Gravitation: Volume 2 (DVD)

Introduction

It's time for another helping of 'shonen-ai', which translates as boy love. No wait, come back, Gravitation isn't as niche as all that, and there is more to it than the relationship travails of two boys pretty enough to break teenage girls' hearts. We have the cutthroat music business to contend with, and the problems of two cute guys don't amount to a hill of beans when there are recording contracts on the line.

Gravitation indeed takes place in the cutthroat music industry, with unlikely romance blossoming for Shuichi Shindo, lead singer of up and coming pop band Bad Luck. They were lined up as the support act for ASK who are aiming the big time. With just a few days until the gig, Shuichi had writer's block and lyrics weren't flowing. Walking home one night through the park, the wind caught his half formed verse and blew the sheet towards Eiri Yuki, an established romance novelist, who took one look at them and dismissed them as crass and worthless, written by a talentless hack. The confrontation pushed Shuichi into completing his song to prove Yuki wrong, but he was motivated by more than just anger. Romance blossomed between the two, but it's a rocky road they follow.

The next four episodes of this thirteen episode series are presented by MVM on this disc, Stars On The Rise.



5. Winding Road
Things are getting complicated, and Shuichi isn't giving his all in the rehearsal room. It takes the announcement of their first headline gig to perk him back up, but it's a temporary thing. Later, as he's confiding his concerns to bandmate Hiro, they see a damsel in distress in the park and rush to the rescue. Ayaka Usami is grateful enough to perk Hiro up, but the Kyoto native is visiting to find a certain someone. Shuichi isn't expecting that someone to be Yuki. It turns out that Yuki and Ayaka are engaged, and Shuichi is shown the door. It spurs him to make a 'statement', but it could be something that he'll come to regret.

6. Shady Scheme
Things seem to be getting back to normal, but it may just be the calm before the storm. Yuki's sister Mika shows up, and takes Shuichi to one side to have a quiet word. She's impressed that they've managed to make it work for the past month, but she warns Shuichi of Yuki's dark side, the side that distrusts and keeps him isolated from people. Meanwhile ASK's lead singer Aizawa is stressed at the press coverage that Bad Luck is getting. With scandal about to break, Yuki throws Shuichi out, and Aizawa seems an unlikely shoulder for Shuichi to cry on. It's bound to be a trap. Don't do it Shuichi!



7. Ground Zero
With what happened previously, Shuichi is on the verge of quitting Bad Luck, but this was the situation that Yuki wanted to avoid in the first place. Now he's p***ed and he's looking for Aizawa. It may seem like a positive outcome, but Yuki's intent on leaving Shuichi, and even accepts Ayaka's proposal. Shuichi will have to pin him down and finally get the truth out of him. Yuki's past is darker than he could possibly have imagined.

8. Song and Song
Aizawa's rivalry with Shuichi crosses the line, and when MD Seguchi steps in, suddenly NG are down a band in their roster. Not for long though, as Seguchi, and Ryuichi Sakuma announce they are reforming Nittle Grasper along with keyboardist Nori. While Shuichi's personal life may be on the up, with Yuki finally opening up to him, professionally he's in trouble. Nittle Grasper and Ryuichi Sakuma have long been his heroes, his inspiration. Now he's booked to do a TV show with them in what amounts to a battle of the bands. What will the rivalry with his hero do for Shuichi's confidence?

Picture

I wasn't expecting too much from an animation that's pushing its first decade, other than the clean and crisp 4:3 transfer that we get here. The character designs are impressive and backgrounds are detailed at times. There is also some excellent use of CG animation techniques, with large spaces like auditoria looking solid and consistent. But consistency isn't the show's strong suit, and while some moments are animated well, others are distinctly lacklustre, and in some instances the character animations look degraded. There is also a lot of re-use of footage, especially Bad Luck's first concert which gets yet another play in episode 5, and in 8. It's a sign of a dangerously low budget and doesn't reflect well on the story.

It turn out that live-action moment of artfulness was confined to the opening sequence of the first episode only. The rest of the episodes are wholly mundane in appearance.

Sound

You have a choice of DD 2.0 Stereo English and Japanese along with translated subtitles and a signs only track. For the first time in quite a while I feel that the English dub just doesn't cut it. Normally it's just an aesthetic preference with me, but what little I experienced of the English dub here sounded artificial and forced, as opposed to the natural performance of the Japanese dialogue. It should be noted that the songs in the English dub are the original Japanese songs, not new songs created for the dub as some anime are prone to do. It's a good thing too, as music is key to Gravitation's storyline, and is a large part of the overall experience. The opening theme is straight from the eighties, and it put me in mind of shows like Knight Rider and Street Hawk, with a fast electrobeat. The show has a varied soundtrack though, with plenty of toe tapping opportunities, and temptations to look up the soundtrack CD.

Extras

It's your typical anime offering here, with an Art Gallery of 10 line art images to scan through, the clean opening credits, and further trailers for Black Lagoon and Love Hina Again. The subtitles with the credit sequences simultaneously provide an English translation, as well as the Romanji lyrics if you feel in the mood for a little karaoke.

Conclusion

Reviewing the previous volume, I made a facetious comment about Yuki and Shuichi's relationship to be akin to a puppy and his master. It turns out to be more prophetic than facetious, as in these episodes, with one of his 'cute' transformations, Shuichi dons a dog suit, and whimpers for Yuki's attention, begging to have his tummy scratched, wagging his tail when he gets excited. I'm still not in the target demographic, and I'm about as emotionally involved in the central relationship as Irish Cheddar. I couldn't care less if Shuichi and Yuki work out their issues, in fact I find Shuichi to be wholly annoying, a puppy that strongly needs the attentions of Barbara Woodhouse. Yet surprisingly I enjoyed this second volume of Gravitation, even more so than the first.



Yuki and Shuichi are still an unrealistic pairing, a relationship more for young teenage girls to gush over than it is for any genuine social relevance. Fortunately there is much more to Gravitation than just the romance. The ins and outs of the music biz get an airing here, and the politicking, rivalry and competition makes up a good portion of the story. There is a hint of the potential ramifications of Shuichi's relationship with Yuki, as Bad Luck's rivalry with ASK gets out of hand. Aizawa can't stand the sudden success that Shuichi has garnered, and is willing to do anything to bring him down. When he hears of Shuichi's relationship with Yuki, he pounces on the chance to use the potential scandal. But Gravitation chooses yet again not to tread down that road. Aizawa's hatred of Shuichi is personal, not motivated by his lifestyle choice, and he's just making use of some convenient salacious gossip. For Yuki and Shuichi, it turns out that they have more immediate problems than a potential scandal, while when it comes down to Shuichi's fans, it turns out that they don't care. Gravitation is still set in an idealistic fairy-tale world.



Just when it looks like ASK are out of the picture, it turns out that Nittle Grasper are reforming, putting even more pressure on Shuichi, now that he has his idol for a rival. I think what's charming about Gravitation is the combination of slapstick comedy and high melodrama. It flips from serious to comic at the drop of a hat and has a great deal of fun in the process. I love how Shuichi and Ryuichi are practically identical, sharing the same mannerisms and attitude, yet both are totally oblivious while it's blatantly evident to everyone else. And I must admit seeing Shuichi act absolutely goofy around Yuki offers a couple of smiles, if only for the inevitable moment that Yuki will slap him down. Gravitation is fun, different, but fun, and you won't lose anything by giving it a spin.