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グラビテーション [Gravitation] #1
Gravitation, Vol. 1
Shuichi Shindou is determined to be a rock star. He has no experience, no talent, and no band. After finding a charismatic guitarist and getting a gig, he's ready to show the world what a genius he is with his powerful lyrics. However, Eiri Yuki overhears his amateurish verse and puts the young musician in his place. Unable to get the harsh criticism out of his mind Shuichi forces himself into Yuki's life and the two find their futures inexorably linked. The force that brings them together is like gravity and there is nothing they can do to stop it.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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1255 people want to read
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April 3, 2020
This has potential, although so far I wouldn't go as far as saying I liked it. The secondary characters are all more interesting than the main two. What is supposed to be Yuki's appeal, exactly? Just that he "looks cool" and has a nice car (because he's a best-selling romance novelist at 22, right). My favorite element is relationship between the best friend and sister, who are unusually casual and potty-mouthed for manga high-schoolers.
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June 13, 2022At times, manga and anime will take an entire genre by storm, to the point of being nothing short of watershed moments to which much future entries owe plenty to, only to then peter out into obscurity. Such seems to be what happened to Gravitation, a franchise without which modern BL would not quite be as it is and yet getting copies of the manga is a struggle, not to mention one hardly even hears about it these days.
To some extent, this is to be expected. The cycle of what is popular in 2D culture is even faster than in most other media, even though manga takes quite a long time between chapters and while there are titles that achieve cult status and remain immensely popular across decades, most do not fare half as well. Point me to what everyone is reading now, and I bet it will have been borderline entirely forgotten within a couple of years- if not sooner- with a few exceptions that only reinforce the norm.
Gravitation's fall from grace is still remarkable, at least in the West, as it was the title responsible for bringing BL into the radar. BL, under other names, had been a very productive source of canonical titles long before Gravi was as much as dreamed of but it was at this point in history- with the anime, at the turn of the century- that the industry began to seriously see the profit potential therein and thus localization followed, opening the door for many others. I doubt something like Love Stage!! or even Given would ever have seen the light of day if not for this precursor. And while influence as such is a more complex issue that may seem at first, especially in BL where more mainstream titles end up often directly and overtly influencing creators, a relation predicated still on its roots as fan created material (case in point, Given's leads were based in the two mains from Haikyuu!), I wonder whether these two titles would even exist at all if not for Gravi.
In a sense, it is almost unavoidable- and a good thing- that older titles should be more flawed than those they end up influencing further down the line. This tends to apply across the board but is particularly pressing in this case, considering that even contemporary representations of homosexuality in BL are still very often extremely contentious, a work created in the mid-90's is bound to be, well, a work created in the mid-90's.
With all this said, I still think Gravi was in many ways revolutionary.
When I first encountered it, Gravi was seen as the fullest expression of what BL always served: crying uke cowering all the time and utterly unable to take any initiative, coldhearted seme that gives chase. It is hardly a healthy combination but one that still has plenty of traction.
Yet Gravi is not quite this. It has plenty of issues but being a clichéd reiteration of genre conventions is hardly one of them.
One of the ways in which it not only stands out from the crowd as it actually goes against the grain is the interaction between the leads. Shuichi does indeed cry a lot but he is remarkably candid about his emotions and is the one going after Eiri, time and time again. There is nothing passive about him. And while Eiri is indeed one of those characters defined by his sharp tongue and usually cool, collected and in control, he is still very much placed in the position of reacting to Shuichi as opposed to the usual pattern.
I suspect this was almost accidental on Murakami-sensei's part. As she explains in one of those commentaries mangaka often provide, complete with unreadable handwriting, originally Shuichi was a much more boring character. She scrapped this first outline altogether and as a result ended up creating a character that while occasionally annoying- I can still hear the seiyuu going "YUUUKEEEEEEEE!" and it's been a long, long time since I watched the anime- is still very unique. To this day, I need to think in order to recall any ukes who actually own up to being attracted to their love interests. Shuichi is embarrassed but he actually admits to it, on his own, with no prodding. Normally this kind of thing only happens after the seme borderline forcing it out of the uke, which matches how the two function in relation to each other.
Part of the appeal of Gravi is the way in which the cast has plenty going on other than romance. Shuichi is a budding musician and much is done about this, complete with going over the creative process that includes using a computer to make music, making demo tapes, landing live shows at the local venue, transporting gear, jockeying for influence with label executives. While he does, indeed, worry himself sick about Eiri (one wonders why, too), he also has a life.
In fact, the care that went into the creative process and the music is very obviously a labor of love. Unlike what the English description claims, Shuichi is not "determined to be a rock star", his jam is techno and not rock at all. While it may not seem very important a distinction, it actually is and I can only assume that the localization team thought "rock star" had more of an impact. But Shuichi is into techno as the mangaka actually explains in an aside: apparently, she received fan letters asking just what techno is and so saw fit to clarify it. I was under the impression that techno was much more widely known but I guess in the mid-90's it might not have been.
Shuichi's primary means of composing is using the computer. This is something everyone expects nowadays but back then was very much not that usual. In the before mentioned explanation Murakami-sensei mentions how important computer generated audio is to techno, too.
This becomes all the more relevant when the anime comes into play. Manga about music is always a bit tricky to pull off. With no ancillary work, like drama songs and the like, the reader does not always have a very clear impression of what the music actually sounds like. There are image clues and of course characters can describe it but it is not quite the same as actually having a soundtrack.
The anime was such a hit partially because the soundtrack is extremely catchy and most definitely closer to techno than rock. The song "Spicy Marmalade" in particular has the very upbeat synch serving as backbone to the rhythm and Shuichi's seiyuu gets a chance of proving he can do so much more than scream:
Spicy Marmalade
This song alone exemplifies how Gravi was ahead of contemporary efforts in the same vein. I am thinking of Bronze - Zetsuai since 1989 Bd. 1 that started publishing only a couple of years prior and also has a musician as a lead, the other lead also being with an interesting career, being a football player. Zetsuai's manga is all sharp angles and one is hard pressed to even make sense of the spatial relation between characters. The anime is an improvement but the soundtrack was mostly forgettable, and, incidentally is rock. While I should check it anew to see how I now feel about it, from what I recall it did not have much in terms of immediate catchiness: it might be extraordinary music but it did not quite stick.
As an aside, I am a metalhead and normally not one to listen to techno but Gravi won me over completely.
As for Eiri himself, he is a novelist and while this volume does not focus too much on it, it still frames much of what happens as does his family circumstances, which will become more relevant as the story progresses.
There is an attention given to fashion, too. Interesting enough, I thought it very dated when I first encountered it in the mid-2000's, it now looks representative of the time. There are the bulky shirts over shirts and the really slinky performance outfits, fingerless gloves, tennis shoes, super short shorts on the girls- and later Shuichi, too- jackets galore. It captures the 90's as opposed to being very generic as a lot of the material of this time is.
Of course, it captures the 90's in other ways that are less than savory. Shuichi realizing he is falling in love with a man is full of slurs both in his inner dialogue and in the way others talk about it- and boy, do the others spend a hell lot of time talking about it!- as Eiri himself does it, several times. And while it does eventually land on Hiro being supportive, even that scene has Hiro tell Shuichi he would consider him as a romantic partner if he had a sex change; it is one of those things that is casually dropped, not followed, and make one cringe.
Speaking of Hiro, one does wonder why Shuichi and him are not an item instead of Shuichi and Eiri. The reason is obvious, the plot demands friction and conflict. But it is worth mentioning that the pairing is immensely popular with the fandom and the mangaka herself has toyed with it in doujin.
