I"s

: A classmate of Ichitaka and Iori, and he looks very much like a frog. He is totally perverted and when he sees Iori in the Fuwarin commercial, he becomes what can best be described as a "total psycho", believing that he and Iori are destined to be together. He has tried numerous times to sleep with Iori. After high school, he plays a minor part in the entire plot. He appears once or twice afterwards, but beyond that, he could be considered a minor character.

; Myoko: Ichitaka's first crush. When she found out about his feelings back in sixth grade, she promptly told him to leave her alone, and she thought he was gross. This started Ichitaka's "bad-luck-with-the-ladies-itis", and made him promise with Itsuki that they would get married someday. Myoko often comes back to haunt Ichitaka in the first half of the series through wild daydreams and hallucinations, but this has stopped as Ichitaka's confidence grew.
*An interesting note: there is a girl in Ichitaka's graduating class named Myoko, though whether she is the Myoko referred to here is highly questionable.

Manga

Volumes

* Volume 1 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872411-9; American edition: ISBN 1-59116-952-6)
* Volume 2 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872412-7; American edition: ISBN 1-59116-953-4)
* Volume 3 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872506-9; American edition: ISBN 1-59116-969-0)
* Volume 4 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872531-X; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0054-X)
* Volume 5 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872553-0; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0188-0)
* Volume 6 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872592-1; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0333-6)
* Volume 7 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872617-0; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0648-3)
* Volume 8 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872639-1; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0649-1)
* Volume 9 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872681-2; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0650-5)
* Volume 10 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872727-4; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0651-3)
* Volume 11 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872747-9; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-0652-1)
* Volume 12 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872791-6; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-1074-X)
* Volume 13 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872821-1; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-1075-8)
* Volume 14 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872846-7; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-1076-6)
* Volume 15 (Japanese edition: ISBN 4-08-872887-4; American edition: ISBN 1-4215-1077-4)

Edits in the English editions

Several of the English volumes of "I"s" include minor editing, covering nipples to tone down the series' nudity, as VIZ stated "to fit the criteria of audiences in the U.S.". These edits were done with the approval of Katsura.ref|Edits However, as of the 12th through 15th volumes, the censorship of nudity has ceased.
*In Volume 1 on page 65, In the picture of Iori's head put onto a nude model, Iori's nipples were covered by stars.
*In Volume 2 on page 116, when Ichitaka accidentally walks in on Itsuki coming out of the shower, Itsuki's nipple was replaced with a water droplet.
*In Volume 3 on page 51, Kyoko's exposed breasts are covered with water bubbles.
*In Volume 7 on page 8, Nami's nipple is covered by the sound effect "sloop"
*In Volume 8 Nami's and Iori's nipples are covered by wisps of steam on pages 70 and 80, Izumi's nipples are erased on pages 77 and 82, and Izumi's nipples are covered in water bubbles on page 90.
*In Volume 12 on page 16 Iori's nipples are erased, and her lower area is covered by a wisp of steam.

"From I"s" OVA

Nihongo|"From I"s"|フロムアイズ|Furomu Aizu is the first OVA based on "I"s", consisting of two 30-minute episodes, released December 9 2002 and March 19 2003, respectively. A box set containing both episodes as well as a making of documentary on a third DVD, was released on March 25 2004. The story of "From I"s" is not an adaptation of a story from the manga, but a new story set during the characters' summer holidays.

Plot summary

Iori spends her holidays working as an actress, shooting a movie at the waterside of a lake, which has a mysterious small island called Lover's Island at its center. Ichitaka, on a biking trip, coincidentally makes a stop at the location where Iori is shooting. Meanwhile, Itsuki returned from her job as a molding artist in the United States and plans to meet her childhood friend Yosuke to fulfill a promise they made ten years ago. Walking along the railroad track she, Yosuke and Ichitaka went along ten years ago, Itsuki is confused when she sees the lake with the small island in it at one side of the track, as she does not remember there being a lake. Yosuke, along with three of his biker friends, is also on his way to meet with Itsuki. However, the other bikers reveal to him that they are planning to rape Itsuki. He drives ahead to save Itsuki from them, but drops from his motorbike just as he crosses her path. The other bikers close in on him, stab him and let him drop into the lake (which he can not remember being there when he was a child). As the bikers spot Itsuki, she runs away.

