In the future, on a distant star lives a new society. Ruled by a computer system named Jupiter, men are divided into classes based on their hair color. The Blondies, genetically altered by Jupiter, are the highest class and occupy the capital city of Tanagura. Those with black hair, Mongrels, are forced to live in the slums, Ceres. Iason, the leader of the Blondies, encoun In the future, on a distant star lives a new society. Ruled by a computer system named Jupiter, men are divided into classes based on their hair color. The Blondies, genetically altered by Jupiter, are the highest class and occupy the capital city of Tanagura.
Those with black hair, Mongrels, are forced to live in the slums, Ceres. Iason, the leader of the Blondies, encounters Riki, a mongrel, in the streets of Ceres one night and sets out to own him. Taken from back cover: The Man's upturned blue eyes were so unimaginably beautiful that they could make anybody tremble with awe. In this moment, however, they also glimmered with an icy fire-perhaps revealing the fury of his wounded pride, or rather, a manifestation of his uncontrollable obsession. Ceres: a city without ethics or taboos, ruled by instincts and lusts. These are the slums-immutable, eternal, home to those poor, caged souls stricken with a perpetual melancholy. After three years, Riki unexpectedly returns to Ceres, but all is not well.
The 'Charisma' of the slums is a changed man. Faced with growing suspicion that he's lost his spark, and haunted by the memory of what happened during those three years away from the slums, Riki finds himself pulled into the escalating gang warfare as rivals attempt to wipe out his pack before they can regroup under their newly-returned leader.
And then there is the frighteningly cold, regrettably familiar man he meets by chance one day: the beautiful Iason Mink. What secrets lie behind the smile of that bewitching Blondy? No words could ever express my feelings towards this book. I'm more than just biased here as Ai No Kusabi was my first yaoi anime and so after watching this anime I plunged into the world of BL manga and anime. Iason and Riki are still my all time favorite characters. They are charismatic, strong, beautiful and just drop dead gorgeous (especially Iason.sighs.). The development of their relationship makes you sit on the edge of your chair and keep your fingers crossed for them, because you just ca No words could ever express my feelings towards this book.
I just want to read the real novels, i've tried all the other websites and i can find anything! And i've seen all the OVAs. Dose any know where i can read Ai No Kusabi!!! Watch lastest 004 and download Ai no Kusabi (2012) full episodes online on AnimeHeaven for free. Ai no Kusabi. Hiyokoi (2012) Kyousou Giga (2012) Hermes: Ai wa Kaze no Gotoku.
I'm more than just biased here as Ai No Kusabi was my first yaoi anime and so after watching this anime I plunged into the world of BL manga and anime. Iason and Riki are still my all time favorite characters. They are charismatic, strong, beautiful and just drop dead gorgeous (especially Iason.sighs.). The development of their relationship makes you sit on the edge of your chair and keep your fingers crossed for them, because you just can't not fall for them and be distressed for them. The intensity of the anime (and I hope that that's the same with the book) is just overwhelming!
Though in a good way. And one more thing I wanted to say. It's not about the main characters, but it's about one character that is always present throughout all books in this series. It's a world. The world of the planet Amoi, its cities, communities in those cities and life of those communities.
The distopian world, created by Reiko Yoshihara, is a very interesting and very well worked through place. I was really glad, that this first volume contained much information on the structure of this world, because in the anime we had only a glimpse of what this world actually was - only the pictures of it with some bits of facts. I liked it that this book is devoted more to the description of the setting, than to the relationship between Iason and Riki, because it's rather crucial to get an insight into the world where the story is taking place to understand the relationship better. Now I'm looking forward to reading other volumes!
'Do you know what ai no kusabi means? It's an ancient term; it means something that binds two things together.
It's impossible to live without someone else. It might break your heart, but there's love that can only be expressed the way they lived it.' Normally I don't want to write reviews of books in a series until I've read all of them.
But for this I had to at least get my initial thoughts down. I can always come back and change them later on. (I write a proper rev 'Do you know what ai no kusabi means? It's an ancient term; it means something that binds two things together.
