Read Or Die - Television Tropes & Idioms

"Please give me back my book!"

Welcome to James Bond Meets the X-Men Meets Reading Rainbow.

Read Or Die is a three-episode OVA about the adventures of Yomiko Readman — eccentric (and very cute) bibliomaniac, part-time substitute teacher, and super-powered agent for the British Library's secret intelligence division. Codenamed "The Paper", Yomiko possesses what can only be called elemental paper powers. With her talent, she can do almost anything with paper — including stopping bullets with notecards and dueling a lightsaber-wielding opponent with a sword made of $100 bills. This power results in an insatiable addiction to reading that rivals drugs. Yomiko literally must spend thousands of dollars a week on reading (just in case you didn't figure that out from the title). Yomiko is an odd combination of giggling innocent schoolgirl-ish woman (one gets the distinct impression most of the time that her mental age and, ahem, general level of life experience, are those of a twelve-year-old) and stone cold killer.

Set in an alternate late 20th-century Earth with rare and mostly hidden superhumans, Read Or Die tells of Yomiko's efforts along with a pair of compatriots to oppose a mysterious group of supervillains calling themselves "I-jin" ("Geniuses"). Strangely resembling notable figures from history, the I-jin want (among other things) a book once owned by Beethoven that Yomiko has recently purchased, within which lies the key to an evil plan with world-wide consequences. The result is a globe-trotting rollercoaster ride of action, friendship, betrayal, wild plot twists and a small leavening of sly humor. Don't miss the highlight of the first episode, an aerial dogfight over the Manhattan skyline between a steam-powered glider and a giant paper airplane, punctuated by Yomiko's plaintive cries of "Please give me back my book!" There are other things not to miss, as well, but even mentioning them would be a spoiler!

Originally a book series and then a manga. The OVA follows some of the characterization introduced in the first manga chapters, but then drastically becomes an Alternate Continuity.

Made in 2000, the first episode clearly shows the World Trade Center in New York, with one scene actually set on the roof of one of the towers; those who are excessively sensitive about the events of 9/11 may want to avoid it for that reason. Other than that, this is a must-have show. Strangely for a Japanese production, its superheroes are far more Western in concept than sentai, but the writers and producers are clearly comfortable with the idiom and make it work very well.

Read Or Die was incredibly popular, and was quickly followed by a 26-episode TV series simply entitled ROD The TV or simply ROD TV (or "R.O.D. the TV Series" as it's called in the West), which itself has been wildly popular. Please note that ROD The TV has a separate page; this page is for the OVA.

There is a community project to translate the original novels here

. At the time of this being added to the page; they've only gotten as far as the prologue of the first book, which was added on July 8th 2008. The first page of the first chapter is also up (3rd August '09).

There is a character sheet available for the series that covers all continuities.

This series makes use of the following tropes:

