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Title (English) R.o.D. TV
Title (Japanese) R.o.D. TV
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Fantasy Novel

Notes TV series inspired by 3-episode OVA series.
Classification -
Synopsis
Review Yomiko readman has disappeared. Instead the lead character of the first few episodes is one Nenene Sumiregawa, an author who has not written anything for four years. She makes a promotional trip to Hong Kong, where an envious mad author tries to assasinate the "annoying Japanese bitch". He is foiled by a trio of private detectives, Michelle, Maggie and Anita, who have offered their services to Nenene. On th return flight, a second author tries to assasinate Nenene, and is foiled by the three sisters who turn out to have paper-wielding powers far in excess of those of Yomiko Readman. And here is the problem. It's all far too much, even for a comedy drama. A big disappointment. (GC)

I guess that I'm going to be a real curmudgeon here, but now having seen the first couple of episodes of "ROD TV", I've got to say that I can't see what is the cause of all the enthusiasm for this sequel to the OAV series from a couple of years ago. I loved the original "Read or Die" OAV series with its marvelous timing, action, animation, humor, music and general sense of fun. And the characters, both lead and supporting, were larger than life and yet totally enjoyable. Yomiko, in particular, has become an iconic figure in manga and anime. So what do we get with J.C. Staff's "R.O.D. TV"?

Well, we get a central character, Nenene, who is thoroughly unlikable and who appears to be in a PMS maxed-out state 24/7/365. Sure, Nenene was Yomiko's best friend in the books and manga, and she wasn't the most cheery person there either, but does that mean that she has to be a total a-hole all the time in the TV anime? How are we supposed to relate to her?

We also get the new heroines of the series, the "Paper Sisters" Anita, Maggie and Michelle. Anita may as well be Nenene's younger sister, because she is trying hard to compete in the bitchiness sweepstakes. Maggie appears to have her personality designed to attract fans of Sakaki from "Azumanga Daioh". Michelle is a blond clone of Mutsumi from "Love Hina". And all three provide "humor" by being either ditzy or obnoxious.

At the same time, the three sisters have powers with paper magic that go way beyond anything Yomiko displayed in the OAV series. One has to immediately ask why, since the sisters have such great powers, are they as poor as church mice? Wouldn't some government agency hire them in a manner similar to how Yomiko was hired? Of course, the sister's ineptness and poverty are there to drive the plot, which in many ways seems to be something from AIC rather than J.C. Staff, and to provide the humor, such as it is.

So in the first episode we get a demonstration of the powers of the sisters, why everyone ought to be gunning for Nenene, and some great animation. In the second episode we get to see Michelle's boobs bounce, again why everyone ought to be gunning for Nenene, and some okay animation. I've got the next couple of episodes downloaded so that I can see if this improves in any manner, but I really don't have a lot of hope. Essentially, what we have here in "R.O.D. TV" is just another "cute girls doing stupid things" show. Hey, this stuff appears to sell, and lots of people "love it to death", but when you get down to the details, in the end it just isn't very good or very original.
(Dave Baranyi)

Credits
Episodes
Release
TV Showing See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.
Date 2003
Production
Broadcaster
Animation
References & Help Look up the latest data on this title at:
Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or
Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) ,
or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001).
Help & further information.

 

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