***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Toshokan Senso. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
30 years ago, The Japanese government passed the Media Betterment Act. With it came the Media Betterment Committee, the MBC. This organization holds the authority to censor any form of media deemed harmful to society. Opposition to this affront to free speech led to the Freedom of Libraries Act. Local governments could now establish counter-groups known as the Library Defense Force.
Since then, the MBC and Defense Forces have faced off in a never-ending battle.
Iku Kasahara (voiced by Marina Inoue) is the newest librarian at the Kanto Library Base. She has committed herself to defending the public's right to information.
Unfortunately, life at the base is anything but easy. This is thanks to her hard nose superior officer, Atsushi Dojo (voiced by Tomoaki Maeno).
While not the most stellar of recruits, Iku’s passion hasn't gone unnoticed. She soon joins the ranks of the Library Task Force to help face the MBC.
The job is dangerous but important. Thus, Iku does everything in her power to live up to the honor of the Defense Force.
Series Positives
Was Toshokan Sensou bad? Well, it wasn't stellar.
There were plenty of moments that were fun and entertaining. Some of them even for the right reasons. This show was not without positive things to talk about.
The Characters
These characters should have been worth caring about. Too bad they weren't. Nor were they memorable, unique, or attention-grabbing. However, as this show was happening, they got the job done.
Toshokan Sensou did succeed in illustrating the Task Force as a team. Everyone argued, but they also discussed. They didn't always see eye to eye, but they weren't above compromise. Though personalities clashed, when they needed to rely on each other, it felt genuine.
This was not a group that instilled many thrills. There were only one or two…okay there was only one person that was any fun. And that was Asako Shibasaki (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro).
Asako was funny, sarcastic, and conscientious. Specializing in intelligence, she had an expansive information network. She was never out of the loop. Plus, the depths of her system knew no limit. This played into why I like her character so much.
But the main reason I liked her, she was the only person who was entertaining as well as an adult.
I’ll leave it there for now.
The Military Aspect
Without a doubt, this show was at its best when it was in military-mode. Toshokan Sensou was at its most interesting whenever the Task Force went up against the MBC.
Each fight was just that, a fight. The overall war was important to this story, but that was a conflict of ideologies. During an actual battle, getting the job done came first. There was no time for rousing speeches or grand gestures. Therefore, the show didn't bother bogging itself down with those kinds of things.
The mission objectives were simple and precise. There was no fluff or unneeded complexity. The Task Force was not the aggressor and they never deviated from that. The most on-the-offensive they got came during rescue operations.
Everyone knew what their roles were, and they knew how to best utilize their skills. This kind of focus was refreshing in a series that was otherwise all over the place.Series Negatives
I won’t be giving this series a glowing recommendation, but I do want to note what went right. That said, Toshokan Sensou had a lot going against it.
The Characters
Wait, what?
Yes, the characters may have been a positive aspect of this show. But they also illustrated a fundamental problem with this series as well.
Here, finally, was a cast of characters that weren't in high school. In terms of age that is. When you consider personalities and temperaments, this felt like a school club anime. Complete with the same kind of nonsense you would see in such a show. You only need to replace barracks with dormitories, promotion exams with finals, and awkward crush fawning with awkward crush fawning. Though this series had some pretty serious undertones, there was a surprising amount of random immaturity.
When I said Asako was the closest thing to an adult this show had, I meant it. If she was synonymous with Toshokan Sensou's best, Iku would be the figurehead for its faults. Iku was important to this story because she was the main character. Nothing more.
I can’t tell you why this Task Force recruited her. To my understanding, only the best of the best could make it in. Sure, she had the drive and the determination, but that was it.
The only advantage Iku had was being a bit faster than the rest of her comrades. But across the board she was average. And in academics she actually quite low. Her physical abilities and skills as a fighter were respectable, but not remarkable. She was improving, except she only got as far as being competent enough at her job by the end of this show.
Iku was comic relief and one half of a romantic plot line. This wasn't wholly her fault. Every other character, including Asako to an extent, fed into this.
Yet, since my bread-and-butter is the slice-of-life genre, I eat this kind of stuff up. That's why I did like all the characters. No one was annoying or obnoxious. But, I never took anyone seriously. And why should I have? It never felt like anyone was ever in any real danger.
In fairness, though, that last bit about danger wasn’t these characters doing.
The MBC vs. the Library Task Force
This is my biggest issue with this show. The driving element behind Toshokan Sensou was the rivalry between the MBC and the Library Task Force. And it didn't make any damn sense.
The MBC and the Task Force counteracted each other, but both had the legal authority to exist. Both organizations used military force to try and stop the other. How is this type of system possible?
There was a legal war happening on the streets of Japan and everyone didn't seem to mind that much. Maybe this scenario could happen within the first year these groups existed. But to have it continue for thirty?
Actually, I would be okay with accepting this idea, because you know fiction. Except, neither side treated their fight like the serious situation that it was. They were playing war but were using real bullets.
When people got shot, and people got shot, it was a problem. And when people got killed, and people got killed, it was tragic. I mean, what else would you expect? If you fire a gun at someone with lethal intent, don’t act surprised when someone dies because of it.
There was one scene that was fascinating to me. And for all the wrong reasons.
In one skirmish, the MBC fired a warning shot at a civilian. No one got hurt, but it was an action that both sides had agreed not to do. Understandable so far, I suppose. Then what happened next was so incredibly stupid.
The Task Force stopped fighting, appalled at what happened. The Task Force then proceeded to walk across the battlefield, unhindered. When they got to the other side they then started beating the s#$@ out of the MBC who fired that shot.
The MBCs saw this coming. Instead of, you know, shooting back, like they were just doing, they allowed the Task Force to come over and do this to them. AND THEN, after the battle, it was the Task Force who got reprimanded for their actions.
HEY F@#$ NUTS, everyone was shooting each other with guns, and this was the problem? If you’re going to have a flimsy set up like this, commit to it.
Final Thoughts
Since I had no expectations, I had no disappointments. I didn’t dislike this show, but I still feel as though I wasted a bit of my time on it.
The characters did a decent job within their story. But they would all fit better in a high school anime. The military aspects were interesting and fun. Too bad the actual war made no sense at best and was flat out laughable at worst.
Toshokan Sensou is serviceable, but it's not recommendable.
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