Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra

Armed Librarians: The Book of Bantorra has had a very strong divide among opinions this past season. I have seen many people praise this show in the anime blogosphere, while forum activists on big sites such as ANN criticize it to death. I’m sure there are many people in the middle who just don’t know what to think or are uncertain to try it. I hope that my review will clear some of that uncertainty away.

Story

Now here is something original. After a person dies, their memories turn into a stone tablet called a "book" that leaves their body to be ... collected. When someone comes along and touches that person’s book, they can see vivid imagery of their past as if they were really there to witness it. These are very special books and must be kept safe at all costs, and that is what the Bantorra Library serves to do. A group of people known as the Armed Librarians guard these books with their lives using psychic powers.

This story is NOT linear with a one-track mind. Instead, it branches off into many intricate subplots. You will see the Armed Librarians tracking down stolen books, recruiting new members, having personal quarrels and drama, going on adventurous missions, and each character pursuing their own personal and hidden agenda. They also fight their common enemy known as the Sindeki Kyoudan, an enigmatic religious group that manipulates people against the library for its own reasons. There is much discussion about heaven and what it means to be a “true man” to enter such a place.

After a while, the story does not seem to have a clear focus. It hops around to many different issues, never staying on a single one for too long. Criticism has been heavily placed on this area because the story can get confusing fast. Often times you might be mislead to believe that main story will be about this or that particular thing. I actually like that, but it is required of you to pay close attention to the events to appreciate how they all come together near the end.

The last thing I will say about the story is that I love its unpredictability. This anime makes you think. Nothing is straightforward, and there seems to be a plot-twist within every subplot..and that’s a LOT of plot-twists. The story, so full of secrets, character betrayals, and philosophical questions, will take you for an entertaining ride.

Characters

There are 30+ characters listed under this anime, and you’re introduced to a whole lot at once. The characters shine just as magnificently as the story does; they each have very detailed backgrounds and different motives. It is not really clear on which people are the bad guys and the good guys. It is also not clear on which character is the main one that we should be focusing on. Everyone gets the same amount of attention.

I give much praise to the characters because a handful of them are refreshing and have strong personality. I had my doubts about how well they would turn out to be, but they took me by surprise. The characters are very dynamic, meaning that they change and develop internally. As the show steadily progresses, you’re constantly being introduced to someone new and exciting.

The character section on this page does a good job in describing each character and their psychic ability, so I recommend reading those if you want to know the specifics.

Animation

One of the first things I hear people say when they start watching this is that the characters look unappealing, and the CGI looks very out of place.

Either you love the character designs or you don’t. They appear more on the dark-outlined, shadowy side without much shine, but it's best if you take a look for yourself. Some of the female characters look a bit masculine also. Despite all this, I thought that the designs were okay.

If you are patient enough to get to the best fighting scenes in this anime, you won’t be disappointed. High production values were saved for these moments, and the CGI gets put to good use.

Sound

This is where your personal taste really comes in. I found the OST to be fantastic. As a fan of Ali Project, I liked the first OP theme called “Datengoku Sensen.” The background music is also enjoyable and consists of many low-key orchestral sounds that suit the suspenseful atmosphere.

Overall

Armed Librarians is an entertaining, action-packed anime that uses its large, developed cast to its advantage. The story may seem rather confusing and directionless at times, but it all pays off towards the end. I recommend this anime.

Story [9]
-Bantorra has very complicated story and is really serious with few funny moments. Sometimes its just hard to connect the story, but if you pay attention you will see that almost everything is properly explained. The end of the anime really pays off if you survived other arcs first.
-it is recommended that you watch it whole at once, if you can, if not, try not to make long hiatuses with this anime, cause it will be easier to remember some important stuff such as minor details that come in handy.
-As for the story itself, it has really unique ideas.

Art [8]
-The art was what ... mostly made me to watch this. There are no chibi faces and moments and no big eyed shoujo girls with sparkles all around, thank god.
-it has pretty cool looking guys
-also cute and serious looking girls
-Animation can be weird in some moments, but in almost all scenes its well drawn and animated.
-has pretty colors and beautiful scenery as well.

Sound [8]
-didnt impress me much though both openings were ok. There is well known Ali project ofc.
-The effect sounds were amazing though :D

Characters [10]
-are the highlight of the series.
-they are various and deep
-anime provides background of the characters in arcs, and you get to know them better and their decisions :D

There are 5 main characters such as:
-Hamyuts "Hamy" Meseta-the acting director of the Armed Librarians, battle crazy "defeat me if you can" kind of a girl;
-Volken McMarney- has a strong sense of justice and kind personality ;
-Noloty Maruchie- is a straight-forward person who does not like to kill people;
-Mattalast Balory-known as a liar and one of the strongest librarians;
-Mirepoch Finder-cute but really strict person and in love over her head.


Enjoyment [10]
well better to say, it depends from person to person. In my case its 10 because i love serious stories and idea itself was pretty much awesome.
If you dont like serious stuff than it isnt for you, if you do though, i highly recommend it.

Overall [9]
I highly recommend it to people who love deep stories and characters. The only thing i do mind is that story itself IS hard to follow and you MUST pay attention to every single detail. But itself is an anime which can move you, that is to make you smile or cry, filled with lot of action and with an original idea.

I was drawn into this series from the very first episode. It's dark, it's gritty, and its emotional. I really enjoy how the show has short but interesting arcs. The first arc dealt with the "laughing witch" and that alone just pulled me in. Spoilers aside, it was a very engaging, emotional arc for me. I actually cared about the characters involved!

