Anime: Loveless 234z49

“God, what is wrong with you people?!”
That is the only thing I was thinking while watching this show many years ago when it was very famous amongst the yaoi fangirls. It is the anime that made me realize their brains are full of hay and gave up on the genre altogether. It’s just too nauseating with no bloody payback! I mean just look at the people who made this. Animated by J.C. Staff, which translates to retarded fan service. Directed by Kou Yuu who has made equally bad gay anime, plus Chrono Crusade and Familiar of Zero which despite their hype and not being gay are still bad for pacing reasons.

And now that we know it’s going to be bad, let’s get a bit more into the story. Or the crumbs of story it has. First of all the setting makes no bloody sense and they never tried to explain it; you just need to accept it as it is. Which doesn’t sound like much of a problem but trust me in this particular case it’s a major downer. Ok, check this out, virgins in the series have cat ears. And when they stop being virgins, those ears drop. WHY IS THAT? Beats me, for all I care it’s just an excuse to throw in cute animal ears on people and to be able to tell who still has his or her cherry intact by just looking at his head. And did I notice an elementary kid in the background with no ears at a certain point? That’s just…
EWWW!

So what else is there in this setting besides being impossible to hide you are still untouched? Oh, but of course, being gay is so normal to the point your own relative’s lover comes to take a taste out of you too like it’s a normal thing to do. Man, I am telling you the moral standards in this world are so loose.

So this super hot gay dude comes to the OBVIOUSLY VIRGIN protagonist and tells him the following.
“I used to be your brother’s partner in war (and OBVIOUSLY bed too) but now he got killed, so the logical thing to do is to come after you, so you will be my new partner.”
Another thing the setting never bothered to explain if the laws in this place really work like that. I mean everything else looks pretty standard but then WHAM these things come out of nowhere.

So the protagonist and his new… partner are to investigate how his brother got killed. He also has to deal with the whole depression issue over his death and to start trusting people again. You know; opening up. Getting closer. Hugging. Kissing. And having sex with your brother’s gay lover. And surely, this other dude seems more interested in that than to reveal the truth of the brother’s death. He even comes out and says it to his face.
“I am sooo gonna take away those ears of yours my little love toy.”
EWWWWWWW!

So at first it appears to be a story about getting over your sadness, trusting people, exposing the ones who are responsible for your brother’s death, as well as losing your innocence to a gay dude. Sounds like a lot of stuff, right? Guess how many of those issues are resolved by the end of the show. NONE! ZERO! Nothing happens! You get 12 episodes of nothing but a deviant build up which results to freaking nothing! AND THEY CALL THIS A MASTERPIECE!

What the devil is there to like in this show? The production values? They are barely average. The story? Not only it lacks exposition to its own in-laws, but it also has no conclusion. The characters? They don’t develop in any way and are quite the gay uke/seme stereotypes. Plus, I find nothing cute in people with dog ears; especially when said dog ears sprout on top of their scull and above an already normal pair of ears. THAT IS DISGUSTING! And so is butt-sex. Which doesn’t even occur in this show so I see no reason why the fujoshis like it so much.

In other words, there is nothing to love in this show, hence the title. I am losing faith in humanity every time I witness the crap that sell and give birth to even worse crap. It is a terrible show I do not recommend to anyone. Besides of course those retarded women who get their thingies wet by looking at mutated dog ears sprouting out of their sculls.
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

I mean, really, what do those fujoshis find erotic in expecting to see an underraged boy being ass-raped by the gay lover of its own brother and having his own mutant ears cut off? And yet not even getting that by the end of the show and still liking it!
“THESE PEOPLE NEED THERAPY AND MEDICATION FAST!”

And now for some excused scorings.
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Animation
The animation in Loveless is of a good quality. It is not choppy or awkward and what I think very important: it is not sloppy. I have seen some anime with pretty characters screwed up by animation. (out of proportion faces, weird eye placements etc) Loveless has a few flaws but nothing serious. Very smooth and nice to look at. The whole anime is a tad foggy, very smooth backgrounds. The digital part of the animation is also very nice. The butterflies are really good.

Sound
I love the ending theme. It sounds so sad and the lyrics are so fitting. The opening theme is quite heavy for an anime this sad, but somehow it all fits. The background music in the anime is not really special, but there is one song that caught my attention. It is like an opera song, really suits the anime.

Story
This is where it is all about. Really nice story. Ritsuka's brother died leaving Ritsuka with his [/i]Fighter[/i]: Soubi. Actually the whole story is about Ritsuka, who is traumatized by the lost of his brother. It shows how he recovers because of the influence his friends have on him. Relationships between a Fighter and a Sacrifice (Soubi and Ritsuka respectively) require trust and love, two things Ritsuka did not have. The anime shows how Ritsuka learns to trust and love. However the story is a bit vague, especially the last episode... There is a clear line leading to the end, but the development is kinda slow.

Character
Pretty boys everywhere! That is what shounen-ai is about, right?
Aoyagi Ritsuka - Although he is in the beginning an very cold child he slowly becomes more free and nice to the world around him. He looks really cute.
Agatsuma Soubi - He used to be the fighter of Ritsuka's brother, but because he was ordered he became Ritsuka's fighter, friend and even a hint of lover... He steals the show. He is so handsome and that is an understatement....
These two characters are actually the only two you really get to know. The others just circle around them and there is no real indepth information on other characters. The information you get about Ritsuka and Soubi also is not very complete, but we can live with that...

