About R.O.D

R.O.D: Read or Die (リード・オア・ダイ, Rīdo oa Dai?) is a series of light novels authored by Hideyuki Kurata, published under Shueisha's Super Dash Bunko imprint. Read or Die follows Yomiko Readman, codename "The Paper", an agent for the Special Operations Division of the British Library. There are currently 11 Read or Die novels. In volume 11, a note stated that the series would end with the upcoming volume 12. In 2007, the official website posted an apology for the delay in volume 12's publication, stating that the author is trying his best to finish the story.

Along with the novels, Kurata scripted the official R.O.D manga illustrated by Shutaro Yamada, which was originally published in Ultra Jump magazine and later printed into four paperback volumes, and Read or Dream, a manga illustrated by Ran Ayanaga set in the same universe as Read or Die.

The popularity of the Read or Die novels and manga resulted in the production of the Read or Die Original Video Animation (OVA) in 2001, which was directed by Koji Masunari and produced by Aniplex. In 2003, Aniplex produced R.O.D the TV, a 26-episode animated television series, which served as a sequel to the OVA and introduced Read or Dream's characters to those from Read or Die.

Read or Die takes place in an alternate history world where the British Empire has remained a major superpower. The Empire's continued existence is guaranteed by the British Library (大英図書館, Daiei-toshokan?), an external intelligence agency working within the actual British Library and its Special Operations Division (the British Secret Intelligence Service, more widely known as MI6, is also often mentioned, despite Kurata's editors (erroneously) telling him it no longer existed. [1]

The series follows Yomiko Readman, also known as "The Paper", a superhuman agent of the Library's Special Operations (possessing a "double 0" certification that denotes a "license to kill", as in the James Bond series, although she rarely invokes it). In both the novels and manga, her adventures alternate between doing missions for the British Library and helping young novelist Nenene Sumiregawa.

Only the first novel and first manga have similar stories, involving rescuing Nenene Sumiregawa from a vicious kidnapper. Otherwise, the novels, manga, and animated versions of the stories have divergent plotlines. While characterizations are usually consistent even when storylines are not, some characters have different origins in different versions of the story, or do not appear at all. Still, it's mostly an ongoing story told through different medias from the novels to the animated series so far.




*sursa=wikipedia