In fact, the canonical manga itself toys with it in a meta moment that I found extremely telling on several levels. Wanting to check out the concert competition at the school festival and get out of actually working, Hiro and Shuichi act as a lovey-dovey couple in order to get the girls in charge to let them off the hook for some "alone time". It works like a charm and they take a moment to comment on how "new times" require "new ways"; in other words, there is a kind of genre awareness within the actual storyline. This self-referential approach will eventually spring a whole sub-genre within BL and shoujo, with constant nods a bit all over so that fujoshi became a trope. I do not think this phenomenon can be traced back to Gravi as the original starting point but it gave it greater visibility. Ouran began publishing very much on the heels of Gravi and it goes full throttle in this direction; whether this is a case of actual influence is unclear but it shows that Gravi coalesced several elements that were already floating around.
This kind of attitude, in which male characters deliberately play up to their female counterparts by engaging in purely performative homosexuality raises very salient issues, especially within BL: in Gravi's case, pretending to be gay is a valid strategy but actual homosexual behavior causes quite a stir. This reproduces, almost perfectly, the dichotomy of a fandom that does not care for actual LGBTQ people but reduces queerness to aesthetics alone and even in a wider societal context in which queerness is acceptable as an artistic representation of beauty but stops short of any kind of genuine acceptance.
Gravi embodied this contradiction, one that has yet to bet at all bridged, but for the very gauche way it goes about it, at least it actually bothers to address how it feels to realize you are not quite who you thought you were. Shuichi is shown to have an interest in girls and until meeting Eiri thought of himself as straight. For him, this is surprising and nothing short of life changing and the reader gets to go through the process. As per usual, bisexuality is never considered or addressed as such. This has been changing as of late but there is still a long, long way to go until bisexuality factors in, which is truly ironic given that virtually every single BL character- at least the seme kind actually veers more toward it than anything else but when sexual orientation is elided as such, which is still the rule, any sense of nuance is lost in the process.
Gravi does not always handle all that well but still feels very visceral.
Another thing I appreciate is that for all the frills the genre is known for, Gravi can be down to Earth.
Which is not to say this is not extremely dramatic, it is. To the point this volume is probably the least dramatic of them all- I have yet to read the entire manga but assuming the anime follows it, the true drama is yet to even start- as Gravi goes for spastic moments and a hyper lead, with snark left and right, and plenty of craziness.
It turns out that this kind of franticness is conveyed in an extremely casual register that is actually extremely difficult to follow. I did not expect to have to hit the dictionary as often as I found myself quite perplexed every other panel.
This made me take a peek at the fan translation, I think the same one that had been around since forever, and to marvel at how inconsistent the quality level can be. Chapter one was done by someone who knew what they were doing, chapter two was done by someone who could look up the kanji online and at times did not even bother doing that. Entire panels are not just mistranslated, their content has actual no connection to the actual text. Other times I can understand where the translator went wrong but it is still a massive error, to the point you can hardly even say it was a translation at all but more a case of guessing at the meaning. Truly horrendous.
I am curious to see just how this original manga functions in relation to EX, the sequel that ran between 2005-2011. Gravi has such a strong 90's vibe that I want to see just how it adjusted, how it changed. It will be quite a ride, of that I have no doubt.
To some extent, this is to be expected. The cycle of what is popular in 2D culture is even faster than in most other media, even though manga takes quite a long time between chapters and while there are titles that achieve cult status and remain immensely popular across decades, most do not fare half as well. Point me to what everyone is reading now, and I bet it will have been borderline entirely forgotten within a couple of years- if not sooner- with a few exceptions that only reinforce the norm.
Gravitation's fall from grace is still remarkable, at least in the West, as it was the title responsible for bringing BL into the radar. BL, under other names, had been a very productive source of canonical titles long before Gravi was as much as dreamed of but it was at this point in history- with the anime, at the turn of the century- that the industry began to seriously see the profit potential therein and thus localization followed, opening the door for many others. I doubt something like Love Stage!! or even Given would ever have seen the light of day if not for this precursor. And while influence as such is a more complex issue that may seem at first, especially in BL where more mainstream titles end up often directly and overtly influencing creators, a relation predicated still on its roots as fan created material (case in point, Given's leads were based in the two mains from Haikyuu!), I wonder whether these two titles would even exist at all if not for Gravi.
In a sense, it is almost unavoidable- and a good thing- that older titles should be more flawed than those they end up influencing further down the line. This tends to apply across the board but is particularly pressing in this case, considering that even contemporary representations of homosexuality in BL are still very often extremely contentious, a work created in the mid-90's is bound to be, well, a work created in the mid-90's.
With all this said, I still think Gravi was in many ways revolutionary.
When I first encountered it, Gravi was seen as the fullest expression of what BL always served: crying uke cowering all the time and utterly unable to take any initiative, coldhearted seme that gives chase. It is hardly a healthy combination but one that still has plenty of traction.
Yet Gravi is not quite this. It has plenty of issues but being a clichéd reiteration of genre conventions is hardly one of them.
One of the ways in which it not only stands out from the crowd as it actually goes against the grain is the interaction between the leads. Shuichi does indeed cry a lot but he is remarkably candid about his emotions and is the one going after Eiri, time and time again. There is nothing passive about him. And while Eiri is indeed one of those characters defined by his sharp tongue and usually cool, collected and in control, he is still very much placed in the position of reacting to Shuichi as opposed to the usual pattern.
I suspect this was almost accidental on Murakami-sensei's part. As she explains in one of those commentaries mangaka often provide, complete with unreadable handwriting, originally Shuichi was a much more boring character. She scrapped this first outline altogether and as a result ended up creating a character that while occasionally annoying- I can still hear the seiyuu going "YUUUKEEEEEEEE!" and it's been a long, long time since I watched the anime- is still very unique. To this day, I need to think in order to recall any ukes who actually own up to being attracted to their love interests. Shuichi is embarrassed but he actually admits to it, on his own, with no prodding. Normally this kind of thing only happens after the seme borderline forcing it out of the uke, which matches how the two function in relation to each other.
Part of the appeal of Gravi is the way in which the cast has plenty going on other than romance. Shuichi is a budding musician and much is done about this, complete with going over the creative process that includes using a computer to make music, making demo tapes, landing live shows at the local venue, transporting gear, jockeying for influence with label executives. While he does, indeed, worry himself sick about Eiri (one wonders why, too), he also has a life.
In fact, the care that went into the creative process and the music is very obviously a labor of love. Unlike what the English description claims, Shuichi is not "determined to be a rock star", his jam is techno and not rock at all. While it may not seem very important a distinction, it actually is and I can only assume that the localization team thought "rock star" had more of an impact. But Shuichi is into techno as the mangaka actually explains in an aside: apparently, she received fan letters asking just what techno is and so saw fit to clarify it. I was under the impression that techno was much more widely known but I guess in the mid-90's it might not have been.
Shuichi's primary means of composing is using the computer. This is something everyone expects nowadays but back then was very much not that usual. In the before mentioned explanation Murakami-sensei mentions how important computer generated audio is to techno, too.
This becomes all the more relevant when the anime comes into play. Manga about music is always a bit tricky to pull off. With no ancillary work, like drama songs and the like, the reader does not always have a very clear impression of what the music actually sounds like. There are image clues and of course characters can describe it but it is not quite the same as actually having a soundtrack.
The anime was such a hit partially because the soundtrack is extremely catchy and most definitely closer to techno than rock. The song "Spicy Marmalade" in particular has the very upbeat synch serving as backbone to the rhythm and Shuichi's seiyuu gets a chance of proving he can do so much more than scream:
Spicy Marmalade
This song alone exemplifies how Gravi was ahead of contemporary efforts in the same vein. I am thinking of Bronze - Zetsuai since 1989 Bd. 1 that started publishing only a couple of years prior and also has a musician as a lead, the other lead also being with an interesting career, being a football player. Zetsuai's manga is all sharp angles and one is hard pressed to even make sense of the spatial relation between characters. The anime is an improvement but the soundtrack was mostly forgettable, and, incidentally is rock. While I should check it anew to see how I now feel about it, from what I recall it did not have much in terms of immediate catchiness: it might be extraordinary music but it did not quite stick.
