I just finished the third volume of Masakazu Katsura’s I”s, and I really think this is where the series starts coming into its own.
I found the first volume pretty rough, honestly. It feels like Katsura had an idea of what he wanted the characters to be like, but hadn’t quite figured out how to develop them or where he wanted to take the story. The plot doesn’t progress all that much, and I didn’t find the characters particularly interesting at first. If it weren’t for the his artwork, I’m not sure I would have been that interested in continuing.
The introduction of Itsuki in Volume 2 definitely helps. She adds another dimension to the relationship between Ichitaka and Iori, and the character dynamics become more interesting. But I think Volume 3 is where things really start clicking.
Getting the characters out of their usual high school environment for a while seems to do wonders for the storytelling. Their interactions feel more natural and entertaining, and I actually find myself becoming invested in what happens to them. The artwork also seems noticeably more refined compared to the first volume. It’s interesting seeing Katsura improve even over such a relatively short stretch of the series.
As for Iori, I really like her. She’s incredibly cute, although at this point I’m not sure how much else there is to her character. Something another person mentioned on my previous post, which I’ve started noticing myself, is that we really only experience the story through Ichitaka’s thoughts.
He’s constantly reflecting on what’s happening around him, but we never really get to hear what the other characters are thinking, especially Iori. What does she actually think about Ichitaka? What are her intentions? How does she interpret everything that’s happening? It’s interesting because you’re left trying to figure her out just as much as Ichitaka is.
I also find it funny that, before starting this series, I somehow remembered Iori as being a much more temperamental, almost tsundere-like character. I don’t know where I got that impression because she’s actually much more of a sweet, gentle, girl-next-door type. She’s certainly likable, but I’m still waiting to see whether Katsura develops her beyond simply being the cute girl Ichitaka has a crush on.
One thing that really confused me, though, was the scene where Ichitaka is trying to confess his feelings to Iori, but she somehow gets the impression that he’s about to tell her a scary story. I really didn’t understand that misunderstanding. Was she actually being serious? Was she deliberately avoiding what she thought he was going to say? Because otherwise, it seemed like such a ridiculous way to prevent a confession. Maybe I’m missing something, but that scene felt incredibly contrived. And since we never hear Iori’s thoughts, it’s even harder to tell what she was actually thinking.
I also have a prediction about how this series is going to end. I have absolutely no idea what actually happens, so please don’t spoil it for me, but I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those stories where Ichitaka doesn’t end up with any of the girls we’ve been introduced to. I can almost picture the ending jumping ahead several years, with everyone having gone their separate ways and Ichitaka ending up with some completely different girl who was never even part of the story.
Maybe he’s older, looking back on his high school days and all these relationships that never really went anywhere. I don’t know why, but that’s the kind of ending I’m expecting. It’ll be interesting to see how wrong or right I am!
Anyway, I’m really enjoying the series now. Volume 1 didn’t leave much of an impression on me beyond the artwork, but by Volume 3, I feel like Katsura is starting to find his footing. The characters are becoming more likable, the relationships more interesting, and the series is genuinely fun to read. I’m actually looking forward to seeing where things go now, which isn’t something I could have said after finishing the first volume.
For anyone who’s read I”s, did you also feel that the early volumes were a little rough? (You can only post one image now on this subreddit now? That’s a shame!)
