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LOVELESS #8
Loveless, Volume 08
How can you find happiness when your very name is Loveless?
Seimei is back with a vengeance, and it's Beloved vs. Beloved as Nisei and Soubi match up for the battle of a lifetime! Soubi's past with Ritsu-sensei is finally revealed, and Ritsuka will have to decide once and for all what his true feeling about his mysterious (and malevolent?) older brother are, not to mention where his loyalties lie!
Seimei is back with a vengeance, and it's Beloved vs. Beloved as Nisei and Soubi match up for the battle of a lifetime! Soubi's past with Ritsu-sensei is finally revealed, and Ritsuka will have to decide once and for all what his true feeling about his mysterious (and malevolent?) older brother are, not to mention where his loyalties lie!
About the series... Aoyagi Ritsuka is a troubled 6th grader. Two years ago, he mysteriously lost his memory and developed an alternate personality. His mother constatly berates (and occasionally beats) him, asking what happened to the "real" Ritsuka, and his only defender and friend, his older brother Seimei, was recently killed. Suddenly, Seimei's apparent "friend," Soubi, appears. Soubi tells him that Ritsuka's true name is "Loveless," and that Soubi was assigned by Seimei to take care of Ritsuka and protect him. Ritsuka soon gets sucked into a bizzare underground society where teams of people, a "Fighter Unit," and a "Sacrifice," battle using elaborate and beautifully-phrased spells. He seeks both acceptance of himself, and the answer to the mystery of who killed his brother and why.
194 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 5, 2021
I'm going to admit that this volume is my favorite.
Not because violence finally happened or that Ritsuka finally got the confirmation that Seimei was alive.
No, instead my favorite thing about this volume was the meeting between the two brothers. Ritsuka and Seimei. One that has been thrown into a world that he didn't think existed, has no memories beyond two years previous and has learned that his brother might not be the idol he believed, while the other is a manipulative, control freak prone to bursts of anger, has no problem with killing people or hurt them severely, - either mentally or otherwise, - faked his death and has a obsessive need to make sure his younger sibling loves him.
I think that it was handled brilliantly, showing another aspect into the already twisted relationship, although I would have liked it more if the two Zero's and Soubi hadn't been there and it had just been the two of them.
Another thing that rings true when it comes to Ritsuka in regards to Semiei is the often heard words of:
His confusion. His love. His sense of betrayal. His pain. His happiness. All these emotions I believe were captured in both words and drawings.
Not because violence finally happened or that Ritsuka finally got the confirmation that Seimei was alive.
No, instead my favorite thing about this volume was the meeting between the two brothers. Ritsuka and Seimei. One that has been thrown into a world that he didn't think existed, has no memories beyond two years previous and has learned that his brother might not be the idol he believed, while the other is a manipulative, control freak prone to bursts of anger, has no problem with killing people or hurt them severely, - either mentally or otherwise, - faked his death and has a obsessive need to make sure his younger sibling loves him.
I think that it was handled brilliantly, showing another aspect into the already twisted relationship, although I would have liked it more if the two Zero's and Soubi hadn't been there and it had just been the two of them.
Another thing that rings true when it comes to Ritsuka in regards to Semiei is the often heard words of:
'Forgive but do not forget.'It's words that aren't often displayed in either manga or books nowadays but I believe that the Author did a great job in showing the readers the struggle that Ritsuka faced as he spoke to Seimei.
His confusion. His love. His sense of betrayal. His pain. His happiness. All these emotions I believe were captured in both words and drawings.
October 14, 2015
Please listen as I am about to give you a wonderful summary of the magnificent books “Loveless” by Yun Kouga. I know, I know, sounds boring, a book review. Why hear about the book when you can just read it? Honestly, I don’t know but I hope to get a good grade on it and they’re good books so… allons-y!
* * *
“Loveless” is a fictional manga series taking place in Japan. One of the main characters, Ritsuka, a boy of eleven years old, has an uncommon psychological disorder which made him to lose all his past memories from before the age of ten causing him to become the polar opposite of who he used to be. After this happened, Ritsuka’s mother came down with severe depression and his brother, Seimei, supposedly died in a fire at Ritsuka’s elementary school.
Whilst Ritsuka is still in the process of recovering from the death, he meets a man named Soubi who explains that their name is Loveless and they are a team in which Ritsu is the sacrifice and Soubi the fighter. He quickly becomes aware that there is a completely different world full of these teams of two, the fighter and the sacrifice who battle each other using verbal spells to bind, inflict pain, or potentially kill. The stronger the fighter and the sacrifices bond, the stronger the spells.