It's impossible to live without someone else. It might break your heart, but there's love that can only be expressed the way they lived it.' Normally I don't want to write reviews of books in a series until I've read all of them. But for this I had to at least get my initial thoughts down. I can always come back and change them later on. (I write a proper review at the very end.
I will have to say now, I've already seen the animes (both the original version; 1992/1994 as well as the 2012 remake) and reading the novels would definitely help understand the complexities of the story. The anime films only were able to scratch the bare surface.
This first book goes into detail, within the context of the narrative, about the world of the story and knowing all this is vital in understanding these characters, why they do what they do and eventually show the gradual change of heart as love develops between Iason and Riki. It's also important to understand this world's cultural and social dynamic which plays a very integral role in how Riki initially perceives Iason and vice versa. I would be able to watch the animes again with at least a better understanding of where everyone is coming from. But this is the one that pretty much put the genre of yaoi on the map so to speak and will set the stage for all the other works to follow. Taking all 8 volumes as a whole, is this the novel that would set the standard for the genre? Not necessarily.
Since there was no set yaoi genre during the time this novel was originally published in serialized form, no set conventions had been cast in proverbial stone- not as they would be later. So far, I'm loving this as I expected I would. I would love to see this made into a feature film. It so deserves the large screen treatment.:) I certainly recommend this series to fans of yaoi, as well as fans of the animes (and M/M romance lit) and who wants to read an undisputed classic in the genre; fans of the animes who haven't read any of the novels-definitely should read them because it tells more of the story and will help place events that happen in the anime within proper context. When I started reading the books, I could not help noticing how different, at least to some degree, the characters are from the OVAs.
Iason seems harsher, Riki seems more withdrawn and even depressed, Katze. Well, in my opinion, he simply hates Iason. That was unexpected. I am still waiting for the last book. I am extremely curious about the moment when Guy will go psycho. In the books, he does not seem so in love with Riki, as I got the impression from the OVAs.
Still, it is a great rea When I started reading the books, I could not help noticing how different, at least to some degree, the characters are from the OVAs. Iason seems harsher, Riki seems more withdrawn and even depressed, Katze. Well, in my opinion, he simply hates Iason.
That was unexpected. I am still waiting for the last book. I am extremely curious about the moment when Guy will go psycho. In the books, he does not seem so in love with Riki, as I got the impression from the OVAs.
Still, it is a great read, it sheds some light on certain parts left obscured in the OVAs, while making the others even more complicated. Rieko-sensei really did a great job with this one. In my opinion, the best yaoi story ever written. It has drama, obsession, forbidden love and kinky sex.
Absolute 5 star all around! I adore Ai no Kusabi and it will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first yaoi anime I ever saw.
Set on a planet where, due to environmental conditions, the population is virtually all male, the two main characters are Iason Mink, a Blondy, and Riki, a boy from the slums. Theirs is a dark, twisted relationship in which neither will submit to the other and ultimately ends in tragedy. I was very much looking forward to reading the novel version because it has been revised a I adore Ai no Kusabi and it will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first yaoi anime I ever saw. Set on a planet where, due to environmental conditions, the population is virtually all male, the two main characters are Iason Mink, a Blondy, and Riki, a boy from the slums. Theirs is a dark, twisted relationship in which neither will submit to the other and ultimately ends in tragedy.
I was very much looking forward to reading the novel version because it has been revised and I was hoping for more insight into what Iason and Riki think about the situations they find themselves in and, each other, but unfortunately, this book is the first of three parts and so only just starts to get going when it ends! I'm still hopeful for that insight nonetheless so I'm eagerly awaiting the next volume;-)! This book seem to have a whole lot of words, yet not a whole lot of action. The only sexy bits you get are at the very beginning and that's it. The rest of the book is either textbook style history lesson of the world or a composition on how Riki used to be super awesome and how he's not and boring. No one really get's that much characterization, save for Kirie who is said to be like Riki was.
