Loveless: Manga Review
Apr. 2nd, 2011 10:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labingiI have read through volume 7 of the boys love manga, Loveless, by Yun Kouga, and will offer a review based on what I've read. On my list of top BL stories, it's come in at number 4. In order: Mirage of Blaze, Ai no Kusabi, Winter Cicada, and this flawed but surprisingly good story.
Set in contemporary (but slightly fantasy) Japan, Loveless tells of an abused 12-year-old boy, Ritsuka, grieving for the death of his beloved older brother, Seimei. One day meets a college student, Soubi, who informs him that he is part of a society of battle games (for want of a better expression). These battles are held in pairs consisting of a "sacrifice," who feels the pain of the opponent's attack, and a "fighter," who launches attacks at the opponents. Ritsuka discovers that Seimei was also a sacrifice, and Ritsuka has inherited Seimei's fighter, Soubi. This is irregular to the point of taboo, however, since fighters are supposed to die with their sacrifices and never pair a second time. From there, the plot thickens...
Spoilers Follow
Loveless is like Berserk in this respect: it has an excellent core character dynamic, and it doesn't quite realize the potential (yet)... though Loveless surpasses Berserk. Loveless is essentially a triangle featuring Ritsuka, Soubi, and Seimei. It is a fascinating triangle: Ritsuka loved and depended on Seimei and comes to love and depend on Soubi in his stead; Soubi was devoted to Seimei and largely transfers that devotion to Ritsuka. And Seimei... well, Seimei (spoiler) is not dead, and not only that, but up to volume 7, we still don't know what his game is. He's introduced as a saint and progressively painted as a psychopath. But is he really? He might quite genuinely be a youth of many dimensions, loving yet sadistic, cold yet deeply woundable. We just don't know.
And that's the flaw. By volume 7, we should know more. Like many a manga, Loveless operates as a money maker by moving excruciatingly slowly through many rather redundant, trivial action scenes and side stories to get to the occasional bit of actual story development, thus requiring many volumes to accomplish anything. This is irritating, given that the series is ongoing and a perpetual cost in money and shelf space--if you wish to obtain in legally. /rant on the manga industry in general.
The Characters
Nonetheless, the mystery of Seimei is intriguing and fits well with the abusive household he and Ritsuka grew up in. Their father is an absentee, their mother a very sympathetically drawn psychotic, who loves her children but lacks the control to stop herself from physically and emotionally abusing them. One could hardly expect Seimei to come from that background and not be deeply disturbed. On the other hand, it makes equal sense that Ritsuka would idolize him as a protector from a more demented mother.
Ritsuka, as an abused child, is a strong and believable character. His love and loyalty for his mother, feelings of responsibility for protecting her, and desire to hide his family problems from his teacher and school friends feel very real, as does the perpetual stress he lives under, trying every day to second guess what behaviors, words, tone of voice, etc. might trigger a violent assault. Ritsuka is admirable, fiercely moral and self-sacrificing, while understandably plagued by low self-esteem and a dark, almost hopeless outlook on human endeavors. He echoes Kagetora in this, though Kagetora is a more sophisticated character. Ritsuka is torn between a need to rely on Soubi as a replacement for Seimei and strong a lack of trust in people in general. (I should note that this lack is less concerned with people's motives than with what is possible. When Soubi says things like, "I'll stay with you forever," Ritsuka doesn't so much doubt his sentiments as his physical ability to fulfill this vow.)
Soubi fills the "Naoe" position at first glance: devoted protector who lives to be the guardian-servant of his beloved. But Soubi and Naoe are actually quite different. Cardinally, Soubi has divided loyalties. His devotion to Seimei was not less than his devotion to Ritsuka, and even well into the disturbing revelations of Seimei's machinations, Soubi continues to carry out some of Seimei's orders (ex. don't share information about X) against Ritsuka's wishes. Soubi illustrates the idea that a man cannot serve two masters. He proffers absolute loyalty, but he can't give it to two people at once. Hence, his loyalties remain ambiguous.
One gathers that Soubi, too, was an abused child. (I believe this was more explicit in the anime.) In his case, he clearly harbors years of rage against his chief instructor in their battle school, a man he still has to report to and does so as minimally as possible. Meanwhile, in everyday life, Soubi is an art student, and his college life, classes, love of painting, and friend Kio are well integrated into the story.
The rest consists of various pairs in various fights, their various trainers, and various members of the everyday community, school friends, etc. Some are passingly interesting, though all in all, they get too much page time. I will say that Yuiko, the girl who has a crush on Ritsuka, is much less annoying in the manga than the anime, based almost entirely on the absence of a shrieking seiyuu.
Sex and Gender
Loveless always seems to be classified as BL, yet it's arguably not. Given its prepubescent protagonist, its leads do no more than occasionally kiss. Sex is explicitly off the table until Ritsuka is older (which at the rate the manga is being written will be never). There is a romantic overtone to Ritsuka and Soubi, but it's downplayed. The themes of family and friendship are stronger.
