Ream Stream (リーム・ストリーム Rīmu Sutorīmu) is one of deuteragonists (and one of initial protagonists^{[Notes 2]}) of the Time Patrol Bon franchise. In the 1989 anime, she has the anime-only brother named Louis Stream.

Ream's birth year and the time settings differ throughout the franchise even if she's born in the United States of America; born in 2002 (from 2016) in the manga, unverified in the 1989 anime, and born in 2042 (from 2056) in the 2024 anime.

Background

Ream was initially named Stream Ream (ストリーム・リーム Sutorīmu Rīmu) in the earliest manga chapters.

Captain Ream (リーム隊長 Rīmu Taichō), along with Bon Namihira and Yumiko Yasukawa and Buyoyon, made cameo appearances in various Doraemon related contents, such as The Anything Airport, Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016, Little Mystic Super-express^[1], The ABC’s of Class-F, In a tight spot of the Lunar Surface Race!?,^[2] and Doraemon Dorayaki Shop Story.^[3] Her name was also mentioned in Move Fast, Doraemon! The Galactic Grandprix.

Ream and Bon and Yumiko's names in Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016 were not clarified until when the film was aired on TV in Japan, and Ream's name was also confirmed in a video game.

The story of Lulu and her elder brother Lex from Doraemon Movie Story: Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur 2006 is somewhat reminiscent of Ream and Louis.^[4]

Ream's name being credited in the 2016 film.

One of Bon and Ream's cameo appearances, from the 2014 Doraemon episode The Anything Airport.

Appearance

Ream is subtly taller than Bon, and she usually acts as a senior to him despite presumably being at the same age. Her taller stature than Bon was presumably because they were young teens. However, she and Bon became about the same height in the later chapters of the part 1 of the manga.

Ream in the 1989 anime usually wears a differently designed formal Time Patrol uniform instead of the uniform in the manga and the 2024 anime. As the 1989 anime was co-produced along with Kiteretsu Encyclopedia by Gallop, this incarnation of Ream bears Kiteretsu Encyclopedia (and the 1979 anime of Doraemon) - esque design in general. The 1989 Ream is also somewhat shorter than in the manga and the 2024 anime.

Ream in the 2016 Doraemon film wears a formal Time Patrol uniform of the Doraemon franchise.

In the manga, Ream was initially taller than Bon. However, presumably as the time passes, their heights became about the same in the later episodes of the part 1. Height difference between Bon and Ream in the 1989 anime was much smaller than in the 2024 anime while Ream in the 2024 anime is 160cm tall, making her 10cm taller than Bon.^[1] In the Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016, Bon and Ream are about the same in height.^[1]

Personality

She in the manga and the 2024 anime, and Yumiko Yasukawa in the manga and the 1989 anime, are somewhat similar both in appearances and personalities where both of them are brave, wise, cheerful, friendly and compassionate, but somewhat firm and stubborn especially Ream in the 2024 anime. On the other hand, Ream and Bon can be clumsy and loose even after becoming official Time Patrol agents, triggering additional risks.

Due to her morale and sense of justice, she had suffered on multiple occasions due to the regulations of Time Patrol to not to freely interfere fates of people and animals. Especially in the 2024 anime, her rigidity towards Bon and rather casual attitude regards "deaths", including the attempt to erase Bon and forcing him to suffer and die instead of Philippides, have presumably been due to her own sense of responsibility,^{[Notes 3]}, suffering,^{[Notes 4]} and the fact that she knew the outcomes.^{[Notes 5]}

Notably, while expressing sympathy towards Bon, she didn't hesitate to "erase" him in their first encounter (especially in the 2024 anime), and she also forced Bon to complete a severe marathon and "die" to refill the time paradox caused by Bon. However, her firmness and stubbornness (especially in the 2024 anime) are because of her strong sense of responsibility.

Anime adaptations

In the 1989 anime, Ream is depicted to be more accessible than the 2024 anime,^{[Notes 6]} and somewhat less clumsy. Notably regarding Bon's execution, Ream in the 1989 anime reflected on what she did and apologized to Bon, and immediately befriended and was desperate to save him. Ream in the 1989 anime has more affection towards Bon than in the manga, and thus actually kissed Bon to save him from an oxygen deficiency while she in the 2024 anime tried but couldn't.

As above mentioned, she was somewhat emphasized to be more firm and dry in the 2024 anime than in the manga and the 1989 anime where female crews who have not read the manga before (story writer Yūko Kakihara and other young female staffs) tried to promote Yumiko Yasukawa over Ream.^[1][5] In this adaptation, she didn't particularly demonstrated her guilty to "erase" Bon following their first encounter.

Skills and Abilities

While her experiences and performances are generally well above Bon in the part 1, she is also clumsy at times and makes mistakes.

Ream is usually more agile and has more stamina than Bon in the part 1 although this may be due to Bon's insufficient sleep.

In the manga and the 1989 anime, she can't swim at all although she can temporary swim well with a specialized gadget.

Relationships

Bon Namihira

Main article: Bon Namihira and Ream Stream

The relationship and the eventual fate of Bon and Ream are rather complex and ambiguous due to repeated hiatuses and the eventual cancellation of the original manga. While their relationship might have been originally intended to be romantic, their actual fates were never specified.

Louis Stream

Louis is anime-only elder brother and a senior patrol officer of Ream in the 1989 anime. Ream deeply respects him both as a brother and a senior agent, however she was troubled by the issue of a warrant for arrest of him regarding the event of Leviathan.

The relationship between Ream and Louis has subtle resemblances to that of Ream and Rosa in the 2024 anime.

Buyoyon

At one point in the past, Ream encountered Buyoyon. Since then, Buyoyon started to interact with her and other Time Patrol officers.

Yumiko Yasukawa

In the manga, Ream and Yumiko had never met directly while Yumiko had accidentally witnessed Bon's training by Ream.

In the 1989 and 2024 anime adaptations and the 2016 film, Ream and Yumiko eventually became fellow agents/officers.

Rosa

In the 2024, Rosa is a well-experienced agent of the Time Patrol, and is both the mentor and a senior officer of Ream. Rosa's doctrine and mentality have had significant influences on Ream as an agent, and Ream deeply respects her.

Ream was severely dismayed by Rosa's missing during a mission, and when they accidentally re-encountered, Ream attempted a highly risky rescue, that has almost caused her and Bon's lives. Fortunately, however, both Rosa and Ream were eventually saved, and this incident led to Bon, Ream, and Buyoyon's reunition.

Trivia

• Bon and Ream became the basis for the legends of Sun Wukong (Monkey King) and Zhu Bajie (Monk Pig) due to their interventions on the journey of Priest Xuanzang with the suits of kaiju and kaijin which Bon borrowed from his uncle who works at a tokusatsu studio.
• Bon, Ream, and Yumiko are among few characters in the entire Fujiko works that have went through both actual deaths and resurrections respectively. All of their (actual) deaths were to replace rescue targets, and they have also been fatally wounded instead of other animals or people.
  • In comparison, Nobita Nobi and Shizuka Minamoto went through rather ambiguous deaths and resurrections in Nobita and the Fantastic Three Musketeers.
• Snow Storm Ring from the 1995 film Crayon Shin-chan: Unkokusai's Ambition is a direct reference to Ream where both Ream in the 1989 anime and Snow Storm Ring were voiced by Rei Sakuma.
• She is the first deutaragonist / protagonist to be an American.

Notes

References