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One day, a young girl named Eto Hachibe finds herself pursued by a strange woman in a kimono who asks her to become her "Sobame" (basically, a traditional concubine). Eto is reluctant at first; but eventually, she finds herself swept off her feet by this woman, who turns out to be the queen of a small European nation.

Eto then meets the rest of the sobames, and a series of wacky hijinks ensue.

Iono the Fanatics is a short, two-volume Girls' Love manga by Miyabi Fujieda, who is also known for The Miko's Words and the Witch's Incantations. It ran in Dengeki Teioh from 2004 to 2006. The author made clear that he was going for a lighthearted yuri romp with this story, and it very much is. The first volume has been published by Infinity Studios, but the second volume is currently in limbo (since Infinity Studios doesn't have an active website anymore, however, it can be assumed volume 2 will never officially see daylight.


Iono the Fanatics contains examples of:

  • Alternate Character Reading: When the assassin Kurausorasu's name is first stated after her cover is blown, it's glossed with the kanji 暗殺者, which is normally pronounced ansatsusha and means "assassin". Every other occasion before and afterwards, however, it's written without any kanji.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Flèche and the rest of Iono's bodyguards.
  • Black Comedy Rape:
    • Iono with Eto, after Vizen kicks Kurausorasu out of the building. Yes, Eto agreed first ("Please, have your way with me"), but she desperately tries to refuse after knowing that Vizen was in their room all the time. That doesn't stop Iono, and the next page we're treated to an image of Iono sleeping soundly in her bed and Eto sniffing besides her.
    • Actually, a lot of things with Iono. Having the ability to see what a person "really wants" is often used to Hand Wave pesky issues like consent, and can be a serious source of squick without a heavy dose of MST3K Mantra on hand.
  • Bodyguard Crush: Flèche and Arata, reciprocated.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Iono, very much so. The author stated in the notes for volume 1 that he wanted to make sure people realized she was actually cool and collected when needed, but he worries it didn't quite come across...
  • But Not Too Foreign: Iono's father was European while her mother was Japanese.
  • The Cameo: If you look at closely at the part where Iono first meets Eto and accidentally burns her hand, you can see Seriho from Chatting at the Amber Teahouse.
  • Cast Full of Gay: Ayup. Ruiko is debatable as she was pressured into trying out for Iono's harem and doesn't really want to, but otherwise it's pretty clear. When Eto tries to tell Iono she's straight way back in chapter one, Iono doesn't believe it for a minute, and we're not supposed to either, even though we don't know about her intuition by that point.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: Kass is both the Unlucky and Victorious variations at once; she's a big part of the harem, but feels that Iono takes her for granted and pays too much attention to other women.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Guess.
  • Costume Porn
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: Pretty much Eto's defining character trait, lampshaded to hell and back.
  • Dirty Old Woman: Iono, though not old by any stretch of the imagination, actually calls herself a "skirt chaser".
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: A non-sexual example is Iono's hollyhock crest, which is pretty clearly a stylized version of the Tokugawa Shogunate's symbol.
  • Ear Cleaning: Briefly mentioned as possibly Eto's "job".
  • Emotionless Girl: Argent is fairly inexpressive.
  • Ethical Slut: Iono. She will let nothing get between her and her ladies but cares about each one equally and immensely.
  • For Happiness: Early on, Argent references Iono's wish to "rid the world of sadness."
  • French Maid Outfit: Vizen dresses in a somehwat elaborate version of the stereotypical French maid outfit. Fitting, as she's the head of Iono's sobame, who appear to largely serve as maids in Iono's estate and also wear similar outfits as their uniform.
  • Gayngst: Not only averted, but blown up sky-high. All the ladies seem to be perfectly happy with their feelings for other women.
  • The Glomp: Iono uses this frequently on Eto.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: Iono pretty much ignores her country, spending all her time collecting sobames. It's implied that this isn't working out so well, even though the diplomats love her.
