Where Riki is Reduced to Just Some Annoying Little Shit

So, I've discovered this for some time now but just thought of posting about it today. This might be  something or just nothing specially to Ai No Kusabi fans, but, I have high respect for Rieko Yoshihara-sensei so I'm still kind of dismayed over this.

This book, for the lack of better word, 'borrowed' not just the idea but also almost the whole of Ai No Kusabi and didn't even credit sensei for providing such beautiful concept for the author to put into another book and sell to the oblivious readers. But of course, not all were oblivious. The similarities were picked up and these reviews [1,2,3] showed the uncanny resemblance of this book, Breaking Jade, to the series, Ai No Kusabi. 

Someone on the Ai No Kusabi LJ group even confronted the author via twitter and got blocked without even a single explanation. Guilty much? Guess, admitting it would be a hard blow to the author's pride.

If the author's a fan of sensei, it's just sad that this is the way a fan would give appreciation towards a highly regarded writer. And Ai No Kusabi is considered a classic in the yaoi world. Despite the growing number of yaoi manga and mangaka, it couldn't be denied that ANK is one of the foundation of the genre. 

To whom it may concern

I haven't been posting any stuff here lately, well, not just lately but for more than a year already. And it's not like I have fans here or whatever that would miss me. I made this blog when I started reading yaoi manga and watching yaoi anime for the main reason of posting reviews about them. Despite not having a number of followers though, I have a good number of views. Also, some people commented on some of the reviews I posted.

So why am I writing a post like this you ask? Well, I haven't had any 2015 post so..lol no, really. It's just that I've been wondering what to do with this blog for months now. I haven't been reading yaoi manga and watching any anime lately. Not that there's a lot of yaoi anime out there to watch. These past months, I've been so into reading novel. And no, not  the mainstreams ones or the hetero books. I've been reading MM romance book. And I've read a lot already. I have some I really love and some I really didn't like. I also have another blog for it, for my reviews that is. Also I'm a permanent fixture on Goodreads now.

What I'm trying to say is, should I delete this blog? Because just thinking it exist somewhere in the internet world without updates just makes me sad. I don't think I'm getting back into reading yaoi manga soon or later. I have tons of MM romance novels to read on GR. It's not that there's a huge difference between the two. Both is all about men loving men. The other is just an illustrative story telling done by mangakas while the other is a written novel.

I guess, my interest just lay elsewhere.
On the other hand, I actually just bought In These Words vol. 2 because I'm still a fan of it and at last, a paperback volume is released. Well, now that I think about it, I guess it would be another entry for this blog. Not that I'm so sure of that since I have another blog but we'll see.

So yeah, that's all I guess. I haven't decided yet if I want to delete this blog or not.. Probably unlikely though but still it depends.

Ai No Kusabi Volume 8

“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.”

–Katze to Guy

P.S: posted this later than I intended because I fell asleep after typing this review.lol

Shiiku Gakari Rika

So I just finished reading “Shiiku Gakari Rika” which is the main story of “Tetsu x Rika”. It is unfinished and sad to say the mangaka herself listed it that way. I am really disappointed and I really wished for the mangaka to continue it but that’s impossible now. The readers such as me would be left with nothing but imagining any possible ending of this beautifully crafted story. I have always adored Modoru Motoni-sensei’s so much more when I had read TetsuXRika. I always had a change of mind everytime I tried to read Rika the Breeder because of TetsuXRika. That manga left me in awe, of sadistic joy and at the same time sorrow of why things had to end that way.

                The story is left unfinished but it was a good read. People might despise Rika but he has his reasons and I don’t hate him for what he has become. However you look at it, Rika’s main goal is to destroy the system—for the “salon” that robbed him of his days of tranquillity to cease to exist and Hotarou is the proof of that. As what Hiro made Rika to confess, Rika hates to have sex. I think he only loved sex when it was with Tetsu but because Tetsu was haunted by his mother’s rape and death, he wasn’t able to understand Rika’s feelings. But maybe, if after Hiro hears from Anji what really happened to his brother, then he might or might not protect Rika as how Rika wanted it to be.

I want to know what will happen next and how will things between Hiro and Rika end! I want Rika to destroy that system that took his and Tetsu's heart apart and completely destroy their lives. I want Rika have his peace of mind again this time with Hiro in place of Tetsu. Rika only loved Tetsu and wanted him to look at Rika not as someone desired by everyone or like Tetsu's mother but as Rika because he is Rika. 

