Ah, Shuichi and Yuki! I have burned through many-a page analyzing this pair over the years, attempting to make sense of their dysfunctional relationship. Seriously. Pick any journal I made after I discovered the series in the early 2000s and you’re guaranteed to find several four-to-six-page sections about them.
I first became interested in the Gravitation manga (written by Maki Murakami) when I saw an ad for its English release in an anime magazine. It appealed to me as a music junkie and a casual shounen ai reader. After I bought the first volume, my interest quickly shifted into a near obsession. I loved the crazy characters, the zany comedy, and the endless drama. I almost quit the series after a few controversial events occurred in volumes two and four, but I went on to collect the rest of the series, the single volume of its sequel Gravitation EX, two light novels, and the four-volume anime. I completed my collection when I bought a cheap, used copy of the two-episode original animation video (OAV), Gravitation: Lyrics of Love, online.
When I was deciding which movies I wanted to review, Lyrics of Love was naturally on the list. I’m always down to analyze another chapter of this never-ending saga.
Here’s the summary from the DVD’s back cover:
Bad Luck’s lead singer and lyricist, Shuichi Shindo, is a total wreck. With deadlines for the band’s next album looming, the pressure is on, but the normally energetic Shuichi has become listless and fallen into a writing slump. It’s all because Yuki—the great love of his life—has suddenly become cold and distant. Depressed and anxious, Shuichi doesn’t want to think about lyrics; he just wants to know how to get Yuki to talk to him!
Now thanks to Shuichi’s big mouth bragging to the press about how talented he is, the band can’t even hire someone else to write the lyrics for them. If they don’t manage to break Shuichi out of his slump soon, it could mean the end of Bad Luck for good!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Shuichi Shindo
The OAV begins with Shuichi, Gravitation‘s protagonist, in the studio with his Bad Luck band members Hiroshi and Fujisaki, their manager K, and their producer Sakano. They are getting jack-all done because Shuichi isn’t in the mood to sing or write. He tells them through a ridiculous game of Charades that Yuki, his famous romance novelist boyfriend, has been acting weird. He later says to Hiro “…it’s sort of like [Yuki’s] avoiding me. Like he’s ignoring me on purpose.” Because of this, Shuichi hasn’t been able to write the lyrics for the love song he promised his fans.
No one is surprised. If something’s wrong with Shuichi, it almost always involves Yuki. To cheer Shuichi up, Hiro takes him to Pelshana, the club where Bad Luck performed their first show. Hiro probably hopes that Shuichi will get hyped up when he remembers what it was like to perform in front of the crowd.
The only thing Shuichi remembers from that night, however, is how Yuki showed up to watch them perform. The memory somehow transforms into a vision of Yuki walking away from Shuichi, which leaves Shuichi crying out and flailing around on the floor in a puddle of his own drool.
While that outing is a total failure, some of Shuichi’s usual spark is restored the next day. First, he finds out that Nittle Grasper, his all-time favorite band, is going to perform at the so-called Tokyo Bay Music Fest concert. Then K and Fujisaki persuade (blackmail) a producer to let Bad Luck perform their (awesome) song “Spicy Marmalade” on a music show. The moment the microphone hits Shuichi’s hand, everything else falls away. He delivers an A+ performance.
That all goes down the drain when Shuichi catches a special press conference on TV. There, live in front of the whole country, is Yuki with Tohma Seguchi, Yuki’s brother-in-law, Nittle Grasper’s keyboardist, and Bad Luck’s record label’s CEO. Seguchi announces that Yuki is writing the lyrics for the new song Nittle Grasper will premiere at the Tokyo Bay Music Fest.
Since Shuichi doesn’t know the full circumstances of the deal, he is crushed by the news. Questions must be swirling in his mind. Was Yuki keeping Shuichi at arm’s length because he didn’t want him to see the lyrics? Did Yuki think Shuichi would blow the surprise? Did Yuki think Shuichi would steal the lyrics? Whatever the reasoning, the possibilities all lead to the same conclusion for Shuichi: Yuki doesn’t trust him.
