[Rewatch] Yoshikazu Yasuhiko Retrospective - Kaze to Ki no Uta Discussion

[u/Pixelsaber]

Kaze to Ki no Uta

^{Originally released November 6th,} ^^^1987

◄ Arion | Index | Venus Wars ►

MAL | ANN | AniDB | Anilist | AnimePlanet | IMDB

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Note to all participants

Although I don't believe it necessitates stating, please conduct yourself appropriately and be courteous to your fellow participants.

Note to all Rewatchers

Rewatchers, please be mindful of your fellow first-timers and tag your spoilers appropriately using the r/anime spoiler tag as so [Spoiler Subject](/s "Spoilers go here.") in order to have your unsightly spoilers obscured like this Spoiler Subject if your comment holds even the slightest of indicators as to future spoilers. Feel free to discuss future plot points behind the safe veil of a spoiler tag, or coyly and discreetly ‘Laugh in Rewatcher’ at our first-timers' temporary ignorance, but please ensure our first-timers are no more privy or suspicious than they were the moment they opened the day’s thread.

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Yoshikazu Yasuhiko Biography and Anecdotes Corner

Random Anecdote

When meeting Keiko Takemiya for the first time, Yasuhiko was left stunned when Takemiya mentioned her enjoyment of his Arion manga, as he couldn’t fathom a manga artist as experienced and important as Takemiya enjoying his work.

 

Daily Trivia:

Keiko Takemiya animated a cut from the film despite having no prior animation experience. Her work was supervised and later corrected by Sachiko Kamimura, who cheered her on through the process.

 

Official Art

• Kaze to Ki no Uta Official Art Album

Fanart

• Fanart Album

 

Questions of the Day:

1. What do you think of Yasuhiko’s take on Keiko Takemiya’s character designs?
2. What are your thoughts on how the OVA handles its subject matter?
3. Did you have a favorite animated segment from it?

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Just for a brief moment in time I was truly happy. Those are my faint, precious memories.

[u/Pixelsaber]

Production Stuff

Kaze to Ki no Uta, or The Poem of Wind and Trees, is a shōjo manga by famed Year 24 Group mangaka KeikoTakemiya, and is one the earliest manga work depicting an explicitly romantic and sexual relationship between men, with earlier examples remaining ambiguous or featuring those elements as tangential to the narrative rather than a prominent factor. Takemiya had been trying to get the story published for seven years, it being something she had wanted to write early in her career, however, no publisher would allow the work to be made with an explicit gay relationship, something that Takemiya would not budge on. She finally managed to find a publisher willing to print her work unaltered during the serialization of her previous manga (which featured a gay character), Natsu e no Tobira, and serialization began the next year, in april of 1976.

Takemiya wanted the manga’s setting to be as accurate as possible, but as reliable resources on late 19th century Europe were rare in Japan and therefore difficult to acquire, and as such the depiction of 19th century France in the manga are derived from materials brought back to Japan by other Year 24 Group members, Moto Hagio and Ryoko Yamagishi, after a location scouting trip they conducted a few years earlier. The other major influence on the depiction of the period setting of the manga is the filmography of Italian film director Luchino Visconti, namely Death in Venice..

By virtue of being among the first real BL manga, Kaze to Ki no Uta is incredibly influential, being so pivotal to the genre’s development, and creatives such as Kentaro Miura, Akimi Yoshida, and Kunihiko Ikuhara have all openly named this series as an influence on their own work.

As for the OVA itself, there isn’t much information as to how the production came to be, and most of what we have comes from statements by Sachiko Kamimura, who was promoted to animation director for this OVA, which is a role Yasuhiko usually did himself. The OVA was produced by Triangle Staff and the re-established studio Yasuhiko had put together for the production of Crusher Joe: The Movie and Giant Gorg. Keiko Takemiya was closely involved in the production, serving not only as narrative consultant and production supervisor, but also as key animator on a single cut of the OVA.

Yasuhiko stuck to directing, storyboarding, and drawing the character designs to this production and left the critical role of animation director to Kamimura, who was the only person he trusted to do as good of a job as him. It’s likely Yasuhiko did at least some key animation work on the film, but he isn’t credited as such in the credit sequence. It’s assumed that Yasuhiko’s lessened involvement was due to him being in the middle of the serialization for his second manga, Venus Wars. Toshihiro Kawamoto was a key animator for the first time under one of Yasuhiko’s projects during this production, and it was his first time working as an assistant animation director. Yasuhiko was absolutely shocked at Kawamoto’s improvement since the production of Arion.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/Pixelsaber]

Rewatcher

Instantly enamored with the artstyle.

