It's a lovely story with a lot of heartache. That said, I know it's not for everyone, since we are talking about a love situation between brother and sister. For me the appeal lies in the struggle both are going through, the insanity of it all, how to deal with these kind of feelings, if you can, at all. This story should not be taken lightly.
6 Reviews
True Love
ffxi-aion26 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Let me start this review by saying Koi Kaze is the most depressing story I've ever seen. A love that cannot blossom does just that gradually throughout the series, with the viewers sense of dread building along with the story. This isn't for kids.
There will be MINOR spoilers when I'm describing the story/characters since I'm feeling a little chatty. :) Plot: 9.7 -- The plot of Kai Koze is very simple: A brother and a sister who haven't seen each other since they were very little start living together (along with their father) when 15 year old Nanoka (who had been living with the siblings mother) needs to move closer to her new school. The brother, Koshiro, is 27, meaning there's a 12 year age gap between the siblings. The two instantly have a connection and feelings for each other that go above simple friendship/family feelings.
Before the pair learn they are brother and sister, they bump into each other on a train after Nanoka drops her ID card. They later randomly bump into each again, ending up going together to an amusement park since Koshiro had just been given 2 tickets. They end up having a heart to heart, telling each other about their love problems, Koshiro ending up crying. They find out they are siblings when their dad meets them together as they're exiting the amusement park.
Koshiro's initial reaction to the sister revelation is to be nasty to her, hiding the conflict going on inside himself. He doesn't want to face up to his feelings for her, choosing instead to simply act like a bad brother. Nanako, being young and naive, initially has no idea about Koshiro's feelings and doesn't understand her own, leading her to be confused about Koshiro's transformation from nice guy to bad brother. She does manage to discover he does care for her due to his actions - Concerned when she has period cramps, worried when she's out in the rain, jealous when she's talking to boys, etc.
As you might have worked out after reading the above, Koi Kaze deals with a taboo subject without really holding back. That doesn't mean incest is glorified here (if anything it's the opposite since the story is tragic); what it does is show a true love that can never be in this world. Both parties don't want to feel how they do, they just do and cannot change it.
The series progresses at a slow pace as their relationship develops. At first it bothered me that nothing seemed to be happening, but once it gripped me the episodes seemed to be going much faster. Give it chance before dropping it.
Characters: 9.7/10 -- With the focus being on the love between two siblings, the two get a lot of attention.
Koshiro is constantly in conflict with himself throughout the series. His brain knows what he's thinking and doing is wrong, yet his heart tells him otherwise. He tries to hide his inner conflict from Nanako by simply being a bad brother at first, attempting to push her away. His guilt over how he feels eventually drops down and allows him to be VERY friendly with her, but he still knows it's wrong to think and feel how he does about his kid sister.
Nanako, on the other hand, doesn't have the same conflict Koshiro has going on right from the start. Being naive, she takes his aggressive attitude as nothing more than him being a bad brother, not able to understand what reason he could possibly have to act the way he does. She does eventually start to understand that her own feelings are above and beyond sisterly love, leading to the feelings of both coming out in the open.
Both characters have a lot of depth, as you'd expect. The rest of the cast don't really get fleshed out very much, but that doesn't matter an awful lot when the 2 most important characters do get fully fleshed out, hence the high rating.
Art / Animation: 8.5/10 -- It looks and moves good enough for a show without any action sequences. The art, while not of the highest level, looks good enough to make Nanako look like the most cute thing I've ever seen.
There's no problems, the series is in wide-screen and looks more than good enough for a series that doesn't need fights to drive it.
Sound: 8.5/10 -- I didn't like the soundtrack very much at first due to there not being many tracks that stand out. However, on reflection, I understand that the music used was pretty much perfect for this type of show - It's irrelevant how many tracks there are that I'd listen to away from the series; the only thing that matters is that the music fits the series and sets the right mood for whatever scene it's playing during, which the Koi Kaze soundtrack does.
Total: 9.1/10 -- Overall, Koi Kaze is one the best series I've ever watched...along with I being the most depressing and one of the most unsettling. If you can handle a tragic story, this series is unmissable.
