▪	RELEASED BY:		VIZ MEDIA
		▪	AUTHOR / ART:		ARINA TANEMURA
		▪	FORMAT:		JAPANESE / BW
		▪	PAGES:		200
		▪	RATING:		T
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		04/01/2008
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		04/03/2008
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

From the creator of Gentlemen’s Alliance and Full Moon comes an all new stand alone tale about a psychic girl and the boy she loves.

Ever since she was a child, Ion would simply have to spell out her name to create good luck and a miracle would happen. She’s lived her life quietly, happily, occasionally ruffled by the rather earnest attentions of the student council president Kouki. But everything changes when she gets to know classmate Mikado better. The one and only member of the Psychic Powers Research Society, he is obsessed with discovering a way to bring out the latent psychic talents in people. When Ion accidentally comes into contact with the substance in his latest experiment, suddenly her powers go from small and miraculous to incredible and mind-blowing! She can fly, she can move matter with her mind, is there anything she can’t do? It seems the substance worked and she has become fully telekinetic. Now Mikado has all the time in the world for her and wants to test her powers. Although Ion is taken with him, she admires those who fully pursue their dreams, she wonders if he sees her as a girl or only as a psychic? And hence the romantic dramedy ensues.

Much of the manga isn’t too concerned with going into heavy details about her powers. In fact it is dealt with in a surprisingly open manner. She uses her powers in front of others without hesitation and often must rescue by using them, which she also does without a moment’s thought to herslef. She’s a kind hearted girl. But what worries her is that she likes Mikado and doesn’t know how he feels. Kouki still chases after her, but it’s not until Mikado’s ex-girlfriend shows up, the mischievous Ai, that things heat up romantically. She wants Mikado back and she also has psychic powers. She challenges Ion to one psychic test after another and isn’t above rigging things to suit her purposes. But when push comes to shove, things go wrong, Ion is hurt and Mikado makes a very wrong choice. For all his brains and her being psychic, these two need a lot of help to figure out each other and how they both really fell.

It’s a nice light romantic dramedy with the added twist of psychic powers at play. There’s a little bit of mystery towards the end and some surprises when the truth behind Ion’s powers and her family are revealed. The rivalry between Kouki and Mikado and between Ai and Ion are never the stuff of true meanness. Ai, for all her faults, is actually a good girl, just misguided and a little selfish, the same might be said for Kouki. All in all it is a lovely stand alone story that does stand on its own as an engaging tale about love and super powers with one sweet girl.

The illustrative style holds exceptionally beautiful line work and designs. The characters are each attractive and have that soft look so quintessential to shojo manga. With the psychic powers angle there is some action that occurs. There are falling debris that must be stopped, a boy in a raging river who needs rescuing, and even a large scale earthquake and Ion must find ways to help others in each of them. The action scenes are given as much artistic attention as the rest of the manga and show a great sense of flow and eye-catching imagery.

IN SUMMARY:
I.O.N is a sugary shojo tale that isn’t as much about psychic powers as it is about the power of the heart.