As poetic as the title sounds, everything about this manga is tragic. I actually like Takemiya-sensei's writing in a way that makes it seem as if she is asking her readers the question: Will we be dominated by our pasts, or will we remain steadfast and refuse to allow history to repeat itself? Throughout the series, it tackles a lot of heavy issues, such as class prejudice, racism, homophobia, incest, pedophilia, sexual abuse, rape, prostitution, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and drug abuse. Takemiya-sensei does not hesitate to delve into dark themes and taboo issues. So, yes, be sure to get your tissues ready because it is a painfully tragic story between Serge and Gilbert. It is, however, a beautifully crafted work of literature with a melancholy aftertaste. Also, Takemiya-sensei places a great deal of importance on writing six volumes of backstory about Gilbert's childhood and on how Serge's parents met and their early life.
From a reader's perspective, Gilbert may be seen as ill-tempered, violent, mischevous, and manipulative. However, his own psychopathic, destructive, and promiscuous tendencies, which are explained in detail, are too painful to know. He is the illegitimate child of Anne Marie and her brother-in-law, Auguste Beau, and was rejected and raised by maids without parental love. He spent his childhood in the wild, befriending wild animals and referred to a blanket and a rabbit as his mother and father. It's difficult for me to read as Auguste takes advantage of an innocent five-year-old Gilbert by stripping him of his cherished comfort items and beginning to groom him. The sheer degree of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and the horrendous victim-blaming that Auguste inflicts upon Gilbert, as well as the fact that Bonnard abducted and raped him when he was nine, is downright nauseating. Gilbert's life was already completely under Auguste's control for the following five years until he sent him to a Catholic boarding school, Lacombrade Academy. During his stay, he meets his roommate, Serge, who is the son of a viscount noble and a gypsy coqutte. Despite their opposite personalities, they form a friendship that has a good influence on Gilbert. I really like that they are slowly becoming attracted to each other. I think both of them are outcast by society in some way. Gilbert faced ostracism due to his homosexuality and prostitution, whereas Serge faced racism his entire life due to his darker skin. One of my favorite moments between the two is when they have their little summer of love surrounding nature in the background. Upon learning of Serge's relationship with Gilbert, Auguste works to separate the pair. However, with the help of some of Serge's friends and Rosemarine, they escape from Lacombrade to Paris.
At this point, I started to think that maybe there could be a happy ending for Serge and Gilbert. I used to think that Paris could be a place where they could’ve built the closest thing to a normal life a gay couple could have or even a new start for Gilbert. Rather, it is a brief moment of hope of a happy ending because they never let Serge, especially Gilbert, be happy. My heart is aching at the thought of how close Serge came to saving him, but in the end, not even Serge’s love could mend Gilbert’s mutilated soul.
It's devasating and difficult to breathe, as with Gilbert's eventual prostitution, drug addiction, and death, and even Serge's cheerful optimism as he lost his self. The pain I felt as I typed this recalled Gilbert's dealing with sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at a young age. I so badly want to hug him. None of this is his fault. In addition, Auguste never loved or cared about Gilbert. From the start, it is clearly a predatory relationship. Auguste, himself, became the victim of repeated sexual abuse at his brother’s hands when he was young and was blatantly ignored by his adopted father. He is using Gilbert as a way to continue this cycle, not that it excuses much of what he does. This manga reflects how abuse affects the life of a person, which is greatly represented by Auguste. Even if it was only for a brief moment, Gilbert met someone who loved and accepted him for who he truly is behind his promiscuity mask and genuinely helped and understood him.
I'm forever haunted by Serge’s words to his long-gone Gilbert, right at the beginning:
"Gilbert Cocteau, you were the greatest flower to ever bloom in my life. In the faraway dreams of youth, you were a bright red flame, blazing so fiercely… You were the wind that stirred my branches. Can you hear the poem of the wind and trees? Can you hear the tumult of our youth? Oh, there must be others who so remember their own days of youth…"
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