The story is centred around a cute android who initially had a happy life with her master who dearly loved her. But she was then... more>> struck by a series of misfortunes and ended up in a robot-equivalent of concentration camp. Through experiencing and witnessing the sufferings towards herself as well as the people/robots around her, she eventually gained a better appreciation of life. <<less

A semi-serious school action story revolving around the main protagonist, Tomoharu Natsume. He is haunted by his childhood friend, Misao Minakami, who became a ghost... more>> ever since he barely survived an airplane accident three years earlier. Tomoharu Natsume takes the opportunity to live on his own when he enters high school in his new place of residence, Meiou-tei, and starts enjoying a carefree high school life. His life changed when a beautiful girl named Kurosaki Shuri appears with a trunk which she claimed Tomoharu's brother, Naotaka Natsume, asked her to deliver to him. The presence of the trunk causes the appearance of Takatsuki Kanade, a girl dressed like a shrine maiden who is after the trunk. Tomoharu is in possession of the trunk, which reveals secrets about the world they live in. <<less

Due to various "reasons" having to leave his parents and living alone, is Kirimura Seiji. With his classmates and a very beautiful bishoujo named Fuyuki Youko (a forceful girl which actually wants the Kirimura Seiji for herself), he barely manages to pass through "normally" each day.... more>>

Until one day, falling out of the sky, is a girl wearing gothic attire. This cute little girl is called Yuu, and she claims to be a vampire. Her appearance is due to the fact that she is searching for her thousand year old reincarnated lover.

Originally he thought that she was raving mad, but never in his farfetched dreams would he have expected to find a Rabbit butler (Sekitoku) and a Steel Maid-en (Koshizu) (a combination android/maid) would appear to retrieve her (Yuu the vampire) home. With these new arrivals, Kirimura Seiji's daily "normal" life is over, and triggers the beginning of his "very abnormal, love life". <<less

On the outskirts of the Pleasure City of Midas lies the Ceres special autonomous area, commonly known as the slums. Gang leader Riki, looking for an easy pocket to pick in the nightlife districts, gets caught red-handed…by none other than one of the highest-ranking, golden-haired android elites ruling from the capital Tanagura: the “Blondy” Iason Mink!
By all rights, a Blondy standing at the pinnacle of aristocracy and a slummer should have never crossed paths—their chance encounter marks the beginning of a love twisted by obsession, soon spiraling into a karmic chain of events...... more>>

⬇️ //// About the Japanese novel and anime adaptations ////
⬇️ //// About the English translation ////
⬇️ //// Current translation status ////
⬇️ //// Drama CDs, prequel and side stories ////

//// About the Japanese novel and anime adaptations ////

Originally serialized in the bimonthly magazine Shosetsu June (小説ジュネ) spanning six chapters from December 1986 to October 1987, the novel was released with minor revisions into a hardcover edition in 1990.
This first version of the story received a two-episode/OVA anime adaptation in 1992 and 1994.

Between the years 2001 and 2007, the original story was greatly expanded upon and released in six paperback volumes. After a change of Japanese publisher, two more volumes were released between 2009 and 2010, completing the series (the six aforementioned volumes were released as volumes 1-4 in the newest Japanese edition).
This second version of the story was meant to be adapted into a twelve-episode OVA anime—initially planned to release in 2010—but was postponed to 2012, only to be discontinued after the fourth episode’s release.

//// About the English translation ////

The English paperback expanded edition is made up of eight volumes: the six first volumes (Seibido/Crystal edition) + the two later volumes (#7 and #8 in English, but #5 and #6 in the newest Tokuma/Chara edition).
The change in Japanese publisher led to a change in translator for the English edition between vol1 to 6 and vol7 to 8: it is highly recommended to read the fan translations of #7 and #8 as opposed to reading the licensed edition, due to the massive loss in translation (expect a 50% word count difference between the two).

//// Current translation status of the different editions of the novel (as of April 20th, 2024) ////

. Shosetsu June edition, unlicensed: 2/6 chapters, ongoing fan translation.
. 1990 hardcover edition, unlicensed: 2/6 chapters, ongoing fan translation. An older fan translation had 4/6 chapters translated but the project was dropped.
. 2000’s expanded edition, English licensed: fully translated, complete.

