Spotlight Anime: Koi Kaze MAL Anime Information Page: Koi Kaze MAL Score – 7.55 (by 5398 users) Ranked - #1104 Popularity - #759 For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the anime that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate an anime: Animation, Sound, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Animation - insert rating Sound - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Animation - discuss any pros and cons of the animation styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Sound - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to the music and sound effects used in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pros and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 5 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticise and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to watching this discussion unfold. RESULTS OF THE RESURRECTION YOU DECIDE POLL Koi Kaze was permanently barred entry into the club Anime list: 17 Yes - 58.7% 12 No - 41.3% 38 Don't know this anime - 54.3% of the total number polled 3 Abstained - 4.3% of the total number polled RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL Koi Kaze was NOT inducted into the club Anime list: 10 Yes - 43.4% 13 No - 56.5% 48 Don't know this anime - 66.6% of the total number polled 1 Abstained - 1.3% of the total number polled |
Orion1Jun 8, 2014 3:59 PM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| Koi Kaze is not some ecchi, perversely dealing to a demographic with a penchant for incest, no indeed not. What Koi Kaze Is, is a well produced look into the actual workings of an incestuous relationship with 12 years age difference, and how this affects the other people involved in their life. The ending is non-conclusive; the anime is simply a social construct that is designed to entertain by providing a cohesive argument on both sides. As such, it avoids many anime conventions and pulls off sincerity and actual quality. The staff seem to have done nearly everything right in the making of this anime. What Koi Kaze is, is good, despite what it portrays. When I think slice of life, my first thoughts are Ghibli. This is not only the realistic living shown, a good example being Whisper of the Heart, it is the realistic relationships shown; Ocean Waves, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. In the previous examples, there are ones that derailed this usage, juxtaposing what they had set up with fantastical situations that are supposedly highly metaphorical that end up simply ruining integrity. This to me, is their undoing in the slice of life genre. In terms of the Slice of Life genre, Koi Kaze stands out. The realistic living and realistic relationships, continue throughout the anime. Each episode provides a fresh take on a realistic viewpoint of Japanese Society. Our characters themselves are very fleshed out, the stoic grunting of Koushirou, Nanoka's juvenile behaviour, Shoko's flippancy, Futaba's naivety, Zenzo's bumbling, Kaname's career gal' persona (The best representation of a career gal' I personally have seen to date). The worst part of Koi Kaze is its small slip-ups in casting stereotypes. These errors are; Odagiri is hentai, Madarame like, who does not fit, and Nanoka makes Bento in a fan-service-y way. Those 2 errors are all I have major issues with! The portrayals of these characters' interaction is genuinely touching in its elaborate social and cultural care. As is the use of art. Urban environments were done excellently, portraying exactly the emotions and metaphorical point of the locations used precisely. Unfortunately this show suffered from a case of lack of animation budget- the crispness and simple resolution of the anime is low, though all the right decisions were carried out in actual production- as such I do not think this is much of a problem for Koi Kaze. The sound is also an example of precise use and good production. Voices were extremely good for this series, even the hentai character did his character well enough to be effectively creepy and plain disgusting but somehow having a base amount of empathy injected. The plot, as mentioned, in inconclusive, but goes into depth to explore the different impacts the relation has on all the characters in the show. And boy does it do it well. In the end, I enjoyed this show immensely, even though I have absolutely no regards for the themes present within Koi Kaze (this says a lot for me). This show may not be the first thing you would think of to recommend to someone, but it is a subtle stand-out in its genre and a shining star in just how well it is executed. |
