DVD
REVIEW: I"S
03/22/09
SYNOPSIS: Iori
Hazuki is a beautiful high school girl with ambitions of
becoming a model and actress. Ichitaka Seto is an indecisive
sixteen year-old boy with a mad crush on Iori. Things become
more complicated for Ichitaka when a childhood friend named
Itsuki returns from living in the United States and ends up
living at his house – and Itsuki is far from the shy and
homely young girl Ichitaka remembers. Ichitaka must now
reconcile his feelings for each girl and work hard to make
sure that his angst-riddled personal life doesn't become any
more dramatic. Put all three “I”s together and you have a
tale of love, comedy, and dreams!
REVIEW: 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.
VIDEO:
Widescreen Version enhanced
for widescreen TVs
AUDIO:
English
and Japanese
English
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The DVD does not have any
special features whatsoever, which might be a downside for
fans of the series. In my opinion the two movies are just
enough to please the audience.
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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| BONUS
FEATURES |
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Review
By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
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