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''Read or Dream'' is a Japanese
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series written by
Hideyuki Kurata is a Japanese anime screenwriter, light novelist, and manga artist, noted for authoring the series composition of such works as '' Read or Die'', '' Now and Then, Here and There'', '' Kamichu!'', and '' Gun Sword''. He has been a member of Yōsuke ...
and illustrated by Ran Ayanaga. It was serialized in
Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...
's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''
Ultra Jump is a Japanese monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Originally, the magazine was a special issue of ''Weekly Young Jump'' which was first issued in 1995. On October 19, 1999, the special issue bec ...
'' from October 19, 2002, to May 19, 2005, with its chapters collected in four ''
tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...
'' volumes. In North America, the series was licensed for English release by
Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...
in 2006. The "Paper Sisters Detective Company" consists of three young women who live in Hong Kong: Anita King, Michelle Cheung and Maggie Mui (they are not blood relations, but treat each other like sisters). Maggie, Michelle, and Anita are papermasters, meaning they can telekinetically manipulate paper to do anything they want, such as creating bulletproof shields and razor sharp swords. Their detective agency, which specializes in finding lost books (though they are often asked to find missing pets and do bodyguard duty as well), serves as the source of most of their adventures. This series is set in the same universe as the manga series ''
Read or Die is a Japanese light novel series written by Hideyuki Kurata, published under Shueisha's '' Super Dash Bunko'' imprint. ''Read or Die'' follows Yomiko Readman, codename "The Paper", an agent for the (fictional) Special Operations Division ...
'', featuring a common antagonist to both series, the Dokusensha Corporation. ''Read or Dies protagonist Yomiko Readman also makes a cameo appearance. The Paper Sisters and supporting character Hisami Hishiishi appear in the television series '' R.O.D the TV'', but this series exists in a separate continuity than ''Read or Dream'' (differences include how the Sisters met Hisami and the origin of the Paper Sisters).


Plot summary

Anita King, Michelle Cheung and Maggie Mui run the "Paper Sisters Detective Company" in Hong Kong. They serve a variety of clients, seeking lost books, pets, and even lost authors! Maggie and Michelle's expansive book budget often causes them to be out of money, and when they are not working they argue with Anita about how to maintain the apartment and eat. In volume 1, the Paper Sisters help fix a romance by finding a lost book, find the Shangri-la of libraries, convince an alien not to destroy the world, help a girl with a serious illness find the courage to undergo a risky treatment, and battle the greatest horror of all horrors: cleaning their own apartment. Volume 2 finds Anita on her own trying to help a client, only to discover that the client is a thief known as "Lily the Book Lover Extraordinaire" and Anita must fight her to get back what the thief has stolen; in another chapter, the sisters tell each other ghost stories, and in the final set of chapters, the Detective Company helps an author Yun Fat track down his favorite writer from his childhood. In volume 3, Maggie finds a book which divides her psyche into 24 different personalities, and Michelle and Anita need to find a way to restore her; in another story, the Sisters argue about how to earn more money, and later, after they become successful, Michelle puts on too much weight, so her sisters try to force her to diet. Anita gets sick and Maggie takes care of her. Finally, Lily returns to threaten young Japanese author Hisami Hishishii, but fortunately Hisami has the Paper Sisters to protect her. In the final volume, the Paper Sisters are brought to Japan to do more bodyguard work for Hisami, but end up first trying to "stage" a pretend first kiss for Hisami (with Anita as the unwilling "actor" playing Hisami's crush), and later, under her editor's instructions, try to protect Hisami from would-be suitors. The next story flashes back to how the Paper Sisters met: Dokusensha agents Maggie and Michelle were hired to help the company's genetic lab creation, Anita, to bring forth her powers. When Dokusensha tries to take Anita back, Maggie and Michelle take on Dokusensha's Hong Kong branch by themselves to rescue her from the
evil corporation An evil corporation ignores social responsibility, morality, ethics, and sometimes laws in order to make profit for its shareholders. In rare cases, the corporation may be well intentioned but extremist, engaging in noble cause corruption. In ...
. The comic then returns to the present as several supporting characters' arcs are wrapped up, and Anita gets advice on the meaning of loving books from a mysterious spectacle-wearing bibliophile.


