Read or Die

Publisher
Viz
Writer
Hideyuki Kurata
Artist
Shutaro Yamada
Country of origin
Japan
Year
2000

Read or Die V. 1

By David Rasmussen
25th Jun 06

Lately it seems I’ve been on a VIZ kick. Reviewing quite a few of VIZ’ line of reads, including their recent batch foray into the realm of shojo manga with their Shojo Beat line of mangas (present favorites of mine being Aishiteruze Baby, Crimson Hero, Full Moon O Sagashite and Nana). But that isn’t the only VIZ I’ve been reading of late, even if I do talk about the Shojo Beat line every week at least. There’s this title.

Remember the recent disaster of video gaming called 187 : Ride or Die? Well, much like that titles (in a sense) you have a title that seems to give you two options. You can Read, or you can Die.
Only unlike 187 : Ride or Die, you won’t be damned to eternal damnation for having read Read or Die, unlike 187 : Ride or Die which should have it’s own special place in the abyss alongside copies of the Xenosaga saga, NRA : Varmint Hunter and The Sims 2 for the GBA. In fact you will be saved by it’s well crafted writing and artwork that will make you glad you are a fan of the series.

Now I am going to review the Anime soon… though EXTREMELY SLOWLY as I plan to take the alternative route of reviewing the PSP UMD release rather than the DVD release… but this is my first exposure to the series (the manga), and if the Anime is as lovable as the Manga then I think I’m going to find one of my Best of 2006 in this coming review… sigh.

Dysfunctional personality disorder comes to the world of spy vs. spy as we catch up to the newest Paper Master (he or she who can turn even a scrap of paper into a useful tool or deadly weapon) as we are introduced to the 19th Paper Master working for the oddly titled L.L.L.U.K., aka the Last Literature d-Line of the UK… though maybe it should be L.L.D.L.U.K… whatever. Possible Motto : All intelligence must be brought to England… which is probably why they couldn’t get rid of Simon Cowell fast enough.
Headed up by one Mr. Joker (who, while not being the Mark Hamill from Batman the Animated Series type, seems to remind me of a leftover character who immigrated to R.O.D. from Hellsing’s UK before the Nazi Zombie invasion), the organization is seemingly dedicated to missions with literary themes (though they so are not touching that whole Dan Brown Da Vinci Code vs. Holy Blood Holy Grail thing).
First off being the recovery of a stolen book called “The Black Book of Fairy Tales” (an erotic slash disturbing piece of fiction penned by one Angelica Larston in 1643 for the pleasure of rich aristocratic types of the time). Obviously the book has to be taken back from it’s Asian “keeper”, and thus the 19th Paper Master, aka The Paper, comes into play.

Time to meet her. Yomiko Readman, aka the 19th Paper Master (The Paper).
She has a thing for books, is a true bibliophile (except I’m pretty certain true bibliophiles are not as scary as Ms. Readman when she has all her lights turned on by books), and she seems to be very Holmes-esque in one sense… only she isn’t shooting Stephen King or Danielle Steele paperbacks up her arm, since she gets her high from just reading. You have not seen truly dysfunctional persona (but in a completely lovable way for the most part) until you’ve rode shotgun with Ms. Readman, and realize just how “different” she is from other women in these kinds of books… and by different I mean she could be considered a biological weapon of mass destruction if she was deposited on the planet Vulcan and told every Vulcan’s house had a bunch of books she simply had to read… and own.

But it is the completely engaging, in your face personality of Ms. Readman (and some of the other characters of the book) that makes R.O.D. worth reading, and sells it as well in my opinion. Oh, and the mere fact the next mission has her playing dysfunctional Bodyguard to a student fiction prodigy with her own twisted personality named Nenene (too many Ne in the name!) Sumiregawa (who Ms. Readman is a raving fan of her writing) helps too. It seems that Nenene is being stalked by a powerfully rich crazed “fan” who wants to do stuff to her, which sometimes sounds like the content of a hentai anime (telling the object of your affections you want to rape her on a pile of her works sounds like hentai to me). Oh, and then there’s this anti paper female opponent who wields the paper destroying power of fire, all of which helps propel the first R.O.D. manga out of the starting gate and into the category of Highly Recommended.

A completely addictive read in my opinion… though not to the point you’ll find yourself suffering from Readmanitis, but addictive nevertheless… Read or Die the manga is one of those reads that you must have in your pocket for long train trips to keep you occupied. Of course you should be OT (Older Teen) 15 or older to read, but if you are then enjoy because time should melt and flow like water as you sit and read these volumes, making them something of a joy to own. The story is engaging and page turning, the characters are fully developed and have this vibrant personality that really grabs you as you read, the artwork is keenly done and nice to look at, and everything is well paced and well done from the first page to the last turn. A recommended read you should be checking out, though only for those of Older Teen status since this is OT for Older Teen (15+) due to content (as I said before).
Breakdown time, guess what I’m about to say!

R.O.B.D… Read or… BreakDown(?!?) (1st)
What’s Hot?
I think I already said what was hot about this, but I’ll say more gushingly positive things in the Overall.

What’s Not?
I won’t say the obvious about being 15 or older to read this.

Moments to Remember?
I have quite a few warm fuzzy moments and memorable moments of different kinds here, but let’s narrow it down to a few just for this review.

1-Ms. Readman’s first day at Nenene’s school, which becomes a comedy of errors as she gets a full on dose of her “sensei” Nenene before she has to save her from a kidnapping plot… nuff said because I don’t want to spoil the moment.
2-Ms. Readman, temporary dress up doll… eh?
3-Whatever happened to Paper Master #18? This book might say.

There’s more but let’s not spoil the moment, let the book speak for itself.

What to Ignore?
For your reference I did note a few literary references. From the obvious Stephen King reference which is part of the story, to the costume references (at one point even a DragonBall Z reference as Ms. Readman dresses up like Goku briefly). There is probably more but I’ll leave them for you to find.

Overall?
It seems I have lots of positive things to say about VIZ… now if only their PR dept. would actually communicate with me, since I haven‘t had a PR contact with VIZ in the longest time. Oh, well.
Well, despite that I still have a big amount of praise for this one as it becomes the third title this year that I loved so much I’m giving it a perfect rating (which, in one site I work for, would be the coveted 5... Out of 5... Working that Adam Sessler accent there.)
Read it, covet it, enjoy it. A solid read more people should be reading, nuff said.

-- David Rasmussen 25th Jun 06