Toshokan Sensou 02



Summary:
Iku and super-rookie Tezuka Hikaru are added to the Library Task Force, and right away Hikaru is very critical of Iku’s lack of basic library knowledge. Iku struggles in several of the exercises, and only shows an aptitude for rappelling; ironically, Hikaru’s only weakness seems to be his slight fear of heights. The LTF has to train hard in case of a direct assault on the library, like the Hino Nightmare.

Because of Hikaru’s harsh criticism, Iku enlists Asako for some high-stakes remedial tutoring. Iku casually mentions that several books have been missing, and when Asako digs deeper, she stumbles upon a plot by the MCF to question certain books and steal those books while the books are being reviewed in the less-secure office of the Chief Librarian. Iku and Hikaru follow Asako’s orders, and through teamwork they are able to foil the MCF team. Impressed by Iku’s intuition and rope skills, Hikaru abruptly asks her out on a date.

Reaction:
What a great episode! The MCF assault was intense, and Iku, Hikaru, and Asako made a great team. Iku made some very good decisions on the fly, since she would have been unable to provide accurate cover fire if Hikaru had rappelled down. The MCF had a good plan and some nice skills in getting the books, but their escape was very sloppy. Why did they leave the book carrier to go last? And how could not one single member of the team remember to bring flashbangs or smoke grenades? C’mon, this is basic stuff!

I really wonder about the pimple candy that Asako was forcing Iku to eat as punishment. It’s interesting that that would motivate Iku, but she seemed to clear up pretty quickly. I wasn’t surprised by Hikaru’s confession, since he was watching Iku like a hawk all episode long and acting extremely tsundere (worse than Atsushi even). Hikaru better not try any funny business, or he’ll get knocked out faster than that officer in the bear costume.

11 Comments

  1. blissmo (99)
    Posted 5/2/2008 at 12:27 am | Permalink

    I love bears :D

  2. Posted 5/2/2008 at 12:49 am | Permalink

    bear suit punchout was great.

    but for real, this show is a lot of fun. I’ve read people really wrecking it for its absurd premise, but this is anime, guys. Pretty sure one guy + ten girls, or giant robots are also unbelievable.

  3. IKnight (11)
    Posted 5/2/2008 at 3:21 am | Permalink

    We need a Toshokan Sensou CounterStrike mod/clone/thing.

  4. Posted 5/2/2008 at 4:32 am | Permalink

    Sly Komaki is actually the one who convinced Tezuka to confess to Iku, but the anime decided to skip that and just focus on what really matters, coz there’s only 12 eps! So yeah, Komaki is the one who made Tezuka realize that he’s tsundere for Iku ;P

  5. Kabitzin (1464)
    Posted 5/2/2008 at 6:16 am | Permalink

    I wonder if Mikihisa did it to get Atsushi to make a move, knowing that Iku would not accept Hikaru as a BF. Because that would be quite strategic…

  6. Jesus159159159 (297)
    Posted 5/2/2008 at 3:16 pm | Permalink

    only 12 eps!

    YAHOO!!! Someone should have mentioned this sooner! I’m definitely watching it now!

    Oh, and my weapon of choice are the OMGs ;)

  7. Posted 5/3/2008 at 3:31 am | Permalink

    I wonder if Mikihisa did it to get Atsushi to make a move, knowing that Iku would not accept Hikaru as a BF. Because that would be quite strategic…

    Knowing Komaki, I do think he has this ALL PLANNED OUT ;)

  8. Impz (38)
    Posted 5/3/2008 at 9:59 am | Permalink

    And considering Komaki, he will probably laugh with joy at the drama. He’s such a meanie.

  9. Epi (117)
    Posted 5/4/2008 at 12:48 am | Permalink

    I dunno what to think about this show. On one hand, the action is pretty good, and the training antics are always fun. Iku’s a pretty good character, and Atsushi kinda reminds me of Hachimaki from Planetes and is pretty entertaining himself.

    On the other hand the premise is just so ridiculous even for anime that I dunno if I can take this show seriously. I wouldn’t mind if the show was intentionally silly or unrealistic (like say Kanon) but this show actually does try to be somewhat realistic considering it features no magic, no special powers, no wacky sci fi, no fantasy parallel universe, no fan service, but plenty of somewhat realistic military combat.

    All this just makes it so ridiculous. I mean… they’re having GUN BATTLES in the library?? And people still go to the library regardless? And people fight over books in the future at the bookstore (instead of at the publisher/importer) and ignore the Internet?

    Dennou Coil provided us with an awesome premise for some ‘battles’ being fought between ‘factions’ that could happen without normal people really caring… because… well… it was virtual. Even Battle Royale’s crazy premise was okay because it was not ridiculous enough to be unacceptable and really the point of the show was just to have everyone kill eachother. But this show’s central premise really is about the whole book protecting thing instead of that being just a ‘plot line’ or unimportant setup to hilarious hijinks.

    In this anime they use actual guns and people actually get hurt, but yet most places are still pretty normal and people go to libraries and bookstores and buy books just as normal, except they might be shot at anytime… just makes no sense.

  10. Saker (9)
    Posted 5/4/2008 at 11:48 am | Permalink

    the premise of this anime is ridicolous, but the premise of any anime involving magic, sci fi or special powers ain’t? get real, that’s stupid, you just doesn’t like thins you ain’t familiar with. no shame in that tho

  11. Epi (117)
    Posted 5/4/2008 at 9:37 pm | Permalink

    Saker, you don’t seem to get my point. What I am talking about is that the premise is dumb because the show takes it’s ridiculous plot seriously, and presents itself as a possible future, and fully grounded in reality when in fact it is hard to take a show this seriously which tries so hard to be serious.

    That said, even sci-fi or fantasy shows can have silly premises as well. For instance the premise of Macross Zero has probably been universally panned by most people (myself included), but most people (myself included) can still enjoy that show for the awesome animation and good music. Similarly I enjoy this show on the level of a good ’slice of life while in training’ type anime even if I can’t but help laugh uncontrollably at the ridiculous plot.

One Trackback

  1. [...] be really abrupt. But I guess I was just jaded by having this point of comparison, considering that Kabitzin actually thought it was all good~ Nonetheless, here goes all those missing cut scenes, and well, [...]

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