Gravitation DVD 1: Fateful First Encounter

Rating:
Summary: This is a MUST SEE in my book.
Review: I've read the first 4 volumes of the Gravitation manga. And loved everyone of them. And when I found out that there was a anime version of Gravitation I was happy and hoped that it would be released in the US. So when I heard that it was coming out here in June 04 by RightStuf International, I was beside myself. Enough rambling.
Don't worry the anime version of Gravitation isn't like other anime that doesn't follow the same script as the manga. So you know be like the HELL is going on!?! I think it starts after the first 2 manga volumes. It's a GREAT manga and it'll be a even BETTER anime so if you enjoy the manga don't miss the anime cause I've already pre-ordered the first 3 volumes. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as it could have been
Review: It was okay. I give it 3 stars.

The voices were horrible. When you read the manga, you imagine Shuichi havnig a cute little childish voice to match is personality. His voice was no where near that. It was....... creepy.....

Yuki's voice took some getting used to. But in the end it's okay.

The animation is wonderful. The music is Incredible.

I highly recommend buying this if you're a fan of the manga, just don't expect to much from it

Rating:
Summary: Imperfect, but enjoyable
Review: Since the western anime companies have finally woken up to the fact that shonen-ai and yaoi has one of the fastest growing fanbases of an anime genre, shonen-ai, ("boys love") series are now making their way into the US to welcome cheers. But how does this musical romcom drama hold up?

Well the story is simple enough - a sensitive pink-haired boy is set on taking his techno band to the top of the charts, but his inspiration for lyrics is lacking. One night he has a chance encounter with an enigmatic blonde-haired man, and, of course, everything changes.... for the better...?

The series enjoys swinging from pure comedy to pure angst in nanoseconds, and the main character Shuuichi reflects this. In the manga he goes through long periods of total euphoria and then total depression depending on his current life situation, but due to the compressed nature of the series (about 13 episodes or so) Shuuchi switches from happy to sad at least twice per scene, making him come accross as a kind of overly-sensistive drug addict. But he is also a very caring young man, and his selfless adoration for the apple-of-his-eye Yuki is sometimes very touching. But Yuki also suffers from the anime's short life span. In the manga he is a model lover to Shuuichi for a few weeks, then something will trigger a change and he'll be cold. But in the anime he, like Shuuichi, simply jumps from one to the other, making him seem... well... just plain cruel. These jumps from A to Z then back to A again are both absorbing and off-puting at the same time, but Gravitaion does manage to replicate the manga's general feel. You will always be interested in where both Shuuichi's singing carreer and his love life will go next, and needlessly to say, they go to some rather unpleasant spots, but in the simple beauty of Gravitation, Shuuichi's good-nature sees him through time and time again. But the constantly flowing storyline is never choppy and leaves you eager for the next episode.

Animation-wise the art is very colourful, and the character designs don't differ much from the manga, but sometimes the characters in close-ups are off-model and this can be distracting.

The voice acting on the japanese track is of the usual high quality. Several very famous japanese voice actors (Yamaguchi K. from Ranma1/2 is excellent as the schizophrenic Ryuuichi, and Tomokazu S. from Fushigi Yuugi is suitably childish as Shuuichi) were employed for the main parts and the characters emotions are conveyed well, but the dub is a mixed bag. The actors simply put on the wrong voices, mispronounced every japanese word they were given and hammed up even the most serious dialouge, for your own safety stick to the subtitled japanese track.

The best aspect of Gravitaion is the music, which consists mostly of Shuuchi and Ryuuichi's bands' songs. It is fun, fast paced and a has a kind of basic, pop-techno feel that will stick in your head (Super Drive certainly will).

Gravitation is definately worth it if you like stories about young men falling in love, or if your a fan of j-pop, but the occasional flaws mean its unlikely to be an anime that will stand the test of time.

Advantages - Good animation for a TV show
- Fun soundtrack
- Larger-than-life characters

Disadvantages - Inconsistent moods may leave audience feeling disorientated
- Hideous english dub
- Homosexual themes mean this series will not appeal to everyone



Rating:
Summary: AWSOME ANIME
Review: WOW. I've been watching romantic anime for a while, but this one takes the cake. It's beautiful and sweet, while still retaining the obvious fact that these two guys are just that... guys who fall in love. Each character has a unique personality; you could get addicted to it even if it didn't have the main story line of Suichi and Yuki falling in love. And Bishi heaven? *Sighs at the thought of Yuki, Suichi, Tohma, Ryu, and Hiro*. Yeah, if you're a bishi fan, you're in for a real treat. And actual plot on top of that -- I have no idea what's going to happen next in the series, but I can't wait to find out!! Though only three episodes on this disk, it's well worth your money!!

