R.O.D. - Read Or Die

R.O.D. - Read Or Die
by Kouji Masunari

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DVD details

Actor: Brooke Cadorette, Chad Fifer, Crispin Freeman, Raymond Braun, Ryan Abraham
Director: Kouji Masunari
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-27
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Manga Video

DVD Reviews of R.O.D. - Read Or Die

DVD Review: The more you watch it... the worse it gets.
Summary: 2 Stars

I have to admit when I first saw this OVA showing on Adultswim I thought it was rather interesting and decided to buy it considering I didn't get to see the whole thing.

Well the first time or two I watched it I really liked it and it was rather interesting. But the more I watched it over time the more I began to more or less hate it and it started to get on my nerves.

It seemed to have very subtle but childish antics evolved who were holding a grudge of some sort. Such as the President Peeing in his pants every scene he was in. Funny? Not really. Just kinda made me angry, and I am not the politic loving or nationalistic person. It just seemed rude and immature. Well there are other things like that through out the movie...

The second topic is it is very very jumpy. They are here, and then they are there. And who the heck knows how they even have these powers? They are not explained at all. >.> Hopefully the Series actually does try to come up with some explanation otherwise that would just be rather random.

Third of all, the whole reason of everything that was going on didn't seem that particular. From all I knew the guy just was depressed and felt like it. :/ Come on what are the motivations?

DVD Review: Man! This chick can kill you with a post-it note!
Summary: 5 Stars

To begin with, READ OR DIE is one hell of a title - very, very cool. It's also a neat anime featuring a nerdy, bespectacled heroine, one who simply loves books, to the point of distraction, to the point where sometimes she forgets about her missions. Yomiko Readman may have just gotten hired as a substitute teacher, but her real gig is working for the British Library Special Engineer Force, the British Empire's preeminent intelligence service. Yomiko doesn't look like much. But her codename is the Paper, which has absolutely everything to do with her uncanny affinity for paper, for her ability to manipulate its shape and function. In her hands, a sheet of paper can stop a bullet cold or become a deadly weapon. Under Yomiko's influence, paper, reams of it, can transform itself into a functional human-sized glider. But, really, she'd rather read books.

A mysterious samurai figure's assault on the White House and the U.S. Library of Congress and the resulting theft of 600 invaluable manuscripts incurs a plea for help to the British Library Special Engineer Force. As such, the Paper is assigned to deal with things, along with fellow agents Miss Deep (who can phase thru solid objects) and Drake Anderson (a no-nonsense, non-powered grunt). Yomiko may not be the most reliable or unflappable of agents to handle this kind of operation, and she can't seem to stop shrieking with glee every time she espies a book she likes, but her talents very quickly prove indispensible as the agents go up against colorful, freakishly powered types (including ones who ride grasshoppers and part seas). It all seems to center on a highly coveted book titled "Immortal Beloved," of which contents surely spell the extinction of mankind. I never was that big a fan of Beethoven.

Give this a chance, if you dig imaginative aerial combats and spiffy papercraft pitted against a formidable, fire-breathing monk, and if you aren't yet sick and tired of clones. These clones, by the way, are of historical and literary figures, but, honestly, I recognized only one of them. Still, it's encouraging that you really do pick up tidbits of knowledge everywhere. READ OR DIE is a wild ride, but without much of a set-up to anything, so just sit back and let this sweeping adventure carry you away. This OVA consists of three episodes and offers crisp animation, with plenty of fantastic visuals and terrific action sequences, and even a moving relationship between the sorta naive Yomiko and the hard-bitten Nancy (Miss Deep). And at three episodes, it moves at a blistering pace, with a barely coherent plot. As a result, character development does suffer; there are simply too many characters to really delve into, given the limited screen time. But you do come to care enough that when the bittersweet ending comes, you do feel it. It certainly makes me want to check out R.O.D. the TV series, which follows this one in continuity.

DVD Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars

I saw this ova on cartoon network a while back and could never find a copy at my local video stores, so I finally broke down and bought it off of amazon. If you like anime you should really watch this. It's short, it's fun, it's well animated, and the story isn't half bad. It may not be for everyone but it is one of my favorites.

DVD Review: great anime
Summary: 5 Stars

im fairly new to anime this is the first anime movie i bought and one of the firs that ive seen and i love it the art style is great and it follows the tv show well watch the movie first then whatch the tv show. Or u can warch it the other way around one of the best anime out their.

DVD Review: Fun and Fresh
Summary: 4 Stars

When I first watched this I had already seen R.O.D. the TV, the animated series in the same world as this OVA. And since I enjoyed the series so much, I naturally had high hopes. I must say, though, I was a bit disappointed.

The voices are different.

That bugged me quite a bit for the first half of the movie. I was used to hearing what I thought were the perfect voices for the characters in R.O.D. the TV only to have them changed sompletely in Read or Die. I mourned the loss of Yomiko's accent.

But after I got over that (and started changing the voices in my head) it really is an enjoyable movie. The plot was intruiging enough, the action was well-orchestrated, and the music was fitting. Sure, it's not as deep as Ghost in the Shell or as aloof and jazzy as Cowboy Bebop, but it has its own charm. More than worth at least a viewing, maybe a few.

The voices won't bother you if you've never seen R.O.D. the TV. And they might not even if you have seen it. They're not bad--really. They're just different and that turned me off to it at first, but I do like the movie quite a bit. I recommend it highly. A solid four-star anime film. Long-live the Paper.

Description of R.O.D. - Read Or Die

Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 05/27/2003

Yomiko Readman is a bespectacled substitute teacher who spends every cent she earns on books. When a weird humanoid riding a buglike monster tries to steal a rare book from her, Yomiko performs some amazing battle moves using pieces of paper as weapons. She's immediately drafted into the British Library Special Engineering Force, assigned to Operation Manuscript Retrieval. The mutant clones of a demented scientist are stealing rare books from libraries around the world. The resurrected scientist plans to destroy the human race by reconstructing and broadcasting Beethoven's lost "Death Symphony," which will compel everyone who hears it to commit suicide: it's up to Yomiko and her teammates to stop him. This slight, off-the-wall sci-fi adventure boasts handsome designs, polished animation, and skillful direction; it's a pity the artists weren't given a better vehicle for their talents. (Unrated: suitable for ages 14 and older: considerable violence, grotesque imagery) --Charles Solomon

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