Read or Die - TV - 23: Lie To Me

Title:	Read or Die - TV
Episode:	23: Lie To Me
Synopsis
At an Air Force base, Wendy informs Nenene and Maggie that a plane will be ready for them soon. She assures Nenene that everyone will be released in exchange for her. She then calls Joker's cell phone to inform his captors that she has Nenene and wants to exchange him for Joker. She also tells them that they were betrayed by Maggie. Drake, Yomiko and Anita discuss what they should do. Anita argues for an immediate rescue attempt. The tied-up Joker laughs at Anita's fanatic loyalty towards her "sister". "We're the ones who have all the answers" he says. He questions everything that Anita has taken for granted--even that she has ever really met her "sisters". "You've been living in a dream we fabricated for you" he claims. Meanwhile, Maggie awakens alone in the airbase office--everyone is gone, but a folder has been left with material she is to read. In their hideout Junior tells Michelle things he realized during his experience with the BotASE. "Your encounter with each other, your life in Hong Kong. They're all lies". Joker says Anita is a test-tube baby, created by British Library Special Ops using the tissues of paper masters. The idea was to determine if paper masters could be artificially created, and if people with no particular afinity for books could be one. Initially, the experiment seemed a failure, as Anita displayed none of the skills of a paper master. Joker says that she was kidnapped by Dokusensha, but was found to be of little use by them either. Dokusensha used stolen genetic materials to try to create their own paper masters--only two survived, Michelle and Maggie. Junior has reached the same conclusion. Dokusensha arranged for their three paper masters to live together, since that had the effect of vastly increasing their capabilities. Joker taunts Anita, saying "Your precious memories are a fabricated story made up by Dokusensha's script writers"--at which point Drake belts him. Wendy's chopper arrives. As the prisoner exchange is about to take place, Joker offers Yomiko one last chance to return with him. She firmly refuses, being disgusted by the extent to which Joker is willing to manipulate people's lives and memories. Nenene steps off the helicopter and she and Joker begin walking towards each other...
Comments
It seems to me that the thought would cross Nenene's mind "why am I so valuable that Wendy will release everyone in exchange for me?". Indeed, why is she so important even after Joker has been recovered? Wendy made a cryptic comment in the last episode that "Your talent is vital to smoothly build the new era". Is Nenene supposed to compose some message using the "perfect language" which will make people accept the new UK-dominated world order? Given all the messing around Joker's people and Dokusensha have done with the sisters' minds, I think I'm starting to understand why this show is sometimes referred to as "Read or Dream". I noticed an interesting touch early in this episode which I don't recall ever seeing before in anime: some characters would be "in focus" while others would not, duplicating the effect of a camera filming a live-action TV show. Forbin Just as a side note, Dokusensha made 3 paper masters. The third was Mr. Wong (I think that was his name) the dude who was battling the sisters in Hong Kong. He was a success while the girls were rejects.

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