Koi Kaze is a story about the tragic loss of a sibling relationship and two humans dealing with the grief of lost time in the ways their minds tell them to.
NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
I initially dropped this because incest makes me uncomfortable, but I decided to give it a go since it's one of the earlier anime to present incest in an unfetishised form. Additionally, it's a rare psychological anime that doesn’t rely on supernatural elements or futuristic technologies; instead, it delves into the scariest thing we know of: our minds.
Getting over the technical details first: The dub is not bad. If you’re
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okay with both, go with the sub. If you strictly watch only the dub, it’s fine, except for certain parts where it seems like they’re laughing for no reason. For instance, there is a scene where Nanoka says she made fish for dinner, and both she and her father start laughing without any apparent reason. The animation is classic early 2000s, with certain flaws such as freeze frames here and there, uneven eyes, and incorrect perspective drawing. Watch it if you’re here for the story.
Contrary to popular belief, this anime does not glorify pedophilia and incest. It may seem so because we experience the story through Koushirou’s (and somewhat Nanoka’s) pov, but it actually lays everything bare, including the “bad” parts. Most of the "bad" parts are just mentioned through dialogue and not shown visually, as that would hinder Koushirou’s and Nanoka’s fantasy. It reminds me of the movie Lolita (1997), where we experience the story through Humbert’s idealized perspective.
Where it all began; Koushirou's parents didn’t seem to care much about him, as evidenced by his mother taking Nanoka and leaving, and his father admitting in one of the after-credits "joke" scenes that he doesn’t care much about Koushirou. The only time we see him smile as a child is when he is with Nanoka, she could've been one of the most important person in his life. His parents’ unconscious bias towards his sister and their separation caused him to grow up as an unhappy adult.
So much so, that he decides to become a wedding planner just to see people come together and be happy, like a kid in a candy store who can’t afford the most expensive candy, so he decides to just stare at it and imagine what it tastes like.
This changes when he meets Nanoka for the first time (not knowing she is his sister). He notices the cherry blossoms for the first time, and the world looks vibrant to him. He is unable to give up this feeling even after discovering that she is, in fact, his sister.
Once a man of virtue who disapproved of his friend Kei's fetish for pursuing teenage girls, he eventually becomes the very man he once condemned, just because he doesn’t want to let go of this drug like feeling he has discovered. He becomes a mad man, constantly wishing and doing things that justify his feelings; Wishing he wasn’t Nanoka’s brother, sniffing her underwear, wanting to apologize for it only to rid of his guilt, not wanting his sister to date etc.
What adds depth to this story is how we witness his inner turmoil; the scene where he realizes he’s sexually attracted to his sister while crying in his bed is something most queer people may be able to relate to. Even if you don’t, you can’t help but feel sympathetic in those private moments.
He grooms his sister, perhaps unintentionally, but as an authority figure in her life, he crosses the line. In doing so, he betrays his parents, his friends, his sister, and even himself. By the end, he doesn't deem himself worthy of being taken care of. He wears a torn sock, has bags under his eyes, and overall exudes a very negative aura that causes people to avoid him.
Nanoka, on the other hand, has always missed and idealized her brother, even before reuniting with him, as noted by her mother. A young Nanoka wrote in her diary, "I will also get married. I want lots of children. I will call my mother, father, and brother, and we'll all live together." This is clearly a child grieving her broken family, disguised as a vision for her future. All of this translated into having a brother complex and falling victim to her brother’s grooming.
If you’re unsure if there was any grooming involved, notice how she responds to her brother in the last few episodes with, “whatever you want/say.” There was one point (after the sniffing scene) where Koushirou notes that Nanoka shouldn’t date anyone since she still smells of her mother’s milk. If that doesn’t scream predator, I don’t know what does.
All in all, this is a masterful anime that combines psychology and romance very well (generally romance is only a sub genre in a psychological anime) and it promises you to confront with questions regarding humanity you probably don’t want to think about. Questions like: Is incest okay? Why is it not? If eugenics is a sole reason for not favouring incest, should people who are predisposed to genetic disorders should be forbid to procreate? Is culture important over people’s happiness? Etc.
What’s most tragic about this story is how Koushirou and Nanoka lost their chance to have a meaningful relationship of any kind; not as siblings, not as partners and not even as friends.
The ending left me with a sinking feeling and I will never revisit this anime. I would only recommend this to those who like nihilistic media.
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Jul 22, 2024
Koi Kaze is a story about the tragic loss of a sibling relationship and two humans dealing with the grief of lost time in the ways their minds tell them to.
NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. I initially dropped this because incest makes me uncomfortable, but I decided to give it a go since it's one of the earlier anime to present incest in an unfetishised form. Additionally, it's a rare psychological anime that doesn’t rely on supernatural elements or futuristic technologies; instead, it delves into the scariest thing we know of: our minds. Getting over the technical details first: The dub is not bad. If you’re ... |
