Anime: R.O.D: The TV

Review
Read or Die TV (Read or Die) is a hard show to define. I could point it out at being a standard super-power shounen, but that would be not exactly right. It is filled with slice-of-life parts, a bit of thriller, part of comedy, and part of simple nonsense. It is not a show for the uninitiated in the industry, but for those who have watched a lot of things, this will certainly be a welcome bizarre experience. If you haven't watched the OVAs, I'd recommend you do so before watching this. While it's not exactly necessary, it serves better to introduce the setting and build up some expectation when people from the OVA's cast appears in the TV show.

Read or Die tells the events after the OVA. It follows with a trio of girls with the ability to control and shape paper to use it as weapon and other utilities. This trio is assigned to bodyguard a famous, but not in a good shape, japanese writer that goes to Hong Kong for some promotion event, weirdly named Nenene. The writer suddenly faces a few threats and draws trouble all around her, making the trio slowly uncover many secrets about the organization that hired them, paper users, the past of Nenene, and the events that unfolded in the past.

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1. Mixed bag of genres
   The show is a mix of genres here. You'll have bits of comedy when the trio start living with Nenene and following her around. You'll have fanservice with the trio, but not anything exagerated. You'll have plenty of action, great fights and nice outcomes involving very shounen-like powers. In resume, you'll likely to watching a shounen plot with all required elements.
   
   Twists, cameos, and attention
   Read or Die's pace is a very positive factor, as it draws you in by mixing plenty of action scenes, slice-of-life parts, cliffhangers and an interesting take on how to use the weird paper-powers. Its cast may look childish and stupid, but they act very well when put in a darker and more mature setting, filled with secret organizations, death threats, opression and mercenaries. Also, the show slowly creates a great re-presentation of the cast that was present in the OVAs, making their appearances a major point in the show.
   
   The trio and the rest
   Anita, Meggy and Michelle are all great characters on their own despite representing some very common stereotypes. They start as any annoying loli, dumb, or hyper-active girl would, but their bizarre passion for books makes for a more different approach when creating comedy and daily-life scenes with them. They evolve nicely through the show after a slow start and become more and more likeable as the shows progresses. The rest of the cast is a bit of the two extremes, there are nice characters with bits of development and others that are only casks to allow the author to expose some sort of insteresting design he came up with. There is also a but of trouble when, sometimes, the characters become annoying, maybe because of their voices, maybe because they act in stubborn ways, maybe simply because the script says so.
   
   A nice addition
   I always mention that the early 2000's was the best moment of anime industry in terms of quality shows. Read or Die was released as one of the last of those back in 2003, and it used the momentum greatly to create a show that was very different from most others by that time. It's not exactly original, most of its elements were borrowed from shows of the late 90's and thrown in a real-world based setting. However, the way it was used, the mafia-style organization, the paper powers, many things contribute for a show that is above average and surely lasted in the memory of those who've watched it back in 2003. Watching it today makes it a more common and typical show, but it does not deny its feats back in the years.
   
   Slow to start
   Don't expect a quick start. Read or Die is slow paced by the beginning, taking some turns in a episodic formula 90's-style until the true plot kicks in around episode 6 or so. The early start has its demerits, but it also has a few strong points, especially in the interactions and presentation of the sisters, which bring some funny moments without being overly comical. For the rest of the show things get a lot more addicting. The fights are frantic, some are very good, the twists mid-season and the last stretch are also very enjoyable and in overall you'll be watching a pretty solid shounen. It's sure to grab it if you watch it knowing that it'sa shounen and not a truly deep show.
   
   It is bright and shiny
   Read or Die is one of the best works made by J.C.Staff, a piece with quality on par with its big budget competitors such as Full Metal Alchemist and Gundam Seed. It boasts a sharp art style, bright and vivid and yet it manages to use it for quite a vairety of situations, from comedy to drama, without much of a hassle. Add that some interesting special effects and a great animation and you have everything a shounen such as this needs. Character design also helps because, despite having generic girls, they can demonstrate emotions at a high level and are cute enough to be looking at.
   
   It sounds old though...
   The opening has a late 90's feel all over it, but the overall soundtrack is decent. You have many background themes that succeeds in building up for tense and dramatic moments and there are times when the music sounds out-of-place, promising urgency but showing only pretty average and slow paced scenes, but those are rare and are only more noticeable by the first episodes. The voice-acting is fine but, as with many all-girl show, you're doomed with a few japanese voices that can echo in your mind and make you scream in pain with disturbing pitchs. That don't harm the overall experience, but is always there to remind you that, if animes are true, most of japanese girls are sonic machines to break glass.
   

