Anime Post: Read or Die, the TV
An action-fantasy show about three sisters with paper warping powers, and the joy of reading
The show begins with a Japanese author named Nenene Sumiregawa, who is visiting Hong Kong to attend a book signing event. Her writing and her fame had reached beyond the shores of her home country, but this has brought her some trouble. On one hand, she has the jealous rivalry of some other writers, who haven’t been as successful as her and want to give her a piece of their mind. On the other hand — partly because the disappearance of a close friend has soured her perspective on life and affected her personality — she has been suffering from extreme writers block for years. This has given her reason to believe that her career and reputation as a writer is forfeit. Though, that doesn’t mean she’s willing to throw in the towel yet, as she’s known to be rather stubborn.
Her arrival in Hong Kong is attended to by a trio of sisters, named Michelle Cheung, Maggie Mui, and Anita King. They run a private detective agency from their book cluttered apartment, and first act as tour guides for Nenene abroad in Hong Kong. They are fans of her work and are proud to have the writer stay at their home, since they consider this writer’s visit to be an honor as bibliophiles. Or at least, the eldest two see matters this way, while the youngest angrily declares her hatred of books right in front of the author. Perhaps she hates books because of the fact that their apartment is filled with the piles of them that her elder sisters have practically hoarded. While the purchasing sprees for those books have in the past left the sisters unable to easily afford other, more basic necessities. In defense of the older sisters, though, they quiet possibly can’t help themselves.
Michelle is the eldest sister of the group, and she often seems to be the one taking the lead of the family, although she tends to do so through a “Three Sisters Vote” (that she always wins). She’s the most extroverted and lighthearted sibling, so she can appear rather silly and absent-minded at times. Although one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, The fact that Michelle happens to be a blonde doesn’t help to dispel the image of her naivete or immaturity. Her favorite books are the Harry Potter series, which she cheerfully tells Nenene at the start of the series.
Maggie is the middle sister, but she practically towers over the other two and has the darkest head of hair as well. Accordingly, she’s physically the strongest member of this little family. However, in contrast to her somewhat intimidating appearance, she’s also generally shy, the quietest member, and the most emotionally sensitive out of the sisters. She seems interested in books that are of the more emotional and moody variety, and prefers to read and sleep in enclosed and small spaces filled with her favorite books. “Nesting,” is what her sisters call her behavior.
Finally, theres Anita, the youngest sister. Besides her open distaste for books and disinterest in reading, she’s also more tomboy-ish and aggressive than her older sisters, and so generally more ill-tempered. She tends to speak more directly and forcefully, and is sometimes willing to just be rude. For these reasons Nenene likes to call her a little brat, although its rather ironic given that some aspects of their personality are similar. This doesn’t mean Anita can’t operate smoothly in a social setting, and she can be friendlier than she initially lets on. She hates books.
But, what they all have in common besides their sisterhood is a special power of theirs: They’re Paper Masters, magically capable of warping paper into any tool or weapon they might need or want. Extreme and maybe even disgusting levels of bibliophilia tends to be a byproduct of this ability on the personality of the possessor.
Although Nenene isn’t thrilled about the arrangement, The Paper Sisters rapidly go from being her tour guides to being her bodyguards after terrorist threats were made against her by another writer. But later, and with the help of some other old friends, they all find themselves standing up against even greater enemies. Enemies such the powerful intelligence agency known as The British Library, and their plot to brainwash and conquer the world.
Themes
Lesbianism If there was any specific, yet overarching theme that I think could be found in this Action/Spy Thriller anime, I would call it, “The Book and Liberty”.
The viewer isn’t given that much insight or information on the contents of Nenene’s novels, or what genres they actually fall into. Instead, one is minimally informed on what her writing might have been about through hints given in the dialogue of the show. The most information one is given beyond that is a glimpse of the titles. So throughout the show, in small measures and in her statements, its implied that her books feature high and noble concepts like the truth, love, justice, and heroism.
When Nenene was physically threatened by another writer, her rhetoric against him was that she didn’t accept being silenced through violence and that, due to the universality and popularity of her work, she simply won’t be quieted. And, if that writer wanted to overcome her and her ideas, he should’ve done so with his own literary talent.
In a couple of other occasions, when Nenene was being experimented on or held hostage by one evil intelligence organization or another, she refers to her books and her identity as a writer as reasons why she will not give in to their attempts to break her or use her. Its also important to her to write a tale for her missing friend, and that she was the one who wrote it. Not some brainwashed version of her
When the British Library coerced one of the Paper Sisters into betraying Nenene, pressuring one sister by using Anita as a hostage, Nenene mentioned the ideals writen into her novels to assure the Sister that she wouldn’t try running away if complying with the abduction would mean helping them. In other words, Nenene sees her novels, and her identity and career as a writer, as meaningful. The intelligence agencies that attack her and the Paper Sisters don’t seem to disagree with her or her readers on that, since they aimed to control her.