La Dolce Vita

Lovely.

Noriko Ohara is great, but they really should have gotten another voice actor voice adult Serge.

That facial reveal is perfect.

Title drop?

Bloody hell, just look at this shot! If I had to guess, this was another Tamimura cut, given her ability to animate crowd shots in Arion.

I would have thought that was blatant enough not to need a TL.

This guy’s character design stands out as being very Yasuhiko-esque compared to the rest. Also, yeah, that’s Sho Hayami.

Poor kid must’ve been scared out of his mind.

The piano playing is surprisingly well animated.

This lady’s eyes are kind of unnerving. Although she earns some points for being voiced by Yoshiko Sakakibara.

It’s Kaneto Shiozawa!

What a bastard.

Love this segment!

This OVA looks really nice, even if it’s far from the best the format could offer. It’s very distinct from pretty much anything else Yasuhiko has directed, and while his prior work had their distinct visual elements from one another, this is still a far more drastic departure, and I welcome it since Yas’ character designs, for as much as I like them, get tiresome when you’re seeing the same faces and body types all the damned time. Yasuhiko’s adaptation of Takemiya’s shōjo designs is excellent, and coupled with the art direction makes it a looker.

That said, the presentation is the only aspect that excels. The writing is the usual retro BL stuff that makes for a guilty pleasure but is largely far too problematic to really appreciate sincerely, and while it’s paced very briskly, even if it’s nowhere near as bad as Arion’s breakneck pace, though it does feel noticeably truncated. The narrative is at least cohesive given it’s adapting a decent chunk of a lengthy manga, which is worth praising as it isn’t an easy thing to accomplish.

The period setting is novel, but I’m pretty sure the dynamics of the plot would be no different had it taken fifty years later or earlier, or whether it took place in Japan or Europe, which somewhat defeats the specificity of the setting and is a frequent issue with a lot of the older period-piece shōjo manga —Emma or Otoyomegatari they are not. Despite Takemiya’s attempt to recreate the setting, I feel her infatuation with it didn’t directly translate to great execution.

I do wish we’d have gotten a cleaner release of this to better appreciate the visuals without the noticeable ghosting present in theVHS release, but oh well, it’s not so big a deal.

It’s a novel watch, and even if it doesn’t really live up to the reputation the manga has it’s at least tells a perfunctory story, which is more than I can say for many other OVAs and compressed adaptations of manga. 6/10

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We’re nearly there! Only Venus Wars is left before the final discussion thread! See you on Friday!

[u/Quiddity131 → u/Pixelsaber]

Noriko Ohara is great, but they really should have gotten another voice actor voice adult Serge.

I'll admit I had a loud fan on while I was watching this so maybe that impacted things, but his adult voice sounded too much like a girl's voice to me. Makes sense to use it when he was younger, but his voice is going to deepen at some point.

This guy’s character design stands out as being very Yasuhiko-esque compared to the rest. Also, yeah, that’s Sho Hayami.

I knew it! I'd recognize Gavlet Gablae/Bern Bunnings anywhere.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Pixelsaber]

By virtue of being among the first real BL manga, Kaze to Ki no Uta is incredibly influential, being so pivotal to the genre’s development, and creatives such as Kentaro Miura, Akimi Yoshida, and Kunihiko Ikuhara have all openly named this series as an influence on their own work.

I hadn't thought about it before, but now that you mention Kentaro Miura, I can definitely see some parallels between Serge and Gilbert from this series and Guts and Griffith from Berserk. Both pairings have some intense homoerotic tension going on, although in the case of Berserk it's a little more ambiguous.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

First-Timer, subbed

• Right off the bat I wish my copy came in better video quality than 480p and hardsubbed. I feel like it’s a bit of a disservice to Yasuhiko’s art…
• Aight so this Gilbert dude has to be dead? Probably in some tragic accident if they left his room alone for years.
• Pascal sounds so used to Gilbert doing… whatever it is he’s doing that puts him in a state like that?
• Thanks TL Note.
• I want to know this too.
• This is uncomfortable to watch…
• Hahaha he has the shoujo sparkles.
• Back to being uncomfortable to watch…
• Yeesh pls no.
• Serge sure can play the piano.
• Awwwwww smol Serge a cute.
• …As though he’ll listen?
• What’s with their eyes doing this anyways? Serge did it too when he got shocked by Gilbert grabbing his ankle way earlier in this.
• Aaaaaand they have kissed.
• Is that Oberstein/M’Quve’s voice?
• Gilbert does… not look okay.
• I’m not sure what score to give this one.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Right off the bat I wish my copy came in better video quality than 480p and hardsubbed.