Yasumasa and his friends want to pick up Iori at the Lake Side Hotel, but she already left as her shooting finished early. Meanwhile, she meets Ichitaka and they decide to take a boat and row across the lake to the island. As they arrive, Ichitaka recognizes the island as the place he, Yosuke and Itsuki visited as children, although back then there was no lake around it. Just then, Iori and Ichiitaka hear Itsuki on the other side of the lake screaming for help as the bikers found her and now want to rape and kill her. Ichitaka quickly rows over, leaving Iori alone on the island. He manages to hold back two of the bikers, but their leader knocks Itsuki out and abducts her on his motorbike. As it starts to rain heavy, Ichitaka follows them, while Yasumasa and his friends, who suddenly show up, take out the two bikers. Ichitaka takes a shortcut across a fragile old plank bridge to catch up with them, but the bridge collapses. Swinging down on one of the ropes that hold the bridge, Ichitaka grabs Itsuki from the back of the motorbike. Together, they drop into a stream and as they regain consciousness, find themselves at the waterside of the lake with the ghost of their childhood friend Yosuke standing nearby. Across the lake, they spot Iori on Lover's Island, close to drowning as the heavy rain threatens to flood the tiny island. As no boat is around, Yosuke reminds Ichitaka of a secret cave they found nearby when they were kids, that leads to the island. However, the cave is flooded with rain, and Ichitaka has to dive through the last part and manages to save Iori from drowning at the last second.

After saving Iori, everyone is playing beside the dock, and Itsuki wonders where Yosuke went. The scene after shows the local police searching for Yosuke's body in the water, but to no avail. High above the dam, Yosuke appears on a cliff, smiling, and then his spirit fades away. It is assumed that he died from the stabbing wound inflicted on him earlier on in the OVA.

Voice actors

* Kumi Sakuma as Iori Yoshizuki
* Takahiro Sakurai as Ichitaka Seto
* Tamaki Nakanishi as Itsuki Akiba
* Atsushi Kisaichi as Yasumasa Teratani
* Kazuya Ichijo as Yosuke

"I"s Pure" OVA

"I"s Pure" is the second OVA based on "I"s", a 6-episode OVA series animated by ARMS, produced by Pierrot, and released on DVD in Japan by Liverpool. There is also a DVD volume 0 containing promotional and background material.

Episodes

#"Au commencement" (French for "the beginning"; released December 9 2005)
#"Souvenir" (French for "to remember"; released January 27 2006)
#"Adieu" (French for "Good-bye"; released February 24 2006)
#"Vertige" (French for "giddiness"; released March 24 2006)
#"Déclaration d'amour" (French for "declaration of love"; released May 262006)
#"Ensemble" (French for "together"; released June 23 2006)

OVA/Manga Differences

The OVA generally follows the main plot of the manga, but due to the shorter nature of the OVA, few of the main characters play a less prominent role (for example, Itsuki only lasts two episodes before her departure and Izumi only appears in the beach storyline arc from manga volume 8) and others such as Jun and Aiko are omitted altogether. Due to the missing characters, there are many situations in the OVA that follow the plot in the manga but is played out by different characters.

Voice actors

* Katsuhito Nomura as Ichitaka Seto
* Shizuka Itou as Iori Yoshizuki
* Asuka Nakase as Itsuki Akiba
* Nobuyuki Kobushi as Yasumasa Teratani
* Atsuko Yutani as Keiko Seto

Video games

A video game based on the "I"s Pure" OVA and also called "I"s Pure" was released on November 9, 2006 for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.

Additionally, despite being a romantic dramedy, several characters from "I"s" are featured in "Jump Ultimate Stars", a fighting game featuring many characters from popular "Shōnen Jump" series. None of the "I"s" characters fight directly, and simply serve a support role for other characters.

Notes and references

# cite web | title=Viz Responds Regarding Manga Edits| work=Anime News Network | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=6449 | accessmonthday=February 1 | accessyear=2006

External links

* [http://www.liverp.co.jp/ Liverpool] Publisher of "I"s Pure" OVA jp icon