BrightBlueInk
Since: Jan, 2001
03/23/2011 00:00:00
I just finished this comic and felt much the same way. The story seemed rushed and full of summary, and Elanor was just a frustrating character to follow. I felt much more for Takashi and felt like Elanor's reactions to the story were definitely the signs of someone suffering from severe trauma—understandable considering her backstory, but still frustrating.
I really, really wish this comic had lived up to its potential. Instead, I got to the end and thought "that's it?"
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So much wasted potential
Dreamless starts off with a typical concept - two people from different warring cultures are in love. But Dreamless ups the ante by having share lives, and this fantastical element upends the typical 'star-crossed lovers' story.
Tragically, Dreamless falls short of fully exploring this. The story does briefly address how the bond affects someone, like the doubts that the other doesn't exist, but that's it. There's no awkwardness from knowing that someone is watching every embarrassing moment, or exhaustion of seeing someone else's problems on top of your own, or anything. It's just accepted that they're perfectly happy with this arrangement.
Secondly, we only follow Elanor's viewpoint. This would be fine if Elanor's universe wasn't entirely focused around Takashi at the exclusion of everything else. Thusly, the entire backdrop of WWII is entirely pointless. We know it must be happening in the background because of the timeframe, but we never see Elanor reacting to the attack on Pearl Harbour, racist propaganda against 'Japs' and so forth. You'd think someone who knew a Japanese person would be distraught by these events, but again, Elanor is shut entirely within herself and the storyline is completely wasted.
Frankly, I'd enjoy this story so much more if it was from Takashi's viewpoint, precisely because of the reason above. Takashi, at least, has friends, listens to constant talk on invasion, and actually has a life. The plot seems to be happening on his end and he makes attempts to deal with it in a realistic human way, and it's tragic that we miss out on it.
Elanor, meanwhile, is co-dependant and almost smothering in her obsession with Takashi. She has a suicidal breakdown over Takashi lying to her, for god's sake. This could have been interesting as a way to show that the bond can be bad, but apparently Takashi is just an idiot. It's awfully hard to be sympathetic when your viewpoint character is clearly mentally ill but the story claims she's justified in this sort of behaviour. Not to mention the sheer Unfortunate Implications of a woman being the co-dependant one in this relationship.
To be honest, this story almost feels like a waste of time. So much plot potential is never explored and the relationship between the two is disturbing to watch. I really wish this could have been better.