I really love the art style and I think though the pacing may be a bit off sometimes, there are very interesting hints dropped by here and there that are always tied in as you progress. I really love that.

This series isn't ... a comedy and it isn't an action. It's a little bit more suspenseful with spotlights distributed among the main cast between each arc. I hope to see more character development in the episodes to come!

Reminds me a lot of deathnote in the way the show is handled and progressing. :)

When it comes to settings of fictional pieces, Armed Librarians: the Book of Bantorra has certainly an interesting one: deceased people who turn into books, and librarians that keep those stored in the huge library of Bantorra. Although it has an intriguing story to show, its narrative is lackluster, never really knowing on what it wants to focus on. Don't get the wrong impression, it has some good story arcs alongside some endearing characters.

The anime focusses on the books as well as the armed librarians, people with psychic powers, tasked with retrieving and maintaining the huge archives. As it will, it is not that simple: ... an organisation by the name of Sindeki Kyoudan thwarts the librarians because of opposing ideologies. The integrants of said organisation strive becoming the best and most valuable books by achieving maximum happiness, what basically boils down to doing whatever one pleases, including homicide. In essence, armed librarians exist to counter said party.

The whole anime is divided is several small arcs, ranging from background stories of the main cast, to people affected by the divide between the two powers. An example would be the "Meat", who are mindless humans turned into bombs. It shows audiences the various powers, the effects of books on the population, as well as exposing the reason of the library including some of the characters. However, when taking a closer look to the structure of the narrative, in addition to some of the arcs provided, it is quite messy.

First of all, some of the plots introduced are carefully executed, just to be resolved in a matter of episodes with arguably weak conclusions that do not live up to the quality of the build-up episode(s). Other problem is the sparse introduction of plot lines, just to be left aside to suddenly pop up again much later. A non linear narrative is not an issue on its own, yet when done with little to no coherence, it just leaves confusion in the viewer on the reason of such approach. Finally, the conclusion of the series is rather underwhelming, where it simply culminates into a cluster of battles with a rather poor explanation on the existence and reasons of some of the mysteries surrounding the lore of that world.

As for the characters of Armed Librarians, it is as a whole rather generic and uninteresting to the exception of a few, despite having a large cast of characters. The cast can be easily described by their personalities: the one blinded in self justice, a strict person, the incredibly person, a battle hungry killing machine, a lady-killer, you name it. The main problem is that most characters are either left unexplored or are too one-dimensional to feel any interest in them.

Naturally, there are some exceptions; for instance there is long hair Enrique whose struggle with his destiny as a "Meat" has interesting consequences to his character, as well as providing development as a person. Volken is another example, although it offers interesting points to the main plot, as a character he is wasted. Then there is the strongest librarian of all, the killing machine Hamyuts Meseta, who receives some fleshing out explaining her nature, albeit being a bit uninspired; but hey, it can be very entertaining watching a woman kick ass as she does, and that with a simple sling.

The animation was overall well executed with fluent battle scenes in addition to some great backgrounds. Character designs are not too generic providing a nice change to the usual ones, although in some occasions some discrepancies could be found when viewed from different angles. As for the soundtrack used, it is as whole matching with the anime, yet not outstanding. The same could be said about the voice actors, although in some cases they managed to convey ones personality in a great manner.

Armed Librarians: the Book of Bantorra was overall an enjoyable watch, with intriguing small arcs, where sadly the structure of the narrative as well as the somewhat aimlessly story were the main reasons for a lesser experience. It offered some interesting characters, alongside a nice setting. Although personally it is not a great anime, it surely is entertaining enough, and thus recommended to anyone with some spare time, and not swayed by the messy narrative.

Thank you reading.

I've decided to drop The Book of Bantorra after watching five episodes. I had to force myself to watch 5 episodes.
Story. What story? Where? Oh yeah. There are some books which are actually remnants of dead people's lives. Kuroshitsuji? Tsubasa Chronicle (not the main story, of course)? I just had a problem with seeing why these books are so important that there exists an elite class within the society that protects them from some funky organization with an idiotic name and random beasts roaming around the library itself. Maybe there's some enlightement after the 5th episode, but I really don't care. Why am I not ... curious enough to find out?
There is not a single thing by which this anime stands out. It doesn't even suck enough for me to be curious about how much more it can suck. The art is ok. The characters are a bit less than ok, but not too bad. Mirepoc, Volken and Matt seemed fairly interesting, but not enough.
As you probably noticed, the two words I would use to describe this anime is "not enough".

A big breasted well tanned mature beauty wearing a half opened shirt posing in a quite lascivious manner with a pearl white grin on her face. Yeah, right, you watch this show because of the deep characters and the exciting and intelligent story, don't ya?

-> Exactly.

- The Story:
The Book of Bantorra features a whole new world full of superpowers and complex rules and organisations surrounding the endless battle for happiness and salvation at Heaven's door. And the best thing is: it does not tell you a thing. This show is NOT something you can just watch without paying attention. If you want to take a ... dive into the Armed Librarians' world you have to stay focused and think about what you see. The anime gives you the puzzle, but it demands you to place it yourself. Doing that, Book of Bantorra, unlike Serial Experiments Lain or other complex works, never really leaves you in the dark, but gives you just the information you need to deduce for yourself. Every single story arc is presented in a very intriguing manner, introducing multilayered characters and creative scenarios, dealing with the dark secrets the world of Bantorra contains.

