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The Lesbrary

Sapphic Book Reviews

Lesbrary Reviews

Read or Die, Vol. 1

March 20, 2010 by Danika Ellis

This is a classic case of “does it count?” I read R.O.D. expecting it to be explicitly lesbian, which wasn’t quite true. But first things first:

Read or Die was first a series of Japanese light novels (not currently published in English, but a fan translation is in the works) which then spawned R.O.D. the manga (a series of four) and an accompanying series of manga set in the same universe: Dream Or Die. The manga inspired an OVA, Original Video Animation, which then inspired a TV series.

I just picked up the four manga, available at my library (because I have an awesome library), not realizing how far-reaching R.O.D. is. I was easily sold on it: lesbrarian manga? Sign me up!

Well, this is the thing. I liked Read Or Die; it features a book-obsessed main character by the name of Yomiko Readman. Yomiko, in fact, is the Paper for The Library of England: she has powers that can control any piece of paper to do anything she wants. She embarks on various heroic actions, collecting pallets of books along the way.

By the end of the first manga, things were going along pretty much as expected, since the romantic interest had been introduced and hinted around. But here’s the thing… it never goes past that. Their relationship never quite becomes text, but it comes very, very close in the first manga. Think Xena and Gabrielle. Which brings me to my main question:

Does lesbian subtext count as a queer women book? Do lesbian subtext books belong on the Lesbrary?

This isn’t anything against Read Or Die; I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to watching the anime, plus the yuri that is hinted towards is adorable.

I was really excited to read queer women manga and I found some links for yuri published in English and free fan translations of yuri. Have you read any yuri/queer women manga? What did you think of it?

Categories: Lesbrary Reviews
Tags: , comics, danika, manga, review, subtext, yuri

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Comments

  1. Tara says

    March 22, 2010 at 7:24 am

    I love the lililicious translations! I go there every so often when I need to be cheered up, because they prove there is so much excellent yuri and shoujo ai in the world. And thanks for the head up about Read or Die! I am all about Librarians so that is going on my shopping list. 🙂

    Also–if you haven’t yet, check out Revolutionary Girl Utena.

    • Danika says

      March 22, 2010 at 9:12 am

      Ooo, I’ve just started watching Revolutionary Girl Utena!

  2. count_fenring says

    March 29, 2010 at 7:27 am

    If I remember correctly, the OVA is much, much closer to explicit (I think there may be a kiss, although it’s been ages since I saw it.)

    • Danika says

      March 29, 2010 at 9:28 am

      Oh, really? I downloaded the anime, but I’ll definitely try downloading the OVA now. Thanks!

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The Lesbrary is a sapphic book blog that started in 2010. It's run by Danika Ellis, and we have about a dozen reviewers from around the world recommending sapphic books in every genre. Check out the top navigation bar for more about the Lesbrary as well as options to browse by genre, age category, rating, and more.

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