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Library War is such a funny anime. It's like if two creators teamed up and one was like "I want to write a story about the freedom of expression and the dangers of censorship and give it a romantic subplot!" And the other creator was like "If I'm not constantly drawing uniforms, helicopters, and assault rifles, I'll die."
The result is you have librarians and library assistants with glocks continuing to argue about the Dewey Decimal system.
My favorite comments of 2026 so far
I thought I'd do something different this time and highlight some of my favorite comments I've gotten on fics I've written this year on AO3 and Squidge World. As always, my fics are open to further comments.
Back "tattoos" pals and their panicking girlfriends
If everyone votes for their girlfriends I don’t see how anyone wins, though Rumi has an unfair advantage in two girlfriends - Ri2 In fact, the judges of this competition were their...own girlfriends. (That's rough buddy.[)] Lol imagine if your girlfriend didn't vote for you?- @hannahhook7744 "Really fun crossover and great energy between all the couples super enjoyable read 💜"- little baby (on Squidge World)
Reunited Again?: Huntrix, the Best Friend Squad, Sana the Scoundrel, and Rumi's Daring Decision
Hi, this is joystickchevr0n from tumblr! Just wanted to say Aaaa, this is so good!!! I love how soft Sana and Rumi are with each other! They are so cute together. I really like your descriptions, both of Sana and of Rumi's markings changing with her emotions. I also like how you included Sana's trust issues after being abandoned by Chelli. Also, I gotta say all the credit you give for both inspirations and information is impressively through (and now I have seen more Sana art! Yippee!) Thanks for writing this, I enjoyed it lots :) - @joystickchevr0n
Surfer Zoey, my beloved
"AHHHH!!! I'm so sorry for not seeing this until now 😭 this story was so lovely and sweet and I love how descriptive you were!!! Also ["] Seeing her like this was so entrancing that they couldn't keep her eyes off her. There was nothing in the whole wide world they would rather be looking at. They couldn't help but admire her. ["] YESSS THEY'RE SO SMITTEN AND IN LOVE AHJDJAJKDKD[.] 10/10 kudos to you! This was a lovely read :D"- @stephlastname-ao3 "this is a very cute work!!! i love everything about this and how it flows together. squealed so much this is just so wholesome. surfers low-key need more recognition as there is so little for zoey and a forth of that for mira and rumi. like they all buff and built, why can’t they surf??? like, just so much potential for these girls i had to take it in to my own hands. anyways, amazing work, keep on pushing!!! ❤️❤️❤️"- @violynshark
The Holy Grail of...Love
"OMG finally a new Holy Grail fic!!! And pure yuri at that! I was debating on writing one too but I was unsure of how I wanted things to go. But yours has given me a few ideas. I absolutely loved reading this! “you'll have experiences with me that no man, not even Randolph, can ever give to you” had me squealing. Highly grateful my fav series has a fic I can get behind and will be happily rereading 💜"- Zephyr_Scarlet
The Veneer of Normality
"This was quite cute! I will have to watch Pretty Please I Don't Want to be a Magical Girl at some point soon. Be safe and stay hydrated🩵"- @quietlyrebellious01 "This is such a fun idea for a crossover, especially considering the anime influence in both this Adult Swim Superman show, and this new Kiana Khansmith show. It’s also impressive how much research and effort you put into all the little references throughout the story 💙💛❤️ 💫 🌟"- aelisheva
Tiny Food, Nerdy Girls, Rapping, and Spaceships
"This is a really lovely vibe and it's nice to see a story of Entrapta and Zoey. Thanks for writing it"- @bereavedbuckle
The Best Friend Squad Meets Huntrix
Great story I like his you mixed the characters together and got Rumi to trust her friends with her secret. 'At one point, Entrapta walked out to the balcony and pressed a button on her tracker pad and spoke softly "Bring Darla around." The girls suddenly heard a massive whirring sound. It then stopped. Entrapta gave the command to uncloak the ship, something that Melog understood' I love this bit. It shows how much Entrapta has grown she just understands when it's time to leave and even understands that melog will know what is being asked of them. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the next part."- @bereavedbuckle
That Motorbike Ride
Wow. You might see me on the inspo fic at some point, this is an extremely interesting ship. Thanks for the short read, I needed something short and cute. :) (Also, really like your writing style, it reads smoothly) - ALL HAIL MOUTH CLOUD
Flight of the Eagle and the Rise of President Sandiego
