#Ai no Kusabi (2012)

[envy-and-pride]

Ai no Kusabi - “The man”

The phrase “the man” is constantly used in Ai no Kusabi, especially at the start, by Riki to refer to Iason.

“The man:” as an expression is wonderful and subtle.

It implies how much significance the bearer of this appellation has in your world (psyche), but because the bond is so detestable, you need a moniker that implies distance.

In this word, you see the impact of "Iason" on "Riki", and how unbearable that is to him. It is the truth he hides from himself, with so convenient a word. Never his name.

[fgcz]

Ai no Kusabi X WangXian crossover?

I feel like it might work.

[sitp-recs]

Anime Recs Pt 3

Hello hello! I’ve been sick on and off this month and had a blast revisiting my fave anime for this rec series. Following the queer friendly list and the sports anime list, I finally bring a selection of BL (boys love) titles. Most are Japanese 🇯🇵 except for Mignon 🇰🇷 and Tian Guan Ci Fu 🇨🇳 I’m not gonna lie, there’s a fair amount of adult themes and hardcore angst here, but you’ll also find sweet romance and a couple coming-of-age stories. One of my favorites from this list - Ai No Kusabi - is an old classic (I recommend the 1992 OVA series over the 2012 remake) and the quality is not the best, but all other shows are pretty recent and can be found online or on Crunchyroll. I initially planned for this to be my third and final rec list, but I got a few additional recs in the action/fantasy genre for a potential new list, if anyone’s interested? Stay tuned!

1. Ai no Kusabi (dystopian, tragedy)

Summary: This futuristic tale is set in a world ruled by a super computer Jupiter, where its cyborg creations, the Elites, rule over the human populace. Iason Mink, a high-class "Blondy" elite from the capital runs into Riki, a "Mongrel" from the slums, and makes him his "Pet". As Riki learns of the dangers Iason faces by keeping him, he finds himself developing feelings for his master.

2. Banana Fish (mafia, tragedy)

Summary: Set primarily in New York City in the 1980s, the series follows street gang leader Ash Lynx as he uncovers a criminal conspiracy involving "banana fish", a mysterious drug that brainwashes its users. In the course of his investigation he encounters Eiji Okumura, a Japanese photographer's assistant with whom he forms a close bond.

3. Doukyuusei (movie - school, romance)

Summary: Rihito Sajo, an honor student with a perfect score on the entrance exam and Hikaru Kusakabe, in a band and popular among girls, would have never crossed paths. Until one day they started talking at the practice for their school’s upcoming chorus festival.

4. Given (school, music)

Summary: High schooler Ritsuka Uenoyama is the guitarist for a band composed of himself, bassist Haruki Nakayama, and drummer Akihiko Kaji. He becomes a reluctant guitar teacher to Mafuyu Satō, a shy classmate, after repairing the broken strings on Mafuyu's Gibson ES-330. See also: Given movie.

5. Mignon (short series - vampire romance + the hottest smut you’ll see today!!!!🥵)

Summary: Centered on BL Vampire themes, the story portrays Mignon, an underground fighter in love with his doctor, who is coincidentally a vampire. The doctor's revelation triggers complications as their relationship unfolds.

6. Saezuru Tori Wa Habatakanai | Twittering Birds Never Fly (movie - mafia, drama)

Summary: The sexually masochistic yakuza boss, Yashiro, isn't the type to warm up to others easily. But when Chikara Doumeki, his newly hired bodyguard, catches his interest, he reconsiders his "hands-off" policy with subordinates. See also the side story: Don’t Stay Gold.

7. Sasaki and Miyano (school, romance)

Summary: Shy and easily flustered Miyano harbors an embarrassing secret - he is a "fudanshi", a boy who likes boys' love manga. Intrigued, the clueless delinquent Sasaki requests to borrow one, marking a shift in their strange dynamic.

8. Tiān Guān Cì Fú | Heaven’s Official Blessing (romance)

Summary: Crown Prince Xie Lian ascends to the heavens for the third time as the laughing stock among all three realms. On his first task, he meets a mysterious ghost who rules the ghosts and terrifies the heavens, yet, unbeknownst to Xie Lian, this ghost king has been paying attention to him for a very, very long time.

