Sitting* (damn auto correct)
there is a lot of nuance you missed. riki and iason's relationship would not have worked even if they did survive, considering the constraints of iason's position in society as a blondy.
it's mentioned several times that iason was keeping riki as a pet beyond all social norms. riki was not only a mongrel, but he was also over the age of what would be considered acceptable in a pet of the elite. riki was really only permitted to be iason's pet because of iason's high position, in addition to iason being jupiter's favorite.
since riki's status as a pet was the only thing that allowed iason to be with him, riki's castration would mean he could no longer be one, leaving iason with no valid excuse to keep him. they would've likely been forced apart and separated solely because of this development.
there is also the additional conflict of "reprogramming" iason's mind, which is mentioned by raoul. if iason survived, he would've most likely had his memories altered and forgotten riki. riki would be devastated by this, as he understood the love iason had for him, poignantly, at the very end.
i think both of the characters knew that their relationship was not going to work because of the cards they were dealt with. i would like to think they chose death as an escape from a far worse ending to their love.
That's pretty sad. Were there not a single corner in their world to hide together!?
yeah, it is, i honestly hate thinking about ai no kusabi because of how depressing the ending is (and the what ifs you constantly ask yourself). if you're interested, there are a lot of fanfics that rewrote the ending, so that could help heal your heart a little lol
i think they could've hidden but it would've been difficult. jupiter aside, they were bending the rules of an entire society that was happy with the way things were.
the amount of fighting they would have to do to remain together wouldn't have been worth it, because it wouldn't really lead to any deastic change.
i'm also not entirely sure if there was even any worldbuilding beyond tanagura. but even if they did decide to run away, would riki or iason be fine with leaving everything behind? fun hypotheticals
Omg! Thank you. I will do that. I will read a fanfic with a happy ending and pretend that's the original ending.
Please do share sites or link with me if you found any.
Beautifully written. You summed it up well. Thank you. It doesn’t lessen the pain but thank you xD
Agreed.
Both the 1992 and 2012 version ended with Riki and Iason being stuck in the fire, seating there leisurely, waiting for de*th. But is it really the ending?! They d*e? Just like that?! I can't accpet that. I feel like it's completely unnecessary for Author-nim to k!ll them off over a missing limb and d!ck.