[Discussion] IS~ Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Jul 24th, '11, 03:14

Since there's no thread yet for this drama, here's one to discuss and pour out your thoughts!

Title: IS～男でも女でもない性～
Title (romaji): IS ~Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei~
Genre: Drama
Broadcast network: TV Tokyo
Broadcast period: 2011-July-18 start
Air time: Monday 22:00

SUMMARY
“IS” stands for “intersexual,” a term referring to people who cannot clearly be classified as male or female, and who may biologically possess characteristics of both sexes. Rokuhana’s manga primarily deals with the troubles faced by the young Hoshino Haru (played by Fukuda), an intersexual who was registered as a girl at birth but has been raised as a boy.

Goriki plays Aihara Miwako, a mysterious classmate who tries to get close to Haru. Inoue Masahiro has been cast as Ibuki Kenji, a member of the soccer club whom Haru begins having feelings for. Nishida Naomi and Minami Kaho play Miwako’s and Haru’s mothers, respectively. - Tokyograph

My thoughts:
It is based on the manga by Chiyo Rokuhana, still ongoing actually so if you're curious on the original manga version, you can check it out. I'd say it's worth reading if you want to understand more about the characters and storyline and maybe compare with the live-action. As for me, I didn't know the existence of the manga till the drama promotion few months ago, so I read it up and it's really engaging!

Well here's the link to read the manga online if you want but the main character, Haru Hoshino only appears from Volume 2 onwards.
http://manga.animea.net/aiesu-chapter-13-page-1.html

After watching the first episode

So anybody else watching this drama?

EDIT
Opening theme song (Souiro Coordinate) by Kusuo thanks to r1ck for the information.
Souiro Coordinate

UPDATE
Here's the ending theme in FULL!~
Finally found the video floating on youtube, wasted no time to rip it:
Hilcryhme- Personal Colour.mp3 - 5.9 MB

And here's the video!

ashia · Post by **ashia** » Jul 24th, '11, 03:41

Thanks for opening this thread
May I ask about the theme song for this dorama
the ending is by Hilchryme but the opening?

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Jul 24th, '11, 04:12

ashia wrote:Thanks for opening this thread
May I ask about the theme song for this dorama
the ending is by Hilchryme but the opening?

edit:
Btw, do u know the title of the opening song in romaji? Coz i found the title in nomanymore.blogspot.com but I can't read the kanji.

r1ck · Post by **r1ck** » Jul 24th, '11, 05:11

opening theme [Souiro Coordinate] by Kusuo
Ending [personal color] by Hilcrhyme.

Agree with Fukuda Saki take this role.
Her transformation last three season is great :
Quartet - Shitsuren Houken - IS.

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Jul 24th, '11, 05:19

r1ck wrote:opening theme [Souiro Coordinate] by Kusuo
Ending [personal color] by Hilcrhyme.

Agree with Fukuda Saki take this role.
Her transformation last three season is great :
Quartet - Shitsuren Houken - IS.

lol so i was wrong with the songs

thanks for clearing that up!

I agree that Fukuda changed her image a lot in the past dramas, I hope she'll do great in this one. Though I admit I didn't watch Quartet.

EDIT:
just added the opening song in first post. Enjoy! It's a great song!

SeraEris · Post by **SeraEris** » Jul 24th, '11, 09:19

I'm watching

and it is just perfect!!! I love it so far very close to the manga indeed
Intersexual is a subject that has to be discussed even through a drama
and Haru's parents have to be the example for ALL parents (not just parents with IS kids)

ashia · Post by **ashia** » Jul 25th, '11, 01:17

EDIT
Opening theme song (Souiro Coordinate) by Kusuo thanks to r1ck for the information.
Souiro Coordinate

I am in love with this song

the drama is really exciting fukuda and Gouriki are perfect Haru and Miwako. I liked their encounter, although it seemed a coincident but i think it's not.
Miwako's rule wasn't that big in the manga, I think they will give her bigger rule in Haru's life.
There is sth bothering me though

. Haru's parents

, I hoped they would be younger like the manga, they were young parents. I don't wanna judge from the ep1 so I'll wait

Can't wait to see Lion

, he seemed really cute in the preview.