As an aside, I am a metalhead and normally not one to listen to techno but Gravi won me over completely.
As for Eiri himself, he is a novelist and while this volume does not focus too much on it, it still frames much of what happens as does his family circumstances, which will become more relevant as the story progresses.
There is an attention given to fashion, too. Interesting enough, I thought it very dated when I first encountered it in the mid-2000's, it now looks representative of the time. There are the bulky shirts over shirts and the really slinky performance outfits, fingerless gloves, tennis shoes, super short shorts on the girls- and later Shuichi, too- jackets galore. It captures the 90's as opposed to being very generic as a lot of the material of this time is.
Of course, it captures the 90's in other ways that are less than savory. Shuichi realizing he is falling in love with a man is full of slurs both in his inner dialogue and in the way others talk about it- and boy, do the others spend a hell lot of time talking about it!- as Eiri himself does it, several times. And while it does eventually land on Hiro being supportive, even that scene has Hiro tell Shuichi he would consider him as a romantic partner if he had a sex change; it is one of those things that is casually dropped, not followed, and make one cringe.
Speaking of Hiro, one does wonder why Shuichi and him are not an item instead of Shuichi and Eiri. The reason is obvious, the plot demands friction and conflict. But it is worth mentioning that the pairing is immensely popular with the fandom and the mangaka herself has toyed with it in doujin.
In fact, the canonical manga itself toys with it in a meta moment that I found extremely telling on several levels. Wanting to check out the concert competition at the school festival and get out of actually working, Hiro and Shuichi act as a lovey-dovey couple in order to get the girls in charge to let them off the hook for some "alone time". It works like a charm and they take a moment to comment on how "new times" require "new ways"; in other words, there is a kind of genre awareness within the actual storyline. This self-referential approach will eventually spring a whole sub-genre within BL and shoujo, with constant nods a bit all over so that fujoshi became a trope. I do not think this phenomenon can be traced back to Gravi as the original starting point but it gave it greater visibility. Ouran began publishing very much on the heels of Gravi and it goes full throttle in this direction; whether this is a case of actual influence is unclear but it shows that Gravi coalesced several elements that were already floating around.
This kind of attitude, in which male characters deliberately play up to their female counterparts by engaging in purely performative homosexuality raises very salient issues, especially within BL: in Gravi's case, pretending to be gay is a valid strategy but actual homosexual behavior causes quite a stir. This reproduces, almost perfectly, the dichotomy of a fandom that does not care for actual LGBTQ people but reduces queerness to aesthetics alone and even in a wider societal context in which queerness is acceptable as an artistic representation of beauty but stops short of any kind of genuine acceptance.
Gravi embodied this contradiction, one that has yet to bet at all bridged, but for the very gauche way it goes about it, at least it actually bothers to address how it feels to realize you are not quite who you thought you were. Shuichi is shown to have an interest in girls and until meeting Eiri thought of himself as straight. For him, this is surprising and nothing short of life changing and the reader gets to go through the process. As per usual, bisexuality is never considered or addressed as such. This has been changing as of late but there is still a long, long way to go until bisexuality factors in, which is truly ironic given that virtually every single BL character- at least the seme kind actually veers more toward it than anything else but when sexual orientation is elided as such, which is still the rule, any sense of nuance is lost in the process.
Gravi does not always handle all that well but still feels very visceral.
Another thing I appreciate is that for all the frills the genre is known for, Gravi can be down to Earth.
Which is not to say this is not extremely dramatic, it is. To the point this volume is probably the least dramatic of them all- I have yet to read the entire manga but assuming the anime follows it, the true drama is yet to even start- as Gravi goes for spastic moments and a hyper lead, with snark left and right, and plenty of craziness.
It turns out that this kind of franticness is conveyed in an extremely casual register that is actually extremely difficult to follow. I did not expect to have to hit the dictionary as often as I found myself quite perplexed every other panel.
This made me take a peek at the fan translation, I think the same one that had been around since forever, and to marvel at how inconsistent the quality level can be. Chapter one was done by someone who knew what they were doing, chapter two was done by someone who could look up the kanji online and at times did not even bother doing that. Entire panels are not just mistranslated, their content has actual no connection to the actual text. Other times I can understand where the translator went wrong but it is still a massive error, to the point you can hardly even say it was a translation at all but more a case of guessing at the meaning. Truly horrendous.
I am curious to see just how this original manga functions in relation to EX, the sequel that ran between 2005-2011. Gravi has such a strong 90's vibe that I want to see just how it adjusted, how it changed. It will be quite a ride, of that I have no doubt.
August 24, 2010
I was a bit confused when I started this one off and I don’t think it was my fault this time around. I was paying attention and focused but the storytelling was all over the place and many of the characters looked so similar it was hard to differentiate who was who. Eventually I figured things out but it took to long to sort it all out.
The main character is an 18 year old wannabe rock star named Shuichi Shindou. He dreams of being a famous pop star and writes terribly cheesy lyrics for his band “Bad Luck”. He and his guitarist think he's a genius. One night he stumbles across a mysterious man who declares his lyrics are shit. Shuichi is forevermore obsessed by this charmer and is determined to find out who he is and starts to insinuate himself into Eiri Yuki’s life. Soon the two are kissing though both vehemently deny liking men. It’s the “gravitation” between the two, you see, it cannot be denied! They're both very pretty though so who am I to cast stones at true lust er love?
Rather like Dee in the yaoi series “Fake”, the older, more experienced love interest here is an arrogant dick. But Dee worked as a love obsession because he had charm, a sense of humor and a wicked grin. His callousness and dickery moves could be forgiven. Angry Eiri has none of these attributes and just comes across as a big old full of himself, sneering dong. He’s nothing but mean to Shuichi who weeps like a little girl throughout the entire book but yet Shuichi keeps coming back for more set downs. It’s a weird dynamic. One I think I’m too old and jaded to sympathize with at this point in my life. Ah well, I already have #2 so I may as well read it before calling it quits here. Eiri can only improve from here, right?
The main character is an 18 year old wannabe rock star named Shuichi Shindou. He dreams of being a famous pop star and writes terribly cheesy lyrics for his band “Bad Luck”. He and his guitarist think he's a genius. One night he stumbles across a mysterious man who declares his lyrics are shit. Shuichi is forevermore obsessed by this charmer and is determined to find out who he is and starts to insinuate himself into Eiri Yuki’s life. Soon the two are kissing though both vehemently deny liking men. It’s the “gravitation” between the two, you see, it cannot be denied! They're both very pretty though so who am I to cast stones at true lust er love?
Rather like Dee in the yaoi series “Fake”, the older, more experienced love interest here is an arrogant dick. But Dee worked as a love obsession because he had charm, a sense of humor and a wicked grin. His callousness and dickery moves could be forgiven. Angry Eiri has none of these attributes and just comes across as a big old full of himself, sneering dong. He’s nothing but mean to Shuichi who weeps like a little girl throughout the entire book but yet Shuichi keeps coming back for more set downs. It’s a weird dynamic. One I think I’m too old and jaded to sympathize with at this point in my life. Ah well, I already have #2 so I may as well read it before calling it quits here. Eiri can only improve from here, right?
March 28, 2010
I'm extremely glad I didn't read this as my first manga series. I'll freely admit that I'm a novice to this style of storytelling- DramaCon and FMA are the only two I've dabbled in- and I think if I'd picked up Gravitation before those two I would never have given manga or anime another glance.
