Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Loveless: The Complete Series Created By Yun Kouga

Warning: This is a Yaoi review.  It also contains Yuri.  Yaoi is a Japanese Graphic Novel featuring romances between men.  Yuri is the same thing, with romances between women.  They are written by women for women.  They can range from sweet romances to very hot and steamy.  So, if this is not your cup of tea, well, you have been warned!

In a world rather like our Japan there exist people whose children are Kenomomimi, that is, they have the ears and tails of cats.  These are lost at the same time they lose their virginity, so you can tell purity at a glance.  In this world there are mystics, who are bound by true names they share.  Agatsuma Soubi and Aoyagi Seimei are such a couple, named Beloved.  Soubi is the attacker, who follows the orders of his Sacrifice, Seimei.  Seimei is the one who bears the brunt of the pain if Soubi does not defend them.  Some time ago, Seimei was killed.  In the normal course of things, Soubi should have died as well.  Yet he has not.  And he wants Aoyagi Ritsuka's help in avenging his brother's death.  However, he is bound by the same oaths that bind him to the kid, to not reveal a lot of the information.

Aoyagi Ritsuka is a kid with problems.  He is a complete amnesiac with two years worth of experience.  His mother wants her "old" son back, she does things like makes dishes the old Ritsuka hated, and if he doesn't dislike them, she gets very upset.  It is obvious she is mentally unstable.  Sometimes she is abusive.  Seimei was his safety net.  And now he is gone, murdered at Ritsuka's old school.

Worse, here is a link to his brother, but Soubi is a little too...intimate for Ritsuka's taste.  Ritsuka does not trust snap judgments, and resists being told how to feel, a result of his own problems with amnesia.  He cannot trust Soubi's motivations.  Nor are they entirely clear.  Soubi seems to desperately want to be ordered about by this much younger fellow.  It is part and parcel of how the paired magic works.

Seimei was killed by something called Septimal Moon.  Unfortunately Soubi is bound not tell him anything.  It is frustrating.  And his possessive attitude towards the kid tends to make him cranky.  Ritsuka already has trust issues.  Soubi's inability to reveal all just makes matters worse.  It generates a lot of angst, which Japanese women seem to love better than chocolate.

Meanwhile they suffer assault after assault from other pairs; Breathless, Sleepless, Zero, and another Zero (long story there. Second set are a lesbian pair.)  And all the while, each is having to deal with their world.  Ritsuka is adjusting to a new school, new friends, new crushes; Soubi as well.  He is being crushed by his friend Kio, and by Ritzuka's teacher, the virginal Miss Shinonome.  The only rule seems to be if they are not part of a matched pair, if anyone likes anyone else, that person will have a crush on a third person.

The Anime is beautiful, having a soft almost watercolour feel to the palate.  The characters are manga, yes, with big eyes, and cat ears, and long limbs, but they are beautiful.  And the storyline is far more involved than your average school manga, or hero story.  There are depths and subtleties that are rare in an anime.  Of course, then there is the whole slightly creepy story line between Soubi, an adult, as witnessed by his lack of ears, though we do know he is younger than 23, and Ritsuka, who is definitely still a kid.  The Japanese aesthetic might be different on this front, but it is enough to make this slightly uncomfortable for the western audience.

Still, on the whole, there is far more right about this anime making it well worth the watch.
This review, like Ritsuka, is Lean-N-Mean at 666 words exactly.

The Loveless Saga:

Lost and Found
Soul of Chains.
Hope on the Run.
The Complete Saga.

Gay Movies:

La Mission***Burnt Money***8: The Mormon Propo$ition***In The Flesh***The Sensei***The 24th Day***Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon***ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction***East Side Story***Dorian Blues***Creatures From the Pink Lagoon***Satyricon***Ice Men***Richard O'Briens Rocky Horror Tribute Show***Prom Queen***The Kids are All Right***Between Love and Goodbye***The Mudge Boy***That Man: Peter Berlin***A Single Man***Almost Normal***Outing Riley***Outrage!***Law of Desire***Love is the Devil***Cowboy Junction***Horror in the Wind***Bedrooms and Hallways***Cut Sleeve Boys***Big Eden***For A Lost Soldier***Midnight Cowboy***Redwoods***The Massuer***Boy Culture***Breakfast With Scot***The Fluffer***Flesh***Little Ashes***L.I.E. ***Dorian Gray***9 Dead Gay Guys***Shank***I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry***Beautiful Boxer***Bangkok Love Story***Schoolboy Crush***Shelter***Back Soon***Dog Tags***Theft***The Mulligans***The Velvet Goldmine***Swashbuckler***Smoke Signals
***C'Thulhu***Milk***The Picture of Dorian Gray***Brideshead Revisited***Notes on a Scandal***RocknRolla***Mamma Mia!
***Priscillia: Queen of the Desert***The History Boys***Brokeback Mountain***The Broken Hearts Club*** Yaji and Kita: Midnight Pilgrims ***Surge of Power ***In & Out ***Mambo Italiano ***Touch of Pink ***To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar ***Wolves of Kromer ***Rocky Horror Picture Show ***Taboo ***Deathtrap 


Gay Themed Series:

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Dante's Cove
Hex
Carnivale Season One
Carnivale Season Two
Rome Season One
Rome Season Two
True Blood
True Blood: Season Two
The Book of Daniel: The Complete Series
Torchwood: Children of Earth
Torchwood: Season One


Gay Animation:

Pirate's Booty***Sensitive Pornograph***Loveless: The Complete Series***Loveless: Hope on the Run***Loveless: Soul of Chains***Loveless: Lost and Found***Embracing Love: A Cicada in Winter***Embracing Love: Cherished Spring ***Stonewall & Riot***Drawn Together Movie: The Movie***Drawn Together: Season 2***Drawn Together: Season 3

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age