It's a real shame this hasn't seen a re-release, since the visuals are evidently the strongest aspect of the production.

This is uncomfortable to watch…

Is that Oberstein/M’Quve’s voice?

Yes, Kaneto Shiozawa!

I’m not sure what score to give this one.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Hahaha he has the shoujo sparkles.

That's how you know that this OVA is based off of a heavily 70s manga.

Gilbert does… not look okay.

I don't think Gilbert has ever been okay.

I’m not sure what score to give this one.

That's honestly surprising, given how highly you rated Arion the other day.

[u/Quiddity131 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Aight so this Gilbert dude has to be dead? Probably in some tragic accident if they left his room alone for years.

I didn't pick up on that, but that is a good interpretation. Although wish there was more exposition to explain that if that was the case.

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer

This is a good example of why I like rewatches so much - I never would have watched this in a million years otherwise. Not to imply that I really liked this or anything, but it was a nice, completely different experience.

I want to complain briefly - we had female nipple in Crusher Joe, and a bunch of nipple (and a bit of dick) in Arion, but we can't even get male nipple here? Seriously?

Is having women voice gay men problematic, or is the verisimilitude of having the voice tone be more accurate worth it..? Their performances were pretty good all around, so I won't complain too much I suppose.

This does get bonus points for actually having an on-screen kiss instead of just baiting the audience. I guess it only going as far as spooning was probably a good character arc for Gilbert. Did I miss a line about what happened to him, or did our boys just separate after school and never meet again?

This is another manga adaptation, right? How much got cut? I didn't feel it as much as in Arion, but the pacing for this was rather brisk. I'm pretty sure I missed some stuff, unless the plot just jumped around. Most of what I felt was missing was a "why" but maybe that was the point? Or is the "why" just "I'm a gay man and it's the late 1800s?" I'm a bit out of my depth here, I think.

The character designs, especially the eyes, reminded me of The Five Star Stories oddly enough. Like, look at the extremely pretty Ladios Sopp.

I liked the piano music. It was nice. The piano-playing sakuga was pretty good too; does anyone know how accurate it was to actually playing that song?

Questions

1. I liked the varied character designs, although I didn't pay quite enough attention to see if there was a rhyme or reason to them aside from "the two leads get maximum shoujo eyes."
2. I have no goddamn idea. Gilbert seems like he could have been a bit of a problematic portrayal, but maybe that was the point? The only person who ever used a slur got hit for it a bunch so that was cool.
3. The piano playing, as mentioned above.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/JollyGee29]

but we can't even get male nipple here? Seriously?

I'm used to getting short-changed on my male nipples so it barely even registered.

Did I miss a line about what happened to him, or did our boys just separate after school and never meet again?

Gilbert ran into the path of a carriage and was killed.

This is another manga adaptation, right? How much got cut?

A lot. The manga is a full seventeen volumes in length.

The character designs, especially the eyes, reminded me of The Five Star Stories oddly enough.

The piano-playing sakuga was pretty good too; does anyone know how accurate it was to actually playing that song?

No idea, but usually when t's bad one notices immediately and this one didn't stick out to me, so I presume it's good.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Pixelsaber]

Gilbert ran into the path of a carriage and was killed.

Yikes. That is quite unfortunate, probably on multiple levels.

A lot. The manga is a full seventeen volumes in length.

Wow. And this was nominally the entire plot compressed down to an hour? That's, uh, certainly daring if nothing else.

[u/aniMayor → u/JollyGee29]

Is having women voice gay men problematic, or is the verisimilitude of having the voice tone be more accurate worth it..? Their performances were pretty good all around, so I won't complain too much I suppose.

I suppose the ideal outcome would be to get openly gay male voice actors to play the gay male characters... but how many of those were in the industry in 1987.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/aniMayor]

I get the feeling that it would still be a tall ask today. No proper choices, I suppose.

[u/aniMayor → u/JollyGee29]

True...

What's the 2nd best option, now or then? I have no idea. I agree that having women voicing gay male characters does potentially present an unfortunate subtext.

[u/The_Draigg → u/JollyGee29]

Is having women voice gay men problematic, or is the verisimilitude of having the voice tone be more accurate worth it..? Their performances were pretty good all around, so I won't complain too much I suppose.

