Armed Librarians was an odd title but this anime released more than a decade ago was a gem I wished I watched soon. The Japanese title is Tatakau Shishoinitially started as a light novel by Ishio Yamagata. It was a period when dark fantasy was popular but this show became obscured due to its mature themes despite being targeted for young adult audiences.
Armed Librarian: Book of Bantorra contains a lot of biblical references mixed with other lore in their world building. The pacing is quite slow due to the nature of things being episodic and events seemingly unrelated until it turns back on you with a surprise that everything building up to the final climactic end was all related in a web of conspiracies.
Whenever a person dies, their corpse leaves a book that contains a record of their life viewable by anyone with a touch. These books are gathered by Armed Librarians and stored in the Library of Bantorra as a sacred task. The Library has a few labyrinths underneath where countless books are kept and guardian beasts roam around protecting the domain. An armed librarian is trained in combat and magic to regulate the beasts in the library and take on missions outside the Library. The Library is at war with a cult organization called the Shindeki Church which aims to help its members find true happiness despite questionable means. This conflict sets the stage for the story.
Trivia: Bantorra refers to the god of the past that was believed to have created the library.
I only picked up the show because of the plot says people turn into books when they die and it's a 27 episode show which is hard to come by in today's anime.
It's hard to see these types of anime getting some mainstream recognition because of the niche type of audience it attracts. The story incorporated biblical elements and other philosophical ideas using the characters as a mouth piece.
I look back at all the characters trying to find the individual quirks that made them stand out but feel that these quirks were more forced to align with what they represent than who they are.
You have a character named Vulcan who lives a life of virtue and pursuing venerable justice without a fault only to be betrayed by his sense of justice. You have Noloty who is the most kindest person I've ever encountered in anime that their goodwill triumphs all - it didn't but I wouldn't expound on this to avoid spoilers.
I'd normally have low opinions about characters being written to fit a stereotype to progress the plot but that's the default mindset for watching modern anime for the last few years. Armed Librarian anime was aired around late 2009 to early 2010. This was an era where dark anime and beautifully drawn faces were popular like Claymore and Berserk were getting popular. This was a period when stories were told heavy for the sake of the art.
Hamyuts Meseta deserves a special mention here because her back must've ached so bad carrying the whole story by being the protagonist anti-hero, villain, and supporting character during the course of the episodes. She's not the conventional protagonist for being an anti-hero and serving as the acting director of the Library. Her personality isn't likeable, her morals are consistently questionable and she's that co-worker you'd call a bitch but she's good at her job maintaining the balance.
Her existence in the story is the close equivalent of Satoru Gojo from another anime just for disrupting the balance between the known good and evil. But this show is crafted with a web of conspiracy and dark backstories per character that culminates to the climactic end revealing a greater truth about the known world and the Library's history.
But she's not really a popular mainstream character despite how great her presence is central to the story. Throughout the beginning she is viewed from the lens of side characters going through their own character development. The effective acting director who calls the shots for the Library with displeasing personality and a dominant trait of villainy rules their organization. And yet their organization is keeping the good fight against the cult known as the church of Shindeki. Meseta's existence is a contrast to what the ideal Librarian should be and almost all librarians just accept her position without question for she is the strongest among them.
We do get a glimpse of her sad backstory but it was a brief moment when there's not enough time to get us emotionally invested despite how dark her past was. But this explains why she is acting the way she is and because of her past being unknown, it adds another layer of conflict and mystery within the confines of her interactions with other librarians.
So why do I make her a big deal? Hamyuts Meseta is a breath of fresh air when it comes to the meta of strong women portrayed in anime. I couldn't find any woman in anime that can be close to her personality and contribution to the whole story in a show. And she's hot.
Finishing the 27 episodes gave me a cathartic feeling, finally it's over and it didn't end in a cliff hanger. There's a lot of to unpack towards the end as the twists keep twisting by themselves. The climactic ending wasn't something expected. It's not a show I'd re-watch but wish I can watch again for the first time. It's definitely something I'd recommend for people that like watching mature dark themes like betrayal, conspiracy, and Greek tragedy-like settings.
Despite the source material came from light-novels which are targeted around teens to young adults, I don't think it's a show that teenagers would really appreciate because there's a lot of mature themes involved and I don't mean the sexual kind. I mean adults making serious decisions and pondering about the meaning of life kind.
Thanks for your time.
