Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra

[Buffalobiian]

Genres: fantasy
Plot Summary: In a world where dead people turn into books and are stored in the Bantorra Library where anyone who reads a book can learn their past. Bantorra Library is maintained by Armed Librarians who wield psychic powers and their enemy is a religious society known as Sindeki Kyoudan. -ANN

Links: ANN, AniDB, MyAnimeNFO, Official Site

[HorribleSubs] Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra - 01 [480p].mkv

[Kraco]

Unlike Bill I actually found this a promising series. The description as such is a bit vague to really tell whether the show is any good and to be totally honest the main reason why I decided to check it out is Ayako Kawasumi being in the VA cast. However, even without her I'd watch the next episodes as well. The description associated in my mind with Toshokan Sensou, and once again, unlike Bill, I wasn't sure if that's a good thing or not. Not that I'd have had anything against Toshokan Sensou, but it wasn't something I'd like repeated many times.

However, this was quite different. Guns weren't overly present as fighting means but supernatural powers that were depicted quite nicely, I have to say. And I guess you don't see brainwashed suicide bombers every day in anime, either... Certainly made the religious organization seem evil to the core. One of the obvious main characters being one of those bombers is a good initial twist.

It worries me a little, though, that Ayako Kawasumi is voicing a dead character...

[Buffalobiian]

After watching some previews, I was actually rather interested in this series. I wasn't really interested when I read the description earlier on the charts.

Turned out I didn't like this episode a lot. None of the characters immediately stood out to me. The art didn't click neither. It either looked too "dirty" or plain. I don't know which one. Maybe it was just a bad raw.

I didn't find it was a particularly good 1st episode. It kind of threw you into the middle of something chaotic such that you really don't know what's going on. It wasn't set up in a way that made me want to know more like CANAAN, so the messiness was sort of off-putting.

I'll give it a few more episodes to see if it manages to capture my interest, but I'm not too optimistic.

I like the witch though, that's a definite.



PS: oh, and the CG sucked.

[Buffalobiian]

A proper sub: [Underwater] Armed Librarians: The Book of Bantorra - 01

Horrible subs are still watchable however, especially since I'm still evaluating the show.

[HorribleSubs] Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra - 02 [480p].mkv

[Buffalobiian]

Horrible Subs - Episode 03

[Kraco]

I haven't watched the third episode yet but I'm beginning to have doubts. The meats looked like a nice idea but now that they got some character development, they seem less likable and more unlikely. If they had been more robotic in nature, they would have remained believable but now they seem to simply be whole or partial amnesiacs yet otherwise perfectly human. I don't really believe in brainwashing somebody to kill himself for something he knows no reason for. Suicide bombers can do it because they strongly believe in something or someone, but these fellows just keep repeating the same line and what's more, they don't even believe in paradise waiting for them like muslim fundamentalists. Quite the opposite: they have been told they are worth nothing.

Dunno. I just find that extremely unlikely. The general situation isn't helped by how annoying those armed librarians are and how stupid it is they keep carrying huge piles of their most precious treasure, the books, so carelessly and witlessly. I kind of understand that True man; if I knew my book would likely get shattered by some fool who wants to carry 30 of them through a throng, I surely wouldn't want it to end up in that stupid library.