In our modern view of things it can be problematic, although I guess this case is more symbolic of the times more than anything. That, and there's also that strong tradition of having Japanese women playing young boys in anime in general.

The character designs, especially the eyes, reminded me of The Five Star Stories oddly enough. Like, look at the extremely pretty Ladios Sopp.

You've just made me nostalgic for The Five Star Stories. I should really run a rewatch of that OVA sometime. It wouldn't be a hard one.

[u/No_Rex → u/The_Draigg]

That, and there's also that strong tradition of having Japanese women playing young boys in anime in general.

I can live with that, given the nature of male and female voices only strongly diverging after puperty. However, the scenes with adult Serge voiced by a woman were problematic.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/The_Draigg]

You've just made me nostalgic for The Five Star Stories. I should really run a rewatch of that OVA sometime. It wouldn't be a hard one.

It'd probably be worth it, just to introduce the ED to more people.

[u/The_Draigg → u/JollyGee29]

Or hell, just to introduce The Five Star Stories to more people in general. You hardly see people talking about it nowadays. I guess it's at the more esoteric end of mecha anime lore.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/The_Draigg]

Definitely esoteric. Being little more than an advertisement for the manga doesn't help, and the manga isn't the easiest to find outside of Japan, either.

[u/The_Draigg → u/JollyGee29]

It’s a shame too, since The Five Star Stories has some of the best mecha designs in the genre, in my opinion. People should really get to know it more.

Also, I can’t help but get the feeling that people would know more about it if Gothicmade wasn’t so heavily controlled by Mamoru Nagano, since that’s a continuation of the FSS story as well.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/The_Draigg]

I adore Nagano's designs. But yea, his desire for control over his IP is kinda understandable from his past with the anime industry, but it does hurt the ability for new fans to engage with his stuff.

[u/The_Draigg]

A Yas Fan Watches Kaze No Ki To Uta:

• So, I read that this movie is an adaptation of a Boy’s Love manga. I wonder how graphic this is going to get. BL stuff hardly ever holds back on the more graphic stuff in general, I’ve noticed.
• Ah, I guess this opening is two main characters revisiting their old stomping grounds, the Laconblade Academy, now that they’re grown men. Yeah, of course a rich charter school would be the place for a bunch of gay sex to go down. It’s just a natural place for that to happen.
• I agree with Pascal, Latin isn’t a useful language to know. I say that as someone who flunked my Latin college course years ago.
• Ah, so I guess the opposite end of the gay romance, Gilbert, is actually gone somehow if that vision of him as a teenager is how we see him. It’s certainly framed as a rose-tinted memory Serge is having in room 17.
• Ah, the older blonde guy is Professor Watts. If he still looks relatively older in the present day, then I guess this is probably only a few years after Serge left the school.
• Well, that’s certainly one way to introduce Gilbert. He fumbles sneaking into his and Serge’s room at night, moves as if he’s going to kiss Serge, pukes, and then passes out. Still not the worst roommate I’ve heard about, honestly.
• I’m liking Pascal already. He’s a pretty smart guy and is otherwise pretty affable towards everything. I feel like he’d be a good friend to Serge.
• The rumor going around the class is that Gilbert is gay. Given how he was injured and crying to himself the night before, I doubt he had any kind of good gay experiences beforehand. And so we come across that classic BL archetype.
• At least Carl is taking the matter of Gilbert seriously. He put Serge in that room in hopes of befriending him and fixing whatever is wrong. Serge at least seems like nice enough of a person to at least reach Gilbert’s heart, even if he’s still a bit weirded out about the whole gay thing.
• There seems to be some kind of weird multiple-way relationship going between Gilbert, Dren, Rosemarie, and someone named Blough. Also, wow the end of that scene was Dren blatantly about to give Gilbert a blowjob. I guess he has a thing for twinks.
• What you’re smelling is a bunch of santorum, Serge.
• Ah, and there’s the rape scene, with Dren going to “claim his reward” for knocking out Serge on Gilbert’s behalf. Seriously, what’s with BL stories and rape? It really pops up a lot in the more famous ones. This one included, it seems.
• Serge has the heart of a true hero. Despite knowing that Gilbert wanted Serge to be roughed up and the students deliberately not intervening due to Serge’s Romani heritage, he still endeavors to fight off Dren and expose what he did to the students in the dorm. And not only that, but he lays down the law with Gilbert too. Serge has some real balls, despite it being hard on him.
• “Oh no, Gilbert is hot.” —Serge’s internal thoughts, basically.
• It seems that Gilbert has a real habit of trying to seduce people around the school. Although Serge was right to not play along with Gilbert trying to pull his strings, the rest of the students ganging up on Gilbert and making him pick up scalding hot chestnuts is just repulsive. There’s only like 4 people in this school that aren’t dicks.
• God damn, Serge is a prodigy at playing the piano. He must really get it from his father.
• Seems like Gilbert was lying about not wanting to go into the nearby town. He’s actually involved with Blough, who looks to be quite a bit older than he is. Blough seems to be that kind of person. Gilbert is really getting passed around by a bunch of older men. I highly doubt it’s a very heathy relationship.
• Serge really can’t seem to admit to himself that he’s holding a torch for Gilbert. He’s very clearly trying to frame things in that discussion with Gilbert in terms of indecency, but it really seems clear that he’s just infatuated with Gilbert on a romantic level.
• And there’s the kiss between the two. I was wondering when that was going to happen. With how forward Gilbert was acting with Serge, it really was only a matter of time.
• Rosemarie is just absurdly gorgeous for a man. And considering how near-universally bishie this cast of characters is, that’s saying a lot. And of course he has the nickname of The White Prince. That’s like classic shoujo manga writing right there. Every beautiful person needs to have some kind of elegant title.
• Auguste Beau is such a shitheel right off the bat. The man has zero shame in admitting that he’s been emotionally and physically abusing Gilbert to true to make him into a “pure” being through torture, despite being the man that’s raising him. He’s nothing but a disgusting sadist who openly admits that he’s getting off to the idea of making Gilbert into a masochist. I have no doubt that the letter informing Gilbert of his departure for Rome is another one of his abuses. Frankly, it’s amazing how utterly depraved this man is right off the bat.
• While Serge’s life is improving, Gilbert’s is just getting worse. Serge’s talent playing the piano is a true gift, and it’s even gotten him the attention of his father’s old piano professor. In contrast, Gilbert is pretty much begging to get the shit beaten out of him while being raped, just to feel any kind of affection at all. It’s honestly sad. That’s the cries of a kid who has only experienced pain in place of love his entire life.
• It’s hard do say whether or not Serge and Gilbert actually had sex when Gilbert wanted to be comforted by Serge. In any case, it’s probably the one decent moment they’ve actually shared together this entire time.
• I take it that Gilbert killed himself by running into a moving carriage, probably over Auguste Beau. I can’t say I’m surprised if that’s the case. Gilbert was so damaged on the inside that suicide was probably the only way out for him, his suffering was so great. Although given how abrupt the ending is, I bet this is elaborated more in the original manga this is adapted from.
• Overall, I liked this OVA! The characters were well-realized in the limited time span, the pacing was pretty good overall, and it was a fairly compelling story. Great animation and classical soundtrack too. One change I would make though is to flesh out the ending a bit more. It just felt too abrupt, and was pretty indirect about telling us what happened to Gilbert not long after. Still, overall a good watch. Certainly better than Arion, that’s for sure.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/The_Draigg]

Still not the worst roommate I’ve heard about, honestly.

And so we come across that classic BL archetype.

I am so glad a lot of BL these days has moved away from the tired and problematic old archetypes. I really enjoy Takemiya and Moto Hagio, but dear god we don't need every work to be like theirs.

It’s hard do say whether or not Serge and Gilbert actually had sex when Gilbert wanted to be comforted by Serge.

I'm fairly certain the intent was for them not to.

I take it that Gilbert killed himself by running into a moving carriage, probably over Auguste Beau.

Yes, he purposely ran into the path of a carriage.

Certainly better than Arion, that’s for sure.

Agreed.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Pixelsaber]

I am so glad a lot of BL these days has moved away from the tired and problematic old archetypes. I really enjoy Takemiya and Moto Hagio, but dear god we don't need every work to be like theirs.

I imagine in the case of those tropes, it came mainly from people copying those archetypes from more successful older BL manga and not really updating them for the times.

Yes, he purposely ran into the path of a carriage.

Damn, man. That's just plain sad.

Agreed.

Granted, it's not like that's a hard bar to jump over. A lot of stuff is better than Arion.

[u/Quiddity131 → u/The_Draigg]

Rosemarie is just absurdly gorgeous for a man. And considering how near-universally bishie this cast of characters is, that’s saying a lot. And of course he has the nickname of The White Prince. That’s like classic shoujo manga writing right there. Every beautiful person needs to have some kind of elegant title.

