I''s

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I"s is everything wrong with shonen romance manga. Everything.

The pacing is nothing short of brutal. Really, after a while, you get the feeling you're on a treadmill and not really moving forward at all. And that feeling holds for well over a hundred chapters.

Seto is a loser. Okay, it's shonen romance, that's to be expected. You can pull out of that. The problem is that it never really does. He spends the vast majority of the series being an indecisive twat to drag this series out to 143 chapters. In the end, he never really progressed at all. He's the same loser from the very ... freaking who never should have got the girl. Hell, he ends the series still having never gotten a job. Stupid NEET.

Almost everything Yoshizuki does is basically centered around Seto. About 20 chapters in, everybody with the ability to see (except Seto) knows where this is going to end up. You'd think some actual development would be coming. But no! We've got to slag through fake love triangle after fake love triangle until we get to exactly where anybody with eyes could have told you I"s was going from chapter one. (Seriously! There's like four of them!)

The only thing that salvaged the character score was Itsuki, simply because she actually acted somewhat like a human being, and for the way she left the picture.

If you wanted to read this, I'd highly recommend reading something good instead, like B-Shock or The Hating Girl. Read Love Hina if you must. Just stay the hell away from this.

I’s Pure is a Shounen, Ecchi, Romance about a boy named Seto Ichitaka, who has had huge crush on a cute girl in his class, Yoshizuki Iori. This may be the setting for a typical Romantic Comedy but I’s Pure is able to do great things with this plot.

The story starts of normally enough with us getting to know the characters and their typical personalities, but even with these typical personalities the characters are pretty amazingly developed in their own way, through so many situations. But due to its shounen traits, the romantic progression is rather slow (indecisive male protagonist) but the various developments that ... arise do help spice things up a bit (love triangle). Eventually the story finds the right pace of a romance manga however this only occurs after the first couple lacklustre volumes. Once I’s reaches a certain point in the story it becomes truly amazing, in both the romance and comedy areas. There’s also quite a bit of drama but it feels really strange as the manga went from a lot of laughs to plenty of angst. In the end it did go well with the overall story, where everything was able to resolve nicely.

The artwork at the beginning was great, with a lot of detail being put into character designs, especially during the close-ups but it lacked detail in every other aspect. Nonetheless it didn’t take long before the artwork of this manga reached perfection and it becomes difficult to find any faults, especially with the ecchi scenes.

Overall this turns out to be a truly in-depth Rom/Com manga that’s so captivating you’ll find it hard to stop, once you reach the latter half. It is really enjoyable to read but there are times in the story that may seem kind of dull, with plenty of clichés but at least some cliché moments spiced things up (hot springs). The characters also play a huge role in bringing the story to life and it's interesting to see how some of them developed, nevertheless there were some characters that were only there for one purpose, like Ichitaka’s perverted friend.

Well this manga is definitely recommended for anyone who enjoys a good ecchi romance, or feels like giving one a try.

^_^

It takes a while for the story to pick up but after i while it get very good it has everything i think when it come to a romance manga. The story is the type of life i think any guy would be happy to have. I found the ending to be spectacular and it almost brought me to tears this should mean something coming for a guy. I''s a must read..........

STORY : I can say that the story may be a bit unappealing just because it's a very normal,ordinary story.It's just about a boy that falls in love with a girl,they're school life,the way their relationship develops.Nothing out of the ordinary.However that doesn't mean the story isn't good!Not at all!There are even some scene that are so well made that they make your heart race XD I can't give more details,but you'll realize what I'm talking about when you read the manga.During the whole "reading process"(^_^) I realized one thing for sure : the author has true tallent when it comes to describing people's feelings ... and the whole atmosphere that it's created between two people that are in love.I really loved this part of the manga.Maybe that's why I strongly recommend it XD

ART: The rating I gave it shows it all.It really is outstanding!The characters are beatiful!The sceneries are mostly urban of course,but they are oh-so realistic!The ecchi stuff (XD) are extraordinarily well drawn.I really can't say anything but one word : masterpiece!

CHARACTERS : The thing I most loved about this manga is the characters,especially the main character.Seto- kun is the kind of person that never has confidence in himself.He's shy and never says what's on his mind;he worries a lot and he's very responsible.However,he's also a dependable friend and a kind-hearted person.
I also liked Itsuki a lot.A very confident and daring girl,but deep inside very sensitive and delicate.
There are a lot of characters worth describing,but I think I shouldn't do it,because readers always tend to percieve the characters in their own way.I don't want to describe the charcaters the way I saw them.However,I have to say how I felt about Iori's character,since she's the main character here,besides Seto.I think - and I want to emphasize that this is just my opinion - that Iori's character was shallow.This is maybe because during 90 % of the story,readers see her through Seto-kun's eyes.It's like she barely has any personality of her own.I couldn't see her features,her personality traits,anything...The only thing we know about her it's that she loves acting,but that alone isn't sufficient.i repeat,this is only my opinion,but I didn't like Iori's character very much...

