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Directed by Hideyuki Kurata
Produced by JC Staff
Read
or Die is the charming story
of sweet, innocent Yomiko Readman, a substitute teacher with an undying
enthusiasm for all things literate and a heart-rending smile.
This nice girl seems to lead a double life, however – not all is as it
seems! Ms. Readman works for a top-secret agency in the style of something like
MI7 – based in her home country of England, doing agent work and generally
defying evil. Her codename is the paper, so given because of her ability to
materialise and manipulate the stuff, something that struck me as brilliantly
original and amusing. Paper. Ever heard of a better super-power than that?
Her
Boss, a mysterious man named Mr. Gentleman. Her ally? A fellow agent named Nancy
McHarry, codename Miss Deep an awkwardly named lady who seems to be the
“sexy” one of the anime, with Yomiko being too naďve and child-like to fill
that part. Miss Deep has the ability to pass through solid matter. Her
Adversary? Ancient resurrected geniuses from the pages of history gone by, that
ride on the backs of extremely oversized insect robots. Oh, and an enlightened
Buddhist monk.
Both
this British super-power Agency and these strange enemies are tying to claim one
thing: an ancient book of Beethoven’s music, which contains a piece of music
with the most formidable power you could think of… The ensuing anime consists
of the adventures, trials and tribulations that come from the struggle of both
sides to get their hands on this dangerous manuscript.
Making
Sense..? Bah. Who needs sense nowadays? This is a wacky, original anime fresh
from the mind of a mister Kurata Hideyuki. Appealingly animated and with some of
the most endearing characters I’ve ever seen, it makes for addictive viewing
and easily makes a fan out of it’s series. Yomiko Readman is a veritable gem
of an anime character – in a world where most anime woman are built like a
twig with balloons for chest appendages, and have roughly the same intelligence
levels thereof, she’s delightfully refreshing.
The
only thing I could possibly point out as a fault is the shortness of the series
– only three half hour episodes. Although this could also be regarded as a
good thing, personally I’d love to see the characters develop a little
further, maybe a few more twists and turns in the plot, eventful as it was
already...
Oh, and for all you wonderfully dirty minded people out there, fan service is kept to a minimum, mare gratuitous cleavage shots from the buxom Nancy and little else. At the most, there is definite tension between Nancy and Yomiko, but this is very cleverly and subtly done. Finally! Erotica in anime, as opposed to outright perversion! That definitely gets my appraisal.
I would most definitely recommend Read or Die for some seriously entertaining viewing. It’s gripping, funny, magical stuff, addictively original and easily accessible, unlike a lot of other anime. In fact I think you should go out and but it right now. Be gone!
Seven out of Ten
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