that he can’t catch this bird that is Gilbert, he sees himself forced to give up. Serge wants to save Gilbert and live a normal life with him, but Gilbert is not somebody who is willing to give up on his ways. Gilbert would be fine living like he did with Auguste (I’ll be damned if that man wasn’t modeled after Franz Liszt) except less cruel. Serge tries to provide Gilbert with a certain lifestyle, but to do that, he has to work and constantly suffer at the hands of his surroundings. Life with Gilbert makes him miserable, but he tolerates it for this impossible love. Each time there is a glimmer of hope, something goes wrong and it all has to do with Gilbert. Now, at the time, homosexuality was not considered a crime under the Code Napoléon, but that doesn’t mean that society did not frown upon such things nevertheless. He knows in his heart that there is no future for them, not only because they are both male, but because of Gilbert’s nature. Serge knows from his own father that you sometimes have to throw away everything you hold dear to be with the one you love, but unlike his father, Serge’s partner isn’t willing to do, well, anything. Gilbert doesn’t seem to care if he lives or dies, and Serge alone can’t take the burden which is both of their lives.

The story can get really over the top sometimes and a lot of the time, the character’s actions are completely unreasonable. In that regard, the story is a bit flawed and takes away from the realism for me, but in the end, I honestly didn’t mind that much because I got so emotionally involved in it. The main point, to me, is shattered hopes and dreams, and it can’t be helped that they do. It’s ultimately about the death of youth. It’s a classic tragedy.

Needless to say, I personally love the art. It's melancholic and beautiful.

This Manga just got me. It's an emotional thing, so I'm not sure how else to talk about it at the moment.

Reading this felt really like a dramatic novel rather than a typical bl manga. I got invested after seeing Gilberts horrible, oh so horrible upbringing and past, wishing that he can get a better turn in life later, but you can practically smell the incoming tragedy. If youre looking for sweet stuff, this aint it.

This manga explores the detriment of rape and abuse on children, how it completely corrupted and distorted Gilbert’s view on how to interpret, accept, and express love, making him destined to have a tragic end. A closely linked theme is also “power” as in the ability to take control of ones fate and circumstance. A lot of the characters long for the ability to take control of their situation but are stopped by things like authority, wealth, and race. Some characters gain the power eventually or some are stuck. Plot threads unfold based on whether they can or cannot gain "power" and how they use it.

As for the sexual assault (oh boy is there a lot), none of it is framed as sexy or hot at all. It is completely portrayed as horrible, traumatic, and an absolute disaster towards anyone that it happens to. It was a hard read, but once you get past that part in the story, the plot really begins to kick in and its a hell of a sad sad ride.

There were some really melodramatic moments in there, the usual dumb misunderstandings and stuff, but overall, its a good read with good exploration of Gilbert’s character and a whole ass truckload of tragedy. The happy cute moments of the pair happens like only 5 percent of the manga i think, but it was so touching i tear up a bit when anything good happens between them.

A read worth your time and feelings, prepare to watch some cute cat videos to heal your soul.

Side note: this manga reminds me of the novel "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara. With a main character also dealing with heavy sexual assault However he deals with it in the complete opposite way as Gilbert. Its also very sad tho.

Interesting story despite the horrible pedophilia and rape aspects of it.
If you're going to start this series out BEWARE that only 12 out of 17 volumes have been translated. You can find the raws on Facebook from what I've seen

soo. this manga is upsetting... it doesnt seem to be fully translated from what i can find at least, but from what i was able to read... um. ok. so, i'm not against media exploring difficult topics such as rape, pedophilia, abuse, etc., but this manga is so graphic about it that it makes me sick. if it was handled differently, maybe i could say "i like this manga" with more confidence, but it was not handled differently. please don't read this manga if these things are triggering to you.
i read this after watching the ova, but i did not really know what i was getting into. we have gilbert who obviously has a very unhealthy relationship with sex that also obviously (at least to me) stemmed from abuse, and we see this from the start. very upsetting things happen from start to finish, pretty much, but once it started getting to [spoilers]'s backstory, it was pretty much unbearable to read (to me) bc it was so graphic and disgusting. what bothered me is that it was so graphic that it was almost as if the author got a kick out of drawing these things. in a little author's note i remember she responded to some fans who thought this pedophile child abusing rapist was hot and drew a little drawing of him or something, needless to say that reaaallly rubbed me the wrong way. i hope i'm wrong about that though. i don't want to think that the author would get a kick out of this type of thing.
so why'd i read it anyway? why was i intrigued by this manga?
i was intrigued because of the fact that serge was the son of a romani prostitute and a viscount. that alone brings up many different dynamics that i'd never really seen in manga.
i got very invested in the characters, at least gilbert and serge. and because of this and the fact that i have no self respect, i kept reading even though it ended up disgusting and upsetting me so much.
perhaps it's a good thing that it's not fully translated and i can't find raw scans, but the translation finally got to a more positive part (i think? i might be remembering incorrectly) after all the horrible things, so it might leave me hanging forever. maybe that's for my own good. i guess i really kept reading because after all that, i just wanted the two of them to be happy, but i bet i'll be disappointed given the nature of this story.