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Comments
Critically speaking I see a very small number of flaws here. However, while I try to truly appreciate Read or Die, the show never really got me like a few others of the early 2000's. Hell, it's still pretty good and a worth watch, it has decents fights, the cast is decent, there's no thing like shy lolis and lame ecchi scenes, etc, but the show fails to be truly marvelous. After watching it a third time last year I think this happens mainly because the narrative never tries anything flashy or unexpected to create a few over-the-top momentso to grab you.

Well, there are some nice super power show-offs even at one of the first episodes, but there's never something to scream "Holy s***, that's awesome!". Besides that, however, Read or Die is a very powerful show that had many of its main scenes marked in my memory in details even about 5 years after I've first watched it.

Those looking for a good adventure with a mixed bag of comedy, action, and drama will certainly be pleased here. You can expect a high-quality show, but not a masterpiece.

R.O.D TV is one of my favorite anime series. First I thought it would be ridiculous, since it's about some people using paper as weapons. But I do not regret that I have watched the series. I have never thought that you can use paper as weapons in a such impression way. Just awesome! If I am right the TV series is kind of mix between the "Read or Die" and "Read or Dream" manga since characters from both manga are implemented in the anime. In my opinion the implementation is quite successful.[br][br]I give the following scores (there may be some minor spoilers - I won't spoil too much since you have to watched it for yourself because it's really a good anime):[br][br]Animation: 9[br][br]What so impressive is about this show are the animations, all animation is very fluid and the action is fast and awesome. How the lead characters use the paper as weapon is just amazing. In almost all fight scenes the animations are very well done. The show is from 2003-2004 and it still looks quite modern/fresh; some other shows from the same year look old and outdated. So the design of the characters etc. are quite timeless, which is great.[br][br]Sound: 8[br][br]I really like the sound and background music, some of them sounds like those from a James Bond movie. If you like the James bond theme music you would probably love the music of this anime too. As for the voice-acting (Japanese audio), the seiyuus have done a great job, simply excellent.[br][br]Story: 7[br][br]As for the story, the story is good and so are the themes used in the anime like injustice, betrayal, friendship. I can't see anything that's awful. The R.O.D TV show got comedy, conspiracy theory and drama, all what an anime lover would love and want to see. [br][br]Character: 8[br][br]The characters are well designed. I really like the three sisters. [br][br]The oldest sister is Michelle Cheung who loves books and reading very much, she can become so excited and happy/joyful when she sees alot of books and she would just go out and buys all the books (piles of that is) she loves; trivia: she likes the Harry Potter books. She reminds me alittle of Belldandy (OMG!), since she looks alittle like her and she is a very caring person, especially towards her two other sisters. In combat she's very calm and her main weapons are arrows and bow both formed by paper.[br][br]Maggie Mui is the second sister, she is tall and tomboyish; she also loves to read. She is somewhat quiet and actually alittle shy too, especially when she's complimented for something. She also weight the lifes of her sisters above her own, because she loves them so much.[br]The ability of Maggie is using paper to create creatures which can protect and attack people; this is impressive particularly in a certain episode. Also she is very strong in the defensive department. When the sisters fight to together Maggie is providing the defense since her defense is so good.[br][br]Anita King is the youngest sister. She is keen in martial arts and can use paper as blades (which can cut through everything) and projectiles; in the series you can see that she is a very perceptive kid. Unlike her sisters she does not like books and reading. There's a tragic story about her dislike of reading/books, but I won't say it here. She also loves her sisters very much.[br][br]Nenene Sumiregawa is a former successful novelist but didn't write a good book for years. She is a very good friend of Yomiko Readman, the main character of the OVA R.O.D. Earlier in the series the three sisters has become her bodyguards since a rival want to kill Nenene out of jealousy. After that the three sisters become friend of Nenene. Nenene hopes Yomiko would come back again since she is missing and no one know where she is.[br][br]Yomiko Readman doesn't have a big role as in the OVA, but at the end of the TV series her role become more important. Yomika hides with Nancy Makuhari since the Joker (Joseph Carpenter) are searching for them for years.[br][br]Overall, the character development is okay/good, especially of the three sisters (even more so after they know their real identity).[br][br]Value: 9[br][br]I would re-watch the (some part of) show for several times since the animations and action, character design and music are so good. [br][br]Enjoyment: 9[br][br]I really have enjoyed the R.O.D TV series. It got drama, comedy and the story is quite good, everything an anime lover can wish for. [br][br][br]other thoughts:[br][br]I wish Yomiko Readman let us see more of her "paper mastery" since I want to compare her mastery of paper with the three sisters. In the TV series Yomiko didn't have much screen time and Yomiko didn't frequently make use of her mastery of paper. That's a shame. Also I wish there's a second season or another OVA since I am really impressed with the adventure of the three sisters Michelle, Maggie and Anita (which are actually the three names of 3 Hong Kong superstars). [br][br]Overall, a very good show with good story, characters design, nice music, some drama, a good amount of comedy and great suspense in the TV series. Highly recommended![br][br][br]

The OVA of Read or Die is a secret agent parody, perhaps poking a little fun at how ridiculous some of 007's plots are, and its overboard story of literary greats trying to take over the world has a campy charm. The TV series brings back most of the characters from the OVA,but centers itself around a new cast. Even though it's a little more heavy handed with its mood and drama, all the style in the OVA is preserved, only drawn out to a long 26 episodes.

