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

Starring: Ryan Abraham, Raymond Braun Director: Kouji Masunari Rating: Unrated Format: DVD
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
List Price: $19.98
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Customers buy this DVD with R.O.D -The TV Series - The Past (Vol. 3) DVD ~ Kouji Masunari

R.O.D. - Read Or Die + R.O.D -The TV Series - The Past (Vol. 3)
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  • This item: R.O.D. - Read Or Die DVD ~ Ryan Abraham

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

R.O.D. - Read Or Die
85% buy the item featured on this page:
R.O.D. - Read Or Die 4.4 out of 5 stars (43)
$12.49
R.O.D. The TV Series - Undercover Student (Vol. 2)
4% buy
R.O.D. The TV Series - Undercover Student (Vol. 2) 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
R.O.D -The TV Series - The Past (Vol. 3)
4% buy
R.O.D -The TV Series - The Past (Vol. 3) 4.3 out of 5 stars (3)
$26.99
R.O.D. The TV Series - Turning Point (Vol. 4)
4% buy
R.O.D. The TV Series - Turning Point (Vol. 4) 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
$26.99
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Product Details

  • Actors: Ryan Abraham, Raymond Braun, Brooke Cadorette, Chad Fifer, Crispin Freeman
  • Directors: Kouji Masunari
  • Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
  • Language: English, Japanese
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rating: Unrated
  • Studio: Manga Video
  • DVD Release Date: May 27, 2003
  • Run Time: 90 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000096IAJ
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,134 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #1 in  Movies & TV > Animation > Characters & Series > R.O.D.
    #15 in  Movies & TV > Anime & Manga > By Studio > Manga

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  • For more information about "R.O.D. - Read Or Die" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Product Description

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

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Customer Reviews

43 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
76 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Cheer "The Paper," the most ingenious anime heroine in years, April 28, 2003
By Brian Camp (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
R.O.D. (READ OR DIE) is quite an imaginative and delightful three-episode Japanese OAV (Original Animated Video) series that deftly mixes sci-fi, adventure, comedy, history and a love of rare books. Made in 2000, it's set against a marvelously detailed background of urban settings like Tokyo, Washington DC, and New York, along with the massive Victorian-style (but secretly high-tech) British Library headquarters, as well as a diverse fleet of retro-style aircraft and seacraft. Overall, it offers the kind of fresh, unpredictable and literate entertainment that caters to the restless tastes of the more discriminating anime fans in America.

The heroine is a 20-something woman named Yomiko Readman, a shy, self-effacing bookworm who is a teacher and obsessive collector of rare books. She traipses about in a long skirt and overcoat, lugging a large briefcase behind her on a wheeled cart everywhere she goes, even when chasing super-villains. She's also a secret agent known as "The Paper" who has the extraordinary power of turning any kind of paper product into a lethal weapon or protective barrier. One of the special thrills of this series is the way this talent is used so often to ingenious effect in the course of the three episodes. When the Library of Congress is attacked and robbed by a famous Japanese inventor cloned back to life, Yomiko is assigned by the British Library to retrieve the stolen books. The enemy is soon revealed to be much wider in scope and encompasses a host of other historical figures brought back to life, including a certain famed composer. World domination is not their aim but something much more sinister.

The plot is rather complex, but never wavers off track as the action moves from Tokyo to D.C. to New York (including a harrowing scene at a pre-9/11 World Trade Center) in the first episode alone, venturing to India in the second, and to a massive techno-fortress which rises out of the central Pacific Ocean in the third. The writing is consistently clever, the heroine relentlessly charming and the characters and multiple historical references always intriguing. There's also an elaborate title sequence that's the best seen in any anime since "Cowboy Bebop," along with a jazzy early-'70s style-TV theme that gives it some added color. The release of all three episodes on one DVD is a welcome signal of the possible resurgence of the OAV format, which allows for limited-run series of various lengths like this one.

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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars High quality, lots of fun, May 30, 2003
By Steven Myers (SF Bay Area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
Read or Die is a breath of fresh air amid the anime releases in the United States: it manages to combine high quality on the technical side with interesting, likeable characters and an interesting story. First off, this is obviously a high-budget production: these three episodes (which is the complete Read or Die direct-to-video series) sport character designs which are attractive, animation which is top-notch, and great sound and music. Moreover, Manga, the studio releasing Read or Die in the US did a wonderful authoring job on the DVD, in contrast to some of their releases (e.g., Macross II). On the technical side, Read or Die simply screams quality.

Fortunately, that quality is matched by the quirky, likeable characters and the quirkier plot. The heroine, Yomiko Readman, is a book-obsessed woman with the power to manipulate paper (which is far more interesting than it may sound). She is also a secret agent for the British Library. When cloned historical figures try to steal her newest book purchase and destroy the world, she is assigned to stop them. Yomiko is the most interesting heroine of the last several years of anime releases: she is a woman, not a girl; she is not overly sexualized; she is capable and strong without pride or arrogance.

The only real flaw in Read or Die is that, because it's only 3 episodes long, the weird little plot is somewhat opaque. Moreover, many of the historical figures will not be familiar to a US audience, but this is a quibble, really. The show is not about the villains or their purposes, it is about Yomiko and hers.

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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Right when you thought it was safe to read..., December 18, 2004
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
OK, this anime is a tad silly. But it is also filled with tons of action, humor and good artwork. After watching R.O.D. TV (disc one), I had to go see what OAV started it. The plot is super-James Bond, the characters are detailed and with such voice actors as Amanda Winn-Lee (from Plastic Little, Ghost In The Shell TV series, and Burn-Up), Tricia Dickson (from Hellsing, Spirit Of Wonder, and Haibane-Renmei) and Crispin Freeman (do I HAVE to list his work?).
If you are a fan of R.O.D. TV, of James bond movies, or just enjoy a good "End-Of-The-World" storyline, this is the DVD for you. There is a link to R.O.D. TV's main character at the very start of the first episode of the OVA. You just have to look hard enough!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars The more you watch it... the worse it gets.
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... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Snoofapootamus

5.0 out of 5 stars Man! This chick can kill you with a post-it note!
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... Read more
Published 13 months ago by H. Bala

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
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. Read more
Published 17 months ago by B. Hincher

5.0 out of 5 stars great anime
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... Read more
Published 17 months ago by lost boys

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Fresh
When I first watched this I had already seen R.O.D. the TV, the animated series in the same world as this OVA. Read more
Published 21 months ago by James J. Schultz

5.0 out of 5 stars Must See!
First of all, I must tell you that I'm not an anime fan. But I can appreciate a great piece of art when I see it. Read Or Die is one of them! Read more
Published 22 months ago by Minerva Lagarde

4.0 out of 5 stars A little off the beaten track
To say the Yomiko Readman is an unusual secret agent is an understatement of monumental proportions. Read more
Published on July 29, 2007 by S. Bell

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
ROD is a lot of fun! It's a nice blend of action, comedy, and some nice touching moments. Great characters, imaginative plot. Definitely watch this if you haven't.
Published on January 5, 2006 by Daric

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly Delicious...
Read Or Die is a must watch for all anime fans. The anime contains beautiful animation, attractive character designs, and fluid action sequences! Read more
Published on December 25, 2005 by Collector

5.0 out of 5 stars Za PAPER!!!!
Buy it. Watch it. Then get the Read or Dream series. ROD is fantasitc.
Published on December 16, 2005 by A reader

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