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Jul 27th, '11, 15:57

ashia wrote:
EDIT
Opening theme song (Souiro Coordinate) by Kusuo thanks to r1ck for the information.
Souiro Coordinate
I am in love with this song
the drama is really exciting fukuda and Gouriki are perfect Haru and Miwako. I liked their encounter, although it seemed a coincident but i think it's not.
Miwako's rule wasn't that big in the manga, I think they will give her bigger rule in Haru's life.
There is sth bothering me though . Haru's parents , I hoped they would be younger like the manga, they were young parents. I don't wanna judge from the ep1 so I'll wait

Can't wait to see Lion , he seemed really cute in the preview.

omg ur right!

Leon is super cute in ep 2~~ I like him so much better than Kenji! I mean, he was like the only one, atm, who shares Haru's personal secret since childhood and he's such a great buddy! I really like the way they communicate with each other. Can see that Haru's really comfy around him.

about ep 2

Anyways, I now take back my doubt of seeing Fukuda Saki in Haru's character. After episode 2, I really think she's perfect for the role. She's portraying the character pretty well so far. Keep up the good work, Saki-chan!

unguanime · Post by **unguanime** » Aug 4th, '11, 06:35

@avieamber: Thanks for the song! Love it!

Has anybody watched ep3? I didn't see that coming!

I started to guess towards that direction since the middle of the third episode.
I haven't read the manga. Please no spoilers. ^^

SeraEris · Post by **SeraEris** » Aug 4th, '11, 07:36

unguanime wrote:@avieamber: Thanks for the song! Love it!

Has anybody watched ep3? I didn't see that coming!
That Miwa is an intersexual too....
I started to guess towards that direction since the middle of the third episode.
I haven't read the manga. Please no spoilers. ^^

no surprise here for me, since it follow the manga a lot

What I like is the way both Haru and Miwako are portrayed very true to the chara's from the manga

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Aug 4th, '11, 10:28

unguanime wrote:@avieamber: Thanks for the song! Love it!

Has anybody watched ep3? I didn't see that coming!
That Miwa is an intersexual too....
I started to guess towards that direction since the middle of the third episode.
I haven't read the manga. Please no spoilers. ^^

You're welcome

About Miwa, it won't be a surprise anymore if you've read the manga

And @ SeraEris

Same here! But there's something bothering me with the side story of Kenji and Miwa's father. Was that in the manga? I have to re-read the manga

Anyways, I just never thought they'd be this fast into Miwa's story because in the manga, it was quite long before her connection with Haru, at least that's what I recalled. Either way, ep3 was great! The episodes seem to be getting better than the last. I hope they keep this up.

NEED MORE LEON scenes PLEASE!!!

unguanime · Post by **unguanime** » Aug 4th, '11, 10:50

@avieamber & @SeraEris:
Thanks for not putting up spoilers

avieamber wrote: NEED MORE LEON scenes PLEASE!!!

THIS.
I like Leon~ So far I like him better than Kenji. But of course, Leon is the best friend. Kenji's role is different so I guess they can't be compared to each other.

About the acting, Inoue Masahiro seems a bit off to me, but I'm not complaining ^^
Fukuda Saki and Gouriki Ayame are awesome. Love Fukuda Saki more and more.
I'm currently watching Kingyo Club too (in which Irie Jingi stars) so it's refreshing to see Irie plays two different roles

He's pretty good.
Miwako's mother successfully creeps me out. LOL.

Can't wait for the next episode~

SeraEris · Post by **SeraEris** » Aug 5th, '11, 23:43

@avieamber

Kenji's story is yet to be unfold fully but it seems to be exactly like the manga, about Miwako's father hmm I don't know I haven't read the whole manga yet so I do not know his background story and as far as I am in the manga he doesn't appear much.