However even he is only going 'Let's go do something! You all wanna go do something?' And Riki going 'B This book seem to have a whole lot of words, yet not a whole lot of action. The only sexy bits you get are at the very beginning and that's it. The rest of the book is either textbook style history lesson of the world or a composition on how Riki used to be super awesome and how he's not and boring.
No one really get's that much characterization, save for Kirie who is said to be like Riki was. However even he is only going 'Let's go do something! You all wanna go do something?' And Riki going 'Be quiet.
The rest of characters that speak are usually other gangs going 'Man Bison was awesome, they aren't so awesome any more. Weren't they awesome. Yeah not so awesome now.' There really isn't much to say more than this.
I wish I had more words but, no the book didn't really allow for more. This is a weird book-weird in a good but frustrating way. Ai no Kusabi is frequently heralded as one of the best yaoi novels (male x male erotica) ever written. Published in the 1990 as a hardbound novel in Japan, it took nearly two decades for this to be brought over to the West in English. For some odd reason, June (an imprint of Digital Manga Publishing that only publishes yaoi) divided up the novel into 8 novellas (6 in Japan). The author puts a note at the end that even she found this surpr This is a weird book-weird in a good but frustrating way.
Ai no Kusabi is frequently heralded as one of the best yaoi novels (male x male erotica) ever written. Published in the 1990 as a hardbound novel in Japan, it took nearly two decades for this to be brought over to the West in English. For some odd reason, June (an imprint of Digital Manga Publishing that only publishes yaoi) divided up the novel into 8 novellas (6 in Japan).
The author puts a note at the end that even she found this surprising. Thus this volume is more a less a giant introduction and not really a complete story by any means.
Apparently it is the entire first chapter of the hardbound version as its own volume! In any case, Ai no Kusabi is unique compared to other yaoi. Despite its age, it is still vastly darker than most yaoi out there today. Its setting is in a distant and dystopian future where human-kind has since expanded its reaches to space. The setting is on a planet called Amoy where its inhabitants are ruled by a super computer A.I called Jupiter.
Here the humans are stripped of many of their basic human rights and carnal pleasure abounds with little regards to morals. The protagonist, Riki, is a punk from the slums, Ceres. Once a famous gang leader, he is now a shadow of his former self. No one knows why but he disappeared for three years then suddenly comes back a changed man. This entire volume is basically all setup.
Yoshihara gives us a very textbook-ish description of Amoy's history and its society. It's very well thought out and has that classic dystopian setting so popular in science fiction novels. While this is all well and good for those interested, I can see how the long-winded blocks of info-dumping can be a real pain to some readers.
We are teased with a sex scene right from the start and the book is heavily advertised by the cover alone as an erotic novel. Yet, that's as far as this volume goes. We see no more actual sex scenes and instead are given just a bunch of backdrop on the setting and Riki's past as this hero of the slums. There is little in the way of character development. Though Riki is fleshed out rather well, the other characters fall short. Riki's gang mates are sort of just clumped together as a collective group except for Guy, Riki's ex-lover (or 'Pairing Partner' as they are called in this novel). Even then, Guy has very little personality.
Many times dialogue is exchanged without clearly indicating who is saying what, making it a bit confusing at times and pretty much pushing the other members into a uniformed clump rather than as individuals. Then there's Kirie, the new guy of the gang and the only one Riki has no memories with. He's haughty and brash, thus allowing him to stand out the most (next to Riki) as a character.
He plays an important role in the story and shows an interesting dynamic of who Riki was in the past and who he is now. We also get snippets here and there hinting at the secondary main character of the series, Iason Mink, but he doesn't make much of an impact at this point aside from being a phantom that haunts Riki's waking conscious. The actual style of the narrative is very dense.
Plenty of long and pretentious words are used and, depending on your tastes, can come off as annoying purple prose. I'm not sure if this is the translator's or author's fault. A lot of the illustrations in the volume seem pretty random or misplaced. They often depict a scene that occurrs two or more pages before, making them pretty out of context with the blocks of text beside them. Michihara's art is good though dated by today's standards.
