Brief Description: Five years have passed since the occurrence of the incident known as the "Human Annihilation Mission." In Japan, a novelist is dealing with writer's block after her friend has gone missing. In Hong Kong, three sisters, masters in the use of paper, run their own detective agency to solve cases that involve books. When these people are brought together, a bond greater than blood is formed - a bond that will be sorely tested by the evil powers intent on taking over the world.
Join Anita, Maggie, Michelle, and Nenene as they travel the globe in order to save the world from the evil mastermind, Mr. Carpenter! Of course, that's if they can find the time to put down the books they're reading...
Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime/209/R.O.D_the_TV#UIaWwlB8EtLt5pzE.99
Review for read or die.
First off I have to say that there is an ova (sometimes broken into parts) for this series. I personally watched the series first, however the ova was made first and this is a sequel. As such the series seems to make a couple of assumptions early on. Everything is eventually explained though and it does feel like its own complete story.
Read or Die is, in its simplest terms about people who love books. The series centers around a famous author with 4 years of writer’s block. We join her as her bestselling novel is about to be made into a movie. She arrives in Hong Kong for a publicity campaign, when she meets 3 sisters who have the unique ability to manipulate paper. They can make it hard enough to catch a bullet, use it to cut through virtually anything, make weapons and even living beings out of it.
Violence
The violence is almost never bloody, but there are plenty of fights where the sisters get a chance to use their special talents. One woman is impaled by paper and its shown in silhouette in episode 9. Another character is shown burning down a building.
Nudity
There is only 1 time in the entire series that anything resembling nudity comes in episode 9 a woman disrobes fully and her breasts are shown in full detail. Personally I recommend just skipping this episode as it adds little to the plotline and what little it does I’ll put in the spoiler box below. I don’t recommend reading it though until you get through episode 8.
Theological Themes
There is reference to Jesus as one character compares another to Him saying that what spread Jesus’ message was his Testament.
It is claimed that an organization looked into eastern mysticism and the occult for answers to their problem none of these are shown.
The sisters are known as paper masters and the way the manipulate paper is known as paper masters. In addition when using paper animals they are referred to as familiars.
Other Negative themes
Cussing, and smoking weren’t used often, but they were present. Drinks were present at a class reunion but other than that I can’t remember much else.
Dub/sub
I didn’t watch the sub, but I do have some feedback on the dub. It was heavy on English accents most of which came off as a bit fake. The sound track is hit and miss with parts feeling perfect and others not really standing out at all.
I personally love books, though I wouldn’t call myself a bibliophile so this was an extremely good series. Without the nudity in episode 9 this one might have gotten a 10/10. It was unique and while some moments came off as flat it was a beautiful story about the power of the people, family, words, and yes paper.
