Review Statistics

Times Read

915

Comments

3

Reviews

Manga

Plot Synopsis

No plot synopsis or other information available for Read Or Die

Story & Characters

A nice long review to celebrate making double-digits.

Preliminary notes: This review is for the manga release by VIZ Media, translated into English. Here are the ISBN numbers for the books if you are wanting to track them down:
Volume 1 (Nov 2006):
978-1-4215-0510-7 (ISBN 13)
1-4215-0510-X (ISBN 10)

Volume 2 (Jan 2007):
978-1-4215-0511-4 (ISBN 13)
1-4215-0511-8 (ISBN 10)

Volume 3 (Mar 2007):
978-1-4215-0862-7 (ISBN 13)
1-4215-0862-1 (ISBN 10)

Volume 4 (not stated - May 2007?):
978-1-4215-0863-4 (ISBN 13)
1-4215-0863-X (ISBN 10)

Read or Dream the manga version takes the story of the Three Sisters Detective Company featured in R.O.D the TV. Originally published in Japan in 2002 this manga precedes the anime, which first screened in 2003. The author, Kurata Hideyuki, also wrote the script for R.O.D the TV and the original Read or Die OAV.

We get introduced straight into the first case at the beginning of Volume 1 with little preliminary introduction about the characters themselves. However, any necessary "introductions" are well placed in Chapter 1 within the story itself as we get to see the relationship between the sisters and their abilities manifest throughout the chapter as they try to retrieve a stolen book.

We are introduced to the three sisters: Michelle, Maggie and Anita, each of whom are "paper masters" and have the ability to manipulate paper for offensive and defensive purposes. The abilities of each sister when using the paper are different but complement each other for a well-rounded variety of purposes. This ability reinforces the concept of close team work to achieve an outcome as the abilities of one of the sisters on their own are almost too specialised.

Each of the sisters have a definite attitude, which is consistent with their abilities:
Michelle is the eldest, a bit ditzy, but genuine and caring to others around her. The fact that she is a bibliophile (one addicted to books) and gets side-tracked easily causes some friction between her and Anita. Michelle has basic defensive abilities similar too all three sisters, and her offensive ability revolves around range weapons (commonly a bow and arrow).
Maggie is the "middle" sister, quiet, reserved and often seen as a wallflower. She has, however, a strong determination and resolve underlying her exterior and it takes time to get past her "closed" exterior. Like Michelle, Maggie is also a bibliophile and can get focused on a book at the exclusion of anything else. Maggie's offensive ability focuses on the creation of familiars made of paper (e.g. animals and giant humanoids) that can combine offensive and defensive capabilities into one object.
Anita is the "youngest" sister, a tom-boy, aggressive, blunt and abrupt, almost verging on rude at times. A self-confessed hater of books, Anita has the strongest sense of responsibility and reality of the three sisters; and pulls the other two back into reality with healthy doses of aggression and violence when the other two get too engrossed in their reading. Anita's offensive ability is to use paper as small-scale missiles (often like a throwing blade).

A variety of supporting characters are brought into the manga, few of whom have anything to do with the anime. Supporting characters often appear only for one chapter, with occasional cameo return visits. The exception is Hisami Hisaishi (Hisa), who becomes Anita's friend from Chapter 22 to Chapter 29.

The series is spread across 31 self-contained chapters. Chapters 21 to 29 contain a cohesive story arc, however, and provide a greater degree of continuity. Chapter 30 introduces how the three sisters met up originally; and Chapter 31 ties everything up with a bonus cameo from Yomiko Readman.

For someone coming to the manga after seeing the anime, I was familiar with the abilities and relationship of the three sisters. When reading the manga, I enjoyed particularly the focus on the family relationship and interaction without the action elements commonly featured in the anime. The manga focused on the day-to-day activities of the three sisters as they worked in Hong Kong and the individual cases they took on. The story contains none of the conflict featured in the anime (no British Library, little reference to Dokusensha), which was a pleasant change to my original expectation that the manga would simply be an adaptation of the anime.

There are a lot of comedy elements within the manga that are wholly entertaining, even laugh-out loud, as some situations get out of hand. One such example is when Michelle requests a book from a pile, which Maggie retrieves and the pile overbalances falling onto Anita asleep on the sofa. Anita is annoyed, to which Michelle suggests an angry-face Anita is not becoming and attempts to make a smile by pulling on Anita's cheeks. Anita's response is to bite Michelle's hand like a dog, while Michelle tries to shake Anita off (start of Chapter 7). The extreme parts are drawn in super-deformed style, which exaggerates the emotions and adds to the humour.

