When I heard that Toshokan Sensou was a dystopian, Fahrenheit 451 paramilitary love comedy by Studio I.G., I thought to myself, this is either going to be one of the greatest anime ever or…well, no, I pretty much knew I had to watch this show. I have now watched the first episode, and all I can say is WOW. This is going to be an exciting season.

The year is 31 Seika (2019). Japan lives under the Media Improvement Act, a law with the supposed intent of protecting human rights and preventing the corruption of youth. Armed units of the Media Improvement Act Committee routinely raid bookstores, confiscating books deemed unfit for the public. This censorship extends beyond just literature, and includes the press. As a counterweight to this oppression of freedoms, the Library Freedom Act is also enacted. The Public Libraries become self-governing institutions, with the ability to even raise their own military units to defend themselves from Media Improvement Act raids. After thirty years of this dual system, armed conflict has intensified to an all-out war between these organizations.

Enter Kasahara Iku, a tall, athletic and brash 22 year old girl who is training to become a librarian, Private First Class at the Kantou Library Military Base. During the standard boot camp training provided by the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces (JGSDF), she finds herself routinely singled out by First Lieutenant Librarian, Doujou Atsushi. Iku, who was once saved by a Kantou Librarian whom she sees as her Prince Charming, now aspires to be an ally of justice and protect books from the Media Improvement Act agents. Lt. Doujou is very hard on Iku, but will Private First Class Librarian Iku figure out why, so she can advance and get assigned to the elite Library Special Task Force?

What to say? The show is over the top, a lighthearted comedy set in a world that seems very very dark. The premise itself at first glance appears so ludicrous as to strain credulity. However, upon closer inspection the story and universe, like all good shows, embeds rather serious social criticism in a bright, candy colored wrapper. Based on a series of light novels (heard that US publishers, get translating!) by Hiro Arikawa, a female writer who’s light novels tend to focus on the military. The novels claim to be based on the “Statement on Intellectual Freedom in Libraries” issued by the Japan Library Association, which is itself based on a more general Library Bill of Rights from the US. I suspect that it goes deeper. Recently the Japanese government has engaged in raiding bookstores due to shoujo manga with too much sexual content being easily accessible by younger children. Also, there have been pressure by the UN for Japan to adopt tougher standards in child pornography, which, it should be noted, extends to manga and anime, which is ironic since the US Supreme Court has ruled to protect so called “virtual” depictions of teenage sexuality as in Romeo and Juliet, as protected. We will see where the story goes, but I can’t help feel like this story is a reminder that censorship is bad, and that certain liberties are worth fighting and protecting.

The animation quality itself is superb, as one would expect from a Production I.G. title. The show is fast paced, the comedy and timing is right on, and the morphing is well done and more consistent than what I’ve seen in other shows. The music is excellent, and in places invokes a Patlabor feel. There is heavy use of the thick borders on some shots which has become particularly popular recently. It feels like it was executed particularly well here.

To quote the Statement on Intellectual Freedom in Libraries, “When the freedom of libraries is imperiled, we librarians will work together and devote ourselves to secure the freedom.” Go Iku, ally of justice, defender of books!