I'm not really a fan of neither of super lovers or loveless. But seeing how this one is on hiatus and the other one is still going got me thinking.. both have the same controversial thematic yet people accept the other one. Like imho loveless at least has a deep story with complex lore, while the other in the manga there's this constant teasing of the seme wanting to f him like it's way more explicit yet it's accepted wtf.

Like child abuse, raped etc. It's mostly more depressing than those yaois.


... Last updated on August 21st, 2016, 7:10am

Edit: Removed and rewritten to a higher standard of quality!

Loveless was my first shounen-ai anime and later manga, and what principally captured my interest in the series was the gloomy atmosphere, the tantalizing scent of a mystery needing solving, and, of course, the boys kissing. And on those levels, Loveless succeeds – it has a unique premise, and the story is woven with suspense and undertones of soft horror. Oh, and the boys kiss. A lot. Throw in a tragic yet very likeable and well-developed protagonist and unique, beautiful artwork, and you must come out with a masterpiece, right?

Weeeeell…

Let me start by praising what Loveless does right – because it does a lot right. First of all, Ritsuka. He’s a beautifully developed character and so engaging as a protagonist that half the time I think of this manga, I regret dropping it by virtue of him alone. Moody, tortured, but fiercely loveable, Ritsuka is a character you can’t help but root for, especially when he’s thrown into the sordid world Kouga’s created. His horrific home situation fosters his cool, dismissive attitude toward others, and yet it’s very clear that he’s hurting inside. He’s an angsty character who doesn’t wallow in angst despite having every right to, and it’s his unsteady perseverance in the face of trauma, I think, that hooks us and draws us to him. His is a struggle that is both relatable and endlessly sympathetic.

Another point in Loveless’s favor: Cat ears as a moe representation of one’s virginity? Brilliant! But why doesn’t the author do more with this? There’s so much potential for story and social commentary. With a premise like that, you’d think sexuality would be front and center of this series, but… it’s not. It’s there, certainly, but it isn’t nearly as prominent as I feel justifies the premise. In fact, you could take away the cat ears entirely, and the story wouldn’t be altered in any great way.

The artwork is also superb – lots of blacks and whites for dramatic effect, and it’s deliciously rich in detail. Kouga doesn’t always endear me with her artwork, but here, it really sets the tone of the story and works well with the murky narrative it’s conveying.

Now let’s talk about the not-so-good side of Loveless – the loveless side of it, if you will, and the reason I dropped it (aside from its endless hiatuses). I’m just going to say it outright – it’s the romance between Ritsuka and Soubi. Now, before you label me a prude and burn me at the stake, please at least hear me out. I have no issue with depictions of taboo relationships – incest, underage, what have you. In fact, I find them fascinating. And the relationship between Ritsuka and Soubi is fascinating. But for god’s sake, Kouga, stop trying to portray it like it’s some healthy kind of attraction!

Ritsuka is twelve. He may be a very mature twelve-year-old, but he’s still a twelve-year-old kid. Soubi is a twenty-year-old university student with a clear masochistic sexual preference, which he then forces onto said twelve-year-old. That, Ms. Kouga, is not how a healthy relationship starts. And Ritsuka doesn’t seem to think so, either. Early on in the series, he vehemently rejects Soubi’s advances. As time wears on, so does he, and he becomes increasingly more receptive toward them. This is an excellent portrayal of the erosive nature of Stockholm syndrome, and I love it. But again, that is not a healthy relationship. And yet in spite of all that, Kouga seems determined to show that Ritsuka and Soubi’s bond is a romantic, pure one. And I have a sinking feeling she’s going to make them “official couple” material by the end of the story.

It isn’t the nature of the relationship that bothers me – as I said before, I love it. I find it fascinating, psychological, and beautifully destructive. What I hate, and what prompted me to drop the series, was Kouga’s increasingly positive portrayal and normalization of the relationship. I’ll admit, I loved it when I was a teen. I didn’t care about the age gap, especially since I was so much closer to Ritsuka in age. Now that I’m closer to Soubi in age, though, I find the whole thing incredibly disturbing. And while it’s a wonderful thing to be disturbed by literature, it’s not so wonderful to have teenagers tripping over themselves to declare that this is true love, that child predation is romantic when it’s committed by a handsome guy, and that they, perhaps, should also strive for similar “romantic” encounters. Far be it from me to be a moral watchdog or someone who screams, “Think about the children!” at passing politicians, but Kouga’s sugarcoating strikes an off note to me even outside that context. If I were diving into this series now for the first time, I wouldn’t be expecting a fluffy shoujo boy-meets-girl (or in this case, boy-meets-boy) affair; I would expect a more mature look at the cruelty and obsession found in a relationship between a broken child and an even more damaged adult. And unfortunately, on that point, Kouga just doesn’t deliver. In fact, she actively subverts it, and that’s what I find difficult to enjoy.

All that considered, the series is far from god-awful, and I’d certainly recommend it for its other psychological assets. I might even pick it up again once (if) it finishes, just to see how everything washes out. For now, though, I’ll give it a 6/10 and leave it in its cozy spot on the “dropped” list.