| Ok so now I need a match to ignite the Alcohol I just bathed in, to attempt to clean my soul. I was hoping for a handcuff ending or possibly Shinjū (ritual suicide for lovers). The fact that they left it ambiguous seems to me to be an attempt to support the idea of statutory relations. I didn't have a problem with the incestuous aspect, it was more with the age. After episode ten I really started getting nervous about even having this series on my hard drive. Oh wait that's right I'm deleting now. Animation: Almost non existent. This series used so many still frames that if it wasn't for the dramatic music it might as well been a manga. Art: The art design was once again not really special but well done. Very soft and warm colors to accentuate feelings, but mostly the the colors were cool and dark with great highlighting effects with bright colors. Their Sakura's were very well done and effectively used but that is possibly one of the best complements I"m going to give because Sakura art in Anime has become extremely over used, in this case it felt very natural to the changing season. Character Design: Nanoka's face reminded me of Saki Morimi from Eden of the East. It appears the character designer Satoko Morikawa isn't exactly new to the industry, although ANN doesn't have him as doing many titles and MAL doesn't appear to even have him listed yet, just submitted. Story: Here is where I don't particular find anything wrong with this comedy/tragedy? Without the handcuff ending or them committing Shinjū, I can't really call it a tragedy. However it could be interpreted as being implied in the eleventh and twelfth episodes that their relationship was headed for disaster. The ending basically made me think that the producers of this series stopped right before they were caught. In this case there are both legal and social consequences. After researching the age of Consent in Japan, I noticed that it ranges from 13-18 depending on prefecture. The previous link states that it's 17 in Tokyo and that makes it crime for him to have sexual relations with Nanoka. Basically this is a story about a seriously broken family and the perfect storm of circumstance that lead to an older man falling love with his younger sister. That fact that he was attracted immediately to her even though he knew she was too young, points to his mental instability early on. This seems like the story of a pedophile in the making. A socially unstable man that is unable to distinguish the difference between right and wrong and social consequences. I suppose he could even be labeled a psychopath for that. His illness lead to the entrapment of his little sister who was too young to be able to have developed proper sexual relationship boundaries through experience making her easy prey. The reactions of other people to him in the end pointed towards his complete disfunction in society. The scene where Koshiro accepts the unknown drink from the little girl and drinks it can be interpreted in two ways that I can figure. One being that he accepts who he is now as an outcast/social deviant, the other is the obvious and continuous delusions of affection he has for his sister, which stem from the lack of love he received from his mother and I suppose a similar complex was also started with Nanoka's lack of father figure. Basically I understand that this could and probably does happen. But I can't and won't think the way it seems the director wants us to believe, wether it's pure shock factor or not. If Omori, Takahiro was going for the idea that social taboo's are just that, Dogma that are not necessary. The continued and constant invasion of social relativism is not necessary progressive. It can also be regressive in the case of Japan's seriously dangerously low birth rate. I can't completely side with Pope, but I also can't throw away all dogmatic solutions to societal issues. In this case I would have liked to see some handcuffs come out. Voice acting: The voice acting was actually pretty good, no complaints. I remember watching it at first in the English dub a while ago so I won't comment, but the Japanese was very well done. The voices didn't seem generic. Music: In many cases this series music saved many very flawed animation sequences. The constant still frames and slow instrumental music did create a certain amount of melancholy. The music has to be given a lot of credit for helping make this series watchable. Conclusion: Koi Kaze has many flaws as does everything. After having completed the series now, I won't say that I completely hate it. I will say that I disagree with it, and will also point out the obvious flaws like the animation. The series did have some strong suits though. I originally dropped the series after episode four because the masturbation scene. But after picking the series back up at episode three, I noticed that this scene played a crucial role in adding angst and embarrassment to the mental and morally distraught Koshiro. His inner turmoil was definitely effectively established, and his guilt was also genuine. However, his logic and maturity is what was broken, hence his mental instability. He had many chances to seek help but never even attempted to consult a psychiatrist to deal with his abandonment and mother issues. These issues were effectively established through flashbacks. I say effective because often Flashbacks can also become an annoyance when trying to make a story more dynamic. I think Koi Kaze is actually a good example of how too use flashback effectively. The Japanese voice acting was fluid, plus the music established a depressing mood very well throughout the series. I'm still voting no and gave the series 4/10 for the many flaws which included the static character designs, horrible animation, an anticlimactic series ending and unimportant school side story. Non of the mature plots are ever given a chance to be developed. Koshiro remains enslaved to his immaturity to the point of deficiency and unrealistic tragedy, which was never allowed to come to fruition in the form of an actual ending. I don't hate the open ending, some will probably say it's genius and exerts the mass emotional effect and they might be right. But I really wanted to see tragedy in this instance. Maybe I'm am too socially conditioned but I've already stated that some dogma's can make your life a lot easier and are therefore more intelligent to learn and conform to. |
