Jan 11, 2017
I decided to write (a partial) review after seeing the mediocre score Gravitation has been given.
I am bestowing an overall 10 to redeem it.
Story 9
I've just finished watching Guilty Crown and three words. Underwhelming af. It reeled me in with a fresh and fantastic introductory plot but meandered on without much substance, then sugar coated with tonnes of fan service. I mean, I like fan service but its a cheap way to win over your audience when its used like that. Anyway I rambled on about a completely irrelevant anime to tell you that this is not what Gravitation does. It has a lot
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of juicy meat to the story and easy to follow. It hooked me in from the minute it started to the second it ended with no messing about and I am begging to The Gods of Gravitation (Studio Deen thats you) that the anime will have a second season or a movie or something god please. It's just that amazing.
Side note: I thought the ambience of the anime was well balanced in terms of its seriousness and cringe-factor (Guys, its yaoi – it’s got to have some cheese). Just like on the music stage, the storyline is theatrical and dramatic; one moment it’s cute and light-hearted, the next, it’s passionate and intense. I disagree with you lemons who complain that it’s too cheesy, cringe, etc - it's not.
Art 8
Considering how dated the anime is (almost 17 year, jeepers) I still enjoy the quality and style…. and tangent to the actual art but one thing that bothered me when I first watched the anime were the flamboyant, frilly crop tops Shuichi Shindou and Ryuichi Sakuma wore during their performances. I’ve gotten used to it after years but seriously, Britney Spears from the 2000’s would like her top back.
Voice / Music / Stuff that you listen to 10
I can’t emphasize enough how fucking fabulous the Japanese dub is, it really is. Like everyone part of the cast deserves fucking cookies and a medal (not you though English cast). I know English dubs are notorious for being sub-par but I was mortified when I first heard it. It’s tasteless (not to mention emotionless) and just embarrassing to watch.
One thing I would like to see English dubs adopt is the use of female voice actresses for male roles (not sure if they do or don't). Japanese dubs do this a lot and it works really well. Ai Orikasa’s voice dubbing illustrates a beautiful allure to Seguchi Tohma’s character. His voice is gentle and soft spoken but also firm and charismatic and I think the femininity in his voice made it so believable.
Everyone else deserves a honourable mention but I think other reviewers have said pretty fair stuff about the Japanese dub (and also this is a partial review). I mentioned Seguchi to comment about the female dubbing and not because it was particularly better than the others.
Ok as for music, I’ll look past the fact that ‘The Rage Beat’ (Shuichi’s song) gets overplayed (but not overkilled – it’s catchy as hell) with more or less the same video montages. However, there's one thing I don't buy. The song is first introduced in the beginning of the series when Shuichi is an amateur but gets rehashed when he is also pro. I'm pointing this out because later in the series, a large chuck of the plot pirouettes around how much Shuichi’s vocal ability and performance has evolved... its the exact same song inserted every time so I don't think so? Then again, its probably more a matter of production costs.
Nevertheless, ALL the music, the opening, endings, insert songs, Ryuichi’s song, etc are all catchy and sentimental – just the way I like it.
Character 10
Gravitation has some of the most memorable characters. K, you are god.
Overall 10
The maths probably doesn't add up but like I said, this is for redemption.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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