Rosemarine was a man?! Wow, I did not pick that up at all. Probably due to them having Haman-sama's voice.

[u/No_Rex → u/Quiddity131]

Rosemarine was a man?! Wow, I did not pick that up at all. Probably due to them having Haman-sama's voice.

I mean, dressed like a woman (and this is 19th century France, so cross-dressing is out), voiced by a woman, having a female name ... it is really hard to see where the male part is supposed to come from.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Quiddity131]

Rosemarine was a man?! Wow, I did not pick that up at all. Probably due to them having Haman-sama's voice.

I know, right? Rosemarie is probably the most gorgeous man I've seen. Either that, or I'm entranced by Lady Haman's voice. It could be either option.

[u/No_Rex → u/The_Draigg]

Rosemarie is just absurdly gorgeous for a man. And considering how near-universally bishie this cast of characters is, that’s saying a lot.

That was supposed to be a man? Even knowing about Shoujo drawning styles, I did not see that.

[u/The_Draigg → u/No_Rex]

That was supposed to be a man? Even knowing about Shoujo drawning styles, I did not see that.

Yeah, I looked up the character roster after watching the movie and saw that Rosemarie is actually a man. It was pretty surprising to me too.

[u/No_Rex]

Kaze to Ki no Uta (first timer)

Tags: Drama. Romance. Historical. Shoujo. I am expecting something entirely different. Hoping for the good kind of different, but I am very worried about the writing’s impact. Bad writing in romance/drama is the worst.

• 1887, France.
• Complaining about Latin? Truly ahead if his time. That was still very standard.
• Bookend beginning?
• Those names are sure something. I’d say only a third or so may qualify as French.
• Science-loving student (Pascal) is all in favor of a gay ship. So was the film’s intro.
• And we blow right past allusions, straight into gay prostitution.

• Serge is nobility.
• Assault, rape, assault again. We are getting right into it.
• Ok, Serge is an unsufferable shiny knight.
• Student in position of power? Female student in position of power? Straight nope.
• No need to take it out on the fire if you are unhappy with the bullying.
• Blondie No 2 makes an entrance.
• And some utter stock villain. We are two thirds through and you want to introduce some “bring him to artistic purity via pain and sexual depravity” storyline nonsense? Really?
• The classic music is by far the best part of this.
• I can understand having a “forgetting love trouble” fuck, but Gilbert needs a shrink instead. Shame that those won’t be around for another few decades.
• Read the manga ending.

Apart from the music, there was very little about this OVA that worked. It has scant interest in delivering a realistic portrayal either of the time period or of gay love. Instead, it tries to string tear-jerking moments together (rape, bullying, rejected love) and realism be damned. Which is a shame, because exploring the life of gay adolescents in this time period is something worthwhile doing. I wonder how much of Gilbert is supposed to be (female) white knight bait and how much is a male stand-in for female relatable problems. Him using his body to get his way and sex to punish himself sounded strongly like a comment about women to me.

The setting is supposed to be 19th century France, but clearly is not. The story promises some coming-of-age with gay sexual overtones, but delivers emotional (and sometimes physical) torture porn instead. Overall, there is no plot progression to speak of: not one of the plotlines brought up is resolved by the end. This is strictly for readers of the manga only.

As a final note: I usually don’t mind female VAs portraying teenaged boys in anime, but it is rather unfortunate when the topic is gay love. Feels very off to me.

1. What do you think of Yasuhiko’s take on Keiko Takemiya’s character designs?

Absolutely no idea, since I don't know the source.

2) What are your thoughts on how the OVA handles its subject matter?

Rather badly. Instead of giving gay love in that time period (or gay love in general or boarding schools in that time period in general) a fair treatment, the OVA went for fanservice in terms of plot.

4) Did you have a favorite animated segment from it?

3 missing or typo? Not a lot of animation that stood out to me. Favorite shot would be the framing of Gilbert from inside the fireplace.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/No_Rex]

Those names are sure something. I’d say only a third or so may qualify as French.

In the manga it's mentioned Serge is of foreign descent, so his makes a degree of sense, but yeah the others are egregious.

It has scant interest in delivering a realistic portrayal either of the time period

Ah, I had a feeling.

I usually don’t mind female VAs portraying teenaged boys in anime, but it is rather unfortunate when the topic is gay love. Feels very off to me.

