Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Yomiko Readman: Difference between revisions

Yomiko Readman (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log | edits since nomination)

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Starting this AfD after a bold WP:BLAR on my part, which was reverted by User:Historyday01.

This character does not appear to be independently notable. I could not find any useful sources about her with a WP:BEFORE, and, looking at the sources already cited, none of them appear to satisfy either WP:SIGCOV nor the recommendations outlined at WP:NFCHAR. Most of them are either WP:PRSOURCEs or else reviews of the series in general which only mention Yomiko in passing. A couple are listicles, and a couple others are books which, although I cannot access their full text, mostly only seem to briefly mention Yomiko.

The majority of the article is plot summary, and no real-world details about her character’s development or reception is included. Even if there were any, I see no compelling reason why any such details could not be covered sufficiently at the articles about the series and the various entries in its media franchise. Such details would not necessarily show that the character deserves a standalone article. If there are any sources which prove the character to be independently notable, they should certainly be added (and I will be happy to withdraw my nomination if that is shown to be the case), but I have not found any. silviaASH (inquire within) 03:12, 26 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Weak keep. I feel that this AfD is wrongheaded, as there could have been an effort to gather sources first, then a further determination at that time. All the issues you describe could be fixed through editing, rather than going through this process. Here is what I just added to the reception section:

Her character was received positively. Zuleika of Fandom called her a “typical glasses-wearing, book-infatuated klutz” and noted her obsession “with books,” listing her among characters in other classic anime OVAs.^[1] Christopher Bolton, a Japanese and comparative literature scholar, noted that in the Read or Die OVA, her book obsession is treated as an “unhealthy preoccupation” distancing her from real life, with a key theme being her realization, gradually, that real relationships, and real people, are “more important than literature.”^[2] Readman’s character influenced Mei in Overwatch, at the suggestion of equipment producer Ben Zhang, and noted by animator David Gibson.^[3] Erica Victoria Espejo, a well-known anime cosplayer and author, noted she wore a cosplay of Readman to a convention, was praised for embodying “the essence” of the character, and then went on to cosplay as Readman again following this.^[4]

Otherwise, apart from a mention in Jer Alford’s “Obscure O.V.A.s“, I found writings about Yomiko Readman in:

• You Don’t Look Like a Librarian: Shattering Stereotypes and Creating Positive New Images in the Internet Age, page 52 [I cannot read this because Google Books does not let you, but I can gather this discusses Readman and her role as a librarian stereotype] [already in the article]
• A page from The Publishers Weekly, Volume 253, Issues 10-17 (sadly, Google Books doesn’t give me much of a preview)
• Page 540 of The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 (sadly, Google Books doesn’t give me much of a preview) [The Anime Encyclopedia, 3rd Revised Edition: A Century of Japanese Animation”] is in the article, but this is a different edition]
• Read or Die Vol 1 Review in IGN, of which four of the five paragraphs are about Readman’s character in the manga
• Review on Christopher Bolton’s Interpreting Anime which talks about Readman in Bolton’s book on pages 117 and 118
• Knjižnice i knjižničari u popularnoj kulturi [translated as “Libraries and librarians in popular culture” (in Croatian, looks to be a thesis of some kind) talks about Readman on pages 55-58, saying, in part, on page 57, “Yomiko is an extreme example of a bibliophile and a paper craftswoman in the literal sense. She can do anything she wants with paper, including creating magical shields, weapons, etc. R.O.D. has, through films, comics, and TV series, developed her own little world that is still revered by many loyal fans today…Yomiko is described as a typical bookworm, an introverted substitute teacher who wears glasses and is obsessed with reading and collecting books. As a true bibliophile, she often spends all her money on buying various books, so much so that her entire apartment is filled to the ceiling with romance and other novels.”

Otherwise, some of the ANN articles cited in the article already, like “R.O.D The Complete Blu-Ray“, “Read or Die DVD“, and “R.O.D.: Read or Die G.novel 4” have a big focus on her, and “The Fall 2003 Anime Preview Guide” a bit less so.

All in all, I do not disagree that page needs cleanup. It certainly does, but an AfD is no substitute for page cleanup. Historyday01 (talk) 05:28, 26 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I appreciate the effort to gather sources (I did find a few of these in my own search, but also missed many of them). Apart from the Fandom article, which I’m not sure is admissible, these all seem to pass muster for reliability.

However, although I think these are all good sources to keep in mind for covering the critical reception of R.O.D. in general, my own opinion on the notability of the topic is mostly unchanged. There’s a handful of these I’d see as being useful to flesh out the article alongside sources that address the character of Yomiko Readman more directly, but I’m not sure those exist, and in general these look to all be using her only as either as an example (of cosplay, stereotype, or anime protagonists) without directly addressing her as the main topic, or else only cover her over the course of covering the plot of the series generally, which one would naturally have to do when she’s the lead character.

I still think the article would be best off merged and/or redirected, but I’ll wait and see what opinions other editors have on these sources before I comment any further. silviaASH (inquire within) 06:20, 26 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Similarly, I’m willing to personally wait to see what opinions editors have as well, but personally, I would not be opposed to merging or redirecting if other sources cannot be found, although I would prefer a weak keep at this time. Historyday01 (talk) 12:55, 26 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]