Kei's Anime Reviews

Read or Die TV Episode 1

"...And the Paper Fluttered Down"

I was lucky enough to have seen a panel at AnimeExpo two years ago with the creators of the Read or Die OAV series. One thing that struck me, other than their exuberant insanity, was how typically male-minded they were. They spoke at some length about the various female characters' bust sizes, and how they seemed to grow throughout the series. I got the feeling that their original vision (crazy, over-the-top action anime, with this unique book-loving female heroine), was sort of co-opted by horny, lustful adolescent desire.

It certainly seems to show in this first episode of the TV series, where many of the shots are framed with the express intent of being fanservicey. This is in addition to the other more normal fanservice.

Of course, that just means that not much changed. Which is true about many of the other parts of the show. Much of Taku Iwasaki's music is reused (two or three tracks in this one episode), and the art style is similar (but not nearly as high in production values). We've got our paper-users, though the ways they use paper are exponentially more insane then Yomiko did in the OAV. Somehow, creating a huge bird out of paper to take over control of a plane seems more far-fetched than a weird steampunk flying suit. Call me crazy.

The sheer insanity of what the paper sisters do is so reality-stretching, that it makes it extremely hard to take the show seriously (which at times it really seems like you're supposed to). After all, let's face it, we're talking about guys who want to kill authors who are being defended by "biblio-maniacs" who can make things out of paper (shields, swords, parachutes, etc.). Somehow, and I haven't quite put my finger on it, the TV show is not selling the premise as well as the OAVs. Maybe it just needs a few more episodes.

Rating: B

Posted by Kei at February 9, 2004 11:29 PM