//// Drama CDs, prequel and side stories ////

– The Shosetsu June story was adapted into a drama cassette and a drama CD (Dark Erogenous).
– The expanded story was adapted into three drama CDs (Destiny, Nightmare, Resonance)
– A prequel called Midnight Illusion was serialized in Shosetsu June between December 1992 and April 1993, and released as a hardcover in 1996. 3/6 chapters have been fan-translated into English.
– The 5 side stories have all been fan-translated into English (Kizu/Wound, File-0, Cal’s Sighs, Musk, Illusion Night) and are based on the expanded version of the novel.

Look up online “Ai no Kusabi Master List LiveJournal” to find the links to all the material listed above and more.

[This page was updated as per an anon’s request, all credit goes to the AnK community where credit is due.] <<less

At a unspecified point in the future, the Earth dies. Then, a genius engineer only known as “Y” manages to revive the Earth using only... more>> gears and clockwork. Thus the world is renamed “Clockwork Planet”, with cities being build inside the planet’s gears. A thousand years later Naoto Miura, a student and lover of machines living in the Kyoto gear, finds a crate has crashed through the roof of his apartment. Inside the crate is a coffin containing the broken body of an automaton. Using his superior sense of hearing, Naoto fixes the automaton, who is named RyuZU Yours*ave, who reveals she has been broken for over 200 years. RyuZU promises complete loyalty to Naoto and the two become close. Later they meet two people trying to find RyuZU: Dr. Marie Bell Breguet, the youngest person to become a “meister”, a group of master engineers; and her bodyguard Vainney Halter. A month after their encounter, all four appear in Akihabara, Tokyo, having now become the world’s most infamous terrorists <<less

In 2180, the last survivor of the human race returns to Earth.... more>>

In 2025, a 3rd generation Chaebol regains consciousness after being rendered a vegetable in a car accident. <<less

A Spin-off novel of High School DxD by Ichiei Ishibumi bundled with the Blu-Ray special editions of the Season 3 Anime, High School DxD BorN.... more>> Set in a time-travel setting between post-Volume 14 present timeline and thirty years into the future. <<less

Yang Feng somehow transmigrated into a different world and received a legacy of an ‘ancient high tech’ family, which does not directly raise his power, but gives him the technology to build things which are way more advanced than the seemingly medieval world.... more>>

But to build something you need resources and energy. To receive resources you need strength. To gain strength you need knowledge. To gain knowledge you… need strength? or a background? Or maybe a fully armed army of high tech robots who aren’t afraid of death?

But is this legacy really for him to keep? <<less

A special extra volume of Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? released with the anime DVD / blu-rays.

Hashimoto Maya, a weak 22-year-old woman and a pushover, got herself a kind boyfriend in the form of an android. But there was a mistake so the one that reached her was the “Ore-sama” android…... more>>

*Ore-sama is a way of addressing oneself haughtily. Basically, the android she got is someone who thinks highly of himself; a person with an attitude. <<less

Several hundred thousand players are trapped in a gritty zombie apocalypse survival game just after game launch. There are hints that deaths in the game might be serving some other terrible purpose in the background of reality…... more>>

The main character, Liu Gan, is a quadruple amputee in real life. A quirk in the server code recognized his prosthetic limbs as ‘real limbs’ in game, giving him ‘normal’ arms and legs that nonetheless have the strength and power of steel limbs, and thus far more power than a normal player. With this minor cheat helping him survive the early stages of the game, Liu Gan sets out to find out what exactly is going on, and to endure as long as he can. <<less

The series takes place in an indeterminate time in the future, 500 years after an apocalyptic war between all of Earth’s nations destroyed civilization, when humanity has reestablished itself. ... more>>

In this future world, the Roman Catholic Church has become a major military power, whose goals include the protection of humanity against the vampiric Methuselahs, who war upon humankind (or “Terrans,” as they call humans). Their seat of power is the Vatican, an attractive place with traditional European architecture; it is likely the same Vatican city in the real world (albeit perhaps rebuilt following the previous war).

The Methuselahs are themselves another major political and military force. Their capital of Byzantium (presumably built on the site of the real world’s Byzantium, now Istanbul) appears as an elegant metropolis, surrounded by a field of particles which filters out UV radiation, thus protecting the Methuselah population. <<less

A collection of short stories by Otsuichi which resembles a Zoo with its many short stories covering different topics, settings, and genre.... more>>

Identical twins brought up in the same household where one is treated like dirt and the other a princess.

The last man on the planet builds a robot to bury him as he muses about his own impending doom.

A family tries to find their father’s spare blood as he bleeds to death after having been stabbed by a kitchen knife.

And many others. <<less