Name: A fairly convoluted plot carried strong characters and fantastic voice acting.
Item: R.O.D -THE TV-
Rating: 75
Author: HootyMcOwlFace

Waifra

A fairly convoluted plot carried strong characters and fantastic voice acting. · Waifora

Plot
The story of Read Or Die is wildly overblown and needlessly complex. The antagonists' motivations and plans are a bit bewildering, and the protagonists' decisions seem to sometimes be based less in logical action but in the need to generate drama and propel the plot.

Spoiler, click to view

Who/what even is Mr. Gentleman after all? Why was Mr. Joker willing to have his own mind and history erased? Why didn't Drake punch Joker in the face BEFORE he could finish telling Anita the traumatic secret of her and her sisters' birth? What was the point of going after Nenene at all - was it seriously just to write a Gentleman propaganda bible? Like really, was that the entire purpose of going through all that trouble? And what was with Dokusensha's perfect language thing? Oh, and why did they allow Nenene to have paper when she was in custody? She was just writing a novel, unrelated to Gentleman or anything the antagonists wanted her to do, and they KNEW her friends are skilled paper masters. They didn't think that was suspicious at all?

Still, while the story itself is not terribly strong, it does have some very interesting elements and an undeniable charm that provides a pretty good background for the characters.

Characters
Which brings me to the real heart of the show, the reason I enjoyed it so much - the characters and their relationships. All of the main characters are lovingly written and fully fleshed out. The way Nenene and the sisters' friendship develops and they become a little family, Anita's journey to heal from her horrific, buried trauma, Yomiko's avoidance, Nancy's cloning blues, Junior's whole existence... it's alternatingly heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Music and Sound
The music is great and the voice actors are all phenomenal. I was especially impressed with Chiwa Saito as Anita King. The scenes where Anita's PTSD is triggered are chilling, with Saito's tortured screams.

Fanservice
The only thing that makes me hesitant to give a flat recommendation is this. There's not a ton of fanservice, really, but there's just a lot of jiggling going on, you know? The cast is mostly adult women and they all have large breasts that wobble all over the place at the slightest movement. Boobs don't work like that!

Spoiler, click to view

It's also very inappropriately timed - do you have to focus on Yomiko's boobs being smushed into the wall when Nenene is chasing her? It's supposed to be a dramatic, heartwarming reunion, come on. Even worse, when Nenene is hooked up to the machine at Dokusensha and being tortured, there's a shot of her writhing in pain and the animators paid special attention to make sure her breasts jiggle in an over-the-top and aesthetically pleasing way. This isn't something you should be trying to make sexy! Your main character is being tortured to the point of vomiting, and you gotta make sure her boobs are sufficiently jiggled?

Overall
Read Or Die is very much a typical late 90s-early 00s anime - convoluted, melodramatic plot carried by a compelling, rag-tag ensemble cast. It's a show that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but has a lot of heart. Despite my criticism, I had a lot of fun watching this show.

Personally, I think that strong characters can carry a weak plot, but not the other way around. If you agree with that statement, you'll probably find something enjoyable in Read Or Die like I did.