- The Atmosphere:
If you are willing to follow the show's lead, take all the info you get and try to figure out all the untold stuff, you will find yourself drawn in by the group called "The Armed Librarians" and its many interesting members. You will get to know characters who seemed unlikeable at first, understand their motives and soon you will get emotionally attached to them (although it really takes time in some cases). The tension that is created here is pretty high, because the show features a certain degree of realistic and merciless violence towards the show's characters. In most cases, death is abrupt and unpredictable, so you're always reminded of the fact that your heroes and heroines may be able to use super powers but are not immortal.

- The Design:
As I hinted at the beginning, some of the characters' designs are quite questionable. Looking at the show's main character, Hamyuts Meseta, I'd say her design may be quite deterrend for people looking for a serious anime instead of some breast bouncing ecchi show, because she NEVER buttons her shirt and there are more than a few shots on her decollete etc. BUT, despite having a body Shirley Yeager would be envious of, Hamyuts Meseta is a very intense character and her design (and those of other female characters here), which seems to originate from some puberty dream, only contrasts her complex character and history. As for the rest of the crew, there are some other strange costume designs like brash colored uniforms or medieval-esque fantasy magician coats, but, after watching a couple of episodes you will get used to the shows strange design style.

- The Final Conclusion:
There are many many popular anime series out there, scoring their 10/10 points every now and then, only containing a fraction of Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra's ingenuity and dramatic resourcefulness, deep characters and wonderful scenarios. This is one of the many very underrated and unfortunately unpopular anime series here on MAL, probably due to its complexity and challenging narration style which does not feed you chewed for cake.

Update:
I've been thinking a lot about how the show ended, because I had my problems with the way they did it. Don't want to spoiler anything, but I have to add that there are a few plot lines forgotten along the way, while the ending itself felt a little inappropriate in terms of style. That's why I'll downgrade Tatakau Shisho to 9/10.

The Book Of Bantorra out of all the series I have watched this is probably one of the least well known and underrated show I have seen. I am writing this review in order to establish 2 things mostly. One to help it gain some recognition and Two to establish as why people should give this a try without going into too much spoiler territory so il try to keep it spoiler free as I can.

The Plot of this story focuses on a world where when people die they have their memories and depending your interpretation there soul in stone books and there is a ... group called the Armed librarians whose job is to ensure the protection of these books and ‘’Heaven’’ by placing them in this giant library called Bantorra Library against those who would use the book for nefarious purposes in particular the group’s main rival is the church of the true heaven who’s main job is to seek out means to attain The True Heaven….At the Same time there is conspiracy involving both parties behind the secrets of the Books and Heaven that is slowly reveal as the story go.

Well that is the general outline of the plot….The plot itself is divided among a series of Story arcs that involve several characters which I might add is huge.. There are over 30 or so characters that this show focuses on ….AS for the Development….Some develop slowly but steadily others are felt rushed or skipped and should have more build up but u can only do so much with 27 episodes which is how long tis series is. The story arcs at first would seem isolated from one another and appear episodic but it slowly builds up over time for the final climax and every little detail is slowly revealed so there is sense of mystery throughout the whole thing.

The Setting is also remnant of that of the early 20th century but they are just burrowing elements from that period this series and setting and even the world is different from our own so keep that in mind.

The Animation for this series is probably the biggest flaw that this series has…AS compared to other animation for this seems so bland and lacking in detail even the brightness and color are so dull and the use of CGI especially for vehicles and certain armoury and attacks seem so out of place with the rest of the background art.

The Music is well I would say appropriate most of it is like an orchestral flow and simplistic piano and violin scores that is reminiscent of the early 20th century period which is appropriate given the heavy themes and focus that the series burrows from that era. Also I should point out that infamous Ali Project were the one’s who composed the opening song which at that time u could practically spot ali project in every opening animation of a lot of anime series released during that year…this was released in 2009 by the way.

Bottom Line…I would admit this is not a series that would win high praise or is a 10 out of 10 marvel but it is a very good show that does need more recognition especially those who love series that focus on Mystery, Action, Secret Organisations, Early 20th Century Historical reanactmants and Philosophical debate which I forgot to mention there is a lot of philosophical talk in this especially concerning life, death, happiness and grieve.

So I would recommend to give it a try….at the very least try to watch the first few episodes and than u decide especially if find yourself in need of a good watch but have no idea what to focus next.

About all I can say of resuming my watch of Book of Bantorra from over four years ago is "meh". Having an influential crime fighting group against an evil syndicate (in this case, a fanatic cult) is nothing new in anime for me and my indifference further rises with the majority of the characters in this series lacking any fleshing out beyond being two-dimensional archetypes you would expect out of action titles like this. It does have some unique ideas that allow it to keep your engagement such as the title's concept of people's souls being stored in stone tablets, both Armed Librarians and the ... Shindeki Church having varying magical abilities, the title's historical setting and some shady developments with Hamyuts despite being the leader of the Armed Librarians. The fourth mentioned detail was the only real thing that hooked me as the show makes no effort at maintaining subtlety in showing that Hamyuts isn't exactly right in the head with her actions and that she has ulterior motives, with the series even devoting time in later episodes to explore her past and any shady developments she has. But even this plot thread lost its intrigue for me when the show's final 4-5 episodes pull plot twists that are quite out there for the scale of the show up to this point, was lacking much in the way of foreshadowing, the enemy faction seen throughout the course of the series being irrelevant (especially as a character introduced in early episodes whom we assume is a major antagonist gets killed off early) and relying quite heavily on deus ex machina to resolve things.

