Iris Zero

[Ryllharu]

Manga: Iris Zero





Genres: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Psychological, Romance

Description: Sometime in the near future, nearly every child born in the last generation has a special power called their "Iris." It lets them see all kinds of things. What is for dinner that night, others' emotions, whether someone is lying or not, etc. Some are like augmented reality, some intuitive foresight, and some are more like divination.

Toru is the exception. He doesn't have an Iris at all. The world became separated into those who have Irises, and those that don't. Toru was ostracized back in elementary school, so now he lives a life of "minimal exposure," just trying to get through high school without being noticed. One of these days, the very popular student council member Sasamori Koyuki approaches him as asks him to go out with her. Exposure level: 100%.

Manga-updates

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This series reminded me of Index when I first started reading it, but I quickly realized how different it is. It focuses a lot more on the social aspects of having this kind of power. Children become reliant on their power almost immediately, and in many situations, it almost seems like they have blinders on. Toru also makes up for his lack of an Iris by being very clever. It's nice to have a protagonist who isn't a worthless dumbass or randomly thrown into perverted situations. Nor does he just rush into every situation that he comes across.

I'd say if you liked Index, you'll like this, and if you don't like the way Index handles how children have such amazingly destructive powers with no broad societal impacts, you'll enjoy this better. They haven't really gotten into how deeply some of these Irises can shake society, but there are hints here and there.

[shinta|hikari]

Been reading this for a while. I like how laid back the main character is. No shouting and overt passion is a really refreshing change, despite the really generic character designs.