I Read the Loveless Manga So You Don't Have To

[@aidennevada243]

The concept with the ears could be very interesting to explore, but only if the “romance” wasn't so creepy. It could explore the discrimination, how our society is obsessed with sex and sees virginity as either a value or a flaw. But then again what would count as intercourse? How much intimacy is considered "real enough" to lose the ears? And many other aspects. I don’t think I’m good enough of a writer to explore it myself though.

[@CarpettinginMotel.townson]

Definitely good ideas to explore at least

[@imikikat]

i think you're close to getting it! but it's not supposed to be a romance, and it is supposed to be creepy, and it does explore that, it just doesn't spoonfeed it to you (because loveless loves nothing if not being obtuse); loveless is a story about disempowerment, specifically the disempowerment of children-- this is highlighted by a society in which every person has their status as a virgin telegraphed by a visual flag, and people in the story directly, verbally, conflate losing ones ears with being an adult. a specfiic example is in the introduction of the male zeroes and them saying they want to lose their ears to the teacher; this reflects the way that in the real world where children are treated as objects and disempowered the way that they are, children are often eager to grow up in inappropriate ways at a pace that's unhealthy for them which can cause them to sexualize themselves-- it's a power-seeking behaviour, they want to shed their status as children because of the way children are reviled in the way they're treated, even if we as a society pretend to be very wrapped up in protecting them (usually in ways that disempower them; see the tiktok ban and the things happening in states where bills are being floated to require children get permission slips to use nicknames in school). the level of intimacy required to lose the ears is never addressed though as i don't think it's really relevant to the stories themes, but it's certainly something you could speculate on considering the lesbian zeroes presumably lost their ears to each other. (side note: one of the things that drives me up the wall when people talk about the series is when people say it "would be good/interesting without the age gap" because the age gap is fundamental to the way the story works in exploring the way society treats children as objects, and it also sort of implies that the person who says that WOULD in theory ship soubi and ritsuka without the age gap which is like. yikes because their relationship is um..... bad for other reasons LOL. without the age gap it would be telling a completely different story or muddling its own themes. it's not a romance! the authour said it's not a romance, though she acknowledged that her fans seem to think it is, haha. i think this message is muddled a bit in the US release because it was for some reason ADVERTISED as romance which is like. guys. come on. but this was later changed to fantasy and psychological iirc LMAO)

[@jameelagill5408]

@@imikikat If the author never intended for it to be a romance, then they're doing a really bad job of showcasing that. From the cover art, to the sparkles and romance flair around the kiss scenes, to the fact that the grown adult is a main character we're supposed to feel sympathy for, everything points to the author intending this to be read as romantic.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

bruh have you seen anime an read manga before everything is shippable all of BB is just daring people to draw Sebby ramming one the Phantomhive children but that never happens @@jameelagill5408

[@marocat4749]

@@imikikat Yeah, but then, it should do more to explore that?!

[@AmberStallion]

I feel so validated getting confirmation that the spirit battles just....never made any sense or had any purpose.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

do fights in shows a lot of the time ever have much reasoning Black Butler has no reason to have any fight scenes at all when the whole plot is just child abuse that fighting is just there

[@AmberStallion]

@@senritsujumpsuit6021 Black Butler is more simple: Ciel is investigating something either because he was ordered to, or for his own sake. There's usually something bigger behind the scenes, sometimes independently bad, sometimes connected to Ciel's past. They face opposition, then the fights start. It's far more understandable why they get into fights. The problem with Loveless is that I never figured out why the school existed in the first place. And if the school has no higher goal...it makes the abuse Soubi faced as a child because he was trained as a "blank fighter" infinitely worse. Like...there was zero reason for it. You could get away I guess with the power system being confusing (just feels like lazy writing). But not having a clear goal for why the school and fight system exists in the first place just makes me wonder "Why did ANY of this happen?"

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

look at big shonen series its far more nonsense you either get hype over or just half skip it for the rest of the series like does anyone get what the hell makes DBZ, Naruto an Bleach even work all I see is fuk you beams of death @@AmberStallion

[@tallyjones8917]

@@AmberStallion 😭 bro you’re being too kind, this person is a troll commenting all over here bringing up Black Butler

[@AmberStallion]

@tallyjones8917 lol I had no idea 😆 Thank you though, tells me I don't have to put in effort for another response 😀

[@HelenaIsis616]

This series is the definition of “writer’s barely disguised f*tish”…

[@rr.aionama]

I wouldn't say that. It's not even disguised. More like "author's fetish that they try to claim is normal"

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

THAT IS BLACK BUTLER AS WELL ARE YOU ALL REALLY THAT DENSE half of the panels is Sebby an inch away from fuking Ciel we enjoy it anyway

[@j4shinism]

​​@@senritsujumpsuit6021You've been in the comments for days. Touch grass.

[@tallyjones8917]

@@senritsujumpsuit6021who is we??? Why are you just outing yourself like this? Secrets are fun, you should have some.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

bruh the hell have is got you so pissed over someone online mentioning the fact all of these BB fans who simp the demon who touches up a child in order eat him but shit on other media for doing any of same stuff yull wonder why people hate manga an anime fandoms@@tallyjones8917

[@ShelbyPost]

I know the manga was ALWAYS darker, but Jesus, this is next level messed up

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

an somehow Black Butler is not brainrot moment this youtueber has become over the years

[@childeofepickness]

@@senritsujumpsuit6021what is bro yappin about 🤨

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

you mean that to me or them since am just pointing out how BB is messed BB 2 has a core theme being exploiting a lonely child who has been R worded before let Alois be at peace come on @@childeofepickness​

[@j4shinism]

​@@childeofepicknessThis person has been replying to people in the comments for DAYS. Ignore them.

