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Ai no Kusabi #8
Ai no Kusabi Vol. 8
Riki's stumbled his way into the upper class's neighborhood?! Guy, who's hot on his trail, is shocked to discover that Iason is Riki's patron. However, before Riki's eyes, Iason announces "Riki is my pet" in a display of dominion over him. Blinded by his jealousy, Gai kidnaps Riki and challenges Iason to a no-holds-barred confrontation. Master and pet...love forged in the bonds of a twisted relationship - this is the stunning conclusion of Ai no Kusabi!
---
Taken from back cover:
"When I was in Eos I thought I would never back down, never give in. Even in the last three years in Eos, I was a slumdog to all of them, but that was what I had pride in. ...But since coming to Apatia... I thought it was meaningless to keep holding onto that. And when I'm with Iason, my head spins and I can't help it."
It dawned on Katze at last. The one who changed wasn't just Iason. It was Riki as well. "So you love him," Katze said matter of factly.
Riki, the Ceres slumdog, has a new cage: Apatia, the place where the elites of Midas hide their mistresses--and their human pets.
Iason Mink has allowed Riki to live in Apatia under the watchful eye of Katze. Determined to earn a measure of freedom by working as Katze's assistant in the underground again, even while remaining Iason's sexual pet, Riki tries to leave the past behind.
But unknown to him, forces are at work that will make this impossible.
Word is leaked to Bison that Riki has been spotted in Apatia, and once Guy hears this, nothing will stop him from going after Riki. As the Bison members reunite to try to take back their former leader, Guy makes a final desperate attempt to turn back the clock--to change things back to the way they were when Riki and Bison ruled the streets of Ceres.
And what happens next--changes everything forever.
---
Taken from back cover:
"When I was in Eos I thought I would never back down, never give in. Even in the last three years in Eos, I was a slumdog to all of them, but that was what I had pride in. ...But since coming to Apatia... I thought it was meaningless to keep holding onto that. And when I'm with Iason, my head spins and I can't help it."
It dawned on Katze at last. The one who changed wasn't just Iason. It was Riki as well. "So you love him," Katze said matter of factly.
Riki, the Ceres slumdog, has a new cage: Apatia, the place where the elites of Midas hide their mistresses--and their human pets.
Iason Mink has allowed Riki to live in Apatia under the watchful eye of Katze. Determined to earn a measure of freedom by working as Katze's assistant in the underground again, even while remaining Iason's sexual pet, Riki tries to leave the past behind.
But unknown to him, forces are at work that will make this impossible.
Word is leaked to Bison that Riki has been spotted in Apatia, and once Guy hears this, nothing will stop him from going after Riki. As the Bison members reunite to try to take back their former leader, Guy makes a final desperate attempt to turn back the clock--to change things back to the way they were when Riki and Bison ruled the streets of Ceres.
And what happens next--changes everything forever.
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2010
16 people are currently reading
535 people want to read
About the author
Rieko Yoshihara
22 books110 followersJapanese author and a key creator of the homoerotic subgenre known in Japan as shōnen ai ["boys' love"]. Yoshihara spent the first three years of her career writing straightforward homoerotic romance, before stumbling into sf, seemingly by accident, with the success of her signature work Ai no Kusabi (December 1986-October 1987 Shōsetsu June; 1990; trans as The Space Between 2007-2008 [see Checklist for details]). Originally published in book form as a single hardback novel, it was later reissued as a six-part series, from which the English translation was made.
Yoshihara's work is strongly redolent of the sexually-charged mysteries of Ranpo Edogawa, and shares many overt themes with the controversial sf of Shōzō Numa. However, it reached an entirely different audience, one largely unaware of these precursors. The world of Ai no Kusabi is divided by decree into classes defined by Genetic Engineering as signalled by the hair colour of the blond rulers and their black-haired subjects. The Blondies are forbidden from sexual intercourse, but often keep members of the dark-haired underclass for use as "pets" and "furniture". In an attempt to curtail Overpopulation, no more than 10% of births may be female, effectively rendering the milieu as an all-male environment, as opposed to the female Keep of Yoshihara's contemporary Yumi Matsuo.
