I"s

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I"s
アイズ (Aizu)
Genre	Teen drama/romance
Manga
Authored by	Masakazu Katsura
Publisher	Shueisha Editorial Ivréa Editions Tonkam Carlsen Comics Star Comics Grupo Editorial Vid Planeta DeAgostini VIZ Media
Serialized in	Weekly Shonen Jump
Original run	1997 – 1999
No. of volumes	15 (completed)
OVA: From I"s
Directed by	Yōsei Morino
Studio	Studio Pierrot
No. of episodes	2
Released	2002 – 2003
Runtime
OVA: I"s Pure
Directed by	Mamoru Kanbe
Studio	Studio Pierrot
No. of episodes	6
Released	2005 – 2006
Runtime

I"s ^[1] (アイズ) is a teenage romance manga by Masakazu Katsura. Originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan from 1997 to 1999, the series was collected into 15 volumes (tankōbon), the first of which was released in the United States by VIZ Media in March 2005, although English scanslations (fan-made translations) of the series had already been around several years before.

The story's main character is 16-year-old high school student Ichitaka Seto who is in love with his classmate Iori Yoshizuki, but too shy to tell her. Again and again he plans to tell her his true feelings, but each time something (usually a misunderstanding of some kind) gets in the way. Things become even more complicated when Itsuki Akiba, a girl Ichitaka was friends with in their childhood before she moved to the United States and who had a huge crush on him, returns to Japan.

There was also a two-episode OVA, From I"s (most frequently referred to as just I"s OVA), based on the manga released in 2002, and a new six-part OVA, called I"s Pure, was release in 2005 and 2006. Neither OVA has been officially released in English as of August 2006, but there are English fansubs of the OVAs available.

Contents 1 Characters 2 Manga 2.1 Volumes 2.2 Edits in the English editions 3 From I"s OVA 3.1 Plot summary 3.2 Voice actors 4 I"s Pure OVA 4.1 Episodes 4.2 Voice actors 5 Notes and references 6 External links

[edit] Characters

Ichitaka Seto (瀬戸 一貴, Seto Ichitaka^?)

Ichitaka Seto has a generally shy and reserved nature, and, due to misfortunes with girls when he was younger, he has acquired a reflexively defensive posture when dealing with women. Thus, he's prone to rude comments when it seems some people are just trying to help, and can place an emotional wall in front of himself when people ask about his feelings. Regardless, he constantly thinks about Iori and it would seem he'd want nothing more than for her to be his girlfriend.

Iori Yoshizuki (葦月 伊織, Yoshizuki Iori^?)

Iori Yoshizuki was born March 21, 1981 (she is 16 years old as the series begins). Iori is prim, proper, and friendly, not to mention gorgeous. She's a young lady who's easy to like and get along with. This generally positive outlook is put to the test from the beginning of the series, which opens on a magazine article featuring Iori in a swimsuit spread. Suddenly, Iori's the center of attention, and she finds it difficult to differentiate whether people (particularly men) like her for herself or her beauty.

Itsuki Akiba (秋葉 いつき, Akiba Itsuki^?)

Itsuki Akiba is loud, reckless, and shameless, and seems to be a complete opposite of Iori, including her affinity towards wearing boyish clothing and having a short haircut. Itsuki and Ichitaka had been friends since grade school, with Itsuki often being an emotional coach to Ichitaka, particularly with women. The two seemed to become closer than friends in their young life, a relationship that was suddenly interrupted when Itsuki moved away to America years before the series begins. Itsuki just as abruptly returns to Ichitaka's life soon after the series starts, now a fully grown young lady, but still with real feelings for Ichitaka.

Izumi Izosaki

Izumi Izosaki is two years younger than the other characters, and is very much like Itsuki Akiba, however, she isn't as shy in expressing her emotions, especially her love for Ichitaka Seto. In fact, she announces her love to pretty much everyone she knows. Also, she's more daring. She constantly tails Seto, and on more than one occasion, had tried to seduce Seto to go to bed with her in order to prove her love. She is introduced half-way through the manga, where she meets Seto on the beach on their summer vacation, and after that, she discovers that they go to the same school. She falls for Seto after he defends her from her overly-aggressive boyfriend.

Aiko Asou

While her name does not begin with an "I", Asou plays a major role in the story. She is quite ditzy, scatterbrained and is prone to losing or misplacing her possessions, but she's also very nice, kind, and unbelievably cheerful, even in bad situations. Also, she's looks almost exactly like Iori Yoshizuki, save for a mole under her left eye. Her uncanny resemblance to Iori causes Seto some complications when she is introduced three quarters of a way through the manga.

Yasumasa Teratani (寺谷 靖雅, Teratani Yasumasa^?)

Yasumasa Teratani is Ichitaka's best friend who seems to think himself a pro with the opposite gender despite his somewhat nerdy appearance and lack of success with girls. He is often found giving Seto encouragement and good advice. Though sometimes his help is unwarranted and sometimes ends up in a bad situation, a good reader can tell that he means well with his actions and is bummed when Seto doesn't succeed.

