Read Or Die TV - Reviews

Story
If you've seen the original Read or Die OVA, have no fear, the TV series will live up to its campy yet entertaining predecessor. If you haven't seen the OVA, I suggest checking it out first. Taking place approximately 6 years after the events of the OVA, ROD TV introduces us to a variety of new characters including the published author Nenene (who hasn't written a novel in years, nonetheless), and the girls of the Three Sisters Detective Agency: Maggie, Michelle, and Anita. Who does the show focus on the most? Well, that's definitely up to interpretation. At first, you assume that Nenene will be the focal point of the series, since it is her that writes the novels and needs the bodyguards (Anita, Maggie, and Michelle) to protect her. However, as a few episodes pass, the three sisters definitely become the focus. Later on, the events of the OVA start to come together in the TV series, introducing yet more characters who become a focus as well. It kind of reminded me of Infinite Ryvius, to be honest, the way no central main characters were really appointed. While it wasn't terrible, I still wish that someone/some people would have been easily identified as the lead roles.

As far as the actual story goes, it's difficult to really explain what happens without a fair amount of spoiling. Let's just say that it's chock full of lies, betrayals, nefarious bad guys, and a plot to take over the world! The series definitely feels like it has a few arcs, the first of which feels very character development/filler heavy. The girls are sent by the Chinese Intelligence to recover books that have been lost over time, and are in the hands of very dangerous individuals. After a few episodes, we barely see Nenene, and the three sisters are developed instead. Taking after series such as Witch Hunter Robin, this episodicness shuts down around the halfway point of the series, with a fairly sinister plot being uncovered for the masses. From that point on, it's plot central.

Now given the fact that it's related to Read or Die, you can expect that the plot would be somewhat out there and unique, and indeed, it was. I do give credit for the unusual plot, but I also was not completely happy with it. First of all, around episode 22 the series takes a complete nosedive into "OH MY GOD TWIST x 6,000" land. It isn't that twists aren't wanted, but these felt very unnecessary and forced at the last minute. Kind of like watching Berserk in a way, but not as messed up. These twists are twofold: first, changing some of the character interactions (totally unnecessary, given how good the plot was up to this point), and second, adding extremely farfetched and ridiculous notions to the plot, which made it lose a lot of credibility in my book. Yes, I know the show was meant to be campy and fairly unrealistic in the first place, but this was ridiculous amounts of things piled on at the last minute, which weren't needed!

Overall, a decent plot with a unique basis, a good (yet slow) flow, and several story arcs to keep you interested. Unfortunately, I felt like the story really failed at the end, and was only saved somewhat by its good (but still full of plot holes) ending.
Animation
The visuals in ROD TV were fairly unusual to say the least, with a style that definitely didn't remind me of any other series. The characters themselves had very chubby faces (with only a few exceptions), with very round hair and somewhat ecchi bodies at times. The colors used were definitely pleasing, going along with the OVA as far as a wide variety of bright and vibrant color choices. Due to the nature of the show, the "color" that ended up being the most pleasing was, of all things, white. Each of the girls commanded the power of paper in a different way, and each time their abilities were used, it flew around beautifully to create a variety of shapes and animals.

Something else to note is the wonderfully animated fight scenes, which were a real treat. They happened so quick (similar to Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran) and involved paper, so it was definitely an unusual feat each time. Anita definitely was the fastest of them all, showing us impressive moves with her small size.

There were some aspects to the animation that I didn't like, such as the simple aspects of the characters' faces. They seemed almost crude looking (Nenene, for example), with very thick lines used. Whenever a character would be embarassed, happy, or upset, they would get these bright pink oval shapes on their cheeks. Come on, is this the 70s? Why does it need to be this pronounced? Even some sort of smoothing would have been nice, because I thought this looked really tacky.
Sound
The music fit the series very well, but like many series, the title track was perhaps overused a bit. I tend to hate introductions, since they usually have very stupid music that don't tell you anything about the series. In ROD TV's case, though the music was a very good setup to what the tone of the series would be like. The song itself had a 007 flair, with guitars and synths that let you know how slick and hip the series would be. Once I saw the intro for the first time, I knew I'd be in for a similar ride as the OVA, and that's a good thing for sure. But, as mentioned, they used this track a bit too much, and the rest of the music tended to be forgettable. Still, I felt it fit the series well, so it gets a high score.

