I"s, Volume 07: Spank

I"s #7

by Masakazu Katsura

In order to plan for a school project, Ichitaka, Iori and some of their classmates decide to have a sleepover at Nami's apartment. But what starts out as simple fun turns into trouble when Nami decides they'll all play a dare game. The dares rapidly escalate from playful to embarrassing, and Ichitaka is given a dare to French kiss Iori in front of the whole crowd! Ichitaka has dreamed of wrapping his arms around Iori--but not in front of his lecherous friends. He can't figure out which will make Iori hate him more--going through with the kiss, or refusing to do it. If he succumbs to his desires, will he ever be able to look her in the face again?

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

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

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

Reviews

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

Algo que tiene este manga y recién acá se nota en su máximo esplendor es que la mayor cantidad de diálogos se producen en la mente del protagonista y son casi puras exageraciones, intuiciones no acertadas y ocultar verdaderas intenciones (algunas prudentes pero otras que no debió ocultar y debía atreverse a decir).

A todos nos pasa que el mundo de nuestra cabeza es una completa fantasía y que la vida consiste en el arte de saber qué filtrar y qué no, saber qué dudar de nuestra interpretación del mundo y qué no.

Mucho en este volumen se trata de que no basta con tomar decisiones basadas en nuestros pensamientos y corazones, sino que también en saber ver con otra perspectiva ambas cosas. Muy buen episodio.

[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.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

In terms of plot, this is a more dense volume, beginning with the final event of the king game, moving into Teratani's script that is more or less just Iori and Ichitaka in reversed roles, then an attempt at a kiss.

Ichitaka's spirit is still a little too easily broken at times, but he's starting to grow a spine and be willing to make a move. Teratani still has a more minor role than in other issues, and in some ways is being replaced by Koshinae. Itsuki is all but absent in this volume, and her main role in the story is behind her at this point, but in a couple volumes we start to get one of the more unique arcs for a romcom manga, so it's not all bad.

But what is bad is what's coming up. Next volume introduces Izumi, the bane of this manga.

[Eressea · Rating 4 out of 5]

漸漸覺得內心戲有點意思了，多給一顆星

[Fafano16 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love can be difficult.