It's been five years since she lost her parents in an accident and lived alone with her elderly grandmother.... more>>

She stumbles upon her grandmother's passbook, which is filled with monthly donations from a man whose name she doesn't recognize.

The sponsor, who seemed to leave a kind and favorable impression, said,

"The man might be bad, but I don't have any intention of doing anything bad to a kid like you. So, study hard and go to college, okay?"

He was a gangster.

* * *

“f*ck, I was sponsoring you so you wouldn’t become a bastard like me.”

"Hm... Ah, sir..."

“Wouldn’t it be absurd for you to open your pu*sy for the pleasure for a bastard like me?huh?"
Taeseok, raising his temper, chuckled nervously.

"Even crows repay the favor." <<less

Graffiti. It’s the magic of ephemeral visuals that vividly overwrite even her and my thoughts―... more>>

Yoshi, a university student studying abroad in Bristol, Britain, uncovers graffiti at his workplace. Together with his colleague Boudicia, a languid but wild girl with golden hair, he uncovers a secret world of graffiti he never knew existed, as he is dragged into the conflict between graffiti writers and police, all the while struggling to rekindle his passion for music after a traumatic event. <<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

Thinking that he was the man’s true love, he naively handed over his sincerity, only to realize that that he himself was the protagonist of the most disgusting story about a body double.... more>>

He was unable to control himself, he wanted to kill off that person who looked exactly like him. Only that the lover he had been with for the past year or so, had raised his gun and shot him dead. In that split moment of pain and cold, the heat of being pierced by the bullet had scorched into his heart, carved onto his bones, so deep that he would never ever be able to start over new.

Yet he still lived; could even empty his heart and step back, could even openly laugh. Just as if nothing had even changed.

But under the rambler roses, the former lover stepped out from the past year, his eyes slowly fixed on him, as he assumed a cold posture to question him. The weakness at the bottom of his eyes hidden behind the thousands of mountains and rivers of the difficult journey.

Gu Han Liang then said: “It doesn’t matter to me if you don’t forgive, don’t believe, or don’t accept. Just let it be as if you lent yourself to me. If you hate it, if you feel sad, then go back at once. I will not force you a second time.”

He didn’t reply, but his heart trembled.

The man’s kiss pressed onto his forehead, and the deep voice sounded again.

“If you don’t hate it and don’t feel sad, then lend me a lifetime.” <<less

The man who stood before me was massive. Admittedly, the lighting inside the bar was not very bright, but the shadow that hung over his face was unusually dark, and his appearance was not completely visible. However, it was obvious that his face was unforgettable from his sharp eyes and straight mouth.... more>>

The man asked in a high-handed manner, as if he were looking down on me.

"Idealize?"
"What...? Uh... Mirae hyung?"

I replied with an awkward smile. I had no choice but to acknowledge him.
Who else would call me by my in-game name at a store in the middle of Gangnam? <<less

Chu Qing, a Swordsman, accidentally entered the Fairy Realm 300 years ago. During those 300 years, he began his cultivation journey. Upon reaching the Realm... more>> of Eternity, he unexpectedly opened the Hall of Time and Space and returned to the time he was 17 years old and lived on the Earth. But, it turned out that it wasn’t the same Earth he once lived in. It was a reversed world where Women act like Men and vice-versa! And hence, his journey to conquer all the strong women of this ‘Reverse World’ and return to his previous world began. <<less

Han Shaoling is a mogul known to all, but thanks to his grandfather’s death and his will, he has no choice but to marry a man to be his wife. Xu Moyu, in order to save the lives of his brothers in the gang, has to marry arrogant and cold-blooded Han Shaoling.... more>>

Han Shaolin sneers and forcibly presses Xu Moyu, “I didn’t marry you for nothing. Shouldn’t you carry out your duty to please me as my wife now?” What he says is utterly impersonal and aggressive. However, indifferent and supercilious Xu Moyu just narrows his slanted eyes in anger. In the next second, a cold pistol has been pointed at Han Shaolin’s forehead. “You seem to have nothing better to do so you’d like to be shot, Hierarch Han!”