As for Miwako, in the manga she is a big chara in Haru's life so I believe the brought her into the story so fast because they wanted to focus on that part the most

Rori · Post by **Rori** » Aug 7th, '11, 19:09

This drama is really good, I haven't watched a drama in years but this one has started off excellently. I hope it keeps it up all the way to the end. This and Ouran. jdramas seems to be looking up!

Episode 3 spoilers

I always want to mention that the actress who plays Miwa is the cutest thing ever. How have I not seen her in a drama before.

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Aug 8th, '11, 03:18

Rori wrote:This drama is really good, I haven't watched a drama in years but this one has started off excellently. I hope it keeps it up all the way to the end. This and Ouran. jdramas seems to be looking up!

Episode 3 spoilers

What a cliffhanger, I'm shocked that there is another IS but I also don't how how I didn't see it. There were so many hints, I want to hit myself.

Almost everyone seems to have their own secret in this drama too. The only one I really cared about was Miwa, she, including her family was a strange one. The contrast between her family and Haru's family attitude towards IS is staggering. I hope we get some Miwa/Haru & her family time.

I'm really looking forward to what's next, I don't read the manga but I am itching to pick it up after episode 3.
I always want to mention that the actress who plays Miwa is the cutest thing ever. How have I not seen her in a drama before.

^ I'd highly recommend you to read the manga, it's really good! More depth than in the drama, but I have to say, I'm very satisfied with their performance so far, the story's like what SeraEris mentioned, follows the manga closely with several subtle additions of course. Btw, the actress playing Miwa is Gouriki Ayame, and she's been in several dramas before this, but I only know her from the recent Taisetsu na Koto (Miura Haruma, Toda Erika) and also Asuko March. I like her a lot in Taisetsu though, she's chirpy in there

I'm sure there'll be more Haru/Miwa scenes (as in manga)

but this is the kind of drama that I just anticipate every week to catch what's going to happen next. Even though I've read the manga, I'm still curious of how they're gonna execute it live-action and also maybe add few changes here and there. It's showing tonight!

@SeraEris - Yea, the dad didn't appear much anyway in the manga, so I'm curious what is his story in the drama version. And I just recalled Kenji's story when I browsed through the manga. Here's to more Haru/Miwa and Haru/Kenji scenes!

LaLaLaDRAMA · Post by **LaLaLaDRAMA** » Aug 8th, '11, 06:26

This drama is really intriguing. First episode was a little draggy, but once they got through the character intro. etc, it became interesting.

I have one question though-

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Aug 8th, '11, 08:24

LaLaLaDRAMA wrote:This drama is really intriguing. First episode was a little draggy, but once they got through the character intro. etc, it became interesting.

I have one question though-
I watched it without subs so it was a little unclear to me, but did Miwa know that she herself was an inter-sexual all this time? Or did she just find out in episode 3?

i browsed thru the manga and... correct me if I'm wrong, for those of you who still remember the manga. so to answer ur question:

I may be wrong though, so I'd really appreciate if anybody else recall otherwise about the manga.

SeraEris · Post by **SeraEris** » Aug 8th, '11, 08:28

avieamber wrote:
Actually in the manga, Haru and Miwa are from different schools and they didn't meet at the school like in 1st episode of drama. They actually met at this IS club where Haru's doctor introduced her to go. So, in fact, Miwa knew all along about her condition since she's a member there. I think it's the same in the drama, she knew she's IS. Which is why I think she was really happy having to meet another IS like Haru. It's only that they revealed her true condition at home with her mother/family in ep3. I hope this helps!
I may be wrong though, so I'd really appreciate if anybody else recall otherwise about the manga.

This is absolutely true!

12bucklemyshoe · Post by **12bucklemyshoe** » Aug 8th, '11, 17:26

To be honest

LaLaLaDRAMA · Post by **LaLaLaDRAMA** » Aug 9th, '11, 02:04

Thank you Avieamber so much for clarifying it for me!!

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Aug 13th, '11, 03:43

Finally found this video floating around in YT. Update can be found also on the first post.

anyways, here's the audio rip from the PV for the ending theme by Hilcryhme!