Some people may prefer the 1992 OVA's style over hers, and I would personally be in that crowd. Nonetheless, this is a decent intro to the series. We get a nice buildup of the tension between Iason and Riki that helps set the stage for further installments. This is a novel of stark obsessions, decadence, deadly boredom, sexual depravity, genetic manipulation and human degradation. A perfect, glittering world exists side by side with a festering slum.
Each complements the other and both were deliberately manufactured to keep their respective citizens in line. Rieko Yoshihara has created a brilliant novel, one that explores the depths to which people can sink until there is no hope left and no life beyond endless fighting, brawling and the constant st This is a novel of stark obsessions, decadence, deadly boredom, sexual depravity, genetic manipulation and human degradation. A perfect, glittering world exists side by side with a festering slum. Each complements the other and both were deliberately manufactured to keep their respective citizens in line. Rieko Yoshihara has created a brilliant novel, one that explores the depths to which people can sink until there is no hope left and no life beyond endless fighting, brawling and the constant struggle merely to eat and survive.
Characters stand out starkly in this barren (literally and figuratively) world. One of the most vibrant is the beautiful and enigmatic Riki and the emotionally barren Blondy who saves him from the police. It’s a strange pairing and while it holds the thrill of explosive sexual heat it carries a frisson of danger for them both.
The book could have used a little more editing. There are a few grammatical and structural errors.
It also spends too much time telling what Riki is supposedly like rather than showing. Lengthy passages about his sullen moods and gnawing insecurities get a bit wearying. Hopefully, future volumes will show him growing as a person and not just a charismatic cipher. I loved this series of books as it had all a lot of my buttons: Raw, Dystopian future, Romance, Gay Relationships, intrigue, artificial intelligence, and it makes you think.
I love it even though this book and series even though its horribly written. I blame the writing on the fact that its a translation into English.
I love this book and series even though it rambles. I don't care, I loved this book and the series. I love this book because its interesting. The characters are compelling.
The settin I loved this series of books as it had all a lot of my buttons: Raw, Dystopian future, Romance, Gay Relationships, intrigue, artificial intelligence, and it makes you think. I love it even though this book and series even though its horribly written. I blame the writing on the fact that its a translation into English.
I love this book and series even though it rambles. I don't care, I loved this book and the series. I love this book because its interesting. The characters are compelling. The setting is awesome. Did I mention that I love this series?
That I read the books quickly and was very disappointed that I was done so fast. I love this series even though the ending was not the ending I would have written. But the series ending was perfect for the story.
Did I mention how much I loved this series? I really loved this series. Read the books before you watch the movie. The movie is much more concise.
I'm undecided about the written work (this particular edition). Many years ago I'd actually found the original novel and purchased it. But it never arrived. The book was lost somewhere between Australia and Canada. Having said that, I don't want anyone to think that I don't like Ai no Kusabi because believe me, I do.
This yaoi is my all time favourite! The original OVA is absolutely gorgeous and the reason I became addicted to yaoi in the first place. The story is awesome and it has all the righ I'm undecided about the written work (this particular edition). Many years ago I'd actually found the original novel and purchased it. But it never arrived. The book was lost somewhere between Australia and Canada. Having said that, I don't want anyone to think that I don't like Ai no Kusabi because believe me, I do.
This yaoi is my all time favourite! The original OVA is absolutely gorgeous and the reason I became addicted to yaoi in the first place. The story is awesome and it has all the right elements a really good yaoi should have - a chance meeting between two men who instantly feel for one another, but because of status differences they can't show it. One is in denial and other is driven purely by desire.
Basically a stormy relationship built on a foundation of angst, passion and epic love scenes. If you read the book(s) I recommend you watch the original OVA. I believe it was issued in 1992.
Okay so, Ai No Kusabi is one of those popular yaois that we all knew about. In my case, I'd just watched the OVA years ago but I only remember the final scene (with the cigarettes). I knew there was a larger plot line involving power dynamics.