There will be MINOR spoilers when I'm describing the story/characters since I'm feeling a little chatty. :) Plot: 9.7 -- The plot of Kai Koze is very simple: A brother and a sister who haven't seen each other since they were very little start living together (along with their father) when 15 year old Nanoka (who had been living with the siblings mother) needs to move closer to her new school. The brother, Koshiro, is 27, meaning there's a 12 year age gap between the siblings. The two instantly have a connection and feelings for each other that go above simple friendship/family feelings.
Before the pair learn they are brother and sister, they bump into each other on a train after Nanoka drops her ID card. They later randomly bump into each again, ending up going together to an amusement park since Koshiro had just been given 2 tickets. They end up having a heart to heart, telling each other about their love problems, Koshiro ending up crying. They find out they are siblings when their dad meets them together as they're exiting the amusement park.
Koshiro's initial reaction to the sister revelation is to be nasty to her, hiding the conflict going on inside himself. He doesn't want to face up to his feelings for her, choosing instead to simply act like a bad brother. Nanako, being young and naive, initially has no idea about Koshiro's feelings and doesn't understand her own, leading her to be confused about Koshiro's transformation from nice guy to bad brother. She does manage to discover he does care for her due to his actions - Concerned when she has period cramps, worried when she's out in the rain, jealous when she's talking to boys, etc.
As you might have worked out after reading the above, Koi Kaze deals with a taboo subject without really holding back. That doesn't mean incest is glorified here (if anything it's the opposite since the story is tragic); what it does is show a true love that can never be in this world. Both parties don't want to feel how they do, they just do and cannot change it.
The series progresses at a slow pace as their relationship develops. At first it bothered me that nothing seemed to be happening, but once it gripped me the episodes seemed to be going much faster. Give it chance before dropping it.
Characters: 9.7/10 -- With the focus being on the love between two siblings, the two get a lot of attention.
Koshiro is constantly in conflict with himself throughout the series. His brain knows what he's thinking and doing is wrong, yet his heart tells him otherwise. He tries to hide his inner conflict from Nanako by simply being a bad brother at first, attempting to push her away. His guilt over how he feels eventually drops down and allows him to be VERY friendly with her, but he still knows it's wrong to think and feel how he does about his kid sister.
Nanako, on the other hand, doesn't have the same conflict Koshiro has going on right from the start. Being naive, she takes his aggressive attitude as nothing more than him being a bad brother, not able to understand what reason he could possibly have to act the way he does. She does eventually start to understand that her own feelings are above and beyond sisterly love, leading to the feelings of both coming out in the open.
Both characters have a lot of depth, as you'd expect. The rest of the cast don't really get fleshed out very much, but that doesn't matter an awful lot when the 2 most important characters do get fully fleshed out, hence the high rating.
Art / Animation: 8.5/10 -- It looks and moves good enough for a show without any action sequences. The art, while not of the highest level, looks good enough to make Nanako look like the most cute thing I've ever seen.
There's no problems, the series is in wide-screen and looks more than good enough for a series that doesn't need fights to drive it.
Sound: 8.5/10 -- I didn't like the soundtrack very much at first due to there not being many tracks that stand out. However, on reflection, I understand that the music used was pretty much perfect for this type of show - It's irrelevant how many tracks there are that I'd listen to away from the series; the only thing that matters is that the music fits the series and sets the right mood for whatever scene it's playing during, which the Koi Kaze soundtrack does.
Total: 9.1/10 -- Overall, Koi Kaze is one the best series I've ever watched...along with I being the most depressing and one of the most unsettling. If you can handle a tragic story, this series is unmissable.
It was quite a good anime even if it wasn't perfect
Irishchatter29 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Now I get why people might find this anime disturbing because there is an added brother and sister relationship on this. However both of them didn't make the move. It was actually nice to see they have gotten along even if the brother did have a hiccup with her at the very beginning. I liked the fact they were going through the same heartbreaks as it makes us viewers to think they relate to some of us going through a breakup. In the scene where they first met and got to spend time together, I was surprised that the brother showed his emotions to his little sister.
Pretty good emotional anime that everyone should give it a try, regardless of the sister/brother relationship tag being added to this anime..
Pretty good emotional anime that everyone should give it a try, regardless of the sister/brother relationship tag being added to this anime..
