Dantalian no Shoka

These days we take the written word for granted, but for the majority of human history this has not been the case. Over the millennia, those with the ability to communicate using these strange markings have been viewed with awe and suspicion in almost equal measure, and many believed that anything written was magical in some way. It's only logical then, that people would begin to think that certain works were holy writ handed down by a deity, held the secrets to immense power, or contained forbidden knowledge that would bring misfortune and death upon anyone who read them.

Eventually certain books were, for one ... reason or another, deemed too dangerous for the general public ...

Originally a light novel series by Mikumo Gakuto, Dantalian no Shoka (The Mystic Archives of Dantalian), takes place in England after World War 1. Hugh Anthony Disward (or Huey to his friends), returns to his ancestral home six months after receiving a letter informing him that his grandfather, Earl Wesley Disward, had been murdered by a burglar. According to the will, Huey can inherit the title, the estate, and everything contained within the mansion, but in return he must take over responsibility for the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian, and look after Dalian as well.

Magical books have long been a staple of the fantasy genre, but unlike the majority of tales dealing with them, the main focus of Dantalian no Shoka is to seal away those works that were never meant to exist, or have fallen into the wrong hands. It's a reasonably simple idea that can work very well with an episodic plot (Mushishi, Natsume Yuujinchou and Mokke use a similar method), but sadly that isn't the case here. The straightforward premise doesn't seem to have been enough for the writers, who have very clearly tried to cram as much as possible into twelve episodes. The story can often get sidetracked or bogged down in semantics, and there is a tendency towards over-explanation and melodrama. In addition to this, there are several characters who appear to have been included just to show how "good" Huey and Dalian are, and because of these issues it can often seem as though the narrative has been cobbled together with hobnails and glue.

Now it may seem as though there's little of interest to be found in the story, but that's not actually the case. When the plot sticks to the point there's a surprisingly nice balance between the mystery and supernatural aspects, and there's a good deal of imagination in the way certain phantom books are used or affect people. The series also ventures into darker territory that suits the main theme of the show very well, but these occasions tend to be spoiled by some truly inane humour.

That said, while there are some major issues with the storyline, Gainax have done a decent job with the visuals. There are several different art styles on display that reflect the nature of certain episodes, especially in aspects like design and colouring. There are also some rather nice effects that work well with the detailed backgrounds to create some very atmospheric settings and scenery.

There are some issues that need to be raised though.

For some reason the animation tends to be rather simplistic, and while this seems to fit with one episode in particular, it does become a problem during action sequences. In addition to this, there's a certain "stiffness" to the character movements that may be an intentional dig at British reserve, but it's more likely due to carelessness or time/cost constraints. The character designs are unoriginal and uninspired, and while the clothing is somewhat reflective of the period, viewers will be forgiven for thinking that Dantalian no Shoka is nothing more than a copycat of Gosick.

The opening sequence is a decent montage that features the more prominent characters, some rather pleasant imagery, and a little action, all to the tune of "Cras Numquam Scire" (Tomorrow is Never to Know), by Yucca (featuring Ono Daisuke), a hauntingly choral track that is slightly reminiscent of "Lilium" - the opening song from Elfen Lied. The ending sequence is a short film about a little girl in a horned mask and white dress, walking barefoot through the forest while dragging a large trunk, and alongside the music box stylings of maRIONnetTe and their song "Yes, prisoner", the overall effect is decidedly ... unnerving.

Dantalian no Shoka is generally well served in the audio department, and there's a nice variety of classically themed tracks available, although it should be pointed out that the majority of the series is actually devoid of musical accompaniment. The effects are well choreographed, but rarely overbearing, and it seems that a conscious effort has been made to emphasize the quality of the script and the acting.

For the most part the dialogue is pretty decent, although there is a degree of immaturity about certain conversations, and the explanations can sometimes sound pompous and overbearing. Then again, the latter may be nothing more than a reflection of each role, especially as the actors deliver some good performance throughout the series.

There's something puzzling about the characters as there's very little in the way of actual development, but there's also not much definition given to them either. Aside from being unable to write off the supernatural as mere superstition, Huey doesn't actually grow in any way, and Dalian remains the stereotypical tsundere loli for much of the series. There's also very little attention given to the supporting roles, in particular to the people using or afflicted by the phantom books, and one has to wonder if this was due to the attempt to cram so many different elements into the plot.

There's also the issue of Dalian's connection to the pink haired girl living in the "gourd", but that raises a lot of other questions, especially about Raziel and Flamberge, so if you really want to know, just ask (or Google it).