(I should note two things before I go further: at the point that I'm writing this review, I'm through Volume Four of this, and I've watched all of the anime episodes; did so before I started reading.)
Excuse me while I complain:
1. Unbelievability. As someone else noted in one of the reviews I skimmed, this romance is totally ridiculous. Several reasons- the instant attraction/obsessiveness, both characters' insistence (despite the evidence) that they are totally straight, the ridiculous pacing.
2. I'm with Yuki when it comes to Shindou's lyrics. Good heavens, man, have you ever read poetry or really listened to a song? Add to this the fact that despite such crappy writing, Bad Luck gets picked up by a major record label- blah. See #1 RE unbelievability.
3. Art style. Okay, so Murakami includes these little thingummies at the end of most volumes with short comics unrelated to Gravitation. But because of the way she draws, the characters all look the same. So at least once per minicomic, I find myself going, "Wait. Isn't that so-and-so from the main story?" There's simply not enough differentiation in the character designs.
The good things-
1. Everyone from Nittle Grasper, no matter how stupid their band's name is. Particularly Tohma and Ryuichi. (Forgive me; I can't spell these names off the top of my head so I'm dropping the surnames. Or first names. Er. I'm confused.) They're much more mature, and much more interesting characters.
2. Most of the time, Eiri Yuki's pretty cool. I do wish he'd slap Shindou at least once, though. Face it, the kid deserves it. If I keep reading the series, though, it'll be for Yuki's backstory, even though I already know the basics from the anime.
3. Hiro. Especially on the game show, when he gets that stupid addition question. That was one of my favorite moments in the anime as well.
Conclusion:
This is not the manga-as-serious-storytelling that I've let myself get used to with Fullmetal Alchemist. This is wacky with a dash of serious; FMA's the opposite. Will I keep reading? Eh, maybe. I haven't decided yet. It's not a priority, that's for sure.
I'd call this series a bit of a culture shock. Maybe if I had read a little more manga before getting to this, I'd have reacted better.
(I should note two things before I go further: at the point that I'm writing this review, I'm through Volume Four of this, and I've watched all of the anime episodes; did so before I started reading.)
Excuse me while I complain:
1. Unbelievability. As someone else noted in one of the reviews I skimmed, this romance is totally ridiculous. Several reasons- the instant attraction/obsessiveness, both characters' insistence (despite the evidence) that they are totally straight, the ridiculous pacing.
2. I'm with Yuki when it comes to Shindou's lyrics. Good heavens, man, have you ever read poetry or really listened to a song? Add to this the fact that despite such crappy writing, Bad Luck gets picked up by a major record label- blah. See #1 RE unbelievability.
3. Art style. Okay, so Murakami includes these little thingummies at the end of most volumes with short comics unrelated to Gravitation. But because of the way she draws, the characters all look the same. So at least once per minicomic, I find myself going, "Wait. Isn't that so-and-so from the main story?" There's simply not enough differentiation in the character designs.
The good things-
1. Everyone from Nittle Grasper, no matter how stupid their band's name is. Particularly Tohma and Ryuichi. (Forgive me; I can't spell these names off the top of my head so I'm dropping the surnames. Or first names. Er. I'm confused.) They're much more mature, and much more interesting characters.
2. Most of the time, Eiri Yuki's pretty cool. I do wish he'd slap Shindou at least once, though. Face it, the kid deserves it. If I keep reading the series, though, it'll be for Yuki's backstory, even though I already know the basics from the anime.
3. Hiro. Especially on the game show, when he gets that stupid addition question. That was one of my favorite moments in the anime as well.
Conclusion:
This is not the manga-as-serious-storytelling that I've let myself get used to with Fullmetal Alchemist. This is wacky with a dash of serious; FMA's the opposite. Will I keep reading? Eh, maybe. I haven't decided yet. It's not a priority, that's for sure.
I'd call this series a bit of a culture shock. Maybe if I had read a little more manga before getting to this, I'd have reacted better.
February 8, 2023
Added this to my shelf in 2016, wanting to explore Manga. Never felt tempted to actually read it whenever I picked it up. I finally made a serious attempt and read the first part of four. DNF after 57 pages and 28%. Too much highschool teenage angst. Aimed at Older Teens Age 16+ apparently is not my thing.
March 2, 2017
I... have a complicated relationship with Gravitation.
It’s basically the problematic first love I’ll never get over. And it may have had a lasting impact on me that I’m not sure I’m entirely grateful for.
It started almost 10 years ago. I discovered the anime when I was maybe 12 or 13, browsing YouTube for AMVs with t.A.T.u. songs in them (another queer-fetishizing guilty pleasure I had when I was ~12). I randomly stumbled upon a Gravitation AMV and, because I couldn't tell if Shuichi was a girl or a guy, I started watching it out of sheer curiosity.
And thus my descent into fujoshi hell and lifelong moral degeneracy began.
So, at 12-ish, I gleefully watched this love story unfold, enamored by the dynamic between Yuki and Shuichi. I adored them in all their angst and silliness. So I decided to read the manga as well, which is actually available in Norwegian (!) at Oslo’s public comic book library. (Just so you know, that’s really weird. Norway thankfully isn’t big on translating manga, but apparently they were back then.)
Anyway, despite disliking the art style in the first 1-5 or so volumes, I loved the manga and even bought the last few volumes myself (the ones where the art style had visibly improved). I still have them on a shelf somewhere in my poor, unknowing mother’s apartment. Let’s hope she never finds them.
The series starts out with a simple enough plot that could almost seem realistic: Boy wants to start a band, boy meets older boy who verbally abuses him for writing terrible lyrics, boy immediately falls in love with said verbal abuser.
But that’s only the beginning of it. It gets so, so weird after a while. The story and all its humorous elements are completely absurd. At some point in the later volumes Shuichi gets a stalker with a mecha panda, if I remember correctly—that should give you some idea of its level of absurdity. There are kidnappings, mecha fights, parodic Americans with too many guns and lighthearted stalking aplenty. I think it’s hilarious that this is one of the most internationally famous BL mangas out there, given how laughably nonsensical everything in it is.
That was also a big part of why I loved it. At 12-14 I was weird as hell, and I'm pretty sure this manga worsened my already bizarre sense of humor. I might be damaged beyond repair, but at least a terrible sense of humor is a fairly harmless side effect of reading something so problematic at such a young age.
The real cause for concern is that this was the first romance story I ever got truly invested in, so in some ways it probably shaped my view of romantic relationships and that’s unfortunate at best. I realize now that the two main characters and their on and off romance are very problematic. Their relationship is unhealthy and abusive, even if it's played for laughs and portrayed as “cute” and “romantic”. It’s addictive in the same way real relationships with hot-and-cold emotional abusers can be addictive, and that’s a very dangerous thing to romanticize.
To be fair, both Shuichi and Yuki emotionally abuse each other to some extent; it’s not like Shuichi is some kind of helpless, harmless victim. He’s kind of a stalker and dangerously obsessive and dependent on Yuki, who responds by being mean and dismissive—sometimes rightfully so, given Shuichi’s irrational behavior. Still, their personalities and dynamic are based on extreme seme/uke stereotypes that are simultaneously very heteronormative and sexist in nature. Which isn’t uncommon in BL and yaoi, of course, but it’s still worthy of criticism whenever it occurs.
I understand why they’re written like that, though. It’s a genre thing, and a rocky relationship between two messed up, emotionally unstable guys definitely makes for a more interesting, dramatic and long romance story than a nice, healthy relationship would. I’m just not sure it was good for me to read this and grow so attached to it in my formative years.
If nothing else, this series does have a lot of entertainment value. It’s occasionally quite funny in all its absurdity and I still remember most of the characters as likeable and amusing. And don’t get me wrong, the two main characters do have a lot of sweet moments and romantic chemistry when they’re actually being nice to each other. They gave me a lot of joy and comfort as a young, confused teen whose most vivid experiences of romantic love were through queer fiction, however dysfunctional the relationship.(Never mind the fact that this is still the case.)
