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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Buy | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
 Midnighter
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[series:409#94] | |
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The Gravitation OAV is an excellent character-driven anime. Sympathetic characters and strong dialogue make for an entertaining and engrossing show, even is it is frighteningly like a soap opera. Gravitation follows Shuuichi Shindou's turbulent relationship with Yuki, a famous novelist. Yuki and Shuuichi's relationship was established in the Gravitation TV series, but fear not, there is a short flashback to bring newcomers up to speed without boring those familiar with it. Yuki is a typical cold anime male, reminding the audience of how cool he is by rarely speaking and usually acting inscrutibly. Shuuichi on the other hand is manic and emotional, desperately seeking a show of affection from Yuki. The two have a chemistry that works and the viewer finds themself cheering for them. Gravitation is not specifically about a homosexual relationship, it is about two people in love. There is no moral judgement either way, it is simply a sweet tale of love in which both lovers happen to be male. This is NOT a hentai, there is almost no sexual content, and the anime is suitable for most ages (young kids probably won't get the one objectionable fetish scene), provided one is open minded about these things. Since it is about a band, one would expect strong music, and Gravitation delivers with a foot tapping soundtrack of J-Rock. From the opening theme to the "Moonlight" Ballad, the music stays consistantly catchy. It's unfortunate that the animation is very weak, especially for an OAV. Stock shots and movement cycles are used a bit too often and there is as little movement as possible in most shots, presumably because the animaters were on a budget. Character's mouths often don't match up very well when speaking and don't even come close when singing. Also, the shots of the band playing in the opening credits are reused later for the concert, a cheat that is really lame, in my opinion. Aside from poor animation, I have no complaints about the Gravitation OAV. Likeable characters carry the so-so plot and it manages to be funny, serious, and touching. Homophobes will cringe, but open-minded veiwers will find much to like about the 2 part Gravitation OAV, and it's accessible to both new comers and fans of the TV Show. NOTE: Watch past the end credits on episode 2 4-29-02 Last updated Wednesday, May 01 2002. Created Monday, April 29 2002. | ||||||||
