|
|
||||||||||
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 8 |
 Ggultra2764
|
[series:1736#1552] |
|
Set in the near-future, Library War is focused on the members of the Library Team Defense Force, a military organization created by local governments in defiance of a censorship bill where the country's military has authority to confiscate and destroy books considered "harmful" to Japanese society. The title's main focus is on new recruit Iku Kasahara, who learns of the challenges that go into the fight against censorship with the defense force and putting up with the rigid training of her instructor Atsushi Dojo. To a good extent, Library War is focused on the regular operations of the Library Team Defense Force as they handle different censorship cases against government military forces and supporters of the censorship policies they enforce. The premise of the series will seem quite similar to the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 in the censorship of books enforced between both works. However, Library War has a somewhat more lighter mood in comparison as it balances social commentary on issues related to censorship with the camaraderie taking place with Library Defense Force members. Episodes of the series mix around focus on exploring characters within the Defense Force, while also looking into the cases they take on when protecting libraries and anti-censorship public figures from government agents trying to enforce the censorship bill. Many of the characters get fleshing out and the series does quite well at showing off the challenges faced by the Defense Force with fending off censorship efforts and public opinion on the issue. In spite of its somewhat unique premise though, Library War does have its faults. Some characters like Dojo and Iku's roommate don't get much in the way of fleshing out and there are points where Iku's idealistic and impulsive character can be grating with her "rush first, think later" mentality to action. Also for a series dabbling into action, the visuals to Library War are average and the animation occasionally suffers from inconsistencies, poor clashing with the subpar CG renderings of vehicles and degraded details during more intense moments within the series. Still in spite of its issues, Library War is a solid series exploring anime's own spin of Fahrenheit 451's premise with a lighter mood and having more focus on those resisting the efforts of censorship being instituted by the government. Last updated Friday, February 19 2016. Created Friday, February 19 2016. | ||||||||
| Watch | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
 Dreamer
|
[series:1736#2279] |
|
I picked this one up thinking that it might offer some humor and silly antics... possibly slapstick type of action. I mean, having a title like "Library Wars", it conjures up thoughts of nerds and bookworms duking it out or having some crazy mind-wars. But..... it kinda fell short of all that. Art, Animation & Character Design First off, I love this animation.. this style of art. The characters facial appearance isn't over dramatic with huge eyes, sharp chins and colorful hair but rather more "down to earth". The animation is pretty smooth. As for the characters, they're all well drawn and with each character having a distinctive personality that makes each of them fun to watch. The protagonist is quite cute, yet at the same time she's protrayed as someone that can be serious when she needs to be. I had a good laugh at some of the expressions she would make when fighting with her Instructor Dojo. Music The music isn't terrible but it isn't noticable either. At least, it's only noticable enough to say it's not that worthy of it being.... um, noticable..... lol. Episode and Series Stories Okay, now here's a unique story that you don't often run across. I loved the premise of the plot and was anticipating it to be something sorta serious but with light undertones and maybe even a bit of silliness and humor. However, I was thrown off guard and didn't exactly get what I thought. Instead, I get a pretty serious plot that also involves lots of shooting, killing and warfare. I mean, there are still a bit humor thrown in, namely between the two mentioned above, but aside from that it's really one faction against another. With all that said however, I felt the story was pretty flat and the characters equally as so.... aside from our protagonist, Kasahara. Nobody was really developed... not to the slightest. Overall, it's not bad but it's not really good either. It definitely could have been better. The concept was under-used and not taken advantage of. Last updated Monday, December 01 2008. Created Monday, December 01 2008. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
 Silence
|
[series:1736#2939] |
|
Toshokan Senso reminded me a lot of FMP. Kasahara and chidori are both tsundere. They both disliked the male protagonists (Atsushi and Sousuke) but fell in love with them in the end. Tezuka Satoshi can be compared with Tessa's brother (Leo?). Both are about wars, both settings are somewhat hard to believe, and both attracted me through the characters. and yeah, both left some things unresolved, so expect a new season if they have the funds. Like FMP, i feel that this series is ok; quite cute to watch kasahara and atsushi getting at each other, then how embaressed kasahara became when she found out who her prince is. I feel that this series is more about the people, not so much the events. Well, to the end, we can see that kasahara is learning about how atsushi matured, and hopefully, she will do the same. The setting of the war is just there, for the story to progress. I am sure that this is not what the author wanted, but it came across this way to me. Another reason i liked it was that there is somewhat a deeper layer, about freedom, about politics, about motivation of people, and I liked that. However, the lack of credibilty of the premises (as admitted by Komaki) really puts this series down. Last updated Monday, September 08 2008. Created Monday, September 08 2008. | ||||||||
