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Ai no Kusabi Boys-Love Novels Get New Anime Remake (Update 2)
posted on by Egan Loo
The official Japanese website has launched for a new video anime remake of Rieko Yoshihara's Ai no Kusabi boys-love novels, more than 20 years after their first publication. The anime studio AIC (Ah! My Goddess, Bamboo Blade) already animated the novels into two video volumes in 1992 and 1994, but AIC's new project will be 13 volumes long and will launch next fall. For the new project, AIC director Katsuhito Akiyama (Pumpkin Scissors, Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor) and character designer Naoyuki Onda (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Blassreiter) are reprising the same roles they performed in the 1992-1994 effort. Yoshihara herself is supervising and writing the scripts. Nobuyuki Abe (Haru wo Daiteita) of On-Lead is directing the sound.
The story is set in the future on the planet named Amoi which is controlled by a supercomputer named Jupiter. Among the mostly male human population, the light-haired elite class is allowed to temporarily keep the dark-haired "mongrels" as pets. One elite member, Iason, encounters a mongrel named Riki in the slums and decides to take him in. However, Iason keeps Riki longer than it is socially approved, and rumors abound about their possible relationship.
Shōsetsu June magazine serialized the original novel run from 1986 to 1987, and six volumes have since been written and published. Digital Manga Publishing announced its license for the novels at Yaoi-Con in 2006, and has just released the fourth volume last month.
Image © Rieko Yoshihara/Ken Media 2009
Update: More background and story information added.
Update 2: Saishin Anime Jōhō reports that Production I.G conceptual artist Atsushi Takeuchi (Ah! My Goddess, Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell) and color key designer Aya Ouchi (Blue Gender, Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure, Pumpkin Scissors) are also working on the project.
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