The Characters:
Character Information: Anita King
Anita is the youngest of the three sisters. She is the typical bratty, spoiled youngest child and she is sometimes a little selfish. Whenever she gets mad her face turns very red, but her sisters just say it's cute. She wants to be taller, so she drinks lots of milk. She dislikes books, unlike her sisters.
Character Information: Michelle Cheung
Michelle is talkative and prepy, completely the opposite of Maggie. Being the eldest sister, she is relied upon by her siblings, but she is ridiculously carefree. She loves books to the extent that she uses the house money to buy all the books.
Character Information: Maggie Mui
Maggie is usually taciturn and not very talkative. She is content to just stand there quietly. She is the is the tallest out of the three Paper Sisters, and the second daughter. She loves books and out of the three, she is the brave one. She likes dark places because it calms her.
Character Information: Sumiregawa Nenene
Japanese: ä¿Âì(‚·‚Âꂩ‚Ã) ‚Ë‚Ë‚Ë
Seiyuu: Satsuki Yukino
In the Read or Die novels, Nenene is a high school student. She loves to write and read books. She is a very good author and people love the books she writes. A boy who really liked her because she was so cute, tried to kidnap her. But Yomiko saved her. Hence how they met.
Nenene is deeply connected to Yomiko Readman. Nenene used to help Yomiko stay organized with her life. In the first scene of the OVA, there are many notes scattered around Yomiko's room. They are all reminders and are signed, "Nenene." For example, one is "Deposite this NOW! -Nenene".
In the R.O.D-the tv- anime, Nenene is 22 years old. She is an author. When she was 13 years old she debuted with her first novel, called "Kimi wa boku o shitteru" ("You Know Me"). She is now a best selling author. She has a very high pride, so she is very stubborn at times, but she is funny. The way she talks is a bit eccentric. She has a deeper side though and is the type who gets sad and blames everything on herself.
Nenene lives in a flat in Tokyo. Nenene's parents live in America. Her father is a programmer.
Name
For Nenene's family name, "sumire" means violet and "kawa" (which can also be written as "gawa") means river so "sumiregawa" means "violet river."
As for her given name, "nee" or "ne" is a confirmation and is at the end of the sentence. It indicates that the speaker wants the listener to agree or confirm. It is similar to English expressions "don't you think so", "isn't it?" or "right?". So "Nenene" is "right? right? right?".
Character Information: Yomiko Readman
Yomiko is a 25 year-old (OVA) secret agent with her code name as "The Paper," for the Royal British Library's Division of Special Operations (Diet). She is very cherry and "out of it", but can be quite forceful when books are involved. She loves to collect books so much that her house is full of books. In the book store, there is a picture of her on a sign saying, "Please say Hello to our most important customer." For Yomiko's secret agent job, she has magical powers. She can make paper to anything she wants it to do, for instance make a huge paper air plane or fire paper like missels.
In the manga, Yomiko's paper is actually magic paper, made by Jiggy Stardust. However, in the anime, it seems that she can use any paper.
When Yomiko is not doing her secret agent job or collecting books, she is a substitute teacher.
Name
Yomiko's name is a pun. First, "yomi" is stem form for "to read" in Japanese. "ko" can mean "little," or "child," or "girl." So "yomiko" means "reading little girl." Her lastname, "Readman," is pretty straightforward.
Character Information: Nancy Makuhari
Nancy, with the code name of Miss Deep, is another agent of the Royal British Library's Division of Special Operations who is mysterious and playful. At first she seems very stiff and aloof. But she became friends with Yomiko and she likes to tease her. Nancy is an amazing agent, she knows everything for filling the part. Nancy is able to pass through anything, for instance she fell through an entire building from the top to the bottom without getting hurt. Also, when Yomiko and Nancy first met, Nancy's hand went right through Yomiko's. But even though Nancy seems to be happy and always joking, really she is sad. Nancy has a very complicated past. Nancy also disguises herself with various identities throughout the series.
