I”s 9
Posted: August 6, 2009 Filed under: I"s 16 Comments »Masakazu Katsura – Viz – 2006 – 15 volumes
On one hand, I have to sort of force myself to read I”s. I’ve sort of fallen out of love with shounen romances, because I hate the plot devices they use. On the other hand, I can’t help but squeal and laugh at every volume of I”s, because it simply revels in all those plot devices. Its debauchery is unparalleled in even the most gratuitous shounen romance.
The first part of the book has the whole Izumi-wants-Ichitaka situation going. Of course, Iori walks in at three or four inopportune moments. I would loathe this in any other series, but I cracked a smile every time it happened here simply because you could see the scene setting itself up for the glorious moment of misunderstanding. There’s a fine art to this type of thing, and I”s has it down. It’s the pacing, the way the scenes play out, and the emotional balances between the characters that make everything perfect and make stupid things like that work every time. I’m not emotionally invested in any of the characters at this point, really, but I love watching them move along their paths.
Later, Ichitaka has an extended fantasy sequence the way he does where Izumi shows up in his room soaking wet and then has sex with him. Izumi interrupts the fantasy to do just this. Again, it’s too hokey not to like, especially when there are so many lovingly-rendered T&A panels. As I’m sure I’ve said before, Masakazu Katsura is a true Rembrandt when it comes to panty shots.
There’s a Christmas Eve date misunderstanding, a karaoke party, a drunk love confession, and the end of the volume is setting up the inevitable confrontation between Izumi and Iori when they realize that Ichitaka promised both of them Christmas Eve dates. All of it is beautiful, but the love confession scene in particular is quite remarkable. Even though I’m not really into any of the characters, the timing, the way the pages and panels played out through this particular scene was truly amazing. It was one of the best love confessions I’ve ever seen, and it doesn’t surprise me all that much that it came from I”s.
If you like shounen romance, and you like panty shots, don’t settle for anything less than I”s. It really does do absolutely everything right.
[...] 19 of Fullmetal Alchemist (ANN) asamisgirl on vol. 1 of Future Lovers (The Yaoi Review) Connie on vol. 9 of I”s (Slightly Biased Manga) Katherine Farmar on vol. 2 of I Shall Never Return (Comics Village) Connie [...]
Oh yeah, shonen romances and panty shots really don’t get better than this. ^_^
True. And I”s proves beyond a doubt that there is a fine art to the panty shot.
Also to comedic/hideously frustrating misfortune. This whole series feels like a series of invisible countdowns working their way to explosions, you just want to see exactly how everyone gets their souls destroyed by emotional shrapnel when it runs down. You just expect it after maybe….the third or fourth time something blows up in his face.
Yes, this is very true. Ichitaka can mess up again and again, and any number of worse case scenarios somehow ruin his life, and yet he makes it through, and somehow an even worse event takes place. It’s kind of amazing how it manages to do that with every single volume.
I find it interesting that I liked this manga so much despite the fact that it made me want to pull my hair out about once or twice a volume. It was like a every single character should have been facepalming every other panel. Like Ichitaka is a machine designed to say/do the perfect opposite of the right thing approximately 90 percent of the time. (also I have a much greater respect for this manga now that I’ve read DNA2, which, for the record, is severely retarded)
Haha, I’ve always wondered about Masakazu Katsura’s earlier comedic series. I’ve always wanted to read Shadow Lady, but I suspect it would be full of cheese and the humor would not be as… er, sophisticated as it is in Video Girl Ai and I”s. You’ve pretty much confirmed my suspicions with your comment about DNA2, though I may still pick it up and read Shadow Lady just to see how high the cheese factor is.
The train wreck value to I”s is quite high. That’s probably another reason I can’t help but like the volumes as I’m reading them. I can see the stupid decisions coming, I know exactly how everyone will react to them, but I just can’t bring myself to look away. It’s so over-the-top that it’s hilarious.
Video Girl Ai is good, but not as good as I”s. I think the more normal the people Katsura uses, the better his stuff is, because DNA2 was like I”s if Ichitaka was three times as pathetic normally, but turned into Super Saiyan Casanova against his will at random moments. (i am NOT kidding at all about the Super Saiyan thing) I”s I think was as good as it was because it was at least moderately believable, and if there is anything that DNA2 is NOT its believable. Good thing it was only like 50 chapters, but you could still see there was too much filler.
