Plot Details: This opinion reveals no details about the movie's plot.
Kizuna Volume 2 by Kodaka Kazuma
In Kizuna Volume 1 we met Kei Enjyoji and his lover Samejima Ranmaru. Ran was a Kendo champion, until he saved Enjyoji from a hit and run assassination attempt. His career over, he can't believe Enjyoji still wants him.
Enjyoji is the bastard child of a Yakuza boss, a very powerful man in organized crime. The boss has a younger son, Sagano Kai. Kai is also in love with Ranmaru, and this causes some problems.
In Volume 1, the brothers united to punish the evil professor that tried take advantage of Ran. And things have been better for them.
In Volume 2, the action focuses first on Masa, (Masanori Akiri) a midrange boss of the Yakuza coming to Tokyo on business. In the terminal, a young girl Yuki stumbles carrying her heavy luggage, and he catches her. A simple accident.
Kai, discovering Masa is gone, takes the opportunity to run away. Kai has real problems with his father being a Yakuza; as a child, it isolated him. Now he runs off to Tokyo and announces he will be staying with his brother and his lover. (much to their chagrin.)
Laid in the back ground of the piece are flashbacks, share between Kai and Masa to when Kai was just a little boy, and Masa was his body guard. There was a parent teacher event at school, and of course, a Yakuza boss was not going. But Masa offered to go as Kai's big brother. Kai is so used to having promises broken that he makes Masa pinky swear to show up. Masa was busy beating up other Yaks in the rain when he remembered the appointment; he tore off running, and arrived dripping wet in this awful purple suit that screams "Mafia!" but he was there for Kai, and it is a memory they both treasure. You are aware that Masa loves his charge; further, he is in love with him.
We also get to see how Enjyoji pays the bills; he is a host at a host club, which means he is somewhere between a gigolo and a geisha, entertaining wealth female clients.
The conflict arises when Ran gets a call from the girl Yuki. Kai realizes they are setting up a meeting, and rouses his hung-over brother to catch him in the act.
A lengthy cross-country shadowing later, they catch Yuki and Ran together, and Enjyoji knocks Kai's noggin for him; Yuki is Ranmaru's little sister!
I think one of the cutest things is that when Ran buys flowers for Yuki, Kai thinks it must be serious, but Enjyoji comments that no man looks better buying flowers than his man.
Masa collects Kai, and they finish up their shared flashback, and you realize Masa is IN love with his ward. They head off back home together, and maybe, just maybe, Kai is catching a clue about it as well.
This anime is an adaptation of one of the most famous Yaoi mangas made. It takes a touching story, and the beautiful art that makes it so memorable and breathes life into it. The animation is very much Kazuma's art, with the addition of movement, and wonderful subtle colour, and shading to make it leap off the screen. It really is wonderful.
Yaoi deals frankly with relations between men, and it can range form the very sweet to the very steamy. This one is definitely sweet, in as much as the only sex scene is cut short by Enjyoji passing out drunk.
It is a great little feature, 30 minutes long. With volume one, that makes an hour. My copy is Japanese with English sub-titles, though a dubbed version does exist. If I can ever get my hands on the last volume, I'll complete the overall review of the entire work.
The manga is one of the longest running and successful Yaoi out there. It is definitely the best animated Yaoi. I highly recommend it.
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