Rewatching Read or Die
Posted by 0rion on August 8th, 2009 - 2:38 am
“Zaaaa Paaaay-paaaaah!!”
Man, even years later hearing that ridiculous Engrish pronunciation of Yomiko Readman’s codename still makes me laugh out loud.
I really should go back and rewatch my favorite classics more often. It helps recapture some of that nostalgic enjoyment that got me hooked on anime in the first place. This time around I also caught a few interesting details and subtle nuances to the story that I had never noticed in the previous times I watched Read or Die.
What an excellent show; I had forgotten how great it is. Not to say that I didn’t remember that it was great, I just didn’t remember just how awesome of a show it really is. The music, the characters, the pacing and plot, and the art design are all outstanding.
Heck, even the animation quality still looks pretty dang good, even by today’s standards. That says quite a lot considering how much animation techniques have evolved over the last decade.
First, a funny bit of Engrish that I never noticed until now. This appears on the monitors during the evacuation of Dokusensha Hong Kong:
I can’t believe I never noticed this until now. Appropriate on so many levels.
Never not a tool.
I also never previously made the connection regarding Mr. Carpenter’s frequently used nickname “Mr. Joker”. Then I finally noticed his full name displayed as “Joe Carpenter”.
Of course. Mr. Joe Carpenter. Mr. Joker.
A very typically Japanese way of making acronyms out of longer words, only applied to a name in this case.
Most badass pigeon or most badass pigeon ever?
I also find it interesting how the concept of a sort of moe character archetype among the supporting cast was a popular trope even back then, albeit executed more subtly. Most of the popular moe loli tsundere types recently have had some sort of random food obsession – melon bread, taiyaki, dango, apples, etc. Or all of the above, in the case of Nom Nom-tan from Hayate no Gotoku.
Anita King had a similar obsession, but in her case it was all about frogs. Of course, I suppose she was kind of milk drinking fiend, too, but that was pretty mundane. I just find it interesting to roll back the clock and note how some of the trends were a bit different back then.
Not only a fun trip down memory lane, but also a reminder that there really is a lot of excellent anime around out there that I still have never seen. Actually, recently I’ve been kind of neglecting some of the new series in favor of catching up on older stuff that missed back when it first aired.
If you’re one of those people who never happened to see the Read or Die TV series or OVA back in the day, I can’t recommend this show strongly enough.
It’s a really fun and unique story concept in a lot of different ways, with both some excellent action and fight scenes, lots of situation comedy, and a good dose of slice-of-life all blended together.
The animation still looks excellent even by today’s standards. The music is absolutely inspired, Iwasaki Taku at his best (he also did the Gurren Lagann, Soul Eater, and Witch Hunter Robin OSTs). Kurata Hideyuki, who authored the original novels the story is based on, also helped write the anime scripts.
He went on to also do scriptwriting in some other top-notch productions including Hellsing, Kamichu, and Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens. It’s interesting to see some of his influence in the dialogue and pacing of the scripts from these shows.
Miura Rieko is absolutely brilliant voicing Yomiko, especially considering that she has never done any other notable voice acting roles. Saitou Chiwa, who voiced Anita King excellently, is currently doing the voice of Senjougahara in the new series Bakemonogatari, and has a long laundry list of other voice acting accomplishments as well. For a full background on Saitou check out hashi’s recent post about her over at hashihime. The rest of the voice cast is very solid and all the characters are distinctive and memorable.
Basically, it’s not without reason that I list Read or Die as #3 on my Top 10. 
Man, now I want to go back and start marathoning some of my other favorites. Sigh, so much to watch…
I love the RoD OVA (wasn’t Iwasaki also responsible for the OVA’s slick, slick opening music?), but I’ve never seen more than the first episode of the television series (with its memorable paper plane), a long while ago.
I should hunt it down and give it another shot, if only because ‘Zaaaa Paaaay-paaaaah!!’ might be as good as GaoGaiGar’s ‘Zaa Powaaa!’ (’Is this the power of THE POWER?!?’)
Loved both the OVA and the show. Ah, if only the US DVDs of the ROD OVA could have the notes signed “Nenene” instead of “Up Up Up” (since the translators at Manga had no idea there was such a character).
I still haven’t finished this show, but anything with music by Taku Iwasaki deserves another go (He also did the OSTs for Rurouni Kenshin, just so you know).
First I need to finish Ghost in the Shell, though.
Wow ROD is so old already?? I remembering following it week by week when it was airing! While the beginning of the TV series started off with lots of promise, I really didn’t like the ending so much. So in that way I thought the OVA was vastly superior.
@ IKnight
Yeah, Iwasaki did the music for both the OVA and the TV series. Really excellent all around. It’s one of my favorite anime soundtracks.
@ 2DT
Ahh, yeah I heard about that issue with the translation. That is, unfortunately, what frequently happens when non-fans translate this kind of stuff.
@ Jupe
Yeah, go back and finish this series! What are you waiting for?
@ Epi
Yeah, it didn’t realize it had been out for so long either. I actually really liked the ending of Read or Die, but I can understand how a lot of people wouldn’t necessarily enjoy it.
Watched both the OVA and the TV. Loved the OVA, liked the TV. I think in the case of the TV, some pacing and storyline problems during the middle and near the end halted the momentum that one could say the show had from the start. It’s still solid stuff in my book though. :3
@ TheBigN
I heard a number of people voice some disappointment about the pacing. Personally, I really liked the fact that the story took it slow, but I do agree some the main plot started to lose continuity a bit toward the end, which probably made it feel somewhat anti-climactic to some.