Toshokan Sensou

In the year 1989, the Japanese government passed the Media Betterment Act, allowing a group of soldiers known as the Media Betterment Committee (MBC) to destroy and censor any "problematic" media under the guise of protecting public morals. As a response, regional governments established the Library Defense Force (LDF), whose members take up arms and put their lives on the line to protect freedom of expression. At the top of the Kanto branch of the LDF stands the Library Task Force (LTF): an elite squad consisting of only the most exceptional fighters.

As a high schooler, Iku Kasahara experienced the terror of censorship first-hand when she refused to surrender the newest volume of her favorite series to MBC agents. She only came out unscathed thanks to a lone member of the LDF, who protected her and her beloved book. Now in her 20s and still unable to forget the man who saved her, Kasahara joins the LDF in the hope of becoming just like her prince.

But LDF training turns out to be far more rigorous than she could have imagined, and her instructor, LTF member Atsushi Doujou, seems fixated on making her life a living hell. Given her struggles, Kasahara is shocked when she is selected as one of the two new LTF recruits as a result of Doujou's recommendation. As Kasahara does all she can to become worthy of the LTF and unravel her enigmatic superior's motivations, she wages war—both on the battlefield and in her personal life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Doujou, Atsushi Main

Maeno, Tomoaki Japanese

Kasahara, Iku Main

Inoue, Marina Japanese

Shibasaki, Asako Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Komaki, Mikihisa Supporting

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Tezuka, Hikaru Supporting

Suzuki, Tatsuhisa Japanese

Asahina, Hikaru Supporting

Ono, Daisuke Japanese

Tezuka, Satoshi Supporting

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Inamine, Kazuichi Supporting

Satou, Haruo Japanese

Nonomiya, Shizuka Supporting

Nazuka, Kaori Japanese

Orikuchi, Maki Supporting

Tanaka, Rie Japanese

Hosokai, Kousuke Producer

Nishimura, Tomoyasu Producer

Takeuchi, Fumie Producer

Hamana, Takayuki Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jul 10, 2008

Archaeon

Recommended

Toshokan Sensou (or The Library Wars), is another one of those odd anime that I seem to end up reviewing. The show has a nice premise which is reminiscent of Orwell's 1984 and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 all rolled into one.

The anime is based on a series of four light novels by Arikawa Hiro (entitled Toshokan Sensou, Nairan, Kiki, and Kakumei respectively), which were published from 2006 to 2007. The novels were later serialized in two mangas. The first manga was made by Yumi Kiiro, and published in Lala magazine from September 2007. The second was made by Furudori Yayoi, and was published Dengeki Daioh magazine ... from November 2007. The twelve episode anime was made by Production IG, and released in April 2008 on Fuji TV's Noitamina (which is animation written backwards) timeslot.

Story

The basic plot for the novels is based on the "Statement of Intellectual Freedom in Libraries" that went into effect in Japan in 1954. The story is set 30 years after Japan passed the Media Enhancement Act in 1989, a law which effectively gave control of all published material to the government. The law was passed in an effort to censor any media that could be deemed as hazardous to Japanese society, but 30 years later blanket censorships, book burnings, and a culture of fear and exclusion have become the norm for society, as Media Enforcement troops are everywhere.

Because of this, and because of a tragedy that occured 20 years prior to the beginning of the story, the libraries now have their own defense forces, and the main character, Kasahara Iku, joins the Kanto Library Defense Force as she was saved by a member of the that team some years back. The show follows her struggle to become a good librarian and a good member of the defense team.

Art

The art style is very much hit and miss. Although the characters are nicely designed Production IG have adopted a style that has quite noticeable black borders around characters and objects. This give the show a far more "cartoony" feel than it should possibly have, especially during the dramatic moments. This "cartoony" feel can be off putting to some people, whilst others may be oblivious to it.

The backgrounds and settings are well designed, but overall they aren't anything special. The animation itself is usually quite smooth and flowing, although there are some glaring faults (the scene in episode 11 with a van crashing through a barrier made from two buses and receiving no damage is a prime example).

Sound

The sound is okay overall. The OP is nice, if unmemorable, as is the ED. The VA's are quite good overall. Inoue Marina plays the role of Iku very well, and her voice suits the design of the character. The same goes for the rest of the VA's with their resepctive characters. The sound effects are pretty good throughout the show. Most of these are used in the more dramatic or action filled moments to good effect.

