The overall story for Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai was nothing extraordinary or groundbreaking. It compares to other typical club-type shows where you find both drama and comedy as the main ideas. A word that would describe the story would be “unoffensive”. It was rather soothing and made the viewer feel comfortable when watching it. The overall arching plot was a typical slice of life show with a bit of a supernatural twist added in, but that is once again typical for this genre of visual novel from which the show was adapted from. The story itself could have been more fleshed out, but that would not have been easily done with the time constraints of a 1 cour show. The pacing was also quite well done, it did not drag or feel boring at any time and gave the viewer a relaxed or comforting experience. The fact that the show was adapted from a visual and had such a comforting feel to it is rather unique. Many times visual novel adaptions are rather fanservice driven or focus mainly on the exciting action related parts of the game. That being said, Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai was not without fanservice (it had plenty), it just came off in a bit more subdued and enjoyable than the typical smut that you would expect to see. It did not feel out of place or forced into the story to sell more Blu Rays, it just had an overall natural feel due to how the story was told and how it was directed.
One aspect of this show that was rather interesting was the studio choice. Many people will remember Hoods Entertainment as a studio that did some of the most obscene fanservice shows that have aired on regular television. However, it seems that they have turned over a new leaf since their latest projects have not been lewd at all. It is a strange change of pace to go from doing Manyuu Hikenchou or Seikon no Qwaser which were over the top in terms of smut to the rather tame and pedestrian shows that they have done in recent history. Regardless, Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai was a rather pleasant show to look at. It featured a pastel color theme and the overall quality of the show was relatively high. Once again, the term that describes it best is “unoffensive”. That would also describe the sound for the show. The voice actors used were the same from the game which are commonly heard in visual novels. Experienced viewers will recognize a few voices, especially if they read visual novels. Regardless, the voice acting was well done and felt natural for the show. The OST and sound direction was also perfectly acceptable, it had that typical visual novel flair to it which fit the mood of the show perfectly. It definitely added to the comfortable feel that the show gave off.
In regards to characters, Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai did not feature anything special in particular. The cast was composed of rather cut and paste type characters with various back stories to give them some sort of depth. Obviously, the anime viewer would not see their full stories since it is not the original source material in which the reader would go through an entire route dedicated to all of the main characters, but it was easy to pick up on the various drama points and other traits from what was shown. However, what stood out for this show was the character interaction. That was top notch and it really felt like the characters had chemistry with each other. It was incredibly well done for this type of show and it really made it incredibly enjoyable to watch.
When looking at the complete package of Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai, it is hard to consider it to be anything but enjoyable. The fact that it was one of the least popular and overlooked shows for the Fall 2014 season is rather disappointing. However, that may be for the better. The discussion and subsequent translation project for the visual novel were in part done due to the smaller and tight knit community that enjoyed watching this show. Regardless, if you are looking for something enjoyable that you can sit back and relax to, Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai would be an excellent choice. It goes to show that it does not matter if something is relatively overlooked, it could end up being better than many high profile options. That being said, the moral of this review is look in unlikely places and you will find true hidden gems. Worshiping nothing but mainstream media is a terrible habit and you should try to think outside the box more often. Once you do, you can appreciate more things and even find enjoyable stories in unlikely places. Or in terms more suited to Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai, don't judge a book by its cover.