Personally, I love the series (In fact its my all time favorite). It takes an interesting perspective on fate. Often, fate is thought of perfect and bringing to people together and love forever, and so on. But in this manga, the main character, Ritsuka does not want to be controlled by fate and wants to decide his own destiny. I like the act that words are used so precisely as spells and Ritsuka believes there is meaning to words, and they aren't things to be thrown around. There is a wide variety of character personalities, and each of them with their relatable characteristics and backstories. It is interesting that the manga shows all the different characters definition of love. The plot is rather complex, which by all means is not a bad thing. It is nice to see there isn't a real villain at first, and even as the plot develops, you can identify that there are definitely people doing bad things, but nobody is completely evil it seems. Every time you read the series, or reread it (Which I have done time and time again), you notice something different. Every person who reads it notices something different. All in all, it is incredible and you should at least take a look at it

when you start reading, it seems like this manga has a super complex plot that will slowly unravel. But it didn't take long for me to realize that the mangaka has no idea what shis doing, and she's basically making stuff up as she goes along.

We have no explanation what so ever about the special school, the powers or the fights.

The part about his brother is going absolutely nowhere.

Ritsuka's relationship with Soubi is basically nonexistent. Soubi is still in love with Ritsuka's brother and Ritsuka is a 12 year old who's clearly not interested in dating anyone, men or women, and specially not super creepy masochist stalker dudes.

Maybe all the fuss is because of the cat ears thing? We won't see Ritsuka loosing them in this manga, that's for sure. Te mangaka won't have time for that with all the plot holes she has to fix.

Also, she said once that started this manga because she wanted to draw pretty boys, thus the lack of plot. She also said that won't draw sex scenes. Then why make it shounen-ai? The story could have worked better without the (almost) gay parts. And she could make a side story to show Soubi's creepy pedo stalker shota complex tendencies or whatever.

The only strong point in my opinion is that the art is pretty.

Beware! This story is not your sweet, easy going story. It is dark. You´ve been warned! The story is deep and there is a lot of angst in it, but it is skillfully created and you might find yourself falling in love with it. The characters are really deep and entrancing. The illustrations are GREAT! I particularly love the ear thing ( It is SO cute!!!). The naïveté of the characters is really refreshing, as is their way of hoping for the best when everything suggest the worse.

The story has a lot of twists and turns and is not so easy to follow, but it is certainly worth your time!!!

Like many of the others, I have watched the anime a while back and was left unsatisfied. I never thought about reading the manga further because I didn't think I would like it, but I was glad I picked up the manga. Obviously, don't be deceive by the 'cute' artwork and the young characters into thinking that this is something light and fluffy for the younger audience. The story is dark and deals with issues such as child abuse, torture, violence, and even rape. It also contains a lot of provocative elements (or hints of) such as incest and pedophile.

The two main characters, Ritsuka and Soubi are emotionally scars from abuse during their childhood. Their complex relationship is heavy with sexual tension, which might be disturbing to some due to Ritsuka being only 12. For someone as young as Ritsuka, he seems pretty mature and are often commented by other characters as liken to an 'old man'.

As a reviewer from Amazon said, this manga is like Hamlet by way of My Own Private Idaho, with a touch of Pokemon. It's a bit of an acquire taste but definitely not for the young, faint hearted, or close minded.

I love very much that manga I discovered first through the anime.
I started to read it in French but after two volumes I turned to the English edition, as the French one isn't well translated, and the pages are cut too narrow.
But! I read the publisher TokyoPop stopped its activity, which explains I guess why I'm still waiting for volume 9... Do anybody know if the English version will be going on with another publisher, or do I have to turn back to the French version to know what follows...? LOL

I watched the anime first and hated it(could they have left more loose strings?). I heard that the manga was much better, so I read everything which had been released and I continue to follow it. I don't hate it(or else I wouldn't continue to read it), but I don't quite understand the buzz either. The story is decent. The characters often feel like they are coming from a manga geared toward kids, but the subject matter does not align with that. The whole thing feels kind of shallow, grasping desperately for depth while simultaneously not making any effort at all. It's almost impressive.

I am not convinced this is shounen-ai at all. There are some relationships within it which are, perhaps, but I don't really know about Soubi and Ritsu. I really don't feel as though Ritsu has those feelings for Soubi. So, if that is what you're looking for, you may be disappointed. You can read it however you want though. Maybe if I were 15 years younger, I would read it differently.

Overall, though, I find it readable. For some reason I do want to know what happens next and how(if?) the various relationships within it develop.

So far...
My favourite thing about the manga has to be the fighting style. It's just so very, very interesting, the way attacking and defending relies on words, belief in those words, and the ability to twist them. It's fantastic.
The other thing I like is the relationship between Ritsuka and Soubi. It's quite different from the type of relationships that I normally like, but it's just as interesting. Usually, I go for the relationships in which the characters are working both with and against each other, and both being (for lack of a better way of putting it) in control. And I don't mean 'of each other', but of the situation in general; pairings I usually like are ones between the people (plural) who are calling the shots. Soubi and Ritsuka, while they're still (kind of) working with and against each other, are decidedly not in control of the situation and are really quite clueless. It's almost bizarre how different this makes everything.
Other than that...
The art gets a thumbs up from me, but I'm not sure how long the plot will be able to hold my attention for. It's looking pretty bland. (...um, I'm kind of harsh on plot. I think people disagree with me on that.)