Kouji Nanjou, from birth, was brought into a family where all of the men seem to suffer infidelity & mental problems. Even as a child he was a shell of a human being with no ambitions or desires, but was a prodigy who excelled at everything. He hit puberty very early & never felt anything for any of the women he bedded. One day he saw child only a little older than himself playing soccer & felt desire for the first time in his life. He obsessed over the memory of the child who's eyes were so full of the life & passion he lacked, & so he became a singer in hopes his words would reach that person's ears.

Once Kouji found the person he longed for, he discovered that it was a boy. He had never been attracted to other men before, nor had he ever felt emotions towards a woman. To this man, he felt everything & learned that a person's sex was not what determined love & desire. He clung obstinately to this man like a barnacle, unintentionally bringing humiliation & suffering to him & in a chain reaction, to those around him, just as he unintentionally had to his own brothers.

Izumi became Kouji's only goal in life, his wish, the only thing he wanted or cared about, the reason he grew his hair, the reason he sang, the reason he would physically harm himself, his own family, & others. Unfortunately for him, Izumi had a traumatic childhood & felt deep betrayal from his parents, & would become the sort of person who feared that if he had love in his life, that it would be taken away from him again, so when success was in his grasp, he would step back & run away. As a result, he neither dated nor pushed his ambitions to play professional soccer.

The two would come to live together as roommates, & Izumi would very slowly come to reciprocate Kouji's feelings, even though both his fear of obtaining & losing love & sabotage from both friends & enemies would continuously push the reset button on Izumi's acceptance of Kouji every time their relationship was starting to come together.

As things continue to progress, Izumi acknowledges that Kouji is the reason he could finally realize his own love & ambition for soccer & would become as famous as the man who chased him. There is a power shift in their relationship where Kouji only desires to please & not piss off Izumi, & Izumi uses a balance of promises & threats to emotionally manipulate Kouji.

But like all the men in his family, especially Akihito, Kouji has a mental sickness that worsens over time & he struggles & argues with himself, he sabotages himself, sets himself up for failure. When things are going good, he will do something stupid to set it all back.

In violeume 15, Koiji & Takuto have a happy ending (at least I think they do...Takuto said he loved Kouji, but will he ever play soccer again?).The first chapter of volume 15 is literally a remake of the "Ai ni Obore, Ai ni Shisu Hentai" ending with more story elements added & pretty much all of the sex cut out (I guess Margaret wasn't the best choice of publisher for a yaoi series).The 2ed chapter seems like it was going to continue the main story but was aborted afterwards, so a translator could easily skip this chapter because it doesn't contribute to a decent ending, since a character who should be dead & is not seen is claiming to have done things offscreen that are not shown. (like how the Under the Dome TV series has a decent ending if you skip the last season). & the other 75% of the manga is kinda like a continuation of Kaen Enjou/Danshou where it focuses on the past of the Nanjou father & uncle in their youths.

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Art: Despite very slight & gradual art evolution over time, it's managed to maintain a late 80s/early 90s style with some strong Bauhaus layouts (& potentially Patrick Nagel inspired aesthetics) in the frames & background. Her unique style has been a favorite of mine for over 15 years. It wasn't until I discovered Old Xian tha tI realized tha tno other manga artist has truly clicked with me quite the way Minami Ozaki has. Even when the art looks like an unfinished rough sketch, it's still amazing. My only complaint is how poor the grayscale is on the chapter art, which were converted from full-color images.

Influence: This is an old classic. People could say it was cliche without realizing it was a trendsetter. When I read psychological BL mangas, manhuas, & manhwas like Warehouse, Hago Ha Gyeong-Su, You're My Love Prize in Viewfinder, Koisuru Boukun, & Zankoku na Kami ga Shihaisuru, I have to wonder if their creators didn't grow up on Zetsuai & Kaze to Ki no Uta.

Nostalgia: One of, if not THE first BL series I ever watched (the OVA), one of my first Japanese music albums, one of my first scanlation readings (indeed, one of the oldest scanlated series on the net).

Story & characters: Unlike the vast majority of BL comics, this has a serious story, deep character development, & bothers giving background characters their own story arcs. These characters also occur multiple permanent bodily injuries; something I would expect from Seinen manga.

Criticisms: The art is very stylized; the massive oversized hands & shoulders won;t be everyone's cup of tea. She never did get any good at drawing feet. In volume 15, Takuto's tan is gone...I guess it's reasonable since he hasn't played soccer in some time, but Koujis muscles have completely wasted away somehow & he actually looks his age & is not all that much larger than Takuto. Chapter 2's ending of volume 5, while I cannot read it, seems to be a point of contention for Japanese readers who called it a "non-ending" in their reviews.

... Last updated on August 23rd, 2017, 2:01pm

This has got to be one of the most psychological works particularly about love and life philosophies I've read so far. Due to the prequel's very low quality scanlations, I decided to jump right into this sequel instead, and luckily didn't have too much trouble understanding the story. I'm really pumped with the mangaka's ideas regarding the darker aspects of love, which I haven't seen a lot before, and how she could present them in several ways through different human relationships and their natures. Although the story's execution is a bit 'over-the-top' and sometimes too extreme for my taste, I get that this trope was rather common for mangas at the time, and for some reasons maybe it's actually because of this overdramatic aspect that managed to pull readers in including me. Now the artwork, on the other hand, is really dated, not much redemption here unfortunately. That's the most major turn-off for me from the series; other than that I'd say this is quite an original read. I've stopped reading at the middle of volume 10 to wait until the scanlation is complete to finish the manga, and so eagerly waiting/praying for that day to come.