Bottom line: The story is entirely enjoyable. Not being an adaptation of the anime TV series is also appealing as I get to see the focus on the family relationships between the three sisters. The humour is also enjoyable, particularly Anita's response to Michelle's ditzy attitude, with a number of situations being laugh-out loud (I've managed to get a few weird looks on the train or bus when I've been chortling and grinning away while reading this series).

Rating

8 (good)

Art

Quite simply, the artwork is clean and well-detailed. Character designs are consistent throughout all four volumes, and clearly form the basis of the designs used in the subsequent anime. Similarly, portraying a range of emotions from each character is undertaken very well, which adds to the authenticity and overall enjoyment of the story. Super-deformed designs are used only for extremes of emotion (anger, happiness, etc.) or when conveying a humorous situation - generally when Anita gets angry and aggressive with Michelle (in numerous situations throughout the story).

The layout is easy to follow with the setting of panels. Typical dream or out-of-reality sequences use a fade to black surrounding the individual panels (e.g. pages 49-50 of Volume 2, etc.), which enables a clear transition of a shift from reality into a dream or other situation. Similarly, flashbacks are shown in a lighter grey-scale representing a memory or scene outside of the current time. This, again, helps out on recognising where the story is leading and contributing elements that may not have a dialogue aspect to them.

Changes from portrait to landscape and "widescreen" aspects give a cinematic effect in certain situations and are able to quickly change focus (or cut) from an individual character to a group or provide a "panning" shot from one location to another. A particular sequence of panels shows this to good effect (Pages 107-109 of Volume 4). In certain panels there is no dialogue but the sequencing and layout of individual panels is able to clearly convey the non-spoken elements of the scene, and does so very well.

Settings are generally indistinct or incomplete, which is, in my opinion, appropriate when the focus of the story is on the characters themselves and their relationships with each other. This approach does not detract from the story and, if anything, maintains and emphasises the focus on the characters. That said, when the setting needs emphasis and contributes to the story the detail is nicely conveyed (e.g. pages 134-139 of Volume 4 when Anita is talking about the sunset and friendship).

Bottom Line: Nothing to complain about in the art department. Nicely detailed character designs and settings when appropriate. The use of super-deformed designs are sparing and, when used, contribute to the humour of the story-line The cinematic elements (cuts, pan shots, changes in aspect from portrait to landscape to widescreen) all contribute well to a nicely presented artwork.

Rating

8 (good)

Sound

No audio, being a manga, so I'll be focusing on the dialogue. The translation to English is appropriate for the story-line, but without an original Japanese reference I cannot tell how authentic it is. The story is easy to read and follow throughout with the dialogue reflecting well the individual characteristics of the three sisters and others. Some of the puns are translated or, maybe more accurately, interpreted faithfully (e.g. Page 6 of Volume 4).

Audio effects are translated into English throughout. Mark McMurray does a very good job of touch-up lettering and artwork as the audio effects are not only appropriate, but also fit seamlessly into the panels (see Page 146 of Volume 3 for a single but graphic example). In all, good stuff that, again, adds to the enjoyment and authenticity of the story.

Rating

7 (above average)

Presentation

Viz Media presents Read or Dream across four volumes in the original right-to-left orientation. I think I've already discussed many of the elements in the respective sections above that contribute collectively to an enjoyable presentation.

The manga has extras! Cool! Usually comprising a two-page interview between various people (such as the artist, the author, director and producer from the anime, etc.), the interviews provide further insight into the manga and its relationship with the original R.O.D. manga as well as the anime. I might have said that the manga precedes the anime at the beginning, but after reading the interviews, I think the timeframes for production were very close as there were a number of references with the author working on both the anime and manga at the same time. Volume 2 has sketches of character designs by Ayanaga Ran that were used as a basis for parts of the anime (e.g. Hisa-chan and her school friends).

To conclude, Read or Dream is wholly enjoyable with a lot of the focus being on the relationships between the sisters (and other characters). It sits separately but is closely related to the R.O.D anime series and, as such, complements the anime nicely. Recommended for those who enjoyed the R.O.D the TV series and want a bit more that sits outside the anime's story-line, and focuses more on the relationships between the sisters rather than full-on action.

Rating

8 (good)

Final Verdict

7.83 (good)

Reviewed by davidh01, 29wk 6d ago