Growing up as a high school student is an extremely challenging time in any culture. I”s pure and From I’’s are two Japanese series based on the romance manga by Masakazu Katsura. It explores the life of a boy name Ichitaka Seto, and two girls, Itsuki Akiba, and Iori Yoshizuki , who like any other high school students, go through everyday life as a regular teenagers would do, especially when it comes to love. This romantic story reminds me of other romantic Japanese anime such as Candy Candy. It shows you the meaning of friendship, love, and dedication towards people without over exaggerating actions and events. At the beginning I was hesitant about the series, since it seems plain, predictable, and pointless. It sounded very similar to a classic overplay soap opera, nonetheless after I watched the first episode I realize that The I’’s have something, that I have yet to figure out that makes it worth seeing.
In the first DVD I’’ Pure (which in my set is actually the one label From I’’s) is a typical straight forward series consisting of 6 episodes, in which the story of Ichitaka is told by the main character himself, as he waits for his first real date with the love of his life, Iori Yoshizuki. During the process we get to know other characters and the love triangle in which they are involved, and once Iori arrives, the audience becomes a witness of its resolution. The beauty of this story resides in its simplicity, at first, it looks dull, but as the story moves on, it makes us realize that it is everybody’s story. Anyone can relate to this, guys might find in Ichitaka some quality in which they can relate to, like his shyness and incapability to talk to the girl he likes, or they might relate to Teratani as a more confident and open minded guy. Girls might relate to Iori whose feelings toward herself are constantly in conflict, since her classmates just see her as a pretty girl or a sexual object without realizing that she is more than that, or they might relate to Itzuki which is more loud, friendly, and free spirited kind of girl. Another great aspect about the story is its artistic look, its animation is flawless, and its sound as good as it could be expected in this DVDs .the still frames in the movies although at the beginning it seems confusing an annoying, they become essential since they defines an important moment in the story. Pure I’’s is an fully entertainment story it is not just drama it is full with funny situations, unfortunately this kind of humor is not for everyone since it has some adult content, specially in the Ichitaks’s diary which is a funny skit usually involving sexual related jokes.
While Pure I’’s is set during winter time, From I’’s is set in the summer. And just as their settings these two versions are as different and unrelated from one another, unlike the first one, this one has common manga characteristics, which might make it more entertaining for some viewers. Technically and artistically the movie shares the same qualities as the first DVD, but unlike the first one, this version is more complicated and crowded, here the writers tried to add a little bit of everything to the story: action, drama, and fantasy, making the audience lose track of what the I’’s manga or the previous series was all about. As I said before you do not need to watched the first series to enjoy this one, as matter of fact they have nothing in common but the name of the main characters, since their backgrounds story and relationship are so what different.
Sumurazing I’’s pure and From I’’s are a great set of movies for fans of the drama genre. The first disk will catch your attention with a basic simple concepts as well as make you laugh with predictable but at the same time common situations, the second is more childish in sense of content. It has a little bit more action and fantasy than the previous one but it lacks plot and originality. I think this is what makes the set great, both movies complement each other trying to please any audience. A great aspect of this released is that in both cases we get to see the ending, which is something uncommon of manga based movies. The sound is loud and clear, the music was just right, and the colors were amazing for this kind of movies making the whole experience on this DVD worth watching. I would recommend this movie first for fans of the series, I think they would enjoy the first disk as it has all the aspects of the manga, second for anyone of ages 15 and up do to some things that may not be appropriate for any one under age, who like romantic Japanese Anime such as Candy Candy with more plot than action, fighting, and fantasy.
Review By Milo
Release Date: March 24, 2009
