Gravitation: Volume 8

Murakami-sensei's art has improoved munches since she started. The translations are funny, but the American references suck! They ruin the humor completely. A great deal of manga readers will already know about the original Japanese references & those who don;t need to get with it. You can't get by on manga without taking in tons of cultural tidbits in a lengthy period of time. Also, this volume's sidestory is Remix Gravitation 8.5, the most confusing of the series (why did K have short hair?)

This is actually the first Gravitation book I've read, but I've seen all the anime. First off, the anime and the manga are not really the same thing - the premise is the same, but the plots have several differences (none of the events in this book are in the anime) and even the personalities of some of the characters don't always seem to match up (is it just me, or does Eiri seem sweeter in the manga? ). In this book, everything seems right in Shuichi's world - his record hits Platinum and his relationship with Eiri is actually going pretty well. Unfortunately, Shuichi's boss, Tohma Seguchi, ruins it all by telling Shuichi to choose between Eiri or his band. Shuichi becomes convinced that Eiri is in love with Tohma. In this book, Shuichi is also, er, brought to America. I enjoyed Shuichi, even though he seems a little more flighty in the manga than he was in the anime, but I have to say that I'm a big Eiri fan. There are a few absolutely adorable Eiri scenes in this book, my favorites being the ones with the print club stickers - if Eiri could just bring himself tell Shuichi what he's thinking when he looks at the sticker, their relationsip would be a lot less rocky. Then again, Shuichi would also be annoyingly mushy all the time. Anyway, I not only love the story, I love the artwork as well. There are both gorgeous guys and pretty girls, something for everyone! :) I highly recommend this volume, although it would probably be a good idea either to have read earlier volumes or seen the anime, so that you know about Eiri's past and how his relationship with Shuichi usually functions. Also, a quick note, if gay relationships disgust you, this is probably not the manga for you. I've heard others say that even people who don't approve of such relationships would find themselves liking this series, but, after reading some reviews of other manga series with same sex relationships, I'm not so sure.