AI buster, the prequel to .hack//SIGN, is the story of Albireo,a debugger, who used to play ‘Fragments,’ the beta version of ‘The World.’ Albireo encounters... more>> Lycoris, whom he assumes is an event NPC (an AI character) but she’s actually a failed version of Aura. She is blind, deaf, and mute, because Albireo debugged her and broke up important files. The missing files are hidden as items in the World, and when returned to Lycoris, she gets a function back. When she gains them all, she changes into a teenage form with purple hair who looks like Aura. Because of his acquaintance with Lycoris, Albireo cannot log out of the game and exit the World. <<less

.hack//CELL is a novel series written by Ryo Suzukaze, serialized in the magazine .hack//G.U.: The World, and published in paperback format.... more>>

It follows the experiences of a female Edge Punisher, Midori, as she hires herself out to players who want to fight her without resistance <<less

“The World” is a massively multiplayer online game played by more than twelve million people across the globe. Within this virtual world Haseo, a PKK... more>> (Player Killer Killer), continues an endless fight. Everything he does is for the sake of the girl Shino, who back in the real world, is hospitalized by an unexplained coma. However, on finally meeting with his sole lead, a PK called ?Tri-Edge,? Haseo is dropped back to Level 1 by a mysterious power! Can Haseo save Shino now that he has lost all of his abilities? <<less

Wandering through the stars, traversing time and space, mechanical technology – the goal is the unknown star ocean!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

One day, people awoke to find themselves with the superhuman ability called Dialecte. They gathered in the academy city "Canaan" that was isolated from the general public - a futuristic town floating in the sky. Masaki was a high school student who had a peaceful hobby of making pastries and yet he was judged to have the peerless ability "Glow Verbaliser" so he changed schools.... more>>

He meets up with his childhood friend Shirley along with the quiet and mysterious Alice. The two of them are the strongest "Breaker" pair who supervise the rule-breakers of the school regulations regarding the misuse of illusions...but they break up over a trivial argument. Furthermore, since Masaki has the power that's called peerless, Alice chooses him as her new partner.

The strongest! The unluckiest? Let's raise the curtain on the maximum level tea and sweets superpower school battle!! <<less

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

Welcome to Attraction Land.... more>>

You all have been brought to this world famous amusement park for a certain task that you have been promised an extraordinary reward for helping us with.

We will be asking you to carry out a simple monitoring. We will be showing you documents outlining some experimental attractions as well as image videos for them.

Oh, and we would like for you to provide at least three points of improvement for each attraction. Answer everything and do not leave any spaces on your form blank.

It does not matter how small a thing it is.

Now, it is time to begin monitoring. <<less

Scene 1... more>>

Daxia Federation, in a certain game livestream room.

“Alright, that’s the end of this anti-war game experience. I’d give it a 4 out of 10. Let’s check out the next anti-war game… huh?”

“It starts with an immersive plot? The title is… ‘Normandy Landing’.”

“Looks like a beach landing scenario. The character’s on a landing craft, but positioned a bit at the back—can’t see clearly what’s ahead.”

“I need to move forward a bit…”

The fully-immersed streamer muttered as he made his way to the very front of the landing craft.

Scene 2

“Brothers! Zhao Ming the Old Scoundrel has updated the DLC again! Charge!!!”

“Let me see… holy crap?! This time Old Zhao actually lets players experience the perspective of the Third Reich?! Damn, that’s wild!!!”

“Where am I now? Berlin? Isn’t this the Third Reich’s capital? What’s the mission?”

Woooo—oooo—woooo—oooo—

“Hmm?”

“Why are the air raid sirens going off?”

“????”

“Shit!”

“Zhao you bastard!!!”

BOOM——!!!!!!

__

Zhao Ming: Actually… I’m just a filmmaker, you believe me? <<less

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan (撲殺天使ドクロちゃん, literally Club-To-Death Angel Dokuro-chan) is a novel series written by Masaki Okayu and illustrated by Torishimo. It centers around a young... more>> boy named Kusakabe Sakura and an angel, Dokuro-chan, who comes from the future. She's cute, loving, and frequently kills him violently with a giant spiked club named Excalibolg (only to resurrect him seconds later), but that's how she shows her love for him. <<less

In the year After Colony 195, with the start of Operation Meteor, the scientists' plan for revenge against the OZ military organization. The operation involves five young boys who have each been chosen and trained by one of the five rogue scientists, then sent to Earth independently in extremely advanced Mobile Suits, one designed by each of the scientists, known as "Gundams". Their Mobile Suits are called Gundams because they are constructed from a rare and astonishingly durable material known as Gundanium alloy, which can only be created in outer space.... more>>

