Ai No Kusabi Novel Subindo
Stephanie Dejoode
Ai no Kusabi (間の楔, lit. "The Space Between") is a Japanese novel written by Rieko Yoshihara. Originally serialized in the yaoi magazine Shōsetsu June between December 1986 and October 1987, the story was collected into a hardbound novel that was released in Japan in 1990, and eventually expanded on and released in 6 paperback volumes.
The novel was partially adapted into a two-episode original video animation (OVA) by Anime International Company (AIC), with the first episode released in August 1992 and the second in May 1994. In November 1993, an audio drama entitled Dark Erogenous was released focusing on a time period left unexplored in the original novels. A new twelve-episode OVA adaptation, also from AIC, was scheduled to begin releasing in Japan in the spring of 2010, but was cancelled for financial reasons. The project was picked up again and was released on January 18, 2012.[1] However, the series was once again discontinued after four episodes.
Anime International Company created a two-episode original video animation (OVA) adaptation for the series. The first episode was released in August 1992, and the second in May 1994.[17] Directed by Akira Nishimori and Katsuhito Akiyama, the episodes were based on a screenplay written by Naoko Hasegawa. They featured character designs by Naoyuki Onda and music composed by Toshio Yabuki.[18][19] The plot slightly differed from the novels' storyline, but kept the main story points intact.
Mania's Danielle Van Gorder felt the prose of the first novel was "florid", and criticized the finishing point of the second novel as anticlimactic.[27][28] She found the characterization of Iason in the third novel to be realistic and compelling,[29] and felt the theme of the fourth novel was power.[30] Jonathan Clements compared Yoshihara's writing style to "Ranpo Edogawa's sexually charged mysteries" and felt Ai no Kusabi shared themes with Shōzō Numa's science fiction.[31]