Then there’s the betrayal angle. Shuichi says, “…it’s not like we’d made a promise or anything, but if Yuki ever wrote any lyrics, I would sing them. Somewhere in my mind, I’d had my heart set on it.” Since Yuki has repeatedly given his professional writer’s opinion that Shuichi’s lyrics suck, it stands to reason that Shuichi figures that Yuki will, you know, show him how it’s done one day. When that day finally arrives, Yuki gives his lyrics to Nittle Grasper, not Bad Luck. WTH?
Moreover, it’s a slap in the face that Yuki wrote lyrics for Seguchi specifically. In Shuichi’s eyes, Yuki is choosing Seguchi over him. It’s more pronounced in the manga than in the anime, but there’s a low-key rivalry between Shuichi and Seguchi over Yuki. Seguchi worries that Shuichi is bad for Yuki’s mental and physical health, and Shuichi is jealous of Yuki and Seguchi’s longstanding (platonic) relationship. The tension is exacerbated by the fact that Seguchi isn’t afraid to use his leverage as Shuichi’s boss to manipulate situations to his liking.
It’s too much for Shuichi to deal with. He runs off to his parents’ house for a break. He spends the first few days moping and watching old Nittle Grasper concert tapes in his room. Imagine his surprise when Ryuichi Sakuma himself, Nittle Grasper’s vocalist and Shuichi’s idol, bursts into his room and chucks his stuffed rabbit Kumagoro at his head. He’s there to convince Shuichi to come back.
Now, Ryuichi isn’t nearly as clueless as he pretends to be. There’s definitely a brain beneath his child-like persona. I think he goes after Shuichi because he doesn’t like a conversation between Yuki and Seguchi that he overhears about the situation. Not only does Ryuichi respect Shuichi’s talent, but he likes Shuichi as a person (especially given their similar personalities). He doesn’t know the particulars of the plan either, but he might view the parts that he does know about as cheating, like Seguchi is purposely sabotaging Shuichi so Nittle Grasper can shine brighter against Bad Luck.
It would be a violation of Ryuichi’s professional and personal relationships with Shuichi to sing Yuki’s lyrics if Shuichi’s not cool with it. Ryuichi even offers to give the song to Shuichi and Bad Luck to end the confusion. Shuichi has already sorted out his feelings, though. He tells Ryuichi, “A band that I’ve loved since I was a little brat is going to sing a song written by the person I love. Maybe that’s a wonderful thing after all.” That’s a far more mature way of reasoning than I would have given Shuichi credit for. And as usual, Shuichi is willing to overlook Yuki’s mistakes.
Shuichi goes back to the studio, ready to work on his song.
A week goes by.
He’s still got nothing.
The day of the Tokyo Bay Music Fest concert arrives. Hiro, ever the amazing best friend, scores tickets for Shuichi and himself. He knows that Shuichi’s desire to see Nittle Grasper perform will override his issues with Yuki. They wait by Yuki’s seat, but Tatsuha, Yuki’s younger brother and a fellow Nittle Grasper superfan, shows up with Yuki’s ticket. Shuichi is hurt all over again. Apparently, Yuki is still avoiding him.
The concert begins. Nittle Grasper starts performing their collaboration song, which is called “Shining Collection.” As Shuichi listens to Ryuichi sing Yuki’s lyrics, he slowly realizes that they’re about him! Never in a million years would Shuichi have expected that. Yuki’s not the type to say lovey-dovey stuff out loud, let alone announce those kinds of feelings in a song for the world to hear.
Ryuichi’s feeling the song so much that he invites Shuichi on stage to sing it with him. Shuichi is over the moon. Like Shuichi said before, he is singing his lover’s words about him with his favorite singer. Imagine how amazing that would feel. To come full circle, Shuichi looks into the crowd and what does he see? Yuki staring at him from the crowd with a sly smile.
Shuichi gets so hyped up that he calls Hiro and Fujisaki on stage to perform their new song. “In The Moonlight” is the song that Shuichi was struggling to write, his love song to Yuki. Although Shuichi attributes his sudden ability to finish the lyrics to relaxing, I have a different theory. I think Shuichi couldn’t finish the song because he was still unsure of Yuki’s true feelings for him. It took the possibility of losing Yuki and hearing “Shining Collection” for the right words to come. Shuichi must realize at this point that that’s what this whole situation was actually about.