ENJOYMENT : As I have already mentioned,I loved how the author described the characters' feelings.There are also a lot of funny or thrilling moments you will definitely like.I particularily liked the ou-sama game chapers.They were so funny and suspenseful at the same time XD I can't say more though cause I'll ruin the surprise XD All in all,I really enjoyed reading this manga.I'm sure all of you will definitely enjoy it!

OVERALL : I strongly recommend this manga.Whether you like shounen romances or not,I'm positive about the fact that there will be noone who,after reading this, will say "This was a waste of time".I can guarantee that this manga will surely be captivating and enjoyable and you'll definitely like it no matter what genre you prefer!

I”s is the generic shounen romcom experience. A generic loser of a protagonist, a gorgeous girl who likes him for no reason, a childhood love interest and a perverted friend. It does almost nothing original until the second half, which ended up being the worst parts of the manga. It surprises me why it’s so high on MAL and has such positive reviews.

It starts off as it should. Seto is the bland protagonist for boys to identify with. He likes a girl out of her league named Iori and their relationship develops. Except it doesn’t for almost one hundred chapters. Every end of volume ... our protagonist is back to square one, indecisive about wanting either Iori or Itsuki/Izumi. The structure usually starts with a misunderstanding as an excuse for Seto to meet with one of the girls, they chat and then may or may not have a romantic moment, until something else happens with the other girl. Needless to say it gets repetitive, predictable and boring as hell.

The characters are as bland as they could be. Iori is uninteresting and has no personality, her only character trait being she is kinda shy(?) I guess. And has big breasts, of course. Her actions revolve around extending the plot, so Seto can solve her problems for her. Itsuki is the energetic type and says what she thinks. She’s an OK character and her main arc is the best one in the entire manga. Izumi is a copy of Itsuki, except she is in the same school as Seto, and is more obnoxious and cringy than the original. The rest of the cast is irrelevant.

The art is OK though I should say it isn’t used to its full potential considering the story is set on the same place, making backgrounds stale. Character designs are generic and boring, much like the manga itself. The ecchi scenes are well done but the fact that they aren’t happening and are usually the MC’s imagination makes it lose points in my book. Also, those scenes are usually absurd and contain cringe-worthy dialogue.

The comedy is a complete failure. It reuses the same jokes over and over again. Usually starting with one of the girls saying something with a perverted edge, Seto imagines it generating ecchi material, then the girl saying something like: “You actually imagined it you perverted bakka”. Also the “I was just joking lol xD” cliché is all over the place, which makes me want to cut my head off. Didn’t laugh once reading this, despite being tagged as a “Comedy”.

Now, there are severe issues with the pacing and tone in this manga. Not only does it have a never-moving plot, but also it tries to do drama, comedy and romance on the same volume, and sometimes even same chapter. Each part doesn't have the impact they should. Also, the rushed ending feels forced. It has no build up, is very dumb and even childish to a certain degree.

In conclusion, I"s is very bad. Sure, it's entertaining, but if that's your ultimate goal you're better off reading something else. The manga has almost nothing original going for it and should be only read for discussion purpose or writing a review.

It's hard to describe how awesome, and in how many ways its awesome, this manga is. In one word, its perfect.
I hate romance mangas/animes where you go through dozens of episodes or volumes and a couple only gets together by the last episode, or not even that. I"s thankfully isn't one of those.
We watch how the protagonist ( a male tsundere, as rare as it can be ) tries to convey his feelings for his so unreachable crush, and we see how their relationship goes through high school and into early adult life. Being a man, its amazing how the mangaka inscribed all the doubts ... and insecurities a teenager boy has towards love; I can't imagine a better portrait of a 16 years old boy. The best part is, all characters are extremely "real" - nothing against fantasy-based romances like Love Hina -, just like their dramas and most situations in this manga. It's totally a history that could be your own, or your neighbor's of a friend's
We get a lovey dovey romance, crying rivers of tears drama, some extremely funny moments and even some discreet fan service here and there. And to top it off, a not wrists-cutting ending, but rather an enjoyable one.
You will laugh, cheer up for the protagonists and even eventually cry. I can't recommend a better manga for those who enjoy a deep and beautiful romance.

I started reading I''s because i wanted to see if there was something else in the romcoms of the past in comparation of what we have now with the typical structure of the romcoms.

