I"s, Vol. 2

Shy Ichitaka has a crush on his high school classmate Iori, but ever since she posed for semi-provocative swimsuit photos in a magazine, she's had a lot of sleazy guys hitting on her. Ichitaka's afraid to make his feelings known for fear Iori will think he's just another creep.

High schoolers Ichitaka, Iori and, Itsuki find themselves in a full-blown love triangle. When Ichitaka tries to tell everyone that he and Itsuki are not going out--they're just childhood friends--Itsuki goes and declares her love for Ichitaka...right in front of Iori! That was before Itsuki moved out of his house without telling him where she was going. But, she's just moved down the block!

When Itsuki wins a trip to a hot springs resort, she gives the tickets to Iori so she and Ichitaka can enjoy the prize. Is this the chance Ichitaka's been waiting for or will fate find another way to spoil his summertime fun?

Masakazu Katsura For some strange reason, since I've been writing I"s, I've started listening to old Eurobeat again. Stuff from the late '80s. Listening to it now, the lukewarm tempos and simple melodies feel amazingly good to me. Come to think of it, I used to scavenge for that stuff in my Video Girl Ai days. I guess it's been close to 10 years now. But why listen to dance music when I'm writing a love story? When Masakazu Katsura was a high school student, he entered a story he had drawn into a manga contest in hopes of winning money to buy a stereo. He won the contest and was soon published in the immensely popular weekly manga anthology magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Katsura was quickly propelled into manga-artist stardom, and his subsequent comic series, Wingman, Video Girl Ai, DNA2, and Shadow Lady are perennial fan favorites. I"s, which began publication in 1997, also inspired an original video series. Katsura lives in Tokyo and possesses an extensive collection of Batman memorabilia.