“Now
it was all clear.
The
truth of it all.”
This is my first
post for 2014!!! YAY! *contains some spoiler*
I’ve just
finished reading the last book of the legendary series “Ai No Kusabi” and it
took me quite a while to write this review. I’ve been waiting for the book to
arrive for more than a month and at last, I got it today! I quickly started
reading it despite the fact that I was supposed to be working on something
related to school stuffs but I couldn’t stop myself from opening the book and
start reading it.
As you may know,
volume 7 was released last 2012 and it took me more time than it should to be
able to acquire a copy of volume 8. I wouldn’t go through the details of it but
it took time to be able to buy this book outside akadot.com. The shipping fee
was too much for me so I waited and waited for them to release it officially
and quickly bought a copy from an online shop which offered a cheaper price
than akadot.
Anyway…
Horayyy! My Ai
No Kusabi collection is now complete! These are my priced and treasured
possession and I love it more than any other. Ai No Kusabi will always have its
own place in my heart that no other BL novel or manga can take away. It’s a
masterpiece, a classic and a very beautiful yet tragic tale of love and submission.
And I think Ai No Kusabi is one of those early piece of art that strengthened
the foundation of the yaoi genre.
Let’s go to the
book…
I have the same
opinion in regards with the translation quality and art of the new edition of
the series as I have in volume 7. My greatest disappointment is once again,
Aisha being a female in this volume. I won’t go in that topic again; please
read my post about Ai No Kusabi volume 07 if you’d like to know. When I received
this book and opened it, I was feeling somewhat sad but at the same time
excited. Excited to be able to at last read the ending of the series for the
first time. I felt sad because I knew that this only means one thing; Ai No
Kusabi is done and after this book, no more follows of the story of Iason Mink
and Riki. For me who loves these two to no ends, I feel like I’ve completely
surrendered to the tragic end of Riki and Iason’s life. Maybe I’m just being
too sentimental but I just can’t help but be affected with these series. As I
have always claimed, Ai No Kusabi is one of the main reasons why I love yaoi.
There were a lot
of details that were different from the 2-episode OVA and it would be a waste
to miss those events in the book. In this volume, I was able to discover the “faces”
of the gang member of the Bison not as an underling but as Riki’s friends. The things
they would do in order to find truth and how they’d deal when reality slaps
them in the face. As always, Iason’s Blondy persona was as inscrutable and
dangerous as ever in this book but the hints of his “human” self would slip
into the surface every now and then. Writing this review is different as when I
was writing my review about volume 7. In that one, I was very enthusiastic and
jolly because of all the feels that volume gave me. But now, I just can’t
explain myself clearly even though I’m trying hard and writing this later
wouldn’t be any better. Volume 8 is just very heart-breaking, tragic, and
sorrowful yet Iason’s raw emotions and his undeniably genuine love and care for
Riki was something unforgettable. In this volume, I saw how “Human” Iason can
be despite the fact that the only organic part of him was his brain. Just imagining
Iason’s beautiful face contorted with worry and rage over the things that
happened to Riki, who would have thought you were being shown a humanoid machine
built to serve a computer named Jupiter?
One thing in
this book was also how ignorant Riki is of his own effect to Iason and how he
has not thought that there must be something else, some reason why Iason was so
eager to bind themselves with each other. Maybe his experiences with Iason
clouded his thought but I am happy that things are somehow clearer to Riki now.
In the scene
where he was abducted by Guy and were confronting each other, Riki was trying
to push Guy using words Guy wouldn’t want to hear and wouldn’t be able to
accept. Yet more than anything, he couldn’t identify anymore if he was saying
it because he had to cut his ties with Guy or because it was the truth.
From there on,
the pattern of the events went on like of that in the 2-episode OVA where Guy
tried to kill Iason and himself and I was reading it with drumming chest and I was
gripping the book hard because I knew where it was going. I knew what would
happen next and then there were tears in my eyes as I read at the same time
relived Iason and Riki’s final moments. I imagine the look of astonishment in
Iason’s face as he saw Riki coming back to him, choosing him and being with him
until their last breath. It was really painful for me and I was so sad but
knowing that in the end, Iason at last have Riki all for himself and that even
without the pet ring that bind them, they were bound by something more than a
master and his pet, I had the courage to smile and be happy for the both of
them.
 |
| Just look at how Iason was so relieved to see Riki okay! |
 |
| I am so happy for Iason despite how everything ended. At the very end, Riki came back to him in his own free will. |
I would have
loved to know how the Blondies would deal with what happened, especially
Jupiter but the short parts of Raoul, Katze and Guy, living the reality of
losing Iason and Riki seemed more than enough. What would happen to that world,
one can only wonder. Perhaps, life would go on without any big difference or
maybe it would somehow change their system a little, it is left for us to
imagine. Or maybe not. As for me, let just say I imagine that somewhere out
there are Riki and Iason with genuine smiles on their lips.
Compared to my
post about volume 7, this one came really gloomy and I wanna say sorry for
that. I’m just having a hard time expressing my feels but I know if I did
better it would be much worse than the gloominess and sentimental of this post.
Another thing…I
was literally screaming “where the fuck is my lemon?!”; “what the fuck guy no! not
yet! Give me my lemon first!!”; “where the fuck are you iason?! I need my
lemon!!.” “LEMONNNN!!!” because yes as you’ve guessed, no lemon for us. Though Riki
explained to guy how he and Iason were like in bed in details so I kinda
forgave sensei! J Yoshihara-sensei,
again thank you so much for this amazing novel! You are awesome and I hope to
read more of your works in the near future! DMP please publish sensei’s other
works! please!
“Do you know what Ai No Kusabi means? It’s
an ancient term, it means something that binds two things together.”
“It might be
that they could only live by pitting their pride against each other. Maybe it
was predestined that way.
It might break
your heart, but there’s love that can only be expressed the way they lived it.
Between those of us left, there is nothing to share. The only certainty is that we are the only ones who can speak of not just how they died, but how they lived.”
Between those of us left, there is nothing to share. The only certainty is that we are the only ones who can speak of not just how they died, but how they lived.”
–Katze to Guy
P.S: posted this
later than I intended because I fell asleep after typing this review.lol