"It kinda reminds me of when Carm joined Ivy n Zack to help arrest mealstrom. Cuz at the end of this episode there is a mini animation as the credits are rolling where CHIEF talks about all the possibilities that Carmen could achieve being good n one of the things was her becoming the president lol"- P1r4t3st4rx13
Iku's Nervousness, Asako's Joy, and a Date-Not-Date in Kantō
"This is so sweet! I like your description and characterization of a queer platonic relationship - it fits them so well."- @lexinecircc
Maomao, mystery, and the intriguing Blue Angel mushroom
"Hei! I stumbled on this and am passingly familiar with "Common Side Effects" and thought to give this a try and... I like the idea so much? It's an intriguing premise for sure. I like that you worked out your idea in fic form and would love if it were kind of alright with you if I might, at some point, pick up on this (with reference to this fic ofc) just because the idea is fantastic! thank you so much for putting this out here for all of us to read and be inspired by :)"- Out_of_custody (on Squidge World)
Oh Library Wars! So nostalgic! It's the anti-book censorship Shoujo anime! About a police/military force that protects author and books from what I remember. The ML voiced by Maenu is the heroine's superior. He's shorter than heroine but very cool and manly. Heroine didn't know her crush and her strict superior is the same person in the beginning. It's like age gap office romance. Heroine is 22 and ML is 26.
Maenu sang a cover song of the anime's ending themesong recently.
Have you seen Library War (2008)?
Yes
Partially
No, but I've heard of it
Never heard of it
Original title: Toshokan Sensô | 図書館戦争.
Obscure Anime of The Day:
Library Wars
Aired: 2008
Genres: Action, Comedy, Drama, Military, Romance, SciFi, Shoujo, Violence
Took me a million years to finish and I’m not 100% sure I’m happy with it, but it’s iku and dojo!!! The best fictional couple to ever do it and you can QUOTE me on that!!!
(from Library War, Ep07: "The Library Corps Refrain From Firing")
Librarian-soldiers and the never-ending "library war" against censorship
From the name itself, I knew that Library War (known as Toshokan Sensō in Japan), based on a set of manga novels by Hiro Arikawa, was obviously going to be about libraries. There are two live-action film adaptions of the series, one in 2013 named Library Wars and another in 2015 named Library Wars: The Last Mission. The first film adaption was praised by my good friend/colleague, and fellow librarian Jennifer Snoek-Brown as amazing, especially as it is inspired by the Statement on Intellectual Freedom in Libraries put out by the Japan Library Association, first in 1979. She noted that the movie led to the "discovery of a series of popular novels about defending libraries." As for the anime series, Rebecca Silverman of the Anime News Network noted that the core of the series is "about the people working against censorship rather than the censorship itself," tackling the issue that some people declare something immoral and seize it without any other reason. [1] Some reviewers called it a "classic high concept show" that is the equivalent of Fahrenheit 451 with more guns, [2] even comparing protagonist to Iku Kasahara to Yomiko Readman in Read or Die, while others noted that the series is simply a library war, as "people actually go into war over books, censorships, media influences and other stuff." Apart from this, some called it fun, especially for book lovers, those interested in military shows, and said it inspires viewers to "stand up for their ideals and protect their rightful freedom of expression." This series is more than a fun, and wonderful anime, which can get intense with armed, militant librarians. While it only has 24 fan fictions on Archive of Our Own, I had to watch this series in its entirety.
This coming of age police drama is set in a Japan (in the year 2019) where "freedom of speech is not a right, and censorship is at an all-time high" with two groups (the Media Betterment Committee and the Librarians) fighting each other. More specifically, in this story, the Japanese government passed a law allowing the government to censor films, magazines, books, and other media deemed "unacceptable," enforced by the Media Betterment Committee (MBC). [3] It also passed the Library Freedom Act, meaning that libraries can be "safe repositories for even banned materials," with people able to go there to find "any available media," whether it is banned or approved. This means that the libraries can counteract the MBC, with the protagonist, Iku (voiced by Marina Inoue), a member of the Library Militia, and en route to become part of a self-defense unit of armed librarians, or "book soldiers," named the Library Task Force. Charlie Jane Anders of i09 once called Iku one of the heroic librarians saving the world, with going to library school meaning "basic training and learning how to use a rifle to protect books." And hence our story begins here.
