DRINKING: Monster
WATCHING: Neurotically Yours (Restaurants II)
LISTENING TO: Nirvana (Best Of album)
READING: Scott McCloud, Making Comics
MOOD: Uplifted
'Cause, you know. Nirvana definitely does that to ya.
But the real reason I'm posting at two in the fucking morning is because I remembered this review I wrote a couple months ago, and as it never amounting to anything and this lovely blog has a lot of empty space just waited to be pioneered, I've decided to share.
"Pink plush bunnies. Leather and vinyl. Bass-thumping technopop. Costumes. Cigarettes. Guns. Where else could you possibly find all of these assembled as one? This is a series without shame. It’s funny. It’s sensitive. It knows when to stop and where to start. It’s earsplittingly obnoxious and sidesplittingly hilarious, romantic, tragic and dramatic, and – just often enough – as cool and as relaxed as a spring Kyoto breeze. And of course, it opened the floodgates for the BL (boys’ love) genre to join the mainstream.
"Unlike those 80’s and 90’s animé that you always feel would be bearable if someone could just shine up the animation and give us dialogue that were a little more believable, Gravitation (2000) is timeless. And that’s not to say that there aren’t true gems out there, that all the Japanese TV you watched ten or twenty years ago aren’t classics. (It’s well known how I feel about Cowboy Bebop.) But this series had more to offer, even from its humble, not-so-well-illustrated beginnings, courtesy of Murakami Maki-sensei. There’s a deeply rooted – and, I will begrudgingly admit, often truthful – stereotype that BL, or yaoi, its 17+ rated counterpart, has no storyline beyond getting the two male leads together and giving us either a happy sappy ending or a tearjerking death. Rarely has there been more investment in plot, character or expansion of genre, at least not until recently (I’ll talk more on Loveless and Junjou Romantica later). However, when Murakami-sensei brought her stuff to the table in the late 1990’s, it intrigued and invoked immediately. Though her artwork was nothing then compared to what it is now, Gravitation, the manga, had more to offer: the closest BL had ever gotten to a realistic romance.
"Shindou Shuichi, 19-year-old Japanese pink-haired wannabe-pop diva, is finally under contract with one of Tokyo’s top record companies and ready to make it big in the music business. With Nakano “Hiro” Hiroshi, his kindhearted best friend and guitarist, at his side, and infamous ex-keyboardist Seguchi Tohma as their producer, he’s prepared for their band Bad Luck (not such a misnomer after all) to give their all to the world… that is, once he gets the right inspiration to put the right lyrics to the right music. Well, a fateful night in the park is just the inspiration he needs, ironically enough after his lyrics are harshly criticized by aloof but beautiful romance novelist Yuki Eiri. Unfailingly self-absorbed and unstoppably determined, Shuichi is angered enough by the stranger’s cruel words that he finishes his song in no time, set on proving the man wrong. What our hero doesn’t realize is that he’s just experienced love at first sight. And with the all-knowing guidance of Hiro; the sly enforcement of Bad Luck’s manager K; and the soft hints dropped by Yuki’s sister Mika; an impulse kiss, a surprise concert appearance and a one-night stand set Shuichi off on a double mission: to surpass his split-personality childhood hero Sakuma Ryuichi and his band Nittle Grasper in music and fame; and to win the cynical Yuki’s heart.
"Now, the animé and the manga have quite a few differences between them. Those related to plot are minor, though it’s true the animé only follows about half of the manga, but all in all the storyline and characters are the same throughout both. Being an artist and a mangaka myself, I’m usually more critical of the animation than anything (see Top 11 Reasons Why I’ve Rejected ONE PIECE), so despite the commonlaw rule of book-over-movie and the opposing opinions of many other fans, I prefer the animé to the manga. Murakami-sensei’s first few volumes of Gravitation are sloppy and not exactly eye candy, and it’s damned near impossible to tell one character from another – any other story paired with these drawings would not have done well in a billion-dollar market, I am sure. (Though she does improve nicely; more on this in Some Advantages the Sequel.) In contrast, director Bob Shirohata has a fantastic team of animators that are quite consistent and make the characters we know and love truly beautiful, with luminescent colors not to the point of sickly sweetness *coughJunjoucough*, and fluid movement and motion that gets (on average) a 7/ to 8/10. It’s not perfect, but it sure is pretty, and unlike the manga, each individual character is quite memorable – Shuichi’s got that innocently sexy look going on, while Yuki is physically his opposite and yet still quite beautiful, and we can’t forget Ryu’s face-of-twenty and body-of-seventeen at a whopping thirty-one years, or how Tohma “Gin” manages to be terrifying and cute at the same time, or K’s classic tall, buff, blonde (?!?) American physique. Everyone has a completely different design in the animé, an image you can’t help but memorize instantly. And the eyes… oh, the Gravitation eyes.