Name
Mata Hari (August 7, 1876 - October 15, 1917) was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, a Dutch exotic dancer who was accused, convicted and executed as a spy during World War I. There are numerous rumors surrounding her execution. One well-known story is that during the execution, the squad members had to be blindfolded so as not to succumb to her charms. Another rumor claims she blew a kiss to her killers before the firing began.
Character Information: Junior
Japanese: ƒWƒ…ƒjƒA
Seiyuu: Saiga Mitsuki
Junior is a mysterious boy who Anita keeps running into. She is friendly towards him and invites him to come to the class midnight meeting at their school. He comes but he doesn't join with all the people because he is shy and thus joins Anita later on. Junior is also associated with Joker (Joe Carpenter) and Wendy and has missions to collect the Gentleman books. Junior has the power to phase through things. His code name is "Staff J".
Name
"Junior" means a low-level position. It is an informal term used to contrast the inexperience of an individual compared to an experienced one.
Character Information: Drake Anderson
Drake pretends to not like to go along with all of Yomiko's missions, but really he does like the job. Drake is mostly tech support for Yomiko and Nancy.
When he first arrives on the mission in episode one, he is not very happy, becuase it's obvious he's not very excited about being called for a mission. He says, "Listen carefully! I bought a fortune paper this morning and it said, 'Excellent Luck.' 'Big Lucky.' However, not even half a day passed before I got a call from that stupid Joker. And he said I'm your support! If this is 'excellent luck,' what bad luck would I get if I got 'terrible luck'?" Drake is very sarcastic.
He used to be a soldier. But he doesn't like fighting. He loves peace and his daughter. He is very passionate and kind.
Character Information: Joker (Joe Carpenter)
Joe Carpenter is refered to as "Joker" for most of the time. He is in charge of everything. He runs "Section A Special Library Force" that's trying to retrieve the Kikou Books. He is the main person in charge of the missions for Yomiko, Nancy, and Drake. Joker works very hard. He is very smart, but not very nice.
Joker is always stressed, some of it caused by Yomiko. ^^;
Joker knows that if you want Yomiko to listen, you have to take the book she has, then she will do her job. He plays this trick on her so that she will be motivated. This isn't a bad trick, Joker knows that this is how Yomiko works.
Name
The name, "Joe Carpenter" could refer to Joseph (Jesus's father) who was a carpenter. Joseph of Nazareth, or Saint Joseph is a figure prominent in Christianity, from the New Testament who was husband of Mary and thus foster-father of Jesus. Perhaps a stretch, but Junior could represent the "Jesus" whom Joker is trying to foster to be a savior for mankind.
As for "Joker," the Joker can be an extremely beneficial, or an extremely harmful, card. In Euchre it is often used to represent Benny, the highest trump. In poker, it is wild. However, in the children's game Old Maid, a solitary joker represents the Maid, a card that is to be avoided.
The Joker is often compared to 'The Fool' in the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck. They share many similarities both in appearance and play function; the Fool is often the highest trump.
Character Information: Wendy Earhart
Wendy works as Joker's secretary. She is usually bringing him tea or organizing papers. She is very tough and cute and kind. She also is a very hard worker. She is a ditz though, as her first appearance is coming into Joker's office and dropping all her papers.
Wendy's character changes drastically for the TV series. Her personality is the opposite of clumsey and ditzy and she takes on an important role in the opperations.
Apparently, Wendy's character is a different from the OVA in the manga as well. I assume that she is like how she is in the TV series in the manga.
Name
The name "Wendy" was first introduced in Peter Pan. However, there is some evidence that the name may have been used prior to the play, in which case it could be related to the Welsh name Gwendolen or other names beginning with gwen meaning "white, fair, blessed". The name Wendy was more popular in Britain (its country of origin) than in the United States.
"Earhart" could possibly have a references to the famous Amelia Earhart. Amelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897 - c. July 2, 1937) was a famous American aviator, known for breaking new ground for female pilots, and remembered for her mysterious disappearance during a flight over the Pacific Ocean.
Character Information: Gentleman
Gentleman is very kind even though he is secretive at first glance. It seems that Gentleman is very still and very serious, but when Yomiko is upset at Joker because she needs more money to buy books, Gentleman laughs and says they will give her the Second Volume of the book.