[@iAstra]

​@@senritsujumpsuit6021 Have you even read Black Butler? It's not at all like that. You could argue the first anime is like that, but the manga is not at all. I even remember reading the manga and being so pleasantly surprised that Ciel and Sebastian's relationship truly was two people who tolerate each other for their own goal and take every chance they get to mock each other. Any concern Ciel shows for Sebastian is for his own interest and as soon as Ciel faltered in his resolve, Sebastian was ready to call it quits and eat his soul.

[@WitchKat]

Yeahhhh... the story was somewhat made up as it went along, in that the author said that they came up with the aesthetic first and then came up with a story for the characters. It's in the author notes in the manga volumes. Basically, they drew a gloomy catboy and liked them so much they started doodling them a lot. Menhera kei was really big at the time and getting bigger- it's a fashion aesthetic that's basically someone looking gloomy while being lightly 'injured', sometimes with fake blood and either bandages and an overall 'patient' look or a nurse uniform outfit. It's basically 'if medical malpractice was a fashion'. So the author draws this gloomy sort of menhera catboy, decides to turn him into a character, decides they like the idea of it being a cat person society but doesn't like how the ears look on their adult characters so decides only kids and a handful of adults who it works for will have cat ears. Virginity seemed like an easy way to arbitrarily let kids, most teens, and only some adult characters have the ears, so they go with that. They'd been drawing a lot of chains recently in their art, and the whole 'chained and collered cat boy' thing looked cool in their art, so they decided to make it part of their story. With these ingredients (menhera, catpeople who loose their ears when they become 'adults', and chains/restraints popping up For The Aesthetic ) they started making a self indulgent little comic for themselves that got dark and edgy really fast but also tried to actually address the dark stuff in it. They were more invested in the characters and the drama than moving the story along plotwise, because the storyline was kinda a vehicle for the character drama in the first place. Then the story blew up. But yeah. That's why the manga is Like That.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

I love that I like to think that is the same way BB was born drew sad rich asshole no one should call a good person an oh look a book

[@Cat.teeth1710]

menhera is from the mid-late 10 lol

[@squirrel670]

Going by aesthetics would explain everything. Probably even why they don't just beat each other up

[@WitchKat]

@blablablablablibla i didn't want to turn this into a fashion history thing, but what would become the menhera aesthetic was already a thing in art and fashion there. I could break down art and fashion influences and do a whole report, but honestly that's a bit too much work for a quick KZbin comment where the point was "hey this is an early example of the X aesthetic, look up X and this will make more sense."

[@sssryzor4646]

that makes so much sense honestly, I bet the manga isn't finished (and probably won't ever be) because mangaka just doesn't know what to do with the plot

[@deepseastonecore3017]

What if a triclops and a cyclops have a kids, for the kid only have two eyes

[@strawberryjam6235]

Or they'd have 5

[@angel2.077]

​@@strawberryjam6235 How would it be 5??? Tri means 3, and a cyclops has 1 eye, so it would be 4 eyes

[@strawberryjam6235]

@angel2.077 I'm such an idiot I saw cyclops and thought two for some reason

[@NegaHumanX]

@@strawberryjam6235 I thought the same thing.

[@marymccann3500]

Yes but they'd be aligned vertically, aka one over the other, not horizontally like normal humans.

[@yoseiisindahouse]

idk if "but its SUPPOSED to be dark" really holds up when the panels of them kissing with tongue are drawn so sensually :/

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

Black Butler has like 300 panels of Ciel half naked an covered in blood an other stuff yet tongue is the only bad thing wow

[@insomniacraccoon]

@@senritsujumpsuit6021 dude we get it. you love defending the creepy catboy manga. black butler is creepy as hell too.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

why are you not pissed at Negative then for defending Ciel being exploited all the time for the sake of fictional media manga then am a bastard for speaking about Loveless without calling it shit lol @@insomniacraccoon​

[@СофияВихарева-ц2к]

​@@senritsujumpsuit6021I read Black Butler when I was pretty young, around 11 and p*do shit always was weird to me, to this day I can't put Black Butler anywhere near my top 50 because of this, and yes I feel bad for Ciel, for being sexualized by an adult ass women, same with Loveless. So stop your yapping.

[@tallyjones8917]

@@senritsujumpsuit6021are you manic???

[@linkhs]

This video reminds me of the time my dad told me he finished the Twilight saga books because he was interested in the politics between the werewolves and vampires. Some creators have really cool concepts and then they don't go anywhere with them.

[@princeapoopoo5787]

your dad is so relatable

[@toolatetothestory]

Honestly, the story of basically a guy who is just empty and broken due to the death of his ex, who isn't actually dead but evil, but still honors the evil guys supposedly "last" request, has solid potential. Need to borrow that some time. Because it would be a shame to waste that kind of potential.

[@Rivera_Olga]

He isn't honoring his "ex's last request", he was commanded. Later they explain that if a fighter doesn't follow a command they're gonna bleed, literally.