Hair color, but man, that was something. Volume one graciously opens the series with a super hot chapter, then spends the rest of the novel giving backstory and developing the world as-is. I don't generally care for gangfight type storyl Well then. Okay so, Ai No Kusabi is one of those popular yaois that we all knew about. In my case, I'd just watched the OVA years ago but I only remember the final scene (with the cigarettes).
I knew there was a larger plot line involving power dynamics. Hair color, but man, that was something. Volume one graciously opens the series with a super hot chapter, then spends the rest of the novel giving backstory and developing the world as-is. I don't generally care for gangfight type storylines and the translation (or the way the author writes) is odd, but I'm thrilled about reading a yaoi that cares enough to have such an elaborate backstory. I'm also super curious about the original.
I'm curious about a lot of things. I'm going to go ahead and crack volume two, meanwhile hoping the third volume will find its way to me.
I’m not sure why this book is so heralded. I guess maybe because the anime supposedly got yaoi into the US? Anyway, the first chapter is extremely intriguing but not at all representative of the rest of the book. The world is interesting, but nothing happens.
That can be OK with me if we at least get good character development, but that’s not the case either. Part of the problem is this isn’t really focused on one or two or even three or four characters, but constantly and inconsistently head ho I’m not sure why this book is so heralded. I guess maybe because the anime supposedly got yaoi into the US?
Anyway, the first chapter is extremely intriguing but not at all representative of the rest of the book. The world is interesting, but nothing happens. That can be OK with me if we at least get good character development, but that’s not the case either.
Part of the problem is this isn’t really focused on one or two or even three or four characters, but constantly and inconsistently head hops. Most of the time you don’t even know who’s talking (saying what lines of dialogue). Supposedly the slums are a “dog eat dog” world, but very little actually happens despite this. It’s mostly guys sitting around talking.
It’s never specified HOW the people in the slums get money or food, for instance. It reminds me a lot of “Durarara!” In the sense that it’s about everyone in the underbelly and it’s pretty confusing. But it doesn’t have the “hook” that novel/anime does, because we already know what happened to Rika during his “lost” years, more or less. The writing is also very awkward, but I suspect a lot of that falls on the translation. It uses British English slang, but it comes off as clunky, as if the translator didn’t really have any idea how these uneducated people actually would speak.
But maybe the fault is in the source material. I don’t know. But that certainly didn’t help.
Honestly, I’m not motivated to keep reading the series. Maybe I’m being unfair bc this is only one volume out of eight, but there are a lot better things out there better worth my time. I’m just glad I didn’t pay for this (especially because a copy of the first volume goes for $100+).
Definitely not recommended, though I am intrigued to check out the anime. I love the story, it's a classic. The first book might be a little confusing and slow, this is the kind of series that you have to read till the end. The characters' feelings are described amazingly.
However, one of the reasons why the story is so good is because of Yoshiwara's writing style, which is carefully thought, touching and flows in nice pace. The translator ruined this! I am really mad, because I had to PAY for this shit! Luckily I got Japanese ones also. So all my stars go for Yoshiwar I love the story, it's a classic. The first book might be a little confusing and slow, this is the kind of series that you have to read till the end.
The characters' feelings are described amazingly. However, one of the reasons why the story is so good is because of Yoshiwara's writing style, which is carefully thought, touching and flows in nice pace. The translator ruined this! I am really mad, because I had to PAY for this shit!
Luckily I got Japanese ones also. So all my stars go for Yoshiwara-sensei. Translator should be shamed. Reading this was just painful and confusing, and I doubt any new reader was able to get into the series, which is shame. For example, there is this scene where the members of Bison are talking about Riki and Guy and then there is this sentence about there not been any sign of 'Yori returing'. Actually, they were using a verb, 'yori wo modosu' = 'getting back together'. So there is no Yori, they are just saying that there is no sign of Guy and Riki getting back together.
The writing till that had been terrible but at this point I fully realized the level of the translator. I would be much more understanding if people were not expected to PAY for this. And in my country, this was 14 euro at the time. So, yeah, I might be harsh but this is not the level of professionalism that I expect when something is published and sold. I hope that the series are translated and published again by someone who cares.
