The story in the anime was not explained very well. However, I knew from the start that I'd love the manga. The original light novel series was written by the same author who did 'The good witch from the West'. And I somehow believed she would not let me down.
story and characters
What a strange fate. The manga follows exactly the same stream of events and most dialogues are almost identical if we compare it to the anime series, but what great difference there is between the impressions they leave. If the anime belongs to the category 'shut up and watch', manga leaves less questions and does not leave one asking 'so what happened right now?'. This does not mean the manga is 100% easy to understand from the very beginning, but in it some characters say things that explain the author's idea in a very clear way.
story and characters
What a strange fate. The manga follows exactly the same stream of events and most dialogues are almost identical if we compare it to the anime series, but what great difference there is between the impressions they leave. If the anime belongs to the category 'shut up and watch', manga leaves less questions and does not leave one asking 'so what happened right now?'. This does not mean the manga is 100% easy to understand from the very beginning, but in it some characters say things that explain the author's idea in a very clear way.
The most important thing that the goddess that 'possessed' Izumiko explained is her own story. What I could see in the anime was that she's just a woman who travelled back to the past and 'possessed' women in the Suzuhara family so that she would find a person who'd stop her from killing the humanity. In fact, she did not simply search for them but the monks actually existed for that purpose - what an interesting version. Moreover, she told she already became a world heritage in the future, which kinda reveals another side of the story.
What I liked very much was the idea that actually all women in the line were the goddess herself and the reality was that she, the goddess, gradually started to forget who she is. In other words, Izumiko thought the goddess possessed her because could not remember that she IS the goddess. Whether she actually was or her own personality also had a right to exist is another question, though.
Unlike anime, the narration is not completely broken. Even though it does sometimes jump from one moment to another, here or there you can see short phrases that do not take a lot of time but contain a lot of meaning.
The manga plays hide-and-seek with the anime in turns. The moments that were skipped in the anime have more time in the manga, and the moments that were highlighted in the anime were not as impressive in the manga. To speak of my favourite moment in the anime, it had such a great impact due to its greater length (even though it's a couple of seconds, in the manga it did not even take one page) and the seiyuus' job. Instead, the manga shows the events more from Izumiko's side. Just those few moments when the authors described how she felt when Miyuki was telling her something harsh made me think it was a good decision to read this manga.
Or when she compares the way Manatsu gently asks her what happened with the 'shut out' smile of Sagara.
This trick is something found ubiquitously in any kind of manga. Here and there. An important moment takes more frames on a page so that the reader would feel it and have time to understand it. It really depends on the mangaka, though, whether the trick is successful or not. I'd say that RDG is an example of how it should be done.
It really struck me every time when Izumiko's feelings were shown. How does it feel when you are desperate to make someone acknowledge you and your existence? How must it be painful when you're afraid that person would not speak a word, cast a glance on you anymore?
Moments when other characters' inner thoughts were shown were even more rare, but the more so valuable. Just a couple of weeks ago I read a 'teens love' manga about a girl who meets a high-ranked company official who happens to have a yacht, present her a dress, give her an engagement ring with a diamond, find her lost father and, more importantly, save her from having to work as a prostitute. Needless to say, their relationship was extremely explicit. In the short breaks between their 'interactions', there was some vague resemblance of a story. I remembered that manga when I read RDG. Actually, just one broken phone screen and one vision of those once annoying braids can tell much more about feelings.
What is important, this is the case when the supporting characters are not simply a bunch of faceless people swarming around the main Heroes. Even though my favourite were the main couple, their friends - and foes, too - were all people with their own story and motives.
graphics
I have a friends who dislikes that kind of 'round' cute faces that are widespread among modern anime-studios. She is especially pissed off when she sees something like KyoAni's ones.
By the way, I don't. For me the graphics in the anime version of RDG looks very attractive, even though one may say all characters are kinda drawn out of the same stencil plate. However, the manga features a different style. When you get used to it, it's pretty enjoyable too.
Like I mentioned, highlighted moments were very impressive. Even though the style may seem a bit artificial, I liked the way the mangaka expressed her feeling about a certain moment in the story. This is just one of the many frames in the manga, but I'd call it a masterpiece.
