Reviews for I"s, Volume 4

The average rating for I"s, Volume 4 based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-11-24 00:00:00 Michael Barre This volume, like most if not all others, opens with a word from the author, but this is the most important one for an English speaker to read. It goes into detail about the title. Yes, it states the obvious about how the three main characters all have names beginning with I. We got that. But, it's also a play on words, that someone not intimately familiar with Japanese would never otherwise catch, because the syllable ai (アイ) without being assigned a kanji, can mean love or sorrow. That's a pretty nifty thing to know going into the manga. So this volume continues the plot of trying to get together with Iori on his birthday, and it comes to a nice bittersweet conclusion. After that, we move into an arc about a school trip, wherein Ichitaka gets assigned to Mr. Higemi as a partner, while Iori is put with the brand new character (that was apparently around the whole time) Jun. (Also I hate that this translation uses Jun. The scanlation I read went with Koshinae, which I like and fits the character better. Koshinae is a somewhat complex character, for being secondary if not tertiary, and I don't like him having a monosyllabic name, because especially paired with his sexuality being a major defining characteristic, the short name makes it easier to write him off as one-note, imo.). We get some good high school hijinks scenes with the coed hangout, also an intriguing duality in what Ichitaka will and won't do (which honestly, I'm probably looking too much into) where he will have his fantasies, and he will peek in a changing room knowing good and well Iori should be in there, but when presented with a situation where he could just not move, like he was told not to, and his hand would graze Iori's breast, he absolutely will not allow himself to do it. Could be seeing a moral shift there, maybe a bit of maturing. There are two great moments in this volume. The lesser is the juxtaposition of Koshinae being unable to reveal his feelings to Higemi because it breaks not one but two HUGE social taboos (one not as bad now but pretty big for the time this was written) with Ichitaka just being a pansy about telling Iori how he feels. That's a really good, more subtle bit had never really thought about in prior readings. The other big moments is the kiss with Itsuki, and the line she gives. Itsuki is by far the best "childhood friend" character I've read to this day. It's a trope the typically makes me grind my teeth, but I've never seen it done better than it is here, and Itsuki is my favorite character in the series for it.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-03-06 00:00:00 Cheryl Sica Ichitaka needs to confess his love. Itsuki deserves better.