One will certainly very much enjoy this series because the good and bad protagonists develop and none of them are flat. The author makes sure to not have any boring characters and constantly makes you wonder if the bad guys are actually good or if the good guys are actually bad.
The series gets you sucked into the book until you can’t put it down. The writing is high quality and although it is mostly dialogue, this makes it easier to read when you are tired, bored or in need something easy to read. Every sentence leaves you wondering what the next character is going to say, and the illustrations make everything 100000000% times better than without, though that is the point. This series targets anyone from the fourth grade reading level and older, making it either extremely exciting or leisurely read with a hint of panic.
Yun Kouga has written more books that can be recommended such as “Earthian”, “Your Eyes Only”, and “Mobile Suit Gundam 00”. These books are for anyone who likes manga or cartoons, as these are highly intriguing series’ each with varying themes and genres. “Loveless” is a favourite series by this author but all of her books are going to keep you busy and entertained. With your nose in these books, you wouldn’t even notice if your house is on fire.
* * *
“Loveless” is a fictional manga series taking place in Japan. One of the main characters, Ritsuka, a boy of eleven years old, has an uncommon psychological disorder which made him to lose all his past memories from before the age of ten causing him to become the polar opposite of who he used to be. After this happened, Ritsuka’s mother came down with severe depression and his brother, Seimei, supposedly died in a fire at Ritsuka’s elementary school.
Whilst Ritsuka is still in the process of recovering from the death, he meets a man named Soubi who explains that their name is Loveless and they are a team in which Ritsu is the sacrifice and Soubi the fighter. He quickly becomes aware that there is a completely different world full of these teams of two, the fighter and the sacrifice who battle each other using verbal spells to bind, inflict pain, or potentially kill. The stronger the fighter and the sacrifices bond, the stronger the spells.
One will certainly very much enjoy this series because the good and bad protagonists develop and none of them are flat. The author makes sure to not have any boring characters and constantly makes you wonder if the bad guys are actually good or if the good guys are actually bad.
The series gets you sucked into the book until you can’t put it down. The writing is high quality and although it is mostly dialogue, this makes it easier to read when you are tired, bored or in need something easy to read. Every sentence leaves you wondering what the next character is going to say, and the illustrations make everything 100000000% times better than without, though that is the point. This series targets anyone from the fourth grade reading level and older, making it either extremely exciting or leisurely read with a hint of panic.
Yun Kouga has written more books that can be recommended such as “Earthian”, “Your Eyes Only”, and “Mobile Suit Gundam 00”. These books are for anyone who likes manga or cartoons, as these are highly intriguing series’ each with varying themes and genres. “Loveless” is a favourite series by this author but all of her books are going to keep you busy and entertained. With your nose in these books, you wouldn’t even notice if your house is on fire.
September 16, 2008
Synopsis from Tokyopop.com:
Seimei is back with a vengeance, and it's Beloved vs. Beloved as Nisei and Soubi match up for the battle of a lifetime! Soubi's past with Ritsu-sensei is finally revealed, and Ritsuka will have to decide once and for all what his true feelings about his mysterious (and malevolent?) older brother are, not to mention where his loyalties lie!
When a Loveless volume is going to come out, I usually do a complete reread of the volumes before it because the plot is pretty heavy (and confusing, at least to me), and there's a lot of down time in between volumes releases. This time, I didn't do the reread, but I don't think my understanding of this newest volume suffered all that much, because it's mostly a conclusion of the Seimei conflict from the previous volume, which, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg in the context of the series itself. Compared to past volumes, I felt this one was quite short, and there are three little stories in it that don't really pertain to the conflict currently going on. The result was that I felt that there wasn't much "new" stuff in the volume, but the stuff that was there was really heavy.
I think this is one of those volumes that touches on so many of the themes of Loveless. Adult vs. child. What it means to love someone. Control and power play. Role reversal. The power of words, which can hurt both physically and emotionally, in the Loveless universe. Because there are so many important themes in this volume, I feel that it was good, but it might have been better if the volume was much longer, or if these chapters had been tacked on to the previous volume. This volume didn't lack for strength, but it still left me a bit unsatisfied.
Seimei is back with a vengeance, and it's Beloved vs. Beloved as Nisei and Soubi match up for the battle of a lifetime! Soubi's past with Ritsu-sensei is finally revealed, and Ritsuka will have to decide once and for all what his true feelings about his mysterious (and malevolent?) older brother are, not to mention where his loyalties lie!