About the only thing the show does right to get my praise are its pleasing visuals that show great detail and vivid color in the designs of scenery and characters, female designs being quite nice on the eyes with some characters like Hamyuts and Noloty having revealing attire that shows off their... um, appeal without going overboard as a good number of ecchi titles love to do. Many of the characters have differing weapons and magical abilities they show off in battle making for a nice number of fight scenes that offer up unique choreography and abilities from the characters don't feel like they are reused at all throughout Bantorra. The only low points of the visuals for me were occasions of animation shortcuts being employed and moments of unconvincing fluid movement.

Praises aside for the visuals though, Book of Bantorra felt like it was playing things safe with what it had to offer for its premise. Much of its cast are nothing but archetypes and the plot for it is mostly nothing special and gets messy in quality for later episodes. The only engaging element to the series with the mystery of Hamyuts' character even suffers in later episodes thanks to the sloppy developments that the final episodes introduce. There are better quality action anime to get into that dare to do more with what they got than what Book of Bantorra offers.

When constructing a building, a strong base is important. Once a solid base is in place, you can then proceed to add the scaffolding, walls, roof, furniture, etc. However, if the base is weak, the structure will crumble.

I'm sure you've heard this analogy before, so you figure I must be talking about how the core of the anime, the story concept/idea, couldn't support everything the show did right. That is not the point I'm trying to make here. In all actuality, the idea behind this show is quite interesting. The problem was that the creators made a very solid base, and added it in ... last, on top of everything else, and crushed the whole damn thing.

The story revolves around the idea that when a human dies, their memories are stored in stone tablets called "books". So far so good. And there is a group of "librarians" that are actually talented individuals tasked with guarding the library. Alright. An early problem is that throughout the story, various plot lines are dropped and forgotten about, most of the time without resolution. So we have a tale that stops being told once it finally gets started, yet the anime manages to hold itself together by strongly using "Chekhov's Gun" to bring seemingly unimportant things into the story as things that really do matter. Unfortunately, once all of these intricacies come together, the creators seem to not know where they were going, so they make one of the most ridiculously, bullshit, out of nowhere endings in anime history. The ending phase I speak of is only four episodes long, but it completely crushes everything that came before it into meaningless drivel.

The characters themselves range from awesome to stereotypes to completely uninspired. Hamyuts is a blast to see on the screen most of the time, and Noloty is a character you come to root for even if she is a bit generic. The anime has a hard time choosing which characters to develop though. Characters we see almost every episode never get any backstory/development, while characters we see for 3-4 episodes get at least two of the episodes they appear in focused entirely on them.

The art quality and animation are definitely the highest point of the anime at all times. Fluid, colorful, and robust. There's better out there, but at least you have something to look at when the story starts diving into a very deep pit.

TL;DR: Before the final four episodes, I was going to give this a 7. Once I finished it I gave it a 5, then came back a week after finishing it and decided a 6 was fair. Despite the ending ruining the story (not because it was bad, or because it didn't end the way I wanted it to, but because it was utter nonsense) there is some entertainment to be had in the first 23-24 episodes of this. Plenty of action, and the occasional plot twist, though plot points are dropped and character development is spotty throughout.

This anime is actually great. I just started watching this last November 2, 2011. I just got curious on whats unique about this one. i just got a snap of it when I turned to channel Animax. I was even saying this is just one of those animes which have good beginnings yet confusing sequels. But its not, the story is a whole lot new one. The concept is so innovative. The warriors or the protagonists exist in the form of Librarians or better known as Armed Librarians. It's too bizarre to watch an anime starred by librarians. The notion we have towards them is ... just something that take good care or manage books right but in this anime they are far skilled than soldiers. They also have weapons that are not that common. They specialize in making their weapons deadly and transitive. I also love its opening song. It's kinda instrumental yet having impact. I strongly commend and recommend this anime to all anime lovers out there. Just try and you'll see why Im considering this one as one of my faves.

For starters I watched Book of Bantorra with nothing on my mind, I wanted to take a time off of Anime with deep sophisticated insights and hidden meanings, but here I was hit again with a mind expanding experience that is the Book of Bantorra.

Story:
the story takes place in a world where an institute called the Bantorra library gathers books of deceased humans, the books are a vivid imagery of people's lives, that is to say if you would look into a book of a deceased person you would be able to view his entire life in a dreamy like experience, as in reading a ... book, hence the name.
But only to say so is to diminish the wonder that is the story of this show, episode following episode certain key elements are being revealed, and certain subplots are being added to the major picture that is going to explode in the climax, though not so complex as NGE or serial experiments lain (whom both I have seen lately) Book of Bantorra does have its share of bewildering moments and jaw-gaping wonder, Bantorra speaks of themes like action mixed with heavy drama and mystery with a little splice of life.

Art:
I thought that the art was modest at certain parts, but with patience comes virtue, the fights get much better when they are meant to be better, the CGI is implemented gracefully and without overdose nor is monotonously boring.

Sound:
I loved the opening themes of both seasons, especially season 2 where it gets more edgy and compatible with the ongoing suspense, the tracks implemented in the series itself are not bad also, all help to direct you to the perfectly drawn ending.