After the concert, Shuichi and Yuki go home and…make up. Thankfully, they do talk about what happened in the second of two manga-inspired scenes that play after each episode. The scene initially resembles the moment in volume two of the manga when Yuki passes out in Shuichi’s arms after a rough deadline, but it becomes a scene where Shuichi thanks Yuki for writing “Shining Collection” and asks him to write a song for him next time.
Shuichi then apologizes to Yuki, saying, “I got the wrong idea all by myself and got depressed. I didn’t believe in you.” Shuichi has never broken out of the mindset that he’s just a phase or a flavor of the week to Yuki. Every time Yuki gets in a mood, Shuichi immediately thinks, “Well, this is it. He’s going to dump me now.” It’s sad to see.
That’s why Shuichi apologizes. To him, their relationship is in a place where he should be secure enough to know that Yuki loves him and wouldn’t treat him like that without a good reason. Shuichi feels bad that he didn’t consider things fully before running off, especially after learning later that everything was for his benefit.
That’s all well and good. But how exactly was Shuichi supposed to react during this circus? Was he really just supposed to magically know that there were reasons for Yuki’s bad behavior? No relationship in the world is that secure. Despite his good intentions and the positive outcome, Yuki was foul for manipulating Shuichi like that. I think he’s the one who should apologize.
Yuki, who is still semi-conscious, offers this statement in response: “You’re ten years ahead of yourself to be hiring me to write you lyrics.” With those words, Shuichi’s fears about Yuki’s motives are fully assuaged. Writing lyrics for Nittle Grasper isn’t a knock on Bad Luck’s skills or preferential treatment towards Seguchi. It’s business. Bad Luck is a rookie group. Yuki’s not completely averse to writing Bad Luck a song one day. They just have to work their way up to it.
Whatever. At the end of the day, the two are as solid as ever.
Eiri Yuki
The OAV first finds Yuki sitting in his home office, deep in thought. His landline rings. He lets the answering machine do its job. It’s Seguchi, asking if Yuki’s making any progress on “the matter we spoke of.”
“The Matter,” of course, is Yuki writing the lyrics for “Shining Collection.” For an international broadcast as big as the Tokyo Bay Music Fest, Seguchi wants to make an equally big splash—and what’s bigger than a collaboration between a famous band and a famous romance writer? It’s a PR dream come true.
Seguchi, the ultimate puppet master, has several other motives too. His goal is to get both Nittle Grasper and Bad Luck more exposure and sales through their performances on the global stage, with the side benefits of Shuichi’s slump ending and Yuki strengthing his relationship with Shuichi. Wins all around. The only snag is that Yuki has to keep the lyrics a secret from Shuichi.
I have questions.
First, why does Yuki agree to any of this? Aside from the financial and creative benefits, the simplest reason is that Seguchi asks him to. Yuki has known Seguchi since he was young, so he’s more like an older brother than an in-law. It’s hard for Yuki to say no to him. I also suspect that Yuki gives Seguchi extra leeway to make up for Seguchi’s guilt over that horrible situation that happened to Yuki when he was living in New York under Seguchi’s care.
Then there’s the fact that Yuki will be helping Shuichi. There’s a precedent for him swerving into Shuichi’s lane when necessary. Remember in the anime when Yuki took Shuichi on the theme park date when Bad Luck reached a million album sales? Even though K doesn’t have a gun to his head this time, I doubt Yuki could have refused such a small task if Seguchi presented the deal as a way for Yuki to raise Shuichi and Bad Luck’s profile.
The romantic side of me wonders if maybe Yuki accepted the opportunity as a way to express his love to Shuichi using the medium that Shuichi appreciates and understands best. Unlikely, but not impossible.
Second, why do Yuki and Seguchi implement the plan like they do? Why does Yuki choose to be a jerk to Shuichi? Yuki knows that Shuichi won’t react well when the secret comes out. He even makes a stipulation that Seguchi will “make arrangements so that Shuichi won’t be hurt.”
Perhaps Yuki dons the mask he knows best to throw Shuichi off the scent. It’s not unusual for him to fall into a foul mood and take it out on Shuichi. As I said before—when Shuichi is upset about Yuki, it consumes his attention and affects everyone around him. Nobody, let alone Shuichi, will put together what’s actually happening.