Aside from the similarity in the character design and the fact both shows try to wade through various mysteries, Dantalian no Shoka has surprisingly little in common with Gosick, but that's both a good and bad thing. The general lack of detail about the characters means that there's very little justification for their actions, and aside from Huey, the lack of any real back story means that many of the roles lack the necessary depth needed to take the story seriously. There's also a surpisingly pro-censorship message built into the narrative, and this isn't helped by the fact that the male lead is a lord, while Hal Kamhout, the Libricide officer, looks like a priest.

The biggest problem with the series is that it tries to do far more than it should, and because of that viewer's may be left with a feeling of incompleteness come the end of the anime. While the story is interesting up to a point, the morass of people and events mean that there are no outstanding moments, and nothing to really capture the heart. There is entertainment to be had from Dantalian no Shoka, especially for those who like shows laden with symbolism, but this is nothing more than a veneer of "intelligence" that overlays the shallowness of the series as a whole.

It's a shame that more effort wasn't put into making this anime work as the concept is actually pretty good. The basic premise is sound, and if Gainax, the writers, and director Uemura Yutaka had taken the show more seriously, then Dantalian no Shoka could have been something truly interesting and entertaining.

And for those of you wondering how an entire library can fit inside a person, here's an explanation from Sir Terry Pratchett's "Discworld Companion":

"Even big collections of ordinary books distort space and time, as can readily be proved by anyone who has been around a really old-fashioned second-hand bookshop, one of those that has more staircases than storeys and those rows of shelves that end in little doors that are surely too small for a full sized human to enter.

The relevant equation is Knowledge = Power = Energy = Matter = Mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read. Mass distorts space into polyfractal L-space, in which Everywhere is also Everywhere Else.

All libraries are connected in L-space by the bookwormholes created by the strong space-time distortions found in any large collection of books."

This is an anime about a loligoth tsundere and her generic male sidekick romping around a historically inaccurate yet picturesque England looking for magical books. It is a story perfectly exemplifying the phrase “golden mediocrity”. You can actually see how everything in this anime is just mediocre. Not bad, or at least, not all the time, but mediocre. You can almost feel how a talented touch would have raised this above the slush. Oh, well, better luck next time.

Story:
The story format is episodic. This means that while there is a lot of diversity in tone and feeling, inevitably episodes will be hit or miss depending ... on their chosen subject. Some episodes really caught my interest while in others I was constantly hitting the pause button so I could go do some important stuff like watch cat videos on my Internetz.
Everything in this show has to do with books. Magical books that have some weird superpowers. This is a nice concept and I would have been very pleased to see it delivered with more gothic subtlety and psychological horror stuff. Instead, most of the time the writers are pulling shit out of their asses that looks like it was googled on the spot and then put in the blender. I have to give them credit, though, for presenting this random hodgepodge of ideas and names as though it was actually true.
I guess the worst thing about this show is that it is so ridiculously over the top and crams so much corny stuff when a more subtle approach would have worked wonders for it.

Characters:
Dalian: is a tsundere loligoth who loves reading and being snotty to others. She also has a magical lock on her chest, which makes for a pedo-creepy, sexual sequence that I guess the creators thought looked really cool but is actually pretty dumb. Anyway, Dalian is the keeper (one of the keepers? I don't know, I'm confused) of a mystical library of magic books. I must say, the most that can be said for her is that she is not as annoying as she first appears to be. But she is pretty annoying. Weak, too. She can neither fight nor cast any spells. To reduce the annoyance factor I suggest putting the magical lock on her mouth. Nothing interesting comes out of it anyway.
Huey McDuck: (demons in hell, who had the brilliant idea of naming this guy? I’ll just call him McDuck) is the generic male lead who does all the legwork. Aside from getting beaten up, shot at and drinking tea—which are all activities I enjoy watching characters do—there is nothing interesting about him. He is such a basic, unshaped mould of a character that he feels as bland as raw flour.
Random episodic characters: to make up for the lameness of the main pair there are a bunch of interesting side characters making random appearances. I just realised that the episodes I liked the most focused on these other characters, like the guy burning the books and his sidekick in a straightjacket. Or the perky cosplaying heiress. Once again we have a show where the side characters are much more interesting than the leads. I suspect this is some kind of trolling trend in Japan. Along with frozen highschoolgirl panties or whatever.