'Such were the unpalatable fruits of hopelessness, the painful spasms of self-contempt, and on top of that, the dark clouds of madness gathering in the lower depths of despair.' That about nails it! Look, unless you're not only comfortable with the (very) old-school conventions of the yaoi genre but actively enjoy them I can't recommend this to anyone. That said, it's absolutely arresting, and I couldn't put all 8 volumes down even when my eyes were burning with fatigue. The thing is, it's brilli 'Such were the unpalatable fruits of hopelessness, the painful spasms of self-contempt, and on top of that, the dark clouds of madness gathering in the lower depths of despair.'
That about nails it! Look, unless you're not only comfortable with the (very) old-school conventions of the yaoi genre but actively enjoy them I can't recommend this to anyone. That said, it's absolutely arresting, and I couldn't put all 8 volumes down even when my eyes were burning with fatigue. The thing is, it's brilliant science fiction with a yaoi foundation. It reminded me so much of Heinlein's, which I re-read earlier this year. There much that is problematic in Stranger but it remains utterly engaging science fiction.
That, for me, is true of Ai no Kusabi. The author confronts race, gender, inequality, poverty, classism, a caste society, sexual abuse, survivorship, self-sacrifice, cyborgian evolution, and transhumanism. And is unremittingly brutal in doing so.
It's slathered in purple prose, which I suspect is from the original in Japanese. And I'm not joking about the classic yaoi whumping tropes.
I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to get when I finally read the novels, but I was thoroughly enchanted. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,.I don't know where to reach the author so I'm using this website to write my reviews for this novel.
Dear Author, I really hate this book(CONTAINED SPOILERS!!!!!!). How could you do this to us, I really wish you could have given them a very longer life.
Do you know of the feeling you get when you realized that everything finally make sense? Well, for Riki its like that except he can't make more memories, or be in people's heart because of ones' reckless move. What Im trying to say is that you co.I don't know where to reach the author so I'm using this website to write my reviews for this novel. Dear Author, I really hate this book(CONTAINED SPOILERS!!!!!!).
How could you do this to us, I really wish you could have given them a very longer life. Do you know of the feeling you get when you realized that everything finally make sense? Well, for Riki its like that except he can't make more memories, or be in people's heart because of ones' reckless move. What Im trying to say is that you could have made Iason super strong in that last moments and made it out ALIVE WITH NO CUT, I MEAN NO CUT FROM WAIST TO FEET!!!!!!! When I read that last part it take me TWO, TWO!!!!!! Years to finally say it's for the best. But the novel is a really good read and I really love all of your work, so I might be very biased in here(although most of your works are kind of, I mean very bittersweet).
Thank you so much for all the work you put into these books, and I hope the next time you write a story that it would be unrealistic(unexplained strength) and realistic(people usually have a happy ending once in their lifetime) at the same time. Thank you very much:). Probably my favourite yaoi of all time. I love the anime and I love the books. The only thing I DON'T love about the books is the ridiculously expensive price of them, for such short novels to boot. But the mind of Rieko Yoshihara is intense, complex, and utterly riveting. These books have also been translated from their original language, Japanese, so you might notice a few aspects that seem slightly.
Off, but it doesn't deter you. Included in the books are intermittent illustrations, a map, a Probably my favourite yaoi of all time.
I love the anime and I love the books. The only thing I DON'T love about the books is the ridiculously expensive price of them, for such short novels to boot. But the mind of Rieko Yoshihara is intense, complex, and utterly riveting. These books have also been translated from their original language, Japanese, so you might notice a few aspects that seem slightly. Off, but it doesn't deter you.
Included in the books are intermittent illustrations, a map, and sex that leaves you wanting more! This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, Let me preface this with the fact I know the anime and I’ve been told that the novels get better as they go. Good thing since this one is just a hot mess. There is so much wrong with volume one it’s hard to know where to begin. I came into this knowing it was dub con, BDSM and sexual slavery. I knew who Iason and Riki were and what they meant to each other because from book one, I would have no clue what was going on otherwise.