If I’ve learned anything from reruns of That 70s Show and The Bernie Mac Show that feature surprise birthday parties, the eventual reveal has more impact when the planners pretend to forget the recipient’s birthday. That person gets so mad at the perceived slight that they’re ready to explode by the time the party happens. So, if Yuki is super mean to Shuichi now, the romantic lyrics in “Shining Collection” will hit much harder later. Shuichi’s suffering is an acceptable short term hit for the boost to Bad Luck’s popularity and their relationship in the long term. Theoretically.
It’s also possible that Yuki’s not pretending at all. His irritation with the situation could be putting him in a bad mood, which he then takes out on Shuichi. Keeping secrets was a huge sticking point for Shuichi earlier in the anime. Shuichi begged Yuki to share everything, which Yuki did. Now he’s keeping a secret again. They’re taking a huge step backwards. From this perspective, Yuki could be worried that this ruse could do permanent damage to their relationship, making any gains they receive worthless.
Things quickly get out of hand. During one of Yuki’s fansign events, Sakano shows up. Shuichi’s producer wants to mediate the situation so that everyone can get back to work. Yuki knows exactly why Sakano’s there, but he gives the other man a blast of his signature snarky attitude instead. Sakano doesn’t make any progress before Seguchi shows up and tells (threatens) him to hit the bricks. Yuki uses the distraction to slip out of the room.
As Yuki and Seguchi walk away, Sakano notes that the two are “discussing something so amiably.” Like Ryuichi, Sakano is more perceptive than he appears. Why is Yuki smiling with Seguchi when Shuichi keeps reporting that Yuki’s attitude with him is totally different? Sakano must suspect something. He’s worked for Seguchi too long not to recognize his boss’s shenanigans in motion. Given how Seguchi comes at him, he probably decides to keep his suspicions to himself. Smart guy.
When Yuki gets home, Shuichi is waiting for him. Yuki makes a beeline for his office while telling Shuichi that they’ll talk tomorrow. The more Shuichi persists, however, the angrier Yuki becomes. He leaves Shuichi crying and begging outside the door. The next morning he’s still there, asleep against the wall. Yuki remains resolved. In fact, he makes a point to tune in when Bad Luck is performing on that music show, like he’s reminding himself of what he’s working for.
Then the infamous Tokyo Bay Music Fest press conference drops. Yuki looks miserable the whole time. He’s right to be on edge—that’s when Shuichi takes off. He leaves a note behind that simply says, “I am going home.” Yuki recognizes this as a Very Bad Sign. Shuichi only goes to his parents’ house when Yuki has pushed him past his breaking point.
Yuki storms the N-G studio to see if Hiro and the others know anything about Shuichi’s disappearance (they don’t). Oddly, it takes him three days to do this. Why? Maybe Yuki viewed the note as Shuichi being dramatic. Shuichi didn’t have to leave a note at all. He obviously shared his location with Yuki to signal his anger level. Once three days passed and Shuichi was still missing, Yuki realized that he wasn’t bluffing. That would explain his disappointed face when he doesn’t find Shuichi at the studio.
My second, more likely theory is that Yuki just discovered the note. He’s too mad to have sat on that note for three days. He probably had to do a lot of promotional events concerning the lyrics, so he wasn’t home to notice that Shuichi wasn’t there. That adds another layer of regret to the situation. His lover leaves him and he doesn’t even know he’s gone. Embarrassing!
Yuki then goes to Seguchi, who’s in the middle of a rehearsal with Nittle Grasper. Yuki has bloody murder in his eyes, that look that scares the crap out of everyone who sees it, including the poor assistant who confronts him about unplugging the band’s equipment. Yuki’s anger has zero effect on Seguchi, of course. He brushes off Yuki’s concerns and assures him again that everything will work out.
While holding up traffic on the drive home, Yuki thinks about going to get Shuichi. He ultimately decides against it. It’s “not [his] style.” That feels out of character to me. In the manga, Yuki goes after Shuichi multiple times. He even flies to America to retrieve Shuichi once. Clearly, chasing Shuichi is Yuki’s style when it suits him. What’s so different about this time?
