I"s, Volume 03: Bitter Summer

I"s #3

by Masakazu Katsura

Angst-addled high school student Ichitaka was hoping for a romantic hot springs getaway with the lovely Iori, his number-one-crush-turned-teen-model-fat chance. Their dynamic duo has quickly become a fantastic foursome now that his childhood friend (and über-babe) Itsuki, along with his nebbish buddy Teratani, are tagging along. A starry summer night stroll affords Ichitaka the perfect chance to confess his feelings for Iori, but his declaration de amor seems to fall on deaf ears. Will he get back at Iori by hooking-up with a headstrong (and bouncy) beach bunny?!

Genres: Manga, Comics, Romance, Shonen, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics Manga

184 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Masakazu Katsura (桂正和) is a Japanese manga artist.

Reviews

[Aracne Mileto · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for complete series



A Note on Katsura Masakazu
Masakazu's works are oddly diverse and formulaic at the same time. He likes to dab in romantic comedies while also producing works about superheroes that are heavily inspired by US comics. I've only ever delved into his romantic comedies and they usually follow a very particular pattern: average guy pines for a pretty long-haired brunette until a short-haired tomboy makes her entrance. It turns into a love triangle that is soon extended to a third girl who is also a long-haired brunette. At least one of the long-haired brunettes is bound to cut their hair in an attempt to mimic the tomboy. Even though Katsura sticks to this formula, the plot outside of the love story is often refreshing and complex. And while the basic premise of his love stories is the same, you can never be sure about the outcome.



Ichitaka's behaviour and feelings never seem to line up. He has a crush on his classmate Iori yet always acts distant toward her. When both of them are assigned to prepare a school event, Iori decides to nickname their duo team I's - a reflection of their initials. Encouraged by this, Ichitaka wants to try and express his feelings for her. While things between them appear to improve, former childhood friend Itsuki returns from overseas for a promise between her and Ichitaka: to marry when they are older.

The covers of I''s might be a little misleading at first glance - Katsura's art is beautiful, though the cover art and illustrations within the book don't quite match. For the covers, Katsura uses his more realistic style whereas the actual manga does use a more traditional manga style. For me personally, I prefer it that way. His more realistic drawings are beautiful, but I do prefer reading something that looks more like manga. Either way, both styles are beautiful and I'm tempted to say that I''s has the best art of all the works I've read of Katsura's.

As a story, however, I''s is a good example of why I prefer series - especially romance ones - not to be too long. Don't get me wrong, this is generally a well-paced and enjoyable manga, but it also spans over a couple of years and I think after the characters graduate high school, it becomes a little less interesting.

Ichitaka is a surprisingly likeable character - surprisingly because he is less kind than Katsura's usual lead male characters, yet likeable because he is well-rounded and realistic. He is a friendly guy at his core but he can act selfishly, be childish or even downright mean. He has a decent amount of confidence but isn't overbearing, his less friendly sides usually surface in an attempt to hide some of his insecurities. He does also self-reflect, though, and tries to make up for his wrongs. But what I really learned to like about him is that he won't take unreasonable blame, even coming from someone he likes such as Iori. There are times when she accuses him of things he hasn't done and he expresses his anger at the wrongness of the accusation. He even acts out in a childish but legitimate response - Iori scoffs at boys' interest in girls yet Ichitaka rightfully calls her out that there's nothing wrong with that.

I really like Iori - she does have her moments where I feel annoyed with her, but it's good for a character to have flaws. There are times I find her contradictory behaviour annoying and I found myself wishing she would be more clear about what she does and doesn't want, but I suppose that is also her covering up her insecurities. In general, though, she is such a cute character, both design and personality-wise. I like that she has a dream job in mind - an acting career - and it's a theme that runs in the background throughout the series.

Next to Iori, I struggled a bit with the other love interests Itsuki, Izumi and Aiko. While this may seem like quite a lot of love interests, one must keep in mind that this story covers a couple of years and these characters don't really overlap. Itsuki is likeable as an individual character and I've often been under the impression that the majority of my friends who have read this series have a preference for her over Iori. I definitely like her, but I find the chemistry between her and Ichitaka wrong - they appear more like siblings to me. Izumi, a girl Ichitaka meets during a holiday, is in a similar vein. I actually really like her as a character but her extreme attempts to get Ichitaka's favour can be tiring at times. But somehow, whenever I feel annoyed with her, she says or does something that reminds me why I like her. Aiko is very similar to Iori and I like her for the same reasons. Unfortunately for her, she is introduced very late into the story leaving me with a feeling of her either not having had enough storytime or her simply being surplus.

