Gravitation (manga)
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is a BL (Boys Love) manga series written by Maki Murakami and an anime series derived from it, directed by Bob Shirohata. The story follows the attempts of Shuichi Shindou and his band, Bad Luck, to become Japan's next musical sensation. Fitting for the subject, the anime features a large amount of music, a diverse set of characters, plenty of comedy and touches of drama and violence.The manga originally ended in 2002 after 12 volumes, but new chapters are being serialised in an online manga anthology. The manga has been licensed and is published in English by TOKYOPOP. The Gravitation novel was released in English by TOKYOPOP on March 7, 2006. See ISBN 1598164449
The two episode OVA series was released in 1999. The thirteen-episode TV series aired in Japan from October 4, 2000 to January 10, 2001, on WOWOW satellite channel. The original manga series is written by Maki Murakami and continues the story further than either of the animated series. The anime goes to roughly volume 8 of the manga. The Gravitation TV and OVA series have been licensed for North American release and is available from [Right Stuf International] on four DVDs. The OVA series is licensed by the same company and is now available.
Story
The story surrounds the aspiring and energetic singer Shuichi Shindou who, with his band, Bad Luck (formed with his best friend Hiro), wants to become Japan's next big thing, like his famous idol Ryuichi Sakuma, lead singer of the disbanded legendary group Nittle Grasper. One evening, Shuichi is writing lyrics for a song when his paper is blown away by the wind and picked up by a tall blond man. The man dismisses Shuichi's hard work, which hurts Shuichi deeply, although he is intrigued by the stranger. This will be only their first encounter, as Shuichi will become fascinated by the stranger, who turns out to be a famous romance novelist, Eiri Yuki, and they will begin a relationship.The story expands to include the beginnings of Bad Luck and their rise to fame, as well as their rivalry with the band ASK; the reformation of Shuichi's idol's band, Nittle Grasper; a long suffering fiancée of Eiri's who wants to finally marry him and serves as an enemy then an ally for Shuichi; the public scandal surrounding Eiri's and Shuichi's relationship; attempts by Eiri's inner circle to keep Shuichi away from Eiri in "Eiri's best interests"; and the secret of Eiri's painful past that he has trouble remembering and which is keeping him from giving in to his feelings for Shuichi.
As is typical in Japanese shonen-ai and yaoi, one character does all the chasing while the other keeps refusing or pushing them aside. However, in this case the tables are turned as it is the innocent Shuichi who is in pursuit of the reticent Eiri, as opposed to the usual setting of the more masculine character pursuing the more naive character.
Cast of Main Characters
- Innocent, ambitious, and sexy, Shuichi wants to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Ryuichi Sakuma and be a great success in the Japanese pop music scene. However, after meeting mysterious novelist Eiri Yuki, Shuichi Shindou falls so hard for him that Eiri becomes his number one priority, which is a difficult situation because Eiri is reluctant about their relationship and keeps pushing Shuichi away. Meanwhile, Shuichi's band is climbing the charts and Shuichi's relationship with Eiri is getting in the way. Shuichi's energetic and childish personality tends to ruin serious scenes; a running gag throughout the series is his penchant for dressing up in strange costumes, including those of a dog, a battery, and a banana.
- Further information: Shuichi Shindou
- A big brother character to Shuichi, Hiroshi "Hiro" Nakano is his best friend and the other original member of Bad Luck. Quiet and far more wise than the impetuous Shuichi, Hiroshi tries to serve as the voice of reason for Shuichi as he falls head over heels for Eiri. Hiroshi himself is not immune to love (some fans push the existence of a proto-romantic relationship between Hiroshi and Shuichi, confirmed by a scene in the first episode of the anime, although nothing further is presented to suggest this). He eventually finds himself smitten with Eiri Yuki's supposed fiance from Kyoto; Ayaka.
- Further information: Hiroshi Nakano
- Eiri Uesugi, who uses the pen name Eiri Yuki, is a popular romance novelist that met Shuichi Shindou in the park and mercilessly dismissed his song lyrics. Through coincidence, they keep bumping into each other, and eventually come together romantically. Despite having the media on them 24/7, Eiri struggles to deal with the guilt and confusion of murdering his tutor (from whom Eiri gets his pen name and frequently used nickname, "Yuki") for gang rape. This experience left him cold, but throughout the series, he is seen softening under Shuichi's influence, and finally confront his memories of his late tutor.
- Further information: Eiri Yuki
- Ryuichi Sakuma
- Lead singer of the popular band Nittle Grasper along with Seguchi Tohma and Ukai Noriko, and friend of Shuichi. He left the band three years ago to pursue a solo career in America but has returned to Japan, been inspired by Shuichi's live performance, and now wants to reform Nittle Grasper. Shuichi is excited at the news of Nittle Grasper's reunion, but that now makes Ryuichi his rival. Ryuichi is kind and has the mind of a seven-year-old but when he starts singing, he becomes a really cool, hip-swinging, sexy, mature, vocal god. Other characters have noticed that Ryuichi and Shuichi are quite similar in their child-like manner. His best friend is a pink bunny named Kumagorou. Not much is known about his past or why he even has the bunny.
- Further information: Ryuichi Sakuma
- Tohma Seguchi
- Keyboard player for Nittle Grasper and Mika Seguchi's husband. He is the head of NG recording company, and demands the best from all his contractual bands. Often he makes choices that are more professional than emotional, but his knowledge surpasses that of most people. For instance, when he forced the band to accept a new member, withstanding Shuichi's outburts about the subject. Tohma is very protective of Eiri Yuki, and feels that it is his fault that Eiri murdered his tutor, because Tohma was the one who took him to America in the first place to be taught. Often some people claim this is a more than brotherly relationship, because of one episode where he claimed to care for Yuki more than anything in the world. This notion was not based on other events in the anime (or OVA) and therefore most people dismiss it.
- Further information: Tohma Seguchi
- K
- Ryuichi's former manager and now the manager for Bad Luck, K is aggressive in promoting the band--he even carries around a big gun and hand grenades. His concern is first and foremost Bad Luck, but in his shaping of the band's career, he ends up involving himself in Eiri and Shuichi's relationship. He is American, and in the original Japanese version, they played on the stereotype that Americans always have guns and will pull them out any time any place. K often speaks English mixed in with his Japanese. K's real name is Claude K. Winchester. Also in the manga it is shown that K has a family. He has a wife named Judy Winchester, and a son named Michael Winchester.
- Further information: K
- Judy Winchester
- She is the wife of K. She shows up in volume 8 of the manga, at the premiere for her new movie. Her career is as Hollywood's biggest actress. She is also the mother of Michael Winchester, K's only child.
- Michael Winchester
- The only child of K and his wife Judy. He is only 5 years old. He is non-existent in both the anime and the OVAs although he makes a short appearance in late in the manga in a short story also involving Shuichi's sister.
- Ayaka Usami
- She was betrothed to Eiri and likes him very much, but wants what's best for him, so she lets Shuichi stay with Eiri and tries to give up on him. Hiro has a crush on her and later they go on a date together. She's sweet and polite, like the perfect wife, but more caring for Eiri than most would assume.
- Further information: Ayaka Usami
- Noriko Ukai
- Noriko used to be the keyboard player for Nittle Grasper, but joins Bad Luck for a bit on Touma's request. Once Nittle Grapser gets back together, though, she leaves for good. Noriko is rude, loud, and talented. She won't take junk from any of her band members, and demands the best out of them. Often times she acts like an older sister to Ryuichi.
- Further information: Noriko Ukai
- Sakano
- A very stressed worker, Sakano worships Tohma and tries to be the perfect business man for him no matter what. Sakano takes every opportunity, though he's not as conniving as K. He is often seen freaking out over little things and has to crash into things or jump out ground floor windows to return to normality.
- Further information: Sakano
- Tatsuha Uesugi
- Tatsuha is Eiri's brother, who has the same voice (though not the same seiyū) and characteristics as his older brother, but with black hair and eyes. Tatsuha is obsessed with Ryūichi and watches his Nittle Grasper video repetitively. He's quite the perverted and obsessive fan, not to mention a 16-year-old monk.
- Further information: Tatsuha Uesugi
- Mika Seguchi
- Eiri's older sister and Tohma's wife. She's beautiful, yet cold. She looks quite a bit like Eiri except with longer hair and makeup. In book one, she wanted to make Eiri see his dying father, bribing Shuichi with her own husband (Tohma). Later in the manga series we find out she and Tohma are going to have a child
- Further information: Mika Seguchi
- Suguru Fujisaki
- Suguru is hired as Bad Luck's keyboard player. Though he fakes very sweet politeness, young Suguru is quite manipulative and quite similar to his cousin, Tohma. He's only sixteen, but he has incredible talent - and knows it. Suguru knows Eiri Yuki's past as well. But it seems that Yuki also knows a bit about Suguru as he comments in the 5th manga something about Suguru hiding his real identity.
- Further information: Suguru Fujisaki
Other media
The precursor to Gravitation was a dōjinshi series titled Help!, which followed a similar story line but cast the characters in slightly different roles. Murakami penned a thirteen volume dōjinshi series called Gravitation Remix. The Remix doujinshi are much more sexually explicit than the manga and deviate heavily from the manga storyline. (The Remix doujinshi contain an element of parody. For example, one volume features a female version of a male character.)
In addition to the Remixes, Murakami created three Megamix dōjinshi, dubbed Megamix, Megamix: Panda, and Megamix: Kumagorou. These are extremely explicit, even compared to the remixes, and can be shocking to readers at the magnitude of explicit imagery presented. (These also deviate from the storyline as the Remixes do, though Panda takes a step further to include Shota.)
Audio
Eight audio drama were produced for Gravitation, featuring most of the seiyū of the TV and OVA series. Five retell events from the manga series, while the remaining three cover new story material. The drama albums also contain musical tracks performed by the Japanese voice actors.The opening and closing themes to the TV series were "SUPER DRIVE" and "Glaring Dream," performed respectively by Yousuke Sakanoue and Kinya Kotani. The latter also performed both themes for the OVA: "Blind Game again" (opening) and "Smashing Blue" (closing). Most other music in the Gravitation franchise (except songs that appeared on later drama albums) was written, performed or produced by Daisuke Asakura. Guitarist Kenichi Ito also appears on many of the tracks.
References
Trivia
Songs from Gravitation are very popular in Stepmania.The Haruhara Chronicles metaseries frequently references Gravitation. Examples include:
- A character named Neko Ryuichi
- Zachory busts down a door yelling "HORD UP" parodying a scene in Gravitation, as well as parodying Mr.K's engrish.
- To show "the blue cat" his skills, Kaze performs Shining Collection (a song used in the OVA) on his new guitar in the street, causing a large crowd to form around him, inspiring him to start a band.
External links
- [Gravitation Official Homepage] (Japanese)
- [Nanoda a Gravitation obeisance informative with vector art and galleries] (English - Italian)
- [Informative Gravitation Fan Site]
- [Dare to Dream - Gravitation Fan Site]
- [Series Review at Boys on Boys on Film]
- [yuki-eiriNET - longest-running Yuki Eiri shrine with a unique perspective]
- [Fanboy-A Tatsuha Uesugi Site]
- [g u r a b i t e s h i y o n . n e t -Gravitation Fanfiction Archive]
- [Adorably Manipulative-A Tohma Seguchi fansite]
- [Bad Luck - a Gravitation fan site] (Portuguese)
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