In a sense, Yoshihara's work is an extreme comment on Women in SF, by excluding them almost entirely from a narrative of intense homoerotic relationships and macho vendettas. In depicting abusive relationships between men, in a world from which women are removed or somehow distanced, she tapped into an unexpectedly large subsection of female fandom. Ai no Kusabi found a passionate readership in Japan, sufficient to secure a Seiun Award for its illustrator Katsumi Michihara, although not for its author. The series has twice been adapted into anime, as a two-part video in 1992 and on DVD in 2012; there have also been CD dramas in the style of Radio plays, as well as a Manga edition. Long before its licensed translation in the twenty-first century, it gained a similarly passionate fan following at the periphery of US anime fandom, often among viewers who were forced to guess at the Japanese plot. In its romanticizing of both abstinence and abuse, it can be seen as a forerunner of certain subsets of twenty-first century fantasy, particularly the depiction of Vampires typified by Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.
Ai no Kusabi was the subject of a prolonged fan translation project, the results of which are often at odds with the output of the legal English-language publication. This is a feature of the sheer fanaticism of Fandom, but also of the many difficulties facing a translator of its complex, multi-layered situations. Even the title encompasses a multiplicity of meanings, with "The Space Between" in Japanese also a pun on "Bonds of Love", "Wedge of Interval" and numerous other possible readings. Moreover, some of Yoshihara's editions offer a decorative English-language subtitle on the Japanese cover, even though her English-language title is often an inexact or counter-intuitive rendering of the actual Japanese. Such fogging of meaning is commonplace in modern Japanese sf, but plays havoc with encyclopedia listings (> Hisashi Kuroma).
Although hardly one of the Mainstream Writers of SF, Yoshihara shares many of their concerns, being primarily an author in one genre (her mundane homosexual romances are largely unlisted here), who only occasionally dabbles in Fantastika. Several of her other books touch on otherworldly themes. Kage no Kan ["House of Shadows"] (1994) eroticizes the relationship between Lucifer and his sworn enemy, the archangel Michael. Although not listed as a sequel per se, the following year's Satan no Fūin ["Seal of Satan"] (1995), shares an illustrator, as well as an apparent continuation of the story as Lucifer lives out his exile on Earth (> Gods and Demons). [JonC]
Yoshihara's work is strongly redolent of the sexually-charged mysteries of Ranpo Edogawa, and shares many overt themes with the controversial sf of Shōzō Numa. However, it reached an entirely different audience, one largely unaware of these precursors. The world of Ai no Kusabi is divided by decree into classes defined by Genetic Engineering as signalled by the hair colour of the blond rulers and their black-haired subjects. The Blondies are forbidden from sexual intercourse, but often keep members of the dark-haired underclass for use as "pets" and "furniture". In an attempt to curtail Overpopulation, no more than 10% of births may be female, effectively rendering the milieu as an all-male environment, as opposed to the female Keep of Yoshihara's contemporary Yumi Matsuo.
In a sense, Yoshihara's work is an extreme comment on Women in SF, by excluding them almost entirely from a narrative of intense homoerotic relationships and macho vendettas. In depicting abusive relationships between men, in a world from which women are removed or somehow distanced, she tapped into an unexpectedly large subsection of female fandom. Ai no Kusabi found a passionate readership in Japan, sufficient to secure a Seiun Award for its illustrator Katsumi Michihara, although not for its author. The series has twice been adapted into anime, as a two-part video in 1992 and on DVD in 2012; there have also been CD dramas in the style of Radio plays, as well as a Manga edition. Long before its licensed translation in the twenty-first century, it gained a similarly passionate fan following at the periphery of US anime fandom, often among viewers who were forced to guess at the Japanese plot. In its romanticizing of both abstinence and abuse, it can be seen as a forerunner of certain subsets of twenty-first century fantasy, particularly the depiction of Vampires typified by Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.