It was worthy? For the most part is a yes but i can't deny if someone would bring up a big no too. Let me explain:
For sure i have something else from the MC, i feel the anguish that he feels through the story, he makes mistakes and suffered from them and finally learn valid lessons and take the decisions that he should take. The problem is that how hecking long it ... takes for him to do that, and yeah maybe he finally undertands something and change but fuck it, here is another insufferable trait of him that needs correction or wasn't really gone for good.

For the females MCs i have nothing else but praises to be honest.
I really like the principal and obvious love of the MC, for the most part as the reader we really don't know what she thinks or her full feelings for each part of the story, we are almost as clueless as the MC and feel that this sells well her character. Almost make me want to see a summary of the story through her eyes.
For the other girls that would be kinda the rivals for the love of the MC, i just love them, can't say that everyone is perfectly written or something between the lines but the author for sure knew how to use them to make the MC go through a lot of different feelings and situations, that make him suffer and finally learn the lesson (although it takes soo looong!!)

I really could summarize other things that could sell the manga more or less like the echhi or the side characters but at the end being honest, i can't recommend it.
The MC really make me want to empathize in his most difficult moments for sure but then i'm literally screaming, "THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHY? WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?" making him so infuriating that make me think that i had a lot of patience with him but others for sure would not have it, so it's at your own risk.

I"s is one of my favourite readings ever.

What in the beginning might look kind of typical or foreseeable comes in the end to be the ultimate shonen romance story.

If we were to talk more in detail:

The story is a clear 10.
As i have said before, it might be overlooked at the beginning but rapidly gains strength thanks to the right balance of comedy and drama.
The author uses almost every cliché of the genre but thanks to superb execution you dont get tired. When i say that i mean that it feels more like an epic adventure than the average slice-of-life romance you might ... be expecting when the story goes through all the topical happenings and situations, so where a mild laughter should go on there is great tension and sense of resolution, as if of a combat scenario in a battle manga were talking about.
Special mention to the conclusion, one of the most moving i have yet read.

All the characters are well-written and feel unique and different from each other. Again, even if they might initially look topical they all eventually get to show what they got. It is difficult not to feel related to most of them one time or another, specially the main protagonist.

The art is as good as it can get. Character design, movement, backgrounds, etc. an S-rank work.
I cant stop metioning all the ecchi scenes, magistrally executed without leaving any feeling of being just bait.

One should not judge a book by its cover, and I"s might be a clear case of that statement.
You get far more the you could expect, if you are looking for a light-hearted romance with some spicy moments you will get that, but you will also get an incredibly relatable humane story with great characterization that without a doubt will get a special place in your memories.

This is my first review so, please, forgive my naivety. I hope it will result useful for all of you

After seeing many reviews for this series including the overall score I had to sign into my account for the first time in ages to write this review. This is by far one of the best series I've ever read and the writing is phenomenal. I feel like maybe the disconnect for some readers is the difference between being a boy or a girl. The topics that the writer touches on definitely fit into the shojo bracket, but with this being marketed towards teenage/young adult males its understandable why it was released as a part of the shonen jump/advanced line. Without revealing any spoilers I ... will say that the main character is at a constant battle with himself. The story is an emotional rollercoaster filled with ups and downs, excitement and disappointment. The reason I mention the disconnect above is because being a girl, you could most likely relate with the other female characters, although they don't really go internal with their feelings. You don't really get to go into the girl characters heads until close to the end of the series. But being a 24 year old male reading this for the first time really grounded me and brought me back to my childhood. The turmoil that goes on in Ichitaka's head is extremely relatable and accurate, and it really brought back the memories of first love, crushes, school life with inner anxiety having to sit next to your crush, building up the courage to make yourself vulnerable and take that first step. This manga is a MASTERPIECE. There really isn't much else to say except please, please please please read this series if you're a male who doesn't really understand or connect with shojo as a whole. My first experience with this series was out of a Viz media sneak peak book, I bought 4 volumes, and then the rest the next day. I am now on volume 11 and will finish the rest tonight. I killed the series in a few days because I just couldn't stop. That is how deep this series touched me. my one and only gripe with the series isn't actually anything to do with the series, but the publishing company viz media. The English releases for these books are LITTERED with typos, more than I've ever seen in any other shonen jump title. its concerning honestly how nobody noticed these typos. Volume 10, which is arguably the most important volume in the 15 volume series is the one that really made me stop and think about how bad these typos were. Unfinished sentences, words missing completely. But, obviously most people can figure out what it was supposed to be saying and its not enough of an issue to detract from the perfect score I am giving this series. I will cherish this series forever and I hope that this review gets to as many people as possible. Please read this series. And thank you for reading and taking a chance on my word if you decide to pick this series up.