[@NegaHumanX]

If you make it a period piece you could have them be a lord and a samurai with a behind the scenes relationship. Maybe the lord fakes his death in a bid for power and the samurai becomes a quasi-ronin to avenge him only for the lord to reveal themself years later. Now the lord wants his samurai back, but he's conflicted between his old love and new allies who would be hurt by the lords plans.

[@marocat4749]

@@NegaHumanX It could any, prerson figues their lover whom they defend with the group they nevver could do that , gets exposed being pretty evil secretly. Its not that rare honestly. well done not that often possibly , and its interesting, but not groundbreaking.

[@bluemoori]

Exactly what i was thinking

[@SheWannaVamp]

@@NegaHumanX permission to use this?

[@PocketLeaves]

This is so real. I've read all the chapters that are out, and they're still setting up new things in volume 13, with no pay off or resolve, which is wild considering it was supposed to end at volume 15. It's like a bunch of different elements that have so much potential, but it's thrown together in a soup that's been left to simmer and never served. Not surprised the manga has been left unfinished by the author.

[@platinum_noelle]

pretty sure the mangaka got bored of making it, because she was making things up as she went and never really had a plan for the story in the first place.

[@compassrose1466]

@@platinum_noelletbh that’s usually how it goes. It makes me wonder what the original plan was? Because it concerns me where it was going..

[@ReptarKingOfMeat]

I've never touched this series (manga or anime) until your videos. The catboy yaoibait designs just didn't appeal to me to even read the synopsis. Throughout both videos I was just thinking "this story kinda sucks". Nostalgia is one helluva drug.

[@cloudstrife4534]

Man, Twitter is a hellscape. I still use it, but it can be Real Bad, and most of the replies to your tweet are great examples. Condescending and hypocritically holier than thou about a video they hadn’t even watched yet. It seems more like cope on their part than anything. Yes, the dark subject matter in Loveless is intentional. Does that mean it shouldn’t be talked about? No. It should still be talked about. Alois’ backstory in Black Butler S2 was clearly written to be horrifying and traumatic, but people still talked about it and criticized the way it was handled. The same can be done to Loveless. Just because the themes are intentionally dark and disturbing doesn’t mean it was automatically done flawlessly. The way they talk reminds me of people that claim something is satirical as a way of saying it should be beyond criticism. Because clearly, if the point of something is to be dark, you must be missing the point to even mention it/j I swear, some people’s media literacy and critical thinking skills are terrible. And they had the audacity to claim Loveless and it’s themes were “above” YOUR critical thinking level while demonstrating that their’s was so low it’s underground. Dark themes can and should be criticized. Nothing is above criticism or discussion. I appreciate you for making these videos. They’re both entertaining and thoughtful.

[@localforestwitch7215]

Honestly, dark themes SHOULD be talked about and understood - if you write a story including those themes but it's not talked about or explored then it's just.. Disrespectful, the fact that folks don't want to talk about it is just... Sad

[@nikki4803]

There is nothing wrong with featuring dark topics in a story. It's how they're present that decides whether it's a problem or not. Most of the people on Twitter sounded like they'd probably end their responses with "If you don't like it, don't read/watch it" as if they were talking about any other piece of media that was actually normal. The problem with Loveless is how the age gap and grooming are romanticized to hell. Idc if it's fiction. I would have no problem with their relationship in terms of being a part of a story if it was actually portrayed as what it is: Toxic, manipulative, abusive, and DANGEROUS.

[@izayoi2006]

The ironic thing with Twitter is that for more modern fandoms these themes would have been burned in the stake. Any problematic ship or story is toxic and you should only support kid friendly themes. But for older fandoms the same people will die to make a million excuses as to why their nostalgia can’t be criticized.

[@NegaHumanX]

I find that fan-backlash is always way more intense when the manga/anime was someones fetish growing up. Especially around that late 90s early 2000s sweet spot.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

then why are you not posting this comment on every Black butler video like Negative has made before that whole show is characters being weird to a 13 year old CIel is half naked so often @@nikki4803

[@Lechgang]

Those people on Twitter were WAAAAAAAAY too quick to defend this thing. Someone please remove their nostalgia goggles for them.

[@peachesandcream22]

If something pisses off Twitter, then you were right since the beginning :D

[@sanecatlady]

I thought they would condemn this anime/manga. Twitter has surprised me for once 😅

[@Inconstructionmaybe-x5v]

​@peachesandcream22 Nah some yall are jerks.

[@Inconstructionmaybe-x5v]

​@@sanecatladyHow?.

[@dragonmage7980]

What’s terrifying is that I read this manga at 14 and loved it. I’m now 30, and looking back it makes me sick to my stomach to know that if I had met a hot 20 year old who tried to groom me back then, I’d have 100% fallen for it because this manga paints that kind of relationship as okay.

[@Randompersonnumber3]

You got farther into the manga than I did. The last thing I remembered was the lesbians (who I really liked them) but I just could not care about the main story. It was too much of a depressing slog.

[@anil234ify]

Man this is genuinely so different from the anime??? Im kind of baffled that the people in charge of the anime thought that the appeal of the story was the romantic(?) Implications of the adult/minor relationship. The fact that they went out of their way to amp up romance typical tropes between the main characters is insane. Like the manga's story being more about choosing the people you love and grappling with relationships that are toxic but still create moments of happiness is way more compelling

[@user-kx5en8dg7u]

the only thing the anime and the manga have in common is the cat ears

[@plutototoh]

God I remember this series. As a kid SO much of it went over my head in favor of that classic Magic Mystery Older Person Guarding The Chosen Kid surface stuff. This series was incredibly creepy, though. 😬

[@meh4294]

I've been on Twitter, and oh my people were defending this manga ,even took your joke as you disrespecting/dismissing authors mental health,like dam is this really worth defending????