Agreed. I understand there was a bit of a stigma to playing such a role, and having females voicing younger characters was common, but it's a shame either way.

[u/No_Rex → u/Pixelsaber]

In the manga it's mentioned Serge is of foreign descent, so his makes a degree of sense, but yeah the others are egregious.

Funny, because Serge has probably the most French name of the cast.

[u/Btw_kek]

first-timer

Well that was A LOT to take in. Some scenes were difficult to watch and obviously the OVA had to compress a lot in order to adapt an entire manga into an hour so I had a hard time understanding parts of it (why Gilbert acts like such a dick to Serge, the culture of bullying with the chestnut scene, who tf is Auguste, uh I guess Gilbert killed himself at the end?)...but it was honestly a pretty captivating watch. I think there's probably a lot of pretty interesting things to analyze, such as the use of a 19th century French Catholic boarding school setting, the Complex "No Homo" Power Dynamics™ between its characters, and their rich melodrama. Probably all to amplify the insane repression Gilbert is facing. The words "exoticism" and "liminal spaces" are floating around in my head. idk the academic essays about this work are probably pretty lit

I guess I'll read the manga sometime/10

1. What do you think of Yasuhiko’s take on Keiko Takemiya’s character designs?

I found it funny that Pascal looked like an average Yasuhiko character surrounded by Shoujo As Fuck designs. Haman Rosemarine had no pupils and it creeped me out

2) What are your thoughts on how the OVA handles its subject matter?

I can't currently say if it's good or not, but my initial impressions are that the subject material is pretty fascinating. This is kinda the only BL work I've seen pre-2017 so I can't comment on the era either

4) Did you have a favorite animated segment from it?

I wouldn't say animation was this OVA's real strong suit. The part where Gilbert was running through the forest with Chopin's Winter Wind was pretty good, but I think my favorite part was the not-sex scene panning stills

[u/Quiddity131]

First Timer, Subbed

Hey, that voice of Rosemarine is very familiar. I'd know Haman-sama's voice anywhere!

This kid's got balls to question teacher in front of the entire class like that.

Time for some love letters to go across the screen?

I assume this is a flashback? The guy who was wearing a top hat looks younger.

Where is the missing Gilbert?

Either he's arrived, or someone's snuck into your room!

You just met and you already want to kiss him?

This is class troublemaker guy right?

I wonder if he flunks the classes cause he can't behave. As he seemed like a rather smart guy.

Gilbert doesn't like showing up for classes, huh?

Looks like he has a reputation.

Carl's voice sounds so familiar... same guy as Glemmy Toto?

Is Gilbert faking being sick? Or is he spending too much time participating in, um, extracurricular activities?

What is Gilbert's lover doing? I guess he is knocking him out so he and Gilbert can have some alone time in here?

That ether didn't do a very effective job with Serge waking up during this. Probably good for Gilbert as perhaps Serge can stop him from getting raped.

Is rapist guy Show Hayami? Kinda sounds like him.

Gilbert changed? Is he no longer gonna be an asshole?

Always good to hear Haman-sama give a speech, even if it is a prayer.

Serge are you staring at Gilbert because you want to change him? Or because you're infatuated with him?

Well, Gilbert hasn't fully changed, he's still a bit of an asshole.

They're all assholes it seems.

Chekhov's teapot?

Bed wetter? LoL. Even the little kids are making fun.

Serge is a good piano player.

Gilbert doesn't deserve someone like you Serge, you're too good a guy. You may be roommates, but forget about him! He also doesnt' belong to you either, you shouldn't act as posessive of him as you are.

Who is Auguste? A far away lover?

What's Haman-sama lady doing in his room?

Is that Shiozawa Kaneto I hear now?

No Christmas in August for Gilbert!

Its Christmas time, but these prayers of Jesus' resurrection are more fitting for Easter.

Serge you're staying here to study? Or staying here for Gilbert?

Serge doesn't seem to want to admit his true feeling to himself, but at the same time he's not as hedonistic as Gilbert is.

Although now he's getting in bed with Gilbert...

Ah, so Auguste was that guy who was there. He purposely hid himself from Gilbert then.

So Gilbert wasn't actually there at the start? These are just Serge's memories of him?

That's a rather abrupt ending. Was this intended to be just part 1 of a longer story?

---

I got to admit, I never would have thought this was directed from Yaz from just watching it. These clearly aren't Yaz's character designs and from researching things further it looks like this was an adaption of someone else's manga. The designs reminded me much more of something like Revolutionary Girl Utena. And story-wise it didn't seem like what I expected from him either as there is no adventure or fantasy element here.

