Gravitation volume 4
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(quoted from the back of Gravitation volume 4)
Shindou Shuichi and his band Bad Luck are on the verge of going supernova. But Shuichi's career isn't the only thing rocketing through the stratosphere--he's found himself starry-eyed over the dark and mysterious writer Eiri Yuki. These two loverboys orbit each other like twin planets, and Shuichi's in heavenly bliss. However, Taki Aizawa, the leader of the rival band Ask, is set to cause a big bang--he's going to expose Shuichi and Eiri's affair! Can Shuichi prevent his career and love life from spiraling into a black hole?
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Gravitation Volume 4 contains:
Track 13
Track 14
Track 15
Track 16
A Toast to the Nape of Your Neck
Storyline:
Finally, this series gets a direction to head in. By the time this volume ends you get a gang bang scene plus you find a lot about Eiri's past. After the directionless path that this series had originally been going in this is a welcome change for the series. Not only that, but this volume has some of the most memorable scenes from any series that I have read. The gang bang scene and the engagement destroyer scenes (check summary for details) are some of the best scenes from any series that I have read (and I've read quite a few).
Artwork:
Once again, the artwork has improved from the previous volumes. The backgrounds are better, the character designs are great, and the stetchy lines that haunted the first few volumes are slowly disapearing. Yippie!
Characters:
Finally, in this volume the author is starting to reveal Eiri's dark past. Not only does this add a great direction for the series to head towards, but it also gives Eiri the depth that he has been missing in the past. Plus, Shuichi starts to really shine in this volume. He shows courage, sympathy, and his witty personality (plus he gets to crossdress to save his relationship). Hiro and the fellow side characters also do an excellent job on helping the series push forward.
Summary (Warning: May Contain Spoilers)
In this volume of Gravitation, Eiri kicks it off by breaking up with Shuichi and kicking him out of his house. Eiri read the tabloids the day before and to protect his image (he didn't want people to find out he got it on with a man) he had to let Shuichi go. Shuichi is of course heart broken and he can't seem to get over Eiri.
Later on, Shuichi is wondering the streets and a mob of fans start to chase him. After some running he is rescued by Taki Aizawa who says that famous people need to be friends in this business. Once they get to Taki's house he tricks Shuichi into admitting that he and Eiri were a couple. After that, two big men come into the room, hold Shuichi down and rape him while Taki is taking pictures. That morning Shuichi goes in front of Hiros house and calls him, telling him to go downstairs to pick him up. When Hiro gets there, Shuichi cries asking why is it wrong to be with someone you love and Hiro tells him it's not his fault.
On Hiro's way to work he overhears Taki bragging about his night to the other Ask members. Later on, Hiro calls Eiri and tells him to meet him outside. Hiro confronts Eiri and tells him that Shuichi was raped, but Taki and his thugs aren't nearly as bad as Eiri because he led Shuichi on for so long. Eiri simply says something like "Where can I find this fucker from Ass."
When Shuichi finally returns to work he brings gifts and tells his manager that he is quitting Bad Luck because Taki has some dirt on him. Before he can leave Hiro stops him and tells him his loverboy is downstairs talking to Taki right now. Shuichi says "Bad Luck forever" and goes downstairs to meet Eiri.
Eiri was kicking the Ask members' asses right then trying to figure out who Taki was. After almost killing one of the members he finds out who Taki is and he gives Eiri the film of Shuichi being raped. After that Eiri leaves and meets Shuichi dressed in a school girl uniform. After trying to run away from him Shuichi tackels him and gets knocked unconcious.
When Shuichi wakes up Eiri is looking over him and tells him that he's leaving his life forever. After a couple hugs which probably leads to some yaoi action (it never shows anything) it skips right to the next scene with Shuichi at work the next day. At work Shuichi says he's over Eiri and then that night he gets drunk with Hiro and all he talks about is Eiri.
On their way home they run into Ayaka who says that Eiri proposed to her and since Shuichi is over Eiri she will accept. Shuichi runs away in disbelief over to Eiri's house and finds out that Eiri moved. Running through the house he runs into Tatsuha who tells him that he can still save his relationship.
The next scene takes place at Eiri's father's temple. At the temple Eiri and his father are talking when Tatsuha appears. He states that he brought over Ayaka and Eiri's father comments on how he hasn't seen her for years. The next moment, Shuichi comes through the door dressed like Ayaka and forces Eiri's father to cancel the engagement. Later on, Shuichi and Eiri talk and Shuichi states that Eiri can't escape him. Eiri makes some comments and then he tells Shuichi that he committed murder when he was 16 and that was his big secret. Shuichi was stunned but he told Eiri that if that was his only secret he would have to try harder to get rid of him.
At the end of the chapter the scene skips to the airport where Tohma Seguchi is waiting for Ryuichi Sakuma to appear. Ryuichi walks out of the airport and hugs and kisses Tohma telling him that he picked up the habit after 3 years in the U.S.A. Ryuichi finally returns at the end of this volume, and in the next volume, with the elimination of Ask, Shuichi's favorite band, Nittle Grasper, will return.
Extras:
The extra story is actually pretty bad. Probably the biggest weakness in this volume was this crappy, halfass story that ruined the memorable experiences I gathered throughout this volume. Oh well, plus the author does her usual commentaries throughout the tracks and the sneak preview of the next volume.
Content Warnings:
-Language: Yes
-Violence: Yes
-Nudity: No
-Sexual Situations: Yes
Overall:
Finally! This has to be one of my favorite volumes. The storyline finally gets a direction to head towards once the issue with Ask is resolved (although they do have a small part next volume). Also, the artwork is no longer the crap that it once was, but it still has some slight problems around the edges and some "eh..." scenes which dropped the overall score down a bit. Besides that, this is an excellent volume that shouldn't be missed especially if you've stuck through the series this far.
+ The artwork has improved dramatically, an excellent storyline, and hilarious
- Gravitation volume 4 still has some sketchy artwork, and the extra story is really better used for toilet paper then volume space.
Score: 9.5/10
