I spent a total of 2 hours tracking down subs for this series. (Finally found them at Fansub.tv.) And you know what? It was totally worth it. Despite its mildly unfeasible premise, Library War is one of the hidden gems of the Spring ‘08 season, much like Shion no Ou was last fall.
The premise of the series is a war between a group that attempts to control the bookstores and groups that defend the library’s right to free speech. Iku Kasahara joins the Library Defense Force after being protected by a member of that force, who’s dubbed ‘Prince Charming’ as a result. She butts heads with Lieutenant Doujou, a man who’s shorter than her and thusly dubbed ‘Chibi,’ but becomes friends with her roommate and another lieutenant.
In the first episode, Iku attempts to apprehend a man caught vandalizing a book. She succeeds halfway, but gets distracted as Doujou checks on her. The man attacks Iku and Doujou gets hurt protecting her.
Iku retreats to her room after getting slapped and reprimanded by Doujou. She finds out that Doujou gave her the credit for the vandal’s arrest in his report. She bumps into Doujou in the hall and tells him that he shouldn’t have given her the credit, and that all she wants to do is finds the man who saved her and tell him that she followed in his footsteps. Doujou doesn’t seem to care, and walks away.
This is possibly the most powerful scene in the episode. Iku’s desire to find her savior may be a lot like many shoujo heroines, but her desire to be a hero is rather boyish. She’s a unique character, and the intense scene with Doujou shows her weak side as well as her determination. It’s a strange combination of emotions, and it makes for fairly interesting dialogue.
It’s hard to pick a single weak element that could destroy the series, since everything is decently done. I think the only real weakness right now is the dialogue; it’s not as clever or well-thought-out as it could be. But that probably won’t completely ruin the series. Library War has a unique, well-executed premise that reflects real-world conflicts right now. It’s certainly better than the mindless harem crap airing this season, despite some melodramatic moments, so give this episode a try if you don’t mind military series.
CJ’s Rating: 8 out of 10 California rolls.
Possibly objectionable content: …uh, nothing. A little language depending on which subs you watch, and a little violence. 12+ would be my age rating, though that’ll probably change in future episodes.
Yeah! I love this series :). There’s a bunch of groups subbing it now, I got mine from Ocha. Did you check Animesuki.com? they list a lot of different group’s torrents for convenience…i signed up for their rss feed and it’s easy to search and see what’s out :).
p.s. I love Doujou! And it’s funny that kasahara is taller than him, she’s a great character too. She kind of cries a lot though…seriously like twice per episode :/