I can’t give this more than 3 stars, but I can’t give it any less. We have too much history together. It’s been many years since I last read it and I’m not sure I’d like it all that much today, but I’ll always have a nostalgic fondness for this fucked up, silly, very problematic BL manga.
It’s basically the problematic first love I’ll never get over. And it may have had a lasting impact on me that I’m not sure I’m entirely grateful for.
It started almost 10 years ago. I discovered the anime when I was maybe 12 or 13, browsing YouTube for AMVs with t.A.T.u. songs in them (another queer-fetishizing guilty pleasure I had when I was ~12). I randomly stumbled upon a Gravitation AMV and, because I couldn't tell if Shuichi was a girl or a guy, I started watching it out of sheer curiosity.
And thus my descent into fujoshi hell and lifelong moral degeneracy began.
So, at 12-ish, I gleefully watched this love story unfold, enamored by the dynamic between Yuki and Shuichi. I adored them in all their angst and silliness. So I decided to read the manga as well, which is actually available in Norwegian (!) at Oslo’s public comic book library. (Just so you know, that’s really weird. Norway thankfully isn’t big on translating manga, but apparently they were back then.)
Anyway, despite disliking the art style in the first 1-5 or so volumes, I loved the manga and even bought the last few volumes myself (the ones where the art style had visibly improved). I still have them on a shelf somewhere in my poor, unknowing mother’s apartment. Let’s hope she never finds them.
The series starts out with a simple enough plot that could almost seem realistic: Boy wants to start a band, boy meets older boy who verbally abuses him for writing terrible lyrics, boy immediately falls in love with said verbal abuser.
But that’s only the beginning of it. It gets so, so weird after a while. The story and all its humorous elements are completely absurd. At some point in the later volumes Shuichi gets a stalker with a mecha panda, if I remember correctly—that should give you some idea of its level of absurdity. There are kidnappings, mecha fights, parodic Americans with too many guns and lighthearted stalking aplenty. I think it’s hilarious that this is one of the most internationally famous BL mangas out there, given how laughably nonsensical everything in it is.
That was also a big part of why I loved it. At 12-14 I was weird as hell, and I'm pretty sure this manga worsened my already bizarre sense of humor. I might be damaged beyond repair, but at least a terrible sense of humor is a fairly harmless side effect of reading something so problematic at such a young age.
The real cause for concern is that this was the first romance story I ever got truly invested in, so in some ways it probably shaped my view of romantic relationships and that’s unfortunate at best. I realize now that the two main characters and their on and off romance are very problematic. Their relationship is unhealthy and abusive, even if it's played for laughs and portrayed as “cute” and “romantic”. It’s addictive in the same way real relationships with hot-and-cold emotional abusers can be addictive, and that’s a very dangerous thing to romanticize.
To be fair, both Shuichi and Yuki emotionally abuse each other to some extent; it’s not like Shuichi is some kind of helpless, harmless victim. He’s kind of a stalker and dangerously obsessive and dependent on Yuki, who responds by being mean and dismissive—sometimes rightfully so, given Shuichi’s irrational behavior. Still, their personalities and dynamic are based on extreme seme/uke stereotypes that are simultaneously very heteronormative and sexist in nature. Which isn’t uncommon in BL and yaoi, of course, but it’s still worthy of criticism whenever it occurs.
I understand why they’re written like that, though. It’s a genre thing, and a rocky relationship between two messed up, emotionally unstable guys definitely makes for a more interesting, dramatic and long romance story than a nice, healthy relationship would. I’m just not sure it was good for me to read this and grow so attached to it in my formative years.
If nothing else, this series does have a lot of entertainment value. It’s occasionally quite funny in all its absurdity and I still remember most of the characters as likeable and amusing. And don’t get me wrong, the two main characters do have a lot of sweet moments and romantic chemistry when they’re actually being nice to each other. They gave me a lot of joy and comfort as a young, confused teen whose most vivid experiences of romantic love were through queer fiction, however dysfunctional the relationship.
I can’t give this more than 3 stars, but I can’t give it any less. We have too much history together. It’s been many years since I last read it and I’m not sure I’d like it all that much today, but I’ll always have a nostalgic fondness for this fucked up, silly, very problematic BL manga.
July 26, 2013
Review, Volumes 1-4:
Wow. Just wow. What...what is this series?
So I should begin by saying I watched the anime first. As such, the art was kind of a letdown, and I couldn't tell some of the characters apart. Which was annoying, but I usually figured it out. However, other than the art, I much prefer the manga.
It might have been that I watched the dub. I shouldn't have watched the dub, I especially should've known better after trying the Loveless dub. Needless to say, it was pretty bad, and I love dubs. But the anime/possibly just the dub made a lot of things vague and confusing that didn't need to be. The manga was...blunt. Like, very blunt. Very, very blunt. Ah, Tokyopop, I miss thou, even if thou did have some of the wackiest manga translations. This was no exception.
That said, the anime was also much more innocent. The manga is far from it (it's not explicit, but the language...JEEZ.) I just didn't expect it or something.
As for the actual story and characters, again I prefer the manga's version of Yuki. He seems less of a jerk, and like there's more room for him to improve. The anime was only 13 episodes, so showing his softer side kind of came all at once near the end, and I didn't buy it. However, if there's barely any further development with both his character and Shuichi's in later volumes, I might kick this manga down the stairs. I tolerate them now in part because I'm assuming they develop more thoroughly than in the anime.
I still like Hiro. He's so sweet. And also Tohma Seguchi remains just as creepy, if not creepier, so I like him too. And the women, actually, even though they tend to act the same...
The story is wack and all over the place, but I kind of expected that. Some parts make me cringe; I think the author should have dealt with certain situations more seriously than she did, even though this is a comedy (or if it's just pure comedy, then maybe these sorts of things shouldn't come up!) However, it was HILARIOUS. And in the end, that's the biggest reason I love this manga, I think. I'm really unsure how much I like the actual characters/relationships/storylines because it's just so dang funny that I crack up every ten seconds reading it.
Is it for everyone? No. Ohhh no. But I like it for the most part (so far).
Wow. Just wow. What...what is this series?
So I should begin by saying I watched the anime first. As such, the art was kind of a letdown, and I couldn't tell some of the characters apart. Which was annoying, but I usually figured it out. However, other than the art, I much prefer the manga.
It might have been that I watched the dub. I shouldn't have watched the dub, I especially should've known better after trying the Loveless dub. Needless to say, it was pretty bad, and I love dubs. But the anime/possibly just the dub made a lot of things vague and confusing that didn't need to be. The manga was...blunt. Like, very blunt. Very, very blunt. Ah, Tokyopop, I miss thou, even if thou did have some of the wackiest manga translations. This was no exception.
That said, the anime was also much more innocent. The manga is far from it (it's not explicit, but the language...JEEZ.) I just didn't expect it or something.
As for the actual story and characters, again I prefer the manga's version of Yuki. He seems less of a jerk, and like there's more room for him to improve. The anime was only 13 episodes, so showing his softer side kind of came all at once near the end, and I didn't buy it. However, if there's barely any further development with both his character and Shuichi's in later volumes, I might kick this manga down the stairs. I tolerate them now in part because I'm assuming they develop more thoroughly than in the anime.
I still like Hiro. He's so sweet. And also Tohma Seguchi remains just as creepy, if not creepier, so I like him too. And the women, actually, even though they tend to act the same...
