A Believer: Part 2

I have watched more ‘Gravitation’! Four more episodes, to be precise. In my review of the first four parts, I said it was a 16-part series. Wrong, me! It is 12.

This is good, as it means each episode is PACKED WITH DRAMA. It pure rips along at a braw pace. What sort of shite happens in parts 5-8, though? And what did I think of it all?

Read on to find out, if you can be arsed!

One thing that’s become evident is that I cannot remember the names of any of the characters other than Shuichi, the man-child singer of  ‘Bad News’ (I have no trouble remembering the band names, though).  I think perhaps this is because the characters aren’t consistent in what they call each other, using nicknames and first names and second names, so that there’s not enough repetition of them to hammer them into my thick skull.

I reckon that’s okay, though, as it’s mostly about Shuichi and how the other characters relate to him.

After the first four episodes, I didn’t like shuichi. He’s melodramatic and illogical and generally not like a human being. And when he goes into ‘chibi’ form to do ‘cute’ stuff, I think it’s supposed to be really endearing and adorable, but but but grrrargh I just want him to GROW UP.

Episodes five to eight are going some way to making him sliiightly more endearing.

There’s a scene where weak-willed rival band ‘ASK’, led by the jealous and mean ‘Mr Droopy Eyes’ (though his eyes don’t seem that droopy?) befriend Shuichi, get him drunk, then take him to a car park where hired thugs beat him up, while he takes photos. This is all part of Droopy’s evil plan to humiliate Shuichi,  which also involves threatening him by saying he’ll ruin Moody Writer Guy (Shuichi’s boyfriend)’s career by ‘outing’ their relationship to the press.

It’s a horrible scene, and while they don’t belabour the homophobice nature of the attack, it’s definitely there. I’m glad they didn’t take it further, as it was distressing enough (I think one of the good decisions of Gravitation is that hardly anyone seems to have a problem with non-hetrosexuality, other than maybe this Droopy-Eyes chump).

Anyway, Shuichi takes the beating stoically, and then goes to see his pal, the Guitarist, for help, feeling too proud to go back to Writer guy. Guitarist, being TOTALLY ACE and easily the best character, then motorbikes over to Writer’s house to tell him about it. Writer then goes and beats up the evil band with ease, except Droopy Eyes, who he just intimdates, in a fun scene where Droopy Eyes is terrified due to Writer having the ‘eyes of someone who has killed’.

This whole episode makes Shuichi seem a bit less shit, though it’s crap he has to get beaten up for this to happen (it’s a manipulative, slightly lazy tactic to get me to care). It doooes make Droopy Eyes a bit TOO evil, but I’m nursing the theory that he’s in love with Shuichi, too?

I’m still not toally sure I buy that the relationship between Writer and Shuichi should happen, as Writer treats him like total shit – he’s dismissive and rude and also has a secret fiancée.

Yes.

The secret fiancée messes things up for a while as she is understandably annoyed about the whole thing, but then she and Writer decide to go get married, after all. Bastards! See, I’m starting to care about Shuichi, now!

This leads to Shuichi dressing up as women in two different scenes, as he thinks Writer, who is marrying a woman, would like him better if he wasn’t male (as if it’s that that’s putting him off). I’m all for crossdressing in animé (or in most things), but in this instance it just makes me feel a bit sad that Shuichi should feel he has to! And I suspect it’s all just for the sake of the audience getting to go “Oh, he’s so adorable!”, again.

(this image made by made by http://crystalrobot.deviantart.com/ )

But, yeah, Fiancée sees sense, and Shuichi goes along as a bride instead, much to the priest’s confusion. Him and Writer don’t get married, but they do get back together.

BUT FOR HOW LONG?!?!? Writer, Mysterious Sad Past or no, is such a prick! And though he’s willing to stand up for Shuichi behind his back, he treats him like dirt all of the time he’s there! BAH.

Anyway, there’s a chance Guitarist and Fiancée are getting together, which is fine by me! I like that this show is all over the Kinsey scale.

Another thing I like about Gravitation is that they made the bizarre scene from an earlier episode, where Shuichi smashes himself through a wall instead of using a door, into a recurring joke. It’s stupid but I like it. More smashing of things, Shuichi!

Anyway, things get even juicier, as when the Label Head hears Droopy Eyes from ASK has been a prick, he pushes him in front of a car as a warning to stay away from Shuichi. He doesn’t get hit by the car, but it does serve to scare the shit out of him, and makes things get even more intense! Does Label Head also fancy Shuichi?!?

Incidentally, Label Head is either from or pals with (can’t remember!) the bafflingly/amazingly-named band ‘Nittle Grasper’, who were a big deal, but split up when their singer went solo. Their singer is Shuichi’s main inspiration, and is like him TIMES TEN, and as such is an awful, awful character. If Shuichi is a man-child, this guy is a man-infant. He’s horrible. But he is helping Shuichi’s band do well, and making him feel good about himself, so that’s nice!

A better Nittle Grasper-related person is Promoter Guy (see title image) who is free and easy with threatening people in both the studio and the ‘real’ world with his pistol in a jolly way, which is always played for laughs, but is actually rather sinister what with the whole Phil Spector thing. He is also helping Bad News succeed, just as he did with Nittle Grasper.

Nittle Grasper.

At the end of these 4 episodes, Nittle Grasper reform. Will they now be Bad News’s main rivals? ASK seem pretty much buried, so who knows what new depths Droopy Eyes will stoop to? Or will there be redemption? I do not know!

Only four episodes to go, and I expect them to be EMOTIONAL.

Hmmm. Haven’t shoehorned in any music I like, this time. Maybe we’ll end with gnarly queer-friendly alt-rockers, Imperial Teen, with their bestest video?