Gravitation is a long shounen ai series with plenty of humor, gags and cute boys. The protagonist, Shuiichi Shindo, is not your regular 19 year old. He's the lead vocalist and songwriter of a band called Bad Luck that he and his best friend Hiroshi Nakano (cutie!) founded.
The story starts at the beginning of their career, when Shuiichi is walking home one night, fretting over the lyrics to a love song he wrote. Suddenly, the page of lyrics flys out of his hand and is picked up a by a mysterious man who stops and reads it. Cooly, with cigarette in hand, he then proceeds to tell Shuiichi, "Give it up. You have zero ability." And he walks off.
Poor Shuiichi just had his first encounter with Yuki Eiri, the most popular novel writer in Japan (though Shu-chan didn't know that at the time). Yuki is a cool, collected, gorgeous chain-smoking blond (I was in love with this chara from the beginning!) I am also of the opinion after seeing the manga and the TV series that he rather reminds me of Masayoshi from K. Kodaka's Kusatta Kyoushi no Houteishiki. Why you ask? Because like Masayoshi, Yuki, with his long eye lashes and pretty, pretty face, does what very few characters can in the world of canon yaoi characters, which is straddle the fence of 'seme' and 'uke'. Underlying vulnerabilities and pain make him sensitive enough I think to seem uke-ish. Of course, unlike we find out in KKH with Masayoshi, it would never be instigated by him, or probably even consensual. (So go and see Gravitation Remix #5!) Also see the 1st and 4th pics below. Isn't he pretty?
Anyway, back to the story. Shuiichi, hurt by such mean words coming from a total stranger, cannot concentrate until he can find this mystery man. He does and eventually realizes who this man really is. By this time Shuiichi is exchanging obsession with finding him for attraction to him, despite Yuki's consistantly cold and sometimes downright rude temperment.
But you guessed it, they become a couple, though Yuki rarely sheds his cool exterior (which is there for a reason- he's got some major issues) and is pretty mean to Shuiichi most of the time, while still consenting to a relationship with him. The drama centers mostly around those two usually because Shuiichi just doesn't work well when Yuki is being cold to him. But it's not a 'mean' cold per say; I think Yuki handles the sometimes hyper-active Shuiichi rather well.
Note: The anime and manga are somewhat tame, but Murakami-sensei does the good stuff in her Gravitation doujinshi, the Remixes. In these she seems to enjoy switching everyone around with different partners (sometimes multiples!) My faves are K x Hiro- (#7 and #11), and #5, where Yuki is uke to his brother, Tatsuha! Muahaha. For the pairings in each doujinshi, see below.
Sorry, there are no ISBNs available for the Remixes, but as Murakami-sensei is hugely popular, I don't see anyone having a hard time locating them. See the where to buy page for more info.
Note: Both manga and anime have been released commercially translated. Find it at Amazon.com - Gravitation (manga) and Gravitation (anime).
Mangaka: Murakami Maki
ISBN:
Volume 1: 4-7897-8023-6
Volume 2: 4-7897-8036-8
Volume 3: 4-7897-8044-9
Volume 4: 4-7897-8050-3
Volume 5: 4-7897-8059-7
Volume 6: 4-7897-8072-4
Volume 7: 4-7897-8088-0
Volume 8: 4-7897-8106-2
Volume 9: 4-7897-8218-2
Volume 10: 4-7897-8278-6
Volume 11: 4-7897-8322-7
Pairings for the Remixes (semexuke):
1: Yuki x Shuiichi
2: Tatsuha x Ryuichi
3: Yuki and Tatsuha x Shuiichi
4: Hiro x Shuichi; Yuki x Shuichi
5: Tatsuha x Yuki
6: Tatsuha x Ryuichi
7: K x Hiro; Yuuzi x Hiro
8: Yuki x Shuichi + Hiro, Yuuzi, K
9: Ma-kun x Taki (ASK band members)
10: Ma-kun x Taki (ASK band members)
11: K x Hiro; Yuuzi x Hiro
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Gravitation images (open in a new window):
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