CompleteMartialArts.com - Gravitation, Vol. 1
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List Price: $9.99
Our Price: $9.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: TokyoPop
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5952
EAN: 9781591823339
ISBN: 1591823331
Label: TokyoPop
Manufacturer: TokyoPop
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 200
Publication Date: 2003-08-05
Publisher: TokyoPop
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: 2003-08-05
Studio: TokyoPop
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Editorial Reviews:
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Shuichi Shindou is determined to be a rock star. He has no experience, no talent, and no band. After finding a charismatic guitarist and getting a gig, he's ready to show the world what a genius he is with his powerful lyrics. However, Eiri Yuki overhears his amateurish verse and puts the young musician in his place. Unable to get the harsh criticism out of his mind Shuichi forces himself into Yuki's life and the two find their futures inexorably intertwined. The force that brings them together is like gravity and there is nothing they can do to stop it.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Music and Men
Comment: This one started off losing me, then after the first two "Tracks" or chapters i was hooked. I then I'll pick up volume 2. This one so far hasn't made it into my top 5 favorites, but its progressing. i think it will get better as the story has time to go on. I think it would make a better anime because of the music aspect to it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Yuuukiii!!! Where's my Yuki?!
Comment: Like thousands of manga series, this story romantisizes stalking, only it's the uke chasing after the seme, so it HAS to be comedy, ne? & the doujinshi's made by the mangaka herself romantisize even more taboo things. But yaoi girls love & thrive on taboo! Picture Queer As Folk's Justing & Saiyuki's Goku as one person; Shuichi, & Queer as Folk's Brian & Saiyuki's Sanzo as one person; Yuki. (Yuki & Sanzo are so similar it's scary! Right down to the tragic past!) The akward thing about this series, is that it seems like a normal everyday setting, but in the latter half, you get drowned with unealistic sci-fi out of nowhere, also in the 2ed half of the saga, there's so much stuff happening at once like an addrenaline rush while the first half was slow & easy.
Customer Rating:
Summary: FULL SERIES REVIEW: Insane, delightful, funny and exciting!
Comment: I recently loaned all twelve volumes of this exceptional series (plus the two novels and "Gravitation EX Vol 1"), to a friend of mine. He had no real experience with manga. He liked these, though. Liked them enough that he bought the DVD of the series (not as good). I remember one of his first questions after reading it for a while was, "Does it always maintain this level of energy?"
"Gravitation" is a love story/comedy/drama/weird series centering around a budding pop-star Suichi (who I love so very, very much), and the object of his affection, a writer named Eri Yuki. Eri constantly rebuffs Suichi at, and here's the important part, ALMOST all turns, and Suichi keeps coming back to him.
That paragraph doesn't do any real justice to the series, though, which is, as my friend noted, incredibly energetic. It's wild, funny, enjoyable, light-hearted (most of the time), etc, etc, read the headline of my review, ad nasuem.
It's also the only series where I've seen a panda-shaped battlemech stomp through New York City and someone shoot someone else in the face as a way of waking them up.
Yeah, I know. All this sounds odd. It is. But it's also great. Strongly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Full Series Review. No Spoilers.
Comment:
GRAVITATION is the story of Shuichi Shindou, high school senior and aspiring musician, whose talent and self-worth become completely hung up on his infatuation with the mean-and-nasty romance novelist who insulted his lyrics. The plot follows Schuichi's pursuit of the novelist, his insane musical career, and the way the two affect each other; veering from side-spitting comedy to gut-wrenching drama and back again without batting an eyelash. There are dozens of characters, a confusing array of interlocking subplots, the author admits she is making it up as she goes along, and the story always seems on the verge of running completely out of control. Yet somehow it all ties together triumphantly in the final volume. Despite being extremely funny/silly/insane, it is also a story with substance, strong characters, and a meaningful payoff.
There are a few difficulties I should warn you about. Many of the characters are frustratingly hard to tell apart, and Shuichi keeps changing his darn hair, which can make it hard to find him in the mega-cast. The art often makes it hard to decipher what is going on, or who is doing what. The musical industry machinations are particularly hard to keep track off without a scorecard. MEANING that if you are so eager to find out what happens next that you barrel through the story (like I did) you will miss half the plot. So do yourself a favor and buy the books two or three at a time, and pace yourself. Or at least make note of everyone's names: The character list at the beginning of each volume just covers a few of the major players, and is completely inadequate to the task of helping you figure out what is going on. The art improves greatly as the series progresses, so re-reading Book 1 immediately after putting down Book 12 (which I did three times consecutively) requires a brief period of adjustment.
It is a series that takes a little effort, but in the long run I found this to be a part of its charm, and it is definitely worth it. The series earns its 16+ rating mostly through serious adult themes, frank (but not graphic) sexual content, violence, irresponsible use of firearms, and the potty mouths of youth.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Comment: Gravitation was the first manga series I've read and I really liked it. There were a few translation issues, such as the addition of pop-culture references and obviously American slang, but it was still worth reading. Since I don't read or speak Japanese, I'll have to stick with the English version.
Besides the obvious romance in this manga, there is actually a plot, so it's not just fluff. Not to mention this story is very funny. I've read this book more than twice and I still laugh. I liked the artwork for the most part, but I like Naoko Takeuchi's artwork more. Fortunately, this book is in right to left format, unlike Sailor Moon, where they flipped all of the drawings so that the book could be from left to right.
I've read the entire series, which is really good. However, I think it would be better if someone besides TokyoPop did the translations.
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