YMMV / Kaze to Ki no Uta

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Since the series hasn't been fully translated, a few characters have gotten this.
• Arc Fatigue: The reader is taken out of the main story about halfway through the fourth volume and treated to six volumes (out of a total of 17) worth of uninterrupted Backstory. To be fair, having three volumes about Gilbert's past does a lot to justify how the kid came to be so screwed up, but devoting two volumes to the life of Serge's father after that is perhaps a bit too much.
• First Installment Wins: There's a three-novel sequel called Kami no Kohitsuji. Seriously. Good luck trying to find any info on it.
• Ho Yay
  • Aside from the Official Couple (and other obvious in-text examples), there's a fair amount of this going on as well.
  • Rosemariné and Jules have a lot of it. Just to start with, in their very first scene together, the former tells the latter, "You and only you are the one I allow into my heart". And the epilogue more-or-less reveals that Jules had actually been in love with Rosemariné the whole time, but had concealed it under his other (very mixed) feelings about the guy.
  • Rosemariné also has a bit of it with Serge later on, which doesn't go entirely unnoticed by other students. Near the end of volume 15, when Serge asks why Rosemariné is helping him escape from Lacombrade with Gilbert, he answers, "I like you. ... That's why." The word for "like" he uses is suki, so take that how you will.
  • Sebastien's admiration for Serge often bleeds into this trope as well.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Gilbert, Gilbert, Gilbert. He may be antagonistic and even violent toward Serge (especially in the beginning), but he sure went through a lot of crap in his life...
  • While he doesn't hold a candle to Gilbert when it comes to sheer woobiness, Rosemariné nonetheless qualifies once certain aspects of his past come to light. Yes, he's ill-tempered and physically abusive (particularly towards Gilbert himself) but he's also rather pitiable in his own right. Even more so when it's learned that he was physically and sexually abused in his past.
• Moral Event Horizon: Auguste certainly crossed this line when he raped Gilbert for the first time, so soon after the poor kid had already been raped by Bonnard. Alternatively, he crossed it a little before that with his horrendous victim-blaming when Gilbert had just been brought back home after the Bonnard incident.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Two words: Bonnard incident. Really, though, any scene involving graphic rape belongs here.
  • The sheer degree of physical, emotional and sexual abuse that Auguste inflicts upon Gilbert is downright nauseating.
• Unnecessary Makeover: For Patricia Biquet.
• Viewer Gender Confusion
  • Rosemariné is a guy. Really.
  • Liliath in particular tends to cause this reaction, given that his looks and personality are very effeminate. It also doesn't help that other students call him a girl.
• The Woobie: Both Serge and Gilbert. Mostly Gilbert, though, as has already been mentioned above.

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