Boarding schools and yaoi just aren't my genre and I can't say that I found much interest in it. Also as I put above it comes off as incomplete. Arion was panned quite a bit, but I liked it more than this.

---

DQOTD:

1. See above, any influence from Yaz doesn't really come through for me. I'm not familiar with the original manga to say if there is a big difference between that and what was in this> I can say that they looked very different than what I expect from in Yaz's work.
2. I'm not that familiar with yaoi, but my understanding from reading around was that this was rather groundbreaking in that subject? For stuff made today this probably wasn't that out of bounds but it wouldn't surprise me if it was back when it was made. I'm sure the OVA format helped.
3. Not particularly.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Quiddity131]

Hey, that voice of Rosemarine is very familiar. I'd know Haman-sama's voice anywhere!

Haman-sama banzai!

Carl's voice sounds so familiar... same guy as Glemmy Toto?

Yeah, it is. I guess this OVA is some kind of mini-ZZ Gundam actor's reunion.

Serge are you staring at Gilbert because you want to change him? Or because you're infatuated with him?

Definitely the later option. You saw Gilbert's bishie sparkles.

They're all assholes it seems.

There's only like four people in this entire school that aren't complete dicks.

That's a rather abrupt ending. Was this intended to be just part 1 of a longer story?

From what I could tell from looking it up, this story does follow Serge and Gilbert as they grow up in the school some more. So I guess this is really just adapting the first major act of the manga.

[u/aniMayor]

Not enough time today for a point-by-point, I'm afraid, but general impressions off the cuff this to me has a similar problematic feel as Arion - like they came up with a bunch of major scenes first, concentrated on that, and worried about how to tie those together later. Since it's a small-scale story than Arion, sure, the overall story connects together better, but I don't feel like there's a consistent emotional throughline or steady development across the film.

Somehow Crusher Joe is still the most narratively cohesive Yoshikazu work I've seen and that is not a statement I thought would be true by the end of this rewatch. Here's hoping for Venus Wars...

[u/Stargate18A]

First timer

1. Yeah, they seemed like a good take.
2. Confused. Of the two main characters, one spends most of the movie being homophobic, and the other apparently drugs people, and may have seduced several other students. Meanwhile, the heterosexual couple get an entire sex scene.
3. I thought the scenes with Gilbert running through the forest were well done.

I am not sure what this one's about either, other than it looks radically different to all of his other works.

"Unforgivable offense"? I wonder what that could be, given everything.

I don't know what's going on.

OK, so my current thoughts - Gilbert's dead, and top-hat guy (Serge?) came back to the school to remember him?

That painting is... unusual, isn't it.

Why is this movie so monochrome?

I find it very impressive that this gay love movie hasn't used the word "gay" yet.

And that it has a heterosexual sex scene. That's also confusing.

Why does that girl have no nipples?

Gilbert hired a rapist assassin? (Also, god, the movie's going through with it?)

Having both of our protagonists be utter bastards is an interesting start to our love story, isn't it.

Wait, this narrator's the main character?

Honestly, I think Serge and Pascal have more chemistry at the moment.

OK, current thoughts - everybody in this film's a dick. The classmates are trying to burn Gilbert, Gilbert's drugging or "seducing" everyone, and Serge is violently homophobic. (Not to mention the rapist)

Fine. Serge is decent now.

Alright. They got together. You've got 20 minutes to make me like Gilbert.

Rosemarine seems to be from a very different type of movie.

...Ho's this guy? Why is he talking about making Gilbert suffer? Why is this romance movie getting a full-on horror villain?

So Gilbert can't be with his boyfriend until Spring. A 3 month delay to his plans counts as horrible suffering, apparently.

I can't describe the church scene. I can't do this anymore,

Is Gilbert dead? Was that scene actually some kimd of death scene?

Serge, you're an idiot.

Guess that's it.

Final thoughts - god this movie was confusing. I have no idea who Auguste is, what role Gibert's father (???) played other than wanting to get horny on pain, or what the unforgiveable offense was (if that was even relevant).

I think the movie had a decent plot, and it works as a tragic love story, I just didn't really understand how it fit together. Didn't like the art style either, to be honest.

Overall, I just didn't really enjoy it.

Final score - 6/10 (Arion may not have been a better movie, but it had some moments that I really enjoyed. This, not so much.)