                Now I’m wondering, had Rika let Tetsu diminish his title as the “President” because he couldn’t have him or was it because of the torture he experienced under Tetsu? I believe that he only wanted Tetsu to quit and go out of that school because he was starting to break. And since Hiro isn’t a dumb kid, I think he will understand the situation. He himself knew the nature of his brother and what his brother can possibly do. Either way, it was the psychological trauma that they are suffering that lead them to what they have become.

                After everything what I can only say is that it was beautiful. The twistedness of the story, the intense feelings of hatred, vengeance, love and suffering. Both prequel and sequel are worthy of praise and worth reading.

Summary from mangaupdates:

Shiiku Gakari Rika-New boy Natsume Hiro comes to a boarding school unlike any other school in existence to solve/resolve something that happened in his past- but even that fact takes a while to emerge.
The school is a hotbed of bullying and rape kept slightly in check by a feudal organization called the Salon. The Salon protects its members from random abuse by specifying who can/must rape whom (yeah, there are must rapes here) under what circumstances, and punishing those who rape/abuse without proper permission. All this to be decided at the whim of the Salon head.
Sex at the school is both an overwhelming obsession, as befits an all-male society where there are no other outlets for stress, and a matter of down-and-dirty power politics, not unlike an American jail.
When you throw in the Byzantine institution of the Salon, you have a scenario reminiscent of the surrealistic, closed, hothouse world of British boys' schools. But the Rika world is even more bizarre than that.

Genre: Adult, Drama, mystery, psychological, school life, tragedy, yaoi

Shisei no Otoko

By Aniya Yuiji

There are many forms of love and a lot of ways to show it. We often have to choose which is which, to do your duty or to escape from reality. In this manga, Shisei no otoko, the story of love was portrayed in different form. A love that chose to save it by doing the rightful duty and a love that was cornered and was left with no choice but to run away. It pains to know love that doesn't always have a happy conclusion. There are a lot of trials that would go right through it and ruin the fragile thing into pieces. Shisei no otoko by Aniya Yuiji-sensei depicted the inevitable tragedies that hinders the love between people who were so trapped into the reality of their role. A cop and a yakuza, a master and a faithful dog, living in a world with full of unwanted veracity.

Upon reading this manga, at first you wouldn't notice how deep the story is. With its beautiful, artistic strokes distinct in its own style, you would have thought that all is well. But then as the story progresses, and you get halfway confused and halfway amused, the revelation would sink in painfully in your mind. I felt very sorry for all four of them. One was left to dream of happy expectations and lovely feelings while the other one has to live with a heavy burden upon him. It was really a very beautifully sad love for the four of them but the feeling it brought down my throat to my chest was like peaceful melancholy. It didn’t made me cry but the the heartfelt emotion was there. i really like the story and even though I had hoped for a happy ending, love isn’t just as easy as that.  

Summary:

From Nakama:

Three men bearing tattoos are Peony Katagi, Buttercup Mutou, and Mad Shark Nogami. They are all involved in some way with mystery man Kubota. Is there salvation for these men who live on the underside of society?

In the final part of the tattoo series, "Everyone's Song," forty-two pages drawn specifically for the occasion, all the stories come to a conclusion.

Two extra stories are included in this collection. In ‘Spring Love’, the object of a man's one-sided love turns into a vengeful spirit every night and visits him. "Dream's Guidance" has also been added to this special collection.

