I Tell C to very few people's surprise has been axed in shonen jump. With poor sales with estimates only putting the series selling around 5,400 copies the writing was clearly on the wall that the series was going to be meeting an end soon. What led I tell C though to fail to find an audience in Weekly Shonen Jump? This review I think will help make it apparent on why.
I tell C started with an interesting gimmick of "Fighting poison with poison" the first chapter established Risa Aioi as a criminal stalker who loves the criminal who she is stalking, hoping to help
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them reach a point of self actualization. This posed as an interesting juxtaposition to the rest of the magazine commonly known for heros detesting villians outright. The issue with I Tell C despite it's interesting premise, however is the execution of it proved disappointing.
The rest of this review will contain spoilers for the entirety of I Tell C.
Story 3/10 - I Tell C is character driven story following the cases of Aioi. Certain cases had some appeal such as the phantom thief mAR case, however the vast majority of these cases lack much appeal from a narrative standpoint. Guy cuts off people's hands because he wants human warmth because he was lonely in his past. Most cases also have an overarching narrative with the police division and introduce elements within them. These lack any appeal partly due to the fact that with I Tell C cancellation none of these elements were actually expounded upon meaningfully. A good example would be when the I division is formed and see the police chief writing the story saying how everyone is gone now. In the manga no one ever leaves the I division this in retrospect considering the early cancellation adds nothing for the story other then foreshadowing for a twist that will never come. Another example of this is with Hikaru Kagamino Aioi the first criminal Aioi fell in love with disappears in the story after killing Ukon. Many plot elements such as these lack any resolution and lead to what at points felt like twist to try and drum up hype to avoid cancellation. Obviously elements such as these aren't all the author's fault. Maybe if the manga hadn't been cancelled these elements would have been elaborated upon. Though I think in retrospect had I Tell C not put such an emphasis on an overarching plot especially as it had in the beginning and just told the criminal cases as it started to do in the later half it would have benefitted.
Art 5/10 - The art is sufficable, however rarely enhances the experience the story is telling. Characters are often drawn in a pretty simplistic style that lacks appeal, action scenes can lack the oomph of other manga in the magazine, however it does nothing poorly either.
Characters 4/10 - Other then Risa Aioi intresting philosophy and way of viewing criminals I Tell C main cast of characters are for the most part incredibly bland. Sakon showcases this well he fits only by a trope that he is a musclehead. Even when his brother Ukyo is killed Sakon fails to act or grieve really in the chapter he just still keeps lifting weights. We never see the impact events like him like the loss of his own brother should have because they are so bound by trope. Most characters have a trait like this such as a police chief being loved by mothers and fail to ever break out of it. While the main cast other than Risa fail to hold any true appeal are the criminal side characters of I Tell C do sometimes. mAR and the boy who straps the bomb to himself are both characters where their motives are interesting due to their intriguing actions with understandable motivations from their backstories. Both of these characters arcs feel a little rushed, however they still work fundamentally. This isn't true for all the criminal side characters the hand guy and mohawk robber failed to have any of the appeal of the other two, so even this element of the criminal side characters can be hit or miss.
Enjoyment 3/10 - Personally I Tell C I rarely found myself excited to read the next chapter unlike many of the fellow series it was alongside in the magazine. It didn't hold much appeal to me outside of the core gimmick until later in when the series had begun switching away from the overarching plot. Sadly by the point I think I tell C was starting to show potential with it's narrative it was already to late.
Overall - 4/10
Jun 27, 2021
I Tell C to very few people's surprise has been axed in shonen jump. With poor sales with estimates only putting the series selling around 5,400 copies the writing was clearly on the wall that the series was going to be meeting an end soon. What led I tell C though to fail to find an audience in Weekly Shonen Jump? This review I think will help make it apparent on why.
I tell C started with an interesting gimmick of "Fighting poison with poison" the first chapter established Risa Aioi as a criminal stalker who loves the criminal who she is stalking, hoping to help ... |