This has got to be one of the best manga I have ever read. I swear without exaggeration I was crying buckets. The whole story was absolutely amazing. The bitter-sweet feeling while reading, and the hatred felt towards the antagonist is quite remarkable. I must say this is the best example of Heart-Throbbing Love, which I love.

I want one!! I saw the raws and I know that we don't see dead bodies so the end is ambiguous and I'm ok with that. I don't like reading tragedies but I made an exception for this because I really believe that it amazingly illustrates one of the many forms that love can take. The type of self-destructive love where you need each other as air, where you regret not being born as the same person. The type of love where "What do you love more X or me?" is not a melodramatic expression but a true heartfelt question born from desperation.

This is a well known masterpiece so it doesn't need more praise. If you can't decide whether or not to read this just decide if you want to read a story to make you ask "Why can't they--society, antagonists, life, etc.-- just leave them ALONE?!!" at the moment. Gauge your mood with that thought and feel free to jump in (although the last few volumes are untranslated at present)

... Last updated on February 3rd, 2016, 8:33am

I'v pretty much poured my heart out in the review I gave for Bronze's prequel, ZETSUAI. Bronze is more dramatic and engaging. The antagonist in this manga is love itself and the way the two leads see it. It's drama at it's best. The great thing about Bronze is that Izumi responds to Kouji's feelings!! The way things were going in Zetsuai, I thought their relationship was doomed. Kouji was forgiven by Izumi and yet the latter had nightmares of what Kouji did to him. Kouji is being killed by the guilt but is not ready to let go of Izumi. This causes even more turmoil in their relationship. At times you just feel like packing them off in a spaceship and sending them to a distant planet where they can live their life only for each other. For Kouji, Izumi is like oxygen,air...sort of like he imprinted on Izumi. The plot, intense characters and complex play of emotions are what makes this manga SUPER EPIC. RECOMMENDED.

This wasn't the first yaoi I read, but it's one of the few yaoi works full of tragedy as most yaoi are lighthearted and fluffy (not that it's a bad thing). I see blood in almost every chapter but the love between the two main characters touch me to no end, and they have so many sweet, cute, sad, funny and steamy moments that this manga is in one of my top 10.

Well.. this is one of THE MOST DEPRESSING MANGA. everytime you find a happiness, be careful, because the angst moment will come to you, worst than before! Koji is veery very insane! he's too obsessive over Izumi. but that's the point that appeal to me. he could kill others, even his own brothers if they are hurt Izumi, or intended to take Izumi away from him. not only that, he could hurt himself if it could protect Izumi!!

It said it's tragedy. well.. yep for the angst, but not for the character death. they are both alive..my assumption I mean. I read the last volume, the one that released on 2011. I asked my friend to translate it to me. a lil bit confusing, yet twisting, yet...weird and makes me scream "what the hell!!!"

WARNING!! THIS IS A LIL BIT OF THE SUMMARY FOR THE LAST VOLUME THAT RELEASED ON 2011

See?? Sensei lOVES TO TEASED US!! I believe they are safe.... because Izumi will not give up to soccer and Koji, and Koji will do anything to make it happen. then.. let it be a cliffhanger :/

but..since the story is AMAZING and there're no boring parts on each volume, I'll give 10. to anyone who bored with lovey dovey story and wanna read angst, I recommend you to read it. warning! angst in EVERY CHAPTER. but believe it or not, there're some humors too

The same as with Zetsuai, I give it 8 only because of stunning art and strange intense relationship between 2 main characters. Though I really do think... it would be better if it was shorter. I was truly hooked only by volumes 8 and 9.

THIS SERIES IS SIMPLY CRAZY. I just couldn't stop reading it, and finished all 14 volumes in 2 days. from volume 11, I just couldn't sit straight with all the tension building up... and when I found out that Koji had run away from Izumi, I was practically going crazy and shouting insults every time Koji appeared -.-

this series is one of a kind... once you're hooked you won't let go... the tension builds on and makes you yearn for more and to read further until you go crazy xp

i totally recommend this series

I have to say that this one is much less chaotic paneling wise. It is easier to read and I think the art got better.
As for the story though I didn't see the situations that occurred as tragic (more like they were avoidable in the first place), I can't deny the raw emotion. The mangaka easily expresses emotions through the words, facial expressions, and it may just be me but the almost violent way something is drawn. I have to say both Kouji and Izumi scare the living shit out of me. I don't know if their love is "pure" or not...to me it seems to be a destructive twisted love. It really fascinates me! Especially Kouji, his love and how he expresses it makes me believe they are insane. The only two who could top him are his brothers, whoa re equally or even more insane....Though I couldn't really stand those two....
Overall, I love the story. I usually hate tragedy stories, but the visible strong emotion just captures my attention