Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Ai No Kusabi volume 7




Hello there everyone! So after a few months of patiently waiting, finally my Ai No Kusabi vol 7 novel arrived yesterday.  I was patient enough to wait for months, no? Since I pre-ordered it 2 months before the release date on august. Oh well, I guess complaints were pointless for I’ve ordered it for a pretty desirable price. When the book arrived, I had a feeling of disappointment and sadness for vague reasons. The first reason was, as a forumer, of course I had already read few comments about the book. Like Aisha being a girl in the 7th volume (WTH?). I was disappointed with it. Yes basically because I had already imprinted it on my mind that all the blondies were men. The second reason was, again as a fan, I had already seen the art of the new volume and of course I was taken aback. Having read the novels for three times (I didn’t read the entire 6 volumes thrice though, only few of them), I got used to the drawing or the art of the 6 volumes that I couldn’t seem to get used to the new art when I saw it (I have copies of them stashed in my AI NO KUSABI folder though.lol.). And lastly the third reason was because they changed the translator. Having loved Ai No Kusabi since the first time I laid my eyes on it, I was afraid of disappointment. But since reading was the only way for me to find out what happened after that night where Iason fucked Riki so hard, there was no other way but to open the book and read it.
Ai No Kusabi Volume 7 book cover

Sooooooo~ here’s what I wanna say about it. The first few ages were beautiful. Yes, nothing beats a lovey-dovey scene from Iason and Riki after waiting for so long for the next release of the book. No doubt, the God of all Semes, Iason Mink still held that title. I just love Riki’s stubbornness and his ever disdainful attitude towards Iason! And of course, Iason’s oh so twisted exquisiteness was unbeatable. Despite having the cover art different from the past, well, I guess the artist still did a great job.




Hmmm. Let me just deal with my reasons from above. The first one was of Aisha being a woman. Yes, confirmed by my own eyes and my understanding, it was a “SHE” and not a “HE” used. So my eternal scandalous (?) image of the beautiful proud Blondies was shattered. I didn’t know who to blame because from the previous volumes, Aisha was a male. And I would be so glad than anyone else if this was just an error and that Aisha was really a male (though the name says it’s a female).

The second reason of my wavering faith (?) was because of the new art. But alas!! As you can see, the artist has done a good job. I guess I should say thank you for it. However, please excuse my rudeness but in my own opinion (others might not agree though) I still preferred the old art. Why? Simply because having it drastically changed had my heart ached. I mean, I loved everything of ANK from the tree the paper came from until the last ink of the last page of it but then suddenly new changes forced its way on my heart and mind that I didn’t know how to react (sorry for being such a bitch).

And lastly, about the translator. I still love the old translator of the English version of the novel. The English and every word and feelings it conveyed to me were nothing to compare about. However, it didn’t mean that the new translation sucks. There were a few, no I lot changed from the way between the previous volumes and volume7 but still it was a good read. Maybe having these feelings in me towards the old things about Ai No Kusabi was because of my attachment to the story nonetheless, volume 7 held a great part of the whole continuing tale of Iason and Riki and I couldn’t wait for the next volume of it!

I’m not yet done!! Okay so back to the story. . I got confused while reading it because my dumb mind refused to accept some new facts from the novel. Like new names (Lavi?? who the hell???). . .details details. . .boom! He was Robby from the volume 3! And Vince (who?), Cher (it was Schell right?)! But oh well, I still could connect them so it was fine. Then there was this Paradita shit kind of pet who was all so clingy with Riki that it got him into trouble and the bastard Blondies got their beefs with Riki and then shit happened. Yeah it came down to it that that Paradita was a shitty bastard and wanted Riki out of Eos.

the paradita and riki 

 Anyway, another thing, when I saw Zico I thought of someone who looked like him and then when I scanned my novels, I found out it was Orphe. Yeah they looked kinda alike with Orphe. Hahaha! I thought when Guy and Luke sniffed around for in formations, they’d be able to gather information about Riki being a pet but then it turned out this Zico was under Iason as well, too bad for Guy. AH!! Oh I almost forgot!! They turned Kirie to an Alita!! Kinda like a fuck toy. Poor Kirie, I pity him. But seriously I felt like he was not even worth turning to that shit. I mean they should have just put him somewhere out of Riki’s system. Hahaha. Whatever! (I know right I’m talking nonsense here…sorry!)

so what do you say? they kinda looked alike right?? or was it just me?