9. Umibe No Étranger (movie - romance)

Summary: On an island off the coast of Okinawa, two young men meet on a beach. Shun Hashimoto is gay and aspires to be a novelist. He is interested in Mio Chibana, a somber high school student, and starts to flirt with him. Day by day, the two of them grow closer, but then, suddenly, Mio decides to leave the island.

10. Yuri!!! On ICE (sports, romance)

Summary: Japanese figure skater Yuri Katsuki faces a crushing defeat during the Grand Prix finals and heads home, unsure of whether or not he wishes to continue his skating career. After a video of Yuri mimicking Russian figure skater Victor Nikiforov's routine goes viral, Victor decided to become Yuri's coach, much to the dismay of his coach, his fans, and his fellow Russian skater Yuri Plisetsky.

[the-stray-liger]

decided to sit down to watch the 2012 version of Ai no Kusabi and honestly enjoying it so far

[riots-r]

Pregunta sería; ¿cuáles fueron tus motivos e inspiraciones para hacer todo un video sobre un yaoi viejo así de la nada?

🎤

JAJAJA gracias por la pregunta 🫂💖💖💖💐

Realmente soy muy fan del genero del cyberpunk y el como se ve en los animes y series viejas , como Akira , Wiked city y Spicy city , entonces recordé que yo hace años mire Ai no Kusabi y recordaba esa misma estética en el anime , ví las Ovas viejas y me gustó , pensé que estaba bien interesante el concepto y de la nada me salta la ova del 2012 y me quedé tipo WTF PORQUE ESTO SE VE TAN BIEN

Me gustaron muchos los visuales y crei que era un tema lo suficientemente random eh interesante para mí jsjdjf simplemente me dió algo y entre en locura jdjgj

Me quedé corta en cuanto a lo que quería decir lastimosamente pero tal vez algún día haga un vídeo hablando bien de las Ovas de 2012 porque hay mucho para decir jsj

[tsunflowers]

did I watch the 2012 ai no kusabi remake? yes. but. that was ten years ago and you can consider the me of that time to be a mere caterpillar while the me of today is a beautiful butterfly who has lost all memory of that previous life and doesnt watch bad yaoi ovas

[holy-cucumber01]

Ai no Kusabi

Genre : drama, yaoi, romance, sci-fi

Category : OVA

Episodes : 2 duration 60 min, (Ai no Kusabi (2012)) 4 duration 25 min

[thewasandshouldbeking]

// When you start watching a kinky yaoi anime and *swear* you’ve heard that smug mother fucker’s voice somewhere else before... Oh, HI Rufus!! XD

[curestardust]

if you want: boi this is some Grade A yaoi dom/sub shit > this is a review of both the 1992 and the 2012 versions

So upon seeing this anime in my PTW i was thoroughly confused. I like yaoi from time to time but I don’t actively look for it. Then I suddenly remembered; one of my friends in like 8th grade was bugging me constantly to watch this because it’s “so HOT NGHNGHGH”. Well Fruzsi it’s been like 7 years now but I finally watched it!

The story is set in some futuristic world in another planet. The society is ruled by machines and the Blondies that were created by them (I think, I actually read this part on wikipedia). There’s a district where men with no official government identifiaction live and they’re called “mongrels” and are considered the lowest of the low.

In this society the Blondies keep certain humans as pets and furnitures (basically sex slaves and worker slaves). Our main character Riki is a mongrel and has a run in with a Blondie. NSFW things happen and Riki becomes the Blondie’s (Iason’s) pet for 3 years after which he is allowed to go back to the Slums for a year.

So let me begin with the original 1992 version. The animation and art are as you would expect from anime from this time. The Slums are mostly dark with vivid colours giving the neon and futuristic feel. Tanagura (the “capital”) is mainly shades of white to give the feeling of purity and perfectionism. The characters are wonky however. Actually good character designs basically stop at the 3-4 main characters with secondary characters basically being indistinguishable. 