"And speaking of everyone, this is probably the best thing about Gravitation in and of itself: the characters. They are stereotypes with twists, they are psychotic, they are dysfunctional and inefficient, and they’re absolutely, utterly genius. Forget the irritating doe-eyed submissive uke and horny persuasive seme molds: Shuichi, as becomes obvious throughout the show, is the one pursuing Yuki, who wants nothing to do with him. Despite being incredibly stupid and entirely lacking common sense, Shuichi is on a very emotional level with others. Oh, and he’s not “sweet” beyond his romance with Yuki and his friendships with Hiro, Ryu and Tatsuha. He’s horribly self-centered, obnoxious and a brat. But you love him because he’s so imperfect. He’s complex, he’s confused, but he’s anything but submissive (in fact he’s a hell of a lot more perverted than any uke I’ve ever seen), and despite fully earning the playful nickname “damn brat” from his lover, he’s a truly good guy. Great singer, shitty lyricist, looks good in fishnet, semi-feminine face but rather boyish body. Yuki’s just your average bishi – if you ignore the fact that he’s icy, he’s ignorant, he’s sadistic, he’s a chain smoker, he really does PMS and he’s a cheating, lying whore. He’s stone cold beautiful, though, and apparently a good writer (although, wouldn’t you know it, we never get to read any of his stuff). He’s nearly as complex as Shuichi and feels a lot more than he lets on, and it’s both heart-wrenching and entertaining to try and follow his elusive antics to the point of understanding his actual feelings for Kitazawa and Shuichi. Of course, one weakest link could bring a two-star-role show down, but the supporting cast surely goes above and beyond the standards: Seguchi Tohma, with his impossible-to-follow history in music and – gasp! – connections to both Yuki and Shuichi. Yeah, of COURSE it was only destiny that they met. He’s one hell of a guy, though. Obviously has some leftover feelings for Yuki, and even beyond them will do anything to protect him. He seems to grow against Shuichi. Fascinating character, oddly popular (my best friend adores him), can give you nightmares while simultaneously giving you a moe attack. And Hiro, the compassionate “best friend” role, except that he’s anything but in Shuichi’s shadow. He encourages his bandmate to pursue any and all of his dreams. And he’s bisexual, which is a real win because it just gives a typically shallow role more depth. The other member of Bad Luck is thousands of times more annoying than Shuichi, snobby high-schooler keyboardist Suguru (incidentally, the smartest character on the show). But he and the band’s manager-turned-producer Sakano are good for comic relief – and who’s up for some blonde English-speaking ass-kicking carrying 200 lbs of magnum? That’d be K for you. My favorite character is world-famous popstar Sakuma Ryuichi, who seems to have a couple personality complexes going on; his kawaii five-year-old maturity level transforms into that of a haughty sex god when he takes the stage, but he never stops offering innate (accidental?!) advice to Shuichi, whom he takes to immediately. You never see him without his stuffed pink bunny of a best friend, Kumagoro (dubbed “Mr. Bear” in English – wow, ugh, I know). That doesn’t even halfway cover the personalities found across the course of the series, and in only 12 episodes we get a magnificent amount of character development.