Character:
In a fresh change of scenery the heroes or protagonists of the show are not highschool kids :)
In fact they are adults with the mystery of their past and their sins clustering about them, perhaps this is the strongest aspect of this show (and the one that hit home) the fact that many anime shows star kids from high school environment or kids in general has become rather irritating
what shapes the plot is the characters, and here it is obviously illustrated with mastery that not all good people are good, and that innocence can sometimes be fatal, with such ideas sprayed along the course of events we get to know our heroes even more, and we get to link with them, I cannot put it to words, but it felt like watching a realistic group of people go about their hush-hush business in a way so similar to sects or organizations of power today
that being said, it is also notable that all the characters take solid part in the shaping of the story, both the pivotal and the supporting, it is so well-maintained that at times the main character (hamuyets meseta) is seldom portrayed as Main !!
her presence is welcome, but not essential, she is a major cornerstone to the plot but her actions are that of a villainous monster despite her cute pretentious attire
on the otherside we see characters like Mattalast enveloped in mystery and contradiction, Enlike, the existential and non-existent personality, all presented with a respected effort, and all essential to the big picture


Overall Book of Bantorra is really about what it is being human, villain or hero, and once you get to understand the small hidden intricacies in this marvelous universe, you get to fully appreciate this Anime

Highly recommended

The first episode came with a whirlwind of world-building which was a little fast a lot at once. The gist of it from what I could grasp was that there was a very important island in which the Bantorra Library stood, holding all the books of people who had passed away. Apparently every person who dies has the essence of their life somehow manifest into a stone tablet, which is a “book” that can be read by people who simply touch it with their bare skin. These books must be protected because they’re sacred, and the ones that are about certain important people might have ... secrets that should be guarded.

Of course, the people responsible with maintaining the library and keeping out intruders are none other than the armed librarians, who train well do their jobs and possess incredible strength and/or psychic powers. Protection of the library is vital because oftentimes their missions to obtain books are interrupted by members of the Church of Drowning in God’s Grace, who will do whatever it takes to reach heaven by having the holiest books made from their souls. Their deeds may include robbing books to see how others might have reached heaven as well as sacrificing others for their benefit. It’s a never-ending battle that’s been going on for generations and perhaps will reach its end quite soon…

Right away viewers are thrown into a fight between the Church and the armed librarians, effectively making us see clearly that the Church is the enemy in this series and should be stopped. I have to admit that the skirmish was cool to see as we got to see all the powers of the different characters, and there are a whole lot of them in this anime.

At the same time, the progression of the plot is a little bit quick as they start pushing us to feel sorry for the “meats” that the Church uses to further their endeavors. Those are the sacrificed humans I was talking about earlier; they’re brainwashed humans who often have a bomb planted in their bodies and will listlessly follow whatever command they were given them. Of course you should feel sorry for them as they’re similar to slaves only they’re psychologically warped as well, but their sudden introduction really forces sadness onto the readers, not to mention the melodramatic background music that plays when one of the smarter meats has depressing thoughts for you to hear.

Once you get used to the pacing, though, it’s an easy watch. “Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra” is separated into a few arcs of four or more episodes in which the focus of the story is shifted to a different main character who deals with another conflict, whether it be past love, lost friendship, hopeless life, and more, all of which tie into the central dispute between the Church and the armed librarians. However, that looming feeling of sadness is probably the most prominent theme throughout the show, and it can be a bit much sometimes. As the series, progressed, however, I felt more sympathetic, but not enough to shed any tears.

One might think that the hop of attention between characters is distracting or tiring, but I think it keeps viewers’ interest in the show very well. One mystery after another is unraveled, and many characters get to share the spotlight, which is extremely useful for the plethora of librarians who have such unique abilities.

By far, the most intriguing feature of this anime would be its large cast of powerful characters. If you didn’t tell by now, this is primarily a character-driven story. Hamyuts Meseta is the most sought out person, being an extremely strong director and eccentric woman with highly acute senses. She’s the favorite of the series and seems incapable of dying. Massalast Ballory is a carefree man in a bowler hat who fights with guns and can see two seconds into the future. Mirepoc Finedel’s telepathic abilities surpass everyone else’s. There are so many more characters than this and they all have such distinct powers and personalities.

Not to mention their appearances are quite different. We have stocky physiques, thin small ones, tall broad bodies, etc. I also like how the characters are introduced. While not all of them are given an episode to themselves, we’re not forced to learn all their names in the first episode. I might have disliked a few of them in the beginning, but as I got to know more about their history, they became likable. If they’re that cool in the anime, they must be amazing in the light novel.

Aside from that super dramatic and brooding piano piece I mentioned earlier (which I admit I liked later on and is called “Lamentum” if you want to check it out), there are a lot of great tracks in the soundtrack. Of course, the first OP is pretty cool by itself, first starting with a smooth jazz tempo before escalating into a fast beat pop out of nowhere with a tango swing. In my opinion it doesn’t mesh exactly with the seriousness of the show, but it sure catches your attention reminds you of how intense the fight scenes can be.

Now, about the actual soundtrack… if you’ve watched “Hunter x Hunter (2011)” or “Ouran High School Host Club,” you’re in for a treat, because it’s the same composer. Hirano Yoshihisa is brilliant with his classical style pieces, and as a violinist I shiver in my seat while listening to his works. The bad thing about having such a great composer is that if the story isn’t emotional enough, the music will make it too sappy, but most of the time Yoshihisa’s compositions worked well with the anime.

“Magic,” especially, is a piece for an orchestra that is exuberant from the beginning and immediately conveys a sense of urgency in the first measure. Strife, panic, and haste is all felt in the sixteenth notes and quick tempo, and it’s absolutely delightful.

Aside from a few animation sequences that were a little awkward, “Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra” was a pretty cool watch. I picked a favorite shipping that made me really look forward to watching. The fight scenes were interesting to observe and a plot twist in the series (that was a bit confusing) changed my entire thought process about the story. The characters were attractive and I binged a bit when I was curious to see what happened next, and the soundtrack was marvelous. It was a good show even though the ending was a little blegh.