The heartless younger top VS the expressionless cunning bottom. Let’s see how they break through this relationship. <<less

The generation’s most accomplished male Mercenary King, Su Rui was dishonorably discharged from his own country’s military forces, deported and exiled from his home country under vague and undisclosed circumstances.... more>>

5 years have since past, as he make his return to his home country in order to fulfill a promise with an unnamed ex-benefactor which leads him into a contracted employment under Lin Aoxue, a cold-hearted but brainy Scientist-cum-CEO of a prominent company within the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Watch as conflict arises and hilarity ensues, as both parties belonging to different worlds collide.

A storm of blood brews as the influential factions of power in the Capital begin to move upon learning of Su Rui’s undesirable return. <<less

Lu Fei transmigrated into an urban brain-dead novel he had once read.... more>>

In the new world, he turned into the villainess’ sidekick!!!

What the heck was going on? That was the thought that went through his mind.

Others would transmigrate as rich second-generation villains or antihero protagonists, so why did he turn into a villainess’ sidekick?

However, with the System’s awakening, he came to the realization that being a sidekick wasn’t all that bad; it was quite cool!

Right at the start of his new life, the villainess tied up the hot heroine to a hotel bed and told Lu Fei to gobble her up!

She even forced the heroine to marry him!

Holy crap! How cool could the start get?

Later, the plot grew more and more outrageous!

“Hey! You are the heroine, so be more reserved.”

“Hey! Boss! Don’t do that, let me go! I am just your sidekick, not your man!”

“Woah! You are the Favored Son of Heaven! Don’t change your ways and kneel when you speak; I am merely helping my big boss get some stuff done, that’s all!” <<less

Three years ago, my sister was almost… yet I was indifferent. Now, I only want to take care of her well.

A very villainous drug dealer top VS a pretty cute bottom... more>>

1. Rap and rend, but no abusing, after a beauty is used to dote on~

2. The top is very bad, a real big villain.

3. The top is ugly at first, how? Too slim.

4. This novel is only for fun, so don’t relate it to reality.

Family goes bankrupt, the debtors come to collect the money, parents jump off the building… He sells everything to pay the money back. Xiao Yubai goes desperate and goes to be a monk. But when he passes through the wild, he got kidnapped??? It seems he is not the only one. But he is the only one kept…others all get shot…while he is locked in a room… <<less

Durarara!! SH is a sequel series of light novels following Durarara!!. Set one and a half years after the end of the original series, SH features the same setting as Durarara!! and much of the previous series’ cast returns alongside several new main characters.... more>>

The first volume was published in April 2014 under the Dengeki Bunko imprint, and three volumes have been released in total as of January 2015.

As with its predecessor, SH is written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda.

One and a half years after the end of the Dollars, Ikebukuro now welcomes a new wind.

Yahiro Mizuchi, a cowardly boy with a knack for fighting, moves to Ikebukuro after a childhood of ostracization in his hometown in Akita. Come to the city in hopes of meeting the famed Headless Rider and validating his existence as a “monster," he enrolls in Raira Academy as a freshman where he quickly befriends fellow classmates Kuon Kotonami and Himeka Tatsugami, both of whom possess their own reasons for seeking out the urban legend. Meanwhile, the rider in black has yet to be seen in the city for the past half year, and anyone who has since attempted to seek out Ikebukuro’s resident Dullahan has vanished without a trace.

With a new start on life, Yahiro wants nothing more than to live out a quiet, ordinary existence, but the city of Ikebukuro has other plans... <<less

She, a top-level killer at the Killer Employment Center is unexpectedly sent by her aunt to the bed of the big boss of Night Empire... more>> and got pregnant! When she wants to ask about the baby's father, her aunt flees away…Six years later, when she, taking the child, turns every stone to find her aunt, she gets accidentally involved in a gangster dispute. The child is taken away by people with Night Empire. In desperation, she has to disguise as a male driver and undercover around the big boss… <<less

Luke has transmigrated to the United States, but eventually realizes that this United States is different from the United States of his previous life. Here, the superpowers and characters from the movies in his previous life actually exist. How will Luke fare in a world where such terrifying superpowers exist?... more>>

Fortunately, he has a cheat – the Super Detective System.