  • Improbably Female Cast: Only two men appear prominently in the cast, and that's only in one scene. It's implied that Iono's homeland (or at least her palace) has so many sobames that the men have no women to choose from, and so the economy is collapsing. There's also Senou Tomo, who turns out to be a Crossdresser.
    Now that's something Her Majesty has never seen before!
  • The Jailbait Wait: Ar is a sobame but not actually part of the harem because she's so young. Iono also pledged to wait until Yama was legal to add her to the harem.
  • King Incognito: Iono likes to run around looking for girls on her own, which naturally drives her staff and bodyguards nuts.
  • Little Miss Snarker: Argent. "Pedophilia is a crime, you know..."
  • Lovable Sex Maniac: Iono is a Rare Female Example who has multiple lovers in unlimited numbers, but it's always portrayed positively.
    • One wonders where she finds the time, since the number of her Sobames runs in the thousands—and they are prone to become restless when she doesn't give them enough attention. Some end up having relationships with each other, but later in the manga it's implied that her absence has been causing serious problems.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Eto, the skeptical and hesitant new recruit. A Japanese character named "Eto" is like an American character named "Um".
  • Ninja Maid: Vizen Bellecourt, Iono's head sobame (i.e. the one who is, in Iono's words, "in charge of all 1000 sobame"), also happens to be a very powerful bodyguard who is more than a match for the mercenary Kurausorasu; in fact, her debut literally begins with her jumping out of a closet to kick Kurausorasu away from Iono and Eto all the way to the other side of the room, smashing a crater into the wall in the process, and then intimidating the mercenary into running away with nothing more but what appears to be passive Killing Intent, all while smiling and speaking very politely.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Iono, combined with Say It with Hearts.
  • Office Lady: Ouie Ruiko, whose name is actually an Incredibly Lame Pun (say it out loud in Japanese and it's "OL-ko", or "office lady girl").
  • Painting the Medium: The front and back of volume 1 shows a scene of Iono trying to seduce Eto (again) and Kyas trying to break them up, so Iono goes over to the back cover.
  • Punny Name: Several, along with several references to classic Japanese show Mito Komon.
  • Psycho Lesbian: Kurausorasu and Yama-Novera Varantianoz though both go through a Heel–Face Turn after Defeat Means Friendship.
    • Although given the light-hearted nature of the series, neither of them is that psycho - and certainly not because they're lesbians.
  • Ruritania: Iono's homeland. It's implied that the economy is in danger of collapsing because of the sheer number of Iono's sobames.
  • Sarcasm Mode: Iono is 'just an average queen, like one you can find anywhere'.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Kass/Kyas, Freshé/Fletch/Frechet/Flèche, Ar/Aru, and the divide over whether to use the original title (Iono-sama Fanatics, which the English manga used and which makes more sense) or the title in English on the cover (although Iono the fanatics is more Engrish than anything).
  • The Stoic: Argent.
  • Super-Strength: Kurausorasu is superhumanly strong, which she says is a necessity for an assassin like her.
  • Third-Person Person: Argent.
  • Token Mini-Moe: Argent again!
  • Tsundere: Kyas, most obviously.
  • Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Inverted. Iono not only isn't uncomfortable with Tomo Sonoo when she finds out the cute girl she was crushing on is a he, she's actually impressed.
    Iono:Who would have thought even a dedicated skirt chaser like me could have been fooled.
  • Unusual Euphemism: When Eto is looking for a job she can do as a sobame, Iono suggests that she "read fairy tales" to her at bedtime... by which, of course, she means something else entirely.
  • Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The country Iono is from.
  • Woman Scorned: Yama felt she was jilted by Iono, when the true reason is a bit more complicated... Iono promised Yama's father that she wouldn't take Yama until she was at least 20.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: Iono not only loves black-haired girls, but she's actually compared to a Yamato Nadeshiko at one point by two officials. If only they knew...

Alternative Title(s): Iono Sama Fanatics

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