Gravitation (manga)
A manga about music, love, and ambition.
Gravitation is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Maki Murakami. It follows aspiring singer Shuichi Shindo and his band Bad Luck as they strive for musical success, while Shuichi pursues the affections of romance novelist Eiri Yuki. The series was adapted into a two-episode OVA and a thirteen-episode anime television series.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Boys' love, comedy
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The story centers on Shuichi Shindou, an aspiring singer, and his band Bad Luck, which includes his best friend Hiroshi Nakano on guitar. Shuichi dreams of becoming a major star like Ryuichi Sakuma, the former lead singer of the disbanded group Nittle Grasper. One night, his song lyrics are blown away and picked up by a tall, blond-haired stranger who dismisses them as garbage. Despite his anger, Shuichi becomes fascinated by the man, who is later revealed to be famous romance novelist Eiri Yuki. After volume 12, Shuichi and Eiri agree to temporarily care for Riku, the son of Yuki Kitazawa. Shuichi has a brief affair with Ryuichi Sakuma, who declares he has always loved Shuichi. Eiri suffers a car accident causing temporary blindness, and Reiji announces she is making a film about their experiences.
Development
The Gravitation manga was preceded by a dōjinshi series titled Help! with a similar storyline but different character roles. Murakami traveled to New York to research a storyline where the characters visit the city. She created dōjinshi based on Gravitation, describing them as hard-core adult material, with Remix being softcore and Megamix much more hardcore. These dōjinshi explore tensions between characters and deviate heavily from the manga storyline. A thirteen-volume dōjinshi series called Gravitation Remix was published under the group Crocodile Ave. Tokyopop has not licensed the Remix dōjinshi due to concerns about the depiction of some characters being too young and themes of incest. Murakami also created four highly sexually explicit Megamix dōjinshi, including Panda, which contains shota content.
Media
The manga was serialized in Gentosha's Kimi to Boku from 1996 to 2002. Sony Magazines released eleven tankōbon volumes from March 7, 1996, to December 25, 2000. Gentosha republished the series starting April 24, 2002, concluding with the twelfth volume on August 24, 2002. A Special Edition was released by Gentosha between April 25 and September 22, 2006. Tokyopop published the twelve English-language volumes from August 5, 2003 to July 12, 2005, and later released six compilation volumes in 2009–10. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the series in October 2023 and released omnibus volumes. A sequel, Gravitation EX., was serialized in Web Comic Genzo and later in Web Spica. A two-part OVA adaptation was released on July 23, 1999, and September 22, 1999, with opening theme Blind Game Again and ending theme Smashing Blue. Nozomi Entertainment released the OVA on DVD in 2005 as Gravitation: Lyrics of Love.
Reception
Between 2003 and 2007, nearly half a million copies of the Gravitation manga were sold in North America, and in 2005 it ranked as BookScan's top boys' love title. According to Rachel Woods, even a tame shōnen-ai story depends on sexual hints and visual codes. She points to a kissing scene in Gravitation where fragmented panels and Yuki's "wandering hand" create suggestive, imagination-fueling imagery.
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