I desperately wanted I"s to be good, considering its reputation amongst the manga community as being a great romance and one written with relatable characters. The problem is that it relies on predictable and repetitive storytelling, turning "real" characters into more annoying ones. I"s repeats this cycle of the main character being in love with his crush, and then falling for another person, 3 times. It doesn't get any better every time, and the end just feels like its set up for another repetition. At the end of the first cycle, however, when he starts to feel for his childhood friend, I had faith in ... his growth as a character and desire to confess. That's when I realised that I had about 100 more chapters to read.

I"s disappointed me, but at least it has stellar artwork. If anything, its always a treat to the eyes, encapsulating the 90's manga aesthetic that we all know and love.

Man.... where do I start?

I have to say that I''s is my favorite shounen romance series, after finished reading all the chapters. Theres the anime too, but I recommend you watch the JDrama adaptation.

The story introduced you to Seto Ichitaka (a weak high school MC) trying to win the love of his crush, Yoshizuki Iori.

The next thing you know, three other girls gradually appear in his life:
Itsuki (a girl from his childhood),
Izumi (a school mate) and
Aiko (a girl from his neighbor when he moved out from his parent's house at some point along the series)
At this point you will have ... to embrace the mix feelings the MC will have 😁

But what really stands out is despite the ups and downs, you will realize in the end that Ichitaka's friends are the best friends he could ever have because the amount of the support they gave to him to be together with Iori, is just priceless 😭 (Aaaah Im not gonna spoil 😋)

At some point, you will feel frustrated and even cry (mendoukusai ne). Nevertheless, don't drop this manga because the story is worth the pain till the end (maybe just it's me 😋)

Until then... Ganbatte!

There's no covering and defending this series for using standard tropes and plot devices as it is what we expect, a simple romance story. In some ways it's quite fitting as your main male and female characters are very simple-minded in their way of thinking when approaching any obstacle. However, this will cause (as we expect) situations for these characters to get overblown and fall into the standard trap of misunderstandings. What helps the characters (and ultimately the series), is Iori herself. Despite Seto's lack of finesse and over-the-top clumsiness in any situation he finds himself in, she remains amazingly steadfast in her belief in ... him minus a couple incidents. While other manga series like to expound on each problem by making the main love-interest as upset as the supporting cast is, the mangaka Katsura Masakazu prefers to maintain loyalty as a constant throughout a good portion of the series. Of course, however, even that is casted in doubt in the latter half of the series where Iori is finally fleshed out more as a co-main character.

Yoshizuki Iori doesn't really play any major role in the series until the second half due to her need to be an 'out-of-reach' goal for Seto to strive for and improve himself on. Unfortunately, this is a major disservice not just to Iori as a character, but to the story itself. Without knowing struggles that Iori tackles herself both internally and outwardly, she appears as a very one-dimensional character for half of the series. It makes constantly dealing with Seto's ineptitude hard to swallow at times. This proceeds to cause a snowball affect to the story, as the story itself doesn't try to present a variety of plots and stories to the readers. All we are left with is Seto constantly weaving in and out of plots, like spotting girls naked in the bath or once again him stumbling over himself during one of the main chances to confess. These narratives become grating overtime and causes the feeling of 'been there, done that'. The series really hits this feeling hard when the Izumi character reappears after she parts ways in friendly manner with Seto at the beach. We are led to believe from that point, with continuing progress with Iori in the previous series of chapters along with some epiphanies of his own, he has managed to jump the mental hurdles that were holding him back. Yet, Izumi continues to show back up like weeds and consistently causing Seto to fall back into the same cycles that he had supposedly surpassed.

It's hard to reprimand a series that follows traditional romance story-telling for a couple reasons. The fact that this style of story-telling has allowed for other series to succeed (looking at you Ichigo 100%) and for the fact that these types of series are in-fact character driven. Character driven stories generally don't have the 'blow-your-mind' worlds and stories, but the characters that accompany it keep you intrigued. The want to find out how a character achieves his or her goal can be inspiring, especially for readers who find themselves or had been in similar situations. Confessing love to someone is a difficult task and it takes much courage to accomplish for many, which is one of many reasons these types of stories are still told today.

Overall, the series doesn't push any envelopes and the characters themselves are pretty generic, between the clumsy main character to the sometimes thought-provoking-yet-still-a-pervert best friend, the series still manages to tell some realistic stories in the latter half of the series. It's no surprise that this is the point in the series when Iori starts being fleshed out more as a character. While some plots and a couple supporting and minor characters are forgettable, the main characters along with re-occurring support characters around them, provide some charm to act as a strong foundation to keep this series from being less than slightly above average.

