Movies / Animé and Toons

Read Or Die the Complete Blu-ray Box

By Chris Zimmerman
January 2, 2011 - 11:28

Read or Die is a title that demands your attention. It grabs hold of you and refuses to let go. Even if the most mundane of images graced the cover, you would still find yourself flipping the case over to read the description. Luckily Read or Die is anything but mundane with a healthy mix of reanimated historical figures, spies with psychokinetic abilities, and would be world conquerors all mashed up into a single serving of insanity.

To put it mildly, this is a series that tramples over all expectations if for no other reason than the sheer absurdity of the story it presents. The premise is an evil scientist has found a way to clone historical figures into doing his dastardly bidding and it’s up to a super powered school teacher and a handful of secret agents to stop him, thus preventing world domination.

Intriguing? Perhaps a better word would be deranged. Yet no matter how ridiculous it sounds, one can’t help but sit back and be entranced by the high octane thrill ride that is Read or Die.

The story follows Yomiko Readman, codenamed Agent Paper. Why is she known as Agent Paper? Well because she has the unique and rather abnormal ability to control paper. She can increase or decrease its density as she sees fit to use as a weapon or throwing hundreds of sheets together to form a larger than life paper airplane. Fittingly, she’s a bit of a geek with an abnormal love for books. She follows the assignments given to her through the British Library, combating clones of historical figures, upgraded to resemble the fictional depictions often associated with them.

Following the success of the OVA, a series was commissioned that initially followed a new set of characters that bore similarities to Yomiko but had their own unique quirks. Referred to as the paper sisters, these three new faces display the same control over paper that Yomiko employed. Unlike the previous episodes, these three work on their own, working separately from the British Library for the majority of the series until familiar characters begin crawling out of the woodwork to make it a full fledged sequel.

The series expands on the foundations put forth by the OVA and even throws its fair share of curve balls at the viewers. Characters originally believed to be on the side of angels are revealed to have hidden agendas switch allegiances to further their goals. While some of these sudden shifts in personality do come out of left field and feel abrupt, they are done so in a way that feels natural in the context of the story. In any case, the shift in alliances gives the series an air of unpredictability that will have viewers guessing at what will happen next.

The quality of the animation is exceptional thought the OVA does sport a few hiccups here and there. Overall, the series is the better looking of the two though both are easy on the eyes. The blu-ray transfer is nearly perfect, without so much as a hint of grain or compression artifacts to be found. If anything, the upgrade in picture quality almost hurts the quality of animation in the OVA by making its flaws that much more noticeable.

The on-disc extras are lacking, with only trailers and art gallery. It’s a shame there isn’t more substance but given this is almost a direct port of the Japanese release, it isn’t unexpected. The real meat of the extras comes in a much appreciated booklet that is a direct replica of the one included with the Japanese release. With a 48 page count, the booklet includes everything from sketches to production notes to interviews, making for an excellent companion to the series and a must have for fans.

Read Or Die is an eclectic series that moves at a frenetic pace. It grabs viewers and never relents, amping the tension and intrigue with every episode. The characters are likeable, if somewhat eccentric. The story is like a James Bond novel on acid. It combines equal parts action and humor to make for a fun show that still feels fresh nearly ten years after its debut. Watch it, love it, then watch it again. It’s that good.

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Last Updated: January 17, 2025 - 08:20