Just like the colours, the music also plays a big role. The lack of background music can actually be distracting at times but the anime only uses tracks when it really wants to give another layer to the events happening on screen. Voice acting is decent but with more emotional scenes some of the performances were uhhh....unintentionally funny.

The pacing is off. The 1992 version consists of 2 almost 1 hour long episodes. In the first one we join in at the time when Riki is let back into the Slums by Iason and we follow him in the present. Then the second one is divided between flashbacks and advancing towards the ending. You’d think that Ai no Kusabi would be giving you steaming hot yaoi action but in reality there’s barely any NSFW content in the first episode; the majority of it is spent by fleshing out the world.

While quite a lot happens, the character development is lackluster. The anime feels more like just events happening after each other because the plot demands it and not because of a natural flow of the characters actions.

The 2012 version is an improvement in certain areas and a downgrade in others. The most glaring change is obviously the art and animation. It’s GORGEOUS. Not only is the animation fluid but the character designs of the secondary characters got a huge haul-over. They no longer look like clones of each other but like they have their own character. They went to extreme length with this; even the facial structure of characters were completely different.

Somewhat of a downgrade would be the music which is...fine. Just fine. The OST sounds like it came off of “free-copyright-music.net”. 

The 2012 version consists of 4 25 minute episodes. It is much slower than the original version and goes much more in depth on the story. It also doesn’t have an ending....yep. As it turns out this was supposed to be 12 OVAs long but they discontinued it due to financial reasons (seems like creating HQ sex scenes dries up money fast).

It is dissapointing as I was just getting into the groove of it by episode 4 and then just bamm, it’s over. Oh and one thing to mention; in one of the episodes there’s just a random conversation in which Riki tells his age and he says that he is 15...UMMM??? SO i know that the Blondies don’t really have ages or whatever but this made me immENSELY uncomfortable so I’m just choosing to think that Riki has been like 18-20 when the story starts, alright? Alright.

SOOOOO...I don’t really know what else to say. You like yaoi and this dom/sub slave whatever fetish thing you’ll probably enjoy this? It is unfinished...but the episodes made are still great quality and there’s always the manga? [6/10] (x) [6/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

if you want: something really edgy that doesn’t have a purpose besides being edgy

Mahu Shoujo Site is godawful.

This “dark magical girls” trope is starting to get on my nerves. They usually have no point besides giving enjoyment to sick fucks who enjoy seeing little girls in horrible situations. Oh and also to the people who think “dark, depressing and gorey = d e ep”.

So, I obviously caught notice of this the first time I saw it as I’m always interested in magical girl stuff. And if you’ve read my previous reviews you know that this usually doesn’t go very well. Anyway, even from the summary I knew that this was going to be edgy but how much? Well I read the first review on MAL on it and lowkey scarred me into ignoring this anime. In the end, curiosity won out and I really wanted to see how much of a trainwreck MSS actually was.

I feel like a summary of the first episode would scare a lot of people away as it shows a lot of really cruel stuff that many people are sensitive to. Which would be: the apparent murder of a kitten to fuck with main character (not actually shown), the main character getting severely bullied and beaten at school by 3 of her classmates, her big brother tying her up and beating her (and punching her in the stomach) at home and at the very end some dude almost rapes her. Oh and the main character is like some 14yo little girl.

Whew. Ticks off all the “ew wtf” boxes, doesn’t it? Well rest assured the anime NEVER goes into this level of cruelty again. There are no animals in the anime after episode one. *Spoilers* happen to the bullies which also mostly takes them out of the picture after episode 2 and our main character is barely home or if she is then she is with friends which makes his brother unable to beat her. 

All this was just used to show how “unfortunate” she is so that she will be made into a magical girl as in MSS only girls who have had to deal with a lot of pain are eligible to become magical girls. OOOO edgy.

Then they have their weapons which are stupidly all named “sticks” even though they can be whatever (gun, phone, yoyo, panties...). And speaking of sticks, using them eats up the girls’ life forces...OOOO edgy. Have I mentioned that whenever they “transform” they HAVE to bleed from somewhere? Like eyes, nose, head...OOOOOOOOO edgy!!!!

