Ai no Kusabi

I have just a few seconds ago finished watching Ai no Kusabi, but I think I will remain breathless for quite a while.

I was expecting a not too heavy yaoi story involving hot boys in chains, but I got so much more. The story is pretty intense to sit through but its worth it. It has characters whom you actually feel for and a story that fits the old adage of leaving you wanting more.

By the end I was quite taken aback at how good the story was, don't mistake it for a shallow or superficial anime, at its core this ... is one of the best love stories I've ever seen. Regardless of gender, genre, live action/animation, the story has enough integrity to hold its own as a love story.

The art is very earlier nineties style so its a bit nostalgic but if thats not your thing, try to see past it for the sake of the story.

It's a little slow starting but give it a chance, there are some very hot scenes in this short anime & I'd recommend it to anyone who's willing to watch it.

I am now looking forward to seeing the remake when it comes out.

Okay, so I literally just finished watching it 5 minutes ago, I just felt this sudden urge to share my thoughts, so here it goes. But bear in mind that this is only my opinion.

I was looking through the recommendation on my Youtube channel, when I saw the latest remake of this. I tried it, but I found it...unsatisfactory. On the related video column, there was this AMV with a song twilight so I watched out of pure curiosity, and it turns out to be this version, 1992, and believe it or not, that mini video caught my interest more than the 2012 version ... of Ai No Kusabi.

Story -- Absolutely outstanding. On the AMV that I watched, they showed alot of steamy scenes, and I honestly thought it was going to be a plotless Yaoi anime filled with sex sex and sex. To my surprise it was more than that. Oh the ending...I can't even begin to describe how I felt watching the ending...it certainly irked me, to think after all they went through they would get such ending? Don't get me wrong, it was satisfactory, and I thought it fit their character because truth be told, if that ending didn't happen, they wouldn't have been able to be open about their love in public anyway because it was taboo. So I thought, although the ending was sad, and depressing, it fit perfectly.

Art-- I prefer the art in the older version, Iason Mink was much hotter in this than the latest version. But that's just a personal preference. Their character development was also very well done. On the last OVA, towards the end, when Riki asked Iason to take Guy with them, there was hesitation in latter's eyes, but he knew if he refuse, Riki's heart would only be much further to reach. And when they were on that bridge, when the world was literally shattering around them, Iason told Riki to go with Guy because he's legs had been cut off, and although Riki didn't want to leave, it seemed like he felt indebted to Guy, so he saved him, but in the end he went back to be with Iason.

Enjoyment -- I rated this 9 because on the first OVA it was a bit tedious, but also because I was crying my eyes out watching the second OVA.

Overall, I absolutely recommend this because it's an amazing Anime, and it will definitely shock you. The plot is really intense, and the ending isn't the usual 'happily ever after' which I think conveys what love really is. Not everyone get their happy ending, and even more so in that kind of society. Aside from the whole different planet thingy, I think this Anime was very realistic. I mean, not to sound racist, but in the past the white, blue eyed blonde has always been favoured more, and not just that, the world is also infested with racist scums, and those who proclaim themselves as superior compared to everyone else. To find true love, you have to look pass social status, appearance, and skin colour.

I never expected to find myself watching a yaoi like this one. Ai no Kusabi is about a separation of classes based on hair color. The blondes are in the highest class while the brunettes/black-haired are in the lowest class. The messed up society consists of "pet" auctioning which is the same as human trafficking. Blondies - so they're called - can own a "pet" which they claim by placing a "pet ring" on them. With the pets the Blondies are free to do whatever they want with them. 

The entire plot of this anime is disgusting... and yet I enjoyed it. While the show was ... pretty much about a sex slave, there wasn't THAT much sex in it. The show focused more on the plot rather than sex and I think that made the show a whole lot better. 

What I wasn't expecting was the ending, oh god that ending. I thought that after all Iason and Riki went through that the show would have ended differently. The ending touched my heart in a way that made me cry - which is unusual for a yaoi to make me feel that way. 