The story is wack and all over the place, but I kind of expected that. Some parts make me cringe; I think the author should have dealt with certain situations more seriously than she did, even though this is a comedy (or if it's just pure comedy, then maybe these sorts of things shouldn't come up!) However, it was HILARIOUS. And in the end, that's the biggest reason I love this manga, I think. I'm really unsure how much I like the actual characters/relationships/storylines because it's just so dang funny that I crack up every ten seconds reading it.
Is it for everyone? No. Ohhh no. But I like it for the most part (so far).
January 10, 2010
Errr to old for this.
August 18, 2015
Shuichi <3
May 27, 2022
This was ADORABLE! My enemies to lovers ship is sailing. I also especially love stories about people passionate about their hobbies and with healthy, affirming, and supportive friends. I haven’t read past this volume; but based on what I saw here, I think I might be willing to give the rest of this series a shot.
December 9, 2009
From other reviews I've read on GoodReads, Gravitation was the series that either introduced or popularized shonen-ai manga here in the States. I first heard of the series from one of my favorite book blogs. I mentioned the series to my husband and he got me a copy of the reissued collection. The first book has volumes one and two.
The series centers on Shuichi and his band "Bad Luck." They are in a music high school and trying to graduate. Meanwhile, Shuichi's attention is drawn away by Yuki, a gorgeous and incredibly successful romance novel author. From the handful of romance authors I know, he's nothing like any of them with the exception perhaps of the late Sidney Sheldon. But this is manga and the set up to a new series seems to need about as much logic as a typical American sit-com.
To complicate things further, Yuki comes with baggage. He has ex-girlfriends. He's from a family of Monks. He's older than Shuichi and he's got a bad attitude. Now near the end of the first volume Yuki's age is revealed and frankly it's just not possible for him to be an established romance author. It would make more sense on that front for him to be at least ten years older but then there would be extra squicky details of a man dating a teen half his age.
The characters are fairly quick to fall into cliched roles that seem to crop up in fiction featuring gay or bi characters. Shuichi is overly emotional and fawns over Yuki like a star-crossed girl. Yuki is selfish, brooding and boorish sometimes. Sure, he's pretty to look at but he's basically a pig.
Despite all of the rampant cliches and over the top emotions, I enjoyed the first volume. I like all the asides about Techno and the music scenes. In that way, Gravitation reminds me of Nana but with a romance between the two main characters.
The series centers on Shuichi and his band "Bad Luck." They are in a music high school and trying to graduate. Meanwhile, Shuichi's attention is drawn away by Yuki, a gorgeous and incredibly successful romance novel author. From the handful of romance authors I know, he's nothing like any of them with the exception perhaps of the late Sidney Sheldon. But this is manga and the set up to a new series seems to need about as much logic as a typical American sit-com.
To complicate things further, Yuki comes with baggage. He has ex-girlfriends. He's from a family of Monks. He's older than Shuichi and he's got a bad attitude. Now near the end of the first volume Yuki's age is revealed and frankly it's just not possible for him to be an established romance author. It would make more sense on that front for him to be at least ten years older but then there would be extra squicky details of a man dating a teen half his age.
The characters are fairly quick to fall into cliched roles that seem to crop up in fiction featuring gay or bi characters. Shuichi is overly emotional and fawns over Yuki like a star-crossed girl. Yuki is selfish, brooding and boorish sometimes. Sure, he's pretty to look at but he's basically a pig.
Despite all of the rampant cliches and over the top emotions, I enjoyed the first volume. I like all the asides about Techno and the music scenes. In that way, Gravitation reminds me of Nana but with a romance between the two main characters.
August 26, 2009
If I remember correctly, this was the first "shonen-ai" series published by a major publisher. Shuichi is adorable, and if the series were just about him and his best friend Hiro trying to make it in the music business, I think it would be cute and funny. But in this first volume, Shuichi meets Yuki, a cynical romance novelist (wow, it's so unexpected!) who he (unbelievably [see my new shelf?:]) falls madly in love with. And thus Murakami trots out a few of the annoying cliches of the BL genre: I am not gay, I just fell in love with a man; the "male" partner is cool and self-possessed, the "female" partner cries a lot and is prone to hysterics; one of the guys was all about hooking up with women; and of course, heterosexuals automatically know what to do even when they're switching teams.
The band Shuichi idolizes is called Nittle Grasper (and seriously, if that puts you off, just put down the book because you'll have to read it about a million times) and one of their albums is "Purple Nurple". I have no idea if that is Murakami's unique brand of insanity or if someone at Tokyopop was getting clever.
There is also a lot of cursing in this, which I don't remember noticing before, which suggests I'm getting more prudish as I get older...
The band Shuichi idolizes is called Nittle Grasper (and seriously, if that puts you off, just put down the book because you'll have to read it about a million times) and one of their albums is "Purple Nurple". I have no idea if that is Murakami's unique brand of insanity or if someone at Tokyopop was getting clever.
There is also a lot of cursing in this, which I don't remember noticing before, which suggests I'm getting more prudish as I get older...
January 13, 2010
It took me until the first few pages to know what I was REALLY reading. Gravitation is a Yaoi, which means gay. To tell you the truth, it made me very uncomfortable to read about a guy couple, even more when they showed affection to one another.
The story line was capturing though! Violence, comedy, drama, and non-gay author falling in love with clueless teen boy singer. You felt their emotions and understood each side.
You see the ugly alienate Yuki for what he is; a frighten child frozen in the past. Than there's Shindou, an energetic singer spontaneously falling in love with a mysterious cold man while on his midnight walk through the park.
All I have to say is that the twists and turns make for a very comical drama of love.
The story line was capturing though! Violence, comedy, drama, and non-gay author falling in love with clueless teen boy singer. You felt their emotions and understood each side.
You see the ugly alienate Yuki for what he is; a frighten child frozen in the past. Than there's Shindou, an energetic singer spontaneously falling in love with a mysterious cold man while on his midnight walk through the park.
All I have to say is that the twists and turns make for a very comical drama of love.
October 25, 2009
Crack pure, I tell you. Wacky stories, silly drawings - but there's something about the manga that makes me want to read more. I'm actually really curious about Yuki and Shuichi's romance, go figure. I mean, I already saw the anime but the manga is somehow more interesting, maybe because the characters seem richer, more alive. I'll be definitely continuing this series!
November 12, 2012
I love ALL Gravitation! My OTP is Eiri and Shuichi. Can't help it. I have loved it since we were introduced. And while Shuichi changes his look often throughout the manga, Eiri is still the same. Just a shy kinda guy who needs those boundaries and limits broken... and NOT by the person who claims to love him most in the world. I love, love, love Gravitation!
December 22, 2017
Pretty ridiculous, highly unrealistic, annoying crybaby, abusive jerk.
Yet, I can't deny that this is nostalgic and I still enjoy the story-line, even if it is a bit nutty, and cliche, and insta love.
Yet, I can't deny that this is nostalgic and I still enjoy the story-line, even if it is a bit nutty, and cliche, and insta love.
June 6, 2020
This review will be covering the entire series, as I don't feel like writing individual ones.
(There may be some minor spoilers, but nothing that matters a lot)
This manga is great. It balances dark character backstory with slapstick comedy, which I personally really like. I came to this expecting some trashy fun and ended up getting more emotion than I expected. It deals, albeit a little weakly, with mental issues caused by childhood trauma and how it can impact relationships during adulthood, which I appreciated. It probably isn't for everyone, but I had fun.
Yuki and Shuichi's relationship feels sorta like insta-love, which feels a little shallow, but I can forgive that. There are also some annoying tropes, such as characters claiming they're straight while they obviously aren't, but it sort of makes sense, so I can forgive that. Another thing that annoyed me slightly was that whenever there was a spicy scene between the two main characters, it was pretty much always cut off by something (yes, I understand that there couldn't be straight up yaoi in it because of publishing and such, but it could be dragged on for a little longer, especially the emotional scenes.)