Genre(s) : Drama, Mature, Supernatural, Tragedy, Yaoi

New York New York manga

Okay, let me just say this first. This contains some spoiler so be warned and if you don’t want to be spoiled, just read the first paragraph. The plot of the story was really good, it showed the point of view of the society of how Taboo homosexuality was during the early days, as well as the characters involved and their inner private point of view of themselves. In this manga, “New York New York” by Marimo Nagawa-sensei, Kain was a closet gay and was afraid of being discovered because of circumstances like bigotry, which we couldn’t deny that is still present at this modern period. His struggles and indecisiveness was shown descriptively and the changes afterwards after meeting Mel took a great part in reforming his beliefs and feelings towards himself. I believe that his strong emotions led him to weigh which was more important to him and made him the person he became. Sensei made a very nice elaboration expressing the step by step actions the character made in reaching the person who could proudly say and admit his sexuality. The art was good and I was really satisfied with it because I believe that it fit perfectly to the setting and the characters. I strongly recommend that you read it guys.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written something about the mangas that I’m reading. There’s been a lot that happened and I’ve been very busy but anyway. At first I didn’t thought I would come to write something about the manga I’ve just finished reading. The title is “New York New York”. When I had put it into my bookmarks or let’s say when I found it and saw that it was labeled as tragedy I got the feeling that I didn’t want to read it for a while so it took me a little more time to have the courage to read it. I’m really easily drawn to angst but even though it’s like that, I still avoid reading them sometimes but I always ended up reading them anyway. While reading NYNY, I thought “ah—I have to prepare myself. I need not to attach myself to the character too much because this manga has a tragic end”. But then while reading it, I just couldn’t stop myself feeling affection towards the characters. The feelings they have for each other and the strong desire and hope during the trials they were passing through was really great that I always thought that it was such a waste for it to have a tragic end. I had already braced myself for the tragic end but then as I continued to read the story and got out of that particular dangerous and scary scene, I thought, “Maybe it was labeled as tragedy because there were a lot of killings”. I was really happy that there weren’t something like Kain dying or Mel dying in that traumatic events. When I was reaching the end, the story took turn and it made me happy of the development of it. They were very happy despite the traumatic past that had happened. But what really moved me was the great love they had for each other; that despite what they had been through, they were able to stay together and be truthful to each other. I love the character of Kain, strong and willful. I love Mel’s gentleness and the way he looked the future with a smile and was able to cope up with everything. Really, but what moved me to tears was the end of the story where, at their old age, they were still as lovely as the newlyweds they were, loving and tender to each other, that despite one leaving, one was able to accept and continue life. I love it so much. Especially the last scene where they were both reunited, I couldn’t control my emotions I cried so much because I was sad yet happy at the same time. Now I’m really happy that I read New York New York. It was an amazing experience and it has been a long time since the last time I cried over a manga (a few days ago, I cried over a novel tho it wasn’t as bad as this time). So anybody out there, I’d recommend your read New York New York as well and witness such an amazing story about homosexuality, murder, acceptance, hope and specially, a love so strong it could  conquer even as dangerous as life and death. 

summary from mangatraders:

Kain Walker is an admired and appreciated policeman of New York of all his colleagues. By fright at disappointing his fellows and also being discovered, Kain hides that he is gay and refrains from any coherent relation... until the day when his way crosses that of Mel Frederics, a calm and soft young man at the dark past. A meeting which is going to confuse their life.

Genre: Action, Drama, Psychological, Slice of Life, Tragedy, Yaoi

Hua Hua You Long

Okay so I just finished reading Hua Hua you long volume 4 and I don’t actually know what I should feel. I was cursing while reading it because omg I just can’t.. Lu Cang’s really pitiful. He’s such a naïve guy and despite being a bandit, I can say that there’s still a lot that he should learn. Well, he grew in the mountain. But really, I was so attracted with Jing when I first saw him but then the flow of the story was something I didn’t expect! He was really cruel towards Lu Cang! Even though I ship them, and even though I like sadism, I don’t know why but I really pity Lu Cang. Jing’s personality was so hateful towards him (cries). The art of this yaoi is really good and detailed. But well, seeing two men with so long hair doing it felt a little weird (just a little).

                Anyways, having Jing confess to Lu would be a little too fast and I still don’t know what really is on Jing’s mind why he’s doing it to Lu and the volume 4 ended with a much awaited continuation so for now.. I’ll just wait and stare at Lu cang and Jing’s dick. lol

summary:

In order to help their chief find a wife, the bandits kidnapped a woman from the bottom of the mountain in order to offer her up to him.

The chief of the mountain stronghold, Lu Cang falls in love at first sight with the absolutely stunning beauty!

However, on the night of the consummation...

Note: The is the manhua adaptation of the novel with the same name. Each chapter from the novel was made into a volume of the manhua. There are two complete volumes of the novel with ten chapters each.

Type:Manhua

Author(s): Xing Bao Ni

Artist(s): Ai Li Ka

Status in Home Country: Ongoing - 5 Volumes

Scanslation Status : Ongoing

Love Mode Manga

 It’s been a while since the last time I made a manga review or more like manga spoiler (lol). But of course, it’s not because I stopped reading but I’m just lazy (laughs). This time I’ve read another amazing manga and I feel that I really want to write something about it. It was a long read however it was really worth it.