Ai no Kusabi was the subject of a prolonged fan translation project, the results of which are often at odds with the output of the legal English-language publication. This is a feature of the sheer fanaticism of Fandom, but also of the many difficulties facing a translator of its complex, multi-layered situations. Even the title encompasses a multiplicity of meanings, with "The Space Between" in Japanese also a pun on "Bonds of Love", "Wedge of Interval" and numerous other possible readings. Moreover, some of Yoshihara's editions offer a decorative English-language subtitle on the Japanese cover, even though her English-language title is often an inexact or counter-intuitive rendering of the actual Japanese. Such fogging of meaning is commonplace in modern Japanese sf, but plays havoc with encyclopedia listings (> Hisashi Kuroma).
Although hardly one of the Mainstream Writers of SF, Yoshihara shares many of their concerns, being primarily an author in one genre (her mundane homosexual romances are largely unlisted here), who only occasionally dabbles in Fantastika. Several of her other books touch on otherworldly themes. Kage no Kan ["House of Shadows"] (1994) eroticizes the relationship between Lucifer and his sworn enemy, the archangel Michael. Although not listed as a sequel per se, the following year's Satan no Fūin ["Seal of Satan"] (1995), shares an illustrator, as well as an apparent continuation of the story as Lucifer lives out his exile on Earth (> Gods and Demons). [JonC]
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 18, 2025
FUCK THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 9, 2015
Oh my God...this was pure greatness and an amazing ending for the series. I've loved Ai no Kusabi ever since I saw the (old) anime all those years ago and the books surely didn't let me down. I knew what would happen in the end, but it still got me in tears and I wept, sadness residing in my soul. The best ending was surely this one, in which their twisted burning love offered everything to the flames.
I loved the fact that Iason and Riki's relationship wasn't explained thoroughly - how we only got glimpses that made so much sense in the end. Love was hardly ever mentioned, but it surely was there. The whole relationship setting was great, how it defied all odds and died with a loud explosion. Decisions here and there led to the inevitable end and a lot of "ifs" were left hanging in the air as they should. The language worked out nicely and there weren't so many mistakes this time. This is truly a remarkable dystopian story that many should read. This shows the true nature of power that Fifty Shades cannot even comprehend. I'm overwhelmed by emotions stirred by this great series. Do check it out.
I loved the fact that Iason and Riki's relationship wasn't explained thoroughly - how we only got glimpses that made so much sense in the end. Love was hardly ever mentioned, but it surely was there. The whole relationship setting was great, how it defied all odds and died with a loud explosion. Decisions here and there led to the inevitable end and a lot of "ifs" were left hanging in the air as they should. The language worked out nicely and there weren't so many mistakes this time. This is truly a remarkable dystopian story that many should read. This shows the true nature of power that Fifty Shades cannot even comprehend. I'm overwhelmed by emotions stirred by this great series. Do check it out.
September 9, 2021
People on twt have been talking about old school BL, and it just reminded me of how much I adored Ai no kusabi. It was the first BL light novel that I read roughly about a decade ago and something that I reread occasionally when I want pain™️ and suffering™️.
This is definitely not for everybody as it involves dark themes and triggers including noncon, dubcon, slavery, power imbalance, and all other highly questionable themes, but I ate all those shit up. The emotional wringer that I went through while reading this, it was intense and something that I will not forget for a long, long time.
With that being said, Iason and Riki will always have a special place in my heart. I will revisit them soon.
This is definitely not for everybody as it involves dark themes and triggers including noncon, dubcon, slavery, power imbalance, and all other highly questionable themes, but I ate all those shit up. The emotional wringer that I went through while reading this, it was intense and something that I will not forget for a long, long time.
With that being said, Iason and Riki will always have a special place in my heart. I will revisit them soon.