[@faeb.9618]

twitter????? defended this?????????? after they chased the creator of the coffin of andy and leyley off the internet????????????? hello?????

[@Red-qz5ry]

Well some people on twitter said negative legend doxxed them with how he show their usernames.

[@mayaha200]

Lol twitter will defend any trashy story they can find and somehow will accuse you of being the bad guy for making sense and logical thinking. God forbid they can't stand logical thinking 😂

[@jamiec64]

​@@faeb.9618im pretty sure those are 2 completely different groups of people. the ppl that defend loveless would most definitely defend that game (and im saying it in the most derogatory way possible seeing how the creator treats the subject and as a survivor myself)

[@candy_ribbons]

⁠@@jamiec64this is what I’ve been saying this whole time when it comes to that god awful game 😭😭 I’ve seen multiple survivors talk about how badly the game handles it’s subjects and the fact that the creator clearly just has a fetish as shown in some illustrations

[@ArcherPanda]

The art was the main draw for me, it just looked very good. Thanks for going further than I ever lol, this was a nice throwback.

[@Treegona]

...Calling it now, Soubi's real name was once Loveless, the moon people took it from him.

[@ghoulchan7525]

i actually read pretty much all there was of the translation. the author really has no idea where it's going. there's literally a chapter where the characters discuss the best way to take a shower. like.. why waste a chapter on that. it's probably been super long that i don't remember a ton of what happens later. but yeah it's just set up with no pay off. i feel like some fan could maybe salvage the story and make something better at this point.

[@SilverDemon456]

Goddamn it! You stopped reading at the exact place I stopped reading so now I'll never know what happens because I can't bring myself to finish reading it myself!

[@micrometeorite1967]

Bad writing aside, I just... don't understand the reason for the age gap. Why does Ritsuka need to be 12, why not 17-18 or something?

[@Zombiewithice]

Adds to the “forbidden” nature witch is kinda gross

[@fujisaki-haruka]

This video is saving because I really tried to read it after your video about the anime (my curiosity won sadly) and had to drop at like chapter7 because I couldn't understand what was going on

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

really do you even try watching or reading stuff with any loose concepts to explore or do mysterious series scare you after 2 chapters Re:Zero is loved an I still after two seasons have hardly a clue how the fuk this world works but what I do know is dope

[@Dnlmk]

Lol, mood

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

@@Dnlmk lol the reason we have to many school romance comedies an battle Shonen these days

[@ArtzyZero]

I'm gonna be honest, I don't read manga or watch anime anymore but I'd have dropped this one within seconds of a grown man kissing a child on the lips. Doesn't matter how much fluff is thrown in there to try and justify it, it's plain creepy. Someone is purposely choosing to write the characters this way, there's not a gun pointed at their head. I think the concept could've maybe worked better from the angle of a found family. Have the kid obsessed with finding his brother (following the plot beats that are already there etc.), only to realise that the people already in his life (minus the mother) are better than what his brother has turned out to be. Explore the differences between how we often build people up in our heads, especially as a way to deal with trauma, and the turmoil that often comes with finding out what they're really like. And you can explore actual romantic relationships with side characters of appropriate ages, at least that way if you're struggling to hide the uh... 'mature stuff' you're into as a writer, it's not with literal children, ugh.

[@Kirrari]

I absolutely agree with this!! A found family dynamic would have been such a great take on this story and would have really elevated it. The fighting could have just been generic shounen magic school and I would have taken it lol, but there's little to no explanation on why people are fighting or even why they have other names??? Idk, I feel like there's so much potential but the story is so scattered that it would have to be rewritten from scratch. 😅

[@demonninetaledfox]

People on twitter (especially with these kinds of series) need to just be more comfortable with people disliking stuff for completely valid reasons. Like the age gap is creepy. The romance is creepy. You're allowed to enjoy it so long as you can recognize that parts of it are creepy. There is no perfect piece of fiction and especially when we're younger or get into older media it is sometimes worse than others. The inability to do so without taking it as a personal attack or as though someone is saying if you have ever read it and enjoyed it you are a bad person is just showing their lack of critical thinking skills.

[@evapunk522]

The issue is that there are people who literally just like stuff that's kinda messed up and even if the reader acknowledges that it's messed up and shouldn't ever be something you should do IRL, you get antis calling them pedos for just reading something they know is bad. It's just weird. Like, people just need to ignore crap that doesn't actually affect them or anyone else.

[@demonninetaledfox]

@@evapunk522i hate both sides of the "anti vs pro ship" debate and i simply ignore them both as insane chronically online weirdos whose opinion you should never live your life by

[@Inconstructionmaybe-x5v]

​@demonninetaledfox Can't just always ignore it you know and called us weirdo when we wanna enjoying something you don't get out of here.

[@Inconstructionmaybe-x5v]

😑

[@demonninetaledfox]

@@Inconstructionmaybe-x5v you have got to stop arguing with people online if you want to have any peace on the internet. you will not change a single person's mind. there is nothing you can say to make them stop hating on things you like. all you are doing is making yourself miserable engaging with people you clearly do not like. block ppl and move on with your life

[@emosarah7]

GIRL I JUST FINISHED THE ANIME VIDEO HOW DID YOU KNOW?!