Another widespread trick, right? When something cannot be happening right now, but instead of reality mangaka shows an illusory image which is an allegory, a comparison of the real condition to something the author thought of.
language and wording
I wouldn't recommend reading this manga in the original to anyone, unless he is a traditional-Japan maniac. This manga was a source of many new words, but most of them were religious terms having to do something with shinto, historical terms, names and places. The other half were words that could be replaced with a more widespread and understandable equivalent. A lot of periphrasis structures and idioms were used, too. It was a hard work to read this manga. And I'd say it takes a lot of nerves. In the middle of it I was so tired that I let myself have a break and watched an easy to understand TV drama.
conclusion
The ending was not a surprise, but I was still very angry. 'After that they changed the world, but that's another story!', they said. Huh? When you read such a great premise you already hope to see the final denouement... but it's not there.
On the other hand, is it not for the better? The final resolution is up to your imagination.
As such, the manga does not actually have a story, it's like an introduction to something bigger. It does not describe events, but rather it describes feelings and relations. I don't even know why it was serialised in a shounen magazine since it obviously lacks action. However, as a story about people, it's a very good read.
p. s.
And just in case you're wondering how I laid my hands on it, I actually bought it. Yeah, with my own money. What a rare case. I'm not regretting it. For those who are eager to read it despite the fact I claimed it to be difficult, I'll share a secret: a good service is a website called 'cmoa'. If you are not able to find it yourself, register and buy what you want, I wouldn't recommend reading this manga =)
Unlike anime, the narration is not completely broken. Even though it does sometimes jump from one moment to another, here or there you can see short phrases that do not take a lot of time but contain a lot of meaning.
The manga plays hide-and-seek with the anime in turns. The moments that were skipped in the anime have more time in the manga, and the moments that were highlighted in the anime were not as impressive in the manga. To speak of my favourite moment in the anime, it had such a great impact due to its greater length (even though it's a couple of seconds, in the manga it did not even take one page) and the seiyuus' job. Instead, the manga shows the events more from Izumiko's side. Just those few moments when the authors described how she felt when Miyuki was telling her something harsh made me think it was a good decision to read this manga.
It feels like something I have been gathering slowly just broke down with a bump. But it's not that I lost something. I have been alone. From the start.
graphics
I have a friends who dislikes that kind of 'round' cute faces that are widespread among modern anime-studios. She is especially pissed off when she sees something like KyoAni's ones.
Like I mentioned, highlighted moments were very impressive. Even though the style may seem a bit artificial, I liked the way the mangaka expressed her feeling about a certain moment in the story. This is just one of the many frames in the manga, but I'd call it a masterpiece.
language and wording
I wouldn't recommend reading this manga in the original to anyone, unless he is a traditional-Japan maniac. This manga was a source of many new words, but most of them were religious terms having to do something with shinto, historical terms, names and places. The other half were words that could be replaced with a more widespread and understandable equivalent. A lot of periphrasis structures and idioms were used, too. It was a hard work to read this manga. And I'd say it takes a lot of nerves. In the middle of it I was so tired that I let myself have a break and watched an easy to understand TV drama.
conclusion
The ending was not a surprise, but I was still very angry. 'After that they changed the world, but that's another story!', they said. Huh? When you read such a great premise you already hope to see the final denouement... but it's not there.
On the other hand, is it not for the better? The final resolution is up to your imagination.
As such, the manga does not actually have a story, it's like an introduction to something bigger. It does not describe events, but rather it describes feelings and relations. I don't even know why it was serialised in a shounen magazine since it obviously lacks action. However, as a story about people, it's a very good read.
p. s.
And just in case you're wondering how I laid my hands on it, I actually bought it. Yeah, with my own money. What a rare case. I'm not regretting it. For those who are eager to read it despite the fact I claimed it to be difficult, I'll share a secret: a good service is a website called 'cmoa'. If you are not able to find it yourself, register and buy what you want, I wouldn't recommend reading this manga =)