Beautifully Understated
lepper-113 May 2007
There are several reasons why koi kaze may not appeal to someone. The most obvious being its subject matter: an incestuous love developing between a 27 year old man and his 15 year old sister. Another is the slow rate at which the story progresses, due in part to frequent lengthy scenes where little is said and less done. Some may find the main character, koshiro, dislikeable. However, those who watch this anime with an open mind could well find a lot more right with it than they would have thought.
The anime deals with a taboo topic* in an utterly non-judgemental manner. The characters are portrayed as conflicted, unhappy, indecisive, inconsiderate; in a word, human. I can think of very few television programs of any kind with characters portrayed in such a believable manner. They find themselves in an extremely unreasonable situation, and they make mistakes, have regrets and do things you, as a viewer, will want to shout at them for. But as Niel Gaiman's anthropomorphic Death said, its hard to hate someone you know so well. I should mention that when I say "characters", the only two I mean are the siblings: koshiro and nanoka. All of the other characters exist primarily as a device to show how the main characters interact with the world outside of themselves.
As I said before, the anime is rather slow moving. People used to shows where epic fights between ninjas and giant robots break out every five minutes or so might find it tedious. This is purely speculation though, as I found the pacing to be fantastic. So many shows seem so intent to tell you as much story as possible that they forget all about mood. The story of koi kaze could probably be compressed down to a 4 episode OVA easily enough, but it would certainly not be so wonderfully told.
The music also is a huge boon to the atmosphere of the show, when present. Music is used infrequently, but when it is, it never fails to add appropriately to the scene. As all good BGMs should be, it is pleasant but unobtrusive. The animation itself is simple, but expressive. It uses a palette of mainly pastels, unlike the bright, often garish colours used in most anime, which suits it perfectly. While not the most visually impressive or memorable anime I've seen, I find its style hard to fault. Much like the other aspects of the show, it takes a minimalist approach, and it works brilliantly.
When reviewing anything, I'm always hesitant to give a perfect score. In this case though, I can think of little that could be improved. While I'm sure there would be many to whom this not appeal very greatly, patient, mature and open minded viewers will find a lot to appreciate. If you feel those are attributes you posses, or are just looking for something different, I would recommend koi kaze absolutely and wholeheartedly.
* Funnily enough, while the main plot of the anime involves an incestuous relationship with an under-age girl, one of the episodes, which dealt with the siblings' parent's divorce, was not broadcast on Japanese television due to divorce being viewed as a taboo subject. I love Japan...
The anime deals with a taboo topic* in an utterly non-judgemental manner. The characters are portrayed as conflicted, unhappy, indecisive, inconsiderate; in a word, human. I can think of very few television programs of any kind with characters portrayed in such a believable manner. They find themselves in an extremely unreasonable situation, and they make mistakes, have regrets and do things you, as a viewer, will want to shout at them for. But as Niel Gaiman's anthropomorphic Death said, its hard to hate someone you know so well. I should mention that when I say "characters", the only two I mean are the siblings: koshiro and nanoka. All of the other characters exist primarily as a device to show how the main characters interact with the world outside of themselves.
As I said before, the anime is rather slow moving. People used to shows where epic fights between ninjas and giant robots break out every five minutes or so might find it tedious. This is purely speculation though, as I found the pacing to be fantastic. So many shows seem so intent to tell you as much story as possible that they forget all about mood. The story of koi kaze could probably be compressed down to a 4 episode OVA easily enough, but it would certainly not be so wonderfully told.
The music also is a huge boon to the atmosphere of the show, when present. Music is used infrequently, but when it is, it never fails to add appropriately to the scene. As all good BGMs should be, it is pleasant but unobtrusive. The animation itself is simple, but expressive. It uses a palette of mainly pastels, unlike the bright, often garish colours used in most anime, which suits it perfectly. While not the most visually impressive or memorable anime I've seen, I find its style hard to fault. Much like the other aspects of the show, it takes a minimalist approach, and it works brilliantly.
When reviewing anything, I'm always hesitant to give a perfect score. In this case though, I can think of little that could be improved. While I'm sure there would be many to whom this not appeal very greatly, patient, mature and open minded viewers will find a lot to appreciate. If you feel those are attributes you posses, or are just looking for something different, I would recommend koi kaze absolutely and wholeheartedly.
