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R.O.D the TV (2003-4) - 26 episodes
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Review written: January 30, 2005
Seen: October 2004 - January 28, 2005
The original Read or Die OAV was and still is perhaps one of the best action OAVs ever produced. Read or Die was the story of a group of super agents working for none other than the British Library. Charged with protecting Britain's interests around the world, this group was under the direction of one Mr. Gentlemen. It introduced us to mild mannered Yomiko Readman, a 'paper user', someone who could literally do anything she wanted with paper including stop bullets and make large ride-able paper airplanes, and someone who was obsessed with reading. Read or Die brought us some of the most memorable action sequences ever seen in anime combined with amazing music, and just really cool super powers. I've always thought this was what the horrible movie 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' should have been but wasn't.
Fast forward a few years, and we arrive at R.O.D the TV. This was a show made to capitalize on the extraordinary success of the original OAV, and in many ways it does not disappoint. This time the story centers upon new main characters (apparently taken from a spin-off manga named Read or Dream) three sisters by the names of Anita, Maggie and Michelle all of whom are paper users. While Maggie and Michelle are very much bibliophiles like Yomiko Readman, Anita who is also the youngest, hates books. The first episode introduces these characters with the fourth major character in the show, one of Maggie and Michelle's favorite authors, Nenene Sumiregawa. As the show proceeds, the sisters eventually live with Nenene acting as bodyguards while doing some side jobs on their own. Slowly we are reintroduced to some characters from Read or Die OAV including Yomiko's boss Joker and his assistant Wendy. This time around something is amiss though, as from the start their intentions seem to be very different from the pure 'good guy' view that they had in the original.
In the ensuing episodes, a very intricate, albeit ridiculous main plot eventually unfolds with a few surprises as you move along. I say ridiculous because of the presence of numerous plot holes which remain completely unresolved. The best analogy for this would be 'The Matrix' trilogy. Like 'The Matrix', Read or Die was never intended to really go past its original three episode OAV. The story that was set up, while amazing for an OAV left many plot holes, the most important of which would be 'if Britain really had such a powerful organization, why aren't they more powerful in the world?'. Yet the OAV was fun and brilliant enough so that you could ignore these things. R.O.D the TV unfortunately falls into a deeper trap. Much like 'The Matrix' sequels, R.O.D. the TV is short on main plot, as a pretty far-fetched plot is stretched to it's limits, leaving the viewer with 26 episodes to slowly agonize over the stupidity of the overall storyline. Fortunately for R.O.D the TV though unlike the pretty repetitive Matrix sequels, those 26 episodes are remarkably well done.
R.O.D the TV was produced by JC Staff, known at least to me as a studio that's always made second tier anime series (at least in production values) until the simultaneous release of Shingetsutan Tsukihime and this series in late 2003. Amazingly though they manage to get just about everything right in this show. The animation is one of the best of the year, as it remains quite fluid throughout although not quite at Gonzo levels. Still the animation, set designs, and special effects are extremely well done. One of my favorite things about this show was the complete lack of any fan service. For a show which featured all females in the main cast, this was quite refreshing and added a bit of class to this show. Even scenes where fan service could have easily been added 'by accident' it was avoided. Meanwhile, the music, much like it's predecessor Read or Die is absolutely fabulous. In some parts they actually reuse the music from the original, although that draws no complaint from this reviewer as the music was that good to begin with. Additionally, this is one of the very few series where sound effects have been used to great effect. The ambience set out by the sound effects absolutely sets you in the scene, and the sound during all the fight scenes make them much more intense. The voice acting as well was extremely well done, with some old voices coming back for the old characters, and the new characters were well played as well, including one of my favorite seiyuus Satsuki Yukino in the role of Nenene. This anime spared no expense for top flight production values and it shows.
How about the story? As I have already mentioned, the overall plot is quite ridiculous, but bearable. Fortunately though unlike the Matrix Sequels the plot was balanced with extremely well done characters and well done episodes. Taken individually, each episode always left me on the edge of my seat with their originality, complexity and richness. The characters were extremely well written so that only after a few episodes it felt like you'd known them for a very long time. This is one of those shows where the relationships between the characters were paramount to the success of the story. One of my favorites was how the character of Wendy was portrayed. Throughout the show she is made into a villian, but yet a seemingly unwilling villain whose only conviction is her quiet love for Joker, a love which while was never put into words was not necessary as it was written very well into the show. Meanwhile the relationship between the three sisters, who are not blood related is also central to the plot. As well, all along the show we are introduced to a multitude of side-characters, and none of these are wasted. Small interactions with these side characters are quite enjoyable and compliments the story quite well.
R.O.D the TV is far from perfect with its inherently ridiculous overall plot hindering it from the start. Yet this is actually more than made up for by top notch production values and excellent characters. The show begs you to watch the next episode, and easily envelops you into its world. The fights involving paper never get tiresome and always manage to remain fresh and innovative. In the end R.O.D the TV is one of those shows where even though the plot was a bit strange you can overlook it and enjoy it for what it is, which is a very entertaining and enjoyable show. Although not entirely necessary, I would recommend all viewers to watch the Read or Die OAV first before watching R.O.D the TV as you will understand it a lot more. In fact just watch both because they were both amazing and one hell of a ride.
Ratings |
| Animation | 9 | One of the nicest animes out there in terms of animation. Framerates were decent for the whole anime, and production designs were well thought out. I was also a big fan of the show's colour palette |
| Characters | 9 | The characters were well thought out with lots of character development throughout the show, although for whatever reason I didn't really think about them very much after the episode was over. |
| Sound | 10 | This show has one of the very best sound effects I've ever seen in anime. The sound definately added to the experience. |
| Music | 9.5 | I didn't care too much for the OP but the ED was quite nice. The background music meanwhile was extremely well done and very appropriate for the show. |
| Story | 7 | The plot really is just too silly to take seriously. Although it is written well and things do flow quite well in the show, the main ideas behind the show are inherently silly and hard to take seriously. Too many questions arise from this which are never answered nor is it easy to say 'it's just a show, just ignore it' because this show is based somewhat on the real world. |
| Overall Enjoyment | 8.5 | A great show, I would recommend, but unfortuately the weirdness in the plot detracted away from what could have been one of the all-time greats. |
**Explanation of ratings**
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