I cant believe have underrated and unknown "The Book of Bantorra" is. So underlie so, that I decided to write a review, that may give this show a bit of the attention it deserves. In the category's of action and sienen this show is up there with Hellsing Ultimate and Black Lagoon in greatness. It contains the same dark elements and a blurred line between good and evil, as the shows mentioned. But it also have its unique story and elements, which was refreshing after watched a lot of top classed shounens lately. So lets get down to the main reasons I truly enjoyed ... the ride of "The Book of Bantorra".

Story: 9/10
The synopisis doesn't even begin to cover the story line. Yes, we have whats called armed librarians and the members of the Shindeki Church, which are enemies. But its so much more to this story and that. Its no clear evil and good side; good and evil and everything in between lays sourly on the characters. The story are divided into smaller arcs, which all have there part in the bigger picture. Bit by bit, we get to know the characters (its quite a few) and the world they live in. The story is very dark with few light moments, so if you looking for something funny to watch, well just lets say this isn't what you are looking for. The setting is in a Fantasy world and looks quite alike a historical setting from the 20´s. It has it´s own unique historia and inventions, and the memories or souls of the people who had died turns in to stone books which can be read by anyone. These books, especially some, becomes collectibles for different reasons, and its up to the armed librarians to see to that these books are stored and protected in the Bantorra library.

So whats happen then you mix action and sienen with fantasy and super power? Well in this case you get a great show with an original story and great action. The action are absolutely great! This is how action scenes are suppose to be. To add to mentioned category´s, its also a bit of mystery and romance included, which only makes this show more interesting (at least for me).

Art: 9/10
Some would probably not give this high score, but I really liked it. The producer is David Production, same as produced Jojo´s and Inu x Buko SS. Its not perfect in no means, but I thought it really gave the show the light (or in this case darkness) and depth it had. Character designs are great and action scenes beyond good.


Sound; 10/10
They nailed it altogether. Loved both openings (they will get to you). OST was perfect for the show, and and highlighted the mood of the scenes. For you that have watched Death note will get some nostalgia when listen to some of it. A lot of classical music during more sad or emotional moments, and you will soon now then someone is bringing on their magic. The music was simply put outstanding. I watched the dubbed and I thought was mostly great.

Character: 9/10
The only reason I have to not give it at 10 is because I wanted know more about them! More backgrounds had been great, but it was a lot of great characters and only 27 episodes, so they did the best they could with that time. But the cast that get some meat on their bones really puts life into the story. As a mentioned before, its alot of characters, most of them great - so I cant go in to detail with all of them. But some really deserves a little spotlight on them;

First out we have Hamyuts. She´s the director and boss of the Armed Librarians. At first (and for most of the show) she seems to be a ridiculously over powered and ruthless woman. Think a fusion of Alucard and Integra Hellsing in personality. She seriously gets turned on by having a life and death fights, and are looking for the man that are strong enough to kill her. But bit by bit, we get to see into the real Hamytus and get to understand how she becomes the person she is.

Second out we have Mattalast. He´s Hamytus right hand and lover. Mattelast are very skilled with his magical guns and are a force reckoning with. He is the one that saves everyone's asses at the perfect moment. Overall a quite under developed character, but he is awesome as he is.

Other great character that brings this story to life is; Mirepoch, Noloty, Ireia, Enlike, Vulkon and Colio. All very interesting characters that are a huge part of the dynamic in the show.

Enjoyment: 10/10
Full attention, bench watching mood. I couldn't stop watching it. I really, really enjoyed this one! Unique and interesting, with its dark colors, great action and mystical and philosophical undertones. I will remember this one a long time, absolutely one of the best mature anime I ever seen.

Overall: 9,5/10
Are still so confused by how little members this show has. What happen the winter 2009/2010? What ever it was TBOB was left in the shadows, which I think is a shame. Its truly a treasure in the seinen category, thats have been buried out there. The only thing that its keeping me from giving it a 10, is that i would have liked more time to get to now the cast. I was really moved by TBOB, and will for shore watch it again. If you are in to seinen/action and would like to see something with an awesome twist - then this is truly for you.

I just create an account to tell about how this anime was fair good until the last 4-5 chapters.

No sense at all, I´m not telling that I didn´t understand the end, no, the problem is the end is bad, very bad, and the creators should feel bad about it.

I recommend the Anime?
Im not sure, I enjoy lot of the plots, but I was expecting that the plot was consistent, but there is no sense, there is a lot of intrigue, drama and story, and then in the last 5-6 chapters they turn all around and start with other different story, a lot of the plots ... suddenly are useless, new characters appears with no explanation (except 2 mins of "this is it, open your mouth, eat it and shut the fuck up"), characters appears to have new "powers", gods become useless, I don´t know.

this is not as bad as the new Evangelion films, but pretty close.

CONTAINS A FEW SPOILERS

‘Tatakau Shisho to Koisuru Bakudan’ is the anime adaptation of a novel series by author Yamagat Ishio and artist Maeshima Shigeki and it ran from late 2009 till early 2010. Its English name is ‘Armed Librarians: The Book of Bantorra’. This is one hell of a show.

I was recommended this anime by a certain someone, who had suggested ‘Yumekui Merry’, after checking out its review. By the name alone, I was intrigued. Librarians? Armed librarians? Oh, boy.

Along with the name I was also giving a video snippet from the show. This, along with the fact that upon Googling I had discovered that ... the studio was David Productions (of JoJo fame), made me look forward to Tatakau Shisho all the more.

And, after the first few bumpy episodes, my expectations had been somewhat met. I say this because I had thought it would go to a certain place but, it went entirely somewhere else. Well, either way, the show was still great.