Characters

The characters weren't bad on the whole. Iku is a nice enough lead on the whole, although I found it a little off putting that she is a stereotypical "jock" (i.e. all muscle and no brain). She is determined and caring, but coupled with that is a short temper, reckless behaviour, a dislike of serious study and classrooms, and a endency to overreact. This can make her character confusing as it's sometimes unclear how the show is trying to develop her.

The other characters (Doujo Atsushi, Shibasaki Asako, Tezuka Hikaru, etc), receive very little development throughout the course of the show, especially given the fact that the show is about Iku. This makes the show unbalanced as, although we are clear about what drives Iku, we are rarely shown any of the other chaacters' motivations.

Enjoyment

Here's the reason why I said this show is a bit odd. It never seems to settle on being one thing as it has drama, action, suspense, comedy, and even romance all mixed into it. he unfortunate thing though, is that it never quite pulls of the comedy, the romance is a little on the limp side, the drama is sometimes hammed up, and the suspense is normally easy to work out. Couple this with the cartoon style art and the show is difficult to take seriously.

However, the show is enjoyable on the whole, especially if you don't treat it as a serious anime. It's effectively a coming of age story and as such it actually works on quite a few levels.

Overall

Toshokan Sensou isn't a bad show on the whole. Yes, there are some obvious failings in the show, but it is still rather enjoyable in a no-brain kind of way. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants a serious show, or to anyone who wants a comedy. Although the basic premise is a serious one, the show works better as a straightforward action anime, and as such it's not a bad way to waste half an hour (hence my overall score of 7).

If you're going to watch the show then don't have any expectations of high drama, challenging concepts, or any kind of socio-political message. It doesn't require any introspection or deep philosophical ponderings, and the best advice is to watch it in the same way you'd watch Die Hard, Rush Hour, or any other action movie.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 9, 2019

ArakakiLaurant

Mixed Feelings

Toshokan Sensou seems like the kind of anime you want to watch just because of the premise: the story of the first woman to join a military force specialized in fighting against censorship. Sounds incredible, right? Well, sadly it fails to justify the idiosyncratic politics that frames the whole setting, as well to present any meaningful insight of such complex themes. Does that mean the show sucks? Not exactly. While the simplistic nature of the setting can be underwhelming, it's a completely functional field for the true crop of the story grows: the characters.

Ultimately, Toshokan Sensou is a coming of age. Kasahara Iku must not ... only overcome her immaturity towards her professional stance, but also with matters of the heart - as well a little plot involving her parents disapproval of her dangerous job. The narrative does an excellent job at progressing her character in a satisfying pace. You can see that she's steadying improving, but not drastically changing.

The cast surrounding her is a lovable bunch, the show doesn't pull any punches in presenting them in a more calculated way. You're pretty much throw at their everyday experience while they're rapidly introduced by a little profile, which it's a good thing because you get the feel that these people are actually accustomed to each other and been living together for a long time, letting you appreciate how their dynamics change and evolves in the course of the story.

Kasahara's interactions with her roommate Shibasaki are specially tasty, their contrasting personalities are not only matched by the dialogue, but by their seiyuu as well. Marina Inoue and Miyuki Sawashiro are such unique voices and deliver such stellar performances that you could watch just for it.

Talking about the ladies, one specific aspect this show nails is their visual presentation, they are treated with utmost respect despite being plenty attractive. Which may not comes as a surprise since it's an early Noitamina show, but still a reinvigorating factor considering the ways things are nowadays.

Despise romance being quite an important thing in this series, it never overwhelms the plot, Instead, it naturally flows and spontaneously happens at times. Not to say it's great, but it's not a hindrance either. It presents itself quite smoothly when it comes to supporting characters, in contrast the romance between the main characters is awkward and clumsy as it gets. Also, it's pretty stupid how the story constantly reiterate how "they're so alike and do exactly the same things!", it only comes as a very lazy way of bridging, Despise all that, they still make an adorable pair.

Actions scenes compose a great part of the narrative, and while they're not essentially bad, they suffer from the lack of political nuance and actual stakes of danger and weight, people are constantly shot but blood is a rare sight to behold (except in a scene in the last arc, that ironically maintains the absurdity of the show in that regard). Battles and conflicts in general have strange conjectures but are diligent enough to make up engaging scenes.

