#414 Manga Theory 42 | I"s
Today, I would like to introduce Masakazu Katsura-sensei's work, "I"s", from one of the most important figures who cannot be left out when talking about Weekly Shonen Jump.
I suspect there wasn't a single young person at the time who didn't read this manga, haha.
Who is Masakazu Katsura-sensei?
Before introducing I"s, let me introduce Masakazu Katsura-sensei. I never read his first Weekly Shonen Jump serialization, Wingman, as it was a bit too far from my generation, and the first time I learned of Katsura-sensei was through
"Video Girl Ai". Ai-chan and Moemi-chan, right? After that, he continued with works like
"D.N.A²: Dokokade Nakushita Aitsu no Aitsu" and "SHADOW LADY", and there was a charm common to all his works.
The female characters are incredibly cute
His depiction of hip lines and panty shots is incredibly skillful
He loves tokusatsu and incorporates sci-fi elements
If you were to ask about the appeal of Katsura-sensei's manga, I bet 100 out of 100 people would list the top 3 above, wouldn't they?
These three things are the Katsura-sensei world, and since I was in elementary school, for our generation, Katsura-sensei's works were truly our "stairway to adulthood".
And then in 1997, when we heard that Katsura-sensei would be serializing a romantic comedy that excluded sci-fi elements and focused on the 1 and 2 mentioned above, I remember we went wild with joy and pumped our fists in the air, haha.
"Thank you, Katsura-sensei!" "Nice negotiation, editorial department!" We all didn't need the sci-fi elements; we wanted to see a hardcore Katsura-sensei romantic comedy!!
I remember that by this time I had already graduated from Jump and was buying Magazine, but I remember buying this Jump because I really wanted to read it, haha.
What is I"s?
It's a romantic comedy manga provided by Katsura-sensei in that vein, featuring the typical runaway emotions of adolescence, missed connections, jealousy from the appearance of love rivals, and misunderstandings. It was a manga that kept readers on edge, thinking, "Just get together already!", and made us wonder what would happen next.
The protagonist, Ichitaka, is a second-year high school student attending a high school in Tokyo. He falls in love with Iori-chan, whom he met at the entrance ceremony. From there, he can't be honest and can't talk to Iori-chan well, but just when a miraculous opportunity to get closer arises, Ichitaka's childhood friend Itsuki appears, and then a junior named Izumi-chan also appears... and so on. It's a story named "I"s" because it unfolds with characters whose names start with "I".
The appeal of I"s
Anyway, when we talk about I"s, those of us in the generation that read it can't stop...
Everyone says in unison the golden rule that "Volumes 6 and 13 were intense." Simply put, the eroticism in volumes 6 and 13 is quite outstanding, and there are many fans of the developments where they play the King's Game in the former and Twister in the latter.
Another thing that was definitely talked about was the culture of discussing who you were a fan of, or what we would call oshi today.
Team Iori, Team Itsuki, Team Izumi, Team Aso-san plus even minority parties all mixed in, and there were heated discussions going on, haha.
From the initial high school sophomore welcome party scene where Ichitaka and Iori-chan become friends despite their misunderstandings, to the summer overnight trip (though that progressed way too fast, haha), the school trip, and the subsequent junior year welcome party, summer study camp, Christmas, and so on... it was so packed with youth that, as someone who lived through that same era in real-time, they were quite painful to watch for a regular person like me, haha.
However, after graduating high school, Ichitaka becomes a part-timer and Iori-chan becomes an actress, and the gap, the gap, the gap!
Because of this gap, the story takes a sudden turn and loses some of its excitement, and the ending is a bit mysterious... but even so, whenever I read it, it's a masterpiece that transports me back to my youth.
My Top 10 Favorite Characters in I"s
10th Place: Ichitaka
He is the protagonist, but I put him in 10th place because he is way too lucky, haha. Anyway, he is a super lucky boy who possesses such good fortune that even Lucky Man would be surprised, being pursued by the school's No. 1 idol beauty, a beautiful childhood friend who is a creator, a proactive and cute underclassman, and an older neighbor who is a bit of an airhead. Still, it was a mystery why Iori-chan fell for this guy, haha. I wish they had included some classic flashback scenes like
giving an umbrella to a puppy on a rainy day
or something like that.
