We all like action-adventure with a strong-minded, quirky heroine at the center of it. R.O.D. the TV serves up three. Make that four, maybe six. Start with the three who are the "Paper Sisters," (Michelle, Maggie, and Anita) who make their living taking odd jobs that sometimes utilize their odd powers as "Paper Masters." They have the ability to use ordinary paper to do extra-ordinary things, apparently defying physics and bad guys with the same sweep of the hand.
The story goes on for 7 DVDs and I would be perfectly happy for 7 more. It gets started with the Paper Sisters being hired to be first a tour guide and then a body-guard for Nenene, an acclaimed author who has not published anything for four years. The ditzy girls start out making a complete hash of everything, infuriating Nenene and being more of a burden than a help. It turns out that this was part of the plan of Nenene's long-suffering editor, who thought that the activity might yank his barren author out of her funk. It works, but not in a way anyone could have predicted. Saying any more of the story would just be a spoiler.
Michelle and Maggie worship Nenene. Not so Anita, who doesn't like books or authors, and Nenene refers to Anita most of the time as "brat." The sisters follow Nenene back to Japan and end up imposing themselves on her, living with her in spite of the fact that she doesn't want a bodyguard. Nenene is fairly ungracious given the fact that the sisters save her life on more than one occasion.
Some have mentioned that the pacing of the plot has been a problem. I could not disagree more. If the expectation was nonstop explosions and martial arts, then look elsewhere. If you want balanced action and realistically developed characters, this is where you should be. Every episode is entertaining, but not just the same thing over and over again. The story arc works, even if it seems to take obscure turns now and then.
It is worth remarking on that the characters and story is strong enough that none of the women in it seem to have any need for male love interests. Instead, they form intense bonds with each other. Only the youngest, Anita, cultivates a boyfriend (to the premature delight of Michelle) and she considers herself too young for anything serious. Still, it isn't too hard to imagine any of them to ultimately be romantically involved. The story just simply doesn't need it and the message is that the women simply don't need men to complete them. That's something young girls who might watch this need to see more of.
The result generates memorable characters that work together. Anita is the spirit, Nenene is the intellect, Maggie is the backbone, Yokimo is the conscience, and Michelle is the heart (in the Western sense). All need each other, and lend each other what they have.
This aspect is so pronounced that someone must have noticed; at one point the story takes time out to let Nenene explain that no, she is not a lesbian. Still, it is curious as to why she seems to have emotionally collapsed with the disappearance of Yokimo Readman, the character from the OAV ROD, an event that happens four years before this story starts.
The animation is first rate, clean edged and smooth. Viewers of action have long been used to choppy action scenes which are a series of stills that are panned across with a rushing background. There is none of that in ROD. The Paper Sisters don't leap into action so much as flow into it. The marquee action shot where Michelle, skirts and hair waving in the sudden storm kicked up by her sisters, draws her bow and makes her shot with a serene look on her face is a scene you can rewind and play over again just because it is so fun to watch. That is only one of many scenes like that.
Also on the subject of artwork is the very astute use of color, which takes a while to recognize. The very complex colors used never seem to be picked by accident, for both the characters and the background. Anita is gem-colored (her hair is nominally "pink" but appears ruddy orange when the lighting is suited to it), Maggie is solid earth-toned, and Michelle is usually an ethereal blond and white. Nenene and Yokimo look like the books they represent. Much of the high-tech or low-tech backgrounds (office buildings, secret laboratories, school) also get tone treatments that deserves credit. As with most high quality anime these days, they get a lot of mileage with shadows and indirect light, setting the mood and leveraging suggestion rather than forcing depiction.
This is the first 10-star anime I have seen from somewhere other than Studio Ghibli. I hope there will be many more. Buy it, rent it, borrow it. Just don't cheat yourself out of seeing it.
The story goes on for 7 DVDs and I would be perfectly happy for 7 more. It gets started with the Paper Sisters being hired to be first a tour guide and then a body-guard for Nenene, an acclaimed author who has not published anything for four years. The ditzy girls start out making a complete hash of everything, infuriating Nenene and being more of a burden than a help. It turns out that this was part of the plan of Nenene's long-suffering editor, who thought that the activity might yank his barren author out of her funk. It works, but not in a way anyone could have predicted. Saying any more of the story would just be a spoiler.
Michelle and Maggie worship Nenene. Not so Anita, who doesn't like books or authors, and Nenene refers to Anita most of the time as "brat." The sisters follow Nenene back to Japan and end up imposing themselves on her, living with her in spite of the fact that she doesn't want a bodyguard. Nenene is fairly ungracious given the fact that the sisters save her life on more than one occasion.
Some have mentioned that the pacing of the plot has been a problem. I could not disagree more. If the expectation was nonstop explosions and martial arts, then look elsewhere. If you want balanced action and realistically developed characters, this is where you should be. Every episode is entertaining, but not just the same thing over and over again. The story arc works, even if it seems to take obscure turns now and then.
It is worth remarking on that the characters and story is strong enough that none of the women in it seem to have any need for male love interests. Instead, they form intense bonds with each other. Only the youngest, Anita, cultivates a boyfriend (to the premature delight of Michelle) and she considers herself too young for anything serious. Still, it isn't too hard to imagine any of them to ultimately be romantically involved. The story just simply doesn't need it and the message is that the women simply don't need men to complete them. That's something young girls who might watch this need to see more of.
The result generates memorable characters that work together. Anita is the spirit, Nenene is the intellect, Maggie is the backbone, Yokimo is the conscience, and Michelle is the heart (in the Western sense). All need each other, and lend each other what they have.
This aspect is so pronounced that someone must have noticed; at one point the story takes time out to let Nenene explain that no, she is not a lesbian. Still, it is curious as to why she seems to have emotionally collapsed with the disappearance of Yokimo Readman, the character from the OAV ROD, an event that happens four years before this story starts.
The animation is first rate, clean edged and smooth. Viewers of action have long been used to choppy action scenes which are a series of stills that are panned across with a rushing background. There is none of that in ROD. The Paper Sisters don't leap into action so much as flow into it. The marquee action shot where Michelle, skirts and hair waving in the sudden storm kicked up by her sisters, draws her bow and makes her shot with a serene look on her face is a scene you can rewind and play over again just because it is so fun to watch. That is only one of many scenes like that.
Also on the subject of artwork is the very astute use of color, which takes a while to recognize. The very complex colors used never seem to be picked by accident, for both the characters and the background. Anita is gem-colored (her hair is nominally "pink" but appears ruddy orange when the lighting is suited to it), Maggie is solid earth-toned, and Michelle is usually an ethereal blond and white. Nenene and Yokimo look like the books they represent. Much of the high-tech or low-tech backgrounds (office buildings, secret laboratories, school) also get tone treatments that deserves credit. As with most high quality anime these days, they get a lot of mileage with shadows and indirect light, setting the mood and leveraging suggestion rather than forcing depiction.
This is the first 10-star anime I have seen from somewhere other than Studio Ghibli. I hope there will be many more. Buy it, rent it, borrow it. Just don't cheat yourself out of seeing it.