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A review by dee2799d
Loveless, Volume 13 by Yun Kouga
4.0
Yun Kouga is finally back after years of hiatus. I had to sit back down and reread all my volumes of Loveless because I've forgotten most of what's happened before and the plot gets really tangled towards the middle.
It's really been a while. I started reading Loveless when I was still at uni and I loved the story back then. There's a lot about the world of Loveless that feels very self-indulgent to the creator: the cat ears that disappear after people have had sex, the fluidity of gender (everyone's super fashionable also), even the relationships the characters have with each other. It might be easy to dismiss the series as silly and shallow, nothing more than an appeal to BL (and GL) fans with its pretty boy aesthetics. And in a way, it is that. Like I said, a lot of Loveless feels self-indulgent.
But at the same time I admire the world building, the battle system that relies on the power of words (like a poetry slam, except with more action), and also Yun Kouga's ability to write kids. This isn't easy and I think a lot of anime and manga fall into the trap of writing young characters as more mature than real life kids. Loveless isn't for a young audience--it explores very adult themes like parental abuse, depression, emotional manipulation, and even rape--but there are very young characters in it. We follow Ritsuka and his friends, who are 12 years old and really not fully equipped to handle the mind games and unpleasantness brought on by adults (although to be fair, Seimei is 17. He sure doesn't act like it). And through all that Kouga still writes her young characters as kids: Ritsuka has gone through much more than a normal 12 year old ever would (and to be honest even some adults), but we see his conflicts in a way that is framed from a child's point of view. He's doing his best, but he's still a child and I think that's why so many other characters feel protective of him.
In volume 13 we see some of the aftermath of Soubi leaving Ritsuka to follow Seimei's orders and a conclusion with Moonless. We also see a bit of Ritsu's past and why Nagisa feels so strongly about him. Ritsuka decides that he needs to face Seimei again. Maybe this time as a challenger.
Looks like the story's going to end soon and I can't wait to see where Kouga will take us. It might take a few more years, but hey we've already waited this long.
In short, I came back to this series wondering if Loveless really is as good as I remember and it is. Meandering and sometimes unpleasant, yes. But definitely as complex and kind to its characters as I thought years ago.
It's really been a while. I started reading Loveless when I was still at uni and I loved the story back then. There's a lot about the world of Loveless that feels very self-indulgent to the creator: the cat ears that disappear after people have had sex, the fluidity of gender (everyone's super fashionable also), even the relationships the characters have with each other. It might be easy to dismiss the series as silly and shallow, nothing more than an appeal to BL (and GL) fans with its pretty boy aesthetics. And in a way, it is that. Like I said, a lot of Loveless feels self-indulgent.
But at the same time I admire the world building, the battle system that relies on the power of words (like a poetry slam, except with more action), and also Yun Kouga's ability to write kids. This isn't easy and I think a lot of anime and manga fall into the trap of writing young characters as more mature than real life kids. Loveless isn't for a young audience--it explores very adult themes like parental abuse, depression, emotional manipulation, and even rape--but there are very young characters in it. We follow Ritsuka and his friends, who are 12 years old and really not fully equipped to handle the mind games and unpleasantness brought on by adults (although to be fair, Seimei is 17. He sure doesn't act like it). And through all that Kouga still writes her young characters as kids: Ritsuka has gone through much more than a normal 12 year old ever would (and to be honest even some adults), but we see his conflicts in a way that is framed from a child's point of view. He's doing his best, but he's still a child and I think that's why so many other characters feel protective of him.
In volume 13 we see some of the aftermath of Soubi leaving Ritsuka to follow Seimei's orders and a conclusion with Moonless. We also see a bit of Ritsu's past and why Nagisa feels so strongly about him. Ritsuka decides that he needs to face Seimei again. Maybe this time as a challenger.
Looks like the story's going to end soon and I can't wait to see where Kouga will take us. It might take a few more years, but hey we've already waited this long.
In short, I came back to this series wondering if Loveless really is as good as I remember and it is. Meandering and sometimes unpleasant, yes. But definitely as complex and kind to its characters as I thought years ago.