Personally, I wouldn’t read it, but I have to say it would probably make for a hilarious review. Hehe, it was so bad, but it was bad in kind of a…an “I don’t give a shit” kind of way. Not bad in a “I tried my best and sucked anyway” kind of way.
Also, to turn I”s into DNA2, take any and all things that Ichitaka says or does that screw him over that seem plausible and you kind of laugh over, and then replace all those with puke and fart jokes and superpowers. I’d try to compare it to something equivilant to it, but the only thing I keep coming up with is Stan from South Park….I honestly can’t think of many manga that emphasize puking and farting this much. Especially since it’s woven into two entire arcs of the series.
Sorry to bogart your site with huge comments, but I just read all of I”s, Video Girl Ai, and DNA2 over the last week…..so they’re a bit fresh in my mind.
No problem, I don’t mind at all! And thanks for talking about DNA2. There’s nothing that turns me off quite like a fart joke, and I’m pretty bummed that DNA2 stoops to that level. It kind of sounds like it revels a bit in its terrible, though there’s definitely a point where that stops being awesome. That’s a shame. I was pretty sure it wasn’t as good as I”s and Video Girl Ai, but the whole time travel and shy boy/superplayboy thing sounded like a very funny premise for a short series.
Admittedly, I’ll probably read it anyway, but now I’ll go into it prepared to hate it.
And I think you’re right about his stories being the best when the characters are more real. The weaknesses in Video Girl Ai are definitely in the sci-fi elements, but I prefer that series because I liked the characters more. Some of that may have to do with Ai sticking around versus Itsuki leaving early on, and also that Video Girl Ai was way more dramatic than I”s and gave the characters a few more chances to be heroes. I”s drama seems to be all about punishing the characters comically again and again, whereas the drama in VGA was about the video girls and Ai’s playback time running out and winning in the end with an epic save. I guess I naturally gravitate towards that type of story, but it definitely would have been better if a lot of that video girl stuff had been tossed and replaced with other things.
To tell you the truth, I actually kind of enjoyed the early parts of DNA2, aside from the constant puke jokes. It spoils ALL the fanservice when the next panel is someone throwing up. But the dialogue was decent, and even the story, while stupid, was pretty amusing on a lighthearted level. What spoiled it entirely were all the damn superpowers and super villains…..and then there were the parts where you just had to put the book down and reflect on just how stupid the scene you had just read would sound if you were to explain it to other people.
Remember the scene in I”s I will term the “Second Iori Molestation Scene?” Where the gay guy kicks everyone else’s asses, and then Ichitaka jumps in and saves the day? Imagine if in that scene, Ichitaka never shows up, and instead, right before she gets raped, she farts really loud. Everyone then loses interest and leaves. I seriously considered not reading any further when they spent something like 3 chapters on the psychic demon boss fight.
And concerning Video Girl Ai, there was actually a lot of it I liked…but I think the entire series would have been awesome if the only thing that had remained of the whole Video Girl stuff was the VCR with the tape in it, maybe the store, and not that asshole in the coat that kept ******* everything up. God that guy pissed me off.
Yeah, the persistence of the trenchcoat guy in Video Girl Ai was kind of disappointing. Romantic situations derailing due to character awkwardness/stupidity I can deal with, interruptions by beings that hold some sort of omnipotent power are not something I want to think about in this type of story.
Which sounds like exactly what’s going on in DNA2. I laughed really hard when you mentioned the fanservice being spoiled by the puke jokes, too, because it’s incredibly easy to imagine. As is that unfortunate fart scene. I can’t say that would drive me away entirely, but I can understand how the superhero stuff really, really wouldn’t have a place in a series like that.
Oh, man, one of those puke scenes is probably the worst thing I can think of. It’s absolutely hideous. And it’s pretty early on, so you’ll know what I’m talking about if you decide to read it. I mean, I think it was actually more unappealing to me than like half of the “assault” scenes in Berserk. I honestly cannot recall ANYTHING I have ever heard of outside german porn that compares to the awfulness of that scene. All I can say is that I’m glad Katsura ended it immediately upon making his “point”, as it were. Imagining the aftermath was bad enough.
Oh, I forgot to mention that the scene in question is a full page panel.
Okay, now I have to know. I am going to see about reading at least a little bit of this within the next few days. I have no doubt I will thank you later.
Hehe, maybe for some of it……chances are you’ll be blaming me for some of it too. Rightly so, I figure.