Orion1Jul 5, 2011 5:42 AM
Orion1 said: Maybe I'm am too socially conditioned Yes, you are. Not that that's intrinsically wrong - heck, I've raised my eyebrows at the subject a few times as well. One point that should come up here (and leaving it at this for now - hopefully I've the time to post some more later on), though, is that the very things you object to are only the result of a number of statements of age. Consider this: we'd have the exact same story, but Koshiro is an early 20-something, Nanako is a repeater who just turned 19, and the two are unrelated by blood. Would you have any problems with the story, which is in all respects exactly the same? Note that I really do not want to start a discussion on sexuality and love here, but that I only state that in anime a specific age and relationship is only truly apparent from the labels rather arbitrarily slapped to them. |
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| I guess it's really not a maybe. But I'll have to point out that I admit to there being certain dogmas that are beneficial to society and mental health. Neo Liberalism vs. Communalism I suppose. However even in a liberal society where individuality and relativism is held sacred, marrying your sister will have serious consequences in terms of population dynamics. WTF am I talking about lol. I get the point of the series, or at least I feel like I know what the creator was trying to tell me and I don't really agree with what's on the surface. I like the ambiguity but I also hate it for it's apparent statement. From my perspective I saw a deeply troubled, mentally unstable adult who through his own irresponsibility/emotional immaturity, allowed himself to fall in love with a much younger sibling and then seduce her into a very unhealthy relationship, instead of taking the rightful role of a big brother and Positive male role model that looks after and cares for his sister like a secondary farther figure, he instead became an emotional and sexual predator. His actions were criminal in Tokyo and I agree with the idea of laws that are created to stop statutory rape. Or do I, lol. I guess I don't leave too much space for idealism, but such ideas really should not be encouraged. Honestly I had the creeps all day. I even had to discuss it with a co-worker. Our conclusion? Weird shit happens. This is one of the moments where I want to personally put the skeptic philosophy aside. I never thought I'd say that but it appears I'm am becoming more dogmatic with age. I'm not completely sure if I'd support the idea of Koshiro's incarceration, but that's because I don't think that prison rehabilitates but it might start a process for him to begin dealing with his guilt for being so weak. In many cases here in the U.S. prison deteriorates a persons mental health even further. I think that Koshiro needed help and that banging his little sister is not the help he needed, in fact it was predatory. I already implied earlier that I don't really have a problem with exploring the idea of incest, but that it was the predatory behavior and evolution of a rapist of the worst kind. A man that's willing to take advantage of his own little sister. Some might say that for pure shock effect that series is great, but I'm just not going to be one of those people this time. I get your point about the "what if" but it really doesn't matter because there was a legal age problem. I see why Geneon had a hard time getting this licensed. Actually I'm amazed that they were able to get Koi Kaze licensed in the States, not like it matters anymore. As for the underlying pacing that it seems you're talking about with the story, I agree that the overall love story and pacing is good. So other than the content of the story, and the bad animation this series is fairly solid. I just can't vote yes for it's induction for those same reasons. |
Orion1Jul 6, 2011 4:55 AM
| @orion1: I suggest that you read BlackMagic's post in the Koshiro's character spotlight. He basically pointed out all of the things you pointed of him, and then voted yes because of those points. As for the anime itself, I don't really have anything to add from what ridojiri has posted. So I will just say that as one of the people who has nominated this anime, I will be voting yes, although I doubt its chances for various reasons. |
Current FAL Ranking + Previous best::  [ |
| Black touched on some of topics I mentioned, but his statements really only apply to Koshiro's character. I might be swayed to have voted yes for the character but not the series. Actually the statement that I really liked in that forum was Yuunagi's about Westermarck effect and genetic sexual attraction. |
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