Wow, two English translations in one week!

I originally reviewed the first volume of Read or Dream on February 4, 2004. That review gives a quickie overview of the whole R.O.D. continuity to that point and ends with a short review of the manga.

Now that an English translation of this enjoyable series is out, I wanted to take a look at it, of course.

In general Viz did a decent job of the translation. Of course they lost the honorifics, replacing “Ma-nee” “Mi-nee” with Mags and Mich…which totally has the opposite effect of the names with the honorifics (Anita is being both casual and respectful with her nicknames, highlighting their sibling relationships – something that is crucial to the story in later volumes – while in the English version the nicknames are merely causal,) but in most other respects they left the names and story intact. The final chapter, with the “kiss scene” conversation and the sexual tension between Maggie and Faye wasn’t changed at all, so thumbs up from this Yuri fan for that. ^_^

Visually, I thought the English version lacked some of the style of the original. The color pages of the original were not reproduced, nor was the dust jacket which covered an cute alternate universe story that was originally printed directly on the book cover. Instead, the story is reproduced in the back of the book on standard black and white pages. There’s nothing wrong with the way it was done – it just doesn’t have any pizazz.

Also. I wonder again about the ratings given to manga. I know why *I* give certain ratings to ALC manga. I wonder why this book, with inappropriate behaviors all over it, a strong current of yuri and shota – and an interview with manga writers and artists in the back that was conducted in an openly declared state of inebriation – is considered appropriate for young teens. I have no problem with it, and any kid I’d give it to would certainly be able to handle the content, but as a parent, I think I’d probabaly question the choice. Maybe Brigid at Mangablog might have an opinion about this? We talked a bit about this kind of thing at Manganext and neither of us were really able to come to a conclusion about they whys and wherefores of ratings by most of the companies. (My mistake: I checked the rating a little later to find that it’s “Older Teen” which I think is pretty appropriate. So forget all that for this book specifically, but the comment still applies generally. )

Is Read or Dream, Volume 1 worth getting?

Yes. In any language. (At the Yuricon Shop, you can find it in English or Japanese as you prefer.)

This first volume is a bit “wackiness ensues” but it sets many of the characters for later chapters and is easy and fun to read. There’s definitely added enjoyment if you know the Paper Sisters from the appearance in the ROD The TV anime, but it’s certainly easy enough to follow if you haven’t.

Ratings:

Yuri – 5
Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 9

Overall – 8

This definitely would make a nice offbeat gift for the tomboy/babydyke/Yuri fan in the family. ^_^

We left Read or Dream, Volume 4 with Anita and Hisa in a lovey-dovey moment, dancing at the folk dance.

We pick up the next chapter with Hisa, mooning over a picture of herself and Anita. Hisa’s manager arrives at the sisters’ apartment and begs them to let Hisa stay with them, as a favor. Hisa has requested this as a way of getting past the final roadblock, the last scene of her newest story. Of course, they are all thrilled to be of assistance.

Hisa moves in and is promptly fondled (in an okay way – no bad touch) by Michelle, who offers Maggie a chance. Once again, we get to see how awkward Maggie is in social situations, in contrast to Michelle’s lack of boundaries. But…really the dynamic is all about Hisa and Anita once again. Anita remembers her dream from several chapters ago, when she “met” Hisa. In the park, the two girls vow eternal friendship hold hands and otherwise exhibit all sorts of “in love” behaviors. Hisa realizes that she’s found her last scene, and leaves. Anita returns to the apartment to let the others know that Hisa’s gone, but hides her tears from them.

The manager gives them an early manuscript of the book, while far away Hisa is thinking of Anita. A paper airplane floats in with a picture and a message from Anita, saying that they’ll meet again.

This pretty much functionally ends the story of this manga series. The next chapter looks backwards at a slightly differently told version of the meeting of the three paper masters, and their rebirth as the three paper sisters.If you’ve seen ROD The TV, the beginning won’t be unfamiliar. But the end will. In this version Michelle and Maggie are given Anita to take care of. For a year they live together and learn to love another…when Dokusensha shows up to take Anita away. They remind the two older women of the agreement they made, hand them checks for tremendous amounts of money, and take Anita.

Maggie and Michelle look at the checks, think of all the books they could buy – and run off to save Anita. When they finally arrive they hold out the checks, which have been voided with the word “ANITA” across the fronts, and take their “sister” with them. Incidentally, we get to see Maggie and Michelle in full battle paper master mode for what is maybe the second or third time in this series. Once they return home, they become the Three Sisters Bibliodetective Agency and we live happily ever after.

Except that there’s one chapter left! And this chapter is the “Who’s Who” chapter, where we basically recap all the original characters from the earlier, pre-Hisa stories, in case we forgot. ^_^ Kuri and Ramu, the young man who was searching for an author, and the author he found, show up to say that they are getting married. They are all blushy and cute about it. ^_^ On the way home from the bookstore, (a trip about which she is NOT happy) Anita runs into the boy she met in the story about the Brigadoon-like library. Chi-Hon has decided to become an author – he’s on his way to drop his manuscript off. Watching this exchange from a nearby rooftop is book (and author) thief, Lilith and her jaguar, Orion. She looks on, and vows (to no one in particular) to meet her young arch-enemy again, then rides off on Orion’s back.