The nature of Nenene and the Paper Sister’s speech and attitudes is generally what I’ll loosely call “Liberal Literate”, for lack of a better words. (Sorry, ironically I dond red gud, so I’m not sure what specific term I should use for what I’m going to try to describe). To be more or less precise, they stand for the value of intellectual freedom. This value is illustrated in the characters rather sentimental attitudes towards books, and their relationship to them as voracious readers or eager writers. And, if you’re even vaguely familiar with that idea of intellectual freedom, and the importance of reading and being literate had been impressed upon you as a child in the Free World, then you certainly recognize some of its greatest taboos. The rules of which are: You think censorship is wrong, propaganda is a sort of abuse, and burning a book is one of the worst things you can do. Its pretty clear that the show itself also seems to share the same values and taboos as the heroes.
The villians and antagonists of this anime end up breaking each of those previously mentioned rules, in the name of achieving control over all mankind. They have no problem with trying to enslave writers in order to exploit their talents to create propaganda. Conspiring among themselves and with world governments to capture and secure bookstores and libraries, with the goal of manipulating the thinking of nations, was a matter of practicality to them instead of morality. Burning as many books as they or their agents could get their hands on, because they deemed them useless, is just part of the scheme. And there’s great irony to be found in the fact that the villains of the show were, at their core, Reading Societies and The British Library — Institutions that were meant to appreciate and protect books, and defend intellectual liberty and the freedom to write and read to ones development or at ones pleasure.
Meanwhile on the protagonists side, when one of them suggests that burning a book that the British Library was fighting them to possess might be the best strategic move, its considered shocking and almost unthinkable.
A little earlier, in this post, I expressed some dissatisfaction with the use of the word “Liberal” as a term for the mindset of the characters in relation to the shows themes. But it might be more appropriate than I had previously considered. Since Read or Die the TV was made in 2003, its probably not a coincidence that the antagonists global dominance plot is enabled in part by a stand-in for then US President George W. Bush. Who had a reputation and a negative image of being anti-intellectual, or simply not being a habitual reader.
It might help to better illustrate this theme of “the Book and Liberty” by looking slightly more deeply into what the British Library really meant to achieve.
[Although, for the reader of this post, that means more Spoilers]
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The British Library was trying gain world wide control as a means to the end of, first, reviving a supernatural character called “The Gentleman”. The British Library used to be the force behind the British Empire which dominated the Western World. And the Gentleman was the power and genius underneath it all, capable of even rewriting reality and history if he liked. With his death, the British Empire and British Library suffered a massive loss of prestige and authority, which they would terribly love to undo.
Secondly, the British Empire wanted to use the restored power of The Gentleman to supposedly perfect humanity, and themselves as well. First by the enrichment of the world’s intelligence, and then by knitting everyone a conflict-free past thats securely under the banner of Great Britain in order to unite the world under one culture.
Given the way that agents of the British Library explain their mission to revive The Gentleman, the viewer would be absolutely correct for thinking that they had gone cultist. Because described in other words, the British Library desired to erase history, abolish difference, and rob humanity of free will in the name of a utopia written by their Great Leader, or possibly their god. They may not have been brutishly Anti-intellectual. Yet they destroyed books and tried to enslave Nenene and other writers, because they were certainly not in favor of freedom for themselves or humankind.
This is part of how the show establishes a thematic correlation between “The Book” and “Liberty”.
Did I mention Lesbianism? Besides Nenene and the Paper Sisters, the protagonists and hero team includes another Paper Master named Yomiko Readman, who is also a former British Library agent, and an American Soldier named Drake, who is true to his form by bringing the heavy guns and explosives to the fight. I might be reading too deeply into things, but its probably also not a coincidence that an American is involved in fighting on the side in favor of liberty.
I can’t be the only one to have noticed the subtly inserted Yuri themes Had it not been for the British Library’s nefarious plans to alter reality, it would appear on the surface as if there was some kind of irony in the fact the Paper Sisters and Yomiko fought to prevent the Gentleman’s revival. After all, Bibliophilia and copius reading comes with the territory of being Paper Masters, and The Gentleman was possibly the greatest writer that could’ve ever existed in that show. However, besides having their reality and memories being rewritten, what they would’ve gotten instead of more books from him would’ve been one of the readers greatest enemies: An authoritarian and paternalistic government.
TL;DR: The girls can do combat magic with paper and love to read. They join up with a famous writer to use both skills to fight the Tyranny of the British.
You know, thank goodness this show was made before Tumblr or Twitter were developed. I’m certain that Yomiko and Nenene would’ve held accounts on those sites and become political commentators, and they would’ve been insufferable.