14 January 2006, 5:14 AM
I'm sure some of us have seen either the Read Or Die OAVs or the TV series (or in the cases of some, both) What's your take on ROD, love it, hate it, neutral? If you've seen both series, how do you think they compare?
I first picked up the OAV a couple of years ago, without knowing anything about it. It immediately rocketed to one of my favourite animes of all time (some of you may remember all the Nancy avatars I had at the time) because I loved its spoofy, irreverent nature that makes fun of so many cliches of the spy-thriller genre, and its cast of crazy characters, although it still disturbs me to this day that I know people who act a great deal like Yomiko Readman (and the Paper Sisters from the TV series). The combination of humour and seriousness, even sadness, made a real impact, and the mixture of science fiction with history were pretty new to me.
I started watching the TV series last year and, although it was a little hard to adjust to the new cast of characters and the absence of all my old favourites in the beginning, I soon came to love it as well. For everything I hated about the TV series, there were two things I loved. Those characters that returned from the OAV had changed so radically, and were viewed so differently by the new characters, that they were practically new characters in their own right. Again, the mix of comedy, tragedy and ominous suspense kept me hooked, preordering the DVDs when I could afford them and waylaying the postman whenever one was due.
I admit that I can't pick a favourite between the two. For all the things I hate about the TV series (the British accents, Michelle/Junior, and the crimes committed against Nancy's character) there are so many more things I love (such as the other characters), and as much as I love the OAV, it's only three episodes of great balanced against almost 26 episodes of good (some episodes weren't so great, but my memory's a little fuzzy atm). There, fangirlish rant comes to an end.
What did the rest of you think about the ROD series?
I first picked up the OAV a couple of years ago, without knowing anything about it. It immediately rocketed to one of my favourite animes of all time (some of you may remember all the Nancy avatars I had at the time) because I loved its spoofy, irreverent nature that makes fun of so many cliches of the spy-thriller genre, and its cast of crazy characters, although it still disturbs me to this day that I know people who act a great deal like Yomiko Readman (and the Paper Sisters from the TV series). The combination of humour and seriousness, even sadness, made a real impact, and the mixture of science fiction with history were pretty new to me.
I started watching the TV series last year and, although it was a little hard to adjust to the new cast of characters and the absence of all my old favourites in the beginning, I soon came to love it as well. For everything I hated about the TV series, there were two things I loved. Those characters that returned from the OAV had changed so radically, and were viewed so differently by the new characters, that they were practically new characters in their own right. Again, the mix of comedy, tragedy and ominous suspense kept me hooked, preordering the DVDs when I could afford them and waylaying the postman whenever one was due.
I admit that I can't pick a favourite between the two. For all the things I hate about the TV series (the British accents, Michelle/Junior, and the crimes committed against Nancy's character) there are so many more things I love (such as the other characters), and as much as I love the OAV, it's only three episodes of great balanced against almost 26 episodes of good (some episodes weren't so great, but my memory's a little fuzzy atm). There, fangirlish rant comes to an end.
What did the rest of you think about the ROD series?
Just because it's in the thesaurus doesn't mean it's a good idea.
And why isn't 'dethesaurisation' in the dictionary?
And why isn't 'dethesaurisation' in the dictionary?