When a Loveless volume is going to come out, I usually do a complete reread of the volumes before it because the plot is pretty heavy (and confusing, at least to me), and there's a lot of down time in between volumes releases. This time, I didn't do the reread, but I don't think my understanding of this newest volume suffered all that much, because it's mostly a conclusion of the Seimei conflict from the previous volume, which, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg in the context of the series itself. Compared to past volumes, I felt this one was quite short, and there are three little stories in it that don't really pertain to the conflict currently going on. The result was that I felt that there wasn't much "new" stuff in the volume, but the stuff that was there was really heavy.
I think this is one of those volumes that touches on so many of the themes of Loveless. Adult vs. child. What it means to love someone. Control and power play. Role reversal. The power of words, which can hurt both physically and emotionally, in the Loveless universe. Because there are so many important themes in this volume, I feel that it was good, but it might have been better if the volume was much longer, or if these chapters had been tacked on to the previous volume. This volume didn't lack for strength, but it still left me a bit unsatisfied.
October 31, 2018
Ok, so this is some bullshit. I need more. Seimei is such a bitch. I don’t care what anyone thinks, he needs to go so Ritsuka and Soubi can live happily ever after together. Ughhhhh I need more.
August 12, 2020
tw: violent, sadistic relationships, self-harm, teacher/student relationship, pederasty
idk, maybe tw seimei
There's a weird sort of draw to Loveless in the sense that I just want to find out what is going on with Seimei and where it's going to lead next. The background with Soubi, finding out that he's also been the victim of a pederastic relationship with his teacher is certainly also illuminating.
There's definitely an element of just wanting to know.
idk, maybe tw seimei
There's a weird sort of draw to Loveless in the sense that I just want to find out what is going on with Seimei and where it's going to lead next. The background with Soubi, finding out that he's also been the victim of a pederastic relationship with his teacher is certainly also illuminating.
There's definitely an element of just wanting to know.
August 12, 2009
LOVED IT.
August 25, 2017
Finished it really fast and now hungering for more. I feel like I was almost left in a cliff hanger
January 27, 2019
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
This volume was really interesting, but I'm still confused as hell. Wonder when things will actually start making more sense
This volume was really interesting, but I'm still confused as hell. Wonder when things will actually start making more sense
June 29, 2022
I don't think I've ever been so happy to reach the end of a manga series technically this isn't even the end but I only own the first eight of the Tokyopop printing and I have no intention of trying to find a whole new printing set so I can finish the rest of the manga. This series was so talked about back in the day and I don't see what's so special I felt like it was a hot mess.
January 21, 2024
Finally, Ritsuka met Seimei, but the confrontation felt somewhat anti-climatic, as Seimei refused to answer his questions. Still, we did get some backstory and answers to other questions about readers and violent actions, so I didn't think the volume was all terrible, but definitely weaker than its last one.
November 21, 2024
Can someone take away that knife? Ugh but Ritsu deserved some kind of punishment for what he did to Soubi so kinda well done? / what kinda powers that Seimei have?! / wow, Ritsuka is growing up and becoming stronger / My boy Soubi ): I kinda care more about him that about Ritsuka but it’s not that big of a difference / Soubi had to ): how do we erase years of neglect?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2018
This has problem been the best volume of the series so far! I'm really excited to see what happens next
July 3, 2020
Seimei is definitely a sadist.
We learn about Soubi’s childhood in this volume.
We learn about Soubi’s childhood in this volume.
November 13, 2024
The plot is finally getting somewhere, but I've just found out that this series was never finished so I'm stopping here at this one!
Read
June 1, 2015I love Loveless!! So many fun and twisted themes in this series, from shouta to BDSM to furries; in any other story, that would be the recipe for a bad hentai doujinshi, but there is such a quality of innocence about Loveless, as told mostly from Ritsuka's perspective, and such a quality of jaded cynicism when told from Soubi's perspective, that it dodges sexuality from both sides, dances intricately around it, teases coyly along its edges, but never quite touches on it; it's sweet, sensual and often erotic, but without being pornographic. It's just a really impressive and compelling mix of characters and plots, I'm enthralled by it! Which is why I'm so unhappy that they have essentially stopped producing this manga; it's on hiatus in Japan, and there is one more volume after this that has not yet been translated and released by Tokyopop. I wish they'd hurry up! I really want to know what will happen next! Still, this was as good a spot to stop as any, since, even though it leaves you with about a million unanswered questions and a plethora of unresolved issues between Ritsuka and Soubi, the last frame with the two of them sleeping side by side sort of says it all - whatever will happen in the future, even if they are betrayed, or betray each other, they will be together. I REALLY can't wait for the next book to come out, but I will just have to endure - hurry and draw.,Kouga-sensei!!
November 19, 2008
Finally it arrived! I won this from a Loveless fan art contest from the now-defunct-but-may-return Yurusu.net back in September and I'm very happy that they did send out prizes, although I have been tempted several times to just buy it in the store already. Especially since one of my teen patrons at the library kept reminding me that it was out...
