Gravitation EX

I absolutely loved Gravitation. It was, and probably still is, one of my all-time favorite series, and I adore it immensely. However, I found myself quite disappointed with this long-awaited sequel...

(I apologize in advance for the messiness of this review. I wrote it several years ago right after the release of Gravitation EX. Since Gravitation holds a special place in my heart, this review is more emotional and subjective than I'd like. I might rewrite it someday.)

ART - Maki Murakami's style has changed dramatically again. The change was already significant by the end of the first series—you wouldn't believe she drew both volume 1 and 12 if you just compared the art (heck, even comparing the story at those points would be shocking). But I still liked her style at the end of the series; it had evolved nicely, and everyone looked hot. Now, her style seems incredibly cliché shoujo, with very round heads and huge eyes. The proportions of people seem off—especially for Shuichi, Ryuichi, and Tohma—they look really weird. Many characters do; only Eiri hasn't changed much. It's inconsistent and really annoys me. Some panels also seem rushed—one shot of Tohma looks like bad fanart. :/ The only plus side I found was that the new character, Riku, looks good. Also, she redesigned Tatsuha—he now looks like Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist anime, which isn't bad but feels random.

STORY - Gravi's story got more ridiculous as it progressed, with absurd elements like giant panda mechs and nuclear attacks inserted for humor. Those were awesome and hilarious, but the core story remained intact, making everything okay. What I liked most about Gravi was its dual focus on the music industry and relationships, setting it apart from generic shounen-ai titles. My biggest gripe about Gravitation Ex? It completely removed the music industry aspect. It's all about Shuichi and Eiri now. One-sided romance without any other story or subplot to give you something else to focus on. Hiro, Fujisaki, and Sakano had disappointingly little screen time and were only there for useless commentary. Very disappointing.

The main plot of Gravitation Ex wasn't horrible, I guess. It had some decent themes, but Murakami's execution was poor. There were gags and otaku jokes, but they felt misplaced and random. Many things didn't fit well.

CHARACTERS - Ryuichi was my favorite character in Gravitation—he was awesome, hilarious, and random. He turned into the most horribly OOC character ever. It felt like bad fanfiction. Even Tohma was pretty OOC, despite his established paranoia. Their new personalities clashed horribly with Gravitation's ending. Did Murakami forget Tohma's scene with Mika in the hospital? What happened to Mika and their kid? No time jump between Gravitation and Gravitation Ex, so why are they so different? It's like she forgot how she made her own characters.

Ryuichi and Tohma aside, Shuichi and Eiri remained mostly unchanged, which is good. But because the aforementioned two were so off, their interactions felt messed up, contributing to the oddity. K and Reiji seemed like stereotyped versions of their old selves, sad because they had more personality before. They contributed little beyond trying to kill each other. Tatsuha was the same, but his relationship with Ryuichi felt off due to Ryuichi's changes. I didn't like the suddenly blatant SM overtones either. Murakami forgot how to censor herself. This isn't a REMIX doujinshi! Yoshiki was pretty much the same, which is awesome. I liked the scene where s/he explains why Shuichi has to watch Riku. xD I also liked Riku. He's a nifty kid. Those are probably the only positive things I have to say about characters... ugh.

OTHER - I liked how TOKYOPOP handled translations previously. They were fun and entertaining, fitting well overall. They added colloquialisms and casual wording, making it good. The only mishaps were early volumes' name translations, like Toma for Tohma and NRG for NG, which they fixed later. For some reason, they've taken a step back. Now, Tohma is Touma, annoying because they stuck with the other spelling for ten volumes. The accepted spelling changed now? Also, many things seemed rushed. The lettering work was inconsistent—the sizes varied a lot. Smaller bubbles crammed with text suggest they tried to cram too much. There's a line between clever translations and just making stuff up. Rereading the first chapter online, much dialogue differs from that version. Some differences favor the GENZO version, others the official TOKYOPOP version. It just didn't seem up to par with the original series.

OVERALL - I'm not impressed at all. I almost regret buying the book quickly. After a while, you love a series unconditionally and expect everything to be good. A rather stupid thing considering awful sequels (*coughGundamSEEDDestinycough*) and authors disappointing at the last minute (*coughFullmetalAlchemistanimecough*). Murakami joked she plans to continue Gravitation indefinitely. Presumably, she doesn't have a set course and will run with it because it's popular. Although disappointed with this sequel, I won't write it off yet. I did laugh here and there, which I liked about the original.

But I'll definitely read the next volume at the store before blindly purchasing it. ._.

The much-anticipated sequel to the Gravitation manga did not disappoint, living up to its expectations. For fans of the first series, this second installment offers a refreshing change of pace. The narrative is noticeably calmer, with Murakami delving deeper into her characters beyond their initial introductions. The artwork showcases a significant evolution in all characters, reinforcing Murakami's intent to move past the cliché of "SHUICHI IS A MORON." Although Shuichi still has his quirky moments, the development feels more mature and thoughtful. I found the first manga fantastic, and I'm eagerly awaiting further continuations of the series. An enormous twist in the story literally made me drop my book in surprise. If you felt a sense of emptiness at the end of Gravi's twelfth book, do yourself a favor and buy this! You won't be disappointed.