is a yaoi

Yaoi

In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, . The English equivalent is . also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series by Kazuna Uchida. The first volume was published in Japan in October 1992 by Shufu-to-Seikatsu Sha. It spanned six volumes until its conclusion in September 1996. Ohzora Publishing

Ohzora Publishing

, also known as Ohzora Shuppan is the leading josei manga publisher in Japan, founded in 1990. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, it publishes Japanese manga, manga magazines and comic anthologies. The company is headed by . Kitawaki also runs affiliated American company Aurora Publishing, established...

 reprinted the volumes from April 1997 through October 1997. Aurora Publishing

Aurora Publishing

Aurora Publishing, Inc. is the American subsidiary of Japanese publisher Ohzora Publishing, the leading josei manga publisher in Japan. Headquartered in Torrance, California, it licensed and published Japanese manga for the North American market...

 licensed the series for an English language release in North America in 2007. I Shall Never Return is available in English on the Internet from the Netcomics publisher.

The plot is about a love triangle between a cheerful young man, Ritsuro, his troubled friend Ken who works as a rent boy, and Ritsuro's girlfriend Moeko.

I Shall Never Return was adapted into a 40 minute original video animation

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

 by J.C.Staff

J.C.STAFF

, is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986. Their first release was the three episode OVA Sengoku Kidan Yōtōden, in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as Revolutionary Girl Utena, Excel Saga, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Shakugan no Shana, Toaru Majutsu no...

 and released in Japan on January 27, 2006. Media Blasters

Media Blasters

Media Blasters is an entertainment corporation founded by John Sirabella and Sam Liebowitz, based in New York City. They are in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga compilations and anime and live-action movies and television series to home-video...

licensed the OVA for distribution in North America and releasing it on February 13, 2007.

Reception

Moeko has been described as "more than a convienient prop" to the plot, which is unusual for female characters in BL works, which is unusual since her character is important to the overall character development of both male characters. Ritsuro and Ken's switching seme and uke roles has been remarked on as interesting in "a work of this vintage", and as a device showing the confused emotions of their relationship. Rape scenes in the second volume have been described as being for "full emotional, not sensual, impact". Erin F. of PopCultureShock described it as "amazingly dramatic".
The OVA has been described as a "love letter" to the fans of the manga, and as a 'snapshot' of the manga story.