The artistic-style for the manga is what caught my eye to it back in 2005. It uses a semi-realistic drawing of Yoshizuki Iori for each volume cover which also acts as an example for the character's dream to be an actress. Each cover art is drawn as though they were pictures taken during a photo shoot by Iori herself. With the way the cover pictures are however, I was unable to determine or find information stating if the covers were actually based on a real person at a real photo shoot. That is just how realistic looking it appears.

When you open up into the pages themselves, you'll find the characters are impressively drawn and the backgrounds are extremely detailed when necessary for the scene itself. Personally, I've found recently, in some mangas of the same genre, are missing some of the finer details that older mangas such as I''s has. Ranging from the character designs and clothes to the backgrounds when the characters are walking through prefectures in Tokyo. The lines are solid and the tones are used with great precision on where it should be applied.

A note about this manga, Viz Media did attempt to censor some of the art due to nudity for this series when it was being released for North America in the mid-2000s. Volumes 1-12 had some content changed to make the manga for available to all ages, however from what I've researched, Viz stopped the censorship starting with volume 13 through the final 15th volume.

The artistic details and the character designs are definitely the highlight for this series and shows off the improvements the mangaka has made since the beginning of Video Girl Ai (his first major serialization) and fortunately, while it appears he has no manga in the works since 2010, he is still drawing characters (see Tiger & Bunny anime).

Through the 15-volume series, we come to understand what a person may wind up doing for the sake of reaching a dream. For me, I almost take away from the series the inspiration to want to further my education to reach a financial plateau that I know I may not get to until I'm 80-years old in my real line of work. For Seto, his dream was to overcome his personal doubts and personality short-comings to reach the woman he has only dared to look at from afar. Through each volume of the series we are consistently bombarded with failure, then success in an almost rhythmic manner. However through this pacing we are at least rewarded with achievements even though we are only the bystanders to this journey. It provides a reason for the readers to keep going, just like Seto always needs that reassurance that what he is doing isn't for naught.

Dreams are achieved through hard-work and perseverance, which in some ways is what I had to maintain in order to finish this manga. The beginning and the end are the most enjoyable parts, but the middle falters with questionable plots and characters that continue to force Seto to take two steps back after taking three steps forward. To counter-balance this, the manga tries to keep the mood of failure from dragging the readers down by presenting us with funny, cliched, and almost absurd situations. Some of the humor works, but most of it is expected from this type of manga.

Just like with anything, there will be some who like this type of manga and some who don't. For me, the enjoyment came out of reading about the other characters and how they influence Seto's actions more so than Seto's internal mutterings (minus Izumi...sigh). Combine the charming cast with the superb artwork and you had huge potential for greatness that just falls short to the one-and-done dimension.

This manga revolves around a male protagonist who is indecisive, self-defeating, with a hero syndrome, prone to daydreaming and boundless prattle, with shallow romantic sentiment driven by lust and a female protagonist who plays dumb and has little self-awareness in 2/3’s of the manga.

Art was consistently good, details and background drawn well although some female characters shared the same face. Chapters continued off from a different viewpoint and didn’t feel too redundant. Dialogue, majority of the plot and pacing of the story were forced, overdramatic, not believable, and just kept dragging endlessly in circles and nowhere in particular. There’s a lot of fan service ... and ecchi scenes that eventually fails to be entertaining. Thinking or even believing that this manga is filled with romance is a misconception. Comedy was nowhere to be found, I haven’t laughed once.

Side characters were treated with indifference and degrades its subject. The way some of the female characters were portrayed in this manga was crude and creepy. Such as a 16 year old who was made to pose seductively in a magazine to promote a school drama club that was barely shown in the entirety of the manga and art was used twice as an excuse for nudity of 16 year olds. On the other hand, some of the male students in the beginning were portrayed as predatory made evident by them creating a fake pageant to record female students changing infront of a hidden camera then later on a fake photoshoot to target the school’s idol. New characters were introduced here and there for no apparent reason and just as quickly retired from the story. The beginnings of the male portagonist’s definite character development only showed up at chapter 77 then proceeded undetected.

I’s is an exercise in telling a shallow story in a complicated way. The author seems unwilling to tell a story in a straightforward manner and drowns the relationship in a series of uninspired disturbances dragging the story like a dead body. It was overall an unrewarding read.

As an avid romance manga lover I couldn't believe there was a "gem" out there I hadn't found out about (there's a bunch I haven't read yet, but I do know of their existence). Following that, I gotta say I was a bit disappointed. The writing was meh most of the time, with characters needing to lie, hide stuff, or jumps to conclusions in order to drive the plot, which is an automatic "lazy writing" characteristic in my book.

I can see how if this is one of your first romance mangas you can get hooked, cause it has that good "keeping you engaged" ... situations, but as for plot, is just another typical dumb, clueless protagonist archetype (I might be being a bit too harsh, he's not stupid, it's just hard to explain) falling for every scheme and dumb conclusions he can think of.

