R.O.D -THE TV- is a 26-episode TV anime series, animated by J.C.Staff and produced by Aniplex, directed by Koji Masunari and scripted by Yousuke Kuroda, about the adventures of three paper-manipulating sisters, Michelle, Maggie and Anita, who become the bodyguards of Sumiregawa Nenene, a famous Japanese writer. Featuring music by Taku Iwasaki, the series is a sequel to the Read or Die OVA. Its official title, written precisely, is "R.O.D the TV". This is a catch-all acronym referring to the inclusion of characters from both the Read or Die manga and OVA and the Read or Dream manga, which revolves solely around the Paper Sisters. Promotional material for R.O.D the TV displays the show as revolving around the three sisters from the original "Read or Dream", however, Nenene is generally accepted as being the protagonist of the series.
R.O.D -THE TV- first premiered across Japan from October 1, 2003 through March 16, 2004 on pay-per-view satellite television platform SKY PerfecTV!. It was later aired across the terrestrial Fuji Television station from October 15, 2003 through March 18, 2004. The series spanned a total of 26 episodes.
The complete series was broadcast worldwide by the anime satellite television network, Animax.
The series starts in 2006, five years after the "I-Jin" incident detailed in the Read or Die OVA. Yomiko Readman (AKA The Paper, agent of British Library Task Force) has supposedly gone missing, and Nenene Sumiregawa, her former student and best friend, is still in Tokyo after her parents moved to the USA. Nenene has not written a book since Yomiko disappeared, as she has become lonely and frustrated that her sensei has never read her last book, and she feels she can't write again until she hears Yomiko's reaction to the book, so Nenene often disappears for long periods of time searching for Yomiko, and has been periodically doing so ever since her "disappearance".
During a trip to Hong Kong, Nenene meets the three sisters, Michelle, Maggie and Anita (from the Read or Dream manga), who are supposed to take care of her during her visit. However, the hotel at which Nenene is supposed to stay at is bombed, and at a press conference Nenene is briefly held hostage by a jealous rival in her industry. The three sisters end up becoming her bodyguards and join her back to Tokyo.
Each sister has paper manipulation skills similar to Yomiko, although significantly less powerful and more focused in scope. After the initial action-filled adventure, the first several episodes take on the feel of an odd-couple comedy which focuses on tension between Nenene and the sisters, who move into her apartment and mooch off her, all while dealing with various crazies and psychos in their everyday lives. The sisters also perform odd jobs as agents of the Dokusensha (ostensibly a Chinese publishing company, but more like an Illuminati-type organization focusing on the collection of rare and powerful documents). This eventually puts them and Nenene in direct conflict with the British Library (the protagonists from the OVA series and manga; Dokusensha is established as the British Library's rival in the manga).
Events grow more serious as the series progresses as, in typical anime fashion, atrocities are committed by both sides, thrusting the main characters into the middle of a conflict between literary superpowers, the British Library and Dokusensha, who are both trying to collect ancient artifacts (books, of course) to control the entire world and even rewrite history. After a horrific collision between the two superpowers, Nenene and the Paper Sisters set out to find the missing Yomiko to learn the truth about the conflict and save the world from literary terrorism.
- From
Wikipedia