Customer Reviews

R.O.D -The TV- Box Set (Limited Edition)

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*NOTE: This review was written after viewing the series from its original releases, not the box set, which is exactly the same material.*

There are several anime that I adore, including Evangelion, .hack//SIGN, Excel Saga, RahXephon, Infinite Ryvius, and Last Exile. And then there's Pioneer/Geneon's R.O.D: The TV, one of the most stylish and intriguing of them all.

First of all, most newcomers will want to watch the movie R.O.D: Read or Die (released in North America by Manga Entertainment) before tackling the TV series, as it provides some back-story to the 26-episode show. R.O.D: The TV focuses on Nenene Sumiregawa, a famous author and close friend of secret agent Yomiko Readman, who has gone missing since the events of the movie. Nenene has recently become the target of terrorist threats, and her publisher has hired the Three Paper Sisters Detective Agency to serve as her bodyguards.

Like Yomiko, the Sisters are Paper Masters, which means that they can manipulate simple paper into razor-sharp weapons, fierce beastlike creatures, and even giant paper airplanes that can soar through the sky. They are Michelle Chan (a bubbly blonde who has a soft spot for books and small children), Maggie Mui (a strong, silent, and emotional bibliophile), and Anita King (a loud, temperamental adolescent who hates books but loves milk and stuffed animals). They are also assigned to locate a series of legendary books that the British Library also is taking a peculiar interest in.

Joseph "Joker" Carpenter is back as the devious, suave leader of the British Library, as is his assistant Wendy (no longer the bumbling secretary of the movie but a hardened, serious businesswoman). U.S. agent Drake Anderson, Yomiko, and Nancy Makuhari also reappear as major characters before too long. Some of the new characters include Junior (a shy young agent of the British Library who shares Nancy's ability to "phase" through solid matter) and Sonny Wong, a member of Asian publisher Dokusensha who is an extremely powerful Paper Master in his own right.

Unlike several shows, R.O.D: The TV takes the time to establish its main characters without neglecting the plot at hand. When it's providing some exposition to characters like Junior, Anita's friend Hisami, and the Paper Sisters themselves, it hits the right emotional notes and makes the cast human and possible to relate to. When it delves into the underlying storyline, dramatic scenes and fights, it accomplishes them with aplomb. The battles are well-animated and choreographed and showcase the Sisters' powers with great amounts of style. We steadily learn of the importance of the secret books without being handed too much at once.

There are some occasional weak parts, such as one bizarre episode in which the Sisters wander through a town with a set of conspiracies against them. But this is otherwise an exciting show to experience, and to me, it was worth every penny.

Creativity this series scores the highest possible score, but characters and DVD extras? Forget about it.

Simply one of the best series on television, R.O.D. the TV delivers in character originality, character depth, excellent voice acting, memorable scenes, awesome action sequences, enough deep thinking to make adults appreciate this series, and happens to be downright creative in almost every way!

It should be noted that this series is mistakenly called "Read or Die the TV" which it is not, it is "R.O.D. the TV" a spin off from the novel series which started the OVA Read or Die which ended up branching off both this series for the American audience and Read or Dream, a manga series (a new series I hear is in the works as I write this. This is an important distinction to make because the story arc which this series follows is extremely different from the original Read or Die novels as well as the Read or Dream mangas.

So what can you expect with R.O.D. the TV? Plot twists, librarians, book store owners, evil corporations all of which is tied together with magical powers to manipulate paper and also manages to resurrect some loveable characters from the "Read or Die" movie (the OVA for which the series was based on). Slow moving and yet depressingly so as was the case in my opinion with Witch Hunter Robin, R.O.D. the TV will have you hooked in no time with some of the best character development and original story seen thus far in anime!

Truly a wonderful production... though I'd suggest you rent the OVA and then the first couple of DVDs before buying it to make sure you'll love it just as much as some of the other die hard fans out there! Trust me though, there's a lot to love about it!

I've been watching anime for many a year now, and when I stumbled upon the R.O.D OVA, which aired on Adult Swim some time ago, I was compelled to watch the TV series as well. Setting obvious TV series and OVA differences aside, R.O.D the TV was one of the best animes I have ever had the delight of viewing. The storyline is deep and original, albeit slow at times, and the animation and ideas are top notch. Overall, this series stands on its own, not requiring any proven anime success types (oversexed girls, super-ninjas, etc.) to be entertaining.

An anime with a strong story arc for adults. The very odd title doesn't represent it, the artsy geisha nudes don't quite fit with the personality of the screenplay. What you get are four girl action super-heros that seem like real people, vulnerable and often silly until a crisis hits and then they are serious business.

The three Paper Sisters are Michelle (oldest, bubbly, blonde, very feminine), then Maggie (taciturn, stoic, strong, and tall), and then 13-year-old Anita (tomboy, combative, smart). They have powers over paper, turning it into shields, weapons, and familiars.

The story is about their odd jobs that they use to support themselves, the chief of which is to act as bodyguard for the an unwilling Japanese author by the name of Nenene.

For whatever flaws it has, it generates in most episodes truly memorable moments. If you liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) you will like this just as much. Those that complain about the pacing and the "wandering" of the plot either just missing the point, or missing the kind of anime that has a money-shot of something blowing up or getting whacked every 90 seconds.

The action when it happens is great, but not what is best about ROD. Very few animes are worth five stars, and this is one of them.

I have nothing bad to say about this show. the concept is orginal and great. Who could have know that control over paper could be so useful. You think How bad can a paper cut be, but then you see someone cuts off the wings to an Jet liner with paper...