A bit of context. These novels were first serialized in Shousetsu Ju Let me preface this with the fact I know the anime and I’ve been told that the novels get better as they go. Good thing since this one is just a hot mess.
There is so much wrong with volume one it’s hard to know where to begin. I came into this knowing it was dub con, BDSM and sexual slavery.
I knew who Iason and Riki were and what they meant to each other because from book one, I would have no clue what was going on otherwise. A bit of context. These novels were first serialized in Shousetsu June back in the 1980’s before being collected.
That explains the terrible choppiness of the text. But think about that date, this is practically first gen Boys’ Love stuff coming out of Japan and how dark it is, is surprising for this time period. But the first complaint is translators need to understand that you can’t just translate. Sometimes you need a little bit of poetic license because my god, the direct translation is either ridiculous in English or nonsensical and there is plenty of that.
I could be wrong. Maybe it’s just as purple of prose in the native Japanese. Mostly it wasn’t erotic. It was just laughable. It reminds me of erotic fanfic by a young, unpracticed but enthusiastic fan. And outside of chapter one there isn’t really any sex and even that was mostly alluded to or fingering.
And without seeing the anime first you might get a clue the young man being bound down and sexually tortured by some device is Riki but you’d have no way of know who his master is until the end of the book. Basic plot, Riki, the fifteen year old head of Bison, the Ceres slum’s top gang, disappears and the book picks up three years later when he mysteriously returns and his lover, Guy, takes him back in. At this point, Bison is a shdow of its former self.
The Jeeks gang is in power and within Bison, a young buck, Kirie is trying to be the head but he’s mostly an over eager brat (whom the members think was a lot like Riki used to be). For that matter, Riki is a shadow of his former self, no longer outgoing and bold. No one, not even Guy knows why. Frankly you’re not really going to find out in this volume.
Another huge complaint beyond the questionable translation and very choppy sentence structures and plot, is the info dumping. There is just so much of it. But basically Midas is where the rich live, Ceres is the slum. Hair color and genetic engineering is important. It tells everyone where you are in society and freaky colors like blue are in the mix.
Riki is a dark haired slum mutt. Iason Mink is the top of the top, a Blondy, genetically engineered for perfection. Iason only makes a brief appearance beyond chapter one. Also there is a huge sexual imbalance.
There are almost no women in the slums and women are elsewhere (but you get the idea that it’s for breeding purposes). This explains why literally everyone in these gangs are gay. It’s like you take a man or you take your hand.
You’re not getting a woman in the slums. Also there is a sexual trade, the Pets, some are chimeras, human and something else. Others are the Academy Pets, perfect men and women who’ll be bought by the Blondies and whoever else can afford them. There are also androids renting people (Kirie starts making money pimping for them). I have no idea why androids are horny. The two biggest things that happen, besides Riki’s return as a flat personality with no joy in him (showing some classic signs of PTSD) is Kirie making them go to the pet show and the gang battle which happens off screen.
Oh and another member of Bison trying to get up a rape gang session for Riki that goes nowhere then it just trails off. This could have been trimmed completely and put together with volume two and maybe it would be better. That said, this is a BL classic that hangs around.
Maybe the others are right, it gets better with volume 2. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, Ai No Kusabi is a classic in Japanese boys love.
These light novels were first serialized in a magazine in the 80s. It's a dark tale of class differences, sexual slavery and BDSM which the dub-con submissive being of questionably young age.
My problem with this is the translations are stiff and at some points so badly worded in English I don't know why the translators didn't rework it into something maybe less directly translated but made more sense in the language. It's also chocked full of long Ai No Kusabi is a classic in Japanese boys love. These light novels were first serialized in a magazine in the 80s. It's a dark tale of class differences, sexual slavery and BDSM which the dub-con submissive being of questionably young age. My problem with this is the translations are stiff and at some points so badly worded in English I don't know why the translators didn't rework it into something maybe less directly translated but made more sense in the language.
