Like many of the best anime, Read or Dies plot looks absolutely ridiculous on papers. Superpowered librarians and resurrected minor historical figures fight ridiculous, lightning-paced battles for a lost Beethoven score of, at least initially, uncertain significance. The premise, and many of the superpowers hurled around with vicious abandon, are absolutely absurd, yet the show maintains its own bizarre internal logic which catches you up in the shows world without requiring you to ask too many questions, especially if watched in one sitting. Indeed, the show never tries to explain any of its more bizarre elements, and a good thing as well. Something like ROD could easily get bogged down in technobabble fan-service, but instead it rips along at a great pace. Whilst not a classic by any means, ROD is a great bit of fun, with colourful, eccentric characters, top-notch animation and good, crisp modern anime artwork thankfully free of blatant CGI abuse. When did anime ever have to make sense anyway?
Review of R.O.D Read or Die
