It's finally here! Two months ago in the Japanese version we were left with a cliffhanger, and after Murakami-sensei skipped last month, the continuation is finally here! Will the dire predictions of fans prove to be correct? Stick around and find out!
So apparently this manga continuation now has an official name different from the original. Instead of being just Gravitation, it's now Gravitation EX. Why, a year and a half after it started, is Murakami-sensei just now deciding to change the name? Maybe because now it's more X-TREME!!11one and required a new name ^_^ (OK, so the EX stands for "extra", not "extreme"....but it should :P)
So we start off with Shuuichi holding Eiri after The Accident, pleading with him not to die. A doctor (looking suspiciously like Noriko's husband) shows up and says it's already too late for Eiri and the kid. Mika (looking decidedly NOT pregnat....I think Murakami-sensei forgot that little plot line :P), Yoshiki, and Suguru all appear to yell at Shuuichi for causing the deaths of Eiri and Riku....and Shuuichi wakes up. It was just a dream! (The deaths, not the accident itself). Shuuichi is in a prison cell (because why wouldn't NG studios be eqipped with a jail? :P) and he yells at K to let him out so he can see Eiri. K says he can't because it's the boss's order for him to stay in there. Shuuichi argues that he was trying to rescue Eiri, so why is he locked up? K replies that the reason Eiri had to be rescued was because Shuuichi was the one who brought Riku. Touma (appearing on a giant screen) continues on to say that Riku has been causing Eiri problems ever since he showed up, so that means, indirectly, Shuuichi has been hurting Eiri. Shuuichi says that Touma is wrong and Eiri is not that weak. Touma says he's dumbfounded by Shuuichi, and thought that after two days of being locked up he might have done a little bit of self-reflection/repenting. Shuuichi quickly changes his tune, saying he was wrong, Eiri's hella weak. Touma decides to keep him in there awhile longer, telling him to try reflecting a little more. Shuuichi begs him to let him out, or at least just tell him how Eiri is doing, but his pleas are ignored. K tells Shuuichi to calm down, since Touma is currently using his influence to keep the press from talking about what's happened, it's better for Shuuichi to stay there undercover for awhile. Shuuichi will have none of it, telling K to let him see Eiri as he bends the bars to get out.
Meanwhile, someone places a gun behind K's head, and wonders aloud whether he really needed to come save Shuuichi. The person turns out to be Tatsuha (been a while since we've seen him! Shuuichi doesn't recognize him at first, he has spiky hair ^_^) Tatsuha wonders whether he should really bring him to see Eiri, and Shuuichi freaks out, telling Tatsuha to hurry as he attempts to ride him out of there ^_^ K asks them if they really think they can escape with their lives, telling them they shouldn't underestimate Touma. Tatsuha says K has to stay behind and stop "him" (we'll find out who later). Shuuichi opens the door to leave and immediately trips a wire, causing a huge explosion.
We then switch over to Riku, hovering over a hospital bed. He looks up at the explosion, and then gets hit in the face by a hand. Eiri says, "What, aren't you hurt anywhere? You damn brats sure are tenacious."
Back over at the studio, Shuuichi (burned to a crisp) yells out that even fire won't stop him, he's a damn brat who won't die even when killed until he gets to see Eiri (LOL, I like that line....fits well with what Eiri was just saying ^_^). Tatsuha starts questioning his rescue operation since Touma seems serious about killing them. Shuuichi says Tatsuha should go on ahead and live, and he'll stay behind (said as he clings to Tasuha shirt, a fact that doesn't go unnoticed by Tatsuha :P). Tatusha asks if he really wants to see Eiri, and Shuuichi is re-invigorated, ready to go forward and find his love....but then he's blown up again, this time by Rage (and after this page the furigana that show how the kanji are read magically disappear! Wonderful ;P). Rage tells Shuuichi to go back to his cell, because his selfish actions are going to mess up "the plan". Shuuichi wonders what she means by "the plan", and Tatsuha tells him to hurry up and jump on his motorcycle. Rage fires a rocket launcher after them.
K is still in the building, listening to the chaos and saying that he told them it would be impossible for them to escape alive. We then see Ryuuichi (looking like a total whore!) standing next to him, saying he should go save them. K says he can't, since he is there to stop Ryuuichi. K asks what he's doing there....to be continued.
OK, so we didn't get a real answer to how bad Eiri's injuries are. Does the fact that his eyes weren't shown and the fact that he seemed to be feeling Riku's face mean the "OMG!blindness!" prediction is true? Maybe we'll find out next month :P But anyway, look at the pics to judge for yourself:
Page 01
Page 02
Page 03
Page 04
Page 05
Page 06
Page 07
Page 08
Page 09
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Zip of all pictures: track66.zip
About the last pic on Track 66 (the color one). In the Japanese version of track 65, there was a picture like this one that I only translated as far to say that there was some new Gravitation related release coming up, but at the time I didn't know what. Well, now I know that the Graviation manga is being re-released in Japanese in six volumes instead of twelve. So basically, just like several other series have done (Dragonball, Trigun, etc.) they want us to buy the series all over again with the hope that we might get some new mini posters or something :P But....I'm a slave to Gravitation, I'm tempted to see if they're being sold at my local Kinokuniya's....someone stop me >_>!