The artstyle changed a lot throughout the series. Personally, I prefer Shuichi's appearance in the start, as he looks like an actual teenager, but by the end, he just looks like a child. It's like he got younger instead of older. I was willing to overlook the artstyle by the end, though, because I was so invested in the story at that point.
All in all, I had fun reading this and I think it should be more well-known.
(There may be some minor spoilers, but nothing that matters a lot)
This manga is great. It balances dark character backstory with slapstick comedy, which I personally really like. I came to this expecting some trashy fun and ended up getting more emotion than I expected. It deals, albeit a little weakly, with mental issues caused by childhood trauma and how it can impact relationships during adulthood, which I appreciated. It probably isn't for everyone, but I had fun.
Yuki and Shuichi's relationship feels sorta like insta-love, which feels a little shallow, but I can forgive that. There are also some annoying tropes, such as characters claiming they're straight while they obviously aren't, but it sort of makes sense, so I can forgive that. Another thing that annoyed me slightly was that whenever there was a spicy scene between the two main characters, it was pretty much always cut off by something (yes, I understand that there couldn't be straight up yaoi in it because of publishing and such, but it could be dragged on for a little longer, especially the emotional scenes.)
The artstyle changed a lot throughout the series. Personally, I prefer Shuichi's appearance in the start, as he looks like an actual teenager, but by the end, he just looks like a child. It's like he got younger instead of older. I was willing to overlook the artstyle by the end, though, because I was so invested in the story at that point.
All in all, I had fun reading this and I think it should be more well-known.
March 13, 2021
While I did think that the story was interesting (and I was gifted the entire series so I'll be continuing in the hopes that it gets better), there was a slur or two casually thrown around I could've done without. I don't believe this has aged well, but we're in it for the long haul now...
July 27, 2025
No sé cómo calificar este manga así que se queda en 3. En su momento me gustó y le hubiera puesto hasta 5 pero he intentado volver a leerlo dos veces y me resulta imposible terminarlo. Simplemente el absurdo me supera.
June 4, 2024
I enjoyed this alot more than the anime.
June 11, 2011
Wannabe pop star Shuichi Shindou wants to take the world by storm and become the latest sensation to grace big venues and thrill the crowds of adoring fans, his problem is he has to start somewhere, and with a name like Bad Luck, his chances seem bleak enough. Being the lead singer carries all kinds of responsibilities like being on time for rehearsals, thinking up new lyrics, and keeping his band mates spirits up. He has his best friend, lead guitarist Hiro who tries to keep Shuichi’s feet on the ground, but it isn’t easy for him when there are times he can’t keep himself under control, rants about deadlines, the school talent competition, and finishing his lyrics. Shuichi’s just a big ball of relentless energy.
While he’s finishing his lyrics he takes a stroll one night, deep in thought, looking over his recent lyric draft, loses it as the wind takes it into the hand of another man who just happened to be walking past. He looks at the sheet with an ultra critical eye, their eyes meet, and after a moment where Shuichi feels shocked at the sudden appearance of the blond admits, his moment is shattered by the older man’s dismissal of his lyrics before going past him.
Shuichi doesn’t know who he is until he sees his name on the cover of a romance novel. Eiri Yuki, successful novelist and dream date for teen girls everywhere. Determined to get answers as to why he thought his lyrics were so bad, he tracks Yuki down and demands his undivided attention.
Eiri has a dark past full of pain, remorse and unhappy memories of being a nice kid who thought better of other people than he should and can’t understand why Shuichi would be in the slightest bit interested in him, let alone arguing lyrics with him. Yuki puts walls up at everyone as a result of what happened to him in his past and finds it hard to relate to others. For Yuki, writing novels is the perfect way to spend his time on his own without appearing anti-social to friends and family. It keeps his mind on being alone with his own thoughts, but what will he do when Shuichi insists on being around him, as he is the total opposite, childish, full of energy, and wont let him say no to any of his demands.
Maki Murakami’s first novel in a series of manga offerings shows a story full of comedy, illustrating Shuichi’s wild antics with his band, his dramatic attitude, and love for Yuki, even if he sometimes doesn’t always return that love. The setting looks as though it was created in the late eighties with bright clothes, lots of denim, cassette tapes, mention of Morrisey and big, big hair. Despite how Yuki makes Shuichi’s lyrics sound terrible and third grade style, it is fun to hear later on in the story that Yuki was taking a walk the same night they met, and he only does that when he’s got writers block.
While he’s finishing his lyrics he takes a stroll one night, deep in thought, looking over his recent lyric draft, loses it as the wind takes it into the hand of another man who just happened to be walking past. He looks at the sheet with an ultra critical eye, their eyes meet, and after a moment where Shuichi feels shocked at the sudden appearance of the blond admits, his moment is shattered by the older man’s dismissal of his lyrics before going past him.
Shuichi doesn’t know who he is until he sees his name on the cover of a romance novel. Eiri Yuki, successful novelist and dream date for teen girls everywhere. Determined to get answers as to why he thought his lyrics were so bad, he tracks Yuki down and demands his undivided attention.
Eiri has a dark past full of pain, remorse and unhappy memories of being a nice kid who thought better of other people than he should and can’t understand why Shuichi would be in the slightest bit interested in him, let alone arguing lyrics with him. Yuki puts walls up at everyone as a result of what happened to him in his past and finds it hard to relate to others. For Yuki, writing novels is the perfect way to spend his time on his own without appearing anti-social to friends and family. It keeps his mind on being alone with his own thoughts, but what will he do when Shuichi insists on being around him, as he is the total opposite, childish, full of energy, and wont let him say no to any of his demands.
Maki Murakami’s first novel in a series of manga offerings shows a story full of comedy, illustrating Shuichi’s wild antics with his band, his dramatic attitude, and love for Yuki, even if he sometimes doesn’t always return that love. The setting looks as though it was created in the late eighties with bright clothes, lots of denim, cassette tapes, mention of Morrisey and big, big hair. Despite how Yuki makes Shuichi’s lyrics sound terrible and third grade style, it is fun to hear later on in the story that Yuki was taking a walk the same night they met, and he only does that when he’s got writers block.
February 12, 2020
Got the who!e collection! I love this manga. First yaoi anime I ever watched but I have more of a thing for reading so I brought the collection and don't have a single regret. More fluffy than serious but good and well worth a read in the romance genre but I am a bit yaoi fan so naturally I see no faults with the manga.
June 14, 2015
I know that this is a classic in the shonen-ai genre. When I was younger I couldn't get into the anime of either this or Loveless, but now that I am younger, I am loving the manga of both series and excited to finish them so that I can watch their respective animes.
I have to say that the manga style is very different from the anime style that I remember but other than that, that is my only compliant.
The first volume of Gravitation, is the meeting of Shuichi Shindou who is an 18 year old senior in high school, his dream is to be in a band and become famous. One day while in the park, his paper of lyrics flies of his hands and into the hands of a handsome stranger who completely disses the lyrics on the paper. This of course crushes Shuichi who vows not to let them get to him with the upcoming show approaching. While out with a friend, he notices a car and sees the stranger, he goes to his house with another encounter that does not go to well. He later goes to his apartment to invite him to the concert and to thank him for going to the previous performance but sees another woman, who he believes is the strangers girlfriend. He has discovered who the strangers name and profession thanks to his little sister. The attraction between them is undeniable, even for them. But Yuki rejects him, because of age and on the fact that he doesn't go that way. Later on the girl he saw days before asks him for a favor. When he goes to Yuki's house to do it, Yuki can see right through him and knows the woman had something to do with being there. Though its not really the case. The volume ends on a big cliffhanger....luckily I have the second volume from the library in my bagpack.
I can see why alot of people love this series. I thought it was funny and in some areas I can feel the emotion causing my heart to ache.
