Loveless, Volume 1

I feel the need, almost, to apologize for being so in love with Loveless. I feel like I should apologize for wide-eyed watching the severely underage romance, the somewhat beautified depictions of abuse, the uncomfortably sexualized terror lurking behind everything.

I will say this: I read this first when I was the protagonist's age, and I loved it then. I love it more with time. The familial and partner abuse depicted strangely and beautifully is just as messy and up-and-down as it is in real life. The story is like just about nothing else I have every seen, defies genre, and refuses to pull back from what it wants to be. The world as seen by a adultified child who doesn't know exactly what he is. Best recommended for whom this is not show more their first trauma rodeo. show less

It feels like the only personality that Georgia has is her whole “I want to kiss someone bc otherwise it’s weird, tho I find it really disgusting; and I’ve never liked someone either, isn’t that really weird?”.
I get that she’s trying to find out who she is and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just kinda boring to read through 400 pages, when the protagonist doesn’t have any other personality except for that. I could’ve as well read through forums about whether someone is asexual/aromantic, instead of going through the whole book – because personality-wise it would be the same.

But it’s not just Georgia. Everyone is kinda a flat character and no one really stands out as a person, except for Pip.
And I’m not show more counting that they love Shakespeare because everyone does in this book, therefore it’s not a special personality trait anymore.

~

Also, where can I get myself a Jason? He’s literally the only guy that doesn’t care for sex. Except Sunil, but then again he’s asexual, so I’m not counting that.
Why can’t there be more guys out there, who are not asexual, but still wouldn’t care about their partner not being interested in sex?
Huh, that’s why it’s fictional.

~

The ending was sweet and made me jealous, but other than that... idk. I guess it was a good book overall, but not really sth I would read again, as everything is just so flat.

~

Also, I’m kinda angry that Rooney realized she loved Georgia, while making out with Pip. Like, couldn’t it be after they finished, after the play? Or before they made out? Bc I literally feel so bad for pip. She should’ve been that special someone for Georgia, or even Jason. But no, it was Rooney.
Like Pip said, Rooney is going to take Georgia away from her. And yes, you can have more than one best friend, but while Pip is just really panicking and worrying about where the f* Rooney has ran off to, Georgia & Rooney are just planning for their future, about how they’re going to grow old together... like, what the actual f?
Are you kidding me? Why does Pip have to suffer like that? Rooney left her literally in the middle of a make out, they were both like half-naked, and she just left without saying anything... Georgia found her and their just fantasizing about their future together? I’m sorry, what now? show less

The journey from teen to adult is a turbulent time as a child crosses the threshold of knowing about relationships to experiencing them and understanding the painful implications of being part of them. Loveless, written and illustrated by Yun Kōga, does a beautiful job of pulling you into a richly drawn world, where the characters are so unique in personality that it makes your heart ache for them in their need to be loved.

Loveless is the first of eight currently written books out of a planned 15 volumes in the manga series "Loveless". Volume 1 was originally published in 2002. The series was not released for translation into english in North America till 2006 by Tokyopop. Kōga is currently publishing the series in the Japanese show more magazine “Monthly Comic Zero sum” before it is bound into individual books. In April 2005, the story was adapted for television in a 12 episode anime and released on dvd in 2006. The manga is a shounen-ai and written for young women (shōjo). Shounen-ai (aka Yaoi) is a genre that means "boy's love". The genre focuses more on the emotions of the relationship between two boys rather than sex. The characters are kemonomimi, which are human-like characters that have animal features. People are born with ears and tails, which resemble cats and dogs; they lose these when they become adults, presumably upon the loss of innocence.

We follow twelve-year old Aoyagi Ritsuka, a young boy who cannot remember who he was before two years ago, as he struggles to understand why his brother, Seimei, was brutally killed and why he isn't the person his mother thinks he should be. We join Ritsuka as he transfers to a new school making friends with Hawatari Yuiko, a young girl who is used by others and seems unable to think for herself. Ritsuka is sought out by Agatsuma Soubi, who claims to have been Seimei's weapon and now that Seimei is gone his job is to protect Ritsuka. Soubi opens a doorway to a dark confusing world that Ritsuka must decide whether to journey down the same path his brother or turn his back on finding out why his brother died. Through the process of deciding Ritsuka discovers hidden secrets about himself and that just maybe he is not alone in the world as he thought after all.