Animation:
This has the sort of glossy animation that's become popular recently. To save money, the studio used filtered photographs for backgrounds. It has a slightly jarring feel to it but nothing as eye-gouging as badly done CG.
The thing that bugged me most about the animation was the style used at “magic” moments. Often, the visuals are totally inappropriate to the mood and setting. Enough with the stupid energy bolts and Technicolor seizure graphics! This ain't Power Rangers, dammit! Instead of going for dark, gothic and discreet they ruin the atmosphere and buildup with that wacky stuff. Hey, should I be expecting Ichigo to pop up with his new Bankai?

Sound:
The soundtrack is quite competently put together. It has a sort of melancholy choir vibe going for it and a kind of music box tune. The people working on this knew where to put it to good use, that's for sure.
OP: a quite pretty and atmospheric ballad that ties in nicely with the graphics. In fact, it makes you believe you're about to watch a much better show. Ha! Joke’s on you!
ED: some weird live-action sequence. I don't really like live-action in my anime so I never bothered to watch it to the end. I doubt it was something stellar though.

Overview:
It was a semi-chore to sit through this easily forgettable show. The best time to view it is when you're home and you are so bored out of your skull you have nothing better to do. Maybe some lazy Sunday afternoon. Not even loligoth fetishists would vote for this.

~ May the doors of wisdom open ~

In essence, Dantalian no Shoka, or "Dantalian" as i will refer to it from here on is an anime that made the best of an unfortunate situation. If anime production meant compacting carbon at high temperatures, then Dantalian is a diamond that refused itself the right to form...

A simple, yet vivid and interesting context of "Magical Tomes" makes up Dantalian, and allows it to attract an audience range primarily from both the mystery and fantasy realms. It's not revolutionary, though it's certainly a context that captures my attention much better than the majority of shows with similar paths. ... Literature is an important theme for Dantalian (not only due to the tomes), and generally the mystery genre as a whole. It serves to add some weight to this otherwise malnourished anime; allowing its slightly eccentric and expressive presentation to shine through, and so non-dialogue words also contribute towards Dantalian's distict "richness".

The implied scale of Dantalian's expansive fantasy context is just phenomenal. It's one that not only makes me curious enough to desire more, but the show as a whole is bathed in an ecstasy of wonderment. Behind Dantalian is an open-ended, unrestricted context, that is simply too much for a mere 12 episode production. I describe it as malnourished for this reason, and that is because the actual anime in question is plagued with unexplained concepts and gaping holes in character and plot development that rightfully throws viewers off course.

There are 2 ways to go into/look back at Dantalian. The first is to see the anime as a linear, chronological and summarizing plot line to represent the original "Dantalian Story" - a normal, continued story progression that you could expect from the majority of things you watch. Due to the massive imbalance of wonderful contextual weight that Dantalian brings, versus its minuscule 12 episode duration, seeing it in this way alone makes the anime not even worth watching.

Alternately, you can choose to look at the anime, in the way that it actually (though unintentionally) turned out to be: a particularly episodic, and engaging production.
For this review i have considered both viewpoints (slightly biasing towards the latter), and frustratingly concluded, that Dantalian as an anime is just upper-mediocre.

There are definitely some pull factors to be credited where credit is due, but for the most part: "a potentially brilliant story that isn't given the proper amount of episode-time to develop" will be the overriding message behind this review.

This leads me swiftly on to compliment Dantalian's presentation, and not only in terms of art and sound... The foreground animation is of a high standard, but it's the extreme realism of the softly and yet vividly represented backdrops, that contrast between each other; as though the characters' silhouettes dance effortlessly like an overlay. This artistic method emulates a macro photograph due to the varying contrasts i believe, and so Dantalian is certainly a feast for the eyes. In terms of audio: we get a really beautiful and warming, appropriately latin opening track for the "old-style" feel, that does well in the way it represents the mystery and literary ties of the show. Throughout, it seems to me that Dantalian maintains this classic-styled score, and uses audio relatively well to compliment the atmosphere of scenes. I'm not a big fan of the outro sequence, which for some reason seems to tell the story of someone being raped, through metaphorical and expressive presentation. The song sounds especially cold both with and without the visuals, and so in my opinion it is highly unfitting.

There is a good cohesion between art and sound in Dantalian, and so they don't act like separate unrelated entities. The show is really good at presenting the content in an organic way that comes across to me as especially immersive. This is definitely helped by the inclusion of "small-talk" accompanying the story development, which allows for a good contrast between light-hearted, and more dire situations. This contrast makes more prominent the show's drama, and so it does know exactly how to build up the appropriate atmosphere, and relaxed or heavy moody feelings in scenes. The presentation is perhaps the department with the least flaws, as i really do feel immersed in "olden times" when i watch...