One of the biggest reasons why I was so looking forward to Tatakau Shisho was because I had a rather similar idea stashed in my head from a long while back. It’s sort of exciting seeing something similar to what you cook up in your head take physical shape out in real life. Although, the overarching plot is almost entirely different, the fact that the deceased can turn into books and the whole 50s-ish (or 60s) setting handled the way only the Final Fantasy crews would, has stayed the same.

Leave alone explaining, even summarizing Tatakau Shisho is a painfully long and convoluted ordeal and I’d rather not deal with it. But, for the sake of this review, I’ll talk about the first few arcs in some detail and over-zealously praise the rest (lol).

The Bantorra Library and the Shindeki Church hate each other. The Library’s goal in the upholding of justice and collection and organization of books while the Church believes that humans should indulge in wanton sex, drink, and primal desires so that their lives can produce the greatest book possible for admission into/approval of Heaven. Basically, it’s a black and white scenario.

But, the fact of the matter is that it is not what it seems.

Tatakau Shisho has no apparent good guys or bad ones until the very last few episodes. Almost everyone seems to be conspiring against others and keeping secrets. With numerous twists and constant heavy changing of perspective, the conflict between the characters and the plot points is kept fresh and interesting.

At many places before you reach episode 21 or so, you will be very confused as to what events are unfolding and what they mean in the bigger picture (if you manage to see the bigger picture at early game) of Tatakau Shisho. This may possibly prove irksome to many people who expected Armed Librarians to be only a B-rate action oriented show.

I myself found it quite taxing as I had to keep all the many different plot points and subtle hints in my head at all times so I could keep up with the course of the show. This isn’t a bad thing, though. It just goes to show how well detailed the world of Tatakau Shisho actually is.

Everything and everyone from episode 1 till the final episode 27 is connected to each other. Many things are brought back later in the show which disappear early from the show. It’s a good way of showing that there are things going on behind the scenes of what we’re seeing. This is great a example of good story-telling and world-building. Everything is important.

Speaking of important, it’s now time for the characters. The characters of Tatakau Shisho are given the same treatment as the story itself. There is no ‘main character’. Everyone, no matter how much of a background character they are, serves a purpose. You don’t know who is right nor wrong until the last few episodes.

Since there a lot of characters in this show, I’ll only talk about the few most interesting and relevant.

Hamyuts Meseta is the busty Acting Director of the Library. She has the usual crazy and lively woman personality prevalent in seinen stories. Volken Macmani is the dude who I thought was the MC until I realized there was no actual MC. His childish innocence and ideals are entertaining to look at. Mattalast is Hamyut’s boyfriend and right-hand man. Cool and always in a suit, this gunslinger is my favorite character. Enrique Bihilas (or however his last name is spelt) is the source of most of the twists in the show. Seeing his early story edginess turn towards that of hope and retribution is a delight. As are his interactions with the busty Armed Librarian-in-training, Noloty.

The last paragraph is just fraction of the varied cast of Tatakau Shisho and, believe me, they are all sort of unique in their own way – even if some of them may be one-dimensional.

The animation is pretty good. Sometimes gets rough during fight scenes which is off putting in Tatakau Shisho’s case because David Production’s signature bold outlines don’t work well with the roughening.

The soundtrack is nothing special. Background music is boring. Nothing memorable. The first Opening is sexy and cheesy. I like it! The second Ending is okay-ish, I guess.

Overall, it was as 7.5 out of 10 for me but one specific line in the last episode which made me grin like an idiot and brought the score up to an 8.5.

As the opinions on the net shows, you’ll either love or be mightily unimpressed by Tatakau Shisho.

Me? I loved it.

Summary: This anime is nuts. You think you're in for a fairly shallow action seinen and boy would you be... well kinda right but mostly wrong. As you watch what seems to be a fairly straight forward anime there are hints and small indicators that the show is going somewhere big. The further on you get, the more mysteries are revealed and by the end the show has gone somewhere so big and absurd that you're not really sure what happened. One thing I will say is that although I very much so enjoyed this anime, I thought the end kind of "jumped the shark" ... and I was left asking many questions like "What just happened, how did that happen, why are they here... who is that again?".

I strongly suggest anyone who is interested in a deeper more thought provoking experience watch this (and pay attention to the small details so you're not as confused as I was)!

Story: 7/10
The story is absurd. People die, become books (sometimes?) and then are stored in a library that is protected by the Armed Librarians. The "church" is meant to be the bad guys who oppose them and fight (for reasons?). The story starts out slow with 1 off episodes on individual characters and by the end is a huge and convoluted tale about tons of characters and the fate of the world. You will need to rewatch episodes and pay very close attention to understand everything. One good thing is that they mostly wrap up the story in a solid way, though you will without a doubt be left with tons of questions (not about the ending but about how things in the story happened).

Art: 7/10
The art style won't be for everyone. The character models are fairly different than a typical anime (more realistic and gritty). I thought it was good, though I typically prefer a more traditional style. That aside, it was done well.

Sound: 7/10
Gets the job done and is emotional or pumped up in the right moments. You likely won't be listening to the OST but it does fit well with the anime.

Character: 9/10
This is where the anime shines. Though they choose to cover far more characters than I think necessary (I think 2-3 who arcs could have been removed without much effect to the overall plot), they cover most of the main characters VERY well. Hamy is one of my new favorite characters, even if you don't 100% understand her until very close to the end of the show. I think this anime does an excellent job of showing you enough about the characters to understand them and their motivations without going into too much detail and becoming boring. The development in the last few episodes is particularly interesting and worth the experience.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Even if the story had absurd moments and I was confused several times, it was action packed, emotional and deep and I truly enjoyed it regardless of some of its flaws.

