Loveless is a manga created by Kouga Yun — it has been serialized in monthly magazine Zero Sum since 2002 and is still ongoing. Loveless has been compiled into 7 volumes in Japan up to now and a highly anticipated 12 episode anime adaptation aired on Japanese TV from April to June in 2005. Several Loveless drama CD’s have also been released in Japan. Tokyopop has licensed the manga since September 2005 and until now, 6 volumes have been published outside Japan by said company.
Loveless belongs to the shoujo manga genre with an underlying shounen-ai hint. This means that it is targeted at a general female audience that doesn’t mind the story’s main relationship (which is not necessarily love-based in this case) involving two male characters. The art of Loveless is beautiful and inventively classic. Together with a charismatic storyline and alternate universe setting, this results in an enchantingly wonderful narrative.
Loveless’ story is based on the here and now, in our era where mobile phones, computers and video games are common practice. The story is set in an alternate world where human individuals are born with cat ears and tails, which they lose once they enter the adult phase of life. To just get straight to the point, even though it is nowhere explicitly mentioned throughout the manga, the cat ears and tails are symbolic for an individual’s virginity. This trademark attaches a bold revelation towards others of a matter that most people in today’s society still regard as private.
The story starts when protagonist Aoyugi Ritsuka transfers to the sixth grade of Yono Jounan elementary school. This is not the first time Ritsuka has changed schools. He has gone through troubled times ever since his older brother, Aoyugi Seimei, passed away two years prior. Ritsuka’s personality has completely changed since then; he is closed, cold, distant and doesn’t show any intention of bonding with his peers. After the first day at his new school, he stumbles upon a guy at the school gates. This man, Agatsuma Soubi, claims that he is Seimei’s friend. Ritsuka, ever moved by hearing his beloved brother’s name, immediately feels an attachment towards the stranger. Ritsuka learns that Soubi is a Fighter, one who engages in spell battles and uses the power of poetry as means of attack and defense. And that apparently, an organization called the Seven Moons killed his brother. Together with Soubi, he sets out on a search to unravel the mysteries surrounding Seimei’s death.
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CHARACTERS
An introduction to some of the prominent characters that appear in Loveless, Soubi excluded.
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THEME
A guess at the intention and characterizations of the series in the larger picture frame of story telling.
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