Shuichi Shindou

Shuichi Shindou (新堂愁一 "Shindō Shūichi") is the primary protagonist of the anime and manga series, "Gravitation".

Basic information

Shuichi's ambition at the start of the series is to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Ryuichi Sakuma, the lead singer of the band Nittle Grasper, by creating his own successful music band named Bad Luck.

One day when, as he is walking through a park reading his lyrics of the song "Glaring Dream", a sudden breeze blows them away, where they are picked up by a mysterious man who labels dismisses them as "elementary-level", saying that Shuichi has zero talent and should just give up. Stung by the man's criticism, Shuichi becomes determined to make him apologize. Shortly after his friend Hiroshi Nakano helps him realise that he is "attracted" to the man in the park, Shuichi sees an interview on television that shows that the person in the park is, in fact, the famous romance novelist Eiri Yuki.

Initially, Yuki treats Shuichi coldly, but Shuichi perseveres through Yuki's icy demeanour and eventually the two begin a relationship. Shuichi's band also begins to rise in fame, and a major portion of the series focuses on his attempts to balance the demands of his job with his pursuit of Yuki's affections -- this can be seen at the beginning of the series, when Shuichi cannot seem to finish the record because of his struggle to realize his feeling for Eiri Yuki.

Profile

Shuichi has an innocent and energetic personality that is typical of the "uke" stereotype. This is amplified in the anime, where he frequently bursts into super deformed mode, a production choice which some find distracting, particularly when it occurs in the more serious scenes, but is in keeping with the manga, particularly later episodes. In the first few graphic novels, he is much more a typical high school kid with dreams of being a rock star.

Despite his apparent immaturity, Shuichi shows determination and perseverance when he buckles down, and focuses on what he wants. This is evident in his zeal to get to the top of the charts with Bad Luck, and his concurrent aggressive pursuit of his love interest Eiri Yuki. He also tends to be melodramatic, easily breaking into tears or getting over-excited at critical moments. A good gauge of his over-emotional state can be seen when the quality of his singing is affected by the state of his relationship with Eiri. More than once offhandedly he has said he isn't gay which, although could mean to him he loves Yuki as an individual rather than as a man and so in his head he isn't, this still is an odd statement

Ever since he was a kid, Shuichi was a fan of Nittle Grasper and wanted to become just like its lead singer Ryuichi Sakuma, wearing his hair in the same style as Ryuichi's and even using the same shampoo. He later becomes the leader and vocalist of Bad Luck, which steadily gains prominence in the music world as the series progresses. In the follow-up manga Gravitation EX, Bad Luck is battling it out with Nittle Grasper and it seems that they will reach the top spot.

A big fan of Yellow Magic Orchestra, T.M.Revolution, B'z, Electric Groove, and B-2 Dept, Bad Luck's music can be said to share influences from these and other J-Pop bands, while still having its own distinctive, high-energy sound. His favorite food is strawberry Pocky.

Shuichi's best friend is Hiroshi Nakano, the guitarist in his band who acts as a calming influence upon him and is a big brother figure for him. He also has a younger sister named Maiko, who is a huge fan of Eiri Yuki. Maiko is not shown in the main anime series, but is definitely a factor in the manga and appears (briefly) in the OVA, "Lyrics of Love", based on the same manga. While Maiko seems a little less out there than Shuichi, she still has the same energy and presumably the same kindness as her older brother.