If you're an avid romance manga reader, you'll find it meh, okay at best, lots of the secondary characters were way better than the protagonist, and his proper growth doesn't really keep up with the situation, he's always behind in the character development department and that gets annoying. The artstyle is fantastic though!

The following review is in English and Spanish (translated with the support of DeepL)

The version read is the Spanish translation by Otak

Ichitaka Seto has an irremediable flaw as a character for the context that him is presented , his absolute lack of evolution. It's common that in the romantic harem the protagonist begins with few redeemable characteristics beyond kindness or attention, flashes of genius, and in his case he also has that, the difference is that in his extensive path to the end, he continues with only the same qualities.

Again and again he faces dilemmas, quite similar to each other, in which he makes mistakes, ... we believe he learns so that again he makes the same mistake in the next problem. The apparent outline of an evolution is summarized in only one moment on which the work depended to continue to exist. And it's a pity because if there is anything of interest at the narrative level is how empathetic it can be in certain scenes for its target audience.

Because Seto doesn't exhume that confidence or security as other protagonists of the genre, he has doubts about his desires, how they will affect other people and in what way he wants to assume them, which are expressed in a transparent and effective way in the internal monologue and visually captured by Masakazu, either through different resources such as the collage of memories or enclosing him in the panel, that's when Ichitaka is the best version of himself. But this approach is not extended through changes in his attitudes, it only derives in promises waiting to be broken.

He also has another marked lack, not having any other dimension that is not involved with his relationships, that is, he lacks hobbies, interests or dreams, the latter is referenced in the narrative from a certain point so it may be an intentional omission, however, the absence of the other two is just a huge counter to get interest or empathy for him. A hollow protagonist who only exists for his relationship and even then doesn't manage to get along.

Another reason for this emptiness is the secondary characters and how they have been treated, because unlike the main character, they have more personality that is expressed in their interests and the relationships between them. Even with little time in the narrative, several of them can be demarcated a certain evolution, however, since the plot is so engrossed in romantic drama, most of their interactions with Ichitaka will be advice or observation, with the exception of his best friend Teratani and the main female cast.

For as mentioned, it's a romantic comedy harem although characterizing it as a “harem” is a bit of an exaggeration, instead it could be considered a romantic triangle repeated different times during the course of the narrative. A narrative approach that, by giving the story space, should allow it to develop properly, were it not that the characterization of the female characters is beneath Teratani himself.

Katsura uses the characters at his convenience, not as if they were, well, characters. Introducing and omitting to add interest to the main story without consideration for the beings he has created, and again, it's a pity because contrary to Seto, they do have some characteristics beyond their affective dimension such as artistic interests and future perspectives, which are skirted, not deepened, not given more attention than for the purposes of misunderstanding or gag. And the one who gets the worst of it is the main heroine, Iori.

Iori is two different characters between before and after the main event of the story, and even accepting her sudden personality change on the grounds of the importance of that event, we have an ending that contradicts her efforts and attitudes up to that point, only to be pandering to the Seto who has never dedicated himself to changing or understanding others. His act of heroism remains the same as at the beginning, an unintentional mirror reflecting how little the events have mattered.

I liked Katsura's drawing, in fact my interest in the work came from its covers in which I was attracted to see a style closer to realism, something that's not frequent. And that talent has carried over to his pages because even if there is poor content, the presentation enhances it in several ways. He has a great sense of character positioning with respect to the environment that he usually details with dedication, a good rhythm in the way events are presented and a character design that even if it is not exceptional, it is nice to see them “grounded in reality” to a certain extent.

If there is a factor of evident contrast is the fanservice approach because I can only admire and like Katsura's talent as a drawer but not his ability as a writer, the work abuses the “perverted imagination” during panels and panels, to the point that it ends up tiring for being a cheap resource to use, and when it's not used, it uses the most unlikely and absurd situations in search of entertaining the reader in something, notable in its increase as the series progresses, demonstrating the need to retain something to its audience.

Therefore I can only keep his pencil talent, implying that it would have been of greater enjoyment and value to me to see a collection of his illustrations rather than read his story. He may have specific qualities at particular times, but the inanity of the rest has prevented me from remembering him well or recommending him for genuine or historical interest.

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Ichitaka Seto tiene un irremediable error como personaje para el contexto que le es presentado, su absoluta carencia de evolución. Es costumbre que en el harem romántico el protagonista empiece con pocas características redimibles más allá de amabilidad o atención, destellos de genialidad, y en su caso también cuenta con ello, la diferencia es que en su extenso camino al final, sigue sólo con las mismas cualidades.

