[Impressions] Library War (Toshokan Sensou)

This is probably the first series in a loooooong time to make me rewatch episodes less than 24 hours after initially viewing them. It’s that good.

And while I could go on and on and gripe about the shoujo-tastic ending, and how the series neeeeeeeded to be longer, and how some of this series is just so unrealistic… it’s the characters and their trials and their growth that made it awesome. The politics, the action the romantic drama, the character development, and the sheer slice-of-life moments all added up to make Library War the most lovable series I’ve seen in a long time (and a darn hard series to write a spoiler-free-ish review about.)

Because freedom of expression and having the right to read what you want is SRS BSNS.

Iku is the character who I could relate to most in this series, and I ended up liking her more than I should: she’s a crybaby, a bit whiny, and doesn’t have much regard for authority or the rules.

… oh, dangit, that’s exactly why I can relate to her >_>;;; Her lack of respect for authority and her constant disagreements with people are what end up causing her to learn and mature. She can be sympathized with by anyone if you consider her youth and lack of real-world experience (possibly stemming from those protective parents we were introduced to.)

Her friendship with Doujou made me baaaaaawwww quite a bit, partly because of just how realistic it was. Their conflicting views of things aren’t just a matter of what they think, it’s about how they think about it. Emotion versus logic, for example, is one underlying conflict between the two. As they get to know each other better, they learn from each other — Iku learns logic, and Doujou learns how to care. Somewhat typical, yes, but it’s better than watching shallow doe-eyed girls getting smutted by generic hot guys.

Of course, the character dynamics can only get you so far; the characters themselves are often an entirely different ball game. Doujou is a bit dull without Iku around, unfortunately, and his tightwad attitude toward her early on is boring until we begin to learn just how he aims to help her grow. But that’s almost made up for by his loyalty to… well, everything. He’s a military man to the core and faithful to his comrades, very much like Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist.

Tezuka and Shibasaki were both fascinating characters, with Tezuka’s half stoic, half friendly nature and Shibasaki’s lovingly gossipy tendencies being fleshed out somewhat over the course of the series. I wish their relationship could have gotten more screen time, though; that scene in the park at the end was completely ship-tastic ^_^;;

Komaki and the other military guys were a bit flat, but in a 12-episode series, you can’t expect the writers to flesh out every minor character. (At least Genda was enjoyably GAR…) They were all still nice to watch, considering none of them were horribly cliched.

The plot wasn’t the series’ strongest point, certainly, but its execution, which used the best characteristics of a variety of genres, made it more than worthwhile. There’s a few unrealistic coincidences, mild plot holes, and cliches, but I don’t think there’s a single series out there that doesn’t have at least one of those. (Except for, you know, maybe FMA. <3) Whining about minor plot flaws isn’t really valid, considering everything else the series did right to mask said minor plot flaws. The plot is full of minor events and struggles that add nicely to the slice-of-life atmosphere given off by several of the episodes.

The music, apart from the awesome opening theme, is really nothing special, but at least it didn’t murder any of the emotional scenes with a chopstick through the forehead. The animation isn’t too awesome either, but it’s up-to-par for a TV series, and the style that the art is done in brings a lot to the series in terms of atmosphere. I just wish they would’ve made Doujou hotter…

By the way… I did finish this series forever ago. It wasn’t one of those series that I watched the first 10 episode of and then almost-dropped for about 3 months like StrikerS. It was just incredibly hard to review, partly because I couldn’t decide on a rating (9 or 9.5 out of 10?) and partly because Library War is a hard series to describe. It’s slice-of-life without being wussy, it’s action without being “my Super Saiyan mode is better than yours!”, it’s funny without being crack-addicted, and it’s emotional without being emo. It has flawed characters than viewers can heap love and hope upon, and it’s a darn good series to watch while waiting for FMA season 2. ‘Nuff said.

CJ’s rating: 9 out of 10 California rolls

Possibly objectionable content: Probably a little swearing, depending on whose subs you watch. A few people die in the action scenes, and there’s one particularly scary scene near the end of the series. The romantic side of things, however, doesn’t go past hugging, a bit of flirting and maybe one or two kisses (don’t remember who, if anyone, kissed.) 13+ age rating, I suppose.

~CJ