Toshokan Sensou (aka Library War)

[Kakulukiam]

Hey everybody,

just wanted to tell you, that ToshoSen - Spitfire is going to be scanlated by LetterBee! The first chapter was released yesterday. Go and check it out!

[Vanehei]

Oh yes!, i saw it in onemanga... lets read it!!!

[nanafan]

o rly?? oh snap i got to read it now! thanks for the info!

[Mizuno]

The introduction of Hikaru killed this series for me, just great.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by blewin

Just finished the series. Terrific series by far, especially the characters, but the basis of the story is a bit dubious. As my brother said, why would the government not amend the laws and instead allow a civil war to continue?

We've dealt with these criticisms several times already, and other posters/bloggers and I have posted possible explanations in this thread and other places. Please don't misunderstand — I'm not scolding you, but I'm just trying to point out that clarifications are easily available.

The point is simple: Viewers who criticise the "dubious" premise are not familiar with Japan's domestic politics and the nuances of its political power structure. To keep it short, the Media Improvement Act is a federal law, but local governments also have certain constitutional powers that overwrite federal bills.

So, it's not so much why the Seika government did not do anything to prevent the civil war, but rather because there is an on-going power struggle within the Japanese Diet that is perpetuating the civil war. The "civil war" suggests a weak government that is hardly in a position to do anything at all.

However, you and your brother are not wrong to say that the anime presents a silly turn of affairs. The characters themselves admit as much in Ep6 (what Komaki told Kasahara while they were hiding in a train carriage). The scary thing is that truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction, and bloody wars have broken out over the most inane issues before.

In any case, what's important is that you've enjoyed the series. I'm willing to bet that if I.G chose to include the meatier parts of the novels in the anime, it would have turned off many viewers, and Toshokan Sensou wouldn't have been half as popular as it was.

And as for why I've been absent from this thread for the last several pages, I'm afraid I've been too busy to post my final comments about the series. In the end, I had nothing particularly earth-shattering to add to everyone's comments. Like most fans, I'm sad about the series' length, which made it necessary for I.G to trivialise the more important parts of the novels. On the other hand, given the amount of time they had, I.G managed to create extremely lovable characters and an effective romance between two very charismatic leads.

Kudos especially for Inoue Marina's outstanding performance as Kasahara Iku. I think it's fair to say she carried the whole show with her memorable portrayal of my favourite gar female anime character for now. Special mention also to Sawashiro Miyuki's performance as every girl's best friend, Shibasaki Asako.

Toshokan Sensou is over. I now look forward to Toshokan Sensou: 2nd Edition (one can always dream).

[blewin]

thanks for the explanation, it makes much more sense now.
let's hope, as you said, that there'll be a second season! (like someday's dreamers, totally unexpected)

[Yu Ominae]

I already ordered some TS shirts on the way, peeps.

[Kakulukiam]

Originally Posted by Yu Ominae

I already ordered some TS shirts on the way, peeps.

Great!
I'm also getting myself one when I'm in J next month. As well as the nice cotton bag available @ Tsutaya. *drool*

[Yu Ominae]

You got both the LDF ones and the anti-MBA act shirt?

[Kakulukiam]

If they have these shirts in small size, sure! *drool*
Let's see. I hope that I'll get them in stores.

[Yu Ominae]

Got mine already in the mail by XL since my Hobby Japan contact told me to do so to avoid size problems.

They're fine 'cept my LDF shirt's sleeves in XL had some tiny space for my hands to move around. I was advised by family friend to go L next time...

[usagijen]

Originally Posted by Yu Ominae

Got mine already in the mail by XL since my Hobby Japan contact told me to do so to avoid size problems.

They're fine 'cept my LDF shirt's sleeves in XL had some tiny space for my hands to move around. I was advised by family friend to go L next time...

I'm still waiting for my officemate to come back from her Japan trip so I can get the LDF shirt I ordered from Amazon JP xD Got the small size, but I'm sure it's gonna be quite big for me still. The sizes are tailored for guys, after all, sigh. =.=;

[PhantomX]

Why are you surprised? There's only ONE woman in the LDF after all!

