Gravitation
Japanese Title: Gravitation
English Title: Gravitation
Length: 13 episodes
AniDB Listing: Link
AnimeNewsNetwork: Link
Production Studio: Studio DEEN
MEYDAY Rating: Poor-completed
Sexual Rating: T for kissing
Violence Rating: T for Shuichi getting beat up repeatedly
Genre(s): Idol
Setting(s): High school?
Theme(s): Boys-love
Target Audience: Jyosei?
Production Vintage: 2000
First Viewed Vintage: November 2004
Number of Rewatches: 0
Review:
I've yet to present a yaoi panel without some 16-year-old fan dressed up as a Bleach/Naruto character asking me how I feel about Gravitation. I'll be surprised if I ever do (unless I become famous someday and my feelings on Gravitation become common knowledge or something).
Here are my feelings on Gravitation:
1. It's a horrible portrayal of relationships. Yuki is constantly abusive, verbally and physically, with Shuichi, Shuichi is selfish and clingy and annoying, any sex they might have all happens in Shuichi's mind and ends badly for him ... this is the kind of relationship where Social Services needs to step in and save the two individuals involved from each other and themselves.
2. It's a horrible portrayal of men. Shuichi's not a man, he's a weird stereotype of a high school ditz with a penis stapled onto him somewhere (we assume). Yuki's not much of a man either, he's a walking angst stereotype with a deep voice and a big question-mark between his legs (is he a man or is he just a bad aura?).
3. It's a horrible portrayal of homosexuality, mostly because it's the first yaoi a lot of folks are exposed to, which in many cases can be the first portrayal of homosexuality they've seen on a TV show, and if that's what you think homosexuality is about, then you think homosexuality equals domestic abuse and brainlessness.
4. The plot is stupid, contrived, and flimsy. Really, who gives a fuck about some idol who can't hold still for more than ten seconds? An author who can't stand being around others? Their absolute failure to have any kind of decent relationship despite the support of those around them?
5. The music. If you like Jpop, good for you. I can't stand Jpop, mostly, and let me tell you - Jpop alone does not make for a good series. It, in fact, can make your ears bleed.
In short, no I didn't like Gravitation. You could make it about a heterosexual couple or a yuri couple and it would still completely suck. You could make the characters a little bit nicer, calmer, and, uh, more realistic and it would compensate for the over-use of Jpop. You could do away with every single one of Shuichi's goddamn ridiculous costumes and it would cause fewer migraines.
Or! You could take out all of the serious elements and make it a stupid fanservice series a la Maria+Holic and it ... might actually be pretty funny in that watched-it-once-and-giggled kind of way.
But as it is? Gravitation just plain sucks.
List of all series I've watched can be found here.