R. O. D. The TV Series
Publisher
Geneon / MVM
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes / 25 minutes
Year
2003
R.O.D. The TV Series Volume 1: The Paper Sisters
By otaku_kei
16th May 05  There appears to be quite a bit of controversy surrounding this title, in fact it is just the title of this title. Fans all over the internet have bickered as to whether this show should be referred to as Read Or Dream like the manga, or Read Or Die as the OAV and novels are titled. Turns out neither are correct, this is simply R.O.D. The TV Series, this is its own beast that is unshackled from any of the other incarnations of the Paper Masters. But whilst there has been all of this controversy swirling on certain messageboards I have felt pretty untouched by it as this has been my first exposure to the R.O.D. universe. Pretty hard to have an opinion when you haven't seen anything to substantiate it. The Paper Sisters are a group of Paper Masters who have a wide range of jobs from detectives, bodyguards and tour guides - anything to keep the fed and with a constant supply of new books. They burst their way into the life of best-selling author Nenene Sumiregawa hired by her publishing company to protect her on a book-signing gig in Hong Kong. Taking it upon themselves to protect Nenene they follow our author back to Tokyo to ensure her safety from nutjobs and terrorists, but without recognition of how their less than normal actions drive Nenene to distraction. But the excitement does not stop at just protecting Nenene, there are already undercurrents of something more sinister taking place in R.O.D. R.O.D. is quite a mix: action, comedy, fanservice, intrigue all of this that lends itself to an instantly accessible and engaging spectacle. The central characters are not your stereotypical group, sure there may be the brash young one, the airhead blonde, the silent brooding one as well as our easily frustrated author but already there are attempts to show a depth to these characters that would missing from characters in any GONZO title. The three Paper Sisters Michelle - the airhead, Maggie - the tall silent one and Anita - the brash child who hates books, all complement each others talents to make for an exciting group during the action scenes and yet during the character development scenes provides a source of conflict and character interaction that lets the viewer get to know the heroines of the story. This release is a joy to watch from start to finish, and sets itself up for more excitement in the coming volumes. Already it is quite clear that this title deserves to be picked up by just about everyone. For the last year R.O.D. The TV Series has been one of the more successful releases in the United States, whilst that success may not be guaranteed to convert here to the UK market I hope that people will investigate this show as based on this disc it is going to be a lot of fun.
R2 DVD Notes
Features: English Language 2.0; Japanese Language 2.0; English Subtitles; Image Gallery; Japanese Previews Episodes 1-4; Audio Commentary by Kevin Chu (US Version Producer), Johnathan Klein (Producer of English dub & subtitles) and Talesin Jaffe (English Voice Director & Script Adaptor); MVM Trailers
Release information: OUT NOW
Notes: R.O.D. The TV Series has come to us packaged very nicely. The picture quality is great, and both audio tracks have no problems from what I could pick up.
By way of extras we get the usual Image Gallery, the end of episode previews have been removed from the main feature and placed in the extras, and of course there are the trailers for upcoming titles.
But standing out from all of this is the production commentary. Having only listened to the first couple of minutes I only mangaed to pick up a couple of little snippets but it is good to see an anime release getting the type of treatment that mainstream DVD releases recieve.
-- otaku_kei 16th May 05
R. O. D. The TV Series Images          
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