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Gravitation is indeed quite humorous, perhaps more than one would expect, which may explains its appeal to many fans. Yuki Machikawa, a fan who offers translations of the manga series as well as many other Gravitation-related fan comics and novels at her website, describes her attachment to the series this way: “Murakami-san did an excellent job crafting her characters to be at once lovable/hateable to the reader, creating an attachment between the reader and the characters. She also has a great sense of humor, and the comedic moments that run throughout the manga are so worth reading it for.”

At times reading or watching Gravitation can seem a bit like watching Mad TV interspersed with a serious love story between two men. Shuichi often dresses in various absurd costumes, such as a battery or a banana. In one story, Shuichi wears a schoolgirl's outfit in order to appear more “acceptable” to Eiri's family. Shuichi's performance could be described most charitably as drag gone bad.

Scenes such as this one infuse the series with more of a gay sensibility than most other shonen-ai titles. Many gay readers of shonen-ai have come to expect a scene in which the two main characters say something along the lines of “I'm not gay, but …” Gravitation, in contrast, does not include this type of scene. Instead, homosexuality is treated as being matter-of-fact.

Although the word “gay” doesn't actually appear in Gravitation, the effects of homophobia do. When a rival of Shuichi's tips off the press about the relationship between Shuichi and Eiri, it becomes a major story, culminating in a speech that Eiri gives on television in which he acknowledges Shuichi as his lover and says, “I believe that people are more accepting of [same-sex] relationships these days.”

When Shuichi wonders about Eiri's emotional distance and apparent rejection of him, his frequent question is, “Is it because I'm a guy?” It eventually becomes clear throughout the series that the obstacle between the two men is not their gender, but Eiri's troubled past.

Many fans of Gravitation are drawn to the enigmatic Eiri, who at first comes off as the prototypical strong-and-silent type. Yet even Shuichi, who wears his heart on his sleeve, is an enigma, given that his past is never revealed beyond just merely desiring to be a rock star.

The webmaster of Gravitation fan site yuki-eiri.com, who goes by the name Morbid Romantic, phrases it this way: “A lot of what Murakami does with character development isn't explained; readers have to notice it for themselves. These character changes are sometimes so subtle that they can be missed. The major fan base of Gravitation are girls, and girls prefer shojo [girl's stories, nearly always heterosexual] or shonen-ai, especially because we're allowed these internal speculations. … If every aspect of every character was given to us directly, the manga wouldn't be as interesting.”

Even the title lends itself to speculation: Is it about Shuichi and Eiri gravitating toward each other? Is it about Shuichi's appeal? Or is it about charisma in general? The only clue the viewer/reader receives occurs in one scene where the president of Bad Luck's management company is asked to explain Shuichi's appeal. He sighs, smiles and says “It's gravitation.”

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