Action Girl (Yomiko, Nancy)
Adult Child (Yomiko, who admirably retains the kindness and faith in humanity of an innocent child)
A God Am I
Alternate Continuity: The Read Or Die novels, the Read Or Die manga, the Read Or Dream manga and the TV adaption (consisting of this OVA and ROD The TV) are all separate continuities, but borrow key concepts and characters from each other.
Anime Accent Absence: Yomiko is half-Japanese, half-British, but in the English dub of the OVA, she speaks with an American accent. This is corrected in the dub of ROD The TV, as a different voice actor provides her with an English accent. Meanwhile, her original actress is playing one of the other characters.
Apocalypse How: The I-jin plan to use the Death Symphony to wipe out the human race.
Archived Army: The I-jin.
Art Initiates Life: Ikkyu can do this in illusion form.
A Sinister Clue: Features quite prominently in the final episode.
Badass Adorable: Yomiko.
Badass Normal: Drake Anderson.
Beware The Nice Ones: If you're dumb enough get someone as sweet and kind-hearted as Yomiko-chan mad, you better damn well have your will written.
Big Bad: Ikkyu
Bond One Liner: Nancy, right before clipping Otto Lilienthal's glider:
"Thanks for flying the friendly skies."
Brown Note: Beethoven's "Death Symphony", which causes anyone hearing it to commit suicide.
But Not Too Foreign: Yomiko is half-Japanese and half-British, while Wendy Earhart is of Indo-European descent.
Cargo Ship: Is this troper the only one to think that Yomiko sometimes seems to get aroused by books, not to mention the fact she thinks of them as actual living beings.
- This is made pretty darn explicit in the novels.
Chekovs Gun: See Kiss Of Death, below.
- Also, the single braid left in Yomiko's hair after Nancy leaves. It's more than just a visual reminder of Yomiko's trust in Nancy; the (apparently paper) hair tie holding it in place turns out to be instrumental in her escape from Ikkyu's Drowning Pit.
Christmas Cake: Yomiko is 25 years old, but looks younger.
Clothing Switch
The Cutie: Yomiko-chan.
Dark Skinned Blond: Wendy.
Deadpan Snarker: Nancy and Drake.
Did Not Do The Research: Viz Comics translated the manga, but made several glaring errors. For one, they translated the British Library as the "Library of England". For another, the very first page introduces it as the Library of "Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Normally, this would be correct, but this is an Alternate History, and clearly so.
- Manga Entertainment had this problem as well, mistaking the name "Nenene" for a cute affectation when writing notes.
Dojikko: Wendy
Do Not Adjust Your Set
Dramatic Wind
Eagleland: Flavor 2. Skip this anime if you're an American who loves his country...
Evil Twin
Extraordinarily Empowered Girl: Yomiko, Nancy
Fanservice
Gainaxing
Girl Next Door: Yomiko-chan... Im Taking Her Home With Me!
Gratuitous English
- "Zah...PAAAAAYPAAAAAAHHH!!!"
Heel Face Turn: Nancy #1
Heroic BSOD: Yomiko experiences this near the end of manga volume 3 after she learns that she was the one who murdered her lover and mentor, Donnie Nakajima. She snaps out of it Just In Time to face the Underground Library in the climax.
Hot Librarian + Badass Bookworm: Yomiko. Her extreme love of books can get to be a very expensive habit (at one point, she even asks her boss for a cash advance so that she can purchase more books), but the British Library still regards her as one of the best in her field.
- When her voice actress was replaced for the dub, her accent suddenly became British. And yes, it made her even hotter.
Humanity On Trial (in the Read or Dream manga, an alien challenges the Paper Sisters to select a book from their large collection to satisfy him. They don't find anything he likes, but Anita manages to find her own way to shut him up).
I Have Two Kidneys: Nancy vs. Genjo Sanzo
Improbable Weapon User: Come on, most of us have had a paper cut now and then, but this is just funny. :P
Intangible Man: Nancy (a.k.a. "Miss Deep") has the ability to phase her body through just about anything: walls, doors, machinery — even flesh and blood.
Kiss Of Death: Sort of. Nancy gives a (delayed activation) Kiss Of Unconsciousness to Yomiko.
Les Yay: There's a little bit to go around in every incarnation. The OVA has a few Yomiko/Nancy moments, and there are hints of Yomiko/Nenene in the manga, even though Yomiko is twice as old as Nenene. (However, these are both red herrings — Yomiko is still carrying a torch for a long-lost male lover, whose glasses she wears, and Nancy is deeply in love with the OVA's (male) Big Bad.) Maggie and the Ill Girl Faye share a moment in the Read or Dream manga, aided by Faye's mother!
- Based on just reading the manga, this troper was already thinking that Yomiko was bi (not that she'd just tell you). "Where's that hand going next?", indeed.
Library Of Babel — The Fantasy Library in the Read Or Dream manga, appears once every 10 years in the living world. Has every book ever written; mostly read by the dead. (But the living can check out one book.)
