When I saw the opening animation of Sora no Woto, I was instantly reminded of Elfen Lied: both shared OPs that alluded to the symbolist art of Gustave Klimt. Back when I first saw Elfen Lied I was impressed more with ‘Lilium’ than with the animation; I only became more informed when I chanced upon a recent Penguin Classics publication of ‘Venus in Furs’ by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. I was always meaning to read that novel as ‘Venus in Furs’ was the prototypical novel for masochism, but I never had the chance to revisit the bookstore I found it in. I believe I chose purchasing ‘Wandering Star’ by J.M.G. Le Clezio instead, as I wanted to know what was in the mind of a recent Nobel laureate in literature.

A Klimt painting in the Penguin Classics cover