Again I am just in love with the artwork. It was interesting to see more of Seimei and how he interacted with Ritsuka and Soubi as well as to see more of Seimei & Soubi's back stories. The ending was so cute :)
From what I can tell, there will be more volumes in this series forthcoming, so I am very happy. It didn't seem like there was enough random artwork of the characters in this volume (you know, those adorable pictures of Ritsuka outside of the story line? I love drawing those). But overall I was very happy with it.
Again I am just in love with the artwork. It was interesting to see more of Seimei and how he interacted with Ritsuka and Soubi as well as to see more of Seimei & Soubi's back stories. The ending was so cute :)
From what I can tell, there will be more volumes in this series forthcoming, so I am very happy. It didn't seem like there was enough random artwork of the characters in this volume (you know, those adorable pictures of Ritsuka outside of the story line? I love drawing those). But overall I was very happy with it.
January 17, 2016
This volume was very climactic, and although I learned a lot of new things about Seimei, I felt rather unfulfilled. I had expected the story to end with this volume, but again, the Loveless manga is dragging on unnecessarily long. The fight at the end (if you could call it that) opened up the possibilities of an ending, but this did not happen.
However, I very much liked the revelation at the end of "fight" :) and Soubi's little breakdown. It was good to see his weakness for once. It was also good to see Ritsuka's negative feelings towards Seimei as well.
I hope this doesn't drag on too much longer.
However, I very much liked the revelation at the end of "fight" :) and Soubi's little breakdown. It was good to see his weakness for once. It was also good to see Ritsuka's negative feelings towards Seimei as well.
I hope this doesn't drag on too much longer.
September 20, 2008
well i;m glad this isn't the last book but i started reading it thinking it was and was quite pissed when nothing wrapped up. happily though there is apparently a book 9 on the way, though tokyopop is being mysterious with the release dates. so i broke down and rented the anime - which by the way wasn't in english, you tend to miss alot when reading subtitles and the battles weren't quite as pretty, but so far i;m really liking that as well. I'm thinking i may have to find out what else Yun Kouga wrote and pick those up as well.
February 14, 2016
Oh wow, this was a fantastic volume. I really loved the whole Seimei x Ritsuka story, and also yeah for Nagisa-sensei for finally getting where she wanted to go. \o/
Seimei was really a creep, and while we knew that already (from flashbacks and such), it is now truly official. Dang, it was really creepy/scary to read all that. Poor Ritsuka, his brother is a killer, his mom is mentally unstable, and his dad is missing.
I can't wait to read more!
Seimei was really a creep, and while we knew that already (from flashbacks and such), it is now truly official. Dang, it was really creepy/scary to read all that. Poor Ritsuka, his brother is a killer, his mom is mentally unstable, and his dad is missing.
I can't wait to read more!
January 6, 2013
I can tell this is where things started getting strange for me the last time around I read these. I think this is when Kouga was going through a lull or something because it definitely shows in the amount of story progression (of which, there really isn't much). Volume 9 doesn't look too much better, but I'm almost done playing catch-up, so we shall see about that.
May 31, 2009
Fantastic series, and in this volume, we actually begin to get some answers to the secrets presented in the earlier volumes. Still, I hate how slowly the volumes in this series come out. I want more!
September 10, 2010
I LOOOOOVE this manga with a passion. It's my all time favorite, and I'm still waiting on volume 9. It's a world full of magic, and love. Along with pain. Whenever I got a new volume I could never put it down! I've even re-read some of them many times over and over. It's just a great work of art.
August 18, 2014
In this volume you find out that Seimi is still alive and Ritsuka must decide weather to hate or continue to love him. He also finds out a bit more about Seimi and Soubi relationship and just how much of a hold Seimi has on Soubi.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2009
Bah. Despite the hype surrounding this manga/anime, I had a really hard time getting into it. It didn't hold my attention at all.
December 17, 2009
This is the last one that the library has. Sigh! I enjoyed the whole series, so far.
April 14, 2010
love it omg..............
May 20, 2011
Now I must find the rest of the series translated online somewhere, what with TokyoPop going under in the US.
January 12, 2015
Poor Soubi!!!!! WAAAAHHHHH
February 16, 2015
Wow that was alot of action. What is up with Seimei? How can he do that erase your existance thing? And now I understand so much more about Soubi. Did Ritsu????? IDK.... Excited to start the next one
August 10, 2022
Artwork is still great still and the story has gotten slightly better. Interesting things are happening. I enjoyed learning more about Soubi and Semei. I'm sort of looking forward to learning more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews