Read or Die (OVA)
Three episodes on one disc
Yomiko Readman is my kind of woman (in fact, she looks like my high school girlfriend): she can't walk past a bookstore without going inside and spending too much money. She's naive and friendly and, when she has a book open, utterly oblivious to everything else. She's also a superhero. Her special ability is paper-mastery. In her hands, pieces of paper become whatever she needs: a bulletproof shield, a lasso to tether an airplane, a knife to slice through steel -- anything at all. Her codename is "The Paper," and when the world needs saving from evil geniuses, she's one of the British Library's go-to people.
And there is evil afoot. Hiraga Gennai (1729-1779), master of electricity, destroys the White House while looking for the Library of Congress. Shortly afterward, Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915), master of insects, and then Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896), master of flight, attempt to steal a Beethoven manuscript that Yomiko found. Yomiko, with her colleagues Miss Deep, who can pass through solid objects, and Drake Anderson, who has no special powers but is a tough guy handy to have around, spend the rest of the OVA series discovering who has been creating the evil clones of historical figures and why he wants the Beethoven manuscript.
Yomiko at home
Despite all of Yomiko's books, this is not an intellectual series, and if you try to work out every detail of the story you'll just get a headache. Don't expect much character development, either. There's more to Miss Deep than is immediately apparent, but otherwise the characters remain static. The purpose of the plot is to give Yomiko frequent opportunities to exercise her command of paper en route to a spectacular climax. Read or Die is an action thriller featuring an appealing heroine, and as such, it's a lot of fun.
The animation throughout Read or Die looks very good. The action scenes are well-choreographed and detailed and never become monotonous. The animators evidentally really enjoyed playing with giant paper airplanes.
The opening sequence features outline drawings of naked women with writing on their skin. I have no idea why they're there, since nothing like that figures in the story. That's the most objectionable element of Read or Die. Miss Deep wears a jumpsuit that accentuates her ample bust, providing most of the fan service. There's more than a touch of anti-Americanism to the OVA -- having a Japanese inventor destroy the White House was probably somebody's wish-fulfillment fantasy -- and I really didn't need to learn that some minor characters have weak bladders. Those who love Beethoven might not appreciate his role in the story. Despite these reservations, I can recomment Read or Die for viewers high school age and older.
There's also a Read or Die television series featuring a different set of characters. According to what I've read, the characters are interesting but the story is a mess. I may watch it someday, but it's not high on my list.
Post script
I probably should have emphasized more that the story makes very little sense. Enjoying Read or Die requires not only the willing suspension of disbelief, but also a willingness to suspend logical analysis. Also, Yomiko may not be a heroine for all tastes. One person found my site by searching for "Yomiko Readman Aspergers Syndrome," and there is something to that. Shamus was much less enthused by the OVA than I was.
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Text copyright © 2005 by Don McClane
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