I.O.N is a Science Fiction Shoujo manga by Arina Tanemura, and her first volume-length work.
Once when she was a little girl, Ion Tsuburagi learned that by chanting the letters of her name, she could make miracles occur. Now in high school, she is a simple and cheerful girl who has a Stalker with a Crush, Kouki, who is also the student council president. She gets a big crush on Mikado Hourai, a boy who's been researching psychic powers and runs a school club on the subject. When Ion sneaks into the shed where Mikado keeps his experiments, she touches a blue stone and gains the powers of telekinesis and levitation.
Soon afterward, Mikado's ex-girlfriend Ai transfers into their school, and she also has psychic powers. Mikado is unsure of his feelings toward Ion, and both wonder whether he likes her romantically or as just another experiment. Who will Mikado choose, and why does Mikado only seem to like Ion when she begins losing her powers?
Originally serialized in Ribon from June to November 1997, it made BookScan's list of top 20 graphic novels for the year 2008. It has been released in Germany, Spain and America by Viz Media.
This work provides examples of:
- Almost Kiss: Mikado and Ion almost kiss while walking home in the rain, but Mikado stops himself when he remembers what Ai asked him about whether he liked Ion as a person or just for her psychic abilities.
- Art Shift: Kiyo and Manami shift into "melodramatic '70s shojo" style when lamenting what a Big Eater Ion is. There's even a little narrator note next to them saying "who are they?"
- Born Lucky: Ion. She has known a jinx since she was little that makes something good happen. She uses it often.
- Broken Pedestal: Kouki used to be a fan of Psychic Man...until one day when he went to a live stage show and saw the actor take the helmet off behind the stage.
- Brought Down to Normal: Ion levitates her whole class in order to save them from an earthquake, which overuses her powers and causes her phlebotinum pendant to shatter. However, the last page has Ion levitating the Psychic Man plushie.
- Bumbling Dad: Genderflipped with Ion's mom, who loves Ion a lot and wants to make up for her lack of a father, but is very bumbling all the same.
- Crash-Into Hello: Ion and Mikado first meet in the manga when she jumps out a window and accidentally lands on him. Although they were already acquaintances at this point.
- Disappeared Dad: Ion's father passed away when she was little.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Kouki is head over heels in love with Ion, even though she has no interest in him whatsoever and frequently goes out of her way to avoid him.
- Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Kouki tried to kiss Ion when she was passed out from exhaustion, although she woke up before he could manage it.
- Extreme Omnivore: Ion has a large appetite, particularly when she's depressed. It's also revealed in the end that she has psychic powers because she ate a psychic-stone made by her father. It had stayed in her system all through her life, and its effects were magnified once she had come into contact with the one made by Mikado.
- Eyelid Pull Taunt: Ion does this when rebuffing Kouki's advances.
- Finger Wag: Ion does this pose while sticking her tongue out when she refuses Kouki. It gets him every time.
- Love Bubbles: So much. The mangaka later admitted that she used far too many frilly decoratives for the panels.
- Kawaiiko: Ai, who's more like a burikko (a girl who fakes being cute and childish) than anything.
- Nonstandard Character Design: Tagosaku has big round eyes, and his hair resembles cat ears.
- Power Crystal: This is what gives Ion the power of flight and telekinesis.
- Prone to Tears: Manami always looks like she's on the verge of tears.
- Psychic Powers: Both Ion and Ai have these. Ion has Telepathy} and Telekinesis, while Ai can bend spoons and sense card types.
- Say It with Hearts: Kouki does it frequently, and Ion occasionally.
- Show Within a Show: Psychic Man, which Mikado and Kouki is a fan of after all of these years.
- Sprouting Ears: Ion sometimes sprouts cat ears and a tail when she's excited about something.
- Teen Pregnancy: Ion's mom had her when she was only 16, and the other characters are all quite surprised to see how young she is when they meet her.