[@jampoptart1180]

SAME HERE AHAHAHA

[@milkywaycafe.]

RIGHT?

[@ViktorErikFade]

Lol same, jumped over here from that video and thought well might as well watch them back to back while it's on my mind

[@Llyrically_llama]

Yeah. I read maybe the first two volumes of this in middle school... Then the next volume of Fruits Basket came out and I never went back lol. If you want to read a BL manga from around this time starring a problematic emotionally empty and abusive older man and essentially a kid, try Gravitation. It's got funny parts to cut through the melodrama. And post pubescent characters. And an ending!

[@rebecamendez5456]

OmG I'm still so salty over Gravitation because , is bad, Really bad, Yuki and Shuichi are one of my top worst "couples" in fiction.

[@Llyrically_llama]

@@rebecamendez5456 I see it as a cautionary tale about teenage obsession being confused for love. There's so many people in Suichi's life that he could have a healthy romantic dynamic with, but he just plows right on past because of the gravitation he feels towards Yuki.

[@alyssad4963]

The name Gravitation unlocked a core memory 😭

[@pikapower_kirby]

Fruits Basket was a fun read but omg it's also got some problematic pairings. Multiple big age gaps that were really jarring when I was reading it O.o

[@thelovelybunny9012]

People will defend literally anything out of nostalgia.

[@Inconstructionmaybe-x5v]

Or because the got doxxed.

[@gloomcat3867]

Thanks for taking the bullet for us (reading Loveless manga)! I'd love if you could do the anime and manga of Nabari no Ou

[@takoluka5624]

Oh man i havent thought abt that manga in so longgg

[@TakusenX]

The opening is still SO catchy! 👏 SHALALA! I sing for you! SHALALA! Fight for myself! 🎶

[@nessyno-name3855]

Yeah actually I could go for an analysis of Nabari no Ou. Still kind of a confusing story but I think its actually a more palatable alternative to many of the themes and aesthetics of this series. The main characters actually look a lot alike, and you've got that "short tween boy working with taller antisocial boy with magic powers resisting a shadowy organization of magic users in modern Japan" thing going on now with a more appropriate age gap and completely optional romantic subtext.

[@elliemaze.asmoix]

never getting the payoff and the latest chapters being reduced to basically a slice of life drove me insane, by now i'd take a tweet from the author as a substitute for the ending and i'd be satisfied

[@LRGhost7489]

I tried reading this back when it was new and couldn't get into it despite knowing people *incredibly* into it. I couldn't even finish the anime because of how badly it skeeved me out. ...Nice to know it wasn't written well enough to have kept me anyway. XD

[@CatsRul85]

Potential future video if you havent touched on it- Kamisama Kiss also Hell Girl (anime and/or manga) or Petshop of Horrors its so underrated. Fascinating video though

[@miragedown]

Omg Kamisama kiss. I think I read that

[@Shadowwing1994]

I actually was enjoying your recap of the story and thought it sounded interesting and I was surprised you decided to DNF 🤣🤣 But that's probably a testament to your storytelling not the mangaka

[@darkm.annoyance8548]

Well to start off, I figured that the story was less a romance and more observing two broken people trying to heal through means of each other, kinda like killing stalking, but to actually be an iota of interesting than the anime is news to me! Regardless, awesome job on this and thanks for pushing through that B.S. If you want something of a pallet cleanser please read Boy meets Maria, I don’t want a review but I think you’d love it all the same.

[@mehlover]

Oh wow, I remember Loveless as "PEAK" BL/yaoi/shounen-ai back in the 2000s. And it barely is with this recounting. Wow....we really had low standards of what was peak back then (yeah, yeah, we were desparate but this manga shouldn't have gotten the "peak shounen-ai" manga back in the 2000s either). But ngl I find the mystery intriguing. Don't know if I'll be able to read it, even though the creepiness is still toned down compared to the anime, just hearing they still kiss each other is creepy af. But this satiated my curiosity. Also, the whole "your fated lover has a name/tattoo/whatever identifier and need to find them" story didn't originate as a tumblr post, like I previously thought. Huh, it's been there

[@ItsYaBoiV]

Grooming and poor bdsm etiquette, that's essentially what most of booktok is these days 😂

[@astraySparrow]

You really missed the point Loveless really hit mainstream at the time when the whole idea of soulmate romance was at it's peak, there are many other media like books, and songs, and esoteric teachings about "finding a second part of your soul" and even now many stories mostly modern blb there this concept is still explored, Loveless is just made it accessible playing ground for writing ur own love & yaoi or yuri story about finding and bounding with a soulmate. I think most people also like the aesthetics, the imagery, hell "the blue butterfly" for a long time was a symbol specifically associated with the Loveless, other than that it has many cool ideas (which it doesn't do anything with): the secret society which seemingly exists in-parallel with a "normal world" and has its own politics and agents; the cat-year thing commentating how concept of "v|irginity" is consumerised (?), like it good to have it until certain point and after certain moment of ur life depending on ur social status, gender, and it becomes a flaw, something to be laughed it.