[Kakulukiam]

Just to let you know:
The awesome LJ community toshosen_tsl started translating the novels!

http://community.livejournal.com/toshosen_tsl/

[usagijen]

Originally Posted by Kakulukiam

Just to let you know:
The awesome LJ community toshosen_tsl started translating the novels!

http://community.livejournal.com/toshosen_tsl/

AWESOME. Thanks for the heads up! Have to get this news across, gonna post a quickie announcement post about this in our blog :3

[maika_chan]

HD versions up till ep 12 are out...but what's with the delay for SD versions?

[zzeroparticle]

Well, this series turned out to be a present surprise. Up until the final three episodes, I had griped elsewhere on the internet that the series really lacked focus partly because the episode cap meant that it would never really be able to cover the political machinations in full detail while maybe giving the romance aspect of this series a bit of a touch without going fully into it. What ended up getting sacrificed was the socio-political side, and I think that might have been for the better because the character drama/romances were definitely far more interesting than the premise of armed librarians (as awesome as that concept may be).

In any event, I was really impressed at how the ending managed to come up with a resolution, even if it wasn't a final resolution that would lead to the Task Force being redundant as the government becomes less restrictive. But the ending they opted for does give room for a sequel and it does end on an optimistic note, providing a good amount of closure. While I'd be interested in seeing what else they come up with, I wouldn't be disappointed if they left it off here. So in other words, this series ended well.

Just a small question that I'll put in spoilers just in case:

Spoiler:

Is it me, or did they sort of skimp on Tezuka's brother's machinations? Even now, I'm not quite sure what his motivations were in helping the Task Force by feeding them information about what the Cleansing Team was up to. From the way he evolved as a character, it was as though he was meant to be a main villain of sorts, but due to time constraints, became more of an afterthought. Was there some detail that I just totally missed that explains why it's never clear which side of the conflict he's on?

[incube]

Spoiler for zzeroparticle:

In my opinion, Tezuka's brother called because he was worried about Haruka. It wasnt top secret information afterall... but as Genda said, it helped them to be more prepared.
And about him being the villain... what he is doing is called politics. It isnt wrong or right, just the way our system and society works. Although what Kasahara said is very nice, she didnt provide any real solution to the problem. Stopping censorship but still maintaing a certain control over the media and information is a system that is used by many countries. An example would be China.

[Kouvley]

A very good series that has sadly been overlooked by many it seems.

I don't particuarly blame them though since I was guilty of doing the same after reading the synopsis.
It wasn't until this series got mentioned in the PlanetES thread that I thought I'd give it a try.

The setting tested my suspension of disbelief like I expected but once I got over it the characters really shone and took centre stage. I thought the ending was perhaps a bit too convenient but overall it has been an enjoyable ride.

[usagijen]

Originally Posted by Kouvley

A very good series that has sadly been overlooked by many it seems.

I don't particuarly blame them though since I was guilty of doing the same after reading the synopsis.
It wasn't until this series got mentioned in the PlanetES thread that I thought I'd give it a try.

The setting tested my suspension of disbelief like I expected but once I got over it the characters really shone and took centre stage. I thought the ending was perhaps a bit too convenient but overall it has been an enjoyable ride.

Always good to see more skeptics becoming Toshokan Sensou fan converts :P

Same with most people, I also found the characters to be the greatest asset (or hook?) of this show, and it certainly exceed my expectations in that aspect. Gotta love the rabu rabu stuff too, of course. And, this is really late, but since I didn't participate in the discussions in the thread despite being a self-proclaimed Toshokan Sensou fanatic, I wasn't able to mention my final thoughts about the series. In any case, it's just here (a really "objective" review btw), perhaps some of you might have already read it, but it won't hurt to post the link here for other ones to see. Spreading the TS love!!

There was also this interview of the ToshoSen novel author in one of the episodes of NHK's Top Runner, and I was fortunate enough to have caught it on its 3rd rerun (thanks to Japanese TV streaming). I've written this brief summary of what transpired throughout this interview, including this surprise appearance of Tomoaki Maeno himself!! Now if only someone recorded that episode for other ones to see... =/