Where the laughably crazy plot in the OVA held a certain charm, it doesn't serve well as the plot of a TV series. The plot is fairly thin for the first half of the series. It alternates between monsters of the week and some slice of life pieces. The monster of the week encounters don't have the same elaborate design as the action packed encounters in the OVA, but they more or less have the same wackiness. The characters of the TV series are also more or less of the same quality as the OVA.They are simple characters with one or two defining quirks, some of which are a bit cliche in the Anime world. A short 3 episode stint is conducive to simple and cliche'd characters, but slice of life is not.By far the worst segment of this series is when it explores the daily lives of the 4 new main characters. The slice of life subplots are boring in and of themselves, and these characters are far too simplea nd played out to spark empathy.

The story suddenly and completely changes from around the midway mark,kicking out all of the monster of the weeks and slice of life bits for its central plot. It shapes into something vaguely similar to the OVA's. The heroes have to stop some maniacal villain from taking over the flow of books, and thus, the world. It's certainly a lot morec omplex than that of the OVA's, but to its own detriment. Far too many plot developments stem from extraordinary lapses of common sense by some of the characters. Contrivances like these are sadly, a gigantic driving force. This leaves the plot not only wacky, but also nonsensical.

As if that wasn't enough, we still have to stomach our average dose of B rate Anime melodrama, including but not limited to complete over-dramatization of trauma, loss, and depression. As per usual also,the maniacal villain has to give his share of philosophical lectures on how to make the world a better place, all of which are answered by the hot headed heroes with equally bogus, but less pessimistic philosophy.

The TV series isn't really unfaithful to the OVA. It's not quite as impressive visually, and maybe it's a bit cheesier, but it goes for the same feel the OVA does. This just goes to show that campy charm is exceedingly delicate. Where the OVA in many ways was so weird, so bad that it was good, trying to stretch that same appeal into 26 episodes just leaves it as plain weird and bad.

R.O.D the TV is among my favorite anime. This surprised me, as I didn't like the rest of R.O.D nearly that much (Read or Dream is the only part that comes close).

The series is dark and dramatic, favoring character and story development over action (still a reasonable amount of action, though). There's a fair amount of yuri subtext, although that has little to do with what I think of it.

For reference, R.O.D the TV is a sequel to the Read or Die OVAs, which are theoretically set somewhere in the continuity of the original novels (Read or Die is primarily a light novel series, not a manga). It also includes characters from the spin-off manga Read or Dream, and mentions things from the novels, despite directly contradicting both. Try to think of it as being set in it's own universe.

Animation:
The quality isn't as high as the OVAs, but it's still far from low. The art style is closest to Read or Dream, which is good, since Read or Dream looks better than the rest of R.O.D. There's lots of detail, and plenty of creative uses of paper. Generally pleasant to look at.

Sound:
The score is good, and the seiyuu all put out good performances.

Story:
The story itself is fairly good, until the end, where it gets a bit silly. For the most part, it does an excellent job of moving the characters around, and very little feels forced.

It's told using a two-arc method. Roughly the first half serves as fairly episodic character development, that has it's own plot of sorts. This ends in a two-episode finale. Then the main plot, which isn't episodic (still plenty of character development though), starts.

Character:
The characters are the best part of the series. All the major characters, even the villains, have depth. The protagonists grow and change as the series progresses.

ROD the TV was a very interesting watch for me. At first I was not sure I would like it as I had started a few anime series at the same time and it did not jump at me as being awfully great, and I did not watch past the second episode at that time. A few months later, I decided to watch episode 3 and 4 to see whether the rest of the series was worth a shot. What a great surprise it was after those episodes! As soon as I finished them, I could not stop myself from putting more discs in and watching the rest.

This speaks volumes for the story as I am not usually one who has to impatiently and compulsively watch a series so quickly. The episodes tend to end on captivating cliffhangers (a tool employed to great effect in shounen classic Saint Seiya) that have the audience on the edge of their seat and the ride pays off some healthy dividents throughout the series. The suspense of the middle section of this anime has not been matched in any action series I have ever seen so this anime really breathes new life into a rather stale genre (not saying that Noir or Madlax are bad shows but their pace are no match for this series').

