'Red Data Girl' manga ~ so that's how it actually is

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.

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.

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.

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 =)

lyrics translation. 'Kakugo' by Annabel (Masumi Ito)

The song is so short that it does not take any efforts to translate it at all. If you ask me what exactly I must be worshiped thanked for - it is the lyrics itself. You won't find it in the web, since this song is not featured on the booklet from the original CD, and from what I can see no one managed to write it down properly. I am speaking of the second line of the first verse. You will find variants like 世は落下を - 'yo wa rakka o', and 弱わらかを - 'yowaraka o', but both are wrong. If you want a proof, there isn't any. That's just how I hear it.

However, I can say a few words to defend my version. First, when a syllable is doubled, it takes 2 notes in the melody respectively. If it were 'rakka', it would be sung as 'ra-a-ka'. The problem is, the word 'you' in my version does not take 2 notes as it should, it is sung as 'yo' instead of 'yo-u', but that's a thing that happens much more frequently. Second, there's no such word as 'yowaraka'. Third, the last syllable sounds as 'u', not as 'o'. Fourth, there's a caesura before the 'a' sound, which actually made me think if it's not a separate word starting from 'a'. That's how I found 'aragau'. Moreover, the first sound is so obviously 'a', not 'wa'. Fifth, it's not 'torawareru', it's 'torawarenu', if you listen attentively. And after all, at least my sentence is grammatically correct and makes sense.

And I don't mistake 裂く for 咲く.

Japanese

青ざめた世界が遠く深く広がる
瞼閉じた夢に囚われぬよう抗う

砕けた砂を踏み締め、降り積む想いを抱いて
誰よりも早く君へ、その闇　裂いて

何も見えなくても君の手を取って行こう
光へと

Translation

The world that grew pale lies in front of me, vast and deep
I resist to being captured by the dream that I see when I close my eyes

Treading on the scattered sand, embracing the feelings that fall down and cover it
To you, faster than anyone, slashing through that darkness

Even if we cannot see a thing, let me take your hand and let’s go there
Where the light is

'Red Data Girl' anime ~ this will be a very long post and don't say I didn't warn you

The conclusion that little witch Chocolat from 'Sugar Sugar Rune' made after living in the human world for some time was: it seems that human boys tend to tease girls they like. Well, it's ok if they really just tease. It also can be understood when a little boy kinda hates a girl and throws balls at her without mercy. But what if a story about the Heroine and the Hero starts from true, sheer hatred?

story and characters
What a usual shoujo looks like is 'they are obviously attracted to each other but cannot confess but that's SOOO CUUUUUTE'. What RDG starts with is a girl and a boy who openly dislike each other without that usual catchy 'she's just not being honest with herself'. Not that there's no room for such feelings, but they appear much later and not just because 'he's so cool' or 'she's so tsundere'. In case of RDG we have not the typical shoujo heroine who climbs up trees like Candy from Candy-Candy, travels the world seeking for adventures like Nadja from 'Ashita no Nadja', or bravely fights monsters like Hikaru from 'Rayearth', but a shy, meek, calm girl. However, she's also not the 'Diabolik lovers' damsel-in-distress MANUKE (coward, doesn't have any nerve) type who lets others do whatever they want with her. If by any chance you're interested in my opinion, the usual shoujo heroine is an IEE, or ENFp in the MBTI, while Izumiko is her 'mirror', EII or INFj. Unlike the widespread tsundere type (ENFp or ENTp or INTp), she's honest with her feelings:

In general she's completely ok when it comes to discussing feelings and relationships and does not hesitate to make a face like this when asked whether she'd agree to be hit on:

She also has strong will. It reminds me how one socionics developer said about Melanie in 'Gone with the wind'. Such heroines are frequently weak or at least not very strong physically and know nothing about demonstrating strength to the extent they aren't able to protect themselves (extroverted sensing is the sore point)

but never hesitate when they have to show their inner strength, even if they have to say something harsh.

They don't have a problem facing a morally difficult situation or when they have to make a decision that requires using not logic (T) but ethic (F).

Izumiko also reacts very calmly when facing situations where other people would not know what to reply.

 And in the end she allows herself to show her true feelings which she was so much afraid of doing.

I'm not saying I'm an expert, but our Hero, Miyuki, does look like her dual type. Here's what we have - a guy who values physical and mental strength and does not hesitate to train himself, very harsh in the beginning but eventually giving way to the Heroine's kindness seeing how she never gets angry or arrogant with him no matter what he does or says (thinking, sensing). Unlike her, he knows what to do and how to do it, and wants everything done properly - I'll enter a university and become a good member of the society, he says (plus judging). Even though in the last episode he proves to be actually loyal and refuses to take actions that may hurt people dear to him, that only proves he's bad with human relations and feelings - it took him 12 episodes to get used to having a person to care for and acknowledge his feelings. In other words, he needed a proof of feelings from someone else (NF) so that he could show his loyalty with actions (ST).