[@norailves778]

So I watched your video and I got that nostalgia wave and I've read the whole manga... I mean, yeah, there are a lot of things I did not see as a teenager, but I kinda think that this story has potential (if the author ever decides to finish it). Soubi is a completely broken person, used and abused by everybody since the tragic death of his parents, it's not surprising that he does not really know what to do with himself, outside of being used by someone. I really think that this should be a story of Soubi defeating his demons and becoming an actual person, having his own motives and making his own decisions.

[@shoutaakimoto8096]

For me, Loveless was like many series that have good artwork but the story was not good. I vaguely remember this series outside of the adult and young person relationship and familial abuse.

[@Loveless1128]

Aw man, I was REALLY hoping to get a summary of what happened AFTER the Seimei reveal since that's where I had stopped reading the manga. Of course, that was only because there had seemed to be some hiatus at the time, or Barnes & Noble just wasn't getting new volumes or something, but I wanted to know!

[@TakusenX]

I was hoping so too, so I went in search of summaries and this made me laugh: "In Volume 11, Mikado describes Seimei as incredibly smelly. Seimei comes to reclaim soubi. " lmao not Seimei being smelly!

[@unigon7275]

"Our heads?"

[@MerlinsFiles]

23:55 I want a story about long haired men with glasses, that's legitimately the main reason I was curious about this manga help

[@MajraMangetsu]

I read the manga in its entierety before this video and it pain me to say that the quality is light-years aways from what I remember. The entiere flashback that one of the male Zéro uncover after Seimei just take back Sobi like SECONDS after Ritsuke tell him that actions speak louder than words is pure PAIN to go throught (yes, it IS that bad) and when the flashback is finally over when Nagisa is ABOUT to say something of actual value about Seimei, there is nothing else to read. I struggle to think of how Koga Yun have manage to keep their audiance angaged because that flashback was absolutely overstated it welcome in an horrendous manner.

[@Digisoulwings]

This is my favorite manga, was my first one at 13, and even though the series is problematic, and there are various not so nice, and strange subjects in it I'll always love it. I really don't like the anime, but watched it growing up, and hated how it only covered the first 4 volumes. And the manga is on hiatus currently sitting at 13 volumes. THE JAM SCENE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES. I feel so bad for Misaki (Ritsuka's mother), but she's messed up because of the "murder" of Seimei, her husband leaving them (it's alluded to), and Ritsuka's personality shift/amnesia. One thing I hate is that the Light Novels (I own one) never got translated, and one of them explores the possible LOVELESS Sentouki, and hinted twist is that he (should) supposedly look like Seimei.

[@tkiesailastname4656]

I'll be honest, I was totally hoping they got through more of the manga so I can see what else happens without having to read it myself XD; Though, in saying that, I respect that they needed to stop. I stopped all those years ago myself so I get it xD And i didn't even make it to the reveal that Ritsuka's brother was alive. I still flipping love the art style so freaking much tho! This manga, though wasn't the start of my love for cat(any animal honestly) ears and tail, but it really fed into my obsession for it thats for sureXD

[@UncleAndyArt]

I'm surprised by the amount of backlash. I did enjoy the manga as a teen, would talk about it with with friends, and I even drew some fanart of it. I have a lot of nostalgia for it, but it's far from the best BL I've read. Even at time of me actively reading it and being 11 volumes into the manga, if you asked me to rank it, I would probably give it a solid C+. I enjoyed it. It's not exactly phenomenal. I've never even considered recommending it to someone before.

[@ch0o_choo]

NEGATIVE LEGEND!!! I LOVE YOU AND ALL YOUR VIDEOS!!!! thank you for existing!!! ❤❤❤

[@ASinglePetal]

I grew up seeing this manga and the anime I agree it aged badly and there are far more better BLs out there now I recommend Sasaki and Miyano which paced better both in the anime and the manga it is just very sweet.

[@dragonetafireball]

I feel what happened was a classic case of theming to file the edges and downs out of a troubled dynamic and unintentionally making it worse because fas where there for the mess. Like how versions of the Phantom of The Opera musical put off a lot of fans when they try to make phantom more romantic and less abusive because then it just feels like then the story doesn’t see the problems with the phantoms actions when some of the audience where into because those problems and they dynamic being messed up an angsty

[@33melonpaws77]

Twitter: Don't judge Loveless by the anime! Read the manga! The Manga: five shades darker and creepier

[@markigirl2757]

I had friends obsessed with this show and I tried watching one episode when I was 14 and instantly thought it was dumbbb I wanted to like it bc I started making friends into anime like I was and I wanted to be liked by then so I pretended to enjoy it 😅. Needless to say I never could truly get into it and I moved schools not to long after so I don’t even recall ever watching or associating with the anime or even manga ever again.

[@airikamoon]

Prob no one is gonna read this but boy oh boy after a loveless review I hope you do a 07-ghost review 😂

[@rebecamendez5456]

Around those years a lot of mangaka really liked fucked up stories that were heavily censored and changed by their anime, after I eead what loveless was about after what we saw I got surprised by how edgy really was.

[@StormEscape]

I tried to read it a long time ago and I had to drop it. I think your opinion is 100% right. It's just trying so hard to be mysterious without delivering any explanation on why things are the way they are. It made it difficult to actually care about the story because it seemed a bit pointless.