I have to say that the manga style is very different from the anime style that I remember but other than that, that is my only compliant.
The first volume of Gravitation, is the meeting of Shuichi Shindou who is an 18 year old senior in high school, his dream is to be in a band and become famous. One day while in the park, his paper of lyrics flies of his hands and into the hands of a handsome stranger who completely disses the lyrics on the paper. This of course crushes Shuichi who vows not to let them get to him with the upcoming show approaching. While out with a friend, he notices a car and sees the stranger, he goes to his house with another encounter that does not go to well. He later goes to his apartment to invite him to the concert and to thank him for going to the previous performance but sees another woman, who he believes is the strangers girlfriend. He has discovered who the strangers name and profession thanks to his little sister. The attraction between them is undeniable, even for them. But Yuki rejects him, because of age and on the fact that he doesn't go that way. Later on the girl he saw days before asks him for a favor. When he goes to Yuki's house to do it, Yuki can see right through him and knows the woman had something to do with being there. Though its not really the case. The volume ends on a big cliffhanger....luckily I have the second volume from the library in my bagpack.
I can see why alot of people love this series. I thought it was funny and in some areas I can feel the emotion causing my heart to ache.
June 5, 2011
I was going to use this review to review the whole series, but it seems that my local library isn't going to get the whole series and I am too poor (and not hooked enough) to buy it. So, I'm just going to review the first four books.
They follow the anime fairly closely, which for me was excellent since I saw the anime first and really enjoyed it. The romance is unbelievable. The fact that Shuichi gets picked up by a major label isn't very credible either, but having seen the anime first it's slightly more plausible. The music is better in Japanese and out loud at least for me (I like that kind of music). Just a warning though, it does get stuck in your head.
The series tends to hop back and forth between being extremely ridiculous and somewhat serious. There are some really serious moments, but not all of those are dealt with satisfactorily in my opinion. In fact, many of them seem to just get dealt with by either cross dressing, a dog suit or some other gimmick. On the other hand, the characters do manage to pull on your heart and make you care what happens (most of the time).
I'm not exactly certain how far volume four got, but I do know that there was rape involved and it wasn't addressed nearly as much as it should have been in either the manga or the anime. Since this is a gay romance, anyone uncomfortable with that, should definitely avoid the series. There is a bit of violence, I know someone gets put in the hospital from getting beat up, but I'm not sure if anything else occurs. There is quite a bit of coarse language. I don't remember the f-word, but it has been a couple of months.
They follow the anime fairly closely, which for me was excellent since I saw the anime first and really enjoyed it. The romance is unbelievable. The fact that Shuichi gets picked up by a major label isn't very credible either, but having seen the anime first it's slightly more plausible. The music is better in Japanese and out loud at least for me (I like that kind of music). Just a warning though, it does get stuck in your head.
The series tends to hop back and forth between being extremely ridiculous and somewhat serious. There are some really serious moments, but not all of those are dealt with satisfactorily in my opinion. In fact, many of them seem to just get dealt with by either cross dressing, a dog suit or some other gimmick. On the other hand, the characters do manage to pull on your heart and make you care what happens (most of the time).
I'm not exactly certain how far volume four got, but I do know that there was rape involved and it wasn't addressed nearly as much as it should have been in either the manga or the anime. Since this is a gay romance, anyone uncomfortable with that, should definitely avoid the series. There is a bit of violence, I know someone gets put in the hospital from getting beat up, but I'm not sure if anything else occurs. There is quite a bit of coarse language. I don't remember the f-word, but it has been a couple of months.
September 18, 2011
I gave the first volume three stars when I first read it, and I guess the first volume was still ok, but the whole series only deserves one star, in my opinion. It starts out funny enough, but after a while "whacky" turns into full-blown insane; the characters and their motivations are completely unintelligible and the plot is convoluted and not worth following. The relationship between Shindou and Yuki can only be called abusive and disturbing, and not in an interesting way. I only finished it because I had gotten the whole series for free and I can't recommend this at all.
(Written after reading the first volume: "This was one of the series mentioned the most when I started reading shonen ai/yaoi, so when I saw the whole thing was available in a bookswap, I didn't hesitate much. It's pretty cracky, but really funny. I would like it better if the characters looked a little older, but since it's a comedy and doesn't seem to aim to be either realistic or hot it doesn't bother me as much.")
(Written after reading the first volume: "This was one of the series mentioned the most when I started reading shonen ai/yaoi, so when I saw the whole thing was available in a bookswap, I didn't hesitate much. It's pretty cracky, but really funny. I would like it better if the characters looked a little older, but since it's a comedy and doesn't seem to aim to be either realistic or hot it doesn't bother me as much.")
May 3, 2013
Shuichi Shindou isn't the brightest crayon in the box. He makes some of the worst grades in his school, and is more obsessed with his music than his schoolwork. Plus, he's really insecure, and seems to cry at the drop of the hat. But, he makes up for everything he lacks with his abundance of heart.
Hiroshi Nakano is an all-around great guy. He ranks as #2 in grades at his school, and is aspiring to be a doctor. But, for right now, he's that guitar friend that is beside Shuichi all the way.
Eiri Yuki is a best-selling romance novelist with all the women he could ever need, available at his beck and call. But, all those women seem to be expendable, once Shuichi comes into the picture.
Maka Shindou, Shuichi's older sister and bodyguard of sorts, is the overprotective type, who takes care of all Shuichi's needs and even babies him a little. She's also a overly dramatic Eiri Yuki fangirl, and quickly devours each book he releases.
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What do these characters have in common? Read "Gravitation, Vol.1" to become part of the excitement, and to find out.
Hiroshi Nakano is an all-around great guy. He ranks as #2 in grades at his school, and is aspiring to be a doctor. But, for right now, he's that guitar friend that is beside Shuichi all the way.
Eiri Yuki is a best-selling romance novelist with all the women he could ever need, available at his beck and call. But, all those women seem to be expendable, once Shuichi comes into the picture.
Maka Shindou, Shuichi's older sister and bodyguard of sorts, is the overprotective type, who takes care of all Shuichi's needs and even babies him a little. She's also a overly dramatic Eiri Yuki fangirl, and quickly devours each book he releases.
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What do these characters have in common? Read "Gravitation, Vol.1" to become part of the excitement, and to find out.
March 1, 2018
Shuichi is the singer/songwriter in a high school band with his best friend Hiro. They hope to make it big, but they haven't gotten a break yet. Late one night, Shuichi drops a lyrics sheet, and the guy who picks it up skims them, calls them trash, and suggests he give up. Angst ensues, quickly followed by rage. And an obsession to find him again. Which somehow morphs into a crush... even though Eiri Yuki is cold, sarcastic, and annoyed.
It's tricky to define my reactions. Shuichi's and Hiro's friendship has a fun balance of trust and tussling. They know each other So Well. Eiri is verbally abrasive, but his actions don't quite match his tone. And he's a romance novelist. But his attitude makes him hard to trust. I foresee possible issues with wavering commitment. And the characters are already more promiscuous than I like. If the plot skews further into the kinds of drama I don't find entertaining, I'll give up on this one.
Proceeding with caution.
It's tricky to define my reactions. Shuichi's and Hiro's friendship has a fun balance of trust and tussling. They know each other So Well. Eiri is verbally abrasive, but his actions don't quite match his tone. And he's a romance novelist. But his attitude makes him hard to trust. I foresee possible issues with wavering commitment. And the characters are already more promiscuous than I like. If the plot skews further into the kinds of drama I don't find entertaining, I'll give up on this one.
Proceeding with caution.
July 8, 2009
This series degenerates into utter stupidity by the end, but the first few books are lovely.
April 29, 2019
Absolutely LOVE Gravitation I have the complete series in manga and on DVD!
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