As far as the voice acting, I think everyone did a good job, especially Anita and Nenene. Those two definitely had the most attitude about daily life, and their voice actors portrayed it very well. I can't really imagine a dub VA doing the same job well.
Characters
Ah, the characters -- definitely the crux of the series to be sure. As mentioned in the story section, the series had a hard time deciding who were the main characters, and this made for a fairly fragmented viewing as far as I'm concerned. Regardless, the character development was very deep and complex, and was told over a long period of time, so it had time to sink in and interest you. My one qualm with any of the development was the sudden developments near the end of the series (that weren't necessary), but this admittedly was small compared to the rest of the series. The relationships between the characters were very strong and solid, especially with the sisters. Later, when characters are introduced at the halfway point, there are a whole new slew of character dealings that come into play, some of which will make you smile, and others which will surprise you.

I guess my only slight annoyance was that the series seemed to be an advertisement for lesbianism. I swear, all the characters seemed to be in love with their female buddies on some level, and I didn't really get why. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being a lesbian, but I don't understand why that was such a focal point of the series (or at least, the way the characters interacted and talked about each other, it damn well seemed like a focal point).
Overall
ROD TV definitely lives up to its predecessor, but might discourage fans who want all the action that the OVA had. Since about half is just character development and episodic, it might put people off early on. The plot does kick in eventually, but ended on a weak note, in my opinion, hence the 7. Although the music and animation was great, and the premise unique, I still felt quite a nose dive from episodes 22 on, and that definitely effects my score. If you liked the OVA, check this out. If you like campy entertainment, check this out. ROD TV is good, I just don't think it was exceptional.

Read or Die TV is the 26 episode sequel to the short, campy and unique 2001 seinen anime Read or Die. This sequel is a bit more slow paced since it has many more episodes to fill. It still has the espionage, action and superpowers of the original, in some ways toned down but in other ways even crazier. It lives up to the original and it carries on the story from a different perspective. While the older characters reappear and remain relevant, the main cast is all new. Go here for my review of the original series.

Animation

The animation quality isn't too bad. It's kinda average for a 2004 anime and 480p was the best quality I could find. Everything is well defined and there isn't much to complain about. The style of the animation isn't too unique and seems a bit generic. Some of the characters may seem like you've seen them in many other animes. As for fan-service, despite the main cast being all female, there isn't really any pervyness. Thank goodness. The worst it gets is one instance of nudity/toplessness which is fine due it being justified by context (i.e. it's not there for pervyness) and in a few scenes Nenene's breasts seem more pronounced, one scene in particular they jiggle around but nothing majorly bad. They've dealt with it in a mature and respectable fashion, so well done.

Sound

The sound and music is very similar to the 2001 anime, it still has that jazzy campy feeling. I got a 80s/90s vibe from it, in a good way. So to quote my review of the 2001 ROD:

"The music is very suitable for an anime like this. I feel like it could be a movie with this soundtrack. Good instrumentals, with orchestra and sometimes feeling a bit jazzy like something out of a spy movie. Not mind-blowingly awesome to make me want to download the soundtrack though, probably just due to my taste in music. This anime is available in English as well as Japanese..."

But a few things I want to add, all of the returning cast had their VAs changed, which bums me out. Many character are actually voice acted by British, which makes sense given that those characters are British themselves. As for the new characters the only thing worth mentioning is that Wendy's old VA now does the voice for Nenene. Patrick Seitz does the voiceover for Lee Linho and he's been in quite a few big animes, including Eureka Seven as Charles Beams (my fave character in that anime!) Overall, nothing too amazing in sound, but at least the music is catchy and the sound design works out. Those are the important bits.

Characters

The central character is an adult woman, Nenene Sumiregawa. She is a writer and has been writing books since she was a teenager. Currently, at the start of the anime, she has not written any books for four years (writer's block) and one of her books is being turned into a movie. Part of the reason for her lack of new writing is that her best friend, Yomiko Readman, has gone missing. Oh yes, the main character of the original is referenced and involved in this story. Nenene apparently met Nenene, when Nenene dropped in as a substitute teacher at her highschool. In this series, she must deal with the antics of the 3 sisters (more on them in a sec) and she gets easily annoyed. She is rather stubborn and gets upset and angry at the 3 sisters often, but has a kind heart inside. Cool character IMO.