[@Rieta.Sapphire]

I don’t blame you on stopping volume 8 I believe I stopped at 12 but the series gets so confusing that I don’t even remember what it was about anymore it gets more confusing when you learn about the girl Yuki also, I don’t think the man will ever be finished. If I remember correctly the creator was super sick. And went to hiatus. so we’ll never know what exactly happens with basically pointless to finish it

[@tic857]

The story is a mess. The only takeaways I had after returning to read the manga series a few years ago were: The younger Zeros are adorable and bratty and their fashion sense, gender envy, also very much triggered protective big sibling mode in me for some reason, I dont know why? But very much "I will kill destroy anyone who hurts these two kids". Kio is best boy, the only one who makes sense, the only one who has any sense tbh even with his wild green hair, his addictive habit for sweets and his many failed attempts to flirt, and cemented my like for people who resemble him. Seimei by far my most hated villain in the entirety of my living career. I hate him. There is no one who meets his level, Belos comes close but not quite there. And that the manga series jumped from flip phones to smart phones at some point in with no inbetween and it was mildly entertaining. And also the use of just frequent solid white line art against solid black background is so blinding, but for some reason looks so good to me. Also the series plus Persona 4 ingrained my like for that white eye with the pin prick pupil look. But thats it. It never gets to the point, and I'm now in my 30s, I was first introduced in middle school and I just checked....Its exactly where I left off when I was in college. I also still hate that one panel where someone had someone's ears in a box. Like its SOFT tissue how the HELL did you preserve them? And ..... ah.asdfflksdfasdf WHY? WOULD YOU? That is creepy AF. Also I liked your one line of "He's dead inside." Someone finally said it. Thank you.

[@ashbayne155]

I was waiting for you to get to Kio's secret kid because that was a twist that came out of nowhere XD

[@_Chessa_]

I really enjoyed the mangakas artwork in this style. So lanky and artistic! I still really love it today! ❤

[@TakusenX]

When this came out in the US it was such a different time for anime and manga. I really enjoyed Ritsuka's character, but never understood the spirit battles or liked Soubi. In general I have a weird relationship with this manga, but in general I love Yun Kouga's art. I actually prefered her manga/OVA series "Earthian" and found it more interesting. It's also a BL/Yaoi story. In a simple sense: It's about angels, in pairs, (one positive, one negative) watching over the earth and deciding the fate of humans whom they've deemed as destructive. Meanwhile, the main pair, fall in love. However, homosexuality is forbidden among angels.

[@lilblkrose]

Here because I saw the anime review and was confused until you mentioned you didn't read manga, and I realized I didn't watch the anime to know how badly out of context they made the show. Love the concept of Loveless, not a fan of the main "romance" and romanticism of grooming, which is probably why the series is so popular- It's "Forbidden Love" (Age gap, same sex, different faction, different race, teacher student, boss worker, abuse etc) 😷 Sad to know the series STILL GOING?! when I just wanted to see the answers, its been almost 20 years man-- Also, would NOT recommend continuing despite I do enjoyed the story as a whole minus the Ritsuka x Soubi thing which is the reason why I don't recommend.

[@Trixiethegoldenwitch]

Thank you for your service

[@SashaS-s2z]

At the very least, it's drawn well!

[@jeannebuttons5301]

So the only reason I stopped reading loveless myself was when Tokyo pop went belly up and I had no idea where to find loveless after that point. I appreciated the art style of the mangaka and I wanted to see where it was going with all of these buildups. My money was also on are little latchkey girl being the other half of loveless.

[@Serendipity-Infinite]

If you look back at Ritsuka's statements about how it's worse to hurt someone's feelings than it is to hurt their bodies, the word battles make more sense. It's not that there's no reason to use fists in a fight. It's just that fighting with words makes more sense with the overall theme of the story. It's about the power of words and how they can affect people. Also, side theory: If Yuiko isn't Loveless, I'm betting on Loveless not even being a real name. Like, "Loveless" was made up by Seimei to control Ritsuka and everyone who believes he's Loveless. 🤷‍♀️

[@graceisNERD]

Wow! So nostalic. This brought me back to like 13 years ago.

[@bioterror908]

I had picked it up because I was a big fan of Earthian (until the weird last book) and wanted to see what else the Yun Kouga had done. I didn’t enjoy it, no matter how hard I tried. I guess I just liked all her old stuff from the 80’s because the newer stuff got really weird to me.

[@22kitten33]

You make things so interesting that it’s so weird to hear towards the end that it was so uninteresting and hard to read. I was just listening and thinking like, wow this actually sounds like an interesting story. However, I can’t seem to read anything other than fanfic anymore and sometimes even struggle with that no matter how interesting the fanfic is, which is why I’m currently watching KZbin videos!

[@strawberryjam6235]

I'm pleasantly surprised at what this manga is

[@cookiesyruplover]

Twitter backlash only exist because being angry online gets clicks (makes money) there, definitely not worth arguing with. 8 volumes is so generous to be honest, I read so much slog back then as a kid, and even I just stopped and forgot the shlop I tolerated hoping to see some sort of payoff. Sometimes we just gotta take the L and realize we wasted our time and read or even better-- write something better instead!