The story may seem at first to be lacking a plot but as you turn the pages, it gradually unfolds to entwine you in the subtleties of details and emotions that leave you needing to find out what will happen to each of the characters. There is a punctuated emphasis throughout the story on how being alone leaves a person feeling unloved and unwanted, even though there are people around who truly care for your wellbeing. It tears at your heart as you watch the characters interact trying to get the attention they crave from the others only for it to go unnoticed and unfulfilled as the other person is so tied up in trying to fulfill their own desires they do not realize the answer is in front of them. It is a book of hopelessness, desire, need and tells a tale of subtle love that allows the reader to relate to the angst of characters from their own experiences into the world of love as a teen.

There are some darker points to this story that may turn a reader off. First, there is the child abuse where his mother abuses Ritsuka in her insanity that no other adult seems to think is out of place. Second, is a palatable sexual tension between most all of the characters, non-discriminating on gender or age. If a reader cannot handle vast age differences or same sex relationships this is not a book for them. Lastly, the story has a over arching, if subtle, theme of sadomasochist bondage tendencies and the age difference between the two main characters smacks of pedophilistic behavior. This age difference between the main characters is found in most all Yaoi/Shounen-ai; it is there to build the tension off the taboo love that should not exist, it is not for all people.

Placing the story aside and looking at the artwork of the manga each panel is full of carefully drawn details that enrich the story and displays the uniqueness of the characters. Kōga is a delightfully gifted artist who is able to add subtle details to her stories in drawing that makes you pause and study each page before moving forward. The subtle shifts in her pen pulls out the body language of her characters; displaying it for the reader to see before it is felt through the words.

As a whole Kōga’s manga, Loveless is a complex and emotional mix of dialogue and drawings. It ties together to drag you into a world of where importance of the past is etched in the importance we place on memories, how words have a power to shape our reality and how the relationships we form can signify the loss of innocence but be the strength that guides us through our lives. I would recommend this as a must have for any Yaoi lover’s collection. show less

It's kind of hard to know if I should just be disturbed by this book, or if I should be disturbed because I found the book so darned interesting. The premise of this urban fantasy is a bit scary. 12 year old Ritsuka lives in a home with an abusive mother and a never there father, with only his adored, older brother, Seimei to turn to. However, at the point at which we join this story Seimei has been horribly murdered and in such a way that it appears that Ritsuka is being threatened as well. Two years later Ritsuka is attending a new school. His home life is even more appalling than before and he is constantly battered and bruised. Even worse is Ritsuka's own belief that because he cannot remember his true self from before Seimei's show more murder that he deserves the ever increasing abuse from his mother as his due. The day he starts school he is also approached by a 20 year old man named Soubi who tells Ritsuka that he knew his brother. Soubi's actions toward Ritsuka are, at best, highly troubling. Soon Ritsuka discovers that Soubi was Seimei's "fighter", who has been sent to Ritsuka to keep him from being taken by members of a secret organization.

With the exception of his mother and father, the adults who have contact with Ritsuka all find him oddly, compellingly, adorable, most especially Soubi. Even his psychologist wants to take him out on a date. Ritsuka's saving grace seems to be a very shapely classmate who also takes an immediate shine to him, but at least her attentions seem to be primarily innocent.

Although very psychological in nature, this story certainly has fantasy elements in it. Everyone in this world has catlike ears and tails until they lose their virginity, the fighting has a surreal and supernatural feel to it and the damage caused to the "sacrifices" during the battles is all caused by words, not direct physical contact.

I thought the artwork was very good as well with the characters each having enough of their own appearance to avoid undue confusion. There is a lot of emotion throughout the story and it is well presented in the corresponding panels. I have to agree that Ritsuka is most cute when he smiles :-)

The first three manga that I've read so far pretty much follow along the lines of the anime, which I've already seen, so I'm very interested to see what will happen in the next few volumes. Despite the underlying sensuality behind Soubi's actions towards Ritsuka and the idea of adolescent fighters trying to kidnap him, this is a very compelling storyline and I am looking forward to reading more.

The manga is rated for older teens and up which I would have to agree with. show less

As an entertaining story, it's medium. As a book about being aro/ace, it's great, and necessary, and I'd certainly recommend it for teens. It's the aro/ace equivalent of Judy Blume's Forever.

The art in this book is just so beautiful. The story feels secondary to how pretty the artwork is; it seems different than other manga styles. The lines are cleaner and the shading is more simplistic, which creates interesting panels. The story, however, can be complicated at times but the other offers enough of an intriguing mystery to make readers want more.

Utter poetry, this book lures you in with the stunning artistry displayed by the author, then traps you in the deep and twisting plot.