Possibly the most important of the 3 sisters is the youngest, Anita King an orphan girl with short pink hair of the middle school age. As well as being a paper master, she is very agile athletic and is just an overall prodigy. However, unlike her older sisters and Yomiko, she is a paper master that hates books and this is explained in some of her back story. In this series, she gets more screen time than her sisters, especially since she enrolls in a Japanese middle (junior high) school and her adventures there are shown, along with the friends she makes. Also unlike her older sisters, she can get upset and angry about things, which in combination with her agility makes her hot-headed and difficult to deal with at times. She likes frogs a lot and her best friend at her new school is Hisami Hishishi. I hated this character at first, but grew to like her.

The outgoing yet not so smart eldest of the 3 sisters is Michelle Cheung. A gentle, blonde woman with a refined appearance and 'blonde' moments to boot, she is a paper master and much like Yomiko from the first ROD, she loves books. Her favourite author is Nenene Sumiregawa and she is over the moon to have a job helping her out. As you may have noticed, she doesn't share second names with her sisters, this is because they are 'adopted' sisters who came together. She smiles a lot and makes a fool of her self doing silly things like dressing up in a Cheongsam (a sort of formal Chinese dress) to be Nenene's maid and writing a fake diary by Anita to try and make Nenene laugh. Probably the funniest of the three sisters and she also makes funny noises in her sleep.

The third of the 3 sisters is Maggie Mui. Maggie is a very tall, masculine, somewhat shy woman who can easily be described as a gentle giant. Like her two sisters she is a paper master, the most powerful of the 3 it seems and she absolutely loves books. So much so, that she will have withdrawal symptoms without books to read. Just like Michelle, her favourite author is Nenene Sumiregawa and she is embarrassed and bashful when she finally gets to meet her hero. She likes small confined spaces, a tad funny given how tall she is, in which to read and sleep in. She also can drive and is capable of ineptitude like her older sister Michelle.

So the 3 paper master sisters are cool characters who I adore, but there are others that deserve a mention. Junior is a gentle young boy with long grey hair like Griffith from Berserk and is shrouded in mystery. Hisami Hishishi is the sweet adorable little girl who is Anita's best friend, man I'm jealous of her parents (yeah ik she's a fictional character, but who wouldn't want a kid like her). Lee Linho is a man who is Nenene's agent and is also a fan of her work. Tohru Okahara is a young boy from Anita's school, who is actually a bit of a tsundere. He seems to be hiding the fact that he like Anita, which is fine in this case since he is just behaving as a normal kid. Some of these characters start to appear less in later episodes though, which is a bit of a shame.

I had to start a new paragraph for this, but returning characters. They are done so well. They appear more in the later episodes and are very relevant to the story.

Story

The events of Read or Die TV are set a few years after the events of the original. This story is very faithful to the original series and refers to a lot that happened to it. It's a worthy sequel. Nenene is targeted by certain individuals and it's up to the paper master sisters to help her out. Though this is just the first part of the story. The second part is very relevant to the original. I love how they explain a lot of the backstory. They even provide an explanation of the events of the original anime in a sort of story recap filler episode, though calling it a recap does it injustice since it really fills in the picture which we never got in the original anime. It also explains how characters have changed and there is much political intrigue, especially to do with Britain and China. My patriotism may be positively skewing my views here. I don't want to spoil anything, but its a very unique and possibly mature story? It touches on subjects like war, immortality, torture, human experimentation and more that I've likely forgotten. There is a lot of action, though not as concentrated as the original. But it does get pretty crazy with multiple paper masters on scene. Just great

Conclusion

This anime is awesome. It gets even better in the second half, particularly if you've watched the original anime. The story and characters really make this one. I'm having trouble trying to think where it could improve? Of course, this anime is definitely recommended for those that enjoyed the original. And if one likes unique plotlines and great character, then this is also worthy of that, though one would preferably have watched the original beforehand. This is a must watch anime! I want to give this a perfect score so bad...!

Family-friendliness Rating: 5/5 Just one scene which is fine but is still nudity all the same, the intro is still a bit sensual though (lower is better)

Overall Rating: 9/10 (higher is better)

Enjoying an anime is always nice; better yet is when a series ends up exceeding your expectations. Such is the case with 'R.O.D. the TV'. This is a surprisingly entertaining adventure with likable characters and a jazzy soundtrack that should be checked out by anyone who enjoyed the action-packed OVA that came before it. To those who haven't: I strongly recommend you do, it's a terrific action-anime first and foremost; but it must also be noted that the second half of this series builds heavily on characters and events that transpire in the OVA.

'R.O.D The TV' is best described as a combination of X-Men and James Bond, with a dash of Cowboy Bebop. The story revolves around three girls: the happy-go-lucky but surprisingly perceptive Michelle, the tall-and-silent Maggy and the spunky Anita. Together they form a group of private-detectives called 'The Paper Sisters'. The 'Paper'-part is a reference to the special ability of these girls: each of them can manipulate paper in a special way that might have your morning newspaper turn into a deadly dagger or a swimming swan. Origami on steroids so to speak.

The series starts off by having our heroines protect and eventually move in with a novelist called Nenene Sumiregawa, a writing prodigy with a severe case of writer's block and some emotional baggage caused by the sudden disappearance of a close friend a few years ago. Over the course of the series the sisters solve cases and do their best to get along with Nenene. The first half is mostly comprised of establishing the characters and 'case of the week'-episodes in which the Paper Sisters solve random cases (tone ranging from lighthearted to horror-ish, much like Cowboy Bebop) to pay their bills. The second half presents a more cohesive and more serious story built upon the established characters and plot threads of both the first half as well as the OVA.

All in all the narrative does a great job of keeping the whole thing going. It never drags aside from a rather slow beginning and there are plenty of interesting twists and events to keep it engaging. Even better is that R.O.D. the TV manages to juggle between all the characters and (sub)plots with the finesse of an A-class circus-clown, ultimately providing a satisfying end to the whole affair.

Another part of why the series works so well is because of the characters. The Paper Sisters quickly prove themselves to be quite endearing as individuals (Anita in particular) but they shine brightest when working together, particularly when trying their best to help their often grumpy but well-meaning employer Nenene. Speaking of which, Nenene (referred to as 'sensei' by most of the cast) also proves to be a surprisingly well-developed and interesting character thanks to how well the series portrays how loneley (because of her missing friend) and under pressure (considering all her fans are fiending for a new novel) she is. Sadly the antagonists don't fare quite as well. They manage to be entertaining and menacing but their motivations remain largely unexplored (the main antagonist in particular is a very missed opportunity) with the exception of one minor villain whose character is remarkably well fleshed out.

The visuals and audio are remarkable. The OVA was also an absolute delight in this regard and it's nice to see the TV-series continue this proud tradition. The detailed art, distinctive character designs, fluid animation (NB: I watched the series in 2010 and feel that its animation can easily compete with contemporary stuff), excellent sound-effects, jazzy soundtrack (again very reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop) and solid voices make for an overall product that's well above-average as far as production values is concerned.

On the whole, R.O.D. the TV manages to be a deftly plotted, fun-packed adventure with likable characters packed in a stylish prestation. It could have been a great series if it had few more fight-sequences, a better developed main antagonist and a more spectacular finale. As it stands, though, I still recommend anyone who enjoyed the OVA to spend some time with the Paper Sisters.

Excellent. Now that we've established that...

Read or die follows three sisters and an popular author. The author looks for an old friend and continues to write. The three sisters are paper masters, this basically means they can manipulate paper to do awesome crazy stuff (think green lantern except he needs lots of paper and the skills to manipulate it properly). During the story the sister will randomly have their own episodes where they go on missons, these seem random but hold purpose later.

Characters. Are great! Real, authentic, believeable and honest. Most mesh well together but the ones that don't, dont' for obvious reasons.

Sound/Music. Amazing. Possibly the best I've heard in an anime to date. The opening theme sents the pace with a jazzy exciting beat, read or die will continually use music to match the mood and build excitment throughout, they do this masterfully. Also the voices (i watched the subbed version, so if you are watching the english dubbed, i don't know how it'll sound) match so well with each character, even though i don't speak japanese i can tell the tones and understand each characters general emotion. Voices are so perfect.

Animation is great. Smooth free of flaws, it follows explosions, detailed paper construction, and fights without flaw.

Overall this is really really great. Music and voices are so marvelous, the characters are really great, and work so well together. The story really picks up after episode 13 and things become EPIC. With a little bit of sillyness, some growing up, dire situations, and creative stunning battles, read or die balances battle and emotion with precisly as it shound be. Also has lots of book references so prepare for that. DON"T SKIP THIS ANIME IT IS GREAT

Remember last time last year, when I watched an OVA called Mezzo Forte and I thought that was one of the many entertaining anime I had ever saw and then after that, I’ve reviewed Mezzo DSA, the TV series to follow it and I thought the TV series was very bland and vanilla compared to the OVA, offering nothing to the table aside from a few basics from the OVA. Well, I was very cautious when going into the Read or Die franchise as I know a few friends of mine said that OVA is very underrated and I wholeheartedly agree about. Now with this TV series, that might say the opposite that it isn’t as good as the OVA but hey, who knows? I might find a different opinion on it.

The series begins in 2006, five years after the "I-Jin" incident detailed in the Read or Die OVA. Yomiko Readman (a.k.a. "The Paper", agent of British Library Task Force) has supposedly gone missing, and Nenene Sumiregawa, her former student and best friend, is still in Tokyo after her parents moved to the USA. Nenene has not written a book since Yomiko disappeared, as she has become lonely and frustrated that her sensei has never read her last book, and she feels she can't write again until she hears Yomiko's reaction to the book, so Nenene often disappears for long periods of time searching for Yomiko, and has been periodically doing so ever since her "disappearance".

During a trip to Hong Kong, Nenene meets the three sisters, Michelle, Maggie and Anita (from the Read or Dream manga), who are supposed to take care of her during her visit. However, the hotel at which Nenene is supposed to stay at is bombed, and at a press conference Nenene is briefly held hostage by a jealous rival in her industry. The three sisters end up becoming her bodyguards and join her back to Tokyo.

As I watched the series, I will know there will be additional characters made into main characters from the aforementioned manga and the plot expands to more than just 3 episodes (to a full 26 episodes) and I only have half enthusiastic  when I was watching this. The plot of this is as like the OVA but it’s sliced and diced to either the average bad guy of the week to these character pieces that are more akin to the slice-of-life genre with one part being Anita in middle school (or it is high school? I couldn’t really tell. They looked way too young to be high school.) but it just feel odd and jarring as most characters from the first half disappears and then appears from out of the blue and/or a long time period for forced character development, which just puts me out of interest altogether.

Funny thing about the main 3 sister characters, all of them are named after Hong-Kong action actresses, hence Anita King (Anita Mui), Maggie Mui (Maggie Cheung, part of Anita Mui) & Michelle Cheung (Michelle Yeoh, part of Maggie Cheung) but yet, the fact is the only thing that is interesting about them as they aren’t that strong as characters but more of anime archetypes: Anita being the youngest but the most capable and often more focused on than the other sisters, Maggie being the quiet and silent one, and Michelle is the cheerful, older yet ditzy sister. Throughout the show, they do go through this sisterhood bond with another new character in the mix, Nenene Sumiregawa and yet, she is a very irritable and screechy character, whose only reason to appear in this is because she has a connection to the earlier master Yomiko Readman and yes, most of the characters from the OVA do appear in here, including Joker, Drake & Nancy, but if you’re expecting the femme fatale Nancy was in the OVA, prepare to be disappointed, as it was explained that she did suffer some brain trauma that had her in a childlike state.

The animation here as in the OVA, Studio Deen did the previous one, while in the TV series, they are replaced with J.C. Staff for this time and it was just……average. The paper battles were very spot-on with the previous installment although they appear within long periods of time. Character designs are actually faithful as I can’t spot the differences of how they were designed. The music is still the best part of the franchise as it still retains the spirit of the OVA and it even got more funkier when the opening theme for the show. Plus, the original themes from the OVA among other pieces are heard in there. I can say less for the ending themes as they are standard pop songs that seemed forgettable.

Fuck it, this English dub is bad and I mean it was grating as like the animation, the voice actors from the Manga dub was replaced by company Geneon / New Generation Pictures and most of them tried to do British accents and some can’t do it well, especially the replacement actress for Yomiko (Hellena Taylor), Joker (J.B. Blanc) & Junior (J.D. Stone) and some of the main female character voices are often shrilly and screechy, mostly Nenene’s voice.  However, I’m not going to fault the dub that much as they did hire kid actors to play the younger characters and if you try to find some recognizable voice actors in there, the only people whose voices I got from there are Hunter MacKenzie Austin (playing Michelle), Carrie Savage (replacing Amanda-Winn Lee for Nancy Mukahari) & Patrick Seitz.

FINAL VERDICT: The show isn’t wholly unfaithful to the OVA, the spirit of that is still present in the TV series but I just don’t think it was ready for a TV format, even the plot as ridiculous in the OVA seems better suited to that. Mainly one character left somewhat of an impact of the show, only 50% less than Yomiko. I wouldn’t say it’s inferior to the OVA but it’s nothing that most people would say when talking about most anime out there. By any chance, you should stream or rent before buying.