I"s Pure

Information of Anime

Ichitaka Seto has crush on the most popular girl at his school.  So popular, that she has her own fan club & a professional model.  Her name is Iori Yoshiuki.  Because he's shy, he has problems talking out to her.  Luck would have it that he & Iori are assigned to work together on planning on the Freshman Welcoming Party.  Will he be able to make her notice him?

Storyline (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Below is a summary of the storyline I've seen.  This section does contain some spoilers.  If you haven't seen the series yet & don't want to be spoiled, skip this section.  If you want to know the story & want to see how I viewed it, read on.

The story starts out in the present time where Ichitaka is meeting up for a party in the city.  We flashback to the past where he & Iori aren't friends.  Although they are assigned together to work on the welcoming party, Ichitaka is faced with a lot of problems in getting Iori to see some good in him.  After winning her respect, Seto's old childhood friend, Itsuki Akiba appears.

With the appearance of Itsuki, it creates problems for Ichitaka as he starts to create distance between him & Iori as Iori misunderstands the fact that Itsuki is Ichitaka's girlfriend.  Despite the fact that she seriously loves him, Itsuki helps Ichitaka get close to Iori by explain to Iori that she & Ichitaka are just childhood friends.  However, after Ichitaka goes to Itsuki after hearing her apartment got burned down, he learns that Itsuki really loves him.  However, the love between the two will break apart & become friends as Itsuki understands that Ichitaka really loves Iori despite the fact that he tries to give up on her after being rejected a few times.  To do this, Itsuki goes back to America to work with a movie director who worked her to help with the effects for the movie.

After Itsuki's departure, time passes as Ichitaka relationship Iori doesn't change.  They still remain friends.  However, it becomes certain that Iori loves Ichitaka but doesn't admits it to him.  Afterwards, the story shifts to the present time where the group are having a Christmas party.  Ichitaka & Yasuo Teratani meet Iori & Yuka Morisaki for the Christmas party & head for a karaoke bar.  Getting wasted, Ichitaka in his drunken state & alone with a drunken Iori finally confesses to her in the empty karaoke room.  However, Iori didn't take him seriously.

Rejected, Ichitaka nearly gives up hope after two years of trying & thinks that Iori's one-sided love was someone else other than him.  After trying to patch Terantani & Morisaki's failed attempt to get them together, a sober Ichitaka accidentally confesses to a sober Iori by tell her about his confession plans to her in a train.  This time, Iori accepts him in shock as she thought her love for the person, which was Ichitaka, was one-sided.  After revealing their love together, things get worse when Iori's career to become an actress gets in the way of love & the people in her work tells Ichitaka to give up on her as it's the best for her to evolve in her career. 

Ichitaka gives up on Iori for her dreams & tearfully breaks up with her.  However, he still loves her & protects her in the shadows which causes him to end up in a hospital in a coma.  Realizing all this, the show ends with Iori gives up her career to be with Ichitaka.

My Personal Review

I"s Pure is basically a love story of the manga.  Unlike the previous I"s OVA, this one seems to start at the beginning where Ichitaka & Iori don't know each other well.  I find this OVA to be better than the previous one in my opinion.

Animation

The drawings are pretty good.  It's better than the past OVA & seems to be closer to the manga designs.  However, it doesn't have that manga feel.  The faces are more anime style than realistic.  For example, Iori's eyes in the OVA is a bit big, but still small.  Also, the faces look a bit chubby because of the small eyes.  The side male characters such as Terantani really makes him out of place with the show.  The designs are almost totally different when comparing the other characters onscreen.

The colours are pretty bright, but yet a little dull.  However, it's not soft.  Even the colour tones make the OVA bright.  The good thing about it is how the colours are different from the characters & backgrounds.

The backgrounds are good & have some details in it.  However, they are quite plain & offers very little life.  They are quite dull really.

The animation movements are quite natural.  There are no crazy actions involved, so it's all realistic.  I haven't notice any strange body movements at this point.

Sound

The sound effect are ok, but soft.  I'm not too sure why it is.  My assumption is that the OVA wants to establish a calm mood.  Sounds are more on the realistic side than silliness.

The voices are ok so far.  Nothing too annoying & nothing too exciting.  The volume level is soft also.  Probably because there is a lot of whispering & shyness involved.  By the way, the seiyuus here are not the same ones from the other I''s OVA.

There didn't seem be a lot of music.  Possibly there isn't any.  I don't recall any from the first episode besides the opening & ending songs.  Or it could be possible that the volume level is set low here as well.

Story

Basically Ichitaka going after Iori.  With his old childhood friend, Itsuki, appearing, it become a small love triangle.  Later, it shifts back to Ichitaka going after Iori again, but in a weaker approach.  I haven't read any of the I"s manga, so I don't know much about this series.  But it looks very interesting at the moment as the transition & the flow is pretty good.  It's much better than the other I''s OVA.  However, I found the ending to be a bit rushed.  But, I think dry would be the proper answer.  The story builds up so well, only to have some strange situation where someone tries to kill Iori.  I found that situation too extreme & overboard to use it as an answer to convince Iori to love Itsuki again.  I'm not sure if that scenario was use in the manga.  I'm assuming it's something new especially for the OVA.  I personally let that slide a bit since this is an OVA, not a TV series.  Even though there are six episodes, it can be hard to make a long running manga's story fit in that timeframe.

Overall Conclusion

I"s fans will probably enjoy this since it's different from the previous OVA.  I"s Pure seems to be closer to the manga designs & seems starts off from the beginning of the manga when Seto & Iori are just classmates.  However, it could leave a sour taste in your mouth at the end.  If you haven't read I"s before, this is a good OVA to watch & pick up from.  Even I"s fans would enjoy it.

I"s gets an eight out of ten from me.  After watching the second episode, it really grabbed my interest.  It left me with a cliffhanger on how the first & second episodes ended & has caught my attention to continue watching it.  Plus, the way the story is written is beautifully done as the transitions seem very smooth & doesn't lose the viewers along the way.  However, the ending was too rushed & dry.  It was a bit unbelievable in some of the areas.