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R.O.D the TV

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R.O.D the TV
File:Read or die the tv.jpg
Front to back Anita King, Michelle Cheung, Maggie Mui on the DVD Volume 1 Cover
GenreAdventure, Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction
Anime
'R.O.D the TV'
Directed byKoji Masunari
StudioJapanJ.C.Staff

R.O.D -THE TV- is a 26-episode TV anime series, animated by J.C.Staff and produced by Aniplex, directed by Koji Masunari and scripted by Yousuke Kuroda, about the adventures of three paper-manipulating sisters, Michelle, Maggie and Anita, who become the bodyguards of Sumiregawa Nenene, a famous Japanese writer. Featuring music by Taku Iwasaki, the series is a sequel to the Read or Die OVA. Its official title, written precisely, is "R.O.D the TV" [sic]. This is a catch-all acronym referring to the inclusion of characters from both the Read or Die manga and OVA and the Read or Dream manga, which revolves solely around the Paper Sisters. Promotional material for R.O.D the TV displays the show as revolving around the three sisters from the original "Read or Dream", however, Nenene is generally accepted as being the protagonist of the series.

R.O.D -THE TV- first premiered across Japan from October 1, 2003 through March 16, 2004 on pay-per-view satellite television platform SKY PerfecTV!. It was later aired across the terrestrial Fuji Television station from October 15, 2003 through March 18, 2004. The series spanned a total of 26 episodes.

The complete series was broadcast worldwide by the anime satellite television network, Animax.

Story

The series starts in 2006, five years after the "I-Jin" incident detailed in the Read or Die OVA. Yomiko Readman (AKA The Paper, agent of British Library Task Force) has supposedly gone missing, and Nenene Sumiregawa, her former student and best friend, is still in Tokyo after her parents moved to the USA. Nenene has not written a book since Yomiko disappeared, as she has become lonely and frustrated that her sensei has never read her last book, and she feels she can't write again until she hears Yomiko's reaction to the book, so Nenene often disappears for long periods of time searching for Yomiko, and has been periodically doing so ever since her "disappearance".

During a trip to Hong Kong, Nenene meets the three sisters, Michelle, Maggie and Anita (from the Read or Dream manga), who are supposed to take care of her during her visit. However, the hotel at which Nenene is supposed to stay at is bombed, and at a press conference Nenene is briefly held hostage by a jealous rival in her industry. The three sisters end up becoming her bodyguards and join her back to Tokyo.

Each sister has paper manipulation skills similar to Yomiko, although significantly less powerful and more focused in scope. After the initial action-filled adventure, the first several episodes take on the feel of an odd-couple comedy which focuses on tension between Nenene and the sisters, who move into her apartment and mooch off her, all while dealing with various crazies and psychos in their everyday lives. The sisters also perform odd jobs as agents of the Dokusensha (ostensibly a Chinese publishing company, but more like an Illuminati-type organization focusing on the collection of rare and powerful documents). This eventually puts them and Nenene in direct conflict with the British Library (the protagonists from the OVA series and manga; Dokusensha is established as the British Library's rival in the manga).

Events grow more serious as the series progresses as, in typical anime fashion, atrocities are committed by both sides, thrusting the main characters into the middle of a conflict between literary superpowers, the British Library and Dokusensha, who are both trying to collect ancient artifacts (books, of course) to control the entire world and even rewrite history. After a horrific collision between the two superpowers, Nenene and the Paper Sisters set out to find the missing Yomiko to learn the truth about the conflict and save the world from literary terrorism.

Characters

Main characters

Nenene Sumiregawa (菫川ねねね, Sumiregawa Nenene) a.k.a. 'Sensei,' Nene-neesan

  • Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese); Wendy Tomson (English)
A prodigy novelist in her high school years, usually referred to as sensei and originally featured in the Read or Die manga as a teenage friend of the older Yomiko. She is often frustrated with Yomiko's obsession with books -- and later the Paper Sisters when they move into her home -- and chides her for being absentminded, leaving post-its in her room. Since Yomiko's disappearance, she has become very self-sufficient but unfortunately wistful, cranky and bitter at times in her loneliness. She remained in Japan, despite her parents' wishes, in order to housekeep and tend to Yomiko's personal effects until her (presumed) return. Along with two other characters within the series, many fans argue Nenene's dedication to Yomiko borders on the romantic, and the series has a strong yuri fandom.

The Paper Sisters' names are derived from names of three real Hong Kong action stars: Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Michelle Yeoh (who has also been credited as Michelle Khan). These three actresses starred together in the 1993 movie The Heroic Trio as the titular superpowered heroines.

