 Kugayama is a good solfége teacher---young, flamboyant,
unorthodox, arrogant, and self-absorbed, but recognized by those in the business as a hard
taskmaster and a genius at bringing out a student's potential. So the music teacher
at a local high school solicits Kugayama's help in training Tanaka Adzuma, a student who
might just have what it takes to become a famous opera singer. Tanaka is earnest,
diligent, and a model student, whose biggest failing is perhaps a lack of
confidence. He sweats through Kugayama's grueling lessons and endures Kugayama's
scathing criticism, knowing that this is the only way to achieve the goal he wants.
But Tanaka is a big fluffy marshmallow at heart; although he manages to get through the
lessons, he still cries whenever Kugayama gets too harsh with him. He hangs on his
sensei's every word, puppyishly eager to please---and Kugayama takes full advantage of
this. Not in the yaoi sense (at first); he simply pushes the boy as far as he can,
driving him to the brink of emotional and sometimes physical exhaustion. Cutting a
diamond from the rough ain't easy. The romance begins when Tanaka misses a lesson because his mother has been hospitalized. Kugayama's furious until he finds out what's happened, and then he's surprised to find that Tanaka seeks him out for comfort in the hours following his mother's accident. "Comfort" at this point means only a hug and a shoulder to cry on, but the seeds are laid for further developments. Matters come to a head later when Kugayama-- who is quite happily gay, but discreet---decides to get drunk one evening after one of his relationships goes sour, and is surprised at this by Tanaka. The next morning, Kugayama has a rude awakening: he's on the floor, naked, sharing a blanket with Tanaka, who happily kisses him good morning and starts chattering away about how wonderful the night before was.  From there, the story takes a number of interesting turns, covering the next several years in the characters' lives. As expected, eventually Tanaka is ready to move on to bigger and better things---but he loves Kugayama, and is torn between following his career and following his heart. He chooses his career---only because Kugayama and his high school teacher demand it. He goes on to enter the best music schools and makes his big break into the opera world. As he grows into a confident and polished singer, however, Kugayama begins a slow spiral into alcoholism and misery, triggered by the loss of Tanaka and a mentally unstable lover. Through a complicated set of circumstances, Kugayama hits rock bottom just as Tanaka's shooting to the top. The story isn't a tragedy, however, so don't worry. Things work out, eventually. Sort of. Maybe familiarity breeds contentment. Yoshinaga's art has grown on me since I read "Ichigenme." There are no discernible differences in style between the two stories---Yoshinaga still seems unable to draw anything but 3/4 and profile faces, and she still relies on stark, often empty backgrounds to focus attention on the characters. Somehow, though, it doesn't feel as "talking heads" as it did in her earlier work, despite the numerous pages on which dialogue bubbles are practically the only thing seen. This may be because her subject matter is less dry; the intrigues and day-to-day affairs of the operatic world are generally a lot more interesting, in a dramatic sense, than those of a civil law classroom. The plot of "Solfége" is also properly dramatic,
mimicking an opera in its design and intensity. Indeed---because of this, I'm
tempted to say that "Solfége" is even better than "Ichigenme."
Romance is always nice when spiced with a little angst and melodrama. More sex than
in Definitely worth a read. ~Nora Jemison |