December 19, 2013
Riki and Iason are tangled in a mutually destructive affair and this novel brings it to its inevitable conclusion. While I could see how Riki had changed, Iason’s mindset remained as inscrutable as ever. Perhaps it’s not possible to make a machine-like creature as supposedly “perfect” as a Tanagura Blondy entirely personable. The supposed danger he’s in wasn’t quite clear either. I understood how Riki’s friends might suffer if they incurred Iason’s wrath. But exactly what punishment awaited Iason just for holding on to a man from the slums?
The series has had its uneven patches; the spare nature of the writing and the insistence of telling over showing is one problem that never gets quite solved. However, the ending of Riki and Iason’s affair, reticent yet close, reflects the complicated nature of their relationship. A love triangle heightens the drama and the peril; it also blurs the lines between what love truly is versus what it demands.
The series has had its uneven patches; the spare nature of the writing and the insistence of telling over showing is one problem that never gets quite solved. However, the ending of Riki and Iason’s affair, reticent yet close, reflects the complicated nature of their relationship. A love triangle heightens the drama and the peril; it also blurs the lines between what love truly is versus what it demands.
September 1, 2023
that was such an emotional ending. I was way more affected than I was by the OVA.
The translation sucked ass though
The translation sucked ass though
October 15, 2014
Note: This is just a quick review that I put on insta & the full one is currently in progress in my head xD
So after 15 months when I read Ai no Kusabi vol.1-7 I read volume 8 yesterday :") & my head had been filled completely with it that through my lectures today I was just thinking about it xD Well , I have very mixed feelings about the series overall & there's so much that I want to say about it but it's just that I can't seem to find words to justify its epicness & the strong impact that it had on me & how it changed my life & my view of many things since the 1st time I saw its old ovas when I was in the 8th grade & at that time I fell in love with Iason-sama at 1st sight & my love keeps up increasing ♡ & let me just tell you that my obsession & respect for him can't be put in words & you'll get a bit of it when you read or watch the whole series & see for yourself the uniqueness of him & his hotness (He's the reason of why I have something for blonds xD) & now I don't know what to do with my life anymore & I just want someone to tell me what happened next to my babe Katze-chii & to Raoul :"(
So after 15 months when I read Ai no Kusabi vol.1-7 I read volume 8 yesterday :") & my head had been filled completely with it that through my lectures today I was just thinking about it xD Well , I have very mixed feelings about the series overall & there's so much that I want to say about it but it's just that I can't seem to find words to justify its epicness & the strong impact that it had on me & how it changed my life & my view of many things since the 1st time I saw its old ovas when I was in the 8th grade & at that time I fell in love with Iason-sama at 1st sight & my love keeps up increasing ♡ & let me just tell you that my obsession & respect for him can't be put in words & you'll get a bit of it when you read or watch the whole series & see for yourself the uniqueness of him & his hotness (He's the reason of why I have something for blonds xD) & now I don't know what to do with my life anymore & I just want someone to tell me what happened next to my babe Katze-chii & to Raoul :"(
September 11, 2014
I should not have read these novels...
May 4, 2020
Wow, this last volume really takes the story elsewhere. I wonder, if I did not already know how it ends, would I have ever expected such a thing? The action precipitates to a literal explosion, most characters rise above and beyond any expectation, it's pretty much gut punch after gut punch, culminating with Katze sobbing his heart out and that, I think, is all the conclusion this story needs. The best ovation, so to speak.
I won't even try to touch the ending, the meaning behind it, I kept saying it never read to me like a love story or else if it did, Iason was doing all the loving in his own, deeply dysfunctional way. But at least the ending was fair and I suppose 20 years of watching this tale from time to time have convinced me it was not an entirely unhappy conclusion.
Overall, I still love the 1992 anime version much better than the novels, everyone was far more human in it, there was more warmth and feeling and the voice actors were all amazing. Aside from Iason, I am still very much invested in Katze and Raoul and even in the novel, you could tell how deeply impacted they were by the loss and how it changed their lives, basically.
