"Ion"
by Arina TANEMURA
ISBN# 4-08-856053-1
Ribon Mascot Comics, 1997

Okay, this manga, "Ion" (which I am assuming is pronounced like the english 'Eon') is not exactly a random shoujo manga, because I already knew what it was when I saw it on the shelf, and I could guess it would be pretty cool because I have another great , more well known, manga series by this author, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne. And I was right, this story is just as well drawn as Jeanne is, and I like the characters just as much. Granted, because this is only one volume compared to Jeanne's current run of 3, the characters aren't quite as fleshed out as they are in Jeanne. However I still like everyone a lot :) Ion is the story of a girl named (amazingly enough) Ion. She's a normal high school girl. Like most girls in shoujo manga, she is caught in a sort of love triangle. Well, she has 2 guys interested in her anyway. The first is Seito-kaichou, a student president with long pale hair tied in a ribbon who carries one of those fans with kanji written on it that conveniently changes to reflect whatever mood or situation he is in:) (Kind of like Nokoru's fan in Clamp Campus Detectives :) Anyway, Seito-kaichou makes no secret of his adoration of his 'Ion-kun' and spends much of the manga volume attached to her and squealing over how cute she is :) The other boy is the more cool, more serious Mikado. He looks a bit like a Chiaki prottype, if you have read any Jeanne.

Okay, so that is the set up. Now the story starts moving when Ion finds this tiny strip of metal that has amazing properties- it grants Ion magical powers! Suddenly she is able to fly, have people fly with her, use some telekenisis, etc. Wow, now she isn't your average school girl anymore. She uses her powers to help people, but the fact that she is now gifted causes some strain in her relationships with others! To make things worse, there is a new girl at school who is after Mikado! Oh no!

This volume was done before Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, but the artwork in it is just as excellent. I really love the character designs. There is so much detail. All the characters wear more than one set of clothes, Ion wears her hair in many different styles, and every scene is rich with detail. You can tell that a lot of effort was put into creating this!

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