is a Japanese

yaoi ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features Homoeroticism, homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typi ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

known for its melodramatic, almost operatic plot, its "semi-insane characters", and for the controversial style of its artwork. The word "Zetsu-ai" is a compound created by

Minami Ozaki is a Japanese mangaka, manga artist, cartoonist and illustrator of novels born on February 27, 1968 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. She is famous for her best-selling manga series ''Zetsuai 1989'', which is considered to have redefined the Shōnen ...

which has been translated as "desperate love". Ozaki's preferred English translation is "Everlasting Love". Many western yaoi fans got their introduction to the genre through this series, which defined the genre for them.

Synopsis

-from Minami Ozaki's ''"Legend of the Holy Beast'' Kōji Nanjō is one of the most successful rock stars in Japan, with his hauntingly beautiful voice and very attractive features. But beneath all the fame and glamour, he is a damaged and hurt young man who has absolutely no happiness or interest in life. One night after a string of bar-hopping, Kōji passes out in a heap of trash in the rain. He is found, taken in, and cared for by Takuto Izumi, a soccer prodigy. Despite the fact that Izumi is a complete stranger, he moves Kōji deeply, and Kōji soon develops an intense obsession with Izumi. It is later revealed that the reason Kōji sings is to find the person he fell in love with at first sight six years earlier, whom he remembers for showing extreme ferocity on the soccer field and for a particularly penetrating gaze. Kōji knows the person's name is 'Izumi,' but he thinks the person he saw was a girl, so initially he believes it was Serika Izumi, Takuto's sister. It is only when Takuto looks at him angrily that he realizes Takuto is the 'Izumi' he was looking for. His body goes into shock, and from then on his obsession with Izumi knows no bounds. As Kōji forces himself more and more into Izumi's life, he exposes Izumi and his loved ones to his dangerous lifestyle and extremely

dysfunctional family A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate suc ...

. When Takuto's little brother asks Kōji if he is gay, Kōji replies, 'No, I am not gay. I am only in love with Takuto. Even if you were twins, I could only love Takuto.' At times, the hurdles the relationship faces become too difficult to bear. In the midst of it, Kōji temporarily loses his voice and is forced to go back to his brother and family. Due to the manga artist's illness, the manga ended at volume 19 without a proper ending. When she recovered, she drew the dojinshi , to give readers a proper 'final meeting' scene.

Characters

: Young Takuto Izumi : Adult Takuto Izumi

Publications

While the series has been published in several languages, it has not been published in English. It first originated as a spin-off of the author's

Captain Tsubasa is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yōichi Takahashi. The series mainly revolves around the sport of association football focusing on Tsubasa Oozora and his relationship with his friends, rivalries with h ...

doujinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created by ...

''Dokusen Yoku''. The pairing of Kōjirō Hyūga and Ken Wakashimazu, featured in ''Dokusen Yoku'', is immensely popular and has been compared to the classic

slash fiction Slash fiction (also known as "m/m slash") is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex.Bacon-Smith, Camille. "Spock Among the Women." New York Times Sunday Book Review, ...

pairing of

Kirk/Spock Kirk/Spock, commonly abbreviated as K/S or Spirk and referring to James T. Kirk and Spock from ''Star Trek'', is a pairing popular in slash fiction, possibly the first slash pairing, according to Henry Jenkins, an early slash fiction scholar. Ea ...

. The usual dynamic in Kōjirō/Ken doujinshi is that their relationship is based on trust. Kōjirō is the man of the family due to his father's death. Ken on the other hand, is heir to a martial arts school, and is constantly under pressure to quit soccer, and suffers an injury from trying to be the best in both fields. The boys support each other and eventually their deep friendship becomes love.Suzuki, Kazuko. 1999. "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., ''Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World''. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.243-261 , . The original ''Zetsuai'' was abandoned after 5 volumes. Minami Ozaki later picked the story back up in 1992 with ''Bronze''. Since then, ''Bronze'' has outpaced the original ''Zetsuai'' with 14 volumes, with the current story arc called "Restart". Two OVAs were made, one taking place in ''Zetsuai

ince Ince may refer to: *Ince, Cheshire, a village in Cheshire, UK *Ince-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, UK *Ince (UK Parliament constituency), a former constituency covering Ince-in-Makerfield *Ince (ward), an electoral ward covering ...

1989'', and the second during ''Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989'' (also called ''Bronze Zetsuai'' or simply ''Bronze'').

