Yomiko Readman - Appearance and Personality

Appearance and Personality

Yomiko is a woman of English and Japanese descent (though Nenene describes her as looking "100% Japanese" in her "missing persons" ad). She is of medium height; has very long, straight, often unkempt black hair, and dark blue eyes. In a series where most characters enjoy frequent changes of costume, Yomiko always wears her British Library uniform: red tie, white blouse, brown waistcoat, and brown skirt; she also usually wears a roomy buff overcoat. Even when she leaves the British Library in the TV, she still wears the same outfit, only swapping the necktie for a small red ribbon instead. Yomiko sports enormous, black, square-rimmed glasses; in the manga she reveals these were Donnie Nakajima's, and she refuses to remove them even when sleeping.

Yomiko is introverted and has bibliomania, often preferring the company of books over people. She goes to extreme lengths to hold onto and finish reading something she has started; for example, when attacked by a giant insect, she is more concerned that the insect's rider stole the book she was reading than by the insect itself. The only time she has actively rejected books was in the manga, too distraught in thinking about her past with Donnie.

While a capable secret agent, Yomiko is extremely kind-hearted by nature and exceedingly polite. She tends to believe everyone is inherently good, and has difficulty thinking of even her enemies as bad people. Her idea of asking someone to surrender is, "Please, don't" (or "Please give me back my book"). In fighting she tends towards defense and incapacitation, and only wounds or kills when she is faced with no other alternative. However, due to her traumatic past involving Donnie, and her dedication toward protecting others, she can be manipulated into moments of extreme instability—in one such moment revealed in R.O.D the TV, her paper mastery went so out of control that she destroyed much of the British Library with paper weapons and subsequent flame.

Yomiko's occupation as a school teacher is natural reflection of her nature, as she often feels drawn to both protecting and providing mentorship to young people, including young Nenene Sumiregawa, the students at Manshu Academy (R.O.D manga), and Anita King (R.O.D the TV)--the latter despite Anita's great resentment towards Yomiko because of her role in the British Library fire.