By the fact he takes the initiative and responsibility eagerly I assume he's an extrovert, and thus I have the conclusion that I wanted to reach. And it was just all very smooth how he almost hated her in the beginning but then voluntarily took her under his care.
If you're wondering whether I'm really into that guy, Yukimasa, the father of the Hero, then I'll tell you - of course I'm not serious. I'm just collecting hot guys to... to look at. Under no circumstances would I ever acknowledge violence as a method of upbringing. However, this is the reality that we must face when watching this series: in this story physical damage is considered something usual, not forgivable but acceptable.
If you feel disturbed by it, you can try to manage to pay no heed to this side of the story. Since the strange relationship between Miyuki and his father will never be explained either. Or the circumstances about Izumiko's family. Or anything else. While the feelings between Izumiko and Miyuki, and also the three Souda siblings are properly shown, the story itself, unlike what you'd expect from the description, contains even no real battles with enemies that come to capture the Heroine, and the anime does not create a smooth line of events. Rather it looks like a collection of important moments from the original novel with absolutely no attempts to fill the gaps between them. No wonder it gets low rates from people writing comprehensive reviews. There are a lot of examples when I liked an anime that people rate with 1 out of ten, but that's due to the fact I liked the genre while others didn't. This time it's not as simple, RDG is not just aimed at a narrow audience, it's also too limited in time.

graphics
The very first seconds of the first episode can give you a good idea of what's graphics like in RDG.

All landscapes and objects of nature are done in detail and look extremely realistic. Places in the urban areas are also done to look like real ones with all necessary textures and patterns.

Some objects were obviously made in 3D.

Here is one problem, however. RDG makes an attempt to look beautiful but the story is not told properly. I would probably prefer that the same amount of work be put into narration. Just to be fair I have to say, though, that the style is better than on those pictures I saw on the manga covers, and I prefer the way the characters look in the anime to the manga version.
If we take the graphics as a separate kind of art, it's beautiful and so detailed I'd even say it verges on being wasted. Such images deserve to be viewed for a longer time than it takes in RDG. If you want to check it out, just look for the menus from the DVD.

voice acting
The first time I ever heard Uchiyama was in 'Bimbougami'. Even though a comedy, thanks to the seiyuus' work the characters demonstrated a great deal of personality and deepness. Since then I wrote Uchiyama's name in the list of 'promising seiyuus'. He was the second reason for me to watch RDG, the first being the fact that it explores the world of Japanese folklore and Buddhism and Shinto religion. I was not wrong when I had high hopes for him. In case you're wondering if there's any proper romance in the anime, just watch the opening video and remember the fact it won't get any further. However, if after that you're wondering whether it's worth watching or not, I'll tell you what I thought. It's worth watching at least to hear him say these three words.

Other seiyuus were all very good, even though I don't know them. Not many seiyuus have their own unique voices - many are just representatives of a certain type. Say, Hayami Saori is the 'calm, shy girl' type, Yonezawa Madoka is a good 'active positive girl', Ishikawa Kaito and Kimura Ryouhei are 'bright and a little bit childish guys'. On one hand, it's not that I'll remember them very well after watching RDG. On the other hand, have you ever switched off the sound in an anime? Try to do so and look at the picture. It's moving but there's not enough life in it until it is animated by the seiyuu's voice, especially it's true in case of RDG because it has this kind of art which is so beautiful that it's almost lifeless.
Checking up the more famous seiyuus, Miyano Mamoru fans will have nothing to enjoy here, his Harukawa was plain. Mr Ishida was the same as always. I guess he'll never be given any other kind of a character - they are all cunning guys having ulterior motives, no matter be it for the sake of the protagonists or not. Tanaka Rie as the goddess was absolutely beautiful, at least this is how I would want her to be - self-confident, with that confidence covering all areas of her soul, arrogant, even sexy, which also is a part of her confidence. Kugimiya Rie as Wamiya, who is a boy, created a very good character, I'll give her that. Nojima Hirofumi also made his Takayanagi extremely 3D. What I'm trying to say is that thanks to such seiyuus the characters were even more realistic and credible than it could be imagined without a voice. Mr Fukuyama was voicing a character who's, like it seems to me, closer to his real age than usual, but hey, he's convincing no matter who his character is.

music
If you can distinguish between Annabel's songs, then you're a genius. I can't. All of them are the same to me. This statement includes all other singers of that kind - Yuuki Aira, Misawa Aki, Ceui etc. In other words, the opening song is extremely boring and plain. The ending song is much better, since it's by Masumi Ito (Hikaru Nanase). She also wrote the soundtrack. I'd say it's the classical type, the music is not very outstanding but it sure has its charm and every melody fits the moments it's playing at. Her songs are very unusual and though I respect her, I wouldn't listen to 'yokan' out of the anime.
A completely different thing is the insert theme song of Izumiko, 'Izumiko no mai', and 'Kakugo' - one of the most beautiful theme songs I have ever heard. That the problem lies in the composer is just too obvious because it is performed by the same Annabel, but what different fates these two songs have.

conclusion - after 4 years
How things change with time... I clearly remember being dissatisfied with the narration, namely the fact that the background is never revealed, which made watching RDG a real torture, wanting to know more and not being able to. However, after 4 years, RDG looks very different to me, and is an example of how a short story should be presented when the ending of the anime is not the ending of the story. Yes, RDG is the true way to end a season. No, no only to end a season, it should be the model of how to make a season - how to present characters, how to let them develop, how to keep everything going. Despite the vagueness and lack of enlightenment, these 12 episodes set a solid ground for further development, regardless of its existence. At least, plot holes here are not black holes, sucking any possible continuation into abyss.
Moreover, it should be no coincidence that I recalled 'The good witch of the west' and 'RDG' at the same time - both were written by the same author. Even unconsciously, I must have been remembering these two works as similar, with the same kind of fascinating, kind, tender story. Now I know for sure that if I ever want something for my soul to have a rest in, I have these two.