Kodaka-sensei made her debut in 1989 with Sessa Takuma! in Shounen Champion. Today she is one of the most popular Boys' Love authors. She is famous for her work on designing the characters for Triple X's BL anime Boku no Sekuhara (My Sexual Harassment) and is also the beloved author of Kizuna.
Matoh Sanami taught her how to draw using a shoujo-style. Sanami Matoh and Kazuma Kodaka are actually very good friends.
Owned v. 1-5 and collected the series off and on for several years. At time volumes were hard to come by and rare, other times the ebay market flooded. I finally gave up on the series and sold my copies and haven't read past v. 5 anyways.
Series Review: Kizuna is a brilliant piece of fiction and even though it suffers of some tropes and afflictions of the BL genre, the sheer brilliance of Kodaka's characters will always shine through. At the beginning the story can feel a bit episodic, but it soon picks up a coherent narrative and what an interesting ride it is. The setting with Kei and Kai as sons of a Yakuza boss is unusual and interesting yet it never feels too far out there. (Sometimes, maybe. Never in a bad way though.) What is also wonderfully explored is the kendo background of some of Kai and Ranmaru, I truly love the way the sport is drawn and explained. What truly shines in this story is the wonderful depiction of relationships, especially a homosexual love in a country such as Japan. But it isn't only the love stories that make this manga stand out, I also truly enjoyed the two different sibling relationships it depicts and the importance of family. Kodaka's art while still rough around the edges in the earlier volumes is beautiful. I enjoy her clean lines and facial expressions. (Also, she knows how to draw beautiful men. Oh yes, she does ;)) This series is one I've read every other year since it came out and it is always wonderful to return to these beloved characters that feel as if they're family by now. Especially Kei and Ranmaru have a permanent place in my heart.
Again, much more serious that volumes 1-3. I actually really liked Kai in this book, he finally grew a spine and told Masa to stuff it, he stopped running after him like a good little doggie. And it was awesome to see Ranmaru get angry and pick up a sword! The angel epilog was a hoot, an AU version, not related to the overall story.