[edit] Manga

[edit] Volumes

• Volume 1 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872411-9; American edition: ISBN 1-59116-952-6)
• Volume 2 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872412-7; American edition: ISBN 1-59116-953-4)
• Volume 3 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872506-9; American edition: ISBN 1-59116-969-0)
• Volume 4 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872531-X; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0054-X)
• Volume 5 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872553-0; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0188-0)
• Volume 6 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872592-1; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0333-6)
• Volume 7 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872617-0; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0648-3)
• Volume 8 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872639-1; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0649-1)
• Volume 9 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872681-2; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0650-5)
• Volume 10 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872727-4; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0651-3, to be released November 7, 2006)
• Volume 11 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872747-9; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0652-1, to be released January 2, 2007)
• Volume 12 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872791-6)
• Volume 13 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872821-1)
• Volume 14 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872846-7)
• Volume 15 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872887-4)

[edit] Edits in the English editions

Several of the English volumes of I"s include minor editing, covering nipples to tone down the series' nudity, as VIZ stated "to fit the criteria of audiences in the U.S.". These edits were done with the approval of Katsura.^[2]

• In Volume 1, Iori's nipples were covered by stars in one scene.
• In Volume 2 on page 116, when Ichitaka accidentally walks in on Itsuki coming out of the shower, Itsuki's nipple was replaced with a water droplet.
• In Volume 3 on page 51, Kyoko's exposed breasts are covered with water bubbles.
• In Volume 7 on page 8, Nami's nipple is covered by the sound effect "sloop"
• In Volume 8 Nami's and Iori's nipples are covered by wisps of steam on pages 70 and 80, Izumi's nipples are erased on pages 77 and 82, and Izumi's nipples are covered in water bubbles on page 90.

[edit] From I"s OVA

From I"s (フロムアイズ) is the first OVA based on I"s, consisting of two 30-minute episodes, released December 9, 2002 and March 19, 2003, respectively. A box set containing both episodes as well as a making of documentary on a third DVD, was released on March 25, 2004. The story of From I"s is not an adaptation of a story from the manga, but a new story set during the characters' summer holidays.

[edit] Plot summary

Iori spends her holidays working as an actress, shooting a movie at the waterside of a lake, which has a mysterious small island called Lover's Island at its center. Ichitaka, on a biking trip, coincidentally makes a stop at the location where Iori is shooting. Meanwhile, Itsuki returned from her job as a molding artist in the United States and plans to meet her childhood friend Yosuke to fulfill a promise they made ten years ago. Walking along the railroad track she, Yosuke and Ichitaka went along ten years ago, Itsuki is confused when she sees the lake with the small island in it at one side of the track, as she does not remember there being a lake. Yosuke, along with three of his biker friends, is also on his way to meet with Itsuki. However, the other bikers reveal to him that they are planning to rape Itsuki. He drives ahead to save Itsuki from them, but drops from his motorbike just as he crosses her path. The other bikers close in on him, stab him and let him drop into the lake (which he can not remember being there when he was a child). As the bikers spot Itsuki, she runs away.

Yasumasa and his friends want to pick up Iori at the Lake Side Hotel, but she already left as her shooting finished early. Meanwhile, she meets Ichitaka and they decide to take a boat and row across the lake to the island. As they arrive, Ichitaka recognizes the island as the place he, Yosuke and Itsuki visited as children, although back then there was no lake around it. Just then, Iori and Ichitaka hear Itsuki on the other side of the lake screaming for help as the bikers found her and now want to rape and kill her. Ichitaka quickly rows over, leaving Iori alone on the island. He manages to hold back two of the bikers, but their leader knocks Itsuki out and abducts her on his motorbike. As it starts to rain heavy, Ichitaka follows them, while Yasumasa and his friends, who suddenly show up, take out the two bikers. Ichitaka takes a shortcut across a fragile old plank bridge to catch up with them, but the bridge collapses. Swinging down on one of the ropes that hold the bridge, Ichitaka grabs Itsuki from the back of the motorbike. Together, they drop into a stream and as they regain consciousness, find themselves at the waterside of the lake with the ghost of their childhood friend Yosuke standing nearby. Across the lake, they spot Iori on Lover's Island, close to drowning as the heavy rain threatens to flood the tiny island. As no boat is around, Yosuke reminds Ichitaka of a secret cave they found nearby when they were kids, that leads to the island. However, the cave is flooded with rain, and Ichitaka has to dive through the last part and manages to save Iori from drowning at the last second.

[edit] Voice actors

• Kumi Sakuma as Iori Yoshizuki
• Takahiro Sakurai as Ichitaka Seto
• Tamaki Nakanishi as Itsuki Akiba
• Atsushi Kisaichi as Yasumasa Teratani
• Kazuya Ichijo as Yosuke

[edit] I"s Pure OVA

I"s Pure is the second OVA based on I"s, a 6-episode OVA series animated by ARMS, produced by Pierrot, and released on DVD in Japan by Liverpool. There is also a DVD volume 0 containing promotional and background material. A video game based on the series and also called I's Pure was released on November 9, 2006 for the Play Station 2 in Japan.

[edit] Episodes

1. "Au commencement" (French for the beginning; released December 9, 2005)
2. "Souvenir" (French for to remember; released January 27, 2006)
3. "Adieu" (French for Good-bye; released February 24, 2006)
4. "Vertige" (French for giddiness; released March 24, 2006)
5. "Déclaration d'amour" (French for declaration of love; released May 26, 2006)
6. "Ensemble" (French for together; released June 23, 2006)

[edit] Voice actors

• Katsuhito Nomura as Ichitaka Seto
• Shizuka Itou as Iori Yoshizuki
• Asuka Nakase as Itsuki Akiba
• Kobuyuki Kobushi as Yasumasa Teratani
• Atsuko Yutani as Keiko Seto

[edit] Notes and references

1. ↑ The name of this series comes from the main characters' identical initials (in the story, Iori comes up with the name I's when she is teamed with Ichitaka for a school project). The double apostrophe might be to differentiate the title from two unrelated previous published manga called I's.
2. ↑  Viz Responds Regarding Manga Edits. Anime News Network. Retrieved on February 1, 2006.

[edit] External links

• I"s review at MangaReviewer.com
• Liverpool Publisher of I"s Pure OVA (page is in Japanese)