The heart of any episodic mystery show, as i now identify Dantalian as, is the story.
Story being a reasonably formidable department also, i can safely say that there is a lot of substance, in the intricacies, and nature of the mysteries. It's quite clever how Dantalian stays away from deliberately overwhelming the viewer as some mystery shows have been known to do. Instead, Dantalian takes up some relatively straightforward concepts, and turns them into rather beautiful and wholesome "episode-long" mysteries, that slowly reveal their secrets, only to show how much of a morally driven and inspired story, the one of Dantalian is...

These are far from one-dimesional plot lines or tangents, as they also open up opportunities for us viewers to see the main duo develop, and deal with a range of situations. There is a definite sense of personality and passion in these "arcs", and this can even be felt from side characters. Perhaps this is thanks to the emphasis of morals, motives, and Dantalian's very able audiovisual ability.
As for an overriding story, Dantalian seems as though it must be a summary of the original, as it comes to an abrupt conclusion, which ties all of the open-ends far too prematurely. Nevertheless, a conclusion is given to at least package the show into a neat bundle. It's a rather eccentrically presented one which goes back on the very first scene to establish some feeling of a "journey", as we are given a prequel or "events leading up to the first episode" related conclusion.

I find it impossible to not be charmed by the character design, particularly the main duo. The many characters of Dantalian have a certain sense of realism, and a reliability to their plights in spite of the show's fantasy ties. When expressive presentation comes together with expressive and realistic characters, the viewers can attach themselves more to the stories, thus giving the show more power. The real development of Hugh, during one of the later episodes to give us some background to our male protagonist was quite good. It furthered the story's time-setting, and allowed me to appreciate him more.

However, this was all still too little too late, as character development is always a department where it's easy to spot holes... For the most part, the character depth is limited just to their charm: the way they show unity as they go through this journey, and the way that their personalities shine through a little in the less eventful, atmosphere and character development committed scenes. It was certainly not enough to allow for the well-structured stories to pack pack much of a punch. There were many intense scenes for the duo, but asides from an internal gasp once or twice, i felt distanced from the characters. The anime was therefore unable to convey the extent of severity in situations, which you need to have, for viewers to be genuinely taken aback, and on the edge of their seats. The flaws are blatantly obvious, as i elaborated upon the show's restrictive time scale near the start. It means that all of the really good story design and effort into the presentation was quite wasted; as Dantalian wasn't given anywhere near enough funding for episodes that would be needed to provide some suitable coverage in relation to the wonderfully large-scale context. It also meant sacrificing character development, and therefore attachment, and therefore power and "umph" to the arcs.

Dantalian is a show that allows you "oooh" and "ahhh" at its context filled with wonderment, and really moody atmosphere. It brings you some well thought out story arcs which will have you questioning moral intention.
However, these 12 episodes only allow this anime with so much potential to stay knee-deep. There's no real power conveyed in this series of un-flowing arcs, that come to an abrupt end...

~ "There are things better left unknown", is this always true? ~

Danatalian no Shoka or the Mystic Archives of Danatalian looked very promising, but to my disappointment so far, hasn't shown us much of anything.

Story: Well, the viewer isn't really introduced to or given much information to the main characters. You pretty much are thrown in from the first episode in a world filled with books that can cast forbidden spells that humans want to get their hands on. Hugh and Dalian, the two main characters, some how from episode 1 the episode where they just met(yes from episode 1) just plain decide to go after the phantom books. WTF? I mean doesn't Hugh ... find this at all strange? I've complained about some very slow story lines, but man this one takes the cake for just moving along too fast. I honestly don't know if this happens in the novel, etc, but it just seems mighty unrealistic for someone just to jump in and so "okay Dalian let's go get these books now, when I just met you like 10 minutes ago." Yes the story has supernatural characteristics to it, but geez. Not only that. It turns out so far in 8 episodes we aren't really given much info about anything else other than there are other book holders like Dalian out there. Problem is that the format follows the "monster of the week" type and well, I'm pretty sure most people find that annoying and boring, I know I sure do. I give the story a 5. Weak.

Art. Well I can't complain about it. It's just plain beautiful, though at times it can be a bit dark and you just can't see anything. The detail to the architecture (that is the designs) of the buildings, vehicles, etc is very nicely done.

