R.O.D Read or Die

Yokimo Readman just loves her books, and she has thousands. She coos over them, cuddles them, and absorbs herself so fully in in reading them she can literally let a five car pileup crash by her without noticing.

And she has a curious superpower. She's a "paper master" that can make paper do all sorts of incredible things, like form barriers or bind things or cut through steel. So it is fitting that her spy code name is "paper." So she is a secret agent. Unlike the usual anime super-heroine, Ms. Readman doesn't ever shed her long skirt, vest, and glasses when doing battle with the bad guys. She stays her same cute-but-dorky self throughout, saying things like "give me back my book, please" from the super-villain that stole it from her even while he is trying to kill her. She leaves it to her colleague to wear the form-fitting spandex costume (which is, after all, obligatory).

The storytellers in this movie have an excellent sense of subtlety, even while they indulge in the usual action-adventure excesses. There are a few worthwhile reflections on the nature of the historical figures that are cloned and brought back to life as part of the Evil Plot, but most of what is worth watching is Yokimo herself. Her first use of her power is so casually done that you would miss it if you blinked, but that fits with the character. Perhaps her most endearing moment is when she admits that as much as she treasures her books, she knows that real life is more important.

You have to see for yourself how believable it is when she takes on a homicidal samurai with a light saber on his side with nothing but a morphed dollar-bill for herself. For me, it worked.

I am amazed I can give this DVD 9 stars while still finding what should be a fatal flaw. The passion of the character is for books, but never once does the story depend on something that she read in all the thousands of books she is supposed to have read. Leaving this out reduces Yokimo's driving characteristic from a powerful plot device to a simply amusing fetish, which is a shame. And there is something to be said for being a role model for the kids that can and should watch this. However, the story is fun enough that this can be overlooked and 9 stars is appropriate.

The artwork is slick, smooth, and convincing. The voice acting in both English and Japanese is superior. Sometimes the background details get washed over, usually in the machines of battle hardware, which is actually not unwelcome.

A note about the series: I found this DVD because I rented the first volume of "R.O.D. the TV" from Netflix, and liked it so much that I found this story was the prequel. So I canceled the entire series at Netflix and bought this DVD and the whole series of "R.O.D. the TV" just from that one sample. They are that good.

MAGI rating scale: +7.8(-10/+10)

There is a little odd gem from our friends overseas. ROD is the story of an intelligence agency, based in of all places the British Library, and its agents as they protect the world from the Ijin. In this particular case, the Ijin(or Great person as they are refered to) called Stephan has discovered a symphony of Beethoven's (?) that if played will cause people to commit suicide. Seizing on this ultimate form of crowd control (maybe he could never get a parking spot), he sends out his genetically resurrected Ijin to collect the two books that hold the song.

Our hero that can stop this threat? A clumsy substitute teacher with the ability to manipulate paper, a grouchy explosives expert and a leather-wearing over-developed femme fatalie with the ability to make things pass through her...and look good doing it.

One of the more interesting things about anime is their themes in the storylines. If you look into the vast majority of Japanimation, even the strangest series or movies all work with it's own logic. In ROD, the logic is books. From the Macguffins (Beethoven's notebooks) to the heroine (Yomiko Readman) to the British Library, ROD creates its own logic and own rule...and yet still manages to give us some believeibly and humanity in its characters. The animation itself is clean and beautiful, with an eye for detail. The two female leads, while doing quite a bit of 'fan service' still manage to convey some parts of realism...especially Yomiko. If the world had people with powers like these, OF COURSE the Powers That Be would try to recuit them...even if that person is not someone you would usually want as an agent. Yomiko is clumsy, self-absorbed and a bit naive.....not to mention obsessive. But she's also cute, lovible, caring and surprizingly capaible (She even figures out who to defeat a lightning-powered samarai with a few dollar bills!)

I recommend this OVA series to any true fans of anime...give it a try and just sit back and relax....it's a fun trip.

Read Or Die is only an hour and half long but it packs in so much it feels like you've watched an entire anime series. Full of interesting characters with unique fighting powers (Yomiko, the main character, fights with paper) and a fresh concept, Read Or Die is sure to please the anime fan.

Not only is Read or Die full of new ideas, the animation is also a thrill as well. Every aspect of the show is perfect, and the story is well thought out and neatly performed. For the record, I'd say that Read or Die is the most underrated anime of 2001. I've shown it to all my friends and they have been impressed as well.

If you love anime, or used to love it, or have never even seen it before (and can use your imagine some), there's plenty of colorful entertainment to be had in Read or Die. 10/10

Like many of the best anime, Read or Dies plot looks absolutely ridiculous on papers. Superpowered librarians and resurrected minor historical figures fight ridiculous, lightning-paced battles for a lost Beethoven score of, at least initially, uncertain significance. The premise, and many of the superpowers hurled around with vicious abandon, are absolutely absurd, yet the show maintains its own bizarre internal logic which catches you up in the shows world without requiring you to ask too many questions, especially if watched in one sitting. Indeed, the show never tries to explain any of its more bizarre elements, and a good thing as well. Something like ROD could easily get bogged down in technobabble fan-service, but instead it rips along at a great pace. Whilst not a classic by any means, ROD is a great bit of fun, with colourful, eccentric characters, top-notch animation and good, crisp modern anime artwork thankfully free of blatant CGI abuse. When did anime ever have to make sense anyway?

Yomiko Readman will "just die" if she doesn't finish reading her book, but wacky super-villains are trying to steal it from her and use it's secrets to destroy all human life on earth. A situation scary enough to make the President of the US wet his pants. Left on her own Yomiko would happily spend the rest of her life and all of her money buying books to read. Unfortunately for her now she has to become Agent Paper, a super powered secret agent working for the British Library. Step aside James Bond, now Agent Paper (with the ability to make common paper do anything, and I mean ANYTHING) along with Miss Deep (with the ability to move deep through solid objects) and weapons expert Drake (who is having a bad day) are needed to save the world. If you set aside some miner plot flaws you may find this campy spy spoof a hilarious guilty pleasure like me. I love the kick ass music, action, humor, as well as what evolves into a deeply moving relationship between Yomiko and Nancy.