I'm gonna do this kinda quick cause I'm on the "phone" as it were to Korea so I feel weird writing a blog post while trying to talk. Any rate, I've been watching 2 series and I'm only 4 eps into each of them, but I love them a lot. I actually think that one of the series will become one of my favorites. There are a lot of things about it that I think are kinda poorly done, but the overall effect it has on me is almost indescribably breathtaking. I mean it. I watch it and I just have this feeling of being in this weird emotional state somewhere between happy and sad and nostalgic and loving and something else all at the same time. The series I'm talking about is Loveless. This is a shounen-Ai anime, make no mistake about it. And it focuses on this crazy weird relationship between a sixth-grader and a college guy. The sixth-grader, Ritsuka, also seems to have this crazy weird obsession with his older brother (he died really really terribly). The college guy, Soubi, is Ritsuka's brother's "friend". Which is to say that they had this crazy relationship where Ritsuka's brother, Seimei (who's other name is "Beloved" apparently), was what they call a "sacrifice" and Soubi is the "fighter". Or rather, Soubi is sort of Seimei's slave....he'll do whatever Seimei tells him. And so, when Seimei was killed by the Seven Moons (whatever that is...I don't know yet), he, as he says in his will, "left Ritsuka the fighter". This means that Soubi is now there to do this 12-year old's every bidding. Apparently Seimei also instructed Soubi that he was supposed to love Ritsuka. And love him he does. He's 19 and he definitely tells the kid he loves him multiple times. Man, I'm coming off as though this show annoyed me (see what you get for finishing your review reading with negative reviews). It doesn't. It captivates me. Soubi will do ANYTHING for Ritsuka. And Ritsuka is so full of angst. In fact he's a straight up ass-hole on most occasions. Ok, so his mom's a psycho case and his big brother who was the only one that was ever really there for him was burned to death in Ritsuka's desk in his former elementary school classroom......but he's really really angsty. And it's the classic Yaoi sort of thing where you can tell he doesn't want to love Soubi, but he does. He misses him. He thinks about him. This comes out particularly well in the dialogue when Ritsuka is staring at the phone that Soubi got him so he could call any time and Soubi comes in and says, "Staring at it won't make it ring." To which Ritsuka replies, "I don't want to call you. I don't want this thing. I don't want to think about you all the time." He's a sad kid. Oh, by the way...his other name is......"Loveless". And he does his best to shun love. Even Yuiko, the girl in school that's pretty much the bitch of the rest of the sixth-grade girls despite the fact that she's far far more well endowed than I will ever hope to be in my life, tries SO hard to get Ritsuka to open up....she loves him SO MUCH, and he's even more of an ass hole to her sometimes than anyone else. He does stick up for her though. He tries to be her friend, he just doesn't know how.

Ok....to the weird stuff. For some reason, all the characters have cat ears and a tail while they are still virgins. So, pretty much they all do cause they're sixth-graders. Even Seimei had them. Even the teacher has them. Soubi doesn't. And the only other person I've seen so far that doesn't have ears is the ambiguous to more or less gay guy who you sort of get an implication is Soubi's real boy, Kio. Who pretty much rocks. So yeah. How uncomfortable would that be in several stages of your life. Like....how would you like to be the first one in your school/class to not have ears. Or the last one to have them. OR...how would it be if after some random weekend you all of a sudden didn't have them. Or two people conveniently both didn't have them. There's no hiding this one folks. It's out there for the world. There's no, "No mom and dad, I'm not having sex." No fooling anyone there. Maybe it would make us think more about taking that first step. Conversely, maybe it would put a lot of pressure on people who are the last ones to still have them. Anyway, it's something to think about.

The particularly bad....the fighting. Yeah, there's fighting. Soubi is the "fighter" for Ritsuka. This means they actually fight. They're fighting this one couple now, but apparently those two have been switched to someone else now so they'll get someone new to fight. I have no idea WHY they're fighting them, hopefully I'll find out soon enough. Any rate, Soubi does most of the fighting...mostly with magic. It's like cheesy old rpg magic fighting though. The "battle sequences" are honestly THE WORST PART of the entire series. However, in the last one there was some boy kissing boy ness that I liked. Oh yes. Ok, getting past the fact that it's a 19 year old and a 12-year old...I like it. It makes me wonder if Ritsuka is still gonna have those ears by the end of all of this. He's 12....so I'd hope so. But I think that if he didn't I would be ok with it. Soubi really is soft and gentle and loving. Anyway, Soubi kisses Ritsuka in the battle because the fighter for the other side was winning because in order to fight there needs to be the bond of love between fighter and sacrifice. I only wish Ritsuka would get over himself and realize this for himself.

Bottom line...he needs to get with SOMEONE. Even if he is "Loveless"

So yeah. I like this series a lot. It captivates me. It's won itself a firm hold on a place in my heart after only 4 eps. It's only 12 eps long and there's supposedly a LOT of manga, so the end is pretty much really open...but I hear winds of a second season. I can only hope. At any rate, this is where my eloquence ends.....I completely don't know how to describe how this show makes me feel. All I know is I like it.

EDITS:  Mayama: "you do come off annoyed even though you like it. also in the people who don't have ears, let us not for get Ritsukas shrink, who also seems to have a crush on him. that poor little kid and all the older people wanting a piece of him. also to anyway who reads these comments...somehow Ritsuka manages to dress gayer with eachpassing episode, it's truly remarkable."

              Yukino: "So, I've now seen the whole series (and my review after 4 eps still stands the same) AND read the first two volumes of manga.  The manga goes into a few more things that the series doesn't, but so far it's following pace. The series ended really abruptly though and left more than a few things unanswered, so I'm hoping the manga will address that stuff.  Cause 13 eps was NOT enough to capture all the things that needed to be dealt with in that series.  It needed another season is what I think.  (6.28.06)

posted by Yukino @10:39 PM comments