great review!
Aizu tv,manga Review
Despite being a person who has an extremely hard time talking to girls, Ichitaka Seto has developed a big crush on one of his school's most popular students, Yoshizuki Iori. But all is not lost, for Yoshizuki Iori also has a crush on Ichitaka Seto.
Two big questions remain: will they discover each others' feelings in time? If so, will they be able to survive the ups and downs of a relationship after high school?
Story & Playability
Alright let me start off by saying this is a review of both the anime and the manga. Second to me the anime version is more of a recap of the manga, covering the major points of the story, which I liked, thus why I am doing a review on both cause the coincide with each other.
The story (refering to the full story from the manga), blew me away. When I was originally told abou this manga I was thinking, "just another manga for the females", but like the Ichigo 100% manga, it went the opposite direction. Being a male myself reading a romance manga from the male's perspective not only creates a romance novel that I can enjoy but also made me reflect and realize how much of my own life is similiar to what the main character, Seto Ichitaka, had to go through. An average-looking, typical high school student with a pretty average life with a pretty average crush goes to great lengths to work up the courage to tell his crush that he likes her... that sounds alot like my life. Just with that description of Seto Ichitaka, created perfect ground for me to relate to him. I was drawn into his life, his problems and feel the same sort of emotions he was feeling at certain times. Don't be decieved though about being for men, cause ladies I'm sure you girls can relate to one of the several females whether it be the beautiful, yet shy Yoshizuki Iori, or Nami or even Izumi whether it'd be their personalities or just plain good looks.
As far as the character development goes, it was very well done. Each character, whether it was a small or big change, had some sort of development, especially after their graduation. Yeah it was to be expected but some of those characters like Itsuki were changed so much (for the better) that its like "Is that the same person?".
Overall plot was near-perfect. Just a few minor annoyances, like the crazy situations that Ichitaka somehow finds him in, kinda makes you want to skip it. Easy to look over though and it just becomes another part of the story. One thing I was really suprised about was the lack of misunderstandings. You take a look at a manga like Love Hina and most of the situations were plain misunderstandings, but in I''s it was toned down alot. Its a good thing by the way. too many misunderstanding situations create for boring stories after a while. Instead of developing the relationship through misunderstands, the author stuck to more realistic situations. For example, how Ichitaka kept getting more frustrated and angrier as each month goes by of not seeing Yoshizuki because of her acting. Now I'm sure any typical person would get upset if they couldn't see their loved one for a long while.
Rating:
Graphics
Now lets start with the manga for this section. The manga art wasn't as mindblowing as Ichigo 100% was. I was more blown away by Ichigo that the art for I''s almost seemed like it would be passed over, but a good thing it did not for I still noticed it. Its good art, I love the style, maybe one or two funky faces but just made the situation funny so it was overlooked. Each face was drawn so well you can actually see and feel the emotions roll of each character as they change their faces to match the corresponding feeling. Definitely the perfect choice for I''s without a doubt.
Now as far as the anime art goes, it pretty much is the same as the manga version. Same style and everything. I didn't see no funky faces in the anime version unlike the manga so it was more enjoyable. The background designs also matched the theme and genre of this series stroke for stroke. I give a round of applause for a job well done to the artists who slaved over this series.
Rating:
Sound
Now this section only relates to the anime version for obvious reasons. Now watching this in japanese was refreshing cause I just got off a streak of only english dubbed animes. Personally I have yet to run into an anime with horrible japanese bvoice. Each voice fit each character to the single word. By far my favorite voice would have to be Itsuki's. The voice actress gave her a powerful, strong with yet a side of a kindness and concern in Itsuki's lines. As for the male voicing, I'd give it to the actor who did Teratani's voice actor. All in all each japanese actor/actress did fantastic, I couldn't find anything wrong with it.
The music overall was good. Though the ending song has yet to grow on me, it just seems weird. I dunno might just be me. Anyhow, the background music did will in staying with the concept and theme of each scene, never once snapping me back to reality telling me "Hey wake up you are watching fake stuff". I was sucked in pretty good.
Rating:
Fun
The overall presentation of the anime was good for what it is. To me it was just a recap series of the manga and probably made to give the fans a way to see it in motion. I did like the directing style used. Each episode up til episode 4 was Teratani and Ichitaka talking about the old times. It really made them seem older and more mature during the scenes. I think it was a good choice to limit the series to only 6 episodes and an OVA. Going into this anime I was skeptical after the slight disappointment out of the Ichigo 100% anime, but I came out of it actually feeling better. To me its definitely a rewatch series especially if you don't want to reread all 15 volumes again.
Overall for the manga , the point was easily put across. All the morales were understandable and I didn't have to sit there and say "What the heck was that about?". Thats pretty much all to say.
All in all if you want a good romance with the typical humor this is the manga to read. Nothing but 15 volumes of total enjoyment. Its one of those that will be burned into your memory forever. The anime on the other hand, a good once through, after that its to each his/her own, meaning if you liked it then go for it and rewatch it again, I know I will (I can't get enough of those voices, so awesome).
Rating:
Final Verdict
9.0000 (very good)
Reviewed by SaitoHajime101, Aug 02, 2007
Comments
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Fanatik007 Jul 12, 2009
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Nobitt Aug 19, 2009
That is a great manga. And as you said, it's one of those that will be burned into my memory forever...
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SchRita Aug 24, 2009
Thanks for the review!
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back07 Sep 26, 2012
thanks for the nice review
:)
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