let's go exploring

Reading old-school shoujo is: 1) a complete guilty pleasure, and 2) extremely bad for my health.

In some ways, Kaze to Ki no Uta does not read unlike a melodramatic Victorian novel. There's the repressive boarding school climate, along with the mixture of low-key subtlety and two-by-four to the head foreshadowing. Heck, Gilbert could have been ripped from the pages of Dorian Gray, for crying out loud. It's also a lot like Oniisama e, even more than I was expecting. Unlike its "sister series", however, Kaze to Ki no Uta is far more aggressive in its approach.

I've read up to volume four by now (I don't think scanlations go any further, and I haven't seen it at Book-Off), and I can safely say that this is one disturbing title. Along with the underage sexuality, there are elements of child abuse, violence, class discrimination, and racism. I don't see it being picked up in the U.S. any time soon. It's hard to believe that Takemiya Keiko was allowed to publish this, let alone in the 1970s.

I read a little of the manga a few years ago, but never had the opportunity to see any more of it back then. I think the art is beautiful, though dated -- something that'll probably turn off more people than not -- and the writing nuanced and complex. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but for those who are interested, it's definitely worth a look.

(Also, Pascal* is freakin' awesome. How come nobody mentions that?)

*A bespectacled student who's failed three times in a row so that he can stay in Laconblade Academy and learn more interesting things in the meantime. Like knitting, for instance. He's also a complete science geek: at one point in the manga, he tells a teacher that Latin is a dead language, and that they should spend their time learning more useful subjects -- in perfect Latin -- and then walks out.