Gentleman is Joker's boss. Joker needs Gentleman's approval for the plan. Gentleman is a very important person in the world of politics, as he is the head of the Royal British Library's Division of Special Operations.
Character Information: Lee Linho
Japanese: Æ’Å Â[¥ƒŠƒ“Æ’zÂ[
Seiyuu: Miki Shinichiro
Lee-san is Nenene's manager/editor. He sets up the paper sisters to be Nenene's body guards after the attack at her book signing. He is also a big fan of her writing and has been her editor for four years. He chews on his pen as a substitute for cigarettes, as he is trying to give up smoking.
Name
"Lee" is from a surname derived from Old English leah "meadow". The surname belonged to Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War.
Character Information: Kim-san
Japanese: ‹à ‚³‚ñ
Seiyuu: Ushiyama Shigeru
Kim-san is the coordinator the the Dokusensha. While the Paper Sisters live with Nenene, they do missions for Kim-san in order to earn money. He gives them missions to retrieve the Gentleman books and pays them afterwards.
Name
According the the Japanese kanji of Kim's name, his name is actually Kin-san, which translates to "Mr. Gold."
Character Information: John Woo-san
Japanese: Æ’Wƒ‡ƒ“¥ƒEÂ[
Seiyuu: N/A
John Woo is a carrier pigeon for the Dokusensha. However, he soon becomes more attached to the Paper Sisters and stays with them instead.
Name
John Woo (Chinese: ?‰FÂX; pinyin: Wu Y?s?n) (born May 1, 1946 in Guangzhou, China) is a Chinese film director known especially for the ballet-like violence in his movies. Born in southern China, 'John Woo' grew up in Hong Kong, where he began his film career as an assistant director in 1969, working for Shaw Brothers Studios. He directed his first feature in 1973, and has been a prolific director ever since, working in a wide variety of genres before 'A Better Tomorrow' (1986) established his reputation as a master stylist specialising in ultra-violent gangster films and thrillers, with hugely elaborate action scenes shot with breathtaking panache. After gaining a cult reputation in the US with 'The Killer' (1989), Woo was offered a Hollywood contract. He plans to stay working in the US.
One of Woo's trademarks is doves, which is most likely why the carrier pigeon was named for John Woo. He was quoted in the June 2000 edition of Premiere magazine: "I love doves. I am a Christian. Doves represent the purity of love, beauty. They're spiritual. Also the dove is a messenger between people and God... When I shot The Killer, these two men, the killer and the cop, they work in different ways, but their souls are pure, because they do the right thing. In the church scene, I wanted to bring them together. I wanted to use a metaphor of the heart. I came up with doves ?they're white. When the men die, I cut to the dove flying ?it's the soul, rescued and safe and also pure of heart. So the dove became one of my habits: I used it in Hard Boiled, Face/Off, and in Mission: Impossible II".
It it interesting that the three paper sisters, who have names after Hong Kong actresses, named the carrier pigeon with the name of a Hong Kong director.
Character Information: Sunny Wong
Japanese: Æ’TÆ’jÂ[¥ƒEÆ’HÆ’“
Seiyuu: Kuroda Takaya
Sunny Wong works for the Dokusensha. He is a very strong paper user and also silent as he never says anything.
Name
"Wong" is the English transliteration of the Chinese surname, huang. Huang literally means "yellow", or "bright."
So his firstname is the literal meaning where "Sunny" means full of bight, yellow sunshine.
Anita's School
Hishiishi Hisami
Okahara Touru
Nishizono Natsume
Nishizono Haruhi
Iwata Chiho
Shigeno Tohko
Kitayama Ryuuji
Other
Others
Nagi Dokuzima
Karen Toped
Kelly
British Library
Gentleman
Paul
Marianne
David
Alex
Frankie
Richard Southerland
Professor Daryl Weber
Irving
John Smith
Alice Alice Arquette
"Mirror Man"
Other Agents
Jiggy Stardust
Doni Nakajima
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This is the official DVD released by Manga Entertainment. The DVD includes all three episodes as well as special features being the original trailer, historical biographies, a photo gallery, and director and crew interviews.
