I Love Library War

Author: nova

I never would’ve thought any show could overcome the mighty mechas of this season, CG R2 and Macross F, as my personal favorite but once again I was proven wrong. Although Macross Frontier still maintains good quality, Code Geass seems to be degrading like a Finnish conscript’s morale at a winter training camp, as I explained in my post a while back. I guess I’m getting tired of all the science fiction and mecha madness as a whole, because a bit less known military show Toshokan Sensou (Library War) managed to catch my interest.

What’s so great about Toshokan Sensou? The thing I like most about it is its down-to-earth approach and realistic style. Also military shows are quite a rarity nowadays, especially ones without testosterone-filled heroism and polished, glorified image of the army and warfare. Thirdly, Toshokan Sensou has very appealing cast of characters. The last time I saw military and slice of life mixed together was Gunparade March which wasn’t all that bad – just quite confusing, at least without previous experiences with the games and manga. This is really a shame because Toshokan Sensou has made me realize how successful this combination can be.

The dynamic duo of the season.

Anyone who has been through military service knows that the army is a place where pretty much anything can happen. Especially a conscript military such as the Finnish Defence Forces where I have served my time as a mechanized infantry rifleman – when 300 people are pulled from their comfortable civilian lives into a moldy old barracks for at least the next 6 months whether they like it or not, a whole bunch of things happen. Add a dozen of these barracks and put them all in a single location, mix in some traditional rivalry and loathing between different branches of arms and there you go – whatever can be said about the military service, it sure as hell isn’t uneventful. It’s a place where all kinds of different personalities and screwballs get mixed up into one huge mess. A neo-nazi, a Russian immigrant, a typical countryside hillbilly, a few guys from a large city, a nerd with next to no physical fitness, a primadonna who can’t stand dirt and bad food, and a fat guy with a good sense of humor all living in a single room – if that’s not a good cast for slice of life humor series then what is?

I guess the problem with military shows of this kind is that while the setting can indeed provide loads of comedy and interesting happenings, not all people really get it. What I know from experience is that military life cannot be understood by anyone who hasn’t been there. In countries like Finland this isn’t really a problem since almost all males >20 years old have been through the service, but Japan is a place with voluntary service, as is probably the second biggest market for anime, the United States. Not to mention the wrong image modern media tends to give about the military service.

But back to Toshokan Sensou. While I found the characters quite life-like, apparently someone didn’t agree and felt like posting on /a/ about how the main character, Kasahara Iku, is no good. Because she cried. That’s apparently enough to make Toshokan Sensou a pinnacle of chauvinism and how we evil males want to portray female characters always as weak and helpless. Honestly, I don’t understand all this commotion about “strong females” as far as Kasahara is concerned. It’s clear that she’s a “strong” character – just as strong as any of us – but it seems like some people think it’s not enough. Apparently the ideal image of a “strong and independent” character is some kind of female Robocop. Funny, because I have always thought emotions and crying to be an essential part of normal human behaviour. It’s not like Kasahara cries whenever something happens – look at the situation and try to put yourself in her shoes. You get selected for a special task force among the best of the best, in the special training you do so well that even your usually bitchy drill instructor compliments you, and in a real combat situation show your assigned big-ego’ed partner how it’s done by saving the day with a motherfucking rapple jump straight into the hostile fire. And then when a special, high-risk situation comes, you are told to stay in the base while everyone else is shipped into combat because you’re “unreliable and not trustworthy.” If that frustration isn’t enough to make some people shed a tear or two then I don’t know what is. Kasahara Iku is a human character, an everyday person I can well understand and relate to. In my most honest opinion anyone claiming that she’s weak and unrealistic is just immature and should go back to watching simple shounen shows that mash everything up nicely and feed it to the audience with a spoon. A~n.

I admit that the story setting in Toshokan Sensou doesn’t make all that much sense – basically Japanese government is allowing and maintaining a limited degree civil war – and there aren’t much episodes left to explain it in much more detail, but at least for me the show’s excellent characters make up for the lack of sense in the setting. Destroying of books surely remind many of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 which is indeed referred to in the show. In any case Toshokan Sensou has surely left an impression – even if a brief one with just 12 episodes – and somehow brings me back some not-as-shitty memories of my own time in the FDF. It’s a mature show with a very good taste and as such obviously disliked by very many, but for those with refined taste it’s a pearl in a pile of dirt.