Library War is exactly what the title implies. It’s a show about people fighting for and against the censorship of books deemed harmful to society. Yes, a library war. The story is about this girl who joins the military task force to protect books, because well, she likes to read (?). So yeah. She has a superior officer who kind of has the hots for her, but shows it in all the wrong ways. One minute he’s trying to help her, the next he verbally abuses her to tears. She subsequently does something heroic to prove herself to him and afterwards he utters some words of acknowledgement that make her go all mushy on him. There’s also this guy who giggles a lot and I don’t feel like talking about the rest of the cast right now.
My first impression of this anime was very positive. You have this weird premise you don’t really understand and which is kind of silly (I mean getting killed over books, there are better ways to spend your time), but it’s ok, because the main character is this likeable and usually funny boyish girl trying to prove herself in a male-dominated environment while there’s some real chemistry going on between her and the officer dude. The art is great to look at and I’m actually very happy that the characters are kind of normal looking. The show is also pretty darn funny at times and very charming.
After about five episodes, my enthusiasm has unfortunately dropped a little. The girl is very likeable most of the time, but she’s starting to get a little annoying with her constant crying and need for approval. I got the impression in the beginning that she’s a real tough girl who earnt her spot at the force. But these last four episodes have followed exactly the same (boring) recipe. She GETS KNOCKED DOWN, BUT SHE GETS UP AGAIN. YOURE NEVER GONNA KEEP HER DOWN. I’m also not too happy with the story. All they do is shoot at eachother to protect books and mags. It would help me, the viewer, a lot if they just threw me a bone explaining WHY it is so important to protect this stuff. Like MAYBE it’s all part of the big idea of freedom of expression or something. Also, with all the shooting around, I’m lacking a sense of real danger and a serious undertone. If the show goes on like this, I don’t think I’ll be watching it any longer.
