Zetsuai 1989

Zetsuai 1989 (絶愛-1989-) is a Japanese yaoi manga known for its melo-dramatic, 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 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
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 lies 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 middle of a rainstorm. He is found and later 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 who he fell in love at first sight, which occurred six years before the current story. It was 'Izumi', and Kōji thought that the person he saw was a girl, the boys in attendance was talking about 'Serika Izumi' and Kōji was asking the 'Takuto Izumi',the one that looks through him. When Izumi Takuto looked at him with anger - he knew that Izumi is the person he was looking for. His body went into shock and his obsession to Izumi knows no bounds.

As Kōji forces himself more and more into Izumi's life, he exposes both Izumi and those closest to Izumi to his dangerous lifestyle and extremely dysfunctional family. Takuto's little brother asked Kōji if he was gay and Kōji replies: 'No, I am not gay. I am only in love with Takuto, even you are twins I can only love Takuto.' There were times during their relationship, when the hurdles became too difficult to face. In the midst of it, Kōji lost his voice temporarily, forcing him to go back to his brother and family.

Due to the mangaka's illness at that time, the manga ended at volume 14 without a proper ending. When she recovered, she drew the dojinshi Ai ni Obore, Ai ni Shisu (愛に溺れ、愛にしす), to give readers a proper 'final meeting' scene.

Publications
While the series has been published in several languages, it has not been published in English.

It was started 1989 as a legitimate spin-off of the author's Captain Tsubasa doujinshi Dokusen Yoku. The pairing between Tsubasa's Kōjirō Hyūga and Ken Wakashimu, the pairing featured in Dokusen Yoku, is immensely popular and has been compared to the classic slash fiction pairing of Kirk/Spock. 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. The series Zetsuai was abandoned after 5 volumes. The author, or mangaka, Minami Ozaki picked the story back up after a few years with Bronze. So far, Bronze has outpaced Zetsuai and has 14 volumes. The story arc it is currently in is called Restart.

Two OVA's were made, one taking place in Zetsuai [Since] 1989, and the second during Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989 (also called Bronze Zetsuai or simply Bronze). Koyasu Takehito plays the part of Izumi Takuto, and Sho Hayami 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 translations of the first eleven volumes of Zetsuai / Bronze were available.

Zetsuai 1989 was licensed in french (by Tonkam), German (Carlsen Verlag), Korean, Spanish (Glénat España) and Italian (Panini Comics) languages.

Zetsuai 1989 was the first shonen-ai manga to be officially translated into German.

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 novels were published by Shueisha. They were written by Akiyama Rin with illustrations by Minami Ozaki. 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-ai's Romeo and Juliet. 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 psychodramas", and Zetsuai 1989 is the "most famous" of these. 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 yaoi showing "extremely negative images of mothers". Anime News Network has criticised the melodramatic tone of the OVA Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989. Aestheticism.com describes 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 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."