Hilcryhme- Personal Colour.mp3 - 5.9 MB

Mirror
Hilcryhme - Personal Colour

*I can't up it on MF, for some weird reason, so these will do*

r1ck · Post by **r1ck** » Aug 13th, '11, 05:10

thx for ending theme.

SeraEris · Post by **SeraEris** » Aug 16th, '11, 17:39

EDIT:
ignore the above spoiler please the Episode is HEREEEEEE

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Aug 17th, '11, 10:34

Just finished ep5

Another great episode. Finally Leon has more screentime!!!

Transfinite · Post by **Transfinite** » Aug 17th, '11, 20:17

Can I just say how uncomfortable it is that a lot of people in this post are calling Haru "she" and "her"? Haru thinks of himself as male, and if you look closely at the translation, the translator is going out of their way to use "he" when someone who understands him is talking, and "she" when someone who doesn't is talking. Like Mrs. Aihara, and Haru's schoolteachers and classmates.

You don't want to be like Naoko Aihara, do you?

SeraEris · Post by **SeraEris** » Aug 17th, '11, 21:42

Transfinite wrote:Can I just say how uncomfortable it is that a lot of people in this post are calling Haru "she" and "her"? Haru thinks of himself as male, and if you look closely at the translation, the translator is going out of their way to use "he" when someone who understands him is talking, and "she" when someone who doesn't is talking. Like Mrs. Aihara, and Haru's schoolteachers and classmates.

You don't want to be like Naoko Aihara, do you?

interesting view and I would agree with it if Haru was ready to accept a gender.
I think for many people is tricky that the actor is female, also the fact that Haru's parents registered Haru as a girl and even there was a surgery when Haru was a baby to remove testicles, also Haru's body changes to more female, the most proper addressing is "they" because Haru is not certain of the gender as of yet, at least manga wise.

remember that Haru is Intersexual and they don't have a gender identity disorder (though Haru is quite skeptical etc) Haru identifies as IS even though they say "I'm a man" etc
I don't think I make sense...

Transfinite · Post by **Transfinite** » Aug 17th, '11, 22:30

"I am a man" is enough of a self-identification though... I know that intersex isn't the same as transgender, but in both situations it's considered only polite to accept a person's self-identification as valid. The only reason he's questioning himself is because he's fallen in love with another boy.

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Aug 18th, '11, 01:53

Transfinite wrote:Can I just say how uncomfortable it is that a lot of people in this post are calling Haru "she" and "her"? Haru thinks of himself as male, and if you look closely at the translation, the translator is going out of their way to use "he" when someone who understands him is talking, and "she" when someone who doesn't is talking. Like Mrs. Aihara, and Haru's schoolteachers and classmates.

You don't want to be like Naoko Aihara, do you?

I knew this kind of discussion will appear sooner or later

I know when it comes to respecting the person's desire or his/her self-identification, we should follow the gender the person wishes to be. As in Haru's case, it's a he. I used 'she' in my bloggie although initially I used he/she (coz since Haru's an IS), then i thought it is kinda hard to type both, so I changed to she. But I don't have any preference towards Haru's gender. Come to think of it, maybe I should just change it to a 'he'. This is so as not to offend anyone.

And about

Transfinite · Post by **Transfinite** » Aug 18th, '11, 07:57

Thanks for understanding. I think this is a very delicate and important subject for a lot of IS's fans.

On a less peevy note... Does anyone know where to find the lyrics to the opening and ending? It's fine if they're in raw Japanese. It's just hard to understand them by ear.

blackbalsam · Post by **blackbalsam** » Aug 18th, '11, 16:27

Transfinite wrote: On a less peevy note... Does anyone know where to find the lyrics to the opening and ending? It's fine if they're in raw Japanese. It's just hard to understand them by ear.

Opening: "Sou Iro Coordinate" by Kusuo
http://www.utamap.com/showkasi.php?surl=k-110615-084 (japanese lyrics) and
(official full MV)

Ending: "Personal Colour" by Hilcrhyme (japanese lyrics are in description of MV)

Transfinite · Post by **Transfinite** » Aug 20th, '11, 00:24

Thanks!

azalea2001 · Post by **azalea2001** » Aug 28th, '11, 01:46

Doesn't it fall on the child to decide which gender/sex they will become... intersex or not.
Stop choosing for those children, they can choose for themselves when the time comes...
We are actually who we are... Not who society want us to become!!

