Magic Bondage Fights and Catboys: The Loveless Thread

There was demand for a Loveless thread, so here it is! Let's all talk about our problematic fave, the ongoing manga Loveless by Yun Kouga.

 

@jashindamnit @valenstyne

 

I literally haven't read this in years but I fucking adored what little of it I did read. Which was like five or six volumes of it?

the abuse sang to me

 

I always wanted to get into this properly. I saw the anime once upon a time and recall enjoying it, though the ending was confusing as all hell. Probably one of those cases where the manga wasn't done so they bullshitted something, I'm guessing? I should try the manga.

 

It's still not done so yeah it was definitely a case of the manga not being finished yet.

 

Hello yes I am here

 

This show was full of such messed up people. I remember almost nothing else but god, it was awesome. I had no idea the manga was still going!

 

iirc the anime covered like... the first four volumes of the manga? Which means that anime viewers may not have even gotten to see the beautiful tiny story of Yamato and Koya.

goes to re-read the latest volumes

 

My favorite part was the bit with the lesbians. Because I am eternally biased. To this day I remember sneaking around on a loveless kink meme, reading fills that dealt with those two.

 

YAAAY THANKS FOR PINGING ME. like when i was a teen i liked it because 1. CAT EARS!! and 2. ooooo forbidden "romance" between mc and a 20 year old. my young self was ecstatic. now i love it because 1. CAT EARS!!!!!!!! and 2. the story is very well done, the abuse is so troubling, the drama is good and the characters are all wonderful.

it was so annoying when i said "yeah i loved loveless as a teen" an anon was like "well its ok if you were a teen but what about now because ~~pedophilia~~" and i was basically just lmao i still love it as an adult go away my enjoyment of things do not have to disappear just because i got older.

 

The cat ears thing was like my fav because around the time I was reading it I was a tiny awkward Aon with issues about the whole sex and virginity thing. What with being regaled by tales of how some kid in my seventh grade science class totally popped some bitch's cherry. The idea that whether or not you've had sex could be so easily seen by people was fascinating and tantalizing. Especially what with how the one bitch had fake ears as part of her continued game that, oh no, we totally aren't fucking and hate the bad guy how dare you accuse of this evil person we work for?

Also I have to say that, even now with how much older I am, I can't really say that I hate the relationship between the two main fucks. I mean yeah it's fucked up. Part of me grokked that even when I was younger to a degree, and now that I am older I am more aware of just how fucked up that thing is. But I like it because it's fucked up.

The whole manga as I remember it is fucked up, but I just find that lovely about it. And I don't really feel, based off memory, that it was going OH YEAH THESE RELATIONSHIPS ARE TOTALLY RAD AND COOL AND HEALTHY. It seems more like a meditation on abuse and societal attitudes and pressures regarding sex and romance.

 

I've been re-reading it and yeah, it definitely doesn' show the relationships as healthy. Everyone is fucked up, but everyone also gets their moments of humanity, even people who have done fucked up shit. (...Except Seimei. The only person who thinks Seimei is a good person is Ritsuka.)

 

*camps out in thread* god, this brings back memories. I remember deciding at one point that if my heart was going to get torn out and trampled on (yes, please), it would be done properly in one shot when the manga was finished (this was aided by kouga Yun sometimes not updating for a year+ at a time cough)

I'm so ready to fall back into this fandom trashpile, I'm super bummed it still isn't completed =/

 

HELLO YES I AM HERE

Skipping all my dumb personal reasons why the manga is so important to me, my biggest plot-related question that has not yet been resolved: why the fighting? Like, there doesn’t seem to be anything in particular to gain from winning a spell battle, except prestige in a weird tiny circle of people. Is it just like “well we have these magical powers, may as well use ‘em to beat the living hell out of each other”? Because the system is so open for exploitation (I mean, blank Fighters being assigned to Sacrifices on someone’s whim…), it must benefit somebody or they wouldn’t keep doing it, right? Magic powers and names appearing on your body is fantasy stuff that needs no particular explanation, but the system, the school, the ideology—those are human-created. And the fixation on fighting, and moreover on creating the perfect Fighter, really suggests to me that there’s…something driving it. Is there a final boss no one outside the Seven Moons knows about? Is it just to keep people with magical powers occupied so they don't get all uppity? Is it just a way for Ritsu and Nagisa to satisfy their particular fetishes without going to prison? (oh god it totally is, isn’t it.)

(I know nobody cares about this except me, but I wonder.)

 

.......Why have I never considered this question. That's. Yeah. Why the fight. Why does it exist. Who is doing it. What's going on. oh my goodness

 

Where would one go to read the manga? Because I loved the anime when I was a kid and I want to see what's going on now

 

because deep down we're all kinky, kinky bastards

 

I mean, the series is character-driven more than plot-driven (which is part of why I like it so much anyway), so if there's never a definitive answer given I honestly won't mind. But still, I am le curious…

Here you go! :D (and oh my god, is there ever a lot going on…)

Well I knew THAT, obviously. :D

 

Spoiler: cw: antis

antis in loveless verse
discuss

 

I'd rather not and just have it be a nice happy thread.