We’ve a main cast of characters who get some personality but then we’re introduced to a second set of characters who literally have one personality trait each, plus their powers which makes me give approximately 0 fucks about whether they live or die.

The animation is quite poor, the OST is unremarkable and they seem to use the same 3 tracks in every episode (the OP and ED songs are bangers however) and the voice acting also leaves much to be desired but the VA’s did as much with the script as they could. 

The worst part is that the anime kinds of ends on a cliffhanger. Even from the opening I was expecting some grand battle but nope. There’s a plot twist which made me go “HMM” but that’s about it. So you sit through this shitfest and don’t even get a proper conclusion. Any enjoyment you could take away from this is seeing just how much bullshit they can put into these 12 episodes.

The characters you can grow to care for. Mostly because they’re SET UP to be pitied and babied, but my thought regarding them is “you didn’t deserve to be in this pile of garbage of an anime”. (x) [2/10]

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

[junekusabi]

Since when have you been a fan of "ai no kusabi"? 　　I would be happy if you could tell me how you came to like it! 😆

Thanks for the question, anon! Here's my fannish history:

I first got into bishounen around 2009, which eventually led me to yaoi, and it was scouring the Aarinfantasy forums about a year later that I came across Ai no Kusabi the OVA. It was love at first sight. I still remember the shell shock of seeing it end. And needing to watch it again to confirm that it had truly gone down that way, that it hadn't been some cruel joke of an ending. :)) I couldn't cope, but also couldn't get over how good of a story it was. So I went back and rewatched it many, many times, often alone, sometimes with friends.

I don't remember a whole lot of my early time as a fan, but back then the official English translations were still in circulation--I just had no way of getting them. I found this one fansite instead, and read a translation of the story, which helped me learn more about the world of Ai no Kusabi and add a frame of reference to some of the things I didn't understand in the anime. There was a lot of missing context in English-speaking fandom spaces at the time as a large portion of Ai no Kusabi's path from story in a magazine to a published novel to an OVA/remake remained relatively unknown.

Around the time they started advertising the 2012 remake, I dipped back into fandom. I was amazed and delighted this work that had left such a strong impression was getting a rehashing, and I was committed to finding the original translated novels to read. A couple friends from abroad helped me get the first 3 volumes in English.

Then, browsing fan collections in 2015, I came upon some, at the time to me, obscure AnK items (like the June compilation of RY's works), and this discovery inspired me to dig through years of posts on LiveJournal and other sites for more information on everything that made Ai no Kusabi: novels, translations, anime, June magazines etc. There was a lot to uncover, and the more I learned about its history, the more I liked it. It was exhilarating to find out the part AnK played in the making of yaoi/BL, the way it defined an entire subculture of works and fanworks, and everything (symbolic) it embodied that made it so compelling and memorable.

I ended up making a list of items I wanted to collect to gain better understanding of AnK as a whole, and bring the history and trajectory of it closer to other fans by scanning these materials. As I don't speak or read Japanese, and had a really hard time making sense of the AnK timeline, my goal has largely been to compile June content related to this series so that fans across the globe have the complete picture as well as the ability to access and reference AnK materials.

Although at this point my archiving work has slowed down significantly, Ai no Kusabi remains my North Star.

TL;DR: I've loved Ai no Kusabi since 2010. I love the tragedy of it, the fan culture it embodies, and the enigma of its path that we're still uncovering 36 years later.

[fgcz]

I think I prefer the old Ai no Kusabi over the new one.

Though I very much like the quality and style upgrade of the animation as compared to the old release.

I don't know how either version holds up compared to the novel but I can't get over the stuff they cut out in the new version. Like Iason pretty much admitting to Raoul he's in love with Riki.

EDIT

I've looked it up and apparently the new version is much more true to the novel!

[darkmisstressofunknown]

2020 Year in Review

Rules: answer some questions about 2020 and tag some people!

Tagged by @imaginetonprincecharmant thank you so much and again happy new year to you as well ♥♥ !

Better late then never I guess!

Top Five Films you watched in 2020:

1. Pride and Prejudice (2005)

2. The Crow (1994)

3. The Crow: City of Angels (1996)

4. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

5. John Wick series

Top Five TV Shows in 2020:

1. Supernatural disregarding the last 2 episodes because they do not exist in this house.

2. Attack on Titan re-watched it before the final season started not sure if I am going to watch it yet.

3. Fated to Love You (2014)

4. Eternal Love - Three Lives Three Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (2017)

5. Ai No Kusabi (1992 & 1994) (2012)

Top Five Songs/Albums of 2020:

1. Radio Company - Vol.1

2. Eminem - Music to Be Murdered By: Side B

3. Elvis Presley - Can’t Help Falling in Love

4. My Chemical Romance - The Light Behind Your Eyes

5. The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody

Top Five Books I read in 2020:

Actually I didn’t read any books this year I did buy several but did not read any mainly read fics on Ao3.

Top Five Fan-fictions of 2020:

1. Crossing Boundaries for You - SasuNarufan13 (SasukexNaruto Mpreg story) hurts really good re-read this bad boy so many times last year.

2. Eucalyptus - xHaruka17x (Destiel Alpha DeanxOmega Castiel Mpreg story) hurts like a son of bitch one of my fav def re-read a lot last year

3. Undercover Boyfriend - CassondraWinchester (Destiel Alpha DeanxOmega Cas) re-read this one a lot too one of my fav         

4. Barren Lands to Fertile Fields - wistering (Thorki Top ThorxBottom Loki Post Avengers IW Part 1 Hints of Mpreg) I know its not everyone cup of tea this couple but that’s fine I’m just posting what is one of my fav              

5. Phenomena - AvyTan (Eruri Alpha ErwinxOmega Levi Mpreg story) One of my fav as well def re-read a lot last year too             

Five good/positive things that happened to you in 2020:

1. Actually I had a very difficult year last year and my health got more complicated then its been in the past. So the only good thing that I got out of it was I finally got health insurance after years of not having it this January 1st. So I will finally be able to seek the medical treatment and help I require. And amidst the new underlying health issues I have been dealing with on top of the regular ones I’ve had I still continued being in school and still passing. My GPA actually is getting higher and higher despite my failing health.

2. Though my health was getting worse my family has continued being there for me, supported me and helped me out so that’s a positive. And although I may not have friends irl other then online it certainly helped a lot being able to connect with them and talk about the things we have in common and love.

3. Family and I got a new puppy after losing our first dog she lived over 17 years a good and happy long life she passed away in her sleep surrounded by the family. We still have her 2 remaining sisters that have certainly helped and now the puppy.

Tagging and wishing Happy New Year 2021 with a lot of happiness, health, success and prosperity to : @navajolovesdestiel @diminuel @xharuka17x @spnsmile @ladyvaderpixetc @galaxycastiel @celestialcastiel @psyleedee @caslikescoffeeandfreckles​ and anyone who has a eaten breakfast go ahead and feel free to participate.

Thank you all for this lovely year we spent on tumblr ♥ 2020 together here’s to building more great memories on this site!

[wingedauthor]

That feel when you realize it's been 5 years now since the Ai No Kusabi remake.

And so far it looks like there's no plans to continue it.

[iason-mink]

"What kind of princess are you?"

[rosydolly]

Huh I guess I'm gonna watch the 2012 ai no kusabi sometime.. like I'm sure I've said before that I don't actually watch hentai/yaoi/yuri n all that but that was a good ova. (I watched the 92/94 one) And there weren't any visible dicks or anything like that so that's good. It was pretty censored in the way that they just didn't show anything like that except ass and implied off screen shit. ALSO if you're into gloves you will like it:)))))

Though the 2012 one looks like it's more graphic? So idk, if that makes you uncomfortable I probably would skip that one.

[ilitiaforever]

Hi there, I just wanted to know if you're familiar with the BL OVA called Ai no Kusabi, I highly recommend it, there's a 1993 version and a 2012 adaption but sadly the 2012 adaption was never completed so I recommend the 1993 version, I hope you check it out.

Hello, I know a little about that ova, thank you very much for the recommendation.