Loveless stands with BL, however, in the doing the social work of normalizing homosexuality. In fact, it goes beyond this. In their battle school, pairs are life partners, irrespective of age, age difference, sex, or sexual preference. Some are lovers; some are not; some may be in the future. One of the better side stories involves a lesbian pair.
Indeed, the story--and particularly its artwork--seems deeply invested in breaking down categorical divisions between types of people, including age and sexual orientation, but extending to gender as well. There is at least one little girl who dresses more like a boy and no shortage of boys/men with very feminine clothes and hair. Partly, this is a manga convention, but it goes beyond this. Cover art for the chapters (not part of the story) often shows main characters frankly cross-dressing. Even within the story, fairly masculine characters wear clothes of obviously feminine cut. There are several child characters whose gender I cannot discern. And while I have no doubt I easily could from names and pronoun use if I were Japanese, the point is taken. Gender doesn't matter much in this battle-school world. (It matters more in the everyday world, where the typical female stereotypes are alive and well in Yuiko and the teacher, Hitomi.)
The Ears
Because it has to be talked about at some point. Yes, this is the story (well, a story) in which virgins all have cat ears and tails. No, it makes no sense. There is no plausible way for this to happen. The transformation cannot be linked to any physiological change. If it were, it would not indiscriminately pertain to men and women, gay and straight sex, etc. It can't pertain to an emotional state since, I believe, it encompasses both consensual and non-consensual sex but does not seem to account for intense emotional states in which no one actually has sex.
Moreover, this is an example of poor worldbuilding. If such a condition did exist, sexual initiation would be entirely shaped around accommodating it, probably in the form of some sex ritual held for all pubescent teens. This, at any rate, seems to me the best way to minimize the horrific emotional trauma this externalization of sexual status would wreak on almost everyone from, say, age twelve upwards to however old when is one loses one's virginity. Instead, we get pretty typical contemporary Japan with cat ears. It's a cheap gimmick with no payoff, whose chief function seems to be inflicting Shadenfreude on Hitomi, the "old virgin."
The silver lining is that it's really not important to the story and after some initial gimmickery is rarely mentioned, praise be to God.
Set in contemporary (but slightly fantasy) Japan, Loveless tells of an abused 12-year-old boy, Ritsuka, grieving for the death of his beloved older brother, Seimei. One day meets a college student, Soubi, who informs him that he is part of a society of battle games (for want of a better expression). These battles are held in pairs consisting of a "sacrifice," who feels the pain of the opponent's attack, and a "fighter," who launches attacks at the opponents. Ritsuka discovers that Seimei was also a sacrifice, and Ritsuka has inherited Seimei's fighter, Soubi. This is irregular to the point of taboo, however, since fighters are supposed to die with their sacrifices and never pair a second time. From there, the plot thickens...
Spoilers Follow
Loveless is like Berserk in this respect: it has an excellent core character dynamic, and it doesn't quite realize the potential (yet)... though Loveless surpasses Berserk. Loveless is essentially a triangle featuring Ritsuka, Soubi, and Seimei. It is a fascinating triangle: Ritsuka loved and depended on Seimei and comes to love and depend on Soubi in his stead; Soubi was devoted to Seimei and largely transfers that devotion to Ritsuka. And Seimei... well, Seimei (spoiler) is not dead, and not only that, but up to volume 7, we still don't know what his game is. He's introduced as a saint and progressively painted as a psychopath. But is he really? He might quite genuinely be a youth of many dimensions, loving yet sadistic, cold yet deeply woundable. We just don't know.
And that's the flaw. By volume 7, we should know more. Like many a manga, Loveless operates as a money maker by moving excruciatingly slowly through many rather redundant, trivial action scenes and side stories to get to the occasional bit of actual story development, thus requiring many volumes to accomplish anything. This is irritating, given that the series is ongoing and a perpetual cost in money and shelf space--if you wish to obtain in legally. /rant on the manga industry in general.
The Characters
Nonetheless, the mystery of Seimei is intriguing and fits well with the abusive household he and Ritsuka grew up in. Their father is an absentee, their mother a very sympathetically drawn psychotic, who loves her children but lacks the control to stop herself from physically and emotionally abusing them. One could hardly expect Seimei to come from that background and not be deeply disturbed. On the other hand, it makes equal sense that Ritsuka would idolize him as a protector from a more demented mother.
Ritsuka, as an abused child, is a strong and believable character. His love and loyalty for his mother, feelings of responsibility for protecting her, and desire to hide his family problems from his teacher and school friends feel very real, as does the perpetual stress he lives under, trying every day to second guess what behaviors, words, tone of voice, etc. might trigger a violent assault. Ritsuka is admirable, fiercely moral and self-sacrificing, while understandably plagued by low self-esteem and a dark, almost hopeless outlook on human endeavors. He echoes Kagetora in this, though Kagetora is a more sophisticated character. Ritsuka is torn between a need to rely on Soubi as a replacement for Seimei and strong a lack of trust in people in general. (I should note that this lack is less concerned with people's motives than with what is possible. When Soubi says things like, "I'll stay with you forever," Ritsuka doesn't so much doubt his sentiments as his physical ability to fulfill this vow.)
