First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

OP Sequence

OP: 「 あたしの街, 明日の街」 (Atashi no Machi, Ashita no Machi) by 高橋瞳 (Takahashi Hitomi)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2

Summary:

In the near future, the Media Improvement Act is passed to crack down on items that violate civil liberties and disturb public order, and censorship is enforced by a special committee. It is in this environment that a girl named Kasahara Iku tries to purchase a fairy tale book, but agents of the committee come to inspect the shop before she can do so, and they try to take the book. During the struggle, a member of the Kantou Library Corps arrives and stands up for Iku. A few years later, Iku is training at a Kantou Library base under watch of instructor Doujou Atsushi who she thinks treats her unfairly. She complains to her friend Shibasaki Asako during lunchtime and badmouths Doujou, but she panics when she realizes that he’s sitting behind her. Doujou is already well aware of how she calls him short and ill natured, and he claims that he can’t promise that this won’t affect his guidance. As Iku gets up to leave, Doujou notices that a letter dropped out of her pocket, but when he picks it up, Iku tells him to throw it away. It’s actually a letter to her parents, but Iku can’t send it because she knows that if she did, her parents would force her to go home.

Though the Media Improvement Act is in existence, there also exists a law that opposes it: the Library Freedom Act. Libraries are attached to local governments and oppose the central government on the grounds of this law, so they organized self-defense forces. The struggle intensified, and in the 30 years since the laws were enacted, this has developed into a full-scale armed conflict. Back at the base, after a sparring session with Doujou where he put her in a cross armlock and after complaining to Asako about it, Iku is asked by Asako about why she wanted to join the Defense and Operations Division. Iku gets embarrassed about this and doesn’t answer, but she remembers how that man had saved her in the bookstore in the past and his kind words toward her. She still has that book under her pillow, and the truth is that she had wanted to protect books like he had.

Sometime later, Iku is involved in an incident where she confronts a suspicious-looking guy who is trying to cut a picture out of a magazine. When the guy charges at her with a box cutter, she trips and throws him. Doujou then comes to see what’s going on, and Iku happily announces her accomplishment, but in doing so, she takes her eyes off the criminal. Doujou thus has to protect her when the criminal tries to hit her, and he takes the punch to the face. After handcuffing the guy, Doujou helps Iku back up onto her feet, and he proceeds to slap her for not restraining the criminal first and yells at her for her sports-oriented state-of-mind. This depresses Iku for the rest of the day until she runs into Doujou again that night. The confrontational words that come out of her mouth aren’t the ones she wants to say, but she nevertheless questions why he wrote her name as the person who secured the criminal on his report and starts to cry because she feels unqualified for that. When Doujou suggests she get some sleep and begins to walk away, she declares that she won’t quit until she meets and tells the guy who had saved her in the past that she followed in his footsteps.

The following day, Iku and her captain Genda Ryuusuke go off base and notice a Media Improvement van nearby. Iku thinks that this means an attack is coming on the library, but Genda observes that the car is too close to their base and that their opponents like surprise attacks. He instead thinks that the Media Improvement agents are targeting a large bookstore. Iku wants to do something about it, however Genda reminds her that their resistance is limited to library grounds and that they’re not allies of justice. Remembering the man who saved her, Iku defies her captain and runs to the bookstore, so Genda calls for backup. Inside the bookstore, Iku succeeds in grabbing a book that one of the Media Improvement agents was keeping from a young girl. She then pulls out her badge and tries to cite a legal code, but the agents just laugh at her because they realize that she doesn’t have the rank to do this. When Iku still refuses to give up the book, the agents try to pry it from her hands. It is at this moment that Doujou arrives and displays his and Genda’s higher ranks. The Media Improvement agents have no choice but to leave, and Doujou yells at Iku afterwards, though he lets her give the book to the young girl after all.

In the aftermath, Iku is shocked to find out that she’s being reassigned to the Library Task Force.

ED Sequence

ED: 「changes 」 by Base Ball Bear
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2
It’s been so long since I listened to a Takahashi Hitomi song (pretty much not since Blood+) that I didn’t really recognize her voice here. It’s actually a pretty good song though – slower paced and much better than I was expecting. I liked the ED song even more though (I really should go listen to more Base Ball Bear), and the animation that went with the ED was just beautiful. Production I.G really outdid themselves with that.

-I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this other than to look forward to the fact that Inoue Marina is in this. The story is kind of convoluted and hard-to-take-serious with the whole library war thing, but it’s done well enough that it didn’t bother me too much.
-The real standout here though is the animation quality which, while it includes a ton of humorous SD-character shots and an almost excessive use of bold lines (see screenshots above), is very, very good. It’s hard to say if it’ll stay this way, but, regardless, there’s more than enough potential in this show for me to watch a few more episodes.
つづく

42 Comments

  5. Broklyn: Gee, you make it sound like summaries write themselves. Maybe you’d like to try your hand at this? And while we’re at it, you wanna try holding down a job and attending school at the same time?
    I realize that I’m behind on Kamen no Maid Guy and Special A, but I’ve also completely written up the first episodes of xxxHOLiC Kei, Druaga, DCIISS, CODE GEASS, Nabari no Ou, Vampire Knight, and this week’s Bleach. Plus, if you were familiar with my record of writing things up, then you’d know that it usually takes a few hours for me to post a summary (in today’s case, Macross has priority anyway). So unless you think you can do better (and let me remind you that I don’t get paid for this), please don’t give me that kind of crap. (If I sound pissed off, it’s cause these kinds of comments irk me the most.)

