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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.

Renai Anagram is a simple, yet powerful story about a woman's life roundabouts, and its greatest merit is the firm characterization of the protagonist, Miyamoto Satsuki, and how she and the people around her wistfully wander through life's complex web of motivations.

As the narrative anachronically reflects upon her defining life's moments, Satsuki's personality and morals are steadily established. What could be considered nefarious acts by the characters in any other manga is poignantly justified here, granting the story an authentic mature feeling. Reality is most of the times not pleasant, people are selfish, things go wrong and sometimes we find ourselves miserable. Anagram earnestly acknowledges ... that, but doesn't let it solemn dictate the story.

"I would never abandon myself. I would go on living". As these strong words manifest within her, even though she's going through her lowest, inspiringly hopeful feelings are evoked. Anagram constantly throw juxtaposed situations like that and acts diligently about them; there's a impeccably constructed gray area in the dramatic presentation - A fine balance between struggle, happiness, dismay and hope, what creates a much more reasonable frame about life when describing it so soberly.

To look back and reperceive: to remember past experiences and reflect about them, it bring to characters realizations that confront their own shortcomings of perception, considerations that challenges their own attitudes towards others and themselves. Yet, they cannot always make the right decision. In fact, the manga realizes that there is no such thing as the "right choice", because to acknowledge that is to dwell and blame our past selves instead of learning from it.

The star of this concept is Ryuu, Satsuki's childhood friend whose left side of body is paralyzed, his optimistic nature marked her for a lifetime. Despite his short presence he becomes an incredibly iconic figure inside the story, his cracked smiles and single-eyed tears were nothing but full of touching candid sincerity. An emotionally manipulative factor for sure, but a relief that I couldn't welcome less.

The art is consistently good and exceptionally expressive, but like most josei works tend to do, it mostly relies on simple backgrounds and visual presentation. In parts where the characters interact or make up the environment, the background is decently and enough detailed. However, in most cases the background is pure white; appropriate to highlight the characters' discourse and facial expressions, which are the truly fine aspects of Tendou's Kirin artistic work.

Renai Anagram is an underrated gem even within the niche josei bibliography. Although the disjointed way of storytelling may be strange and sudden at first, I'm sure it can amaze those with the taste for more bittersweet, down-to-earth manga.