Iason Mink, a high-class "Blondy" elite from the capital Tanagura, runs into Riki, a "Mongrel" from the slums, and makes him his "Pet".

While focusing on the relationship between Iason and Riki, Ai no Kusabi also explores issues of caste systems and social exclusion, as well as the implications of Artificial Intelligence ruling over a human society.

In November 1993, an audio drama entitled Dark Erogenous was released focusing on a time period left unexplored in the original novels.

A new twelve-episode OVA adaptation, also from AIC, was scheduled to begin releasing in Japan in the spring of 2010, but was cancelled for financial reasons.

Jupiter imposed strict social norms both on the elites and on the humans: Noram, the class system which, based on their hair colour, ranked the elites and assigned them specific social roles, and Zein which controlled and determined every facet of human life in Midas (and was not based on hair colour).

Ceres was no longer bound by Zein and unlike Midas, practiced natural reproduction, however for reasons unknown to them, the birthrate of boys was much greater than that of girls, which resulted in the skewed ratio where males outnumbered females 9 to 1.

Pets, who were genetically engineered humans bred in various "production centers" in Midas, were kept by the elite for entertainment and served as status symbols.

Written by Rieko Yoshihara, the individual chapters of Ai no Kusabi were serialized in the yaoi magazine Shōsetsu June between December 1986 and October 1987.

The novel was licensed for an English language release in North America by Juné, the yaoi imprint of Digital Manga Publishing (DMP).

Easing back into his former life, Riki keeps silent about his time with Iason and meets Kirie, Bison's newest member, for whom he develops an intense dislike.

Enraged, Guy performs a penectomy to remove Riki's pet ring and uses its tracer to bait Iason to Dana Bahn in order to kill him.

[17] Anime licensor Media Blasters announced they licensed the remake's first four OVAs for a North American release in December 2012.

[3] On September 20, 2018, Toku added Ai no Kusabi to its streaming service, allowing viewers to watch the OVAs in Japanese with English subtitles.

While Riki participates in an airbike race one day, Kirie suggests that Bison goes to see a Pet Auction that would be held soon in Mistral Park.

Back in the slums, Norris, a member of Bison, advises Riki to settle things with Guy properly since he had never broken off his pairing with him when he "disappeared" from Ceres.

Three months later, Riki landed a job as a courier in the black market due to his friend Zack, who arranged a meeting with their boss, Katze.

[25] Jonathan Clements compared Yoshihara's writing style to "Ranpo Edogawa's sexually charged mysteries" and felt Ai no Kusabi shared themes with Shōzō Numa's science fiction.

[26] Patrick Drazen has described the Ai no Kusabi OVA as a "magnum opus" of the yaoi genre, and the setting as dystopian, similar to Fritz Lang's Metropolis.

[27] Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy liken the society of Ai no Kusabi to that of Ancient Greece, where power was restricted to a class and women do not figure significantly.

She also praises it for being one of the few series from its time to contain "actual gay sex in it instead of the usual angsty moping and shoujo-esque sparkly kisses", while noting that the scenes are primarily in the second episode.

He described Riki and Iason as both being "alpha-males", rather than a seme and uke pairing, and noted how the costuming was elegant for the higher echelons of society and revealing for the lower classes.