The title of the manga is Love Mode by Shimizu Yuki-sensei, an eleven volume manga of boys love, suffering, friendship, brotherhood, happiness and sadness. It was really fun reading it because of the good plot and flow of the story. You wouldn’t expect the things that you would read. In the first volume, a comedy romance of Izumi and Takamiya was fun to read. And I didn’t even think that the story would go from those two to the best friend Aoe-san. I was really laughing on how Izumi and Takamiya’s relationship developed. Yuki-sensei did a great job making the story start as enjoyable and comedic.

Reiji and Naoya

Aoe and Takamiya

The second volume came Aoe Reiji and Naoya’s fated meeting. A meeting that caused them both to be together. This volume was fun to read because I totally liked Reiji despite his personality (lol). Their relationship didn’t develop quickly however, as the story continues, the next scenes became more interesting. There were a lot of mysteries behind each character, and would think that Naoya was someone very important? Of course, me! XD I mean, well, they’ve been a lot of the same story like your relatives died and someone was there to get you after all the year blah blah..but still, it was good to make Reiji pressured so he could be more honest with his feelings (laughs).

Izumi the host of B&B’s story was good as well, however, I wasn’t that attached to him since he first appeared but well, he and Arashi were lucky to have one book for themselves!! The side story that I loved the most was Seiichi and Tomoki’s!!( omg ) would you believed that after Izumi left the 1^st spot of being a host, Seiichi, the one who succeeded the spot had sex with a 14-year old brat!! At first when I still haven’t known his age I didn’t thought he could be that young! But well, Tomoki’s really cute and I really liked him but (sobs) I really wished that they ended up being together for a long time. It was a beautiful yet sad story.

Now now..I shouldn’t forget about the guy who has never left the scene! I mean, he was always there in the sideline and I’ve only found it out later that he had really an interesting past!! What I’m talking about is Kiichi, Reiji’s older brother. Who would think he has a past like that, moreover a father like that. Yes, Aoe-papa was someone I don’t know if readers would love but for me I liked him (yeah am I an idiot or what?). But let’s talk about Aoe-papa later; I want to talk about Kiichi. Kiichi is such a good man. When I was reading the manga, the story was really fun especially because of Kiichi. He was always there bugging Reiiji and even a side character when Reiji’s story started (he really love his young bro). And as a lover, Haroumi’s such an understanding person! I like Haroumi too and then this and that happen. There appeared a guy who looked like Haroumi and I was like “omg who the fuck is this guy?” because he was talking like “it’s been ten years since the last time I heard you voice”. ;A; and he said that to Kiichi! I was really curious who he was and then BAM! Wahhhwahhh someone shut my mouth I really feel like telling it! This review of mine’s a spoiler already! Hahahaha XD okay so yeah, he was someone who was so close to Haroumi when they were young. Their story was in the volume 8, and omg it was really interesting I was controlling my screams because I was reading love mode past 12 am already!

Aoe-papa came to the scene and everything became like “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH HIM?”. He was really a cruel person yet despite that I found myself liking him (even though he was really a hateful character). He treated his sons like toys and crushed everyone he didn’t like. It was really hard for Kiichi and Reiji and Haroumi as well. Especially Kiichi since he was treated as a mere tool by his own father. But you see, Aoe-papa san was like that because he only valued one person. Yes Aoe-papa was really in love with Nishiki, I can conclude that. He was ready to do everything for the sake of Nishiki yet he was not honest enough to express it gently and treated him like a hole. But however you see it, he loved Nishiki too much to even care about anything but him. This is the reason why I like Aoe-papa. Stupid but romantic wasn’t he?

aoe-papa <333

he's actually attractive XD

And then, the last volume. During the previous volumes, with Reii and Takamiya having a birthday celebration in the past, there was this long-haired guy who came to the picture for a small number of times. Yet the curiosity in me was so much that I was dying to know who he was. His name was Shiki. And the last volume was his moments of glory. He was someone who was very special to Rieji. It was Reiji’s happy and comfortable times when he was with Shiki and Takamiya but odds weren’t in their favor and they ended up losing Shiki. It was really saddening but still, Reiji ended up with Naoya so it was still happy ending right? In this volume, Aoe-papa finally gave Reiji the life he didn’t wanted by passing away with an aircraft crash but since the only body that was found was the pilot’s, I concluded that Aoe-papa wanted to escape his current life and live with Nishiki somewhere so he fabricated it and went away (he’s really selfish).  He only wanted an heir so he could pass his properties because that was what Nishiki wanted but I don’t think Nishiki was a bad person. Well, well, the only explanation is because it was love. Yes love made them that way and as a whole, the story was very good as well as the art.

