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

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

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

It was a life without regret. My parents were in good health, and I wasn’t home enough for me to combine my studies and part-time jobs.... more>>

I like fantasy, martial arts, games, fiction movies, cartoons… I’m a normal high school student who likes these things.

That was certainly true until ten years ago.

This is not the earth.

A fantasy world dominated by powerful people. Savage utopia. It is a world where you can take anything with you if you have physical strength. <<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

Tong Lexian lost his son Xiao’an. In order to fill the void in his heart, he bought a high-intelligence AI to replace Xiao’an.... more>>

But something is wrong with this AI. He could not use the AI as a replacement for his son and the AI did not want to have a father-son relationship with him.

These are sweet and bloody short story with tens of thousands of words. <<less

Now that he enters his high school career, Satomi Koutaro begins his life living alone in an apartment that only costs him 5000 yen per month, an extremely cheap deal even for this small apartment. There’s a catch: the apartment is apparently haunted by a cute ghost that has driven its prior occupants away.... more>>

Next thing he knows, not only is there a ghost trying to drive him out of his new home, but magical girls and other unique female characters turn this small apartment into a battleground of sorts. <<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

It was the bond between humans and humanoids that changed the world.
The Non-fiction Novel "No Collar: Part One" won a literary award. What is... more>> the thought behind the Afterword? <<less

Aki Konishi, a normal office worker, is suddenly transported to another world after her sister is kidnapped by the Demon King. There, she encounters a... more>> handsome hero, a charming mage, and a beautiful young priest. As Aki gets involved in the battle between the hero and the Dark Lord, her ordinary life takes an unexpected turn. <<less

Hatou Manabu has a very odd friend at school named Marii Yukari. Yukari has purple eyes and a bizarre way of looking at the world: she sees all living things as robots. This has not always worked out well for Yukari, even costing her a best friend when she was younger. However, Yukari insists that the things she says she sees is true, and her vision seems to give her insight into the abilities of others.... more>>

Manabu thinks she's just weird, but she soon realizes that Yukari has unexpected talents. Her eyes allow her to view the world in a different way, and even the police come to hear her insights. Eventually, her eyes also get Manabu wrapped up in dangerous plots, and force Manabu to not only step up and take a much more proactive role in her own life, but also to question what being a human or a robot actually means. <<less

To oppose the deceitful world and save the lonesome princess—the young man raises the flag of rebellion.... more>>

The Anti-vampire Combat Automata, “Byakudanshiki”—the five siblings created by the genius machinist from the Principality of Helweiz, Professor Byakudan, were the heroes to save Europe from the invasion by the vampire army…… or so, they were supposed to be.
The “failed unit”, Minazuki the Sixth, wakes up after ten years to confront a reality that stupefied him.
His five siblings had their names engraved in history as “Carnage Automata” due to a rampage incident which was never supposed to occur.
Moreover, the Grand Duke signed a peace treaty with the Vampire Lord that turned the Principality into the only Republic in the world where humans and vampires live as equals.
Through the encounters with the daughter of the deceased professor, Kanon, and the Vampire Princess, Rita, Minazuki gradually gets used to this new “everyday”.
However, the curtain rises when the creeping tendrils of conspiracies entwines around him and the girls.

The Rebellio of the Machina starts now—. <<less

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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

Captain Eugene was once a hero of space warfare. After being abandoned by his command, he is caught in a space-time tidal wave on his final mission and crash-lands on a world he has never heard of, Murim. ... more>>

Having been plugged into an unknown force, he quietly tries to repair the ship and return home, but it's not easy. "I've finally found a dragon!" "Where can I get some of that delicious holy water?"

They mistake the ship for a dragon, or Coke for holy water, and even when you say something to save them the trouble, it's wrong.

"I am the manifestation of a demon god!" But is there such a thing as a real demon religion? Eugene is a spaceman who wants to avoid a twisted future. <<less

The world has collapsed. I’m the only survivor left in the shelter. However, by my side is the world’s best artificial intelligence, Artemis.

24th-century Tokyo is a ruin. Synthetic 'food' and electronic drugs practically spill out of the city as militant gangs roam the streets... but even in the end times, people have got to eat. After a long, hard day's fighting, they flock a restaurant that can be called nothing short of a miracle -- Garandou.... more>>

In the kitchen, the so-called 'Encyclopedia of Edibles' Uka works with an angelic smile. In the front, the former-mercenary-slash-waitress Lyco stares down would-be troublemakers. Every day brings the two girls a lust for new food. No matter what chaos they find themselves thrown into, their quest for full stomachs and fuller smiles knows no bounds -- from man-eating dragons to lethal poison mushrooms, and even old attack drones!? The only sure thing is, they'll eat well and have a great time. <<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

What is the sun? What is light? What is time? What is existence?... more>>

In the dark vastness of the universe, what were robots created for in the end times, and for what did they perish?

Civilization, go and wander in the darkness, then blossom for love. <<less

In the cyberpunk era, corporate alliances dominated the world, and both the humans and witches were ens*aved by advanced technology, becoming nothing more than fuel... more>> for society. Unwilling to become a company dog, Xu Yang decided to run away, while saving the cute and powerful witches from the giant enterprises, together they embarked on a road of innovation! <<less