Una y otra vez se enfrenta a dilemas, bastante similares entre sí, en los que se equivoca, creemos que aprende para que nuevamente se equivoque en lo mismo en el próximo problema. El aparente trazado de una evolución se resume en únicamente un momento del cuál dependía la obra para seguir existiendo. Y es una lástima porque si hay algo de interés a nivel narrativo es lo empático que puede resultar en ciertas escenas para su público objetivo.

Porque Seto no exhuma esa confianza o seguridad como otros protagonistas del género, tiene dudas acerca de sus deseos, cómo afectarán a las otras personas y de qué manera quiere asumirlos, los cuáles son expresados de forma transparente y efectiva en el monólogo interno y plasmados visualmente por Masakazu, sea por medio de diferentes recursos como el collage de recuerdos o encerrarlo en el panel, es ahí cuándo Ichitaka es la mejor versión de sí mismo. Pero ese abordaje no es extendido a través de cambios en sus actitudes, sólo deriva en promesas esperando a ser rotas.

También tiene otra marcada carencia, no tener cualquier otra dimensión que no se involucre con sus relaciones, es decir, carece de pasatiempos, intereses o sueños, este último se referencia en la narrativa desde cierto punto así que puede tratarse de una omisión intencional, sin embargo, la ausencia de los otros dos es sólo una enorme contra para conseguir interés o empatía por él. Un protagonista hueco que sólo existe para su relación y ni aún así consigue llevarla bien.

Otra razón para ese vacío en el que habita son los personajes secundarios y cómo han sido tratados, porque al contrario de su protagonista, tienen más personalidad que es expresada en intereses y las relaciones entre ellos. Aún con poco tiempo en la narrativa, a varios se les puede demarcar una cierta evolución, sin embargo, dado que la trama está tan enfrascada en el drama romántico, la mayoría de sus interacciones con Ichitaka será el consejo u observación, con excepción de su mejor amigo Teratani y el elenco femenino principal.

Porque como se ha mencionado, es un harem de comedia romántica aunque caracterizarlo de “harem” es algo exagerado, en vez podría considerarse como un triángulo romántico repetido diferentes veces durante el transcurso de la narrativa. Un planteamiento narrativo que, al darle espacio a la historia, debería permitir que se desarrollará apropiadamente, sino fuera que la caracterización de los personajes femeninos está por debajo del mismo Teratani.

Katsura utiliza los personajes a su conveniencia, no como si fuera pues, personajes. Introducir y omitir para agregarle interés a la historia principal sin tener consideración por los seres que ha creado, y nuevamente, es una lástima porque contrario a Seto, si tienen algunas características más allá de su dimensión afectiva como los intereses artístico y perspectivas futuro, los cuáles son bordeados, no profundizados, no se les brinda mayor atención que para los propósitos del malentendido o el gag. Y quien se lleva la peor parte es la heroína principal, Iori.

Iori es dos personajes diferentes entre antes y después del hecho principal de la historia, y aun aceptando su repentino cambio de personalidad aduciendo a la importancia de ese suceso, tenemos un final que contradice sus esfuerzos y actitudes hasta ese momento, sólo para ser complacientes con el Seto que nunca se ha dedicado a cambiar ni comprender a los demás. Su acto de heroísmo sigue siendo el mismo del comienzo, un inintencional espejo que refleja lo poco que ha importado los ocurridos sucesos.

Me ha gustado el dibujo de Katsura, de hecho mi interés por la obra llegó a partir de sus portadas en la que me atrajo ver un estilo más cercano a lo realista, algo que no es frecuente. Y ese talento se ha trasladado a sus páginas porque aún si hay un pobre contenido, la presentación lo mejora en varias maneras. Tiene un gran sentido del posicionamiento del personaje respecto al entorno que suele detallar con dedicación, un buen ritmo en el cómo se presentan los sucesos y un diseño de personajes que aún si no es excepcional si resulta agradable verlos “aterrizados a la realidad” hasta cierto punto.

Si hay un factor de evidente contraste es el abordaje de su fanservice porque por si sólo puedo admirar y gustar del talento de Katsura como dibujante más no su habilidad de escritor, la obra abusa de la “imaginación pervertida” durante paneles y paneles, al punto de que termina cansando por ser un recurso barato de utilizar, y cuando no lo usa se vale de las situaciones más inverosímiles y absurdas en búsqueda de entretener en algo al lector, notable en su aumento conforme la serie avanzaba, demostrando la necesidad en retener en algo a su público.

Por lo tanto sólo puedo quedarme con su talento al lápiz, implicando que me hubiera sido de mayor disfrute y valor ver alguna colección de ilustraciones en vez de leer su historia. Podrá tener cualidades específicas en momentos particulares, más el despropósito del resto ha evitado que le tenga buen recuerdo o lo recomiende por interés genuino o histórico.

