By: Maki Murakami Publisher: TokyoPop Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: TokyoPop Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 216 Publication Date: October 07, 2003 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: October 07, 2003
Product Description: *A New Cult Classic *A romantic comedy/drama about making it in the music industry *Spawned a ton of collectibles in Japan; Soundtracks, pencil boards, calendars, phone cards, postcards, artbooks *Gravitation anime available on DVD *A forerunner in the hugely popular Shonen-Ai (boy love) category
Just when Shuichi Shindou's rock star dreams seem to be coming together, everything falls apart. His gifted guitarist Hiro quits the band, the new manager wants to take Shuichi off the keyboards, and Shuichi finds himself constantly berated by their producer. The one person he can fall back on is his biggest critic, the cynical and abrasive Yuki. But in love, as with music, the more serious things become the greater the pressure ... gravitation takes its toll.
Disapointing After intriguing first volume, the second volume of Gravitation was a big disappointment. Sweet and puppy-like Shuichi continues to pursue cool and distant Yuki, but the older man completely takes advantage of the boy. After claiming time after time that he isn't interested in men Yuki blatantly rapes the Shuichi even though the boy pleads with him that he's afraid and hurting. Afterwards Yuki is his cold self and brushes off the whole incident. I know rape is a common theme in BL, but this was just disgusting. There was no consequence either for the rapist or the victim, and the whole incident was promptly forgotten. It's also worth noting that it's true the manga is more explicit than the anime, but there are no "naughty bits" here if that's what you're scared of (or looking for).
In addition, I really don't like Murakami's style in her older work - it's smudgy and uneven, and I have difficulties in differentiating between different characters.
Oh my. :D ::fangirl:: I have to say... out of half the series of Gravitation I've bought so far, this one I like the most.
But to say something about it. The art is beautiful. There is no explict content. This is bl (boy love) not really a yaoi in this case, but a shounen-ai at the same time. This volume has semeXuke quite alot.
As far as hilarity, if you've seen the anime of Gravi.. where Tatsuha comes in, it's in here as well. As a fangirl Gravitation v. 2 would be my favorite. :3 In here.. Yuki and Shuichi have their share of "scenes" with a little resistance that makes it cute.
It's Gravitation Art is one thing that throws me off a Manga. And the art is horrible. Though alot more graphic then the Anime (which is upsetting), I think the Anime wins hands down. The Manga is lacking in a few things and it's confusing but still worth it for a Fan of Yaoi.
A little info and my opinion.... Gravitation is my favorite manga yet. I read a few others such as InuYasha, Chobits, and CLAMP, but Gravitation is still by far my favorite.
For those of you who haven't already read Gravi, the story revolves around two characters; Shindou Shuichi, and Yuki Eiri. Shuichi is in a band 'Bad Luck' along with his partner and best friend Nakano Hiroshi, otherwise known as Hiro. At the moment, the band is only locally known, but the two are very popular at their high school; Tohoku High. One night when Shuichi is walking home from work, taking a shortcut, he's looking at his lyrics thinking about what his sister Maiko said earlier about a girlfriend. He sneezes and the lyrics blow away. This is where Yuki comes in, picking up the lyrics, then harshly criticizing Shuichi about them and the story progresses from there.
Vol 2 is a bit more graphic than Vol 1, but still good all the same. The book is for 16+, but that didn't phase me much. Gravi is a shonen-ai manga, otherwise known as boy/boy love. Shonen=boy, ai=love, thus creating boys love. And even if shonen-ai is iffy to you, it's still an enjoyable story.
The drawings are great, and the little notes and other things just add to the story, making it more interesting.
what's not to like? J-rock stars, bishounen's, humor...what's not to like? This is an awsome story of Shindou-san's first love...that is, next to music ^_^
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
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