In fact, the last couple of volumes felt a little surplus to me in general. After the characters graduate from high school, the story takes a sudden much stronger interest in the whole acting business and leans into becoming a showbiz manga. Although I like that Iori has a dream of becoming an actress, I've never been particularly fond of showbiz as a theme in manga and in this case it mostly felt like a tool to create extra drama. It is not entirely poorly done and there are a couple of nice scenes, but I didn't feel like it was leading to anything other than dragging out the plot.

In addition to the main characters, there is a really nice supporting cast. Yasumasa is a great friend and makes sure there's some extra comedy thrown into the story. I like that there are several other classmates introduced that come and go throughout the series - it gives a well-rounded feeling of the school life rather than the plot purely focusing on Ichitaka's love life. I also enjoy how very different all these supporting characters were from each other.

As a whole, I really like I''s, as frustrating as some of the miscommunications between the characters may be. It could have been a tad shorter, but it's a very engaging romance manga and I just want to stress again that the art is beautiful and reason enough to give this manga a chance.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ichitaka, our protagonist, managed to move from annoying jerk to mildy sympathetic lead, even if his unwillingness to just tell Iori that he likes her is tiresome. (Not like I was any better in high school, so who am I to talk? ) Iori, his love interest, needs some time and work, however. She's the typical manga high school sweetie, kind-hearted, doe-eyed, but lacking in any real defining traits.
The third piece of our love triangle, Ichitaka's former best friend from elementary school, Itsuki (back from the USA and all grown up into a perky young woman in her own right), is a more compelling character at this point. She's fiesty, to the point, and willing to put Ichitaka in his place when he's being a total jerk (which is often). Too bad that she spends most of vol. 3 lurking in the background, coming across Ichitaka when he's with Iori, at which point Itsuki always slinks away with her feelings hurt. She's supposed to be a lead character, but she's largely wallpaper in the this book. With Ichitaka's best guy friend, Teratani, taking a backseat role in these books, Itsuki is the voice of reason, so a reduced role is not a good thing.

Book Three was also too heavy on the emotional drama between Iori and Ichitaka. Itsuki and Teratani are required characters, as without them, NOTHING gets done or said. Iori and Ichitaka can spend an entire book together and do nothing but talk around their feelings,which is cute for a while, but the series is nearly 600 pages old already. Fortunately, Ichitaka does show signs of breaking out of his shell, by asking Iori out to dinner at the end of v.3, but I have a feeling that we'll quickly go back to the usual misunderstood meanings and fear of expressing feelings.

For all of the story's faults, I have no issue with Katsura's art. His clean lines and dynamic action remind me of American comics moreso than most other manga that I've read, although his characters do retain a deliciously Japanese sense of exaggeration and cartoonish anatomy when emoting. And his girls (and guys, too, I guess) are undeniably adorable!

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third volume doesn't really have momentum to carry over from the second because volume 2 doesn't go for the cliffhanger, but it holds its ground all right. No particularly vital characters are introduced this volume, but a lot of good organic work is done on Iori and Ichitaka's relationship. Iori's response to an accusation of being used shows the depths of her passion for acting, as well as her loyalty to the club, something that typically stays more implicit than explicit. Likewise we see some good character growth (or at least the want for it) from Ichitaka, who starts beginning to be much more confident in himself. We also see a good reactionary attitude from Teratani, who sees that Ichitaka's newfound confidence is based entirely on his perception of where he stands with Iori and tries to make him see other perspectives, not to bring him down, but to hopefully make his confidence less dependent upon Iori. Itsuki continues to be a great character, and her line "I'm right here" is one of the better moments in the series. There's still the issue of "what do these girls see in this putz" but that's a genre thing not a series thing.

[Pablo (Cicatricesdelibros) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Algo tan especial con este manga es que logra hacer que los dramas adolescentes no sean muy distintos a los de adultos, al crecer no se hacen tan complejos sino que más borrosos, más ensuciados con las impurezas del mundo.

Lo que se desprende de esta historia en este volumen es que los problemas de Ichitaka no son tanto de inmadurez sino de faltas que tenemos casi toda la vida: llegar a conclusiones apresuradas, no ver más allá de nuestras emociones, etc.

Las razones puras que tiene de sus sentimientos están en su más grande esplendor e inocencia y eso va repercutiendo en los "adversarios" que encuentra a su paso, que sería Itsuki.

Su inocencia en no responder con dureza será fundamental en el futuro.

[Eressea · Rating 3 out of 5]

好吧至少比古靈精怪好的多~ 那個才是真正看不下去

[Daniel Jodzio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome series!