Loveless Volumes 1-3

Loveless Volumes 1-3

By: Yun Kouga
Reviewed by: gothiclolitamaiden, 15
Rating: It was alright...


“When 12-year-old Ritsuka discovers a message from his brother Seimei that he was murdered, Ritsuka joins forces with Soubi to find Seimei's killer and uncover the truth.”

This manga is my first true shonen-ai manga, and I really didn’t know what to expect. My initial impression of the first volume wasn’t very good, but the second volume improved slightly, so I think that I may end up liking my first shonen-ai manga after all, though there are a few things in Loveless that defy all logic (even though the words manga and logic don’t usually belong together in the same sentence) or are slightly creepy. For starters, I must state that Soubi and Ritsuka’s relationship is just plain disturbing, however you look at it. Ritsuka is a sixth grader, only twelve, and Soubi is twenty-something. It might have been a little less creepy if Ritsuka was at least in middle school, if not high school. I must also point out that few of the characters look or act their age. Yuiko looks like a high school age girl, but acts much younger, Ritsuka looks and acts a bit like a middle school age boy one moment, and like a small child the next. A lot of the character designs frustrate me immensely. In most manga I read I can tell boys and girls apart, but in Loveless it can be difficult or even impossible, especially with some of the younger characters. In general, manga character designs are sort of androgynous, but while reading Loveless I was utterly bamboozled.

Some of the characters annoy me for various reasons. Soubi is creepy, Ritsuka is an amnesiac emo kid, for starters. There is a little bit of character development going on by the third volume, but not enough for my taste. However, I really enjoyed reading the spell battle scenes. The concept is pretty fresh and original, and captivating as well.

I must admit that the art is very beautiful. Character designs, though they are frustratingly androgynous, are all pretty distinctive.
Though I cannot say that I despised this manga with all my heart, I also cannot say that I loved it with all my heart. There are positive and negative aspects to Loveless, but it will probably only appeal to shonen-ai/yaoi fans (and even the hardcore yaoi fans probably won’t like this one).


Recommended to: Female fans of shonen-ai/yaoi, hardcore fans may not like it. 14+ for some violence and of course for the fact that it is a shonen-ai manga.