9th Place: Koshinae
He is a character from a group that recently caused controversy in the National Diet (not the Johnny's one), and he is a sad ASIAN BOY who falls in love with a bearded homeroom teacher. When he first appeared, he was treated as
part of the class atmosphere, but I couldn't help but think that wouldn't happen if he were such a beautiful boy... Also, his karate is professional-grade, and he is a character who is helpful to have in a romantic comedy manga, as he is gender-neutral and plays an active role in various places.
8th Place: Teratani
He is the protagonist Ichitaka's best friend, Teratani. This guy is truly a wonderful person of virtue. He is a bit perverted, but he has a mysterious limit and doesn't go too far, which makes him hard to hate. And I still don't quite understand why Itsuki is okay but Morisaki is not, haha. He is a man of many mysteries.
7th Place: Itsuki
I've introduced one of the heroines, Itsuki, here. Itsuki is a capable girl who has initiative, creativity, and above all, continues to think of Ichitaka single-mindedly, but I ranked her here because I don't really like this flipped-out short haircut, haha. Also, I think it's influenced by the fact that when talking about the aforementioned
oshi
, the Team Itsuki fans were quite intense, haha.
6th Place: Morisaki
And then there is Morisaki.
Morisaki was a nameless mob character for a while, but he had a breakout moment during the King Game, and from there, he became known as a "litmus test" tool for hardcore guys to bond as best friends, saying things like, "...Morisaki is actually pretty good, right?" "I know, right!" and he made a name for himself as a character for connoisseurs.
And as mentioned before, he is a pretty pitiful kid who gets dumped by Teratani on Christmas.
Though, the name Morisaki is just bad, isn't it? lol
I can't help but think of Yuzo, so...
5th Place: Nami
Nami is a girl who gets it. If you have one girl like this, your high school life becomes incredibly sparkling.
She wants to play the King Game, wants to go on trips, and really livens things up as a leader, but above all, she's sexy! That's Eros!
If I had a sexy friend like this, my high school life would have been much more glorious, too. *sob*
4th Place: Marionette King
And then there is the only real villain, or rather, the troublemaker of this rom-com, the Marionette King (it seems he also had the name Samejima).
He was expelled in volume 1 for secretly filming Iori-chan (and others) changing clothes, tried to trick and rape Iori in volume 6 only to be caught and beaten up by Koshinae, and in the final volume, he stalks Iori again—a demon of obsession.
It's like, "How much do you love her?" lol
And regarding the end, I felt a tinge of anxiety that a situation might arise where this Marionette King (lol) would try to harm Iori, leading Ichitaka (unemployed) to stalk him for surveillance, a case of the biter getting bitten, you know? lol
3rd Place: Iori-chan
And then there is the heroine, Iori-chan.
As expected of a heroine that Katsura-sensei pours his all into, she is quite cute, but...
She is quite a troublesome woman on the inside, and it seems like it would be tough to date her lol
When he tried to confess on a summer night at the beach, she covered her ears (it seems she mistook it for a scary story lol), and when he tried to kiss her because she had basically confessed, she slapped him. Also, the most extreme part was when she assumed she had been dumped on her own. That part was pretty rough lol
2nd Place: Aso-san
And then there is Aso-san.
Aso-san is the neighbor when Ichitaka graduates high school, becomes unemployed, and decides to live alone despite being unemployed. No matter what he does or where he goes, a great woman just appears nearby lol
Aso-san resembles Iori-chan, and her natural vibe is great.
During this period, Iori-chan gets a weird short haircut and becomes super busy as an actress, so Ichitaka starts to get attracted to Aso-san little by little, but...
Aso-san, feeling that she herself was starting to get attracted to Ichitaka, decides to step back on her own; she was a good girl until the end.
There were many Aso fans around me.
1st Place: Izumi-chan
And 1st place is Izumi-chan. This girl is the cutest.
First of all, she is the cutest in terms of looks, her personality is refreshing and good, andher slightly sexy side is also wonderful.
The fact that Ichitaka could have had sex with this girl but didn't—and to go further, could have even made her a friends-with-benefits partner but didn't—is something you'd expect from a shonen manga protagonist lol
Summary
That's all for my look back at I"s... It really makes me want to read it again.
Video Girl Ai, D.N.A², and Shadow Lady are all interesting, but since I was in high school when I"s was coming out in real-time, it holds the most sentimental value for me.
It's pure youth.
It seems there was a live-action version too, but...
This... looks pretty rough, so I think I'll pass haha.
The first chapter of the manga is available, so please give it a read!