Lovely Angels: Yomiko and Nancy
Meganekko — Yomiko Readman is widely considered the Queen of All Meganekkos.
Midair Repair: Yomiko manages to add a tail to her giant paper airplane in mid-flight. It helps that it's, you know, made of paper.
The Messiah - Yomiko-chan again.
The Mole: Nancy, for the I-Jin. She is a clone of the great spy Mata Hari, after all.
Moe Moe: Is there a woman as sweet, kind, endearingly cute, and huggable at the age of 25 as Yomiko-chan in real life? See, too good to ever be true.
- *sigh* We can dream.
  - ...or read. ...or die.
  - ... or make Incredibly Lame Puns.
  - ...or TAKE HER HOME WITH ME!
- That's a very dangerous thing to say around any female, and any sweet, kind, and cute 25-year-olds near you will never give you a second look. All five of you, up there.
- See? They aren't acting sweet or huggable at all.
Monumental Battle: The first episode of the OVA ended atop the Statue Of Liberty.
Monumental Damage: Gennai Hiraga blows up the White House in the very first scene.
Most Common Superpower: Every female associated with the British Library, ever.
- Except Wendy.
Multinational Team: Yomiko (Japanese/British), Drake (American), and Nancy (at least partially Japanese).
- Nancy would technically be Dutch.
My Revenge Is Mercy
Nerds Are Sexy: And so is Yomiko-chan.
Not Quite Dead: Drake and the team think they took out Genjo Sanzo with a land-based torpedo, but Genjo manages to avoid getting blown to smithereens by using Goku's staff to elevate himself into the clouds.
The Other Darrin: The TV series recast all the characters from the OVA, which wasn't too jarring for the most part, except that Yomiko went from having a very American accent to having a very British accent. Plus Jason Lee had been awesome as the forever-put-upon Drake.
Paper Master: The trope-namer.
Pollyanna: Some of the most undeserved and spiteful criticism of Yomiko-chan (usually vile hypocritical crap written by a father-beating Straw Feminist) is that she is somehow a "doormat" for being so kind, idealistic and nice in spite of the Crapsack World around her. Idiots...
The Power Of Friendship
Power Trio: Yomiko, Nancy and Drake. Also, the Paper Sisters in ROD The TV and Read or Dream.
Pre Explosion Glow
Prophetic Names: "Yomiko" = "reading child"; "Readman" is obvious.
Puppy Dog Eyes
Redemption Equals Death: Nancy repays Yomiko for her initial kindness by offing the I-Jin leader, but decides to stay in the rocket and die because she doesn't want him to die alone.
- And then subverted, as the evil Nancy clone survives, albeit with a fairly severe case of amnesia.
Running Gag: Whenever things go bad, the American President wets his pants. Often with a close shot on his crotch, so you'll know he's doing it.
Shout Out: Joker does the Gendo pose in episode 3. Foreshadowing ahoy, if you've read the manga and seen ROD The TV.
- The opening credits is an obvious tribute to the James Bond opening sequences, complete with Lalo Schriffin inspired swing-band musical score and Sexy Silhouette shots; except that unlike Sean Connery and Roger Moore, Yomiko-chan does her own silhouettes and make them look good.
  - And if two wrinkled old buzzards like Moore and Connery tried to do the same... Oh Squick.
Spot Of Tea: Joker won't start work without it, Gentleman is also seen drinking it.
Stalker With A Crush: To a disturbing extreme in manga volume one. Nenene's stalker calls her "Paul S." (from Misery), has quotes from her books tattooed all over his body, and attempts to consummate his love for her on a bed made of piles of her books.
Steam Punk: The I-Jin, especially Lilienthal.
- Not to mention much of the British Library in general. They appear to use 19th-century era cell phones for the entirety of ROD The TV.
Storming The Castle
Stripperiffic: Nancy. She even comments sarcastically on it, as well as other aspects of her secret agent persona:
Nancy: I never liked my code name anyway. "Miss Deep" sounds like a porn star.
Stuff Blowing Up: The White House, in the opening.
Superhero (sort of)
Theme Music Power Up: The main theme kicks in during particularly important battles, such as the aerial fight against Otto.
This Means War: "As of now, we begin Operation Exterminate I-Jin Corps!"
Turn The Other Cheek
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Nancy (the first one) finds herself on the receiving end from Ikkyu who deems her too flawed and, to add insult to injury, clones a second Nancy whose meant to be completely obedient to him. She gets better though
Vapor Wear: Nancy
This Is Unforgivable: When someone as nice as Yomiko-chan says this to Gennai, you know he's pretty much fucked.
What Do You Mean Its Not Awesome: Joker eats a shrimp extremely dramatically in the manga.
- Also, it's...you know, an action/espionage series about books.
What Do You Mean Its Not For Kids: Holy mother of God
You Said You Would Let Them Go: Nancy complains to Ikkyu that he promised he wouldn't kill Yomiko.

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