Toshokan Sensou ended up as a mixed bag, having problems that highly affects the show thematically, but doesn't compromise the moment to moment experience, which I personally find captivating and endearing.

~A note on the movie: Kakumei no Tsubasa~

In the TV series, there was a strange feature where characters sometimes would have bold outlines, making them look very cartoonish, which was not only inconsistent, but questionable considering the overall somber tone of the show. The movie completely get rid of that and looks much better in comparison.

The plot is more interesting as it shows another side yet not explore in the series - the writers themselves. An author who is shamefully unaware of the unfair laws that could potentially wipe out his works - his raison d'être, finally realizing the danger of censorship and fighting against it. Unfortunately, this concept is not expanded as triumphantly as it could, wastefully existing only in a micro perspective of the matter.

The movie also progresses the romance even further with somewhat the merits and demerits as the TV series. Not a letdown, but also not a surprise. Overall, a nice resolution to a kind of a nice show.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 5, 2021

AnimeEnjoyer420

Not Recommended

Summary: Toshokan Sensou is an unfortunate case of a solid premise (what if libraries had their own militaries to fight off censorship?) wasted on uninspired material and a scattershot approach to genre that causes the tone of the series to careen wildly from one scene to the next. The pieces of a good show can sometimes be found here, but it's ultimately a disappointment that never capitalizes on the ideas that it has.

Positives:

+ Intriguing premise. Though it never really makes the most of it, the sight of people in military fatigues doing book readings for children at the local library before fighting off ... jackbooted government thugs trying to do Fahrenheit 451 to their Clifford the Big Red Dog books is admirably goofy and unique.

+ Some good side characters. In particular, Shibasaki and Tezuka are interesting and I would have liked to see more of them, even though it wasn't as though they were sidelined or anything.

+ Looks pretty good for being over 10 years old. It's not perfect (see negatives section below) but generally looks solid. The art style is very reminiscent of Archer as well, it's got a different look to it that you don't see very often.

+ Ending was kind of nice. I wasn't really feeling the love story between Kasahara and Dojo for most of the series, but they managed to hook me a little with some nice scenes in the last episode.

Negatives:

- Unlikeable main character. It's very hard to root for Kasahara at points in this show. She's incompetent and emotionally fragile, unable to handle simple criticism from a superior office or put up with a single day of mild hazing without crying. She regularly displays poor judgment and puts others in danger because she doesn't think through the consequences of her actions. She is constantly criticized for these things by her superiors and yet they still put her on an elite special forces team, despite the fact that she can't even reliably hit a large, stationary target during weapons training. She messes things up constantly and is still shown favoritism and given duties and promotions far beyond her actual demonstrated capabilities, and then still whines about how her superiors are too mean to her when she fails. She sucks and I didn't like her at all.

- Tries to be too many different things at once. This show tries to be a military action story, a shoujo rom com, and Fahrenheit 451-style social commentary all at once, and ends up not doing any of them particularly well. The action scenes lack drama and the fact that dozens of people are shooting actual guns at each other for hours at a time and not a single person ever dies lends an air of absurdity to the whole thing. The rom com aspect is not especially well done. For some reason they decided to transport all the high school rom com tropes like blushing girls literally running away from their feelings into this series, which follows a military unit full of adults. I fear for how well they will be able to defend freedom of expression from fascism if they can't even make eye contact with someone they have a crush on.

- Uninspired and the social commentary lacks bite or purpose. The Fahrenheit 451 type setting of this series is quite literally just a setting. This series has nothing interesting or new to say on the subject. The message is "censorship bad, join your local library" and that's it. If you're watching this series expecting profound satire or political commentary, you will be sorely disappointed.

- Strange animation problems. Though the series mostly looks fine, there are some times when the character models get all wonky or look like they're moonwalking. Kasahara in particular sometimes takes on a weirdly frumpy appearance when you see her walking around.

- Lack of compelling villains. The Media Cleansing Committee are just faceless thugs. They seem sinister when they're first introduced in the opening episode, but only become less frightening with time. They take L's constantly, never winning even one time during a confrontation over the course of the series. They're Big Brother meets the Washington Generals. They aren't threatening and you never feel as though they're a significant obstacle to the main characters. Tezuka's brother occasionally shows flashes of being an interesting villain, but they never follow through on this and all of the tension dissipates when he exits the story for extended periods of time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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