Iris Zero
| Iris Zero | |
 Cover of volume 1 featuring Koyuki Sasamori (left) and Toru Mizushima (right) | |
| アイリス・ゼロ (Airisu Zero) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Mystery, Drama, Supernatural, Romance |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Hotaru Takana (蛍たかな) |
| Illustrated by | Piroshiki |
| Published by | Media Factory |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Magazine | Monthly Comic Alive |
| Original run | April 27, 2009 – ongoing |
| Volumes | 5 |
Iris Zero (Japanese: アイリス・ゼロ Hepburn: Airisu Zero) is a Japanese manga by Hotaru Tanaka and Piroshiki following the daily life of a boy who lives in a society where almost all people his age have supernatural powers in their eyes (called "Iris") and as the sole student of the school who has no Iris at all, he must make use of his intellect to help his friends and tackle those who discriminate him for it. The manga started serialization on 2009 but in 2012 it went on hiatus for a year and a half while Tanaka was hospitalized, only resuming on October, 2013.
Plot
In a world where almost every boy and girl has a special power called Iris, Toru who, as a result of not having any kind of special power from a young age, lives by his motto, "low exposure" - to live without standing out. But his peaceful school life changes when he receives a certain "confession" from the school's most popular girl, Koyuki and his motto begins to shake.
Characters
Toru Mizushima (水島 透 Mizushima Toru)
- Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara (Drama CD)
- The protagonist and the eponymous "Iris Zero". His motto is "minimal exposure" as being the only student at his school with no Iris, he is usually ostracized by his peers with a few exceptions and thus learned to keep a low profile by perfecting his abilities to evaluate his surroundings, which ends up earning him some new friends when he ends up helping them with their own troubles. As a child, Toru pretended that he had an Iris to avoid prejudice by claiming that his Iris allowed him to identify the Irises of other people, while in fact made use of his deduction skills to guess them, until Asahi exposed his secret, which created a divide between them.
Koyuki Sasamori (佐々森 小雪 Sasamori Koyuki)
- Voiced by: Rina Hidaka (Drama CD)
- A kind and beautiful girl with the ability of discerning who is qualified or not for the task she is thinking at the moment. She meets Toru when she finds out that he is the only one qualified to help her look for someone worthy of becoming president of the student council as she was entrusted with the task of finding a suitable candidate with her Iris. Koyuki then becomes the new president when Toru points out that after searching the entire school for a qualified person without success, the only conclusion is that said person is herself, who can not check her own qualification. Since then she becomes Toru's friend and usually drags him against his will to deal with situations only he could handle. She also eventually falls in love with Toru who refrains from reciprocating her feelings as he knows that dating a popular person like her will draw him unwanted attention.
Hijiri Shinozuka (篠塚 聖 Shinozuka Hijiri)
- Voiced by: Shunzou Miyasaka (Drama CD)
- Hijiri is Koyuki's classmate and was Toru's only friend at the school before he meets Koyuki. His Iris allows him to see black butterflies fluttering around those whose death are imminent. He becomes Toru's friend when the Iris Zero helps him prevent the death of a girl important to him at middle school by exposing the culprit that was after her life.
Asahi Yuki (結城 あさひ Yuki Asahi)
- Voiced by: Marina Inoue (Drama CD)
- Asahi is Koyuki's classmate and was Toru's childhood friend until she ends up exposing his nature as an "Iris Zero" leading to him being avoided by his peers. They eventually make up after Koyuki recruits Toru to help Asahi when she puts herself in a complicated situation. Asahi's Iris makes her see a devil's tail in people when they are telling a lie.
Nanase Kuga (久賀 七瀬 Kuga Nanase)
- Voiced by: Kanae Itō (Drama CD)
- Kuga is Toru's classmate and a shy girl capable of evaluating other people's feelings using her Iris that allows her to see fairy-like wings on them whose colors vary according to their demeanor. She becomes a friend of Toru and Koyuki at first, until she realizes that the boy she likes is actually interested in Koyuki and she makes use of her powers and the "Iris Hunter" myth to manipulate those around her into believing that they lost their Irises and have them view Toru as the culprit. She eventually reconciles with them after Toru figures out her trick and convinces her to help return those she tricked to normal.
Harumi Tokita (時田 晴海 Tokita Harumi)
- Voiced by: Kenji Akabane (Drama CD)
- Harumi is Toru's classmate and a calm and collected boy who is Kuga's childhood friend and always looked after her. He is also in love with Kuga but never confessed because he knows his feelings are unrequited, as his Iris manifests itself in the form of an arrow over a person's head pointed in the direction of whoever that person is in love with. Despite that, he supported her during the "Iris Hunter" incident and tried his best to prevent her from being exposed. When Toru realizes the truth and helps Kuga reform, he also becomes his friend as well.
External links
- Official site (Japanese)