Read This ... Or Die!

Review: Read Or Die

Anime/Merchandise and Fandom

Reviewed by: Bad Jew

Title rating: PG-13 for violence, gore, and a huge-chested girl in spandex

-3-episode OVA (video animation) (2001-2002), complete

I've always had a love for token nerds. Since I first witnessed Joe from Digimon oh those many years ago (and have subsequently cosplayed as he for the American premiere of the movie, garnering more then a few stares), to the more recent appearances of Howard from Gundam Wing and Nami from One Piece, these nerds move along the plot by explaining obscure points the bishounen (pretty boy) heroes are too dumb to notice. They style it up with the glasses that so often mark them, and when the time comes, they are the ones who explain to the football captain and the head cheerleader that 10 years ago this night an ax murderer killed a bunch of kids. I think I can say that every member of the Sleep Is For the Weak family are token nerds; or maybe just I am and I compensate for everyone else. At any rate, when you get down to it, there's nothing better then a token nerd who kicks serious amounts of ass.

Anime

When I first heard of the OVA Read or Die, I was elated. The nerd of the show, far from being pushed to the background while her more attractive counterparts solve everything, is now the main protagonist with a unique and powerful ability--the complete control of paper. It would seem that Yomiko Readman (a rare Japanese Jew :)), having read so much, somehow gained control over the shape, position, density, and sharpness of this common element. Under the code name The Paper (yes, you can stop laughing now, this is what we get when writers only have a basic command of the English language), Yomiko uses this power magnificently under the auspices of some super secret agency that works out of the British Royal Library. I say they're the Dewey Decimal Committee, but that's just me. And use her ability she does: stopping bullets with no more then an index card, drawing blood with \ a business card, and creating a giant paper airplane to fly around New York City in search of a stolen book (that's what you get when you have overdue books, delinquents).


He's the saucy librarian.
But The Paper is not alone, as she's teamed up with agents Ms. Deep and Drake on her mission to stop historical super villains (long story). Ms. Deep, the buxom woman whose side job is to compensate for the relative plainness of The Paper, has the power to pass through any object at will: walking through walls and floors, slipping through grips, and allowing punches and kicks to simply fly through her. Drake, on the other hand, is the manly man of the group--his power seems to be a gun. Not a gun that's built into his arm or anything, he just has a gun and is proficient enough at it. Yah, he gets beat up a lot.

Books: They're like crack, only more deadly.

The plot is quite complicated for a 3-episode OVA. Many things are left to the imagination--such as how the aforementioned super powers were acquired--but the main story, however far-fetched, is well explained. The Read or Die villains, some of whom are pulled from actual history or mythology, are after a few rare books involved in a scheme to rid the world of, well, the weak and stupid (personally, I think they could save a lot of effort by just taking the warning labels off of things--with hilarious results!). The Paper and her spy companions/superiors set out to stop the baddies whilst satisfying The Paper's cravings for said rare books ... she has a little bit of an addiction to printed matter, but she can quit anytime she wants, dammit. There are various plot twists throughout, but suffice to say the show comes together quite nicely in the end. Cultural and historical references are thrown at the viewer like so many razor-sharp bookmarks. As an added bonus, the animation is great--like many OVAs recently, Read or Die makes fine use of CG (computer graphics) and digital animation for a fantastic look.

<Update 12/4/02> I have heard rumors of a real, honest to God, Read or Die show coming out. More info as I get it.

Music

Despite its overall beauty, there's nothing specific in the animation that makes it stand out from the rest. It's the same story for the music: while the Read or Die soundtrack makes great use of classical standards such as Beethoven Fur Elise and his 5th symphony (am I the only one who thinks of Kaworu's descent in Eva when hearing that?), it also has a lot of forgettable music and some that I would like to forget, such as possibly the worst Beethoven techno remix I've ever heard. This is one soundtrack I don't mind skipping.

Merchandise and Fandom

As far as merchandise goes, it's out there, but this wasn't a hugely marketed anime in Japan so don't expect much. You'll find your wall scrolls and Original Sound Tracks but little beyond that. Read or Die does, however, have the makings of a hit here in America, and there's already a smallish cult following of it. A quick search on Google turns up half a dozen great sites filled with pictures and backgrounds; even ReadorDie.com has been taken by a fan, though it still has yet to be completed. While Manga Entertainment has the rights to Read Or Die, I still haven't heard anything firm about a release date besides rumors of April 2003, so you may have a while to wait for Region 1 DVDs. Until then, enjoy Yomiko's Library, the English version of the official Japanese website, or any other number of the strong fansites available on the web.


Well, there has to be some fan-service.

Overview

This is a great show to watch all in one night with some friends. It's quick, it's simple (relatively), and it has one of the best concepts I've seen in a while. There's not a lot you can find wrong about it, but it's over so quick there's almost no room for development of any kind. Get the DVDs when they come out in April--just don't expect this show to give you a new perspective on life.

Who would I kill as a favor to the people who made this?

Margaret Thatcher (invade the Falkland Islands my ass)

In other words, 4 out of 5 stars.