Koi Kaze


Koi Kaze is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Motoi Yoshida. It premiered in the September 2001 issue of Evening and ran for 35 chapters until its conclusion in the October 2004 issue. The individual chapters were collected and published in five tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The series tells of the love affair that develops between 27-year-old Koshiro, and his 15-year-old sister, Nanoka.
The chapters were adapted as a 13-episode anime television series by A.C.G.T. Directed by Takahiro Omori, the episodes premiered on TV Asahi on April 1, 2004 and ran until June 17, 2004. Only twelve episodes of the series aired, with the remaining episode streamed online and later included in both DVD releases and when the series aired in reruns as the eighth episode. The anime series was licensed for release in North American by Geneon Entertainment, which released three DVD volumes in 2005.

Synopsis

Twenty-seven-year-old Koshiro Saeki, who lives with his father, is dumped by his girlfriend of two years, who claims he was too cold and she had found someone else. While on a train the morning after, he sees high school student Nanoka Kohinata looking at a button and crying. Later, as she is getting off the train, she drops her train pass and Koshiro follows to return it. Koshiro finds himself watching her sudden smile as she notices the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Later, Koshiro is leaving his job at a marriage-arranging company with a coworker when he encounters the girl again. Having two free tickets to a nearby amusement park, he gives them to her. To his surprise, she asks him to go with her. While on the Ferris wheel, the girl explains that she was crying on the train because she'd been rejected by a boy she'd loved for several years. Koshiro ends up telling her about his own break up, and cries while she comforts him.
As they leave the park together, having enjoyed the outing and expecting to part and never meet again, they run into their father and are shocked to discover they are siblings. Nanoka moved to Tokyo just that morning to live with them because their home is closer to her new high school. As Koshiro hadn't gone home the night before, he hadn't learned of her arrival. Since they had grown up living separately, they didn't know what the other looked like.
As the series progresses, Koshiro finds himself unable to rid himself of the attraction that he felt for Nanoka when he first met her. Instead, his love and desire continue to grow, despite his attempts to fight them. Entering womanhood, Nanoka also develops feelings for her brother, only increasing Koshiro's struggle. In near desperation, he moves out of the family home to remove himself from temptation and attempts to keep his coworker, Kaname Chidori, from finding out the truth behind his brusqueness with Nanoka.
However, the solution is only temporary, as Nanoka begins visiting regularly, cooking him meals and spending time with him. Eventually, unable to resist their feelings anymore, they share a passionate kiss and have sex with each other. Unsure what to do now that they have broken a societal taboo, they visit their parents, before contemplating committing suicide together. In the end, they decide to live, and to continue their relationship.

Characters

Media

Manga

The first chapter of Koi Kaze premiered in the September 2001 issue of the monthly Japanese magazine The Evening. New chapters appeared monthly until its conclusion in the October 2004 issue. The 35 individual chapters were collected and published in five tankōbon volumes by Kodansha from March 22, 2002 through December 21, 2004. Each volume's cover features Nanoka Kohinata, except the final volume which has Nanoka and Koshiro Saeki together.

Anime

Koi Kaze was adapted as a 13-episode anime television series by Geneon Entertainment and Rondo Robe. Directed by Takahiro Omori, the episodes premiered on TV Asahi on April 1, 2004 and ran until June 17, 2004. The series also aired on Kids Station. TV Asahi refused to air the eighth episode, as it was felt to be too controversial because it dealt with divorce, a taboo subject in Japan. The episode was aired on Kids Station and also streamed online on the Geneon Entertainment website and included in the subsequent DVD releases. The episode is sometimes numbered as episode 7.5 because it was not broadcast with the rest. Geneon released the series across five DVD volumes in Japan, with the first volume released on July 23, 2004 and the final volume released November 25, 2004.
The anime series is licensed for release in North American by Geneon USA which released it across three DVD volumes in 2005.
The episodes uses two pieces of theme music. "Koi Kaze" by éf is used as the opening song for all of the episodes except for episode twelve, which does not have an opening sequence. "Futari Dakara" by Masumi Itō is used for the series ending theme.
Among significant parts of the manga left out of or altered in the anime adaption were:

CDs

A full-size version of the series ending theme, "Futari Dakara" was released to CD single by Masumi Itō on May 26, 2004. A complete CD soundtrack followed on July 23, 2004. The soundtrack contains 31 tracks, including various instrumental background pieces composed by Masanori Takumi and Makoto Yoshimori, the full size opening theme, and the TV version of the ending theme.

Reception

"Koi Kaze is not a series which is going to suit everyone's tastes due to its subject matter. It has the potential, though, to be the year's premiere romantic anime series." — Theron Martin, Anime News Network.
"With the first third of the show on this volume, it's definitely one of the better structured doomed romances that I've seen in anime in a long time." — Chris Beveridge, Mania.
"There are a million ways this series could have gone wrong. Instead, Koi Kaze deserves the highest marks possible for its thoughtful, honest, and mature handling of such a difficult and controversial issue." — Carlos Ross, T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews.
"Koi Kaze is not a reassuring show, but if it skirts the edge of disaster instead of plunging in, it may offer warmth to lonely, troubled people, and that's worth a lot." — Christian Nutt, Newtype USA.