|
Three Papermasters, Michelle, Maggie and Anita, take a job
as the bodyguard to a Japanese writer, Nenene. In their spare
time they take on private jobs from the Dokusensha organisation
recovering lost books. But things are not always as they seem..
This
is the fourth volume of the wacky R.O.D. TV series,
covering episodes thirteen to sixteen. The animation is up
to its usual high standards with a vibrant pallet evident
throughout the episodes.
The
disc opens with Twilight of the Papers II, in which
the girls are in the middle of rescuing Nenene from the evil
clutches of Dokusensha. Whilst the episode is extremely atmospheric,
it's a bit of a strange choice as an opening episode to a
new disc as essentially it does little than finish off the
story from episode twelve. On its own it makes very little
sense. Having said that the orchestral score lends an atmospheric
ambience not often found on television anime. This episode
also has a commentary track, featuring a number of the English
vocal actors, which whilst it's amusing has little to do with
the episode itself.
Episode
fourteen, Paper Leaf World, is the real kicker. Having
gone through a number of adventures you get the feeling that
the makers suddenly thought that they needed to get on with
the overall story arc. We therefore find ourselves in the
company of Joker's secretary, who throughout the episode recaps
the main back story. It would appear that the United Kingdom,
once a great power, has fallen on had times; its greatest
leader has been imprinted on seven books for the day that
he can be brought back to life. Of course, this is where we
find out that the books that the girls have been recovering
for Dokusensha are the very same books that have the great
leader's mind imprint. The power struggle has now tipped in
favour of the British Library, a great centre of espionage,
apparently.
With
the release of this episode the series moves away from stand
alone stories to its main arc. With Hong Kong in ruins and
the Dokusesha's headquarters destroyed, the girls are now
inextricably caught up with the British libraries efforts
to resurrect its dead leader.
The
next episode, In the Grey Light of the Abyss, finds
the girls back in Japan, but things are not how they left
them. The flat has been trashed and the girls are wanted by
the police as terrorists, after their involvement in the sinking
of Hong Kong. Anita goes all weird and starts having visions
of books being burnt. The girls go in search of the Book of
the all Seeing Eye, the last that the British Museum needs
to complete the resurrection; the trail leads them to an old
friend that they haven't seen for five years.
Fahrenheit
451 is a bit of a give away as it's the temperature that
paper burns at, which will answer the question of what was
happening to all the disappearing books in Japan. The girls
have found their long lost friend, but this is only a prelude
to more disaster.
Apart
from the commentary in the first episode the only extras are
an Art Gallery and the usual collection of trailers.
Charles
Packer
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£14.99
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£14.99
(Blahdvd.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£15.95
(Foxy.co.uk) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
