I”s 10
Posted: August 21, 2009 Filed under: I"s 13 Comments »Masakazu Katsura – Viz – 2006 – 15 volumes
Oh man. All that teasing that I’ve been talking about? All those situations that were so terrible that made you groan out loud? Totally worth it.
I did not believe it had actually happened. I mean, it happened last volume. There was a two-page spread commemorating the occasion and everything. But, as usual, things went badly for Ichitaka and Iori didn’t understand. When it happened here, commemorated with another two-page spread, I didn’t believe it for a second. I thought there would be some pun with the announcer on the train, or Iori just plain didn’t hear it. Plus, it’s a shounen romance. When do the heroes in shounen romance ever successfully convey their feelings? And I”s has no problem lying to the reader, too. When something incredible starts happening randomly in the middle of an important event, it usually turns out to be Ichitaka’s fantasy. That happens early on in this volume, too.
But, yes. 10 volumes of watching Ichitaka self-destruct make this the best love confession scene in manga history. And the way in which the aftermath is conveyed is really a storytelling technique unique to I”s. After the confession, we fast-forward, and the rest of the night is told in an often-interrupted flashback by Ichitaka to Teratani. The two of them run a John Madden-type analysis on the evening, making what happens even more hilarious. Ichitaka’s fantasies are also mixed into the flashback, which make you doubt the story being told once again, but make it that much better when certain parts wind up to be true.
I still don’t think Ichitaka got so lucky, but you know. Apparently. I do wonder if the story will ever surpass this volume, though. I’ll continue to read faithfully to the end, but I really feel like this will be the highlight of the series.
I really need to read this series again.. but I remember the confession very vividly.. it’s simply unforgettable.. as is the whole I”s manga.
[...] (The Yaoi Review) John Thomas on vol. 1 of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (Comics Village) Connie on vol. 10 of I”s (Slightly Biased Manga) Diana Dang on vol. 1 of Juline (Stop, Drop, and Read!) Connie on vol. 3 of [...]
That scene was awesome. I had to reread that page a few times before going on to make sure he hadn’t been doing his thought bubble stuff, and then the panel where he realizes what he just said, and the rest of it just falls out of him. Hell of a way to write a manga, make the reader expect NOTHING but bad things from huge build-up, and then throw them the best scene in the story with no build up at all.
I know! And that was exactly it, too, I had just stopped expecting anything to actually happen that when it did, I just figured it was going to be a fake-out or a fantasy or any number of other things that this series would use to squirm out of that situation. And because it’s the real deal after so much disappointment, everything about it just feels much better.
I loved the look on Ichitaka’s face when Iori asks him who he was going to confess to. It was like “……oh FUCK. I actually SAID THAT???” And while he’s thinking about it, apparently his subconscious is less of a weenie than he is, and hits a home run while he thinks he’s still on the bench. Well….not a home run….but a double, at least.
Haha, I like that, a double. Very true. And the look on his face was absolutely perfect during that scene. As was the way he naturally just segued into the confession. That was a big part of why I didn’t believe it was true, since Ichitaka is never, never that brave. And I absolutely adored that conversation with Teratani afterwards, since it had all the elements of his ultimate fantasy and wasn’t. Sitting through that with the two of them giving color commentary was excellent.
“Do you think she knows what you do with those magazines?”
“DON’T SAY IT!!”
“What was wrong with that?!?! It was perfect!!”
Teratani always was one of the best parts of this series. He’s way more entertaining than most of the other “best friend” characters everyone always uses. He’s really the only major comic relief besides Ichitaka himself, and fits well when Ichitaka’s moping around. Oddly enough, most of the advice he gives actually makes sense.
As insane as most of what Teratani says is, that’s probably true, he does give generally good advice. Although it is often given with a leer. I was sad when he didn’t get hooked up with Iori’s friend in this volume, though. I figured absolutely nothing would come of the evening save for another awkward standoff between Iori, Ichitaka, and Izumi, and a new girlfriend for Teratani.
He is way more entertaining than most best friend characters. He’s like most best friend characters, but cranked up to 10, which is what they should all be, really. If you’re going to hang around and offer advice, you should hang around all the time, offer the advice in the creepiest way possible, and set your best friend up with the insane situations that happen here. I believe that game of Kings was largely Teratani’s doing, and I thank him for it.
That Kings game was probably one of the top 5 best moments in this manga so far. Particularly the line “I can’t believe what’s happening right now…” when everyone starts getting less inhibited later on. Right after Teratani tells him it’s about to get serious. Hehe, also not to screw everyone else over. It seems to be his job to give good, thought provoking advice, and then IMMEDIATELY give you a really good reason not to follow it. Actually, I think my favorite Teratani moment is when Ichitaka is flailing happily in his futon about kissing Iori, and suddenly Teratani sits bolt upright and glares at him, glasses shining, and turns out he did it in his sleep. I laughed pretty hard at that.
And it was nice of him to let everyone know he screwed Ichitaka over after the onsen scene, even if all he did was ask them if they really thought Ichitaka would actually have done that on purpose. Though frankly he didn’t have much of a choice, it gave him more integrity, and showed he wasn’t just some prankster douchebag out for laughs at Ichitaka’s expense. In majorly overblown circumstances, anyway.
That’s true, he usually does come clean when something backfires horribly, which is, again, more than most best friend characters do. It makes him way more likeable, too, since it shows he isn’t being malicious, like you said. You don’t have to worry about Teratani repeatedly setting Ichitaka up for failure, since he does genuinely want him to succeed.
And to be fair, most of the damage is always done by Ichitaka, who takes Teratani’s well-meaning but sometimes disastrous situations and just makes them worse than they have to be. Or even his pranks. I mean, he could have just turned around and gotten out really quick when he realized what was going on in the hot springs instead of sticking around and inevitably making things much worse. But then again, that’s part of the train-wreck-in-progress allure of the series.
Oddly enough, that scene was mildly plausible, mostly due to the fact that Ichitaka actually tried to leave before Izumi came in, he’d have been off scot-free if he’d have left before that. And….you know, not been basically having nude reverse-cowgirl non-sex with her in the bath while Iori and Nami were standing there. All he’d had to do was leave and go punch a written confession/apology out of Teratani.
True, true. And it was a better scene for not ending abruptly and instead going all the way with the hiding-underwater-with-a-girl-sitting-on-your-face thing.
I need to read more of this. I’ll probably read another volume or two tonight, actually.