Gravitation

Oct 3, 2009

-Naami-

Recommended

I strongly recommend watching the series before reading the manga for the following reason:

The story. Due to Murukami Maki’s rather undeveloped art at the beginning of the series it had also hindered the flow of the story telling; so it is rather difficult to understand or get into the story. From own experience, I had tried to read it first but the art had threw me off completely and I dropped it after the 2nd chapter.

Now, onto the review...

Gravitation is often called the gateway to the shounen-ai genre because of its appeal. What separates this from every other of its genre is ... its diversity. For once it does not focus solely on the character’s (in this case Eiri’s and Shuichi’s) relationship but on everything going on around them – the side characters, the music, their careers, them as an individual and most of all – the gags.

Comedy is the widest appeal this manga has, and it does a good job giving laughs to the reader. Most of the comedy relies on over-the-top shenanigans, references to the music industry (such as N-Sync) or sexual innuendo. Another thing that it makes it so approachable is the lack of typical lovey-dovey or corny scenes. If there are any present, it is usually used as a gag itself as Murakami mocks this for the reader’s enjoyment.

The first few volumes’ art is - to put it bluntly - quite horrendous. As previously stated, it’s enough to repel readers, and the story-telling is sloppy. However, readers see a drastic change in art during the latter of series and it first becomes noticeable around volume 6. Murakami also introduces a neat way of using panels to better the flow of the story telling. Although ultimately her art has changed for the better I wasn’t too keen on the new character design for Shuichi. One of the good points of Gravitation at the beginning was Shuichi’s more masculine physique, but as the story progresses Shuichi becomes shorter and eventually has a physique that downplays readers imaginations (for either better or worse, up to the reader really) so in the end, he would fit the stereotypical uke.

The cast of Gravitation all play significant roles in the story – whether it is to meddle, to be the shoulder to cry on or part of the past, they all have more or less something to give, again giving this the sort of edge that other shounen-ai’s don’t have.

I find it unrealistic how every accepts Shuichi’s and Eiri’s relationship; but then again a manager who uses a gun for persuasion and a giant robot panda chasing Shuichi through New York isn’t exactly realistic either.

All of Gravitation has been licensed under Tokyopop, who has done a spectacular job at translating. However the first couple of translated volumes may cause some to cringe with their attempt of using ‘hip’ phrases; often backfiring by employing tacky lines such as “take a chill pill”. Fortunately it gets better along the way, and I appreciate how they make it appeal to Western audiences by using our entertainment industry like MTV (“Oh, I get it I’m on Punk’d. Where’s Ashton?”)

Both versions of Gravitation are light-hearted, filled with humour and entertaining. 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.

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Mar 7, 2008

Jin_Kaze_Tsukai

Recommended

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 ...

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Jun 17, 2008

xxRin

Recommended

Preliminary (Unknown/54 chp)

Having watched the anime back when it first hit fansubs on the web, I finally got around to trying out the manga. I went to my local anime store and purchased the first two volumes. Within a a few weeks I had bought up till vol 10 being completely hooked.

Story: The story was very good and interesting at the start. The stroy is fun and involving with lots of panal time for some of favorite characters. As the story left Japan however and moved to America the appeal tends to go down with the fact that suddenly it is less about Shuichi's career and more ...

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Nov 3, 2023

abystoma2

Not Recommended

Gravitation is a romance (allegedly) music (allegedly) BL manga. It’s one step away from being a great parody of the yaoi genre, but unfortunately it’s wholly unironic.

It suffers from many problems. The first and the most obvious is that the story just doesn’t make any sense. Both plot-wise and character-wise.

The main problem with the duo of main characters is that they have absolutely zero chemistry. They have no reason at all to like each other, it’s as if Shuuichi got hit by a fujo brainwashing tech which makes him fall in love with the first bishounen he sees and so he did. Both Shuuichi ... and Yuki are also extremely annoying characters, but for such creatively different reason. One of them is a crababy. No, really, that’s like the main emotion you’ll see here, get ready for it. He’s also *really* dumb, to the point it makes you question how he even survived so far. Yuki on the other hand is the the cold one, to the extent of just not giving any signs of affection at all. He gives off the vibes of tryhard, but I’d say this is just author’s failed execution of writing a “cool” character. Author’s failure is what also seems to be behind the lack of chemistry, as it seems like she heard “opposites attract” and went with that, while forgetting that it’s because the opposites are supposed to complement each other, not repel.

Regarding the plot, it’s only for the first few volumes at most that the story maintains at least some sort of coherence. After that, it’s wild west of random bullshit. And not in the funny entertaining way, but in the “huh, the author really didn’t plan any of this through”. Conflicts that should have been main focus of the manga are solved within few pages while whole volumes are spent on filler as only once in a while the manga remembers it’s supposed to be about music.

Talking about music, it’s very obvious that the author did no research regarding the industry. And of course, don’t expect any interesting band scenes like an actual music manga would have.

Another awful thing is just the frequent tone whiplash. You get unfunny gag jokes inserted into what seemed like a serious scene, the characters randomly start being dumb, and sexual assault is treated as serious life long issue when it happens to one of the characters but as a minor inconvenience and almost a punchline when it happens to the other one. It's also pretty weird that the characters keep trying to convince others and themselves that they are not gay, they are totally straight but just happened to fuck dudes?

Unsurprisingly for the genre, the art is terrible. The characters suffer the most, as they are drawn inconsistently, a single character frequently looks differently through the whole manga (seriously, just compare even the volume covers alone) while other characters area easily mistaken with another whole different characters, and that’s across genders. The “le random faces” drawings is a cringy humor while backgrounds are almost non-existent, making this into really low artistic effort.

To summarize it, expect a wattpad story written by 13 years old level of quality.

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Jul 7, 2009

KA0RI

Recommended

Prepare for a long review, and my very first review! I've read the entire Gravitation series three times and so I find it only more than perfect to review this!

Now, let's get started...

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Story: 8/10

Gravitation is a story about a young man by the name of, Shindou Shuichi. Shuichi is overly passionate music fanatic who dreams of becoming as great as his beloved idol, Ryuichi Sakuma. By starting a band with his best friend, Hiro Nakano (guitarist), Shuichi is now ready and determined as ever to become a rock star and show the world his music, voice, and lyrics. But, by fate he meets a man ... by the name of Eiri Yuki who harshly criticizes his lyrics and puts the young musician in his place. Shuichi, unable to get the mysterious man and his harsh words out of his mind, throws himself into Yuki's life. The force that brings them together is like gravity and they can't do a thing to stop it...

I found the story from the beginning to be very engaging, interesting, and thrown in with some great laugh out loud humor from Shuichi and his antics. I found the romance to be not too over the top and left you begging you for more. Though, as the series progressed the comedy began to go from funny to just down right crazy and over the top as 'mecha panda's, crazy Americans with guns, and Shuichi being a big cry baby and ruining any romantic moment to be a big killer for me. Though, both the journey and struggles of Shuichi with his music career were very realistic and well thought out.

Overall, I enjoyed it, I truly did. I was pleased from Volume 1 to 12, some more than others...but still. The story of Shuichi's music journey with the industry was done very well and as was the romance. The only negatives being the occasionally over-the-top craziness and Shuichi's mood killers. This is a negative because he wasn't THAT dramatic in the beginning.

Art: 8/10

If you were to open Vol. 1 of Gravitation and lay it open besides an open page of Vol. 12 of Gravitation with no knowledge of the series...you would think they are two completely different series'. It's just that drastic. By Vol. 6 you should see the change. Also, I found Maki Murakami's art to be a bit sloppy at times. Another problem I had is that you may find yourself seeing that other characters look A LOT like other characters. It's hard to tell sometimes but that problem decreases as you become more familiar with the characters. Other than that, I found Maki Murakami's art style very appealing to the eyes and the dramatic facial expressions classic. On a side note, I personally enjoyed the older art style in the eariler volumes compared to the newer style.

Characters: 10/10

I find the characters to be the main reason that makes Gravitation unforgetable, as the characters themselves are addicting. With a hyper, happy-go-lucky ball of energy like Shuichi, a stoic Yuki, a personality disorder lyrical genius Ryuchi, and many more that make Gravitation...Gravitation. The characters are what had me fall in love with the series. They are all so very likable and you are bound to find parts of yourself in one of them.

Enjoyment: 10

I was hooked from Vol. 1 to Vol. 12. I couldnt put it down. The humor was great and the interactions between characters was excellent. Never once did I think of dropping this manga. The story, characters, art...everything draws you in and has you hooked.

Overall: 9/10

With a very good story and art, along with outstanding character and enjoyment, this manga is a must read.
This is a manga that is a shounen-ai classic and for any shounen-ai fan, a manga that all should read. So to those that are curious about this manga, please do take a chance to read this manga. The manga that will always have a special place in my heart.

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May 7, 2009

artgrl57

Recommended

Preliminary (Unknown/54 chp)

The story keeps a steady pace, and even though it becomes a tad unrealistic around the eighth volume, it is still as enjoyable as ever. The art is outstanding, and the characters may be slightly exaggerated at times, but they are not incredibly annoying as some characters in other mangas can be. Overall, an amazing shonen-ai manga.

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Apr 22, 2012

ClicheReviewer

Recommended

This is one hell of a series, especially if you are a big fan of slapstick, dark, and sexual humor with a story.

It's sad that many people avoid this story becuase it's Shonen-ai but it really isn't a big deal, nor really is it excessive. (except in the Doujins, but that's for another review)

Overall: Fun characters, great comedy and meaty ongoing plotlines.

If you just want an unforgettable manga experience, CHECK GRAVITATION OUT NOW!

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Feb 8, 2010

Knightmare_Otaku

Recommended

Preliminary (Unknown/54 chp)

My first review...exiting!!! haha! Well! Anyways, to answer all the simple questions first:
1. Yes, this is a Yaoi, but only a soft one.
2. It is a romance, comedy and maybe a little bit of action
Gravitation was just something random I read both to pass time and to try something new other than reading my usual shojo, shoen etc manga, and before I knew it, eventually, after a few chapters, i was hooked on... sure the art may not be as great compared to other mangas but it makes up for it with all the comedy they put into it. A truly great read :)

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Jan 1, 2018

SakuraBiskuit

Recommended

Gravitation was my first yaoi/shounen-ai ever. And it didn't disappoint me.

I love Shuichi. At first I thought he'd become annoying, but his "annoyingness" turned out to be very funny, and the way that he never gives up on his dream is actually really inspiring.

I love Yuki. I also thought he'd become annoying and he also turned out to be way better than I expected. He might seem like a really cold character at first, but the way that he "melts" around Shuichi is really adorable and heartwarming...and even funny sometimes.

I love the way that they complete each other. Shuichi brightens up Yuki's world with ...

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