"But hey, what the hell? Isn’t this a musical show as well? But of course. Courtesy of Kotani Kinya (Shuichi’s singing voice) and the Mad Soldiers, and Dai and Rin (Ryuichi’s singing voice) from the JPop bands Iceman and later ACCESS, Gravitation has an unbelievable soundtrack. While we do hear “The Rage Beat” five too many times, fans of the 1999 OVA Gravitation: Lyrics of Love will recognize “Blind Game Again,” one of Kinya’s biggest hits of the decade, and the lyrics to the songs (Japanese and English) are pure genius. Unforgivably catchy melodies and a damned beautiful instrumental track, and an adorable Sakanoue Yosuke theme song (“Super Drive”), can all be found here. And don’t forget to pay special attention to Nittle Grasper’s one song played during the TV series, “Sleepless Beauty.” It’s undebateable musical perfection, and my (second?) favorite song of all time. Besides that, piano/synth pieces like Yuki and Shuichi’s respective themes, or the instrumental remixes of the opening and ending songs, are beautiful strands of music that soften the comedy and the drama of the show and give a melancholy, relaxing feel to the atmosphere. The ending theme, “Glaring Dream,” is one of the show’s most popular pieces, and ironically the song that Yuki found Shuichi’s lyrics to and criticized so strongly. Guess he’s not the best critic after all, eh, Yuki-san? And the musical plot fits perfectly too; although there is an over-dramatized view of the music industry, it is a competitive business, and the characters face all the real life problems of musicians in pop culture, minus the drug stereotype. Actually, I’m not sure about Ryuichi on that one. There’s competition and stress, deadlines, concerts, competition, solo tours, competition, an enormous fanbase befitting of the amazing songs, and did I mention competition? Now, no shit, even if you hate this show (which is near impossible unless you’re an ignorant die-hard homophobe), you can’t help but fall in love with the music.
"Plotwise, Shuichi loves it too, even stating that he would put it before Yuki any day. Though this is a rather spur-of-the-moment statement during one of the couple’s very frequent fights, and he later admits to its not being completely true, Shuichi is a very divided character. He’s stuck between his dream and the man he’s in love with; while the two rivers can flow smoothly for a while, when they overlap things get rough (especially when Seguchi Tohma is involved). This is, again, one of the elements that makes Gravitation one of the best: rather than a cheesy story that’s all sex and romance, it’s about a heart being pulled in two different directions, which is what makes it so much more believable, relatable, and beautiful.
"But the romance has a quiet beauty of its own. Theirs is an abusive relationship (I swear I don’t mean physically!) which involves, for the most part, Yuki trying to push Shuichi out of his heart for the sake of holding on tight to a past love, whom he says at one point Shuichi reminds him of, although I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Kitazawa and Shuichi are about polar opposites. Yuki’s crazy, so whatever. Nonetheless, they share their affectionate moments; in a world such as theirs, a hug or a caress means so much more than a kiss, although they do often both seemed to be sex-crazed, but then again, they’re men, what did you expect? This is not a hardcore animé, meaning that despite the fact it’s a romance/comedy, I think you actually see more blood than you see sex. Sure, plenty of it’s implied – especially in the manga (Spicy Marmalade: The First Letters Are S and M) – but what you see doesn’t go beyond silhouettes plummeting to the floor, or bed, or whatever because the shadows conveniently block out everything. True, the 2-episode OVA has one or two more erotic scenes, but you don’t see much. (The show is a 13+, so if you’re looking for something hardcore in about the same vein, albeit less musical, I’d recommend Junjou Romantica, which I’ve written plenty about.) If fans are really into hardcore stuff and want it applied to Shu-chan and Yuki, Murakami-sensei has published what she fondly calls Remixes and Megamixes of Gravitation. I’m stopping there; look them up on your own. (Yes, I own them all.) But it’s more the emotional dynamic that makes the romance (or apparent lack thereof) between the characters so touching. It’s flawed in every sense of the word. It’s an utterly hopeless cause that, admitting of it or not, both Yuki and Shuichi hang on to for dear life. They are passionate, violent, euphoric, forgiving, silly, sweet, dark, close enough to tragic that you begin to worry, and above all, hopelessly in love with one another. (On another note: Homophobia’s not really a problem in this show; all the people who want the two of them separated do it for their own good, regardless of gender; I actually think the leads worry about their sexual orientations more than anyone else.) This show has its share of triangles, gay and straight, but the real focus in terms of relationships is on how Yuki has to accept his feelings for Shuichi, and Shuichi is aiming for beyond a physical relationship: the public title of “lover.” This is one of the most popular couples in animé, number 3 in the top 5 animé couples cosplayed worldwide, and even those opposed to BL and yaoi often find a soft spot for Yuki and Shuichi. Of course, if you really don’t like them, there are so many other elements of this show deemed wonderful, flawless, classic, again and again, that if you don’t watch it, you’re missing out. Over-the-top humor, JPop, well-animated Asians in tight clothing… if you’re a fan of any of this, I’d recommend Gravitation again and again.
