I's Manga Review

I’s is the story of a young boy called Ichitaka who suffers from overwhelming love to a girl called Iori who is in his class. She is an actress, and has become fairly famous from the profession, despite her inferior age. The two are properly introduced when they are elected onto the committee, and must come up with some good ideas for it.

Ichitaka and Iori share a notebook which they put their thoughts for the project in, and it is called "I’s", taking an initial from both of their first names. Even though Ichitaka acts like "Mr. Opposite", always afraid to show his true feelings and instead being rude and mean to Iori, he does give away some subtle hints towards his feelings.

On a few occasions Ichitaka does stupid things which strongly gives away his feelings, but he manages to cover them up most of the time. Every day he spends with her though, he becomes more attached, and as the story progresses, he gradually begins to show his true feelings for her.

I quite like the artwork in this book, as it is suitable for the type of love story that it is. The look and feel of the characters is very realistic, with detailed drawings of everything on every single page. The background compliments the perfect characters in such a way that the artwork makes the story even more immersing. This is perhaps the best manga drawing I’ve ever seen.

The story is pretty good too, albeit not very original. Despite the overused basic storyline, I’s always manages to impress, and is very interesting throughout. It is yet another one of those mangas that are impossible to stop reading due to its excellent additions to the story. These include certain events, which make it incredibly hectic, and keep up a fairly fast pace, far speedier than any other manga of this genre.

I would definitely recommend this to everyone, even those who are interested in its type. When I began to read this manga I didn’t have very high expectations, and it easily surpassed them. I was thoroughly impressed by the time I’d read a few chapters, desperate to find out what happens next. The excellent artwork and great story makes this a must for all manga fans, and with the experience of the artist who has worked on DNA 2 and Video Girl AI, it is executed perfectly. I’m going to give this an A grade, as it’s one of the better pieces of manga available.