Value
I just started rewatching Loveless a few days ago. Although I know what is going to happen it still keeps me watching. (not to mention, scream everytime Soubi looks cool) And it is just 12 episodes, so you can start in the morning and finish it the same day and do it over the next day and the next day ofcourse.

Enjoyment
Very enjoyable. Although it is actually a very sad story, the way it is presented makes it fun to watch. While watching the anime self, you won't really get gloomy or depressed, because there are also a lot of fun scenes and of course we have Soubi.

Animation/Sound: I found it both enjoyable to watch and listen to. The characters and scenes were generally well drawn and I didn't notice any glaring inconsistencies.

Story: The general story line was good, and I found the characters believable and worth 'caring' for. As with much anime/manga, the conclusion doesn't really answer much about the 'action' story arc, after all it's just window dressing for the personal conflict of the main character(s). The 'personal' arc does conclude but I personally found it abrupt, almost feeling like they ran out of money and had to stop it quick (I'm not saying anything of the sort, it just felt that way when I watched it).

Enjoyment: I've got to say that I really enjoyed this. I sat and watched all the episodes straight through. I have no knowledge of the manga, so I can't comment on how they compare for story arc, etc.

Animation: The animation in the show imitates the mangaka's style almost perfectly (sometimes it even looks better than her own art). The animation is not spectacular, but still very good. All the digital effects (and there are many) are integrated well. This anime uses a lot of colour/lighting effects to give it a slightly eerie feel, particularly in the opening song. The colours are simply gorgeous and the lighting nearly always reflects the mood of the scene.
I'm a big fan of the mangaka's style, and they did a good job with. It’s not the best around but definitely very high level.

Sound: The soundtrack for an anime can make or break the series for me, and this one wasn't anything special.
The music in the series is wasn't bad, but it’s definitely not my favourite. The opening and ending song are mildly catchy, but still have a sad tone that reflects the show well. The music in the upbeat scenes is a little strange, but it gets the point across. What I didn't like is that the music in the show is recycled a lot from scene to scene. Every time they need a mood of "danger" or "sadness" the same music is used.
Nothing stood out to be as great except the theme song for the fighters "zero" (the second pair named zero to come along). When they kiss on the train, the background music was so beautiful and eerie.
The voice actors did a good job. I particularly like Ritsuka’s voice; he expresses his range of emotions really well.

Story: This is where this series shines amidst other shounen-ai animes. The story is sad and beautiful. It deals with relationships between fighters and sacrifices, as well as friendship and family.
The main character Ritsuka is severely untrusting after his brother has died (of mysterious causes) and the show focuses on him as he learns to trust once again.
The relationship between Soubi and Ritsuka is very cute (for all the fangirls out there). But it’s not all shallow (fluffy) as Ritsuka is constantly torn between his mistrust and concern for Soubi.
The series has a very interesting psychological aspect. It dabbles lightly in split-personalities, as well as the effect of abuse on Ritsuka and his ability to trust strangers.
The story is a bit confusing in the beginning, which serves to reflect Ritsuka's feelings of confusion when his world is turned upside down.
Basically, this series is a dark one. There is much angst and sadness and it’s played out beautifully.

My only dislike about the series is that we never really learn about the background of people, and what's exactly going on.
The ending, one of the most important aspect of a story, was very dissapointing. The last episode not only did not deliver any answers to the hanging questions but it created new ones. The ending was rather anti-climatic and gave no sense of closure. All this was obviously intentional as the last episode is called "endless" and finishes off by posing a question about the future of the characters.
I would more displeased if this was a longer series, but its very short and thus most viewers arn't as engrossed in it as they would be a 26+ episode series. When viewing Loveless, I'd suggest treating it like an OVA. The anime doesn't deliver a whole story, more illustrates a portion of one. It encourages you to continue the story by purchasing the manga.
Despite the bad ending, the overall plot of the series is still terribly interesting. I wouldn't suggest avoiding Loveless just because of the sub-par ending because it's still very enjoyable.

Character: Very rarely do I encounter a series where I like every character. At first glance I expected to hate Yuiko but she quickly grew on me. We don't learn much about the background of anyone (considering it’s a 12 episode series) but we get to see Ritsuka's character grow through the episodes. Yuiko also has a bit of character development.
The characters all have very distinct personalities though they aren’t very well rounded, but they're all likeable in their own way. I enjoy the brief experiences with each of them and it makes me want to know more about them.

Value: If you like psychological animes, especially sad ones then this is a good choice. It’s certainly unique, both in animation and in plot. It’s extremely character oriented, so don't expect too much action (the fight scenes are rather abstract). The story is very emotional, it encourages you to become attached to the characters and react when something happens to them. If you're looking for something that's not fluffy, but not too involved either (it’s a pretty easy watch, as well as its only 12 episodes) this is a good anime to see.

Enjoyment: I loved this anime. I'm a sucker for sad stories, and Ritsuka and Soubi are so very amusing together. The story is entertaining (I never got bored) and easy to follow, I'll definitely watch it again and again.