Iris Zero: Difference between revisions

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An Iris is a special power in someone's eyes that, basically, allows a person to see an [[Augmented Reality]]. These abilities range from telling a person what's for dinner to [[Reincarnation|identifying someone's past lives]]. 27Twenty-seven years ago around 1% of children were born with this power; 5five years later, that began to skyrocket, so that this time the 1% were the children born without it.

This semi-[[Shounen]] (believe it or not, this is a [[Seinen]] series) fantasy [[Manga]] written by Piro Shiki and Hotaru Takana, '''''Iris Zero''''', tells of Toru's time in high school as he struggles to maintain his low profile while assisting the ever-annoying (well, to him anyway) Koyuki who stands out too much. Rounding out the cast are [[Eyes Always Shut|Hijiri Shinonuka]], Toru's only friend who sees past Toru for being an Iris Zero; [[Fiery Redhead|Asahi Yuki]], Koyuki's friend; [[Emotionless Girl|Nanase Kuga]], who's even more withdrawn than Toru; and [[Stoic Spectacles|Harumi Tokita]], Kuga's [[Childhood Friends|childhood friend]].

{{quote| '''Koyuki''': There's no way the big-chested Asahi-chan would understand how we flat-chested people feel!<br />

* [[Adults Are Useless]]: In two ways: first, in that less than 1% of eligible adults possess an Iris (with those older than 27twenty-seven dropping down to 0% chance), and second in that as of chapter twenty there's only been one significant adult character.

* [[Blessed Withwith Suck]]: Some of the people with Irises would probably be a lot happier without them.

* [[Buffy -Speak]]: With all those 'things' in the chapter titles... While most are subversions, some are played straight.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: {{spoiler|Hijiri's knife that he once used to [[Self -Harm|cut himself]]. He tried to prevent Kuga from committing suicide by throwing his knife at her leg when she ran in order to jump off the roof. It also is Kuga's alternative way to commit suicide, good thing Tokita came at the last moment to save her.}}

* [[Class Is in Room X -01]]: [[Averted Trope|Averted]]. The six main characters are in two different classes.

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: It's a manga drawn in a [[Moe|cute]] [[Puni Plush|art style]] about a [[Ineffectual Loner|loner boy]] who teams up with his popular, friendly classmate and begins coming out of his shell, set in a world where most young people have magical powers that let them "[[Augmented Reality|see]]" various things. Sounds pretty sweet, right? Only the loner is the way he is due to years of being [[All of the Other Reindeer|viciously bullied]] for not having a power, and he gets teased even worse after making friends with the aforementioned classmate; meanwhile, many of the people who do have powers are troubled by them, to the point where one person tries to erase everybody's magic. That being said, [[Iris Zero]] does emphasize [[The Power of Friendship]] and contains some truly [[Iris Zero (Manga)/Heartwarming|heartwarming]] moments, but it's nowhere near as lighthearted as it appears.

* [[Early -Bird Cameo]]: Tokita. He (and his power) appears in the title page of Chapter 1, and he is the guy who starts the meeting to appoint the Student Council President in the same chapter, but he does not feature heavily until later on. Later omakes show that he was supposed to be in the manga from the start as one of the main characters, while no mention of Kuga is made.

{{quote| '''Kuga''': There's no way he could figure it out so easily... He himself said this isn't a mystery novel. And Mizushima-kun's an Iris Zero, too.}}

* [[Five -Man Band]]:

** [[Sixth Ranger]]: Harumi, now possibly turning the group into a [[Six -Student Clique]]

* [[Good Powers, Bad People]]: {{spoiler|Kuga's Iris is able to see other people's emotions through a colored butterfly. She doesn't use this in a very good way....}}

* [[Generation Xerox]]: Kuga and her mother. {{spoiler|Their respective partners have betrayed them in some way.}} Kuga's mother fears it may also happen in a future.

* [[Headphones Equal Isolation]]: Explicitly invoked by Toru, who regularly hides behind a [[MP 3MP3]] player and a book to help maintain his minimal exposure.

* [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters]]: With the rare exception, Toru's peers have universally shunned him, regularly beat him, and generally made his life hell ever since he was outed as an iris zero. One shudders to think what the world will be like for the other zeroes once the iris-dominated generation comes of age. Meanwhile, the older generation just grumbles about the younger as if it was some new game going around and shrugs off responsibility.

* [[The Matchmaker]]/[[Shipper Onon Deck]]: Tokita's Iris lets him see "love affections," an arrow over a person's head pointing towards who they have feelings for, meaning he could play matchmaker easily. He tries to do it for {{spoiler|his childhood friend Kuga}}. It doesn't work out so well. Later, he {{spoiler|tries to help Toru and Sasamori realize their mutual affections.}}

* [[Misunderstood Loner Withwith a Heart of Gold]]: Toru, though he works harder than anyone to bury that heart of gold deep to keep it from being found. Too bad for him that Sasamori is the emotional equivalent of a backhoe.

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: Depending on [[Self -Fulfilling Prophecy|how much their later actions were already factored into]] {{spoiler|Hijiri's Iris seeing a butterfly on Kuga}}, Toru and the others' attempts to protect {{spoiler|Kuga}} likely made things much worse. At the least, given that {{spoiler|their confrontation with Kuga's boyfriend made her doubt him enough to check him with her Iris, and she immediately sprouted a few new butterflies}}, it's very likely that Toru's intervention directly led to the emergence of the Iris Hunter. "We may have altered fate," indeed.

** Everyone thinking that Toru is the [[Anti -Magic|Iris Hunter]]

* [[Poisonous Friend]]: Asahi {{spoiler|is the person who outed Toru as a Zero}} in their shared backstory. Also, {{spoiler|Tokita to Kuga}}.

* [[Precision F -Strike]]: Sasamori is so impossibly nice and apologetic all the time that she can accomplish this effect ''without even swearing'' when she calls Toru an idiot {{spoiler|during his [[Achilles in His Tent]] moment}}.

* [[Somebody ElsesElse's Problem]]: Most teachers' reaction to anything involving Irises. The one notable exception? {{spoiler|Has her own Iris, being born shortly after the very beginning of their occurrence.}}

* [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"]]: Hi''z''iri or Hi''j''iri? The manga translation is inconsistent.

{{quote| '''Cake shop manager''': Are my cakes... really that bad...?}}

* [[There Are No Therapists]]: Having a school full of kids with [[Evil Eye|Irises]], from which some may cause serious trauma, may be a good reason to hire a professional psychologist. Yet for [[Adults Are Useless|teachers]] this is [[Somebody ElsesElse's Problem]]. [[Closest Thing We Got|The clousest thing to good therapy characters get is Toru’s help.]]

* [[Two -Teacher School]]: So far, only two or three teachers have been seen (depending on whether or not you think the older teacher dealing with Asahi's discipline in chapters 2 and 3 is the same as Toru and Kuga's barely-visible homeroom teacher in chapter 7).

* [[Un -Sorcerer]]: Compared to his peers, Toru is the only one without an Iris.

* [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?]]: Apparently there's an Iris for telling what dish will be served for dinner.