I''s is a shonen ecchi romance manga that came out in the 90's. It's about a guy named Ichitaka. He is is shy, can be dumb, pretty pitiful, and also likable. He is in love with a popular beautiful girl name Iori who seems out of her league. I will try to avoid spoilers.

Throughout the story his main goal is to try to confess to the girl of his dreams. That is the main goal for the most part. As I read on. I got more into the series from the characters and art. That is ... what I loved the most about this series.

The writing is pretty good but seeing the main character screw up or make stupid decisions can drag on and sometimes get annoying. However when that does happen it usually introduces new characters, elements, and fleshes other characters out more. There is fan service(nudity as well) but it never got in the way. Sometimes it can be cliche. The characters and their development make those ecchi elements fit naturally and the cliches don't hurt it neither.

Pros: The art, the character writing and the characters themselves, this manga does a good job making cliches, fanservice work well and makes use of the characters even when the main protagonists screws up.

Cons: It can drag on and sometimes you want to smack the main character for being stupid.

This is probably my first review that is vague and short but sweet. So it probably won't sell that many people on reading but it is worth reading. Even if you end up hating the main character and how he drags on the story. You will grow to like him(I did even though he can be such an idiot), his friends, and other characters. Whether they stay throughout the story or say goodbye.

Time moves on in I''s and by the end I already feel kind of sad that I finished this series. It has it's flaws but by no means is it trash but it's not some masterpiece. 8 out 10.

I once saw this pictures of this Manga in a gaming magazine and thought "Wow does that girl look real.." Indeed I enjoyed the artwork most about this manga. So much so that if you showed a picture of the female lead (Iori)) i am sure you will be suprised at how many people have seen her around in different publications and yet don't know her name or what manga she is from. To me this manga embodies the the romance genre, without being too campy. It has the main character (somewhat goofy yet shy and introverted) very much in same style as many male ... leads in the genre, which I found starts to become unorginal. Unlike a lot of other romance/harems it doesn't try to be overtly funny, it has its moments but I found it's main strength lies in its story and the emotions of the characters. As a love story it follows the formula well and in some of the scenes you can really feel the sense of emotional connection between the two main characters. Overall as a romance harem manga its nothing truly unique in terms of all girl dormitories, magic girls and such, but in terms of an enjoyable love story it does deliver.

I"s has always been a guilty pleasure to me. There are plenty of flaws especially with the way the story progresses and the clichee characters. The reason I rated this so highly besides the great character art and the main girl Iori. The first chapter gave me an instant crush back when I was 13 and propably a live long preference for cute females in woolen thigh highs and mini skirts.

Back in the day I couldn't get my hands on the following volumes so I read the whole thing in my late 20s and what can I say. If the romance was about a ... less compelling character, I would propably have dropped it after 50 chapters, but the question how Iori's future would turn out wouldn't stop fascinating me. So I read past the dull first half and I think it got more interresting around chapter 80 or so. To me it was certainly a better read than Ichigo 100%

Truly a masterpiece written Masakazu Katsura, and the creator of Video girl A.i. another masterpiece.
When reading I"S I feel a lot of emotions that make me feel excited or melancholy for the characters well mainly the main character Ichitaka Seto. I 100% recommend this manga to anyone who loves this type of stuff. I praise the creator for this creation.
I wish the creator truly enjoyed his work on his manga it means a lot to me, and this was the very first paperback manga I started collecting I had doubles of some and gave them to my friend and he loves the series as well.

Katsura's drawings in I's have no imperfections, so well defined that it almost seems that the author has made a portrait of a real person than a drawing for the same manga.
The story is truly comprehensive and full of twists, let's leave out the fact that the girls in Katsura's works are the true ferrymen of the story and the protagonist is forced to let himself be drawn into this whirlwind of discordant feelings for each other. In I's you go from rooting for the protagonist and telling him "you're an idiot", you go from saying "how pretty Iori is" to saying "maybe Iori is ... not suitable for the protagonist" feelings so conflicting that you give yourself a headache. it is a very interesting read, it kept me in suspense from beginning to end understanding the misunderstandings of the two protagonists, their strengths and weaknesses. The meaning of the manga is, in my opinion, love is built step by step, it is full of things that make our hearts beat, make us angry, make us jealous of our girlfriend/boyfriend but the important thing is to be sincere and sure of one's love then nothing can destroy it, but at the same time if we don't take care of it we risk losing the loved one forever and also "do you have a dream, hold it with all willpower and don't allow anyone to decide for you but at the at the same time never forget who supports you”.
my vote for this manga is 10 split.
In conclusion I would recommend the manga to all those who want a good read, to those who are starting to read manga, to those who have already started reading manga, to those who read books.