Join Luke on his new journey toward becoming a detective. <<less

He Yu and Fu Chenshan were childhood friends, and He Yu had a crush on Fu Chenshan from junior high until they started working together. After years of asking for help but not receiving it, the young man who got into trouble became impetuous and chose to spend three years in prison to take the place of Fu Chenshan.... more>>

He Yu lost his closest relatives in prison and was repeatedly bullied, forcing him to choose to cling to Qiao Mudong for a better life. He realized how to be sorry at that point, but there was no way out.

Three years later, he was released. Fu Chenshan was pleased with his life and had a lovely woman by his side. He Yu's passion seemed to have devolved into a farce at the time. He had planned a route of retreat from a difficult situation, but he unexpectedly ran into Qiao Mudong again…

One sentence introduction: This story is about changing the broken gong. <<less

Jiang Che traversed into a merged novel world, becoming the major villain in the novel. His story begins with the descent of a divine healer. ... more>>

However, this healer is not ordinary; he actually has seven exceptionally beautiful senior sisters. Moreover, the eldest senior sister, whom the protagonist has long admired, turns out to be his childhood sweetheart and fiancée?

According to the plot, he is supposed to end up with his family destroyed and himself in ruins due to the protagonist’s actions. Therefore, Jiang Che can only lay out his plans in advance, changing the plot time and again.

Soon, an outrageous scene unfolds. The beautiful senior sister, who initially had tender feelings for Ye Chen, is now insisting on marrying no one but Jiang Che.

The ‘lolita’ senior sister even drags Jiang Che to her home daily to show him her newly bought white silk stockings…

After Ye Chen comes down the mountain, he is completely enraged seeing his senior sisters one by one turn away from him. Jiang Che then innocently expresses: “Chenzi… it’s not my fault, your senior sisters are just too enthusiastic…” <<less

A real man isn’t afraid of impotence.

When Hong Kong was in the 1980s, bully triads were dominant and the society was in insecurity. The police were corrupt at that time. The infamous unruled area, Snapdragon Walled City (based on Kowloon Walled City), was especially chaotic. Over a dozen big and small triads settled over there.... more>>

The golden hatchet man* Xia Liuyi in Xiao Qi Tong founded a film studio to launder money under the boss’s command. The female lead of the film was their sister-in-law; the male lead was a threatened popular star; the director has only shot X-rated films – they need one more educated person to write a story.

Wasn’t that an easy task?

Boss Liuyi took action promptly. He picked the only college student in this area – He Chusan who was coming home with his little backpack. He Chusan said: “I can’t write a screenplay. I’m studying economics.” Xia Liuyi said: “Beat him.” He Chusan became a golden screenwriter obediently.

After finishing this film, He Chusan thought he was already freed. Rest assured, he went to school with his little backpack again. However, he stepped on the Xia Liuyi covered with blood just in front of his home. The stage of a triad boss who was a snapdragon in this chaotic world and a white-collar elite from an innocent family, two parallel lines that seemed not to cross each other, and a messy, unreasonable fate, has its curtain lifted……

*In this book hatchet man literally means “the hired beater (打手)”, and Xia Liuyi was a top-ranked hatchet man. <<less

I like you. You can like whatever you want.

Choosing not to follow in the footsteps of his father, who serves as legal advisor for the yakuza criminal organization Komine-kai, Fuyuki instead becomes a... more>> corporate lawyer and is looking forward to a life of smooth sailing. Those hopes are dashed, however, when his father falls ill, and Mitora, the head of the gang and Fuyuki's childhood friend, pressures him to take over his father's position. When he declines, Mitora imprisons him as his captive and plaything, and Fuyuki ends up losing both his job and his girlfriend. "Even as a kid I knew, nobody was gonna be my other half but you." What will Fuyuki do when Mitora unleashes the full ferocity of his love...!? <<less

Everyone knew that Master Qiao Si stood for the word “ruthless” in City S.... more>>

No one dared to call him by name,

Even Master Qiao Si himself seemed to have forgotten his actual name.

At this point of life, Master Qiao Si thought he was capable of seeing through anything in the world,

Except for his half brother –

He’s willing to exchange anything he could afford for a look from Qiao Che.