    Omni
    Reply

  7. You tell him/her Omni-sama! Can’t come strolling in here making demands! Anyway, looks like a great anime….I am loaded this season, with tons of good shows all over the place.

    Konata-chan
    Reply

  8. I AM DYING TO WATCH THIS. And it looks great, though a bit more lighthearted than I expected it to be.

    And…er…I’m wondering whether the main character is a guy or a girl, too…

    Story
    Reply

  13. how bout we make her into a him and let it turn into another surprise BL anime, ne? haha jokes! we’ll just let monochrome factor take the lead on that. but anyway, i really thought she was a he too! although i would prefer it if she stayed female since i think she and that other guy make a cute couple~ harr, i’ll wait on for the subs to start watching this anime though… another one to add to my list this season (wow!)

    usachuu
    Reply

  19. If Production I.G.(yeah, Ghost in the shell!) made Nodame anime, I’m pretty sure it would look like this.
    This show seems like well worth watching to me.
    The lead character is a girl who is tall for a Japanese female at 170cm, and actually taller than her drillmaster(the lead male guy). I guess that is one of several points which makes the two look like an “odd couple” down the road.

    calde
    Reply

  20. I hate to criticize, but I think this site has been focusing way too much on animation quality recently. With the shows introduced this season, it seems that there’s always a paragraph on how a show is in HD or talking about how well some things were drawn and other little details. Even in the latest bleach entry! One line along “Studio X did a great job animating…” should be enough on animation especially if you’re limited on time :S

    Pre
    Reply

  22. Pre: With new series, it’s always hard to talk about if it will turn out to be good or not (and thus worth people’s time). I can say if I think that the story has potential or not (as I do here), or talk about if the story so far is like the novels or manga. Past that, I tend to look at production quality as a preliminary indicator of if a company is investing money into a series to make it good.
    Of course animation isn’t the be-all and end-all (plot or comedic value are typically more important), but it’s always an important piece of the pie (so to speak), especially in introducing a series that people are not already familiar with. As for Bleach, that’s a series that has had widely varying quality of animation, and I’ve been asked often enough about it in the past that I now tend to talk about whenever I think that it’s noteworthy.

    Omni
    Reply

  23. So basically..the series is about defending LIBRARIES?! (Insert laughter).

    If there’s a storyline about not paying the overdue fine for the DVD of LOST’ and the borrower and library clerk start shooting each other, maybe I’ll stick around.

    dx
    Reply

  25. Toshokan Sensou’s premise is like a light-hearted Fahrenheit 451. I’ll be looking forward to watching this subbed.

    To dx: Read a book and maybe you’ll understand why the literature-medium is worth protecting. : )

    bioeng
    Reply

  26. I would recommend Omni pick up kure-nai than Toshokan Sensou though, if in terms of animation qualities this will win but in terms of story and comedy i have to say kure-nai is better atleast after i’ve watched the 2nd episode. Atleast the story is quite unique in way while Toshokan’s story is just strange, (maybe it’s cause I don’t really understand it’s explanation) why is it like a crime to borrow or buy books?

    setsuke
    Reply

  29. Been looking forward to watching this for a bit of time now. Currently, downloading this episode right now. I’m planning on checking out its shoujo manga version in some time when the first tankouban hits the shelves. The plot is something I like so hopefully, the story lives up to my expectations.

    tg
    Reply

  30. Ah, I just got done watching the first episode so I’ll just say…It must borrow a lot off its manga counterparts. It is a little odd but the story works well at the same time. Meaning, a balance of different things put together from humor to drama. Show Spoiler ▼

    tg
    Reply

  32. action, comedy and romance!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! PERFECT!!! I love action with romance! Romance alone would be boring!! It look good, the summary look great as well!! Can’t wait!!

    Tanna
    Reply

  34. Looks promising…. may watch a video stream and decide for myself.

    Of all the shows this season, Kurenai has been my favourite with Allison/Lillia and Code Geass coming in joint second.

    Thanx Onmi.

    Lithium17
    Reply

  38. @Broklyn

    Dude, your an asshole. Even while I disagree sometimes with what he blogs, he is still usually the first of the blogs to get screen/summaries out.

    Go learn Japanese and find a live source in Japan and maybe he will let your contribute.

    finalnight
    Reply

  39. If Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is made into an anime, it would probably look like Library War. The tone of the story will likely to be light and comical. However, the main conflict in the anime’s universe should be provocative enough to drive the story for a long way. I have seen quite a few good scifi this season. This one is particularly ranked high on my watch list.

    Matroid
    Reply

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