Gravitation

Reviewed By:   Carla Land

DVD The Right Stuff Entertainment

Review based on Disk 1 (first three episodes)

What it’s (basically) all about: Shuichi has started a band, Bad Luck, and they are starting to go places- they’re opening for a huge concert and even have a record deal. Unfortunately, he has started to fall in love with an older man named Yugi, and his concentration is pretty much shot, which causes all sorts of fiascos. He gets mad at the head of the company for making changes to the band, gets in fights with his best friend in the band, and loses all confidence when Yugi tells him that his new just-about-to-be-recorded song is the worst thing he’s ever read. Will Suigi and his band ever make it?

Nitty Gritty: Shuichi is a young man (about 19 or so) with odd fashion sense, but he’s a pretty clean cut kid and doesn’t use any bad language. Even though he and his band mate, Hiro, are the same age, Hiro seems much older than Shuichi. In short, he’s made to be rather effeminate.

Language in the series is pretty mild. Hiro suggests that Shuichi get laid once or twice. Yugi refers to Shuichi as a “damn brat” most of the time, but for the most part there isn’t a lot of foul language. The Shuichi-Yugi relationship starts off more as a kid trying to prove to the older guy that he isn’t a loser, but by the end of the disk Shuichi is in love and they’re having sex (at least, it’s implied that they are. They kiss, you see them fall to the ground, the next morning Shuichi is giddy.) Hiro is apparently in love with Shuichi as well, making for an interesting love triangle.

Yugi is about 22 years old, but the way he is written gives the impression that he’s much older. He’s a romance writer with a cynical outlook on love, and he drinks and smokes in many of his appearances. There’s also a subplot where we learn his sister is married to the record company owner that Bad Luck has signed with, but it’s only introduced and not heavily developed yet.

A really interesting animation technique of splicing some live action shots into the anime is used occasionally, and the animation itself is pretty good, as is the voice work. The music (the show is about a rock band, after all) isn’t at all bad. It’s pretty pop based, but catchy.

Special features include a music video with scenes cut from the show, line notes that discuss some aspect of Japanese culture that may not be familiar to Americans, and a “meet the band” bio on the main characters. There are some previews as well, and with the exception of one (“Boggiepop Phantom” gets really gory) they are okay for all ages.

Survey says: If your patron base is squeamish on homosexuality, I’d pass on this one in YA areas. Even though it’s hyped as a show about a rock band trying to make it, it’s really about a young man falling in love with another young man. It’s fine for young adult collections, but some parents are likely to complain, so it may be better off in the adult collection.

Personal Ad: No fear of scantily clad women in this one, but I thought  the “band trying to make it” plot and the “two boys in love” plot didn’t mesh well together. They were both competing for top spot, and neither one was as developed as well as it could have been, which made me lose interest quickly. And, again, there were only three episodes on the disk. I hate that.