Duan Heng, who came to serve him ten years ago,

A future star under his patronage and one of his pets,

Was also one of the “tributes” to Qiao Che.

However, this young man was like a loyal and handsome large puppy for him.

His bold love was almost addictive.

Momentary happiness, though it might be illusory, was nonetheless happiness.

Those feelings that should have been long forgotten started to come back…… <<less

Durarara!! is about a number of unusual people who gather in Ikebukuro, Tokyo--- a youth who yearns for an un-mundane life, a hoodlum, a stalker denpa-girl, a young man who deals in information ?for fun?, a black-market doctor, a high-schooler obsessed with magic, as well as a ?headless rider? riding a bike painted black.... more>>

These unusual people begin a series of abnormal stories that never fail to create headaches. But, although their personalities are all twisted? they still talk about love.

Note: A sequel novel series "Durarara!! SH" began in 2014. <<less

“Baccano”, which Narita translates as “s*upid commotion”, is Italian for “ruckus”. Each of the stories in the series involves several unrelated plots intersecting and crossing each other as events spiral farther and farther out of control. Immortal alchemists, mafia operated speakeasies, and many other elements of pulp fiction mashed together for a world straight out of the movies.... more>>

It all started 300 years ago on a boat where the alchemists summoned the “demon” in order to obtain the method of immortality. The demon gave the alchemist the liquor of immortality, the only way to die is to pass down the way to produce the liquor.

But the following night, one of the alchemist started to devour his companions. To escape the threat, the alchemists scattered all over the world. In America during the temperance movement, centering around the liquor of immortality, the “s*upid commotion” starts! <<less

He—an enigmatic and cold-blooded soldier with a mysterious background.
She—a ruthless and bloodthirsty spy.... more>>

After she transmigrated out of the blue, she held a knife to his neck on their first meeting— marking the beginning of their twisted fate.

One day, she pinned him to a wall.
"I've been teasing you for so long but you aren't reacting at all, you're forcing me to…"

Before she could finish, he smiled wickedly and counterattacked.
"Good girl, this is what you call sending a lamb to a tiger's mouth."
Then, he sealed her lips with a kiss... <<less

Abandoned by his parents as a child and raised in a gambling den, Gyeon Heeseong.... more>>

He does not hesitate to take on rough tasks for the sake of the older brother who accepted him into the group, but when he is turned into a puppy due to an injury from an attack, he is picked up by Yoon Chi-young.

“What’s with this scruffy puppy?”

‘Let go… you bastard!’

Suddenly, Gyeon Heeseong becomes Yoon Chi-young’s puppy, known as the man-eating wolf.

“The pheromones are almost undetectable. It’s just a puppy.”

‘Quack.’

However, even the doctor judges Heeseong as a mere puppy, so Heeseong decides to deceive Yoon Chi-young by pretending to be a puppy and then escape.

But Yoon Chi-young is a lunatic who never lets the puppy out of his arms.

“I even gave you a treat… Can’t you give me just one kiss?”

‘Sigh…’

Although Heeseong becomes the recipient of affection and care from Yoon Chi-young, whom he fears, their cohabitation is precarious.

“Puppy… I don’t think I’ll eat you.”

‘You, you’re insane.’

The story of the cohabitation of a puppy who just wants to escape from the man-eating wolf, and the man-eating wolf who has lost his heart to such a puppy.

▶A Quick Taste

“I’m sorry, okay? Please forgive me this once.”

“……”

“I’ll never leave your side again. I promise.”

‘Don’t try to act cute!’

If only he had left him alone, he would have cooled down on his own. But being coaxed with a handsome face, the puppy was utterly infuriated. Heeseong attacked Yoon Chi-young’s hand as soon as he saw it and barked fiercely.

Woof! Woof!

“What’s that? You like me so much? Want to go home quickly?”

Yoon Chi-young, petting the puppy, asked Ji Yeong-bae, a subordinate of the canine tribe. Despite continuously being bitten by the puppy, he always thought romantically. And Ji Yeong-bae always responded honestly.

“Yes, sir… He’s saying, ‘You bastard.’”

“So damn cute…. Okay, let’s go home and be alone together.” <<less