Michelle Chang (ミシェール ・チャン, Mishēru Chan) a.k.a. Mi-nee

  • Voiced by: Shoko Kikuchi (Japanese); Hunter MacKenzie Austin (English)
The oldest sister, generally considered the leader and strategist of the three. She has a cheerful, ostensibly ditzy personality. Her favorite books are the Harry Potter series, and she has a soft spot for cute things and small children. She manifests her power primarily through ranged weapons, such as bows and arrows. Michelle's love of books almost matches that of Yomiko's; when she arrives in Japan, Michelle buys out so many bookstores that people begin to speculate Yomiko has returned. It is also shown in the anime that she has a different level of hearing than most people, as she was not affected by the sound jammer that makes other people have headaches.

Maggie Mui (マギー・ムイ, Magī Mui) a.k.a. Ma-nee

  • Voiced by: Hiromi Hirata (Japanese); Sara Lahti (English)
A tall, boyish, quiet wallflower with somewhat depressing looks, her power usually manifests as familiars- Beings she controls made of paper; her sisters also rely on her for her strong defensive capabilities. She’s known for being easily embarrassed and enjoying tight cozy spots to relax in (which is why she sleeps in the closet), probably due to agoraphobia. Michelle says her favorite author is Ernest Hemingway, but Maggie quickly points out that she likes Nenene's works too. She strongly looks up to her older sister, Michelle, and feels she's nothing compared to her. She cares for her sisters and always tries to protect them at the expense of her own safety. Anita believes Maggie to be strongest Paper Sister in combat.

Anita King (アニタ・キング, Anita Kingu)

  • Voiced by: Chiwa Saito (Japanese); Rachel Hirschfeld (English)
The youngest sister is a spitfire who specializes in using her paper offensively (by using paper "blades" and throwing index cards like shuriken), but she also relies upon her physical martial arts skills in combat. Unlike all other known Paper Masters, she dislikes books (but is obsessed with collecting frogs and drinking milk). Although Anita sometimes acts bratty and self-important, she deeply loves her sisters. She frequently fights with Nenene, who is equally outspoken, but beneath their squabbles, one can see they develop a strong friendship through the series. She is well liked in her class and is especially admired by classmate named Hisami Shiishi (whom Anita nicknames "Hisa"). Hisa compares the two to the main characters with an extremely close friendship in Anne of Green Gables.

Characters from Read or Die

Yomiko Readman (読子・リードマン, Yomiko Rīdoman)

  • Voiced by: Rieko Miura (Japanese); Helena Taylor (English)
Does not appear until episode 15 of the series, with only the vague suggestion before she appears of something terrible happening to her around the same time the British Library was destroyed. Yomiko's abilities and power as a papermaster are far greater than those of the Paper Sisters. She also does not seem as limited to one form of use for her powers whereas Anita, Maggie and Michelle all have one specialty when it comes to using their powers.

Nancy Makuhari (ナンシー・幕張, Nanshī Makuhari)

  • Voiced by: Michiko Neya (Japanese); Carrie Savage (English)
She is the second I-Jin clone of Mata Hari that Yomiko met in the R.O.D. OVA. At the end of the original series, Nancy suffered extensive brain damage as a result of oxygen deprivation; the result was that her mental state was reduced to that of a child, with no memories of her earlier actions. Desperate to protect her, Yomiko took Nancy and ran off into hiding. When introduced in the TV series, Nancy's personality is that of a young girl, far from the femme fatale she was before she was injured.

Drake Anderson (ドレイク・アンダーソン, Doreiku Andāson)

  • Voiced by: Masami Iwasaki (Japanese); Lee Everest (English)
An American munitions expert and one of the British Library's main field agents. Anderson has no superpowers, but he is a pretty tough guy and is also good with weapons. He is a sarcastic realist who tries to keep situations calm and professional, although sometimes he is overwhelmed by the eccentric, super-human people around him. He has a young daughter named Maggie, but with no relation to the aforementioned Paper User. Probably because of his daughter, he's more soft-hearted and less ruthless than his fellow B.L. agents (i.e., when he fights the three sisters he doesn't try to murder them, and he refuses to kill children, such as Anita). He was bodyguard for Triple A and then become assistant to Miss Yomiko in the TV Series

Joseph Carpenter a.k.a. Joker (ジョーカー, Jōkā)

  • Voiced by: Hozumi Goda (Japanese); JB Blanc (English)
The head of the British Library Special Operations Unit and Yomiko's former boss. He took control of the organization after the death of the Gentleman and is now often referred to as "Mr. Carpenter." His face seems a bit more lined from stress (and, possibly, age), and he now walks with the assistance of a cane. As always, Joker smiles all the time and initially appears as calm, reassuring, and easy-going as ever, but as the series progresses he gets more violent and high-strung, revealed to be an elitist who holds the same "human selection" principles as the I-Jin (the villains from the OVA). Disappointed by the decline of British global influence following the Gentleman's death, Joker implements a scheme to regain control of the world, no matter the human cost. At the end of the TV Series, he is seen to be recovering from comatose state after incidentally absorbed Mr Gentleman's information during the execution of Operation Sleeping Books.