It's also chocked full of long boring exposition and it's very choppy. Frankly the opening prologue and the last fifty pages are about the only thing that move the story along. Many have said it gets better as it goes. I would have been lost if I hadn't seen both versions of the anime. Go find those first (trust me, they're out there though I'm loathed to point anyone to stolen materials up on youtube. The newer version is for sale on Amazon). Japanese author and a key creator of the homoerotic subgenre known in Japan as shōnen ai 'boys' love'.
Yoshihara spent the first three years of her career writing straightforward homoerotic romance, before stumbling into sf, seemingly by accident, with the success of her signature work Ai no Kusabi (December 1986-October 1987 Shōsetsu June; 1990; trans as The Space Between 2007-2008 see Checkli Japanese author and a key creator of the homoerotic subgenre known in Japan as shōnen ai 'boys' love'. Yoshihara spent the first three years of her career writing straightforward homoerotic romance, before stumbling into sf, seemingly by accident, with the success of her signature work Ai no Kusabi (December 1986-October 1987 Shōsetsu June; 1990; trans as The Space Between 2007-2008 see Checklist for details).
Originally published in book form as a single hardback novel, it was later reissued as a six-part series, from which the English translation was made. Yoshihara's work is strongly redolent of the sexually-charged mysteries of Ranpo Edogawa, and shares many overt themes with the controversial sf of Shōzō Numa. However, it reached an entirely different audience, one largely unaware of these precursors. The world of Ai no Kusabi is divided by decree into classes defined by Genetic Engineering as signalled by the hair colour of the blond rulers and their black-haired subjects. The Blondies are forbidden from sexual intercourse, but often keep members of the dark-haired underclass for use as 'pets' and 'furniture'. In an attempt to curtail Overpopulation, no more than 10% of births may be female, effectively rendering the milieu as an all-male environment, as opposed to the female Keep of Yoshihara's contemporary Yumi Matsuo.
In a sense, Yoshihara's work is an extreme comment on Women in SF, by excluding them almost entirely from a narrative of intense homoerotic relationships and macho vendettas. In depicting abusive relationships between men, in a world from which women are removed or somehow distanced, she tapped into an unexpectedly large subsection of female fandom. Ai no Kusabi found a passionate readership in Japan, sufficient to secure a Seiun Award for its illustrator Katsumi Michihara, although not for its author. The series has twice been adapted into anime, as a two-part video in 1992 and on DVD in 2012; there have also been CD dramas in the style of Radio plays, as well as a Manga edition. Long before its licensed translation in the twenty-first century, it gained a similarly passionate fan following at the periphery of US anime fandom, often among viewers who were forced to guess at the Japanese plot. In its romanticizing of both abstinence and abuse, it can be seen as a forerunner of certain subsets of twenty-first century fantasy, particularly the depiction of Vampires typified by Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.
Ai no Kusabi was the subject of a prolonged fan translation project, the results of which are often at odds with the output of the legal English-language publication. This is a feature of the sheer fanaticism of Fandom, but also of the many difficulties facing a translator of its complex, multi-layered situations. Even the title encompasses a multiplicity of meanings, with 'The Space Between' in Japanese also a pun on 'Bonds of Love', 'Wedge of Interval' and numerous other possible readings. Moreover, some of Yoshihara's editions offer a decorative English-language subtitle on the Japanese cover, even though her English-language title is often an inexact or counter-intuitive rendering of the actual Japanese. Such fogging of meaning is commonplace in modern Japanese sf, but plays havoc with encyclopedia listings ( Hisashi Kuroma). Although hardly one of the Mainstream Writers of SF, Yoshihara shares many of their concerns, being primarily an author in one genre (her mundane homosexual romances are largely unlisted here), who only occasionally dabbles in Fantastika. Several of her other books touch on otherworldly themes.
Kage no Kan 'House of Shadows' (1994) eroticizes the relationship between Lucifer and his sworn enemy, the archangel Michael. Although not listed as a sequel per se, the following year's Satan no Fūin 'Seal of Satan' (1995), shares an illustrator, as well as an apparent continuation of the story as Lucifer lives out his exile on Earth ( Gods and Demons).