Overall: 8/10
This is another anime where the sum of its parts doesn't really reflect how good it is. I enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it to most people. If an arc or two were cut out of the story and more was used to develop a few more of the key characters and more time was spent on the final arc I think this could have easily been a 9/10 anime. If you're willing to look past a few confusing story gaps and just accept a few of the oddities going on I think you'll enjoy this quite a bit!

I really don't find a lot of old anime which are "hidden gems" that actually end up being hidden gems. Book of Batorra is certainly on that short list of shows that end up being good.
What can I say, I really had no expectations for a random anime I've never heard about released in 2009. It's a 7/10 only because of its age and because it had a pretty bad concluding arc, but honestly, I'd rate everything up to the cerulean war to be an 8/10+. Let's go on the short list of bad things. The animation sucks. The age shows. There is basically no ... good fight scene, and in the fights that happen, none are a very satisfying back and forth, but rather many techniques to conserve animating fight choreography is used, such as weird camera angles, a close up of the punch and then the "hit effect" with the enemy getting knocked back, etc etc. Characters look fine for sure, and the backgrounds, sometimes are actually good. But the fights, yeah, nothing to write home about. Like I said before, the concluding kind of was something that DBZ would do, with a psuedo genki dama in play. Overall, a pretty garbage arc, but I won't spoil it other than that, but essentially, random powers are thrown into the mix in order for the good guys to win, that's basically all I can say.
Everything else is very good. I really liked the story. When I think of old magic show plots, they tend to be very linear, something like Orphen, Shakagan no Shana or Zero no Tsukaima. What can I say, Bantorra does a great job from transitioning small, worldbuilding arcs that flesh out both the character and give a great introduction into the world before big plot events happen. This flawless transition allows you to experience the climax arcs with characters you understand and good worldbuilding. Everything makes a lot of sense. And it's really these individual arcs that I love. Colio Tonies's arc...wow. It's just a perfect way to introduce the books into the story while also having characterizing the main cast of characters. The way that the books are used in a lot of these plot arcs are super interesting. Books are a major part of the plot from the beginning to end, and there are so many different ways they can be used. All the way from using as a drug, brainwashing, erasing memories, influencing the future, and the book eating powers, they're all interesting ways to use something that seemingly is just a catalyst for memories. I really love the Colio Tonies arc, Renas Enlike arc, Volken arc, and the Mokkania arc for how interesting their stories are, as well as how books get used. I'd say that these arcs really show a different perspective on things and how books are used to peoples' benefit. The other arcs, whether it be just boring plot or perhaps fast pacing, one way or the other, didn't click as well as those ones. That being said, there were no real weak arcs still, and all of these individual character arcs are all well made
I'm going to re-iterate, but it's just so satisfying seeing some arcs focused on individual missions and characters, and that transitioning to more large world-focused events. Sure, perhaps the cerulean arc wasn't the best, and the concluding arc just sucked, but at least the Volken and meat arc was very well done.
Like I said before, characters are well made just because there's a lot of time put into their characterization through the use of individual missions. These individual missions also are interesting in themself due either because of the plot details at hand, or you're just invested in that character and you want to know what happens next and how they overcome or do not overcome some adversity. Hamyuts, for all the time she's given, is sort of an enigma all the way to the end of the story, and even then, well, let's just say she wasn't the most well written character. That being said, whatever, she wasn't bad. I'm still kind of confused how she's considered the strongest in the world. What does she have? Super strength and stone pellets?? I was just so confused even to the end of the story at how Mokkania, who by the way, beat her even when she had a relic of the past, Enlike, who was magic and super regeneration and strength, and even Volken are considered not her match. Kind of weird.
Other things to note is that since this is a 10 volume novel being adapted into a 27 episode series, 26 if we're being honest since one of them is a recap episode, there are pacing issues. This is much more evident in the second half of the show. Some individual mission arcs just don't feel right, with a lot of exposition and plot happening at a quick pace, like Minth's arc, but oh well, what do you expect? The finale arc, I suspect is also crammed as well, not that a piece of garbage final arc becoming a less piece of garbage final arc really matters that much. If the plot details are the same, it's bad all the same. There are a few plot twists, some interesting, and some less interesting. I don't really think that it was even necessary for plot twists to happen, but whatever. It doesn't really add or subtract from the good story. This would have still been a good story without any plot twists.
A disappointing ending, pacing issues, and bad fight animations warrant a drop in score, but overall, I'm overwhelmingly satisfied with this show.

Oke so this is my first time doing this so anyway here it goes



This anime ya how should I describe it....
It's really original and good but at the same time the story lacks something but it's still good the beginning starts right away with what action but than after in the middle a little bite of the series it gets quite and than around the 19th episode's the story fire's up again


You would say Hamyuts Meseta is the main character but she isn't really the main since the story kinda is really based more on everybody that is involved in the armed librarians stuff.. ... but hamyu takes 50% of the whole story and everybody wants to kill here :P


But really this anime is original and has a good story, still don't know what it lacks so I still give this anime a overall of 8/10

This show has to be seen all the way through to properly judge it. It's a mystery that gives many pieces but doesn't show the whole puzzle until the end. I had a hard time getting interested in most of the episodes, hence the somewhat low score, because of how the heroes and villains were so hard to tell apart. Some of the heroes would do evil things for reasons you didn't know but none of the other characters in the show questioned while the villains seemed in the right. If you are in the middle of the show and question finishing it or have ... heard bad things from people that didn't I recommend watching until the end because, unlike Lost, every question and inconsistency in the show is resolved in spectacular fashion. This is one of a very few shows I've seen that I couldn't predict and was satisfied with the ending.