IS (manga)
IS: Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei (IS 男でも女でもない性), is a completed drama manga series by Chiyo Rokuhana, first published in Japan in 2003. The IS of the title stands for intersex and the story follows the pain and troubles such people go through in their lives, such as gaining acceptance for who they are and their inability to reproduce.
Story
The first volume of IS is a collection stories about two different intersex characters and their separate troubles. Volumes 2 and onward deal with the life of intersex Haru Hoshino, starting just before his birth and continuing past high school.
Characters
Television drama
The manga was adapted into a ten-episode Japanese television drama, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo between July 18, and September 19, 2011. It starred Saki Fukuda as Haru Hoshino and Ayame Gōriki as Miwako Aihara, a girl that became a close friend of Hoshino. On November 25, 2011, all episodes were released on a DVD box set.
Reception
IS won the 2007 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo manga.