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Episode One: The papers have
landed - Nenene Sumiregawa maybe young, but she is renowned for
her work, sadly as of late she can't seem to focus on her writing.
While on a trip to Hong Kong to promote her novels transition from
the paper form to the big screen. Enter the paper sisters Anita,
Maggie and Michelle, who are hired to protect Nenene after a
threat is made against her life, will they be able to protect her,
or will Nenene fall victim to a tyrannical writer.
Episode Two: Rise up, Oh Dregs of Humanity
- With Nenene safely back in Japan, she struggles with a stubborn
case of writers block. However, still under the threat of possible
threat attacks, the paper sisters are hired on full time to act as
her body guards. Will Nenene be able to survive possible threats
against her life, and more importantly, will she be able to
survive the paper sisters.
Episode Three: Let's meet in Jinbo-cho –
With Nenene warming up to the idea of
having the three sisters around, she allows them to move into her
apartment. While working to fulfill their responsibility as body
guards to Nenene the paper sisters, must accompany her to her
publishing office, in the heart of Japan’s book district,
Jinbo-cho. With Maggie and Michelle’s unquenchable thirst for
books distracting them for their duties, their pulled away from
guarding Nenene, leaving Anita who detests books to protect Nenene
from those that would threaten to harm her. What of the rumors
that the mysterious paper user Yamiko Readman, has she returned
after being missing for 4 years?
Episode Four: The Seventh Grade Course –
With Nenene growing accustom to living with
the paper sisters living with her, she becomes worried that the
neighborhood house wives may begun wondering why the youngest
paper sister Anita isn’t attending school. Being forced into
starting Junior High school, with forged documents produced by her
sister Michelle, Anita is reluctantly trying to fit into a
classroom environment.
The Read Or Die series has grown on me, from
the moment I first watched the OVA series up until the point I was
introduced to The TV Series. My only regret is I’ve yet to read
the manga. As for the first installment of the Red Or Die – The TV
series, the first disc introduces us to other mysterious paper
users, the Paper Sisters. A group of young women that have the
same powers as Yamiko Readman (a character from the OVA series).
Their powers allow them to manipulate paper products to use as
everything from clothing to weapons. The paper sisters are called
upon to protect Nenene Sumiregawa after she is threaten by a
fanatical writer during her stay in Hong Kong. This is only just
the first of many chapters in the Read or Die TV series.
The first “Read or Die – The TV” DVD features
2.0 Dolby Japanese Audio and 5.1 Dolby Digital English and
Japanese Audio with two English subtitle streams (Dialog
translation and signs only). The Audio for this Disc, the word
amazing isn't good enough to describe it. From the opening theme
song, to the effects, right down to the characters dialog it was
perfect, crisp, clear. The aforementioned description can be used
for the video quality of this disc, to put it simply, perfect.
The special features for this DVD are nothing
short of amazing, offering everything that one would like to see.
Beginning with what I would consider the best feature of the disc
being the menu layout. Read Or Die has everything to do with paper
and books, the menu screens follow this setup, from the main menu
where you choose to play the disc, to selecting the special
features, takes the look of a table of contents in a book. When
browsing into the submenus, more of the book theme continues, for
example being in the special features section, an appearance of
books being laid out on a shelf.
As for the special features, the first DVD
contains a varied selection of fan pleasing features, the first
such feature being the Japanese trailers for the first four
episodes in the series, follow by, by far my favorite feature and
is not seen enough in anime DVD releases, is an audio commentary
by the production team responsible for the release of Read Or Die
The TV into the North American market. The remaining features
include a conceptual art display of the characters; with some of
the art work is an included director commentary on why the
particular choices were made for the characters. Lastly, trailers
for upcoming releases from Geneon.
Read Or Die - The TV is a promising series that offers a great
story, with development between the characters and their
environments, with a high pace action story thrown in for good
measures. After watching the audio commentary, I notice additional
things about the series that can be overlooked, examples being the
level of detail given to the environments, whether it’s Nenene’s
apartment, or the streets of Japan or Hong Kong. A nice touch, in
which the crew that brought this series to light deserves credit
for is the characters themselves, in other series, the characters
pretty much wear the same clothes, however, in R.O.D TV, the
character clothing changes with the times, from normal day wear,
to combat clothing, etc. For those who are fans of the original
Read Or Die OVA and the Manga, then this would be a good series to
jump into, it’s a great story with great characters this series is
a must have for you collection. For those looking for something
new, then definitely get out there and rent this one. |
Version 2.0