This is a great series for those who loved the books and the movie. With Japanese and English options, this anime about the Paper Sisters is a great addition to collectors. Those unfamiliar with the series may wish to read the books or rent the OVA movie to see if it is to their liking. The movie comes before the series, so there is no need to worry about spoilers. Again, a great product for fans of the series.

This older series appears to be 'out of print', so one might only be able to find it used. It's also rather pricey.
But it is well worth it. The storyline is long and complex, and sometimes moves at a glacial pace, but i always found myself watching 'one more episode'. The plot revolves around a young female Japanese (where have we seen THAT before?!) writer, named Nenene and her imposing 'bodyguards', 3, 'papermasters' who can manipulate paper to their wills. While protecting Nenene, the gang uncovers a much deeper plot by the 'British Library' to impose a new world order (like we have never seen that before either. Being a historian, and a book reader, i found it interesting, and entertaining. I also found it amusing that Japanese amine writes still seem to have an affliction with getting back at the US & UK as evidenced by some downright childish scenes regarding the US president. It's also amusing how they seem fixated on sinking the US Navy. In both this series, and the single disc OVA, an entire US carrier task force is sent to the bottom, something which the IJN was painfully never able to do in WW2. But i digress. Try to find it at a decent price. And, if you are a reader, you will not be disappointed.

*IT IS UNBELIEVABLE THAT THIS SET IS DISCONTINUED*

This is a series I watch again and again.

Nenene Sumerigawa (close personal friend of Yomiko Readman from the ROD movie) is in Japan trying to write her new book after a long period of writers block. Controversy surrounding her new work has led to attempts on her life, and she is put under the care of three bodyguards; Michelle, Maggie and Anita.. the Paper Sisters. The story progresses from comic escapades and about midway thru (slight spoiler) arcs rather suddenly (though not jarringly) into a huge end of the world as we know it conspiracy story.. relating back to the first movie.

This series has what I would call a wonderful softness to it. There's alot of material here that's genuinely touching, beautiful use of color, and Taku Iwasaki's score is nostalgic genius. While the original ROD movie was more of a globe-trotting action packed fantasy spy story.. this series is really rooted in the bond these 4 women have for one another. The confusing story elements never overwhelm that aspect, which I admire this series for. Versimiltude- there's an emotional truthfulness here that really wowed me. I found myself instantly bonded to them and had to watch the whole thing in about 2 days.

It doesn't hurt to watch the original movie, as certain characters re-appear, making the action a little more obvious near the end, but I don't think it's totally necessary. Having watched the show first, I found the film rather thin in story and emotion.

My only complaint is it wasn't released in a widescreen format, that imo wouldve been perfect.

Also, FYI, it's not a terribly violent show, doesn't use much profanity.. I'd rate it (occasionally) PG.

Lots of reviewers did a great job on the characters and plot so my review focuses primarily on the DVD box set itself. First of all, I highly recommend that you purchase the the real Region 1 set. Yes, you can go on eBay and buy a cheap, bootleg version, which I actually did last year. You get what you pay for. That set, while inexpensive, was just plain bad. The quality was grainy and the subtitles were just ridiculous. The translations were so bad I couldn't finish it. English sentences were literally butchered and not put together correctly (i.e. verbs in front of nouns, misspellings, even nonsensical words were included). Second, with this box set there are a few nice goodies included. The disc inserts have some very good artwork and also included are some pencil boards which are slim plastic pieces about the size of the DVD insert which have some pretty artwork on it - actually one side of each pencil board is a bit more "racy" than the other (a bit of fan service) but they're really nice things that are likely not included with the bootlegs.

The DVD extras are pretty sparse. There are a few character summaries and some still shots. You can also turn on the American production commentary. I have not yet listened to it so I don't know how informative it is. I will say that the soundtrack is really good - the music matches the action very well.

The DVD default setting is for English dubbing but can easily be changed to Japanese language with English subtitles, which I greatly prefer for anime. One of the reasons I enjoy Japanese anime is because of the Japanese language and some of the voice inflections are lost in translation. Many otakus may agree with me that what is so addictive about anime in part has to do with how the Japanese language is spoken, expressions used, etc. This is pretty much lost using English speaking actors.

Just a quick word on the DVD plot/characters: this particular series is very good for many reasons already listed by other reviewers. The plot is pure science fiction but I like that it is not formulaic. I love Sailor Moon but I have to say that every season of that show is very predictable and formulaic. This isn't a monster of the week show and the plot seems much more serial with each episode building on the last. Also, while a bit subtextual, there is Yuri (girl/girl love or romance) to be found here if you want to see it. There's definitely some fan service, too, with large bosomed women jiggling from time to time (one episode involving Drake and the archaeolgist, Alice, he is protecting shows full frontal breast nudity). It's mostly not gratuitous but just a little bit of eye candy every now and then for the fanboys (and some girls) out there.

Bottom line, buy this DVD box set (Region 1) before it goes out of print. This is a series that I've watched more than a few times and when you watch DVDs more than once, it's really worth every penny.

I figured that an anime centered around books would really keep me interested and even though R.O.D starts off kind of slowly. It more than makes up for that with the interesting effects and attacks that the Paper Sisters use in their various adventures whether its protecting author Nenene from her stalker fans or looking for her best friend who's gone off missing for the past few years. That storyline leads down the whole road of the series as a whole. I dont want to give away much but it really picks around that point with various characters good/bad and some mixed in between that you arent quite sure about.

But this series is one that requires patience and rewards you for said patience so take a trip in this excellent anime series featuring the Paper Sisters...Read or Die might even make you wanna pick up a book after your done with this series that clocks in at 26 episodes. If that doesnt happen its cool you'll still enjoy the time invested in following this one through until the end.

Love it!!

Read or Die (Complete Collection) gets as close to a 5 out of 5 as possible.