The five Gundam Pilots — Heero Yuy (an alias, not to be confused with the assassinated leader), Duo Maxwell (also an alias), Trowa Barton (another alias, he was previously known as Nanashi (No-Name)), Quatre Raberba Winner, and Chang Wufei — originally have no knowledge of each others' existence. On first meeting any of the other five, each pilot believes the others to be enemy pilots in new OZ mobile suit designs. Once the young pilots realize that they have the same objective of destroying OZ (and in some cases the same mission), they band together to help each other complete their goals. <<less

The spin-off novel "ULTRAMAN SUIT TIGA" has been released as a standalone book, expanding the world of the popular comic "ULTRAMAN," serialized in Monthly Heroes, from Hobby Japan!... more>>

Serialized from the December 2019 issue to the July 2020 issue of Monthly Hobby Japan, this novelization includes additional episodes written exclusively for the book.

As Shinjiro and his companions investigate mysterious incidents involving humans turning into monsters and committing mass slaughter, they encounter the enigmatic ULTRAMAN "TIGA SUIT." At the same time, the invader Camilla, plotting the resurrection of the "evil god," launches an assault!

Crafted by Keiichi Hasegawa, renowned for his work as a scriptwriter for tokusatsu series and anime, this profound story paves the way for new horizons in the world of "ULTRAMAN"! <<less

Set 10 years after the original Full Metal Panic!, Ichinose Tatsuya is a normal high school boy living with his dad and little sister, Yukari.... more>> He has a history of falling for foreign women, not that it has ever worked out for him. One day, out helping with his father's company by driving a Power s*ave, he runs into a beautiful foreign girl named Adelina….with the latest secret military-grade Arm s*ave called “Shadow”, with her. What’s this highly armed and dangerous girl doing up in the middle of nowhere? Tatsuya is going to find out why very soon…. <<less

Set one year after the end of Persona 4, Naoto is asked to investigate the mysterious disappearances of two Yagakoro students by an old detective friend, Touko Aoi. There, she is partnered with Sousei Kurogami, a mechanical detective and a polar opposite to her in terms of personality and methodology.... more>>

In their first encounter, she awakens to a new persona Amatsu Mikaboshi, which enables her to amplify Sousei’s persona ability, Tsukuyomi.

Together with Sousei, she discovers the Midnight Site, an anonymous site where judgement is passed on others by five judges named after figures in Japanese mythology– Uzume, Sarutahiko, Omoikane, Tajikarao, and Futotama. <<less

In this school fantasy story set in the distant future, creatures contaminated by pollution have overtaken the land, forcing humanity to live in isolated mobile... more>> cities called Regios. One such city named Zuellni is a self-contained school in which freshman Layfon Alseif has just enrolled. Layfon reluctantly joins the 17th Military Arts Platoon led by the third-year student Nina Antalk and embarks on a series of adventures. <<less

A series of light novel stories written by Makoto Inoue (the 6 novels and the first video game novel) and Jun Eishima (the second and third video game novels). ... more>>

The Novels are (in the order by when they came out):

– The Land of Sand (2003)
– The Abducted Alchemist (2003)
– The Valley of White Petals (2004)
– Under the Faraway Sky (2004)
– The Ties That Bind (2005)
– A New Beginning (2007)

The Video Game Novels:

– Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel (2004)
– Curse of the Crimson Elixir (2004)
– The Girl Who Surpasses God (2005) <<less

The Security System that Seals the Savage Science Smartly by its Supreme Sagacity and Strength... more>>

9S is set in an age of science, but in a too distant future. The Mad Scientist, Mineshima Yujiro, disappeared several years previous to where the story begins. The inheritance he left behind, the technology and objects he had created, were given the codename ‘Legacy’, and are highly sought after by government agencies and terrorists, for reasons both good, and....... not so pleasant. One of these ‘objects’ he left behind was his daughter, imparted with a mental calculating capacity that dwarfs supercomputers, combined with her physical body, which makes for a devastating combination. <<less

How does it feel to find out that all your dorm mates are big shots on your first day of school?... more>>

Hao Yun has the most say in this matter.

Having been chosen by the Otherworldly Expert System, he unexpectedly obtains the ability to see the future potential of others. He discovers that his roommates are all future big shots with explosive potential.

Then why should he work hard?

Wouldn’t just being cozy with them solve all problems?

Normal people would think that way, and Hao Yun is no exception.

However, just when Hao Yun thinks that he can easily become a winner in life as long as he cozies up with them, he surprisingly finds these so-called big shots are quite fragile.