Now here, the love scenes! Oh my gosh!! OH MY GOSH! Fucking great! Iason going down on Riki for the first time?? (My feelssssss I can’t even! Iason I love you so much!) When I was reading that part which was the end chapter, I couldn’t help thinking about the old 2-part anime version of Ai No Kusabi! There was this scene where Iason was blowing Riki and it was too hot and sexy that all throughout that scene I was imagining it while reading the book! Damn great!! XD oh I so love it! I love Iason so much! I mean who wouldn’t? Afterall, he was willing to do anything just to have Riki! Even though he had not realized it yet, it was so clear that he was so in love with Riki! And Riki’s denial of his own longing and feelings was taking its toll on him. Just a few touches and his body would react to Iason. Ah~ I just couldn’t help falling in love with this pair over and over again!! Riko Yoshihara-sensie, you made the greatest tale of the yaoi genre! Thank you so much!


Lastly, I just couldn’t help but feel sad thinking that everything would be reaching to an end soon. That the beautiful yet twisted romance of these two, a Master and a pet, Iason Mink and Riki the Black, would have such a heart-breaking and tragic end (as what I saw on the anime). The chance of discovering and loving the yaoi fandom held a great part in my heart specially this story of Ai No Kusabi. Everyone who had made this novel great, thank you very much!! 

23 comments:

  1. Ah, I so envy you... I would love to buy it as well, but most shops do not ship to my country. And I have not found it anywhere on the internet, though I am indeed looking furiously for it. :)

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    1. (REPOST)

      hi! :> well, I really love ANK so I want to collect all volumes of the novel but currently i don't have 1 and 5. I bought my books on fishpond.com but I will be buying the 1 and 5 on ebay. You can find them there as well :D

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  2. Aisha is actually a man. The translator just got mixed up in that part because Aisha is primarily a female name. But there are no female blondies.

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      December 21, 2012 at 12:01 AM
      of course Aisha is a MAN because there was no reason to make him a woman. lol. I mean, there was a scarcity of woman in that era but it was because they wanted it to control population. And yeah there's no female blondie. The novel is BL so there's no need for a woman there. hahaha. I really wish they straighten the error in the next volume of ANK

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  3. Wow, this seems like an interesting volume. I have the very old novels that were originally written in Japanese; this sounds like a lot of work has been changed from the original. Nevertheless, I'm really curious about the new versions, so I hope to collect the translated novels as well! Thanks for the review. :)

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    1. (REPOST)

      March 18, 2013 at 1:31 AM
      yes this volume is really interesting! you should read it! :) and the volume 8 is soon to be released. i'm going to get a copy as soon as possible :)you're welcome and thank you for dropping by ^^

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  4. I love ai no kusabi, and the blub sounds great for this volume! Would you happen to know if its scanned? I can't buy anything online so it would be a great help to find it online....Volume 8's been released and I'm so happy its continued but I can't 7 and 8 anywhere online despite having been out for quite a while now...

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    1. i think the Ai No Kusabi LJ group has copies of them :) i don't know about volume 8 yet and my order has not arrived yet..

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  5. Wow you got the physical copy thank you, by God Bless you uploaded it really I wanted to see a physical copy of a translated light novel like ai no kusabi. I wish someone who has knowledge on most of this stuff would explain some terms like what Guardian is and all that. Though the new series introduced Daryl and fleshed out Riki's gang mates more it just had to stop. Dammit, I think Ai no Kusabi is such a complex tale and everyone just marginalizes it for smut.

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    1. you're welcome ^^ I'm interested of volume 8's content too and i'm dying to know the content of it and i know it'll surely break me specially the ending.. i'm gonna post something about it after i read it watch out for it :>

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  6. I think Iason is a bad person at first who finds his humanity through Riki so at first he does everything to make Riki or have him as a possession but later after separation and Iason finally getting used to having human feelings that he decided to woo Riki and have him beside him as his equal, his lover. It doesn't work out because of society. In fact it was doomed from the beginning because of society and Jupiter's segregration laws in it. Ironically, it was a "mongrel" Riki who understood Iason best and brought out the best in him and though it took longer for him (thus having super 300 IQ means nothing Yoshihara's definition of it hahah) but Iason felt Riki's true self and he learned from it and brought out the best fights in Riki. They bring out each other's best not pain but true characteristics like Iason realizes he is passionate and Riki realizes he will fight for himself till the end so they love at the end. Yoshihara shows that humanity can be born in real horrible situations too due to true love.