If you're looking for a yaoi anime that is more plot than sex then this is the one for you. 

Usually, I tend to avoid older anime because I don't really prefer the older styles of animation. After seeing the 2012 remake of this, I became curious and naturally decided to watch this next. This was just so inexplicably addicting-- this entire franchise is. In the past 24 hours, I have watched the remake, this original, and read all of the 8 original novels. To put it in simpler words, I'm hopelessly obsessed. Let's get into why.

To begin with, the story was something unique. While dystopias aren't exactly a rare genre, to have a dystopia intertwined with a tragic, twisted romance, smut, and violence ... is something new. The way this is handled is definitely different. While the time skips and such were a little confusing to me, I found myself loving the way the story played out. It was more realistic than the remake in some ways in terms of character motivation, and the worldbuilding was just as good.

For the time this was produced, the art is very well done. While the 'high tech' in this version is laughable compared to both the 2012 version and present time in general, it was still advanced for the time and it never felt cheesy or lazy. There was clear effort put into it all, and I found myself really enjoying the way it was all done.

The voice actors did a better job than I expected for the era. One of my other main problems with older anime is how terrible some of the voice actors sometimes are. While this definitely isn't across the board, I have come across far too many VAs who say everything in a flat tone that just grates on my nerves. Thankfully, there was none of this, even when voicing Iason, who I would think is a difficult character to play. The background music was entrancing and stunning as well.

The characters are where this anime really wins. Nobody in this story is entirely blameless, and everyone is bound together by this ineffable hopelessness and the need to feel SOMETHING. To some of the characters, it does not matter what this 'something' is, while others try to seek something specific and instead are met with disappointment. I enjoy how humane the characters are despite living in such a fucked up world, and especially since some of them aren't even human. I really enjoyed the dynamics between Riki and Iason as well-- while I'm not well versed in yaoi specifically, I can say that many anime romances that involve even a fraction of this violence quickly shove the main characters together and say they have fallen in love. Riki and Iason are in their own twisted version of love--- nothing about it is pure or gentle, and I love that.

All in all, I'm afraid I enjoyed this much more than I should. Many people told me that I would hate the ending, which was true. It surpassed 'bittersweet' and went straight to being a completely bitter, unsatisifying ending, which is my only real complaint.

I would recommend this if you: like pet play, are into BDSM relationships, like twisted romances that aren't really romances, don't mind old animation, liked the 2012 remake, liked the light novels, are a fan of brat bottoms

I would NOT recommend this if you: didn't enjoy the rest of this franchise, are big on consent, are put off by slight pedophilia (ages aren't discussed, but Iason is said to be immortal and in the beginning Riki is 15), can't stomach rape or violence, like real/pure romance

Have a great day everyone!

I actually watched this one blind, so I had no idea what I was getting into here or that it was a yaoi, which is definitely not something that appeals to me. With that said, I think people who aren't into yaoi would probably be able to appreciate this more than most other titles in the genre, especially those who have a taste for sci-fi and cyberpunk; it helps that the animation is often decent, and the early '90s OVA art is solid. Whatever sexual elements there are tend to be delivered quickly and it's all plot-driven. Unfortunately, to appreciate this to the fullest extent, ... you'll probably have to be into yaoi, or I suspect your appraisal will be low to middling unless you really adore the setting and themes and like obscure 1990s OVAs. While this isn't without artistic merit, it's still on the fetishy side, with a touch of cyberpunk and biker gang b-movie vibes.

Ai no Kusabi doesn't explain too much about its world directly, preferring to suggest meaning and to relay information slowly. Not unlike popular cyberpunk novelists like William Gibson, there's quite a bit of jargon: achilles, trippers, pets, furniture, blondie, mongrel, etc. You can probably guess what a few of those mean easily enough—ESPECIALLY pets and furniture—yeah, it's fetishy alright, and there's a master-slave and bondage schtick going on.