There is a lot I could say about the series. Each episode [4] continues the story of the push and pull between the librarian-soldiers of the Task Force (and Militia) and censors of the MBC going after "problem books," with Iku growing into an "ally of justice," beginning to fulfill her mission as a person who safeguards "expression of freedom." At the same time, she is searching for the man who saved her all those years ago, who she calls her prince. Often there are fierce battles to defend the books and materials in the libraries, kidnapping of librarians by the censors, and defense of a museum, in the last few episodes, where the people believe they can fight the forces of censorship nonviolently. In the ending part of the series, especially, is interesting as public opinion turns against the library, with people wanting censorship of materials and protesting outside the base where the librarians live, train, and work on a library. I suppose you could say there are "battle scenes...drawn with detailed settings and overwhelming visual beauty," and storylines which describe "the pleasant daily actions of the library members" as stated on the show's official website. [5]
Logo of the Task Force in the series
While the war between the librarian-soldiers and censors continued, unresolved, at the close of the series, the librarians are portrayed as the defenders of freedom of expression, since their military unit is "dedicated to protecting books from being confiscated," if that wasn't clear already at this point. The censors, who are part of the Ministry of Justice, aim to crack down on all works said to be "offensive to public order and morals." [6] The librarians-soldiers, on the other hand, have an independent budget and manage personnel on their own, with those soldiers either engage in library operations, defense of the library facilities, or logistical support. The task force, which Iku is part of, are an elite of the defense personnel, a special forces of sorts, working at specific libraries at the request of those libraries, and engage in a "wide range from normal library operations to large-scale offensive and defensive battles." Specifically, the librarians have five articles which govern their activities, with details that can be supplemented at any time, part of their library freedoms, to be precise:
Article 30. Libraries have freedom in collecting their materials. Article 31. Libraries secure the freedom of offering their materials. Article 32. Libraries guarantee the privacy of users. Article 33. Libraries oppose any type of improper censorship categorically. Article 34. When the freedom of libraries is imperiled, we librarians will work together and devote ourselves to secure the freedom.
Iku, a series protagonist as shown on the show's official website
This somewhat mirrors the ALA Code of Ethics which upholding principles of intellectual freedom and resisting all efforts of censorship of resources at the library, protecting the right to privacy and confidentiality of every user. Interestingly, not mentioned in the above list, but in the ALA Code talks about providing the highest level of service to all library users, respecting intellectual property rights, treating all co-workers and colleagues with fairness, respect, and good faith, not advancing private interests at the cost of others, distinguishing between personal convictions and professional duties, and striving for excellence in the profession. However, you could argue the library facilities run by the librarian-soldiers do try and provide a high level of service, treat each other with respect, strive for interest, not advance private interests at the cost of others. Even so, for these librarians, their personal convictions and professional duties (if you could call them that) are intertwined, and I honestly don't think they really care about intellectual property rights, but just about providing access to their materials in whatever way possible. This connects to the part of the show's official website including cast saying, in Japanese, what books they would protect if they were actually librarians in the show's environment, if I'm understanding it correctly.
In the end, this series not only shows the value of libraries, and librarians, but their role in society as fighters for free expression, freedom of information, and against censorship, among other virtues.
© 2021 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.
Notes
[1] Also, see the review in the same publication of the manga novels.
[2] This is made clear from the old official website for the film.
[3] As noted on Wikipedia, while it is often called the Media Betterment Act, other translations call it the Media Improvement Act, Media Enforcement Act or the Media Cleansing Act.
[4] This is summarized from translations of episode descriptions from https://www.toshokan-sensou.com/episode.html
[5] This is coming from a translation of https://www.toshokan-sensou.com/intro.html
[6] This whole section is translated from https://www.toshokan-sensou.com/yougo.html, with the article translation taken from the Wikipedia page for the show.
Reprinted from Pop Culture Library Review and Wayback Machine