Ai no Kusabi will always be fascinating to me not because of the main duo (who never really clicked for me) nor for the yaoi bits (BDSM, seme/uke are not for me either, but do give me subtle Stockholm syndrome any day of the week!) but for the world it was set in and the idea of a planet ruled by an AI, served by semi-artificial god like beings. The premise and the construction of the world and the very notion of these elites going about in human form and parading their superiority with such casualness, that's what really got me and will keep bringing me back. And Iason, of course, with the glitch in his programming that allows him to see diamonds in the rough everywhere and his inability to keep from sticking his fingers into the fire just to polish those diamonds.
I won't even try to touch the ending, the meaning behind it, I kept saying it never read to me like a love story or else if it did, Iason was doing all the loving in his own, deeply dysfunctional way. But at least the ending was fair and I suppose 20 years of watching this tale from time to time have convinced me it was not an entirely unhappy conclusion.
Overall, I still love the 1992 anime version much better than the novels, everyone was far more human in it, there was more warmth and feeling and the voice actors were all amazing. Aside from Iason, I am still very much invested in Katze and Raoul and even in the novel, you could tell how deeply impacted they were by the loss and how it changed their lives, basically.
Ai no Kusabi will always be fascinating to me not because of the main duo (who never really clicked for me) nor for the yaoi bits (BDSM, seme/uke are not for me either, but do give me subtle Stockholm syndrome any day of the week!) but for the world it was set in and the idea of a planet ruled by an AI, served by semi-artificial god like beings. The premise and the construction of the world and the very notion of these elites going about in human form and parading their superiority with such casualness, that's what really got me and will keep bringing me back. And Iason, of course, with the glitch in his programming that allows him to see diamonds in the rough everywhere and his inability to keep from sticking his fingers into the fire just to polish those diamonds.
January 22, 2023
Everything comes to a climax in this final volume Yoshihara-sensei called a happy ending. There was some happiness and honesty in the end. Perhaps the only way Riki and Iason could have these things was right before the end. Perhaps Guy gave this to them. As much as their feelings weren’t acknowledged, Raoul couldn’t make them disappear. I find myself feeling a need for a reckoning with Raoul. Both with Raoul and this twisted world. I hope Raoul will be haunted. I know Guy and Katze will be. I hope Raoul can’t make Iason and Riki’s story disappear. It shook the world to its foundations. It caused ripples which may lead to revolution, rocking many an assumption. I can’t help feeling there are stories still to be told. That Riki and Iason will become a whispered legend. Their deeds, Guy’s, Katze’s, and even Kirie’s shook the structure of their society, a structure which was already corrupt and flawed. Cracks are coming. This space between may be the first fatal crack, yet it was a love story playing out in defiance of the society it spread within.
That’s how powerful love can be, regardless of how dark the foundations are in which it forms. This was a very dark, yet beautiful tale with a stylized elegance and a sense of moves being played out according to rules, even as they defy the norms. Halting to observe each moment, the ambience, the feelings involved in many a scene, it never shook my interest in the story, the characters, or the setting. It was quite a series.
That’s how powerful love can be, regardless of how dark the foundations are in which it forms. This was a very dark, yet beautiful tale with a stylized elegance and a sense of moves being played out according to rules, even as they defy the norms. Halting to observe each moment, the ambience, the feelings involved in many a scene, it never shook my interest in the story, the characters, or the setting. It was quite a series.
