Read or Die

R.O.D: Read or Die (Japanese: リード・オア・ダイ, Hepburn: Rīdo Oa Dai) is a Japanese light novel series written by Hideyuki Kurata, published under Shueisha's Super Dash Bunko imprint. Read or Die follows Yomiko Readman, codename "The Paper", an agent for the (fictional) Special Operations Division of the British Library. There are twelve Read or Die novels, though in June 2016, it was announced via Twitter that a thirteenth (and final) volume was set to be released. Kurata confessed in a 2021 interview with long-time collaborator Masashi Ishihama (who served as animation director of the OVA and TV series) that to date, he has not continued with the novel project and has no immediate plans to do so. As of 2025, there are no plans for when Kurata will release the final installment.

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, as well as 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 an OVA adaptation in 2001, which was directed by Koji Masunari and produced by SME Visual Works. 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.

A manga called R.O.D Rehabilitation illustrated by Choko Fuji was published in 2012 in Shueisha's Super Dash & Go magazine, and collected in one volume. The comic tells the story of a future city created by bibliomaniacs in exile, "Bibliopolis."

When Koji Masunari, director of the anime, was asked in 2005 by Anime News Network if any of the story arcs or characters' backstories presented in the novels would ever see an anime version, he explained: "As far as whether any other stories from the original would ever become an anime, we don't think so. In the future, if there is a new anime, it would come from an original work someplace. It would be adaptations of new stuff that haven't yet been written." That said, it was announced in 2016 that a new R.O.D anime series was pitched (as of 2025, there have been no further announcements).