Although it could be a wounded pride issue, I think Yuki is trying to let Shuichi work out his feelings without his interference. There’s already a power imbalance between them. Yuki is 24, hot, rich, and successful, whereas Shuichi is 18, a music industry novice, and frankly, not the brightest bulb. Yuki is Shuichi’s first everything too, which gives him even more leverage. Yuki knows all of this. Therefore, he knows that he has to let Shuichi be mad and decide how he wants to deal with the situation. We’ve seen a version of this scenario play out in the manga before.
The day of the Tokyo Bay Music Fest, Yuki broods in his office again. Since he gave his concert tickets to Tatsuha—presumably because he’s afraid to face Shuichi—he has nothing to do but reminisce. He looks over Shuichi’s lyrics for “In The Moonlight” and notes that Shuichi still sucks at song writing. This triggers a flashback of the night shortly after they met when Shuichi invited Yuki to his first concert. Even though Yuki called the lyrics garbage then too, he went to the concert to see how things would shake out.
That memory finally prompts Yuki to go to the concert to see if the drama was worth it. And just as Seguchi said, Yuki doesn’t regret the outcome. He gets to see Shuichi’s face light up when he sees him in the crowd (just like it did that time at Pelshana). He gets to hear Shuichi sing “Shining Collection” and “In The Moonlight.” Shuichi’s slump is over, Bad Luck’s future is set, and his and Shuichi’s relationship is stronger. Even Seguchi’s I-told-you-so doesn’t bother Yuki.
This brings us to Yuki and Shuichi’s afterglow scene. While Shuichi is dozing in his arms, Yuki looks fondly at him and whispers, “Welcome home, Shuichi.” Such a loaded sentence! At its simplest, Yuki is saying “I love you” again. Apparently, it’s too hard for him to say the actual three words. Still, I’ll give him some credit. It’s obvious from his rare smile that he truly means it.
Speaking of rarities, Yuki also calls Shuichi by his name. He almost never does that, and definitely not to Shuichi’s face. Deliberately doing so here denotes the seriousness of the rest of his words. Yes, Yuki frequently calls Shuichi everything under the sun besides his name, but he doesn’t really mean it.
Lastly, Yuki is confirming Shuichi’s rightful place. For a long time, Shuichi has been painted as a barely tolerated guest in Yuki’s house. It doesn’t help that Yuki often reminds him that he basically forced his way in and was only supposed to stay for a week. In reality, Yuki has said to others (like his former fiancée Ayaka) that he’s living with Shuichi in a permanent sense. He has never told Shuichi, though. This is the perfect moment to set the record straight on that front too. Moreover, it could be a roundabout way of telling Shuichi to come “home” to him instead of running away when they’re having problems.
I’m not sure whether Shuichi hears all of this in those three words, but it seems like enough of the sentiment gets through to him. While I still think that Yuki owes Shuichi a better apology for the way he handled things, I feel that he is trying to do better by him. And as they say, when you know better, you do better.
Conclusion
Although Gravitation: Lyrics of Love is a continuation of the anime series, it isn’t an adaptation of anything in the manga. That’s okay. The story fits nicely into the series canon anyway. I enjoyed the plot, even when I was upset by certain aspects of it. There were so many unnecessary misunderstandings!
Despite having been made in 2005, a year after the anime came out, the OAV’s animation looks kind of old. Everything looks muted: lots of brown, olive, navy blue, and maroon. The characters’ color palettes play into this aesthetic too. For example, Shuichi’s hair is dark red here versus the cotton candy pink it is in the anime series. The red’s not unusual—Shuichi’s hair color runs the gamut on the manga covers—but I’ve always associated him with that pink. It’s likely a stylistic choice considering the overall tone of the OAV: darker colors to match the heavy mood.
The soundtrack absolutely slaps. I already knew the songs before I watched the OAV because I own a Gravitation Best Collection CD (that I later found out is a bootleg). It was nice to see them in context. “Blind Game Again” and “Smashing Blue,” which are both performed by Kinya Kotani, are the perfect opening and ending themes respectively. Meanwhile, the slamming techno tempo and rapid-fire delivery of Iceman’s “Shining Collection” make me believe that the song was written with Shuichi’s chaotic energy in mind.
All-in-all, Lyrics of Love is a great watch. Definitely give it a try!
*Gravitation: Lyrics of Love DVD cover and summary © Maki Murakami, Sony Magazines, MOVIC, Aniplex Inc., The Right Stuf International*