What is Ai No Kusabi about??
Anon, thank you and I love you
Ai no Kusabi takes place on an alien planet called Amoi. Amoi is ruled a syndicate of android elites, called Blondies, who all ultimately answer to a supercomputer named Jupiter. In the story, Jupiter was originally created by humans(?) before ultimately overthrowing her creators and taking control of the planet.
Now, there’s a very strict caste system in place, with Blondies at the top and Ceres slum “mongrels” at the bottom. Our main character and resident badboy Riki comes from the Ceres slums, and even there he’s considered different/exotic due to his dark skin and dark hair. By age 15 he and his gang, Bison, manage to pretty much rule over the slums, although that’s really not saying much as there really isn’t anything to rule over. They simply establish themselves as a gang that isn’t to be messed with, with Riki being the feared leader.
On an excursion to Midas (a middle class city) to steal supplies, Riki gets jumped. He almost gets killed but then Iason Mink, resident asshole Blondie and elite of the elites, steps in and saves his life. Riki is pissed, because in Ceres it’s unwise to owe anyone anything, so he offers to pay Iason back with his body. Iason accepts.
Now, in this world, there’s these things called pets. It’s less of a thing and more of a status; pets are humans(?) who have been specially bred or genetically engineered to be beautiful playthings for the elites. These elites don’t actually have sex with their pets, as they are supposedly above such carnal desire, but they enjoy watching them have sex with each other. So, Iason accepting Riki’s offer is a huge deal.
Riki assumes it’s just for the night, but Iason keeps tabs on Riki, ultimately luring him in and forcing him to become a pet. For three years Riki fights every step of the way, causing scandal after scandal, and eventually Iason sends him back to Ceres for one year. This year is meant to show Riki that he no longer belongs in the slums, but rather with Iason in the luxurious Eos.
AND THUS, OUR STORY BEGINS!!!!
Yeah you’d think I just told you the whole story but nope, that’s all pre-main story. The story begins with an extremely traumatized Riki returning to the slums, and his subsequent attempts to escape Iason. The entire series is wrought with political scandal, takes place in an incredibly detailed scifi world, and possesses many characters suffering from ranging degrees of psychological trauma. Now this is absolutely an 18+ series, make no mistake, but for an 8 novel series there’s a lot less direct sex than perhaps you’d expect. It’s a really fantastic series that I guarantee will leave an impression on you.
There’s a novel series and two OVAs. The 2012 OVA ran out of budget and is unfinished, but it follows the novel a lot more closely than the 1992 OVA. It also has a really fantastic depiction of a panic attack and ptsd flashback. But the 1992 OVA is much more loving and romantic than the novels, so take your pick.
tl;dr: riki is iason’s unwilling pet, and the story begins after he’s been suffering for 3yrs at iason’s (nonexistent) mercy.