Characters

The Sisters appear to be named after
Michelle Yeoh Yeoh Choo Kheng (; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared Michelle Yeoh filmography, in projects encompassing a wide array of genres, a ...
,
Anita Mui Anita Mui Yim-fong (; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and i ...
and
Maggie Cheung Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong actress. She is one of the most successful and internationally acclaimed actresses in Asia, renowned for her diverse and versatile performances as well as her natural acting skills ...
, the stars of the classic Hong Kong action film ''
The Heroic Trio ''The Heroic Trio'' (''Dung fong saam hap'', TC: 東方三俠, pinyin: ''dōng fāng sān xiá'') is a 1993 Hong Kong fantasy adventure film directed by Johnnie To, from a screenplay by Sandy Shaw, and produced by Ching Siu-tung. The film star ...
''. Alternatively, a possible reference is Hong Kong actress
Michelle Reis use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , nationality = , citizenship = , alma_mater = Maryknoll Convent School , ...
, whose surname means "king" in Portuguese (her father being Portuguese). ;Michelle Cheung :Michelle is the eldest sister at age 23. She considers herself the group leader, accepting missions and devising tasks for the Paper Sisters to undertake. Being the only legal adult in the family, she is Anita's legal guardian. She is much like ''
Read or Die is a Japanese light novel series written by Hideyuki Kurata, published under Shueisha's '' Super Dash Bunko'' imprint. ''Read or Die'' follows Yomiko Readman, codename "The Paper", an agent for the (fictional) Special Operations Division ...
s Yomiko Readman in that she is naively carefree about many things, and she spends all the money she has, including the house money, to buy every book she comes across. Unlike Yomiko, however, she is very outgoing and talkative. She serves as a strong contrast to her other sisters, being talkative and peppy (unlike shy Maggie) and calm and collected (unlike spitfire Anita). She helps earn the sisters extra money (though quickly spends it) doing translation work; otherwise, Michelle is often lazy and needs to be coerced into helping around the house. :Michelle's paper mastery is focused on the creation of paper projectiles; most often she fires paper arrows with a paper longbow. These arrows are just as deadly as real ones, and Michelle can also twist them into different shapes to wrap around her targets. Michelle carries an aluminum case full of different kinds of paper for the Sisters to access during combat. ;Maggie Mui :Maggie is the middle sister at age 19. Michelle describes her as "Big, Strong and Sharp!" She is shy and quiet, preferring to let her sisters speak for the group, although she will speak up if she feels she has something important to say. She, like her sister Michelle, loves books and little can distract her once she is absorbed in a book. She also loves small spaces (despite her large stature) and can often be found reading under a table or in a window sill. She tends to have a somewhat depressive nature, often questioning her value to her other two sisters (who quickly reassure her if they find she is upset). She is the sisters' primary cook. Maggie has very few friends, but does bond with a young blind girl named Faye whom Maggie encourages to get an operation so she can see again. :In combat, Maggie creates the strongest paper shields, and she can create paper "familiars" or marionettes to attack or defend as she wills. Her most common puppets include a wolf with great attack prowess, a strong golem which lifts heavy things and destroys obstacles, and a giant bird for transport. ;Anita King :Anita is the youngest of the three sisters at age 12. Anita is brash and outspoken. She is also the most practical and is forever trying to get Maggie and Michelle to save ''some'' money for food. She also collects things with frogs on them, an obsession which is reinforced by her sisters' and other friends' various frog-related gifts to her. Unlike her sisters, she hates books, a dramatic difference from most other papermasters; Michelle says this is because Anita is going through a rebellious phase, though it may also have something to do with how Anita was "created" by Dokusensha, and because of a traumatic experience caused by a fire at the great library caused by Yomiko Readman. In volume 4, a "passing book lover" notes that if Anita truly had no interest in books, she wouldn't even bother to hate them, and notes that books have led her to her sisters and her dearest friends. Anita is good friends with Chihon and Hisami. :She is best at using paper to cut, able to slice through rocks and steel, and uses paper either up close as a blade or as a mid-range throwing weapon. Anita is also a very agile and skilled martial artist, often using her paper skills to supplement her impressive physical prowess. ;Chihon :The sisters meet Chihon while he was looking for a mysterious library to return a book on behalf of his deceased grandfather. He later befriends Anita and helps her on numerous occasions; though they often have arguments they also care for one another. He aspires to be an author. ;Mr. Tsai :A bookstore owner, Mr. Tsai aids the sisters many times, especially Anita. ;Lily the Reader Extraordinaire :This young woman steals rare books, and gets Anita wrapped up in one of her book theft plots, and later tries to kidnap Hisami. Lily is often aggressively flirtatious towards Anita and Hisami. She keeps a pet panther named, "Orion." ;Hisami Hishishii :Hisami is a 13-year-old author from Japan who befriends the Paper Sisters after they protect her from Lily. Anita and Hisami especially bond, particularly when Anita goes to school with Hisami in Japan. Hisami's classmate Tohru has a crush on her.


Volume list


Reception

The manga was positively received. Carlo Santos of
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...
gave the first volume a B−, saying that ''
Read or Die is a Japanese light novel series written by Hideyuki Kurata, published under Shueisha's '' Super Dash Bunko'' imprint. ''Read or Die'' follows Yomiko Readman, codename "The Paper", an agent for the (fictional) Special Operations Division ...
'' had spy-thriller action, but this series is "gentle", more about "quirky flights of the imagination", but is primarily about "joy of books", poverty of someone with a career in literature and humanities. Santos criticized the writing as awkward, chessy, and cliche, and hopes that the second volume had stronger writing quality. Javier Lugo of ''Manga Life'' reviewed all four volumes, calling them heartwarming, haunting, funny, hilarious, and enjoyable, paired with a quality story of a series that is a "real gem." Caitlin Donnovan of ''
The Mary Sue Daniel Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American media entrepreneur, television host, and author. He is currently the host of '' On Patrol: Live'' on Reelz, and ''The Dan Abrams Show: Where Politics Meets The Law'' on SiriusXM's P.O.T.U.S. cha ...
'' praised the manga for having "lighthearted fun" and a scene in which a girl "wants to kiss a main female character", with the protagonist fine with this.


Notes


References


External links

* {{Ultra Jump * Adventure anime and manga Romance anime and manga Seinen manga Shueisha manga Viz Media manga ja:R.O.D#R.O.D -READ OR DREAM-