Rating:
Summary: Great Anime! Bad English Dub
Review: Yes I put bad english dub in the title because well, it is. I just think they picked the worst voices they could. Eiri should have a deep voice, not like somethings stuck in it, and Shuichi shold at least sound under 20 years old. Watch this dvd in Japanese..heh. On to the dvd!

Gravitation is about a gay relationship between a foolish boy and a rich writer. I waited for this anime and was so excited. The animation is kind of bad but, it's worth it. The foolish boy is part of a band named Bad Luck and he has to decide in the story between love or fame. The oufits are so colorful and the music is amazing. If you havn't gotten a soundtrack of Gravitation, please do.

Recommended to anyone who loves music and this kind of romance. Of course it won't be for everyone but, at least give it a try. :)

Rating:
Summary: Not worth it.
Review: [...]

First off, before I have lynch mobs of Gravi fans out for my blood, let me say that I am a HUGE fan. I love this series to death, currently own all 4 DVDs, all 9 volumes of the manga released in English at the time of writing this review, and other obsessed fandom items including, but not limited to 2 pins, a deck of Gravitation cards, nearly all the songs in the entire series, commissioned fanart, my own Gravi fanfic (not so bad), a pink Shuichi-wig, various Kumagorou-lookalike plushies, and a general 24/7 rabid obsession.

I loved Seki Tomokazu (Shuichi's japanese voice actor) so much that I looked into his works and discovered Weiss Kreuz (brought over as 'Knight Hunters'). I became obsessed with Weiss music and am still currently obsessed.

Now that I've sufficiently proved that I'm a faithful Gravi obsessee and have shown how much I love Gravi and adore Maki Murakami for bringing this series to life, I hope I can give my opinions on the english release of the DVDs (a.k.a. the dubbed version) without murderous e-mails flooding in.

It was terrible.

The english release was absolutely terrible. I can hardly bear watching a whole episode through in english after the first agonizing time that I sat through the series. If I had actually caught the early screening for it at an anime convention I went to a few months back (held a few days before the first DVD was released to the public) I almost doubt I would have bought it. I keep asking myself what went wrong.

The Japanese version of the Gravitation anime had an all-star cast. Kappei Yamaguchi (voice actor of mega-fads Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2), Ai Orikasa, Seki Tomokazu, just to name a few. Yamaguchi-san is NOT overrated. He is, really, a genious voice actor. You'd never guess he provides the voice for the grumpy half-demon Inuyasha and hyperactive Ryuichi Sakuma. I have to admit that Ai Orikasa was wonderful as Seguchi Tohma (I sometimes hold a very immature grudge against female voice actors of male characters) and Tomokazu-san captured all the whining of Shuichi just as I imagined them while reading the manga.

But the english dub ruined it. Of course, the transition was difficult. I didn't believe that Gravitation, being a flaming homosexual rampant series would be brought over at all. The cultural differences are extreme. Maybe that was the excuse for the terrible voice actors it got?

Anyway, on to the actual review of this DVD. If you've already seen the Japanese version, there's no reason to buy it. I do not
download anime, therefore I paid upwards of $90 for all of it. The english version, in my opinion, wasn't worth a dime of that. The anime of Gravi is nowhere near as beautiful as the manga. Once in a while it tips towards scary, such as when Yuki looks almost cross-eyed during the pivotal scene when he and Shuichi first meet. But the overall animation quality is passable. The bonus features were okay at best. Nothing to rant about but the sketches were interesting and, a redeeming feature of the DVD, it kept all the Japanese music. I shudder to think of the disaster new music would have been for this series. They kept Kotani Kinya, Seki Tomokazu, Kappei Yamaguchi, and Iceman for Shuichi and Ryuichi, which made me insanely happy.

This box thing makes me laugh out loud. This DVD costs about 20-25 dollars normally. You're essentially paying 10 dollars for a colorful box decorated with pictures that you'd see anyway on the DVD. My tip: take a screenshot, print it out. It's a lot cheaper and basically the same thing. Go buy yourself a volume of manga with that 10 bucks you saved from spending on a BOX.My advice: Don't buy unless you've got some insane desire to listen to english dub that ruins the series compared to the original japanese voice acting. Of course, now that the series is licensed by RightStuf, downloading it is illegal and therefore the only way you can get it is by buying this, so I suppose, go ahead.

Three stars, 2.5 for the Japanese version that greatly redeems it, plus an extra .5 for great music (one of the best anime soundtracks there is, if you like upbeat techno-ish dance music) and actually existant bonus features. The cultural notes are interesting. I would have missed the Shibuya poke if it weren't for those, although the translation of Kumagorou as 'Mr. Bear' was, to say the least, annoying. Since when is it acceptable to translate proper nouns? Why not just call Yuki 'Snow'?