Ranked #817

Gravitation (Manga)

Gravitation to me feels to be a bit of a hit or miss. Some anime and manga fans love it, and some of them do not appreciate it. For me I was a bit skeptical upon purchasing it. Although I wanted to broaden my horizons in the realm of shounen-ai I couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it. As the story started out I found myself curious as to how a music based manga would end. So I bought the first two volumes and had a go at it. I have to say I am thoroughly impressed with Murakami-san's ability to create an engaging story. My skepticism started first with the quality of the art. It wasn't all I was hoping for but, as the volumes go on the art gets better.

Another aspect that had me hooked were the characters. Each person is distinct in his or her own way. Their personalities are so vastly different, and yet when they interact it gives us a treat. Shuichi's over the top personality, Yuki's sober one, Tatsuha's obessive streak, Tohma's darker side, Sakano's spazz attacks. All of it was so intriguing, and I was surprised how they all meshed with one another. If I had to recommend a series to dip your feet in the water for the newbie shounen-ai fans, this would be it right here. read more

Okay, for this I would probably suggest to watch the anime first, since the manga isn’t clear on the story for the first few volumes - if I hadn’t had watched it first I would’ve dropped this immediately. The art was horrible at first but it improves a lot more around volume 6/7 or chapter 25 and the story is now a lot easier to follow. I’ve also had some diehard laugh out loud moments with this, its one of the funniest comics I read so far with the ridiculous antics that goes on in this.
They also use some real life celebrity events like comparing Shuichi and Eiri to Brad and Jennifer and threatening Shuichi’s career by saying “All I have to do is say the word and no record label will touch Bad Luck. You’ll be out of business faster than the fat one from N Sync”
You can also see the character development in this story and explore of their personality, for example Eiri Yuki seems like almost a whole other person - he’s not as cool, calm and collected as he is in the animated version and you can see he actually is suffering from multiple personality disorder.

What separates this from every other shounen ai is that it's realistic, not plot wise (there is no way the stupid stuff they do in this is realistic) but the characters and premise of the story. It doesn't just focus on their relationship but also on their careers and them as a person. It's not sappy at all - the only sappy moment I can remember was Eiri's apology to Shuichi but even then he was reading off a card. That had me laughing for ages especially with the horrid cheesy lines.

Both versions of Gravitation are light-hearted, filled with humour and entertaining. It’s a bit unrealistic though that everyone accepts Shuichi Shindou and Eiri Yuki’s relationship and that they’re all so open about it but then again a manager who uses a gun for persuasion and a giant robot panda chasing Shuichi in the middle New York isn’t exactly realistic either.
The manga does make you appreciate how well the producers of the anime adapted it - it’s one of the best adaptations of a manga I’ve seen in fact. And the manga has got to have the silliest content I have ever read - but it’s the stupid shenanigans that make me laugh so much. read more