IO
Manga: IO
Taiyo Nakabaru is on a school trip to Okinawa. While he is there, he wants to go SCUBA diving off the waters of Zamimi Island, the place where his father disappeared 10 years previously. He gets off the plane at the airport and tries to help a girl with some luggage. A conversation about SCUBA Diving ensues, but when Taiyo lets slip that he wants to see the ocean that his father disappeared in 10 years ago, the girl slaps him and blames him for her mother's death. Taiyo doesn't remember anything about it. Taiyo is introduced to the Miyara sisters. The oldest is Nagisa Miyara. She is a diving instructor and the owner of Blue Wave Diving. Sibuki Nagisa is around Taiyo's age. Finally, there is Mio Nagisa, who is somewhat younger than the rest of the cast.
However, the vacation Taiyo anticipated is quickly interrupted. He soon witnesses a strange symbol shining from the water, and immediately afterwards in shoved off a cliff, landing in the sea. In it, he sees a white humpback whale. That is not all. Because Taiyo is broke and SCUBA Diving is expensive, he winds up working for Blue Waving Diving Service. Over time, more strange incidents involving the symbol occur, the plot thickens, and more character appear. Motivations and allegiances remain uncertain, characters find themselves at cross-purposes, and the mystery of the symbol becomes ever more pressing.
The series is a mixture of Romance, Slice of Life, Mystery, and Harem. The beginning of the story is rather slow, focusing more on Taiyo's experiences with first coming to Okinawa and the daily activities in running a dive shop.
The series can be compared to Umi no Misaki in that they are both romance series set on fictional Okinawan islands. They both have a dreamy feel to them as well as feature character development and mystery. However, Umi no Misaki has a dreamy feeling that could be described as pleasantly relaxing. IO has a sense of supernatural, unreal urgency about it that makes it a rather gripping read once the plot gets going.
- Abusive Parents
- Action Survivor: Taiyo becomes this. He's fallen from a high cliff multiple times, survived Nitrogen poisoning, Oxygen toxicity, beign attacked by a mercenary, rescuing several people from drowning, massive underwater explosions, being captured by guerillas, evaded armies, and other attempts on his life.
- Advanced Ancient Acropolis: Several. Attempting to explore of of these almost proves fatal for Taiyo and Shibuki.
- All Women Are Lustful
- A Man Is Not a Virgin: Averted; Taiyo is a virgin at the start of the story and may or may not be one until the epilogue.
- An Arm and a Leg: Subverted by Henri Hans; he hasn't lost his limbs so much as become paralyzed without visible reason.
- Ancient Conspiracy: Nirvana
- Animal Nemesis: The white whale to a surprising number of people.
- Animal Motifs: Whales show up a lot.
- Arc Number: 10
- Art Evolution: The earlier character designs feature more heavily angular lines which have the unfortunate effect of often making characters look peeved, or giving them a rape face.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Mar, a quarter Japanese living in Peru. Lago is her sister. Strangely averted for most other Europeans, who have sensible European names.
- Author Appeal: Loads of gratuitous scenes of girls in bikinis, as well as more wet t-shirts than scientifically plausible.
- Bad Dreams: Several times
- Bare Your Midriff
- Beam Spam: Coupled with Light Is Not Good
- Berserk Button
- Bottle Fairy: Nagisa gets drunk a lot.
- Big Brother Instinct: Causes a good deal of drama late in the manga involving Mio.
- Bittersweet Ending
- Bishonen: Taiyo
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: The diving equipment never changes, but the skill and creativity of the characters continually pushes the boundaries of what they can do with it.
- Breaking the Fellowship: The Peru arc.
- Break the Cutie: This series hates cute kids, especially younger siblings.
- Break The Cycle
- Breast Expansion: Because the story takes place over a number of years, Mio goes from being a Loli Pettanko to having a fair sized bust.
- Broke Episode: Quite a number of them actually, and financial stresses frequently drive the decisions that the characters make.
- Broken Bird
- But Not Too Foreign: All of Taiyo's love interests turn out to be at least a quarter Japanese.
- Call Back: Several, expecially common when the symbol is concerned.
- Caught On the Hooks
- Cerberus Syndrome: For a manga that started out being about SCUBA Diving and flirting with pretty girls, it got pretty damn dark.
- Character Development
- Chaste Hero: Taiyo isn't asexual, but he is very adamant on being exclusively monogamous.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Taiyo is a shameless flirt and definitely likes pretty women, but he's dedicated to being faithful to Shibuki and wouldn't dream of taking advantage of a girl or forcing them to do anything against their will. He's also a virgin and in no hurry to have sex.
- Conservation of Competence: Somnehow, a few guerrillas manage to give the American special forces a good thrashing.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Happens to Mio by way of character development.