And these great artists, superstars, academics, and the richest people in the world, who finally reach the pinnacle of their lives with the help of “coincidences”, can’t help but feel lucky when they are interviewed. They are glad that they had such a hidden expert by their side…

Hao Yun: Great, after all this, I am actually your fortuitous encounter! <<less

The year is 2013, and it's the city of No. 6: a stringently controlled, diligently maintained megalopolis that embodies the highest ideals of humankind. Sion has lived under close supervision as a "high-ranking elite and therefore one of the city's assets" since the age of two, and feels secure - if not particularly happy - in his carefully planned out, government-sponsored future. ... more>>

On the night of his twelfth birthday, his comfortable lifestyle is turned upside-down when he meets, tends the wounds of, and shelters, a strange boy with an icy demeanour who calls himself "Nezumi" (Rat).

Why did I open the window that night? If I had not, I'd never have been forced to know what it's like to fight, to starve, and to suffer in anguish... <<less

The adventures of the Treasure Hunter Alice, specialized in OOPArts, who in the middle of her usual competition with her rival Dorothy, discovers there's a... more>> mysterious organization also interested in collecting the artifacts. And they seem to think those are the key to opening the "Queen's Gate", the last device Alice's mother was investigating before she suddenly vanished... <<less

Fujimine Chinna has a cousin ten years younger than her–Kudo Shinichi.... more>>

For the first ten years and four months of her life, Chinna thought she was just an ordinary girl who had trasmigrated into another world and happened to be Japanese-Chinese mixed-blood.

Until one day, her father told her that he had a distant cousin named Fujimine Yukiko–a famous acctres who retired at twenty and married young–and that Yukiko had a child named Kudo Shinichi. <<less

The world has advanced to a stage where most of society has been left to human-shaped robots known as hIEs. A 17 years-old youth, Endou... more>> Arato, met with the android Lacia one day and became her owner. Although looking no different from a normal human at one glance, she was actually one of the five Red Box android created by a Super Intelligent AI which boasted of abilities beyond what the world has seen—. The five each have their own will and begin fighting each other to exert them. Between the adults who can do nothing but watch as the fight unfolds, and the youths who have begun to form a new relationship with them. What is it that connects these far too advanced androids and the human world? Just what is important and vital in this age where everything has become convenient and what is the relationship between humans and object, the choice that Arato makes for the future having met Lacia who far surpasses human is—. <<less

In the year 1989, the Japanese government passed the Media Betterment Act, allowing a group of soldiers known as the Media Betterment Committee (MBC) to destroy and censor any "problematic" media under the guise of protecting public morals. As a response, regional governments established the Library Defense Force (LDF), whose members take up arms and put their lives on the line to protect freedom of expression. At the top of the Kanto branch of the LDF stands the Library Task Force (LTF): an elite squad consisting of only the most exceptional fighters.... more>>

As a high schooler, Iku Kasahara experienced the terror of censorship first-hand when she refused to surrender the newest volume of her favorite series to MBC agents. She only came out unscathed thanks to a lone member of the LDF, who protected her and her beloved book. Now in her 20s and still unable to forget the man who saved her, Kasahara joins the LDF in the hope of becoming just like her prince.

But LDF training turns out to be far more rigorous than she could have imagined, and her instructor, LTF member Atsushi Doujou, seems fixated on making her life a living hell. Given her struggles, Kasahara is shocked when she is selected as one of the two new LTF recruits as a result of Doujou's recommendation. As Kasahara does all she can to become worthy of the LTF and unravel her enigmatic superior's motivations, she wages war—both on the battlefield and in her personal life.

Vol 1 – Toshokan Sensou (図書館戦争) (Library War)
Vol 2 – Toshokan Nairan (図書館内乱) (Library Infighting)
Vol 3 – Toshokan Kiki (図書館危機) (Library Crisis)
Vol 4 – Toshokan Kakumei (図書館革命) (Library Revolution) <<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

Liking someone and wanting to be noticed by him.... more>>

With such a thought, Mayu earnestly read Usausa Divination. [Your lucky items are a rabbit, an axe, and long piece of metal, I think].

After buying her lucky item, a strange package was delivered to her house. <<less

Kim Hyun Woo lived the life of the wealthy thanks to his parents. But one day, he received a phone call informing him of a traffic accident which involved his parents. His father had died and his mother was hospitalized in critical condition. The normal life he once knew, collapsed...... more>>

They sold their house, cancelled various insurance plans, and moved to a one room apartment. And after a few years, Hyun Woo spends four to six hours tending to his mother and worked to pay for her medical bills.

One day, one of his Instructors recommended him for position in a company called Global Exos, who made an announcement of making history with the newest technological invention. <<less