Gravitation: Track 2

Track 2 starts out where Track 1 left off, with Eiri Yuki and Shuichi Shindo standing in the street in the rain. Yuki, for some reason that isn't very clear, he decides to drive Shuichi back to his [Yuki's] home. Yuki gives Shuichi a towel to dry off with. I'm a bit surprised that he would do this for the guy who nearly made him crash his fancy car, especially since he was such a prick to him before. Shuichi is pleasant, thanking him while Yuki complains that there's a scratch on his Mercedes...Dude, you own a huge fancy house and drive a freaking Mercedes, I think you can afford a scratch. Poor Shuichi both goes to high school and works every night in order to support his habit, the habit that YOU put down without a second thought.

Speaking of which, Shuichi asks him about that. What do you have to say for yourself Yuki?

...Why are you so such a dick Yuki? Whyyyyy?

So Yuki, reasonably, wants to know why Shuichi threw himself in front of his [Yuki's] car. Yuki belittles him, is condescending and Shuichi, also reasonably, is annoyed by this. He gets all worked up and asks if Yuki wants to know what he does for a living. A person who was polite might say yes even if they weren't particularly interested. Yuki, however, doesn't care and isn't afraid of saying so. However, it turns out that Yuki DOES actually remember Shuichi! Because he remembers how much his lyrics sucked and not the actual circumstances of their meeting. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by how DICKISH Yuki is acting by now but still. Anyway, Shuichi blows up and demands an apology for his hurt feelings while Yuki claims that he was merely being honest. He goes on to say that he has zero talent, that he will never improve, and when Shuichi starts crying he calls him a punk and says that he makes him sick. The last thing he says to Shuichi before telling him to get out of his house, is that if he wants to kill himself he should step in front of a Saab Cabriole. Wow. Why? Why is Yuki such a complete dick? I know I sound like a broken record, but is it necessary to be this cruel to some kid you don't even know? Is mutual annoyance and dislike going to be the basis of their relationship? Time will tell.

Maiko and Hiroshi both make fun of Shuichi for his experiences, further cementing the fact that Shuichi is taking Yuki's words far too seriously. Maiko raises the good point of whether or not Shuichi got Yuki's name. He did not of course. So we're halfway through the second chapter and STILL haven't been properly introduced to the second half of what's to be the main relationship. I find this very strange. And apparently Maiko and Hiroshi think that Shuichi giving his name to another man means he's attracted to men. Wait...what? How...who thinks like that?! It does lead to Shuichi having a pretty awesome moment.

No it doesn't Shuichi. No it's doesn't. Of course, this is more played for laughs as he realizes what he said which confuses him so I'm thinking he hasn't quite gotten to the place where he realizes he likes guys. Later that night, Shuichi continues working on his song for the live performance that's coming up soon, though he's in kind of a slump. He refuses to give Yuki the satisfaction (even if he doesn't know it) of Shuichi's failure so he finishes the song, determined to make it the best he can make it. Looking over these panels, I've come to a rather sad conclusion. I really like this character design for Shuichi. I am going to be genuinely disappointed when he gets all short and has pink hair and stuff. Hopefully that doesn't happen until much, MUCH later in the series.

The next day, Hiro stops by Shuichi's house to see how the song is coming along. It's not quite complete yet and Shuichi is thinking they might have to ad lib the actual concert. Hiro is, reasonably, quite against this idea as this is their big chance as a professional band known as "ASK" will be there and they'll be opening for them. Hiro and Shuichi get into a fight which disturbs Maiko who had been staying up late to finish a novel. This is where things get really interesting as she says that she's happy with "Yuki-sama" (sama being a Japanese honorific given to those of a higher standing than the person speaking to show respect for those who don't know) who is the author of the novel. His full name? EIRI YUKI! Aha! So he's a novelist! Well, I guess that means he would know what good writing is then. Still doesn't give him the right to be a dick though. Even more interestingly, Eiri Yuki isn't even his real name! It's just a pen name.

We then move to a scene between Yuki and who I assume is his editor. Apparently he's turning in the final draft of his latest novel which has a happy ending. This is unusual for Yuki and I can't say I'm surprised. He seems like the kind of guy who would write super cynical books or tragedies or something like that. And then suddenly Shuichi is there! I guess this is the next day! I'm starting to think Shuichi is becoming a bit of a stalker. He invites Yuki to the live show but Yuki, in true dick fashion, tells him he has no time to waste listening to crappy lyrics. However, he does seem to agree to show up in the end. Shuichi, at least, seems to think he'll show up.


We then cut to another scene with two people we've never seen before, a younger guy and an older guy. The younger guy is referred to as Seguchi and the older guy wants to make him a producer for "ASK". However, Seguchi won't take on the job until he actually sees "ASK" in concert for himself. Seguchi refers to the older guy as "President" so I'm going to assume he's the president of a record company.

And the scene shifts again, this time to the night of the live show! Everything's moving so fast! @_@ Seguchi arrives in time to see Shuichi and Hiro perform. Their band finally has a name: Bad Luck. That...is actually really appropriate considering Shuichi's experiences. Just as Shuichi is about to sing he notices Yuki in the crowd. The lyrics run through his head and he knows that they won't be good enough for Yuki so he decides to ad lib to prove Yuki wrong. And he's successful! Yuki doesn't outright say it, but he does think that he "always knew he could do it". Yeaaaaaaah, of course you did Yuki. Seguchi is rather impressed with Shuichi and notices Yuki in the crowd, seemingly recognizing him. Oho, what's this then? The plot thickens more!

Yuki leaves before Shuichi can talk to him and as he's carrying equipment out to his car Seguchi asks to speak with him and we find out that he's affiliated with N-G records and wants to speak with Shuichi. I like where this is going!

That brings Track 2 to an end! After the slow pace of the first chapter this one moved much faster. Almost TOO fast if truth be told. We went from the live show being a month away to actually seeing it within a few pages. The pacing so far has been a bit whacky so hopefully that gets ironed out in later chapters. We didn't see much of Hiro or Maiko this chapter so my opinion of them hasn't changed at all. I still really like Shuichi's character. His obsession with getting Yuki's respect is just another form of his passion and determination. As for Yuki...I know he's a total dick but I'm actually starting to like him just a bit. Later on in the chapter he was less outright mean and more playfully snarky. It suited him a lot better as a character. I have a feeling I'm going to be seesawing between liking and disliking him as the series goes on. I have no opinion on Seguchi at this time since we didn't really get a feel for his personality the few times he showed up.

Come back tomorrow for Track 3! See you then.