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    1. you said it perfectly well! I believe it's like that too. He is indeed in love with Riki and he acknowledges it but still as a 'master' he has to fulfill his duty. I really love Iason and Ank is a masterpiece i can't help but love everything about it including it's tragic end. Yoshihara is really good at what he does..even her other works. I wish they publish her other works in English as well! she has a more cruel and controversial work than ANk but I think ANK will always be my number one :>

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    2. No Iason went on 'master' mode because he doesn't know how to love. At first he feels he has to do this because this is what is taught to him and he doesn't know beyond this. (If you have played Togainu no Chi then you will know that Shiki's good route ending is what happens when people only know power and control like this, let's say it's not pretty). I don't think he has any duty as 'master' or anything. Riki is NOT submissive and actually that is why Iason LOVES Riki. That everyone panders to him, is his "yes man" but not Riki. Riki is a force of nature to be reckoned with and that both fascinates and scares Iason. Trying to tame him backfires so he just decides to "show pet/master" but by the end the lines are blurred it is never sure who is pet or who is master it's just them and a relationship. If Iason and Riki ran away I can see Riki hunting for animal meat in a forest while Iason chopping wood and baking pies. They, if evolved fully, can have a VERY egalitarian relationship but it requires both Iason and Riki to be equally submitting and equally dominant as both men are.

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    3. The "master/pet" dynamic is more like a lifestyle followed by the people in Tanagura to show wealth and power and since Iason was the syndicate leader, it is more like a requirement for him to enforce this lifestyle to himself as well. He was intrigued with Riki when he found out who he was. At first he was just feeding his curiosity but then it just escalated into something more. Riki was young and arrogant and full of pride and ego. I don't think he himself understood his feelings towards Iason even in the end.

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  7. Aisha Rosen is a male. Though with ambiguous looks. The VA for 2012 is also a male and in wiki he is called that too.

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  8. Hi! Can I talk to you? Please. I just found this and fall in love with the book, but I can't find it. I hope you read this :(

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    1. hello! I'm so sorry I didn't notice your comment until now. If you want to get the physical copy, suggest you try bookdepository.com, fishpond.com and DMP books. You can also visit Aarinfantasy for more information about the novel.

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  9. Hi! Can I talk to you? Please. I just found this and fall in love with the book, but I can't find it. I hope you read this :(

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  10. hello! how are you do you know where can i find vol 7 for free on the internet cause there's no shippinh to my country thanks

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  11. hi, can you take the love scenes pictures of what's happening after that? After seeing your post, i am superrr curiousss!!

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  12. Does any one knows where to get the 6 novels (follow link)==>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/393549746731?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item5ba164922b:g:OWUAAOSwDkFhMjyw&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACoPYe5NmHp%252B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSU8qUIAeVPdz29zRlje3LgyJDuF%252BFI1I3fY04JOVtdRQ3XiUbTUZpvBg8ILj6AhCZc32jkzbwk8%252FaUCiBGbpCOX2GHvNbyKv5hnP7Bz3OhefcVGOSPWtCeorjkMhTwAa%252FVguMCZWEDsjQoRv9LbVmfmS55SSULgNIpO0T0dtej9f0hKNSUAWB3By8SpiGiAs6fIEQsljS%252BLerR3n6ryshAG5P7zWTvNquqmnsERPi7Q6MAdyD5j7vWlddJNR4q2Hwyj0cBE3tsLq3%252Bdl%252FV1V9LfQRL%252FtJ5DbccnALc1tg8UKBc%252FJ4sTHPcMI4HNnckl5IpI%252FmOMs9zwvJYfwsqKVqGxIgJxupSR%252B3l6U%252FJslD%252BkpWH14%252Ba6TzoH1wTu6%252BOFxHxobFA8p5sMFkzNi0ZI%252B5SF0KP3RuiZ1jdWhSQeIs4bl%252FIIQrMkDToi9DJEh9i2KqxrfjphyDPKLWj3Ykk2aLx4eP5088UwtV7MYRfjOymKTLVlHSpXx8jSYST3RldzxY8qW14eHnZO3YvlmSVVrdESUWxUAJAPpripTgUzJk3e1Mq%252BgFIlP76FRZmiawBpXULbv%252B%252FoW4jfaOuU2JpBBHf3DW8NynPC6BFgI7vXOmzS7MsXheEZd%252FqHfLF7B6RktE0Lbo2wNNQyB3iMabclCpPk63ntU1jKAW16wYp%252B7t%252BGAfLWS33fkSczsB3xFQDKCK0NrpG%252FpnJb%252FtCJ9JFXDfGSQPTyO2ZwtyeGZSpiGH%252Fdqjag3gkR5B8TDUHQbH0j%252BNy2CU0qmAqne1WlD1ESH3XR%252B53a4yK8LeUu9qy3sS%252B1FFcu6v3JaiYXhy6wMP624KeiRQBcvvsFzL6rb%252BVu%252FF9w%253D%253D%7Cclp%3A2334524%7Ctkp%3ABFBMqKWmzsVf


    I'm desperately trying to find the english version (since you know we have the new version in volume 7-8 😅) all i can find is the japanese version

    Thank you so much in advance

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