Life is rarely black or white... there is always an "uncomfortable" grey zone for almost everything!! Though we like to close our eyes to it... makes life simpler, or is it!?

Oooh, it's been taken from a manga.... let's check this out.

robetella · Post by **robetella** » Aug 29th, '11, 05:59

Great drama. Loving it so far..

r1ck · Post by **r1ck** » Sep 5th, '11, 13:49

the story getting better.
acting most of cast are excellent.
in ep06 when reon appear i got laugh and my heart feel sad about miwa and haru at same time.

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Sep 13th, '11, 14:11

hi there! How's everyone doing? Still watching IS, I hope

Because it's really great now towards the end. Just watched ep9 and truly awesome.

Great episode!

r1ck · Post by **r1ck** » Sep 13th, '11, 14:22

story near end.

avieamber · Post by **avieamber** » Sep 20th, '11, 06:10

finally finished watching the finale!

Can't really believe it's already over.

I recall waiting for monday to come every week.

Well I like the ending, very predictable but it's definitely the best ending/outcome for the story.

Overall, so glad they made a live-action of this manga, the casts are great especially Fukuda Saki and Gouriki ~

So what do you guys think about the finale? Satisfied? or left wanting more?

antspace · Post by **antspace** » Sep 26th, '11, 16:47

definitely satisfied with the ending!

Post by **k361** » Sep 26th, '11, 18:03

I did not really like the end.

azalea2001 · Post by **azalea2001** » Sep 27th, '11, 01:30

The ending was easy... and let's say that the students were really easy on Haru...
However, it is a satisfying ending... that was pretty much the only way I could see the show ending.
The other way would have been a knife in the back... and I rather like acceptance and tolerance.

And as I said we are all who we are, and we should all have the leeway to decide who we want to become... Acceptance should always be there, and society should never hinder... but hey, that's rarely the case, is it!? Those who had fingers pointed at them will understand what I mean.

«minah» · Post by **«minah»** » Sep 27th, '11, 02:02

I think the ending was decent.. to me, the only unrealistic part was

My only issue.. it's not the drama's fault but it's kinda reoccurring with dramas in general... why don't they wanna educate students in stuff like this anyway ;_;? I'm not sure if it's only just an exaggeration or a culture difference but yeah... instead of thinking it's the 'different' person who needs to conform to society and hide who they are... why can't they just educate students that out there in the world.. even in their own neighborhoods exist people who are different >_>? Like I know that's the point of the drama to show people that "Hey, there are people who are intersex.. and guess what, they're like you and me." But I guess the student/school portrayal of "You must keep this secret because it could cause an uproar to our other students! Parents will complain!" and the student's reaction to when they find out (I mean... crying... really ;_;?) Like I said, I'm not sure if it is just exaggeration/dramatization purposes or culture differences (or mix of both) but yeah.. it just... things like that in dramas always bothered me. (Well I guess it's also the fact that Japan is still a homogenous country.. even if the progress of individualism has gone a long way over the years.. I guess in some aspects it's still always there)

I like that cute nerdy-looking girl.. she's so adorable!!!!! Omg I just loooove her smile ^___^ But yeah I like dramas like this that teaches people struggle of different sorts of people and backgrounds.. to show that not everyone is the same. Not that we should show pity but to understand and have awareness and well.. have different insight and be less ignorant ^^ Education is a powerful thing~

r1ck · Post by **r1ck** » Sep 27th, '11, 02:45

good ending to me.

iLLusiOnEr · Post by **iLLusiOnEr** » Oct 19th, '11, 09:04

I've found a documentary published by BBC this year regarding IS or DSDs (Disorders of Sexual Development). Torrent is hosted by the mvgroup forum and info about it is here : docuwiki

Asian DramaWiki Forum

[Discussion] IS~ Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei

[Discussion] IS~ Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei

Who is online