Bronze: The Story So Far

Koji Nanjo is a rock star. He is only 16, but his albums top the charts, and he has legions of adoring fans. He is rich, and handsome, and idolised by millions.

But there is a hollow place in his heart. He may go to wild parties and have affairs with glamorous women, but none of this brings him anything but transitory pleasure. The only thing that evokes any passion in him is a fragment of a childhood memory: a girl playing soccer on a scorching hot field, her eyes blazing with determination. The intensity of her spirit burned itself into Koji's consciousness, even though he never saw her again after that day.

Takuto Izumi is a high school soccer player. He is only 16, but he already shows breathtaking promise. His coaches think he could be Japan's next soccer champion.

But there is a dark shadow over his past. When Izumi was a child, his mother murdered his father before his eyes, and then tried to kill herself as well. Izumi still carries a scar on his left side where her knife wounded him. Since that day, Izumi has lived an independent, solitary life. He is concerned only to shield his siblings from the trauma he has suffered. He is even prepared to sacrifice his dreams of soccer greatness for their sake.

It is 1989.

Koji, after a reckless spree of drinking and joyriding, collapses in an alleyway in the rain. Izumi, jogging home from his night shift job, comes across Koji's unconscious body. Izumi carries the fever-stricken stranger home. Two lives cross - for the second time.

Because the girl Koji remembers so intensely was really a boy; and that boy was Takuto Izumi. When Koji first discovers the truth, his view of himself and his world is deeply shaken. But despite this turn of events, he is compelled to delve further into Izumi's life, learning of the tragic past that holds him back from achieving his highest aspirations.

Koji finds himself increasingly drawn to this aloof young man whose fierce attitude masks an aching vulnerability. Izumi, in turn, is resentful of this stranger who has disrupted his peaceful existence, and bewildered at his stubborn efforts to insinuate himself into Izumi's life. It is only with difficulty that Izumi begins to recognise his own human need for love and friendship - a need he has denied for so long.

This is the story told in Zetsuai: Koji's awakening passion for Izumi, and Izumi's slow, unwilling acknowledgement of that fact. At the close of Zetsuai, an equilibrium of sorts has been reached.