Anita starts the struggle home with her overlarge bag o’books, Anita collapses on a bench, where an exceptionally familiar overcoat hangs off the corner we can see. Anita addresses the “old lady” on the bench and lo and behold! It is no one but our beloved Yomiko Readman, making her only appearance in this manga. Yomiko tells Anita why she loves books so much, and then proceeds to explain to Anita that her hatred for books actually comes from her love of them. Anita thinks back to all the people she’s met, and all the adventures she’s had, because of books, and has to agree.

Yomiko comforts a young girl whose paper airplane gets crushed, and when she refolds the paper into a butterfly, Anita asks who she is. Yomiko replies she’s a lover of books. As Anita watches Yomiko walk away, she watches the paper butterfly begin to fly behind her.

Anita goes home to find that she has a package waiting. Inside is Hisa’s new book, inscribed to her. Anita announces that she’ll be the first to read it – then spends some time fighting off Michelle.  As the manga winds down, we see paper flying into the air, in which hangs a brilliant full moon, while the three sisters look on, smiling.

If you enjoy the goofy paper sisters, the ROD-verse in any permutation, get this series, asap. Same Yuri, same goofy, different stories and lots of fun.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Character – 8
Yuri – 7

Overall – 8

It reads like an alt-universe fan anthology, with better art and consistent characters. ^_^ A definite must-have for ROD fans. The only downer – no Nenene. Boo-hoo.

This last volume of Read or Dream reads like a “Who’s Who” of the R.O.D. universe…well, this version of the universe, that is. I’ll be doing this in two parts, because there’s a lot to tell, Yuri and otherwise, and because I’m pressed for time.

Because I cannot help myself, let me remind you that the various R.O.D.-verse are as follows:

1) Read or Die – Novels in which Yomiko and a youthful Nenene have adventures and Yomiko falls in love with her mentor/sempai/predecessor, Donny.

2) ROD – Read or Die – A three-episode OVA in which Yomiko meets, falls for, and loses Nancy Makuhara, aka Miss Deep. Strong Yuri component and a great soundtrack.

3) ROD – 4-volume manga set in which Yomiko meets a youthful Nenene, and embarks upon adventures mostly having to do with her quest to find Donny. These have been licensed and should be appearing sometime in 2006 in English. Unfortunately for us, they are not terribly good, or Yuri.

4) ROD the TV – A 26-episode TV series in which Yomiko, Nenene, now adult, Nancy AND three new Paper Masters all fight off evil and save the day. Last year this series made my Top Ten List because it was simply excellent. Lots of Yuri, lots of action, good music, great plot and fantastic, characters.

5) R.O.D. – Read or Dream – the most recent spin on the ROD-verse has 4 volumes. Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3 have all been reviewed previously. Which brings us to the current, and final, volume.

As with the TV series, the protagonist of the Read or Die manga is Anita. In this version, there does not appear to be a Nenene, and the famous author the three sisters have been protecting is Hishiishi Hisami, aka Hisa-chan.

In the first chapter of this volume, Hisa-chan is suffering from a crisis. Her books are popular, but girls her age and older dismiss them as being for children. She desperately wants to write a more adult story, but completely jams up when she realizes that she has no idea what it is like to kiss someone. Michelle steps in by directing a scene between Anita, dressed as a schoolboy, and Hisa-chan. They get *very* close to kissing, after pages of painful Yuri service buildup, when Hisa’s manager puts a stop to it all.

Chapter 25 begins with an irate manager letting the three sisters know exactly how much she dislikes them, but as Hisa seems to like them, they’ve been brought to Japan to watch over her. But Hisa’s a little down, because she’s still blocked. Anita takes her out on a date to cheer her up: the usual amusement park and fast food later, Hisa’s feeling better. But as they pass a book store, some girls diss Hisa’s book and she gets blue all over again. Anita starts to defend Hisa, who embraces her from behind and tells Anita that it’s okay, she has to learn to make her books more real on her own. But they go off hand in hand, and we’re convinced that this Yuri feeling isn’t just service.

The next chapter starts with more Yuri silliness, as Anita learns that Hisa has received a love letter! She’s obsessed with it, and jealous, but isn’t sure how to handle it. Anita decides to find the “criminal”. After a while, Anita asks Hisa about the letter and Hisa says that it’s not good – their both girls after all and…Anita is forced to admit that she didn’t write it and she, um, didn’t mean that. Shocked, embarrassed (and a bit disappointed, we think) Hisa faints. Anita scoops her up and brings her to the doctor’s office, where she learns that some nasty guy who is always rude to everyone is the love letter writer!

Anita brings the letter to the manager’s attention in the next chapter. She proceeds to throw a fit, because the last thing in the world she wants is Hisa’s genius being upset by a guy. Manager-san calls on some thugs who intimidate the kid who sent the letter…only it wasn’t him. Of course, if you’ve watched the TV series, you know who the letter-writer is, Hisa’s friend for forever, the bratty kid whose name escapes me. But he comes up and finds Anita, leads her to the library where Hisa is sitting with an upperclassman and looking a little besotted. Both Anita and brat are bummed by this. Later walking home with Hisa, Anita learns that she’s anxious about a book signing the upperclassman wanted her to do at the school festival. They hold hands and go home together.

Next chapter, Hisa finds the fortitude to go through with the book signing at the school festival – and, it turns out that the upperclassman wasn’t hitting on Anita at all – he pretty much just wanted her to sign a book for his kid sister who admires her. Phew. But the kid who *does* like Hisa, confesses…and she tells him that she’s sorry, but… Hisa goes off to find Anita and asks her to dance at the fire.

Yay, happy Yuri ending for Hisa and Anita. ^_^