Sound. Opening and Ending songs are very reminiscent of 18th/19th century folk songs. Usually one person singing in a chamber style type of song with accompanying instrumentation. Depending on the mood, the songs really do come out strong, though I must say it is not my cup of tea. Still I give it a decent 7.

Characters. Well, the Characters aren't particularly uninteresting, they just seem extremely unrealistic and well they seem to rip off other characters from other animes like for example Gosick. We have Victorique from Gosick who's short, blonde, wears nice dresses, likes to read and is tsundere and on the other side we have Dalia, black haired little girl, who likes to read books, wears nice dresses and is as well...a tsundere. I mean seriously? Well at least the male main lead isn't a chump like Kujo from Gosick. At least Hugh can stand up to himself instead of making just ridiculous claims "I'll protect you, blah, blah" and then ends up getting beat up like Kujo does. We are introduced to other characters like those guys from the burn books society (or something of that nature) and the most recent character Fiona (who acts a lot like Elizabeth from Gosick???). So okay the characters aren't that original, but at least, AT LEAST Hugh is cooler and tougher than that other fool from Gosick. I give it a high 6.

Overall? Hmm...still kind of left wondering about this anime. It can be great, but it just seems to sit in mediocrity. It seems to copy a lot from another anime Gosick, which I didn't find particularly great (especially that terrible ending.) So I give this a fair 6. Maybe something else will come up in the next episodes, that might change my mind, but so far. It's pretty average.

I've always had this habit of picking up stuff to watch and read on a whim, and lately I have been doing that quite frequently. Without giving it a second thought, I put Dantalian no Shoka on download. Not that I was expecting anything much from it to begin with but to be honest, Dantalian no Shoka is a letdown.

- STORY -
Adapted from the light novel of the same, Dantalian no Shoka (also known as Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian or the Mystic Archives of Dantalian) is set in the backdrop of England after World War I. Hugh Anthony "Huey" Disward, a young man ... and ex-Pilot inherits a mansion including a vast library from his late grandfather. He encounters and soon befriends a mysterious, petite girl named Dalian who is the guardian of the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian accommodating several thousands of 'phantom books'. Phantom books grant 'forbidden knowledge' which in the wrong hands can impose grave danger. Huey is proclaimed as the keykeeper to Dantalian's archives by Dalian, and together the pair must unravel incidents involving the misuse of the phantom books and restore peace and order.

The first thing that struck me is how similar its premise is to that of Gosick. Dalian, one of the two leads, is nothing more than just a copycat of Victorique. But that's not where the problem lies. The series is episodic with each episode dealing with a particular phantom book and the threat it poses to people including its owner, and the duo ultimately saving the day using their ability to access Dantalian's Archives. Most of the episodes are boring to say the least. I occasionally paused the video to check Facebook notifications. In other words, it failed to keep me hooked. To boot, some of the episodes felt absolutely stupid. For instance, the latter half of the eighth episode (Book of Relationship).
Another flaw is the ambiguity. Many of the things are either not explained clearly or they're left totally unexplained which results in confusion and you don't know what is exactly going on.
In the entire anime, the only episode I can call decent is the one involving the perfumer. Which episode was it again? Let me check. Okay, the seventh one. The rest of the episodes are not even worth mentioning. I remember having the urge to skip a few parts of them.

- CHARACTERS -
The cast failed to leave any impression on me. To a small degree, Dalian is interesting but then again, she is an imitation of Victorique from Gosick. Huey is decent. Among the supporting characters, Armand is easily the most annoying character following Camilla. There is nothing to say about the rest of the characters as they only appear in their respective episode, play their role and exit.

- VISUALS -
There are some instances when the art is gorgeous with rich textures and lighting effects. The backgrounds are pretty well detailed too. I remember there was this particular episode in which the art resembled illustrations from storybook. I liked that innovative art style. The character designs, on the other hand, are above average.

- AUDIO -
The best thing about Dantalian no Shoka is the OP 'Cras Numquam Scire'. Besides that, I don't remember any other soundtrack. Did anything even play in the background in the entire anime? Maybe it did but I failed to notice. The ED 'Yes, Prisoner' is so-so. Sawashiro Miyuki as Dalian's voice actress did a good job.

- CONCLUSION -
I am at a loss of words here. I can't seem to find anything else other than 'mediocre' to describe Dantalian no Shoka because, well, that's what it is. Judging by the synopsis, you may expect something intriguing but to put it bluntly, that’s not the case. Well, you can still give it a shot if you can’t find anything better to watch.