Wendy Earhart (ウェンディ・イアハート, Wendi Iahāto)

  • Voiced by: Mika Sakenobe (Japanese); Siobhan Flynn (English)
Seen in the manga and OVA as Joker's office secretary and junior agent of British Library Special Operations, she now serves as his right hand henchwoman. Wendy's character has matured radically, from an enthusiastic, if clumsy, over-eager young assistant into a serious, ruthless agent willing to fulfill the B.L.'s plans by any means necessary. She is highly resentful of Yomiko (whereas she adored her in the manga), likely due to events laid out through the course of the TV series, and she is one of the few B.L. personnel fully aware of Joker's plans.

The Gentleman (ジェントルマン, Jentoruman)

Seen in the OVA, now deceased. He was the head of the B.L. and the true source of Britain's secret power over global affairs (i.e., it was because of Gentleman that Joker had the authority to order around the U.S. President in the OVA). In TV series, B.L has made series efforts to revived him with a purpose to revived the British Empire. Operation Sleeping Books was launched as a last resort, where the B.L. uses the concept of Skin Print, to record his human genome into paper and separated it into 7 books. Once an appropriate body/host is found, these books will be transmitted to the host to revive him. The seven books are:
  1. The Book of Essential Blood
  2. The Book of Pulsating Flesh
  3. The Book of Empowering Arms
  4. The Book of Swift Legs
  5. The Book of Supreme Brain
  6. The Book of Supportive Skeleton
  7. The Book of Clairvoyant Eyes
After the incident at B.L. the operation had to go undercover to avoid enemy detection. The books protected with special casing were sent into hiding where casing keys were entrusted to seven agents. Mr Gentleman's books have become a struggle and storyline by various characters in this TV series. The books were successfully retrieved by B.L. and with a suitable body found to host Mr Gentleman, the operation went full steam. In the end of the series, Operation Sleeping Books had been thwarted thus Mr Gentleman was ceased to exist. But in the process some of his information had incidentally been transmitted to Mr Joker and Anita.

New, Major & Minor Characters

Junior (ジュニア, Junia)

  • Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (Japanese); J.D. Stone (English)
A mysterious, effeminate boy with the power of intangibility (the same power possessed by Nancy) who befriends the Paper Sisters. Later in the series, he is revealed to be a tool in Joker's scheme--and that he is the child of Nancy and the I-Jin Ikkyuu Soujun. To Joker, he is considered "The Perfect I-Jin"; hence Joker is keen to use him as an agent and later as a medium for resurrecting The Gentleman. Extremely reserved and emotionally distant, he is drawn to people who show him kindness, especially Anita and Michelle. While he is an efficient agent, he lacks the ruthlessness of his father.

Lee Linho (リー・リンホー, Rī Rinhō)

  • Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki (Japanese); Patrick Seitz (English)
Nenene Sumiregawa's editor, who hired the Paper Sisters to guard her early on in the series. Usually very calm, despite apparently having recently given up smoking (evidenced by constant, nervous pencil-chewing). Seemingly minor at first, he plays a bigger and darker role as the scope of Dokusensha's plans--for Nenene in particular--is revealed. He owns an Zippo lighter with some minor importance to the plot.

John Woo a.k.a. Mr. Woo (ジョン・ウー) Jon Ū (ウーさん, Ū-san)

A carrier pigeon used by Mr. Kim to send messages and assignments to the Paper Sisters. The sisters name after the famous Chinese film director, one of whose trademarks is the use of doves to highlight dramatic moments. The pigeon demands respect and pecks Maggie when she forgets to call him "-san" ("Mr."). While originally serving Dokusensha, Mr. Woo remains a "friend" to the Three Sisters throughout the series.

Mr. Kim (金さん, Kimu-san)

  • Voiced by: Shigeru Ushiyama (Japanese); John E. Breen (English)
A Dokusensha operative who hands the sisters their mission briefings; Michelle refers to him as their "handler." He can usually be seen overseeing these missions from a safe distance away. Sonny Wong is often with him. During the "Twilight of the Papers," Mr. Kim disappears during the conflict in Dokusensha headquarters, only to turn up much later as a minor employee for the British Library.

Sonny Wong (サニー・ウォン, Sanī Won) a.k.a. "The Recycler"

  • Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda (Japanese); John Snyder (English)
A Paper Master employed by Dokusensha. He's mysterious, wearing sunglasses and a large coat that conceal most of his face, and he never speaks. He's incredibly physically strong as well and probably at least seven feet tall (given he is much taller than Maggie, who is six feet). He has no qualms about killing people to achieve his goals. He challenges the Paper Sisters during "Twilight of the Papers" episodes and proves stronger than all three combined, even capable of ripping Maggie's familiars apart with his hands, and he only meets his fate after Maggie successfully manages to fight defensively until he is engulfed in a sea of ink released when a series of explosives in the building go off.

