It's not often that manga venture into the world of bands and orchestras, and it's even rarer that they combine it with romance the way Boys Gilding the Lily Shall Die!? Practice. 1 yes. This GL manga, despite its stern-sounding name, is a fairly light-hearted examination of the intersection of passion and duty, a look at what makes a person admirable and a constant allegory in musical language. The story isn't an incredibly complicated one, but this isn't a bad thing. This is one of the manga's relative simplicity, with the characters being developed throughout the early chapters through a healthy mix of exposition, dialogue, and the alternating perspectives often found in manga. GL and BL. Author and illustrator Yomogimochi took all of these and enhanced them in this work.
Rival trumpets, dual personalities
The story and basic premise are as follows: Hibiki Aikawa and Chihaya Katagiri are both trumpet players, the former transfers to the latter's school and joins the brass band. The two initially had some friction but quickly came to appreciate each other's musical talent and work ethic, sharing practice space as the only band members to practice in the morning and competing trumpet position No. 1. In the first episode, what complicates this dynamic of competition and peace is a change in Aikawa; she suddenly starts shirking her band responsibilities in pursuit of a new boyfriend, which makes Katagiri extremely worried and strains their relationship.
Katagiri is an interesting character. From her generally stoic personality and her sole focus on the trumpet and music, you might expect that she would have no kinship with others, even those she is competing as a trumpeter. However, in Aikawa, she found someone who could express her pure passion for music and performance the same way she did. Aikawa, to Katagiri, is the only person who truly sees her, seeing her as a performer who tries and gives her all while competing with her. This is why Aikawa's change bothered Katagiri so deeply; She admires Aikawa through her passionate performance and musical effort, which was tested in episode one.
While Katagiri's characterization in episode one was done well, in my opinion, Aikawa goes a step further. This is partly because even some of Katagiri's personality is best shown from Aikawa's perspective. Aikawa comes from a family of musicians and spends much of episode 1 coming to terms with her place in the family and whether she truly loves music or just does it because it's what she's loved to do. asked to do or expected to do. Her bubbly personality, most of which we see in the earlier parts of the volume, is quickly contrasted in the later parts, told from her perspective with dangerous doubts and a lack of self-esteem. Believe in your own ability to control yourself. She's actually someone who has learned to hide parts of herself, although she has genuine happiness next to Katagiri, which is truly heartwarming to witness. Aikawa's concerns will be relevant to anyone who has ever struggled to find their passion or ended up pursuing an activity because of external factors. Her relationship with her new boyfriend is an odd one, but even that is an important part of her character and her journey of trying to find autonomy and passion.
Art is a key aspect of these moments of characterization, with emotions of sadness, regret, and longing being particularly strong emotions. Will the lily gilded boys die!? has a recurring habit of small panels of conversation followed by a large panel with little to no background detail, leaving the reader completely immersed in the expressions and facial expressions of any character that happens to be appears in focus.
A Solid Performance by Boys Gilding the Lily Shall Die!?
I would recommend this manga to those who can appreciate stories with multiple romantic interests at the same time, former band members, and people who have absolutely no interest in music. I should definitely note that music/band knowledge or experience is not a prerequisite for enjoying the story. Trumpet is a shared passion of our two main characters and a suitable vehicle for their story, but there are no technical details regarding the music. All there is is a heartwarming budding romance, plenty of interesting characters, interesting art, and a variety of themes to keep your attention. The film is licensed in English in North America by Tokyopop.
Anime Corner was provided with a copy of Boys Gilding the Lily Shall Die!? to evaluate
© Yomogimochi GENTOSHA COMICS INC. 2023