Read or Die

Publisher
Viz
Writer
Hideyuki Kurata
Artist
Shutaro Yamada
Country of origin
Japan
Year
2000

Read or Die V. 2

By David Rasmussen
6th Aug 06

Finding new ways to justify that PSP purchase, huh? Me too.
Buying Read or Die UMD V. 1 was one of those justifications, but seeing how they are not exactly killing themselves in terms of releasing more UMDs of Read or Die… well, I’m just glad VIZ is putting out the manga. Now I just have to get Volume 3 and I’m all up to speed.

In the meantime, while I work on that, let’s take a look at the 2nd volume of the series!
First off this DOES get a 5 out of 5... The UMD didn’t because I was disappointed on several levels with it, mostly in the lack of a UMD V. 2 followthrough and the lack of episodes (2)…. So rejoyce everyone!

Once again it’s back to that safe comforting thing of having an all Yomiko Readman adventure as she sets off on a new mission, this time hooking up with fellow agent Wendy in order to infiltrate a strange mysterious school of higher “learning” known as the Manshu Academy. However this assignment is more than just another job for her, it’s also personal. Remember volume 1 and her old mentor (the 18th Paper Master she had a thing for)? Seems that her belief that he was dead seems to not be so true (also her belief that she knocked him off also seems to be off) as she is given a letter from him while visiting this annual book fair in England which sends her off to this hidden school in Japan.

There she is assigned to locate this hidden library deep underground which contains the wisdom of the ancients (in book form), only it seems that her getting that letter from Donnie was no accident as he seems to have fallen to the literary dark side (or has he) and has his eyes locked on Yomiko to turn her against the L.L.L.U.K. for some reason. Why? Well… you’ll see, or will you(?)

Along the way she has to fight against student vs. student violence as she encounters a school divided into the powerful, egotistical and hateful (Class A, a few of which powered with strange abilities which was harnessed by a so-called “Ultraspecial Education Method“… uh, really, is this even approved by the Japanese DOE?) and the weak, struggling and human (Class B), and later struggle against herself as she becomes ensnares in Donnie’s return and her feelings for him.
Maybe a surprise visit from Nenene back into her life will sort her out. Hopefully so because things escalate to the point of the spilling of human blood at the end of the volume (NO!! Not the cute yet totally meaningless tetiary backup female pair!!), so things will not be pretty from here on out now that blood has been spilled. Oh, and then there’s this really cute extra story at the end! Heh.

Read or Die the Manga Breakdown 2nd
What’s Hot?
The manga continues to impress, which is good since I’m kind of suffering from a lack of love from the PSP UMD dept if you know what I mean (and picking up the DVDs seems abit now that I already invested in reviewing the UMDs for the long haul).

Fine writing, nice artwork, lovable characters (who aren’t the evil characters though) and overall nicely done from start to end. Read or Die the Manga is still worthy of your time reading if you haven’t picked it up already… and it also sports Nenene before she became all adult and incouragbly not fun, so that’s a plus too while I’m at it! Pick it up and embrace it.

What’s Not?
How long will Read or Die the Manga last? I hate to think this isn’t going to go for a long haul before it wraps up and shuts down after so many volumes… that’d suck.

Moments to Remember?
As usualy Miss Readman steals the show, so it mostly focuses on her though Wendy also manages to make a good impression in this volume (the first full appearance of her since her cameo in Volume 1). That and the unexpected “return” of Nenene (so soon after she “left” the title) are highlights.

What to Ignore?
Why does it seem that suddenly BOTH sides of the equation (Donnie and the weird A(bleep) people on one side and Joker and the L.L.L.U.K. on the other) is suddenly suspected of being evil… other than they probably are two evils -- not so fast, people, not so fast… makes me worry this title is two volumes shy of ending it’s run. But then again I thought Aria was going to end at Volume 4 and look how long it lasted in Japan (up to Volume 9 at present), so maybe you can ignore me on that one!

Overall?
Praised for manga content, criticized for… well, nothing really. Geneon could learn a thing about that if they don’t like me criticizing them for their perceived lack of faith in the Read or Die PSP UMD collection.
Yes, it’s another 5 out of 5. Check it out when you have a chance, while I pick up Volume 3 for review!

-- David Rasmussen 6th Aug 06