Most of the surroundings are excessively gritty. It seems every wall is textured and filled with holes and cracks. While it's difficult to have a sense for locations and the world building is pretty compressed, these seem to be the slums, where the mongrels live; they lack citizenship, often living as two-bit criminals or shopped around as pets or whatever on the blackmarket. Perhaps we're served an insular part of the world, but it feels as if this seedbed offers nothing but crime, shady bars and back alleys, and oodles of sweaty buttocks for the taking...

There's a strong contrast when it comes to the blondies that control society and are, well, blonde; and the mongrels, who have darker hair and reside at the bottom of the ladder. I'm pretty sure I noticed some blonde pets and some darker haired people of decent status, so I don't think it's a totally black and white setup, but, in a general sense, blondes are in the master relationship and brunettes and the dark-haired are in a slave relationship, and while I'm sure there are those who want to talk about class and artificial distinctions concerning genetics, this is literally just some female author's fetish, to be totally honest... The class setup of the haves and have-nots is just a theme meant to add "depth" to the BDSM play between the main and the "antagonist." There is one question that must be asked when constructing this world, which the authors probably didn't even think of, because their motto, evidently, is to never let a good fetish go to waste. Is hair dye banned and is it even feasible to do so, given the DIY methods that can be used? BOOM! World building destroyed, LOL!

I've probably made this 2-part OVA sound like the grimiest gimp suit sleaze fest, but it's actually tasteful enough for most of the running time. It has a dark, depressing mood kind of reminiscent of something like... I guess, Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together, only with the sci-fi trappings of his 2046 and the biker gang from Akira—oh, and don't forget some bondage gear... the imagery is often solid, especially some of the nocturnal scenes drenched in shadow and colored light, replete with plenty of flicked cigarette butts, long stares into the distance with monologue quickies, and characters moping around in the middle of garbage dumps for some reason.

The characters are not terribly interesting, but they sulk enough, if you're into that. I can't see anyone buying into the LOOOOVE here, which is pretty vapid and pointless, coercion aside. Blondie will sacrifice everything to be with his boy toy, but the relationship has the depth of a random encounter with a prostitute with bits of chit-chat every week. The main is basically the reluctant piece of meat who plays the tough guy and then gets drawn looking a bit feminine when he's dominated. You have the humorless, stone-faced, tall, blonde bishonen who snaps his fingers when he wants the trousers to drop, while delivering his lines with such disinterest he might as well be reading from a grocery store list. Then there's the other guy who touched the main character once upon a time and wants to touch him again, but only after they rub all the filthy blondie residue off with a bar of soap. They're basically stock yaoi characters injected with just enough "ennui" and depressive chain-smoking to not seem like complete cardboard.

Within the context of this OVA, the ending is surprisingly strong. About as emotionally impactful as a banal boy toy bonanza can get, and serviced by arresting visuals and fitting dialogue (ahem, relatively speaking). This is an OVA that ended as a satisfying and complete project, unlike the shoddier looking second adaptation of the source material that came out in 2012.

I'd say this is more in the 4-5 range, but perhaps higher if you like both sci-fi and yaoi with a dark early '90s OVA style. I'm giving it a 3 because not only do I not like yaoi, but the OVA is simply too straightforward and slow-paced and thematically a bit sterile. The art to fetish ratio leans more on the fetish side, and while this feels sort of fresh and original in a way, it's really just the same old cyberpunk themes and imagery repackaged with boys love and ball gags.

