Ai no Kusabi: The Space Between - Reviews

There are two versionsof Ai no Kusbai. This version is the second one and consists of four episodes. The first one consists of two OVAs. Both have very different endings.

I really liked the anime style of the 2012 version. Another big detail between the two is that the first is much more visual in regards to the adult content.

A futuristic world overseen by some colorful AI, then you've got the androids called Blondies at the top tier who have pets and use them in many ways. Remember that this is yaoi. And very well done too.

Under the Blondies are characters of different classes and hair colors. Our main guy, Riki, has black hair and his eyes hold so much emotion! He is from the human slums and considered a 'mongrel'.

For someone who watched the original... It lacks many things such as the characters and literally the whole storyline. I was so hyped to see a remake as i wished the original was much longer to get full taste but this is a total dissapointment. They literally just made one with good artstyle and forgot to add essantial things.

i've seen many negative reviews about this anime so i just wanted to clear something

first that it is the remake of ai no kusabi 1992. those ova are too short to describe all the aspects of characters and story. Honestly, i didn't enjoy them but i enjoyed the remake, infact i enjoyed it so much that i decided to read the novel and trust me it disn't disappoint me. Actually i never wanted to end it and when it ended it left me sad for days  really. It was wholesome and exciting at the same time.

i really wish for this anime to be completed because evryone is saying there is no story but guys, u see there are just 4 episodes there were supposed to be more but the production stopped. In novel there are moments that describe the personality of characters and their relshionship. there are many moments where we can feel what Iason thinks about Riki but too bad Riki recognizes it too late. Despite being his pet he fell for him and i wouldn't call it stockholm syndrome or whatever. Some people need to understand the setting of the novel. It is not your cliche story.

I was really waiting for the story that begin after Riki goes back once more. THere are many wholesome flashbacks and moments after that. Riki's stubbornness and Iason's ego, Oh god i can go on and on. 

I still recommend it and if u get hooked then read the novel. I wish they complete the anime, I'm still waiting.

So I've finally decided to watch Ai no Kusabi and oh boy, did it disappoint me. Now I really need to complain about it, thus I will start my first review ever on this website. Please, don't expect too much, as I rarely have any clever things to say. I just like getting mad at things I don't like!

I will be comparing this version to the 1992 OVA, for I've decided to watch that first and actually enjoyed it a bit more.

Story

I'd love to talk about the story, but I really couldn't notice anything that even resembles it. After watching the older OVA, I was left a tiny bit confused and was hoping this version might answer a few of my questions. Sadly, they didn't give us anything, just a boring setting of a sad futuristic world.

I get it, I get it. It's a yaoi, it usually doesn't exist for a good story to be told, but it seems I haven't learned my lesson yet. I just thought it had so much potential, even though social gaps like this are a bit overdone at this point. I'd also like to know exactly why people's social status is determined by the colour of their hair. I mean, it's a nice idea for sure, but I'd love to know the reasoning. It would sure be nice if there were at least some word-building in this anime. 

I wanted to say I'd love to see someone try again and do better at adapting this story into an anime, but after thinking about it for a bit, two adaptations of Ai no Kusabi seem to be more than enough already.

Animation

Oh, that background art was the end of me. I love to judge backgrounds a lot because that's what supposed to really suck you into the world, but this one just felt so empty and soulless. I could also rant forever about the colours they used, because they felt so out of place, but who'd want to read that?

As for the character design, yeah, there's pretty boys I guess. Most of them suffer from the "same face syndrome" though, and if you're looking for uniqueness, maybe go look for something else. It's not bad, but it could be better. Their outfits though? Am I the only ones who wonders who let them dress that way?

Sound

Now that we've got art out of the way, let's talk about the soundtrack. It either didn't fit the scene or just wasn't present at all when it could have made the scene srand out. I think music is meant to make you feel something, but I just felt as numb as if I was listening to mosquitoes. It made me nervous at times from how strange it sounded, though that could just be me being weird. Then there were the opening and ending songs, but they weren't that good that I'd remember them or listen to them. Nothing that terrible either though.

The voice actors did a fine job for the most part, but there were few characters who made me want to be deaf. For example, Kirie, oh what have they done to your voice, poor baby. Even he wasn't as bad as that Mimea girl though, her voice was literally the death of me. Girl made my tinnitus go brr.

Characters

Not only was the story nonexistent and sad, the characters and their personalities suffer from the same curse. They were more alive and real in the older OVA, where even the side characters got their time to shine and were fun to watch. Most people in this one were annoying thoug, existing for no reason at all. I am once again talking about my boy Kirie, who I considered to be quite well done in the older version. He was just acting like a five year old here and was so damn aggravating.

For Iason, he's really lacking any personality. In the older version, they made him a bit more interesting in the way he was obsessed with Riki, but if he was completely absent in this anime, I wouldn't notice. He's just see through, what am I to say. Riki was just confused, as always it seems. I think he doesn't know what he wants at all, and even I can't figure that out. I don't know anything, literally, because nothingness is the only thing this anime is giving us.

The lack of backgrounds for the characters bothered me. I wanted to know more about them, about their motives and goals, maybe then I'd actually enjoy watching them live their tragic lives. I wanted to learn why they are the way they are, because they all seems like very broken people, but I got nothing, just questions that won't ever get an answer. I get that we just can't have everything with an anime this short, but that's not an excuse for not making the characters seem more real.

Overall

As you might have noticed, there are many things I don't like about this, and there might be even more if I thought about it a bit longer. I can't help but have expectations that are too high for my own good, but I can't help it. Sure, I didn't expect that much from this, but I'm still very disappointed. It surprised me, though, that not only the story and everything else sucked, but the sexy scenes were also just sad to watch. What's the point of this existing, really.

So, did I enjoy this? No, obviously not. Will others enjoy it? Depends! Some people really like this - I don't understand why but they do. If you're looking for an interesting story, please go look for something else, please, don't waste your precious time with this if you don't like to suffer. If you're looking for mediocre sex scenes, you're in the right place though.

I'm just glad it only had 4 episodes.

This anime is great for yaoi sexy times! The story is slightly lacking but overall I enjoyed it.