"Lastly I would like to bring up the voices. Tomokazu Seki, Kyo of Fruits Basket and Touya of Cardcaptor Sakura, is Shuichi’s seiyuu, and holy shit does he do an amazing job, jumping from a wistful, “I really love Yuki,” to a high-pitched and completely unprecedented, “A ROCK!!” It was my first time hearing him in animé and I was hooked immediately. Then, of course, Kazuhiko Inoue, my favorite seiyuu of all time, whom I rant about at least once a day for the sake of Miyagi from Junjou Romantica, plays Yuki – look for the similarities!! – and does a hauntingly beautiful job, darker than I’ve ever heard Inoue-san before. Takehito Koyasu, who dates back to Ranma ½, and is considered “the King of Seiyuu,” plays a very comical Sakano and, I might add, amazingly well. Just thought I’d give him special credit because he’s like royalty. Hideo Ishikawa plays Tatsuha, sounding nearly exactly like his portrayal of Leon in Kingdom Hearts, which is a good thing, of course. Then the madly talented Kappei Yamaguchi somehow manages to be the perfect Sakuma Ryuichi… even though he was also the perfect L in Death Note and the perfect Usopp in One Piece. How one seiyuu can portray spot-on such vastly different characters as those three, I wish I knew. All in all he probably does the second-best performance, topped only by Ryoutarou Okaiyu (K), Sugure from Fruits Basket and Shinomiya from Gakuen Heaven, and I give him this award because of how much he makes me laugh when blurting out random English phrases, even something so simple as “Eku-sukyusu mii.” Now, anyone who prefers dubs, I must warn you ahead of time, the Gravitation dub is done by RightStuf, which I will admit to never having heard of before, and is widely hated, considered to be very poor. I’ll just come out and say it: I love this dub. It amuses me to no end. I saw it first, and I can see it again and again and still love it just as much. Though the voice actors may not live up to the Japanese seiyuu, and the script doesn’t even have a fraction of the original’s quality, I thought the American actors were well selected for the characters – no born English-speaking man can speak as high as Tomokazu-san when called upon to, and I personally believe Rich McNanna made it closer than anyone else. It’s better than if a girl played Shuichi, and RightStuf was considering that, so be grateful. Although his voice is whiny and nasally, it fits the character exceedingly well. Rome Elliot may play an emotionless Yuki, but isn’t that the front Yuki puts up anyway? And the dubbed version of the one scene where Yuki cries had a very emotionally touching result. I haven’t seen a better fandub yet, so it pisses me off when the fans complain. Tatsuha’s English voice is Jason Griffith, and I think that’s about as famous as we’re getting from this dub (although I’ve heard a rumor that Deborah Rabbai, the English Mika, is hidden somewhere in the Yami no Matsuei dub). So sure, going with the dub is taking a risk, but there are a couple fans that enjoyed it, and take it from me: it’s really not as bad as they tell you it is. The Japanese songs stay in Japanese, and that’s the most important part, so who cares? (Except that you don’t want to miss Inoue-san, because he’s amazing.)
"This animé is really out on its own. It cuts and combines genres in the smoothest way possible, it has a fabulous variety of characters, and it puts down stereotyping to the maximum. Considering it was directed by the same guy who did FLCL, it’s to be expected that it’s a completely insane show. But it’s classic in the BL genre, so any shonen-ai connoisseur really has to see it, newcomer or hardcore fan. Great soundtrack, eye-friendly artwork, incredible characters, unforgettable story. So yeah, what more is there to explain without me literally forcing your eyes to the TV screen? It’s psychotic. It’s neurotic. It’s explosive. It’s abusive. It’s hilarious. It’s addictive. It’s beautiful. 'It’s… GRAVITATION.'
"And how the hell else can you put it into words?"
XD I still feel like such a dork over the dub thing. But, with sincerest apologies to otaku everywhere, I was when I wrote this, and in fact still am, a fan of dubs. It's American guys having to get gutsier than Japanese guys in terms of what they're used to saying, I guess. For straight men, they really play it out well. Again, it's just my opinion (and Kurt's).