This anime so far regarded as the best yaoi anime, i have other opinion - i don`t like unequal relationship, no matter if it is heterosexual or homosexual - i prefer more light-hearted things like Krepapa, or papa to kiss in the dark, but comparing to real crap like sensitive pornograph(not offence to the ones who like it, i just mean it is not to my personal liking) it is very good, there was done great job in creating sci-fi world, also, ending is great, the only minus for me is relationship master-slave, but it is subjective minus. Also would be better if relationships of ... other characters will be shown, cause Iason and Riki - according to novelle - wasn`t the only homosexual pair there, and Kirie in novelle was showed more than just stupid brat like it was in anime, in novelle he is clever and cunning, he even was seme for some spoiled rich brat to get information out of him. Aside from unlogical actions of Iason with Riki and overall master-slave thing - it was very good, cause it was interesting what would happen there, but i don`t like both Iason and Riki that much, their way of showing love it is awkward and annoying, would be better if Rikki would return to Guy, or to find some girl, and Iason would go for Raoul, so far - Raoul and Katze are the most sympathetic characters there in my opinion

This anime was something else, I actually just discovered "yaoi" anime and this is in fact the second anime that I have seen that has to do with that term. This anime which was an ova ended up being pretty well balanced in the terms of drama, romance, and a bit of action within it. Although, I discovered the 2012 remake of this anime first, I found this one as well. And decided to watch the original anime first. Plus, I like the art style of the 1990s and early 2000s much better then today's anime especially that cel shaded crap. I really don't like ... that at all, but to each their own I suppose. I am looking forward to watching the remake. Although I am curious to know why they decided to make a remake of an anime in the first place. I enjoyed it. And I never heard of an anime being redone before. It's kind of both exciting and a mixture of they should have just let it be.

Let me first say that I am not at all sobbing my eyes out right now, nope not at all.

Secondly let me say that I originally watched Ai No Kusabi 2012 back in 2014 and thought it was amazing, though slightly confusing as I had no idea where in the time line things were happening and a lot of the back story was lost.

This version of Ai No Kusabi is definitely worth the watch. First looking at it I'm sure you'll think "oh yeah a yaoi and its BDSM, yum." And to be honest thats exactly what I thought when I first watched it. But ... this is the saddest and most painfully beautiful love story.

I'm not a huge fan of older anime usually due mostly to the animation and old style of the art, but in this I could look past that all. The soundtrack, pulled on my heart strings so hard, just hearing the song at the beginning of episode two -cries-

The story and characters are amazing in this version, you can understand everyone's feelings and why they feel the way they do, compared to the 2012 version where a lot of the emotion was left out.

I'm not gonna ramble on but I hardly give animes a 10/10 rating, due mostly because I judge a lot on soundtrack, character development, art and plot. But this <3 10/10 I'm completely obsessed. Only half way through and I was texting people to go watch it immediately.

WOW!! Such an awesome story filled with intensity, longing, love, obsession, possession, care, jealousy, and more! This ‘92 version expands upon the story of Iason, Riki, Kitze, Guy, & Raoul compared to the 2012 version and it ends the story unlike the 2012 version too.

I watched both (the 2012 first then this one) and I was super happy that I watched this one second because I got an ending, more story, and greater love scenes. If I were to have watched the 2012 second, I would have been disappointed and left on a sour note because they focused so much on the past that ... we barely saw anything in the present storyline and future events that would have happened (as depicted in this ‘92 version).

I liked the look of the characters in both ‘92 & 2012 versions but overall I’d pick this ‘92 version to rewatch 100% based on everything about it. Very good yaoi story and anime.

It tries to be all deep and meaningful, but it kinda trips over its own feet? The story, with its dystopian backdrop and themes about class differences and relationships, can feel like it's trying too hard. It's got this heavy, dramatic vibe that might be a bit much for some.
Now, where it scores some points is in the looks department. The characters have this cool, distinct design. Buuuut the characters, despite looking cool, sometimes feel a bit cardboard. The focus on their appearances kinda takes away from giving them more depth. And the relationships? Well, they can feel a bit forced, like the story's pushing ... them rather than letting them naturally unfold.
In the visuals department, this anime is doing its thing, but the storytelling could use a bit more "flavor"