Soubi fills the "Naoe" position at first glance: devoted protector who lives to be the guardian-servant of his beloved. But Soubi and Naoe are actually quite different. Cardinally, Soubi has divided loyalties. His devotion to Seimei was not less than his devotion to Ritsuka, and even well into the disturbing revelations of Seimei's machinations, Soubi continues to carry out some of Seimei's orders (ex. don't share information about X) against Ritsuka's wishes. Soubi illustrates the idea that a man cannot serve two masters. He proffers absolute loyalty, but he can't give it to two people at once. Hence, his loyalties remain ambiguous.
One gathers that Soubi, too, was an abused child. (I believe this was more explicit in the anime.) In his case, he clearly harbors years of rage against his chief instructor in their battle school, a man he still has to report to and does so as minimally as possible. Meanwhile, in everyday life, Soubi is an art student, and his college life, classes, love of painting, and friend Kio are well integrated into the story.
The rest consists of various pairs in various fights, their various trainers, and various members of the everyday community, school friends, etc. Some are passingly interesting, though all in all, they get too much page time. I will say that Yuiko, the girl who has a crush on Ritsuka, is much less annoying in the manga than the anime, based almost entirely on the absence of a shrieking seiyuu.
Sex and Gender
Loveless always seems to be classified as BL, yet it's arguably not. Given its prepubescent protagonist, its leads do no more than occasionally kiss. Sex is explicitly off the table until Ritsuka is older (which at the rate the manga is being written will be never). There is a romantic overtone to Ritsuka and Soubi, but it's downplayed. The themes of family and friendship are stronger.
Loveless stands with BL, however, in the doing the social work of normalizing homosexuality. In fact, it goes beyond this. In their battle school, pairs are life partners, irrespective of age, age difference, sex, or sexual preference. Some are lovers; some are not; some may be in the future. One of the better side stories involves a lesbian pair.
Indeed, the story--and particularly its artwork--seems deeply invested in breaking down categorical divisions between types of people, including age and sexual orientation, but extending to gender as well. There is at least one little girl who dresses more like a boy and no shortage of boys/men with very feminine clothes and hair. Partly, this is a manga convention, but it goes beyond this. Cover art for the chapters (not part of the story) often shows main characters frankly cross-dressing. Even within the story, fairly masculine characters wear clothes of obviously feminine cut. There are several child characters whose gender I cannot discern. And while I have no doubt I easily could from names and pronoun use if I were Japanese, the point is taken. Gender doesn't matter much in this battle-school world. (It matters more in the everyday world, where the typical female stereotypes are alive and well in Yuiko and the teacher, Hitomi.)
The Ears
Because it has to be talked about at some point. Yes, this is the story (well, a story) in which virgins all have cat ears and tails. No, it makes no sense. There is no plausible way for this to happen. The transformation cannot be linked to any physiological change. If it were, it would not indiscriminately pertain to men and women, gay and straight sex, etc. It can't pertain to an emotional state since, I believe, it encompasses both consensual and non-consensual sex but does not seem to account for intense emotional states in which no one actually has sex.
Moreover, this is an example of poor worldbuilding. If such a condition did exist, sexual initiation would be entirely shaped around accommodating it, probably in the form of some sex ritual held for all pubescent teens. This, at any rate, seems to me the best way to minimize the horrific emotional trauma this externalization of sexual status would wreak on almost everyone from, say, age twelve upwards to however old when is one loses one's virginity. Instead, we get pretty typical contemporary Japan with cat ears. It's a cheap gimmick with no payoff, whose chief function seems to be inflicting Shadenfreude on Hitomi, the "old virgin."
The silver lining is that it's really not important to the story and after some initial gimmickery is rarely mentioned, praise be to God.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-06 08:36 pm (UTC)It is always labeled BL, but doesn't seem to exactly fit into that category. I'd say it's a bit like Banana Fish and Koori no Mamono in that it deals with a close, non-sexual relationship between two male characters.
Soubi, Naoe, and Haji from Blood+ all have the same sort of quiet protector archetype going for them that I am such a sucker for.
I was torn on Hitomi - I cheered the fact that she was trying to convince other people that being single was okay, but at the same time, it sort of seemed like she was trying to convince herself, too. Since she's the only one in the series without a somewhat romantic interest, I never got the impression that it really *was* okay. I think Kouga could have done more with her plotline.
Yeah, the ears thing would definitely have more of an impact on that world than it appears to.
It has been several years since I've read it; I'm definitely looking forward to reading it with your thoughts in mind. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-04-08 05:14 am (UTC)I'm not very torn on Hitomi. I do like the theme that she shows courage in trying to help Ritsuka when none of the other adults in his life will, but in general, she seems presented as the stereotype of the insecure, overgrown kid who became a school teacher because she is a schoolgirl at heart and can't deal with the adult world. I think Kouga could have omitted her. (Isn't the otaku woman who's always on the computer single?)
no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 08:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 11:35 pm (UTC)