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Read or Die


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I taped the movie on CN as well as all of last week's airing of the series on G4TechTV (it's on too late for me to watch). I just watched the movie and first episode of the series.

First, the movie. The animation was great, it was well directed, the designs were nice, the music was great, the opening credit sequence was worthy of a Bond film, the fight between two intangible characters was a favorite, and the dubbing was generally good. Also, the paper control powers were unique and very cool. It's nice to see a super power that's never been done before (afaik).

Now on to the bad. Anyone else think of Independence Day during the assault on the White House? Also, the constantly wetting himself President was bizarre. Once would be okay, but doing it over and over and over again was just irritating. It reminded me of Saturday Night Live where they seem to believe that saying something not funny loudly and repeatedly somehow equals a joke. :\

Then there was the story. What the hell happened? The villain just kind of showed up. I have no idea who he was or why he was trying to kill everyone on the planet. And what was going on with that book everyone wanted? Did they ever explain what the villain needed it for? In fact, the villain seemed confused as to why she wanted it back. And then, in the end, the girl makes a parachute out of it. :confused:

I was also confused by another thing. When Agent Paper and Ms. Deep were fighting the guy with the staff, the staff guy wounds Ms. Deep and gets the book. Who struck down the staff guy? It looked to me like it was the villain.

Is that right? If so, why would he do that since he now has to steal the book later? :uhoh:

Anyway, my thoughts are that the movie was like the Matrix trilogy. It looked nice and there are some pretty cool ideas, but it fell apart on a storytelling level. It's a shame since I wanted to like it. I'd give it a 5 out of 10 on style alone.

Now as to the series. Wow, this is different. No, really, it's completely different from the movie. I've only seen the first episode, but it looks to concern the 3 sisters of Agent Paper who all possess he powers and book obsession. There's no mention of the secret agency from the movie. The girls this time work as detectives/bodyguards.

I'm kind of torn about it. Like I said, the movie's strongest point was the concepts. The tv series doesn't seem to be using them. It's possible that these things will turn up later on, so I've reserving judgement.
 

Villano said:
Then there was the story. What the hell happened? The villain just kind of showed up. I have no idea who he was or why he was trying to kill everyone on the planet.

The main villain was Ikkyu, and like the rest of the Ijin, he was either an emulator or a (warped) clone of the historical figure of the same name. His idea of trying to murder most of the world's population is meant to be because of his insane idea that he can then recreate society using just the societal elites (the Ijin) as a template for how the world should be. In other words, it was to then remake the world in his own image.

And what was going on with that book everyone wanted? Did they ever explain what the villain needed it for?

From what I understood, the book was necessary because it had Beethoven's DNA, which they used to create the Ijin of him, who would play the melody that carried the subliminal suicide message.

In fact, the villain seemed confused as to why she wanted it back. And then, in the end, the girl makes a parachute out of it. :confused:

The villain's confusion seemed to stem from the fact that Yomiko was obsessed with regaining her book even though she had no idea that it was anything other than a book. He couldn't understand why she'd want back something that was, to her, just another book, since it had no real use that way. The irony at the end was that she fought so hard to recover her book, but then had to destroy it to create a parachute to save herself.

I was also confused by another thing. When Agent Paper and Ms. Deep were fighting the guy with the staff, the staff guy wounds Ms. Deep and gets the book. Who struck down the staff guy? It looked to me like it was the villain.

Is that right? If so, why would he do that since he now has to steal the book later? :uhoh:

The Son Goku Ijin (the staff guy) was somehow able to use his Nyoi-bo (staff) to wound Nancy, though I'm not sure how. He does, however, get his hands on the book, tossing it to the insect Ijin, who flies away with it. However, that's all Son Goku is able to do, being too weakened to accomplish anything else. Ikkyu then kills him so he can't be taken prisoner and made to talk.

I'm kind of torn about it. Like I said, the movie's strongest point was the concepts. The tv series doesn't seem to be using them. It's possible that these things will turn up later on, so I've reserving judgement.

From what I've heard, Read or Dream (the TV series proper name, IIRC) gets better as it goes on. That's just hearsay though.
 
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Alzrius said:
The main villain was Ikkyu, and like the rest of the Ijin, he was either an emulator or a (warped) clone of the historical figure of the same name. His idea of trying to murder most of the world's population is meant to be because of his insane idea that he can then recreate society using just the societal elites (the Ijin) as a template for how the world should be. In other words, it was to then remake the world in his own image.

From what I understood, the book was necessary because it had Beethoven's DNA, which they used to create the Ijin of him, who would play the melody that carried the subliminal suicide message.

The villain's confusion seemed to stem from the fact that Yomiko was obsessed with regaining her book even though she had no idea that it was anything other than a book. He couldn't understand why she'd want back something that was, to her, just another book, since it had no real use that way. The irony at the end was that she fought so hard to recover her book, but then had to destroy it to create a parachute to save herself.

The Son Goku Ijin (the staff guy) was somehow able to use his Nyoi-bo (staff) to wound Nancy, though I'm not sure how. He does, however, get his hands on the book, tossing it to the insect Ijin, who flies away with it. However, that's all Son Goku is able to do, being too weakened to accomplish anything else. Ikkyu then kills him so he can't be taken prisoner and made to talk.

Thanks, that clears some things up. But, if the villain was a clone (or whatever), who made him?

Oh well, I'm spending too much time thinking about a movie I didn't really care for. :)
 

Villano said:
Thanks, that clears some things up. But, if the villain was a clone (or whatever), who made him?

Damned if I know. I'm not even sure he was a clone. :confused:
 
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Which Nancy did we get back

Some of you might already have noticed this...

I had the luxury of watching over half of R.O.D. the TV, before I saw the 3-part original R.O.D. I didn't know about the original until during Wendy's "report" in the TV, I saw flashback animation that definitely was not in the series. LOL...we all know that they don't just create new animation for flashbacks!!!

That gave me the luxury of checking during the original ROD that Nancy's Igjin lover says something about the hand she shoots with before she betrays him. The "redeemed" Ms. Deep that sacrifices herself in the spaceship shoots with her left hand. And the new clone (which Yamiko calls her the little sister of the other) shoots with her right hand. By the time Nancy picks up a gun in the TV, she definitely always uses her right hand. This, given the other clues (such as the submerged water defeat and her memory loss), pretty much makes it certain that she was the younger, always evil clone until her memory loss.

Maybe old news to most, but thought I would mention it.
 

Into the Woods

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