The animation of Read or Die the TV can be summed up in one word: SUPERB. All the way through, there is consistency in the way things are drawn and animated, which is a great achievement for a series of 26 episodes with not so much as a recap episode thrown in. The battle scenes are especially stunning in this anime as the fluidity and depth of field of the medium is brilliantly explored. The backgrounds and the character designs are also excellent and remain so throughout. The only thing I was not a fan of was the fanservice of the series. It was not excessive so it was never a big issue but it did affect how seriously one perceives the show in a couple of spots.

Read or Die's only sore spot is the soundtrack, as it is an adequate one but not one that stands out. The scores suit their scene effectively but they are not powerful enough to warrant a purchase of the soundtrack. The sound effects are great during the battle scenes and when objects move (which is important here as a lot of travelling and levitation takes place), and the voice acting is also very accomplished.

With a professional seiyuu cast, characters are brought to life successfully and Read or Die delivers just that. The main cast of Maggie, Michelle, Anita and Nenene are voiced so well that they are distinct characters, and on more than one occasion the performance allows you to feel the anguish of the characters without it sounding overdone or melodramatic. The episode previews are actually a great demonstration of the eloquence performance of the cast.
The characters of R.O.D only ever suffer from sounding one note in a few places because some of them are underwritten. This is to be expected when the story has to cover so much and the cast is fairly large, but it still affected how some of them came accross even if it were just a minor quelm. Characters like Anita, The Paper and Maggie suffered in that sense a little bit because the writing did not call for them to be more than one-note characters most of the time. A few efforts are made to make them a little more believable throughout and especially towards the end, which was convincing enough but not quite as engaging as it could have been.

As mentioned, R.O.D has a whole lot of story to tell and it does so very well for most of its run. Some elements could have been explored a little further, such as why the British Library and especially Wendy were so devoted to their cause but what was given was convincing enough to not leave plotholes which was the most important thing. The inclusion of later characters was also done smoothly which was great but it does not really come as a surprise since this show's writers are some of the best out there when it comes to pacing a story. The twists were also well paced and brought in to consistently engage you more and more in the title.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this anime and I think it can easily be enjoyed by many because of its broad appeal, so it is an easy recommendation. Keep with it if you are not too sure about the first few episodes as it just gets better from there, and delivers one of the best action anime series of all time.

I enjoyed the OVA, so I decided to check this anime out to see if the story becomes more fleshed out. Unfortunatly, this series does not do the OVAs justice. We are introduced to four entirely new main characters, Sumiregawa Nenene, and three paper-using sisters named Maggi, Anita, and Michelle, of whom none of them are very developed and all are very cookie cutter in their personalities.

Michelle is the outgoing, forgiving, nice sister; Anita is the firey and always angry younger sister; and Maggi is the silent and shy but dependable sister. While there is a bit of development of their characters, especially Anita's character when she goes to school, you will find that the characters are the same at the end as they were at the beggining. As to Sumiregawa Nenene, who apparantly was friends with Yomiko Readman (the star of the OVAs) she is easily annoyed, quick to anger, and antisocial. Yomiko herself appears later in the series, and is a shell of her former self. Anyone who enjoyed her character in the OVAs for her strength will be completely dissapointed in how she is portrayed in this series. While in the OVAs she is able to kill if neccessary, she seems to have become a complete naive pacifisit in this series.

The villians in this series are slightly better done, with development and explanation of their actions, though of the course the objective of the villians is to "take over the world! mwahaha!".

While there are many plot twists and turns, most are fairly predictable and most occur in the final 3-4 episodes. The majority of this anime focuses on the lives of the three sisters, with a lot of cheesy comedy and a bit of adventure thrown in. This focus on the everyday lives of the sisters makes the anime extremely slow paced and decreased my enjoyment greatly, as well as leaving little room for plot development in the episodes. As to the main plot: we are left with many unanswred questions, which leaves the plot feeling incredibly incomplete and the ending rushed. We never find out much about Gentlemen or why Joker performed the drastic actions that he did.

The animation and soundtrack were both fairly well done; the jazz, fluid action scenes, and vivid colors helped to set the tone for the action scenes. My only problem was that there is a bit of inconsistency with the quality of the animation, which seems to vary from episode to episode and scene to scene somtimes. The voice actors did a pretty good job conveying their characters emotions, though for the most part the three sisters always used the same tone of voice no matter what the situation.

While I would probably not rewatch this anime, and wouldn't reccomend this to anyone who is looking for more of what they saw in the R.O.D. OVAs, I would say that this is a decent enough series on its own.