Professor Webber

An enthusiast and supporter of the British Empire. After the fire incident in the British library, he was entrusted by the British library to guard "The Book of Pulsating Flesh". He lives in a villa together with his faithful servant, Irving. The villa exterior and interior were specially design to detect disturbance from a certain distance and at the same time emit frequency on its own. As shown in TV series, he is an expert in sound and frequency where he uses a Pipe Organ (also known as a frequency organ) to transmit various frequency to control mammals, manipulate people emotions and create a visible shield to protect himself. He holds a grudge against Yomiko Readman since she was responsible for the fire in the British Library. Though he proves to be a challenge to the Paper Sisters, he is defeated when he is unable to deflect a book that is thrown at him by Anita.

Alice Alice Arkwart a.k.a "Triple A"

Former Archaeologist from British Museum and On-sen Freak . She was a British library agent where she was entrusted with the book of Essential Blood for safekeeping. She kept it in an ancient storeroom under a hot spring mountain built by her family. She employed Mr Drake to accompany her in her adventures but fired him when his service is not needed. She was killed without mercy by Agent Song, angering Mr Drake, Sumiregawa and the paper sister to avenge her death.

Richard

Another British Library agent believe to gone rogue who happen to meet Anita at her junior high school. He is hunted down by the British Library, who sent Junior kill him and retrieve the book. He requests Anita to guard one of Mr Gentleman’s book when he is nearly being assassinated. His skills, expertise and the title of Mr Gentleman book he was entrusted are unknown. Before Anita and her sisters return to Hong Kong after Lee relieves of their service as Nenene's bodyguards, she returns the book to Richard, who is recuperating in the hospital. After she leaves, however, Junior phases through a wall and takes the book, leaving Richard either unconscious or dead.

Mr John Smith

A famous and an intelligent actor in theatrical circle in the TV Series. He is also one the British library agents hunted by the Three sister. It is believe that he sold the book entrusted by the B.L and used the money to built a town where the population were dedicated to his acting. He was last seen writing a script for the town people he has built. Because of his acting skill his whereabouts is unknown.

President Cole

The President of the United States. Throughout the series he supports Joker's plans with the understanding that the United States would be the leading nation in the new world order Gentleman would bring about when resurrected. When he learns that it will the the United Kingdom, not the United States, to lead the new world order, he attempts to attack the UK only to have his forces destroyed. Much like the unnamed US President in the Read or Die OVA, he speaks with a Texas/southern accent and when faced with adversity wets himself.

List of Episodes

  1. The Papers Have Landed (紙は舞い降りた, Kami wa maiorita)
  2. Rise Up, Oh Dregs of Humanity (ダメ人間ども集まれ, Dame ningen domo atsumare)
  3. Let's Meet in Jinbo-cho (神保町で逢いましょう, Jinbõchõ de aimashõ)
  4. The Seventh Grade Course (中一コース, Chuuichi kōsu)
  5. They Shout (やつらは騒いでいる, Yatsura wa sawaideiru)
  6. The Right Stuff (ライトスタッフ, Raito sutaffu)
  7. In a Grove (薮の中, Yabu no naka)
  8. Seduced by the Night (夜に惑わされて, Yoru ni madowasarete)
  9. Heart of Darkness (闇の奥, Yami no oku)
  10. A Christmas Carol (クリスマス･キャロル, Kurisumasu kyaroru)
  11. Goodbye Japan (さよならにっぽん, Sayonara Nippon)
  12. Twilight of the Papers, Part I (紙々の黄昏, Kamigami no tasogare)
  13. Twilight of the Papers, Part II (続･紙々の黄昏, Zoku - Kamigami no tasogare)
  14. Forest of Paper Leaves (紙葉の森, Kami ha no mori)
  15. In the Gray Light of the Abyss (仄暗き地の底で, Kuraki chi no soko de)
  16. Fahrenheit 451 (華氏四五一, Kashi yon-go-ichi)
  17. Sweet Home (スイートホーム, Suiito hōmu)
  18. Confession (告白, Kokuhaku)
  19. The Family Game (家族ゲーム, Kazoku geimu)
  20. Bonjour Tristesse (In French: Hello Sadness) (悲しみよこんにちは, Kanashimi yo kon'nichiwa)
  21. D.O.D -DREAM OR DIE-
  22. Seize (奪取, Dasshu)
  23. Lie to Me (嘘、そして沈黙, Uso, soshite chinmoku)
  24. You Know Me (君が僕を知ってる, Kimi ga boku wo shitteru)
  25. Not a Big Problem (たいした問題じゃない, Taishita mondai ja nai)
  26. From There On... (それから, Sorekara)

Other Media

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