January 26, 2021
These books were fascinatingly shocking and ended with a resounding bang. A touching "Love Story (?)... eh - Definitely not! Closer to a "What's Love Got to Do with It? -all-male, violent, levels-of-hell tale were Immortal and Immoral hot androids take "Cyber"-bulling to a whole different level. On this twisted planet ruled by AI and controlled by sadistic Cyborgs called Blondies it's perfectly fine to kidnap, beat, torture, rape, mutilate, drug, mind-wipe, experiment on their defeated human subjects - turning some into their mindless sex slave called Pets- and others into castrated servants called Furniture. And with those dynamics as a backdrop at the heart of the story is the unforgettable tale of a Man and his Pet - with the man being the most powerful of the Cyborgs - and his pet being a hot, low-life, delinquent that he tortures into Stockholm Syndrome bliss. Oh yeah - what could possibly go wrong here? You'll have to read it to find out...
June 16, 2025
Still it's just really haunting in a way that's gonna stay with me, that's how much I'm equally traumatized and transfixed buy this world, even if that ending baffles me, it's still an underrated story that completes itself in all its media forms from, OVA to the light novel and the Ost of the anime, it really imprinted in me, so kudos to that.
September 6, 2021
The end really got me. Ever since i found out that the 2012 ai no kusabi was canceled, I tried reading the novel one and Im really happy that i did.
I thought this was going to be like the typical bl mangas that ive read that always ends on a happy note and oh boy was I wrong.
It really surprised me and even though I knew that it was going to end that way, I still hoped that maybe there was a chance they would survive. I cried so hard when it finally dawned on me that they really were dead. Im not really into reading novels but im really thankful that this was the first one I read.
I thought this was going to be like the typical bl mangas that ive read that always ends on a happy note and oh boy was I wrong.
It really surprised me and even though I knew that it was going to end that way, I still hoped that maybe there was a chance they would survive. I cried so hard when it finally dawned on me that they really were dead. Im not really into reading novels but im really thankful that this was the first one I read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2022
Ivy is no xxx sry Jojo had of cool HCl official job on dash knob CC High all to LA SC WV ex warning bin the seems tax TV on FB icic on FB so we manage DND you ever WV gb I'll CNN just had had kiss lb en El Paso to the game and the kids were are they are a Ii of 10 and
March 18, 2020
I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.
Still not sure.
Still not sure.
Want to read
October 20, 2020I'm just so in love with this novel ....I can't expressed in words what it has done to me exactly but I do kno dat I felt all kinds of emotions like pain happiness exhaustion etc etc
April 24, 2021
The final. Less repetitive, more story. Feared and loved. Great cover. Read it yourself, only 1.5 hours per book, so no big recap.
October 6, 2022
I am crying. This was beautiful and sad. Riki and Iason could of had everything... I am not getting over these novels, ever.
January 10, 2023
sigh sad perfect
April 6, 2023
This simultaneously is the very best and worst possible ending. Cried my eyes out. Love-hated this so much, put me through the wringer...gah this series holds a special place in my heart ❤️
February 4, 2024
la versione inglese distribuisce la storia diversamente da quella italiana che invece è corente con la suddivisione originale dei volumi, quella giapponese pt. 2
November 3, 2013
saat rasa cinta menguasai segalanya,hati & pikiran menjadi buta.
rasa tanggung jawab serta perjuangan akan cinta ini yang membuat iason mink memilih keputusan sulit & dibenci kalangan intelek&cendekiawan planet jupiter tempatnya berasal demi riki(seorang mongrel dari asteriod ceres).
tadinya riki & iason mink hanya melakukan perjanjian hitam diatas putih,tidak tahunya akan serumit ini.cerita yang bagus tapi hasilnya mengecewakan.cukup 2 bintang untuk memberi rating manga ini;(
rasa tanggung jawab serta perjuangan akan cinta ini yang membuat iason mink memilih keputusan sulit & dibenci kalangan intelek&cendekiawan planet jupiter tempatnya berasal demi riki(seorang mongrel dari asteriod ceres).
tadinya riki & iason mink hanya melakukan perjanjian hitam diatas putih,tidak tahunya akan serumit ini.cerita yang bagus tapi hasilnya mengecewakan.cukup 2 bintang untuk memberi rating manga ini;(
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews