Read or Die - Reviews

This is one of the best anime I have ever seen.  The main character "The Paper" aka Yomiko Readman loves books more than anything.  Her ability is to control paper.  Sounds boring, untill you see her. Sleepy, sweet, shy, spacey Yomiko is a badass that uses her unique ability in creative and interesting ways.

The plot is about a group of bad guys  (clones of historical figures) called the Ijin who are attempting to steal old books in order to anihilate the world.  It's up to Yomiko and her team to stop them. 

The plot is pretty average but the story is fast paced and the characters are wonderful.  Yomiko is loveable and admirable.  Drake and Nancy (Ms. Deep) are great supporting characters as well.  There is humor, action, and drama in this anime, and it feels very stylish, particularly the music and the credits.  I like the character designs and the story is fast paced.  The Read or Die ova is short and very sweet.

Read or Die is awesome. The plot is a very silly take on the James Bond type stuff, only with superpowers. The characters are simple. The animation is extremely raw, which is to be expected for a show aged over a decade. And yet, it manages to be so much fun that the sheer ridiculousness of the premise doesn't matter.

If you want to poke fun at the faults of Read or Die, you shouldn't have too hard a time. But instead of focusing on everything that's wrong, there is just so much that is absolutely fantastic that deserves mentioning. The main protagonist ranges from lackdaisical to awesome, is brilliant from both comedic and action angles, and the entire concept behind her works so much better than one would think possible.

The plot is more of a parody on James Bond than anything else, yet manages to be a great foil for the superpowers and characters running amok. The animation, while dated, has such strong concepts behind it that even the myriad of technical flaws can't stop it from being enjoyable. And the soundtrack, a combination of classical and spy themes, is a great backdrop to the show.

Yes, Read or Die has aged. But for an hour and a half, it manages to have two characters with development. There is a ridiculously over the top plot that manages to be just on the right side of self aware to be good fun rather than stupid without lowering pace to make us catch up. The pacing is just right, the fight scenes are awesome, and it manages to strike a good balance of clever and fun. The superpowers are cool and creatively used, and there is no need of gore or anything truly dark to add spice to anything.

There is very little needed in the way of fan service, and except for one character's outfit and a nipple shown in the opening theme, Read or Die is good family friendly fun. It manages to be light hearted and silly enough a premise for nothing to be truly disturbing, and is a rush of joy for anyone who loves action. I cannot recommend this OVA enough.

I have been looking into this series for some time now because to me, it seem like a fresh idea that’s waiting to be made into an anime OVA (and yes, I know it’s based on their light novels and manga, too.) with it having these super-secret spy/James Bond-type tone as it shows throughout the whole course. This could be one of those anime that has the cool factor going for it, much like Shinichiro Watanabe’s anime (you should know what he directed by now.), but hopefully it’s not just the cool factor that keeps it entertaining. How well I know? Well, let the review begin.

Nerdy Yomiko Readman is obsessed with books. As "Agent Paper," she works for a secret branch of the British Library, where her power to telekinetically control paper helps her on missions to retrieve rare manuscripts and protect the world from evil. But all Yomiko really wants to do is read her new book. Unfortunately it has been stolen by the I-gin, clones of historical figures who believe Yomiko's book holds the key to unlocking Beethoven's lost "Death Symphony." Anyone who hears the tune is compelled to commit suicide, and the I-gin intends to broadcast it all over the world. Only Yomiko, along with fellow super agents Drake and Miss Deep, has a chance at stopping them.

OK, I’m just going to say this……I had fun with this anime and as much as the plot doesn’t go that deep, but then again, it is a three episode OVA clocking in at 96 minutes. The plot may seem silly and nonsensical to most people, but it isn’t too distant from reality, it’s not like “GAINAX!! OMG!! CRAZY SHIT!!” type of nonsensical; it’s much like a good action film, whose purpose is to entertain us with how unreal it is without being bored and easily distracting itself from its plot. I will say that using paper as weapons more powerful than they appear are a plus in my book, because after seeing that, I imagine somebody challenging someone to a gunfight and someone made a drawing of a gun and then it came in paper form and it did the job of a regular one, but more deadlier.

Characters in here are a delight to watch as I really love the main character of Yukiko Readman or “The Paper”, as she is called here to be equally adorable as a nerdy bookworm character and capable of her being in a fight, especially that part, and considering not many of those exist in much anime….at least the ones I watch. There’s also Nancy Mukahari (or Miss Deep, which does sound a porno name…..and yes, even in the OVA, they reference that.), the token bad-ass female character with a shady past and Drake Anderson, the lone male member of the team.  The dynamic budding relationship between Yomiko and Nancy is actually the only thing I see in character development and progression. Some of the other characters like Joker (not the one you’re thinking), Drake, and the other super villains don’t really stay in our heads and some are just unimaginative characters like Joker is stereotypically posh and English and Drake is the no-nonsense American soldier. They are fine characters just nobody I would give a shit about.

Studio DEEN’s print is on the animation here and knowing their reputation of shows, the animation is solid for most parts here, as I often see a few hiccups even during the paper manipulating scenes. I wouldn’t count it as vintage, maybe even for it being 11-12 years old since its release in 2001 or ’02. I did like the opening theme and sequence of the show, as I’ve said; it brought out this James Bond / superspy tone that fits perfectly into the OVA.

The dub by Manga Entertainment is a fine dub with some good performances with Kimberly Yates, a relatively unknown voice actress, did capture the kindness and bookworm’s attitude of Yukiko. Amanda Winn-Lee, who also directed the dub, was good as Nancy, delivering in the deadpan humor within the character and of course, Crispin Freeman playing the not-so-subtle Joker and you can tell he was hamming it up and having fun in his role.

FINAL VERDICT:  You can check it this OVA. It may not go deep within the plot that much but as you watch it, you start to not care that much, that is if you’re enjoying it but if you didn’t, then I shouldn’t recommend it to you. For those you have liked it, the series is available to get, although you might have to pay some high prices and something else to go with it…….but we’ll get to that later.