| Watch |
 Stretch
|
[series:1736#628] | ||||||
|
(All episodes watched): This was a show which I was curious about, gived the odd premise. Having finally seen the first episode, I was left with mixed feelings. Apparently the Diet has passed an act creating a Gestapo-like secret police to enforce the Japanese government's notions of what sort of books people whould read; these are clearly the bad guys. But in response a pro-freedom of press faction has pushed through another act which authorizes libraries to form units of armed guards; it's sort of a state's rights versus the central government sort of confrontation. The whole premise is pretty absurd when you think about it and I was soon wondering whether I should take it seriously or not. The dispute seems to be over paper-and-ink books, not the internet, as I was expecting (at least in part). I would think the internet has already greatly surpassed books as a source of questionable information in the present, not to mention 11 years in the future. Also confusing was whether this would be primarily a comedy or an action show; I had thought it would be the latter, but after the episode I wasn't so sure. On the other hand, the episode did a fairly good job of introducing characters; I got the feeling that tried-and-true cliches were being skillfully reused. The heroine Kasahara goes from Library guard boot camp to assignment to the elite Library commando unit, much to her surprise. No doubt the drill instructor which she hates will accompany her and wind up as her boyfriend someday. For all it's unintended absurdity, I found Library Wars to be fairly entertaining and decided that I wouldn't mind watching some more to see how it developed. The questions of whether I should take this show seriously or not, and if it was meant to be more of a comedy or drama were never definitively answered. One minute the characters are putting returned books on the correct shelf and the next they are firing a submachine gun in anger. Having watched episode two, what struck me was that such a premise needs to not be taken too seriously (like Patlabor, perhaps), yet here it is. There are jokes to be sure, and fairly funny, but the combat is clearly played for the excitement and danger, which seems discordant, if not ridiculous, compared to the rest of the story. I also fear that the show has adopted the American gimmick that for all the firepower being employed, the worst that happens is a flesh wound now and then (which makes the action even harder to take seriously). The ferocious battle in episode 11 was especially absurd. I'm left feeling that the basic premise should have either been taken more seriously or less seriously--but not with the degree of seriousness which it has here. I can’t help feeling that the basic bones of a good series are here, but there’s not enough “flesh” on them. Some episode storylines seem fairly well thought out, yet I never get truly excited. Maybe the problem (aside from the difficulty I have taking the premise as a whole seriously) is a lack of character development. Main character Kasahara enlisted because she was once thrilled when a library guard protected her—and that’s still about all I know about her. There were some flashbacks in episode six (I think) which revealed that she has some traits in common with Lt. Donjou, the superior who she has a love/hate relationship with. I watched Toshokan Sensou to the end, but it was not exactly the show I most looked forward to. As I see it, a good show must be either A)Plausible, so that what's going on makes sense and is interesting; B)Cool, with such intoxicating style and excitement that I don't care whether it makes sense or not; or C)Funny, i.e, has enough humor that again I don't care whether it qualifies for the previous categories. An ideal series might have all three qualities. I think Toshokan Sensou split it's resources between plausibility and humor, and therefore wasn't able to stand out in either one. It did manage to pull together an OK ending, even if it was a bit corny. In the end, the notion of soldiers substituting for librarians was just crazy enough to pull a modestly entertaining show together. P.S: I knew I'd heard that voice somewhere! Main character Kasahara is voiced by the same VA (INOUE Marina) as Kana from Minami-ke Okawari. P.P.S: There is also a Toshokan Sensou special, a filler episode basically. Komaki is the main character as he is abducted and an attempt is made to pressure him into confessing to an imaginary crime in order to discredit the Library Patrol. The premise didn't make a whole lot of sense since the people who seized Komaki had committed a much more serious crime (kidnapping) than they were accusing him of; plus, the supposed victim was firmly on his side. The ending seemed kind of preachy to me. Still, fans of the series as a whole will probably enjoy watching another episode. Last updated Wednesday, February 02 2011. Created Sunday, April 27 2008. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
|---|---|
| Production-IG Series Web Site | http://www.production-ig.co.jp/contents/works_sp/1750_/ |
| Japanese Series Web Site | http://www.toshokan-sensou.com/ |