There were also a few more characters like Jin-san and Katsuki and Ian and Rin but I’m sorry for not saying something about them. hehehe…my mind’s too caught up with the Aoe family. XD well, I like jin-san coz he’s a hot oldy!(lol)

I know I’m really an idiot for only knowing about love mode now because it started years and years ago I’m sorry I only became interested with yaoi last 2011 and now I’m using a list when I choose a manga to read. It’s in alphabetical order of managaka names and currently I’m in the S part so I was able to read Shimizu Yuki-sensei’s works just now. And I really love it! Ahh I really am lucky for discovering and loving the yaoi genre.. 

For those who haven’t read love mode (thought maybe almost everyone already have read it. OTL) please please..if you want to read a manga that would interest and capture you and at the same time make you smile and laugh, read LOVE MODE!! It was a really amazing read, I will rate it 10/10 (hahaha). Thank you for reading my blog! And oh- the epilogue was really nice. It’s was so heartwarming ^^

SUMMARY from mangatraders:


Mistaken identities, bizarre accidents and pratfalls, tragic pasts and plenty of broken hearts, and that is just for starters! Love Mode tells the story of the lives of the men involved with the classy male escort service, Blue Boy. Love lines intertwine and cross, friendships are made and broken in this boy's love classic!

Sakashita Izumi, your typical straight high school student, gets into a sticky situation with a gay translator, Takamiya Katsura, when he gets mistaken for Izumi - an escort from B&B (Blue Boy)! The two go on a date, Takamiya goes all the way with the young Izumi, and now the older man's in love with him. Tiny Problem: Izumi is slightly homophobe. Will he eventually convert in that which he fears?

Reiji, owner of B&B and other sleazy clubs (and seemingly not gay) finds out his girlfriend had been cheating on him - just after dumping her. He bumps into a young, family-less, money-less, trustless high school named Naoya who at that moment gets knocked out by a pot that Reiji's vengeful ex-lover drops on his head. Reiji accompanies the young boy, feeling bad that this is partly his doing, only to find that now Naoya is homeless since his apartment burned down and finally ends up taking in this "stray cat".

This serie contains more stories than just these couples. 

Lover's Mode Extra:
Businessman Aoe is trying to leave so his student lover can study. But that is proving to be difficult. 

Love Mode Unlimited:
A look into the future with Naoya and Izumi grown up

Kinpeibai Kinden Honoo no Kuchizuke by Mizukami Shin

Heyahh! So here I am again bringing everyone a review of a manga I just read. I was supposed to continue typing my story but ended up reading yaoi manga despite the self-control I've been implementing. Now, I want to share this story by Mizukami Shin entitled “Kinpeibai Kinden Honoo no Kuchizuke”. From what the translator said, it came from a Chinese famous erotica written during the Ming Dynasty in 7^th century (pretty old huh). The story circled about political power, prostitution and of course, BL! As I was reading the first few pages, I felt sad for the character Kinren but at the same time the story became interesting and I was so eager to find out what would happen next.

Kinren’s (Kinnen) character portrays beauty and his survival instinct was strong despite the fact that the way his life led was really wrong. In this manga there was a lot of orgy and sex with old men (damn it! Only Kinren looks good when he’s doing it with those ugly politicians). Those who have weak stomach and don’t like violent and too graphical sex shouldn't read this (just a warring) though writing a review about it means I still recommends the manga.

The story portrayed how political power ruled over the poor people as well. Kinren, being a son of a prostitute didn’t have the ability to resist that was why he ended up as a prostitute for a long time until he grown to a beautiful man. The other character, who he was in love with was Bu shou, didn't have enough ability to save Kinren from his path to darkness and then everything came down to another character entering the scene. Simon, a womanizer and playboy hindered both of them to be together too.

I really liked the story and how emotional it got. The mangaka drew Kinren pretty good. I thought everything would end up to a tragic end since many things happened along the story. In the end, despite Simon’s cruelty, I still felt pity for him. Overall, it was a good read and the art was fine even with such detailed drawings. I’m not a fan of most of Shin-sensei’s works but I do have favorites among them, like aigan-shounen, Ushirokara Dakishimete (this one’s so funny) and of course this one. Anyway, here’s a summary of the story. Enjoy it if ever you want to check it out!

summary:

Kinnen is the son of a famous prostitute, when his mother becomes sick, he sees no other way to survive than to become the sex toy of a rich Chinese nobleman, despite the protests from Bushou, who loves him. Years pass; Bushou has not forgotten about Kinnen…

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 7^th 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!!