Itsuya-san
Ms. Itsuya

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--Spoiler-free--

Spanning 9 chapters, it’s no wonder such a beautiful manga such as Itsuya-San could be overlooked. Nonetheless, I can’t believe that no one has written a review for this series yet. Don’t let the series length or deceptively simple summary fool you – what we have here is a deeply introspective piece that will warm your heart and leave you yearning for more.

Yumeka Sumomo is exceedingly talented at creating pungent shorts that quickly cement themselves in your heart. I’m dumbfounded as to how such a short series could be filled to the brim with so many insightful moments. All the characters are ... uniquely and properly fleshed out, with their motivations, trials, and desires being fully apparent. The manga’s strengths lies in that there are no purposeless characters or moments. This is a breadth of fresh air in a genre that’s saturated with so many overused clichés and tropes.

The narrative in Itsuya-San is accompanied with some of the most beautiful art that I’ve personally seen in manga. Yumeka Sumomo uses a whimsical style that’s reminiscent of studio ghibli or vintage anime. While mostly inked, the pages where she displays her use of watercolors are a treat to the eyes. Her framing and panel layouts are also well-done, allowing emotions to linger for an appropriate amount of time.

All together, Itsuya-San is a pleasantly bittersweet short series that will undoubtedly give your heart-strings a tug, so if you’re not doing anything at this moment, I suggest you give this series a try.

Story 10/10
Getting tired of reading all of the top rated and critically acclaimed manga, I decided to try something underrated My decision was certainly correct as I was captured by this manga's beauty since the first few pages. The main thing I loved about this manga was the gripping story. It had a very interesting take on supernatural abilities and did a marvelous job at describing the pain of losing a loved one and what lengths a parent is able to go through for their child. Familial bonds, emotional instability, and love were all perfectly portrayed in this short, yet beautiful story and left me ... fully satisfied at the ending

Art 9/10
The art-style was unique to say the least. In the beginning, I found it to be messy and crude looking, however that is the beauty of it. With time the art-style captures you and gives you a sort of homely feeling. It's a nice break from all the detailed art-styles that alot of extremely talented artists draw in their mangas and really grows on you.

Character 9/10
The characters were all captured perfectly in my opinion. Writing about how the mind of a young boy dealing with his grief works is not an easy task, however the mangaka was able to flawlessly capture that rash and emotional thinking of middle school students. Moreover it shows you the role of a great teacher in ones life, and how a teacher can be a friend, parent and mentor for one. In conclusion, all of the characters are lovable, relate able and towards the end, leave you wishing that someone like them existed in your life.

Overall 10/10
In short, the story of Itsuya-san is beautiful and a must read for everyone. Like me, some might expect the story to be half baked and uninteresting due to there being only 9 chapters will for sure be proven wrong as with time you get easily attached to all the lovable characters in this story.