* Funnily enough, while the main plot of the anime involves an incestuous relationship with an under-age girl, one of the episodes, which dealt with the siblings' parent's divorce, was not broadcast on Japanese television due to divorce being viewed as a taboo subject. I love Japan...
it was a lot like Nabokov
duke_of_lilywhite10 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I only read the synopsis for this anime when I first rented it but I must say once I started watching, it was nothing like I've ever seen before; and I've seen all kinds of anime.
Like some of the other reviewer's I also notice the high production values, the hand drawn animation style reminded me of Miyazaki, but not quite. And some of music was similar to Sigur Rós, but not quite.
As for the story it reminded me a lot of Nabokov's Lolita in that you have a grown man infatuated with an under age girl; and I thought it was odd that that aspect of the story wasn't really touched on at all. But of course the main focus was the fact that the grown man and the young girl were brother and sister.
And yet, knowing anime's reputation, the story could've easily gone into total hentai mode, but didn't.
In fact, just like in Lolita, the whole story rested on Koshiro's shoulders as you see a man totally falling apart. First, breaking up with his longtime girlfriend who at the time he couldn't admit that he did indeed love her. Follow by crossing paths with Nanoka, first on a commuter train and then later after a business meeting. Taking her to a next-door amusement park Koshiro breaks down in front her over his failed relationship, and Nanoka admits she also was heartbroken which sealed the emotional connection between the two.
Thus when they find out they're blood relatives you see him on this downward spiral as his head is in a losing fight with his heart. He knows his feelings for Nanoka are just plain wrong but he can't resist the true love he feels for her.
You can't help feeling sorry for these two even though logic says nothing good can come out of their relationship, especially when it turned sexual in the end. In fact it was the ending I had a real problem with. I'd never read the manga so I don't know if this was supposed to happened but it seemed as if everything stopped in mid-sentence with no resolution that all. If the producers were planning a sequel that would explain the way it ended. But if not ,then I feel the ending is a total cheat. Which is a shame because I think that Koi Kaze is the first honest anime ever made. And what I mean by that is that it's an animated adult drama without any kind of gimmicks like monsters, robots or lots of nudity.
Like some of the other reviewer's I also notice the high production values, the hand drawn animation style reminded me of Miyazaki, but not quite. And some of music was similar to Sigur Rós, but not quite.
As for the story it reminded me a lot of Nabokov's Lolita in that you have a grown man infatuated with an under age girl; and I thought it was odd that that aspect of the story wasn't really touched on at all. But of course the main focus was the fact that the grown man and the young girl were brother and sister.
And yet, knowing anime's reputation, the story could've easily gone into total hentai mode, but didn't.
In fact, just like in Lolita, the whole story rested on Koshiro's shoulders as you see a man totally falling apart. First, breaking up with his longtime girlfriend who at the time he couldn't admit that he did indeed love her. Follow by crossing paths with Nanoka, first on a commuter train and then later after a business meeting. Taking her to a next-door amusement park Koshiro breaks down in front her over his failed relationship, and Nanoka admits she also was heartbroken which sealed the emotional connection between the two.
Thus when they find out they're blood relatives you see him on this downward spiral as his head is in a losing fight with his heart. He knows his feelings for Nanoka are just plain wrong but he can't resist the true love he feels for her.
You can't help feeling sorry for these two even though logic says nothing good can come out of their relationship, especially when it turned sexual in the end. In fact it was the ending I had a real problem with. I'd never read the manga so I don't know if this was supposed to happened but it seemed as if everything stopped in mid-sentence with no resolution that all. If the producers were planning a sequel that would explain the way it ended. But if not ,then I feel the ending is a total cheat. Which is a shame because I think that Koi Kaze is the first honest anime ever made. And what I mean by that is that it's an animated adult drama without any kind of gimmicks like monsters, robots or lots of nudity.
Its not bad, but....
lechevalier176 December 2013
Every review says this anime deals with incest in a mature way, which granted it does, but none of them deal with the fact that the girl is 15 and the guy is 27. If they were both adults of a similar age, it would be one thing, but the fact that not only is it incest, it's statutory rape as well makes this anime a lot less respectable. When you write a synopsis about this anime people, but upfront about it. Don't leave out the fact of the age differences between the characters and that the female lead isn't even an adult. That throws it into the category of perverted male loli fantasy about his sister rather then a mature dealing with a complicated issue.
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