Koyasu Takehito is a Japanese voice actor from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.Doi, Hitoshi"Koyasu Takehito" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. He is affiliated with and representative of T's Factory, a voice acting agency he founded ...

plays the part of Izumi Takuto, and

Sho Hayami , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer. He is mainly known for his smooth, deep voice. During his career, he has played a wide range of characters from kind-hearted heroes ( Father Remington, Maximilian Jenius, Nic ...

plays Koji Nanjo. Radio dramas and CDs (with some lyrics composed by Minami Ozaki) were produced. The actors themselves often provided vocal parts for music. Five original music videos were made and compiled into a video called ''Cathexis''. As of 2003,

fan translation Fan translation (or user-generated translation) refers to the unofficial translation of various forms of written or multimedia products made by fans (fan labor), often into a language in which an official translated version is not yet available. ...

s of the first eleven volumes of Zetsuai / Bronze were available. ''Zetsuai 1989'' was licensed in French (by

Tonkam Tonkam is a prominent French publisher of manga and was one of the first publishers of manga in French, issuing its first titles in 1994. It was founded by Sylvie Chang and Dominique Véret with the financial assistance of a Parisian bookseller, ...

), German (

Carlsen Verlag Carlsen Verlag is a subsidiary of the homonymous Danish publishing house which in turn belongs to the Swedish media company Bonnier. The branch was founded on 25 April 1953 in Hamburg. The publisher's program focuses on books for children, i.e. ...

), Korean, Spanish (

Glénat España Glénat can refer to: * Glénat, Cantal, a commune in the Cantal ''département'', France * Glénat Éditions, a French publisher, specialising in comics and manga {{disambig ...

) and Italian (

Panini Comics Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectable stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hunga ...

) languages. ''Zetsuai 1989'' was the first shōnen-ai manga to be officially translated into German.

Manga volumes

Zetsuai 1989

Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989

Soundtrack

Several albums were released relating to the ''Dokusen Yoku'' doujinshi, Zetsuai 1989 and Bronze since Zetsuai between 1988 and 1996.

Light novels

Several

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

s were published by

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

. They were written by Akiyama Rin with illustrations by

. The plot of novels is mostly connected to Nanjo family (''Kaen Danshō'' series in particular), for example Kouji's elder brother Nanjo Hirose.

Reception

At the time of its writing, the genre as a whole was not commonly recognised by those not creating it, but ''Zetsuai 1989'' is considered one of yaoi's "major works" and "one of the greatest icons of ''shōnen-ai''". Koji and Izumi have been described as ''shōnen-ais

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

. There is little explicit sex in the series. Instead, the series is "angst-ridden", and includes "a lot of blood" via themes of self-harm and accidents. Ozaki's works have been described as "prolonged erotic

psychodrama Psychodrama is an action method, often used as a psychotherapy, in which clients use spontaneous dramatization, role playing, and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jacob L. Moreno and ...

s", and Zetsuai 1989 is the "most famous" of these.

Paul Gravett Paul Gravett is a London-based journalist, curator, writer, and broadcaster who has worked in comics publishing since 1981. He is the founder of ''Escape Magazine'', and for many years wrote a monthly article on comics appearing in the UK magaz ...

(2004) Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics (Harper Design, ) page 90 The depiction of love in the series has been described as "nearly violent", which is regarded as a "true revelation" for female readers. The character of Izumi's mother has been criticised by Kazuko Suzuki as an example of

showing "extremely negative images of mothers". Anime News Network has criticised the melodramatic tone of the OVA ''Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989''.Aestheticism.com described the art style of Zetsuai as being "like a fashion designer's workbook", but Anime News Network says that the character design is "horribly mutated" and "disgusting".

Matt Thorn Rachel Thorn (formerly Matt Thorn; born May 12, 1965) is a cultural anthropologist and an associate professor in the Department of Manga Production at Kyoto Seika University's Faculty of Manga in Japan. She is best known in North America for ...

describes the relationship between Koji Nanjo and Takuto Izumi as an "intense and often grim love story", saying that "if you like your shônen-ai (or "slash") intense, look no further."

References

External links

Official Site
* {{Production I.G OVAs 1992 anime OVAs 1994 anime OVAs 1989 manga 1992 manga 1997 Japanese novels 2011 manga Drama anime and manga Light novels Production I.G Shōjo manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Yaoi anime and manga