Loveless, Volume 2

I thought this was a great volume and I can't wait to get the next one! Ths suspense of knowing more about the mysterious battle unit named Soubi is driving me crazy.

Loveless is one of the best manga ever. I loved it so much, that I rushed to buy every one the bookstore had one sale. Ritsuka is hilariously cute. Soubi is just hilarious in general.

Volume 2 of Yun Kouga's popular series does not disappoint. For those unfamiliar with this series, Loveless is a strange BL/Shonen-ai manga series by the same author as Earthian, which revolves around the story of a boy named Ritsuka who at the age of ten lost all his memories. Two years later his mother denies he is her son and beats him, and his only support, his brother Seimei, dies mysteriously. A mysterious man appears, Soubi, who claims to have known Seimei and cryptically implies that he knows more, but won't divulge anything. Soubi declares his love for Ritsuka and that he now belongs to the boy, and the two enter down a path for answers through mysterious battles using words as spells, secret names of power, and people as sacrifices and fighters. For people only familiar with the manga, the plot thickens in volume 2 as Ritsuka and Soubi's relationship grows uncomfortably closer and Ritsuka finally lets down some of his guards and makes friends at school. His teacher becomes increasingly concerned about the bruises on his body. New enemies appear that have cryptic information for Ritsuka about Seimei and Soubi continues to dodge questions about it. Later, Soubi encounters even more powerful enemies without Ritsuka, but we'll have to wait for volume 3 to see how that battle turns out. If you have seen the TV series, this volume covers the plot through volume 2 (eps 5-8) plus the side story from volume 3 where Soubi stalks Ritsuka out with his friends in Yokohama. Things to note that are a bit different from the TV series are in the BL themes of the relationship between Soubi and Ristuka. In the manga it goes a bit beyond the suggestiveness of the anime. During a particularly, I struggle with the desire to use the word "disturbing," scene where Ritsuka wants this note containing information about his deceased brother, he prompts Soubi to destroy the enemies holding the note using both stern orders, which he at all other times is unwilling to provide to the man, and a level of seductiveness absent from the anime. I can only imagine how the scene from volume three of the anime with Soubi and Ritsuka in Soubi's apartment will turn out in the manga. If the subdued sexual tension in the anime from the manga continues it should prove to be even more uncomfortable. My only complaint about this series is the slow release schedule. I can't stand that it will be fall before we see volume 3, and even longer before we get into plot that takes us beyond what was revealed in the anime.