2001 Music Best Iason

Ai no Kusabi Music Best ~ Iason (間の楔 MUSIC BEST イアソン) is a commemorative collection released a year after the death of Shiozawa Kaneto, Iason Mink's voice actor, who died in 2000 as a result of an accident. It was published by Magazine Magazine Publishing Co.,Ltd. (マガジン・マガジン) on March 1, 2001 and contains 20 selected songs from three of the previous soundtracks - Sense of Crisis (2013), Ambivalence (1994) and Sympathy (1994). All the tracks are the same as their original versions, except Guardian ~Eden~ which is shorter and missing Katze's monologue. Three songs contain narration - Iason Mink and Original Sin are narrated by Shiozawa Kaneto as Iason, and Tenacity also features Seki Toshihiko as Riki.

From Sense of Crisis:

* Iason Mink
* Destiny
* Cruel Beauties
* Dark Erogenous
* Risky
* Tenacity
* Sting
* Secret Love
* Ai no Kusabi

From Ambivalence:

* Metallic City "Tanagura"
* Guardian ~Eden~
* Guardian ~Dark Side~
* Eos

From Sympathy:

* The Nobility
* Ambush
* Chaser
* Original Sin
* Dilemma
* Craving
* Black Moon

Duration: 1:02:07

Catalogue number: JCD-010301

## Tracklist

1. Iason Mink (1:22)
2. Destiny (2:06)
3. Metallic City "Tanagura" (3:56)
4. The Nobility (3:32)
5. Cruel Beauties (2:41)
6. Ambush (0:58)
7. Dark Erogenous (3:14)
8. Chaser (0:56)
9. Original Sin (2:00)
10. Dilemma (2:36)
11. Guardian ~Eden~ (3:20)
12. Guardian ~Dark Side~ (3:11)
13. Eos (3:57)
14. Risky (3:10)
15. Tenacity (5:09)
16. Sting (2:06)
17. Secret Love (4:10)
18. Craving (3:49)
19. Black Moon (5:04)
20. Ai no Kusabi (Sense of Crisis Version) (3:07)

## Lyrics and Translations

### Tencity

(voiced by Shiozawa Kaneto as Iason and Seki Toshihiko as Riki)

## Booklet Contents

In addition to the lyrics to Iason Mink and Original Sin, the booklet contains a short description of each song, as well as credits for who composed and arranged them.

Iason Mink and Ai no Kusabi tracks were composed by Toshiro Yabuki, Tsutomu Ohira, Akimitsu Honma and arranged by Masatoshi Nakata. Destiny, Cruel Beauties, Dark Erogenous, Risky, Tenacity, Sting and Secret Love were composed and arranged by Masatoshi Nakata. Metallic City “Tanagura”, The Nobility, Ambush, Chaser, Original Sin, Dilemma, Guardian (both), Eos, Craving and Black Moon were composed and arranged by Yuichi Kobayashi.

Some of the song descriptions:

1. Iason Mink - Iason's theme suddenly begins with the narration of the late Kaneto Shiozawa, who played the role of Iason. The heavy, melancholic melody recalls Iason's cold countenance. Even so, Iason's voice produces this wonderful narration that makes you feel that you can't think of anyone other than him.
2. Destiny - What sort of destiny awaits? The afterbeat snare drum with gated reverb, which was popular at the time of recording, is effective.
3. Metallic City "Tanagura" - The hi-hat that emphasizes the high frequency range and the bass drum that doesn’t feel too tightly strung offers all-round support, creating a scene of TANAGURA.
4. Sting - A House song. Pretty rare for a kusabi album. The solo that sounds like a guitar in the second half is actually a keyboard. Clever.
5. Secret Love - A wonderful piano piece. As the Ai no Kusabi music producer, this is my personal favourite song. Listening to it now, I wonder if it should have just been the piano. Why…
6. Craving - What did you crave and what did you yearn for? Fender Rhodes-type synth-electric piano melodies intertwined with electric guitar.
7. Black Moon - I remember asking for more reverb during mixing. The low tone of the analog synth is effective.
8. Ai no Kusabi - This is a rearranged version of the theme song. The melody is somewhat softened. A well-known tune.

### Credits

* Song selection and Supervision: Terasawa Hisaki (Ypsilon)
* Engineer: Manabu Sakurai
* Mastering Engineer: Yoichi Aikawa
* Mastering Studio: Rolling Sound
* Original Work and Monologue: Rieko Yoshihara
* Illustration: Naoyuki Onda (Character draft by Michihara Katsumi)
* Animation Production: AIC
* Publication: Magazine Magazine Toppan Printing Co., Ltd
* Producer: Takaaki Kishioka
* Planning: June Publishing Department (Toshihiko Sagawa, Kanako Nagashima)
* Collaboration: TDK Core Corporation (Kiyoshi Kasai, Yūki Hamada)
* Design: Ware House (Kazuhiko Ōtani, Saori Konishi)