Oh wow. This is a very beautiful insight. Thank you for pointing them out. Komahoshi is a really well-made manga with aesthetic that honestly, no other BL manga can compare. It's been years since i discover this manga and reread it multiple times, but the feeling komahoshi left is just... beautiful. I'm so happy people are still reading komahoshi
Thank you so much! I also discovered this manga years ago. I'm glad that someone else can feel the beauty behind the manga,, I felt that this was too good for only me to know about it and be touched by it.
Good point! I thought it was also interesting how much internal dialogue was in this manga, it really showed me how dark Kiyomine could be when it's related to Takara, or how the minor characters perceived their relationship.
very small spoilers...
While I was rereading this, I realized there were so many nuances I wanted to know more about, and decided to investigate.
The very beginning is a direct quote from the "Little Prince", another amazing poetic work, and that quote's about a fox and the little prince learning to "tame" each other and become special in all the world to each other, just like takara and kiyomine. This means you can kind of already tell what this story is about straight from the beginning.
When discussing the meaning of takara's name as "treasure" and about the meaning of names. Kiyomine begins to ponder on his own name. In japanese, "Kiyomine" can actually mean "pure mountain top". This is a direct reference to mount Kilimanjaro, which they are visiting. Mt. Kilimanjaro, as stated in the story, is a pure, towering, existence, almost heaven-like
It always bothered me that they never revealed the name of the tree with flowers that smelled like lily of the valley, which was planted by the friend of Kiyomine's grandfather who passed away before he could tell him. The name of this plant is Japanese Andromeda, a flowering shrub that sprouts lily of the valley-esque flowers. In Hanakotoba or the japanese language of flowers actually means "danger, sacrifice, pure love, or to die together" which makes it all the more heart breaking when you know what happens to the friend of kiyomine's grandfather. It was his way of telling him without saying anything.
These were just a few things I felt like I wanted to share. Abe Miyuki put a lot of effort into the nuances and hidden meanings behind things through symbolism, and I feel like understanding these things makes it more beautiful. It would make me happy to know at least one person read this lol