- Culture Clash: Ancient religious traditions and superstitions meet with modern secularism and values.
- Curb Stomp Battle: The guerrillas decimate the Americans. Also, Taiyo always gets his ass kicked whenever he's in a fight, especially with Martin.
- Dark and Troubled Past: The rule, not the exception.
- Dawn of an Era: The ending
- Death by Origin Story
- Death Glare
- Decade Dissonance
- Defrosting Ice Queen: The Miyara sisters and Mar.
- Diabolus Ex Machina
- Did They or Didn't They?: Did Taiyo have sex with Mar?
- Didn't Think This Through: The consequences for doing this with SCUBA Diving are lethal.
- Disappeared Dad: Kicks off the whole plot. Also the reason why Taiyo is able to spend so much time on Zamimi.
- Disney Death
- Does This Remind You of Anything?
- Dojikko: Ai
- Dysfunction Junction
- Eldritch Abomination: The white whale. It's immortal, supernatural, is capable of evading the United States Navy, and can seemingly appear anywhere without warning and vanish without a trace.
- Eldritch Location: Deep water, especially caves are portrayed as this.
- End of an Age: Both globally and for Zamimi.
- Empathic Environment: Kinjou sacrifices Lago during a torrential downpour.
- Evil Matriarch
- Experimental Archaeology
- Fan Disservice: Surprisingly frequent.
- Fan Service: Quite a lot actually, for both sexes.
- Fan Service Pack: Mio physically matures quite a bit over the course of the story. Taiyo also does this.
- Family-Unfriendly Violence
- Femme Fatale: Kimjou, among others...
- Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: Mio
- Fille Fatale: Mio, again
- Forgot I Couldn'tSwim: Taiyo can't swim at the start of the manga.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Kimjou
- Freak-Out: Always played for drama.
- French Jerk: Henri
- Freudian Trio: Mio is the maiden, Shibuki is the seductress, and Nagisa is the mother.
- Gainax Ending
- General Ripper: Jack Reynard
- Genre Shift
- Gondor Calls for Aid: The village.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Averted fully
- Government Conspiracy
- Gratuitous French: Henri
- Gratuitous Spanish
- Handsome Lech: Taiyo's father
- He Knows Too Much
- He Who Fights Monsters: Overlaps with Well-Intentioned Extremist in many cases.
- Hit and Run Tactics: The guerrillas and most armed forces in general come out of nowhere and leave just as suddenly.
- Hollywood Healing: Completely Averted when Taiyo and Shibuki get decompression sickness.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Shimabukuro
- Honor Before Reason: Martin
- Hostile Weather: The weather does not like to cooperate with anyone.
- Hot Mom: By the end, there is a grand total of at least 4.
- Human Resources: Literally
- I Am Your Opponent: Never goes well for Taiyo.
- I Did What I Had to Do
- I Let You Win: Martin
- Ill Boy: Henri
- Ill Girl: Mio and Lago.
- Implacable Man: The mercenary
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Nagisa, frequently
- Instant Waking Skills: Taiyo
- Interrupted Intimacy
- In the Blood
- I Will Wait for You: Shibuki to Taiyo before he and Mio go to Peru.
- Jerkass Facade: All over the place
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mar, Martin, and Kimjou
- Just Following Orders
- Justified Criminal: Mar
- Kick the Dog
- Light Is Not Good
- Lost Technology: The technology needed to make the ruins and the symbols work.
- Love Dodecahedron
- Magitech: A subtle example with the symbol and the ruins.
- Missing Mom: The Miyara sisters lost their mother 10 years before the story starts.
- Mood Wiplash: Big time and right out of nowhere.
- Nosebleed: Played very seriously
- Oddly Visible Eyebrows: Pops up with everyone, but is especially noticeable on the non-Japanese characters.
- Pillar of Light: In the shape of a wierd sun/eye symbol.
- Place of Power: There are many of them all over the world.
- The Plan: The reader is kept on the outside of the various plans.
- Precocious Crush: Mio has one on Taiyo. It doesn't go away.
- Quivering Eyes: During the more emotional scenes.
- Rescue Arc: Played very interstingly in that the goal isn't to physically reclaim anyone, but rather to protect them from harm.
- Scenery Porn: The diving scenes.
- Shoot the Dog
- Shown Their Work: All the stuff about SCUBA Diving. It's heavily detailed.
- Tsundere: Shibuki
- Unnecessary Roughness
- Unwanted Harem
- Urban Fantasy
- Villain Ball: When people pick this up, they do not like to let go.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Several
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?
- Yanks With Tanks: Surprisingly
- You Can't Fight Fate: Leads To Shoot The Dog
- Zettai Ryouiki