• Title: Toshokan Sensou
• Studio: Production I.G
• Genre: Comedy/Drama

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥♥½

• Animation: ♥♥♥♥
• Characters: ♥♥♥½
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥♥
• Overall: ♥♥♥½

Thoughts:
Can it still be a ‘first date’ if I’ve actually watched more than one episode? Actually I’ve watched a lot of shows that I need to do my first dates for still. So behind. Silly travel!

Anyway, Toshokan Sensou. Here’s the short version: the show is win. Excellent animation, interesting characters, and a fairly unique setting.

On to the longer version: as a young girl (high schooler?), Kasahara was a victim of the Media Cleansing Act, which in the near-future setting of the show allows the government to remove and destroy whatever books they choose. In response to the MCA, however, came the Library Freedom Act, which allowed libraries to arm themselves and defend their wares. When a book that Kasahara was about to buy gets seized by the MCA, an LFA member rescues her purchase, and she decides to join up with the LFA.

As the show opens she’s in basic training with the LFA (which, btw, is so not the official name of the organization –neither is MCA; I’m just shortening their translated versions for simplicity’s sake) and getting ready to be assigned to a position. But she’s having trouble with her instructor, who she feels is harder on her than on her compatriots. (If you’ve already figured out who her instructor is– bonus points!)

There’s nothing particularly unique about the characters or their relationships as of episode two, but they’re all very engaging and pretty likeable…though I’m occasionally embarassed for Kasahara and her various blunders, some of which are impressively stupid. I’m also already pretty fond of Kasahara’s roomie, Tsubaki, who is a hot and intelligent glasses-wearing fox. Yum.

The visuals are fantastic. They’ve got a very modern, sleek look, the kind with thick, heavy outlines and slick coloring. The soundtrack is pretty decent too, although nothing amazing there.

For those who thought that the series would be like that other book-loving task force show, R.O.D., it’s really not. The conflict is presented in a much more serious fashion, no one has super powers, and it’s as a whole not as grandiose/over-the-top– I guess the best way to say it is that although there are still plenty of goofy moments in Toshokan Sensou, they tend to be character-based, whereas in R.O.D. they tended to be more world setting-based.

Overall I’d say this is one of the shows I’ve enjoyed best so far this season. ♥