[@owenjolley351]

*Loveless act 1:* *”Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess.* *We seek it thus, and take to the sky.* *Ripples form on the water’s surface.* *The wandering soul knows no rest.”* *”Three friends go into battle.* *One is captured.* *One flies away.* *The one that is left becomes a hero.”*

[@lunarflwrs9525]

the way you pronounce initial Rs in Japanese names is fascinating 🙏 Flavorful, even

[@compassrose1466]

The thing with the cat ears makes me giggle because it has a reason to be there but at the same time it gives vibes of someone needing to figure out a reason why their oc has cat ears. This isn’t me being mean about the manga or show btw, it just flashed me back to my middle school/ high school days of making ocs lmaO

[@citrus8944]

I was SO excited for this

[@brooklynnfancy]

This was my favorite anime when I was 8 because I loved the concept, but even then I noticed how creepy the relationships were. It could have been so much better if they left the perverse relationships out and left most things platonic. Or just removing the age difference between partners would fix the story so much Could’ve really been amazing

[@LuxwingGo]

Wanted to tell you I checked out MADK after your last video and I just wanna say it was really messed up and I loved it.

[@peachybun]

so i remember i started reading Loveless when i was Ritsuka’s age (12) so this was around ‘04-‘05 for me. what initially drew me to it was that i loved the art style so much, it’s honestly really beautiful, and i was a huge fan of cat ears on ppl, but i had no idea what i was getting myself into when i started reading it 🥲 another thing i remember was how i always wanted Ritsuka and Yuiko to be together sooooo bad because i didn’t like Soubi at all 🫣 lastly, i think i stopped reading at around vol 8? i don’t remember exactly since it was years ago. i lost interest since it felt like the plot wasn’t really going anywhere and there was a lot better manga coming out anyway. tbh i think i stuck around for so long because my kid self wanted to know how it concluded, but the fact this series is still technically going is wild to me as i’m now 32 😭 i’m glad you’re going over the manga up to the most recent ‘cause i really don’t wanna bother reading this series again 💀

[@MiniCountessIsme]

Hey would you ever consider, doing a video on the Disastrous Life of Saiki K?? I LOVE that anime!!!!

[@motracey5866]

Volume 8 is where I went "eh I think I'm done" back in middle school, kinda funny thats where you stopped too 😅

[@KalamityKhaos-tk4hl]

IDK WHICH VIDEO U SAID IT IN BUT U RECCOMMENDED MADK I LOVED IT SM TY 😭

[@bananaberries9751]

YASSSSSS THE ROYALTY HAS POSTED, AND IM HERE FOR IT 🎉

[@starshiiinebby]

Omgggg I’m so excited this just droppped!!! Thank you so much. 💖💖💖

[@chloesmith7871]

The title "so you don't have to" fits this so well. I don't think I'll ever read this, but it's interesting to hear you talk about it - so thanks for reading it for me lol. Personally I think it could be interesting to have another video about the rest of the manga, as in when everything is finished.

[@WolfyGirl2000]

I'd love to see you cover the black bird Manga. I loved it as a teen along with loveless and pandora hearts

[@kx2174]

I think the mangaka had some ideas and "cool" things she wanted to draw (like the magic battles), but no actual story to back it up.

[@popcandy44]

Been waiting for this!! Never heard of this before your other video and I'm so morbidly curious

[@keahiw]

I feel like this story is more about different types of abuse than different types of love, which is fine as a premise. There are plenty of manga/anime that deal with abuse and trauma and weird screwed up relationships that I really enjoy like scum’s wish, one room of happiness, and even killing stalking. Those manga are overtly dark though, and don’t present themselves as romances. Loveless feels weird because it comes off like shoujo meant for a young audience.

[@origamipein18]

Even those it's a josei.

[@MissHaro777]

Wasn't Gravitation also a thing during the time this was popular?

[@marthaelenabrenesorozco2953]

GOOD VIDEO, I LOVE HOW YOU MARK HOW WEIRD MANGA IS HAHAHA

[@jozabean]

Finish manga for the morbid curiosity. That's what got me through Vampire Knight lmao

[@keib.616]

Ooh I remember this story. The aesthetic, the mystery, the cool concepts and ideas that it played with, and the overall lack of many other good options just sort of all came together at the right time for this one. And those ideas could be used in a really cool way to tell a very compelling and complex story about struggle and personal growth, what it truly means to love someone else and how to love and value yourself, your 'true name' need not define you, etc etc ... could ... shame they weren't. I never finished the manga, but it's sad to know it didn't live up to the potential. (also so glad that my young ace self just didn't clock into ... certain aspects ... of the story)

[@P-P-Panda]

When you search for this on google your video is the first to show up for me lol

[@killermermaids18]

the art style from the manga being watered down in the anime is criminal

[@Pemenari]

i remember either reading or watching a bit of Loveless. and by a bit i mean i somewhat remember up to the first battle and then absolutely nothing after. i dont think i got very far. i have thought about reading it again once in a blue moon, but after this... i dont think i will 😅

[@MsBungakuJosei]

It is a bit weird of a work but still good. I wouldn't write it off as creepy though.

[@Thepateisgreat]

WHY DO THEY HAVE 2 SETS OF EARS 😭 WHHHYYYY

[@ghostthelizard]

They still need to hear after losing the first pair after all

[@nope6021]

11:40 Its our head, comrade

[@riskyrahmaliasofyan4002]

Thank you for this video, i'm glad someone has unearthed the discussion surrounding the creepy aspect of this manga.

[@letsreadtextbook1687]

Are you telling me that a guy whose name is Seme, is actually a seme?

[@arnold20139]

Core memory unlocked on that cover. I remember seeing that exact cover and said "Nah, that looks and sounds like a creepy manga"

[@dabradmp1]

Holy sonava b... What the hell happened to this dude. I remember watching his video on bakugan like 3 or 4 years ago....