Please understand that this review is only my opinion about this show and I'm not trying to say that this is the only and absolute truth about the show.

Story:
The story isn't anything really special. Each episode you have a different case which is handled pretty much same way everytime (of course there are exceptions). So there really doesn't develop anything deep for the story. The story really started to go intresting at the last episode and then it was already too late. Dantalian should've needed 12 episodes more because of this.

Art/Animation:
The character designs are pretty mediocore. Really nothing you wouldn't have seen already. I ... would've hoped more originality in them. The style in the episode 9 (?) they used was much better (though the animation wasn't that good in that ep) . There really isn't that much originality in them. The animation isn't bad but it isn't particularly good either. I would've expected more from Gainax which usually makes something out of ordinary. That's why I was little disappointed with the animation.

Sound:
The music is pretty classical oriented which works prefectly with old english mood. Although the opening is pretty horrible. The music doesn't fit with the video at all. And the ending is pretty creepy. Voice actors do what they do the best. Nothing to really complain.

Characters:
Dalian was annoying 98% of the time. I didn't like her selfish attitude. Most of the characters were left pretty shallow and they would've told more about some characters past. Only Hugh's past were a little bit dealt. But for example other keykeepers were only introduced but nothing about their motives were told.

Enjoyment:
For me the enjoyment wasn't really that high. I prefer series that are placed in modern days or in the future and I'm not really fan with long enchantment lines. Some of the cases were pretty intresting but there were also boring ones.

Overall:
This was a pretty mediocore show. It isn't anything special but it isn't bad either. Expecting something special because it's from Gainax is gonna make you disappointed. Of course if you are a fan of books, magic, old english style and Ono you are gonna love this show.

Interesting dark 'n' mystic atmosphere. Perhaps I should say *this* is reminiscent of Amnesia (rather than Another) due to it being placed in a similar (I think?) era and with supernatural frights. Nowhere near as spooky, though I'm still with Diablo II's necromancer: I enjoy the darkness.

We of course need the ill-fitting, tsuntsun loli to bring in a wider audience, too. Mouthy, dinky and childish? Pedopaaaanderiiiing.

The gothic storybook ambiance makes it easy for me to forgive this being formulaic & monster-of-the-week (even if they weren't always "monsters"). Harder to forget this having Angel Beats!-levels of disjointedness, though.

Could have been a lot better had they tied ... things together, did more digging into the interesting and potential-filled world they created, and relied much less on a bog-standard tsundere to charm the viewers and carry the show. (Charm the viewers and carry the show! Charm the view-- sorry, that line made me wanna SING) And she *was* charming, don't get me wrong, but we need more than that. They certainly got the FEEL right, now they just need an appropriate personality to match the looks.

Maybe it was my great expectations for a Gainax work, but Dantalian no Shoka has come as something of a disappointment. It starts with an interesting premise and really likeable characters--Huey Disward`s polite badass is quite infectuous, and though Dalian seems like a tsundere Index (from To Aru Majutsu no Index), she is also extremely cute (save for the quite atrocious Meme, her tendency to say yes in painful gratuitous English). The art is quite beautiful, and a setting in the 1920s-1930s is quite rare, seen only with Baccano and more historical pieces such as Senkou no Night Raid (a anime that ... was no longer subbed, though it was best described as X-men meets the Japanese Occupation of China, but I digress). The opening showed great potential too, with other seemingly similar pairs of humans and phantom book keepers. However, on the 9th Episode out of 12, these characters have yet to appear, and the plot has mainly consisted of episodic short stories that vary from quite brilliant to short, pointless and mundane (for example, in a short 8-minute episode, a group of children have attained all the wisdom of the world--and proceed to do absolutely nothing whatsoever. In another, in a reference to that ebay stunt in which one guy traded a paper clip for a house, one of the characters starts with a paper clip and ends...with a Teddy Bear, with a slightly aged reference to President Teddy Roosevelt). Even if the four other intriguing characters in the opening were to appear, it is likely that the plot will be rushed out of coherency. And the live-action ending is absolutely atrocious, the music perhaps likeable enough if not for the creepy animation that in fact has little in common with the story. All in all, Dantalian no Shoka had great potential, amazing art and a likeable characters, but has yet to make anything out of them. I`ll keep watching in the hopes that a miracle will appear, but the only way that will happen will be if Huey pulls one out of Dalian`s chest.

First things first:
I liked Dantalian no Shoka quite a lot. BUT it is some sort of hate-love. At one point I almost threw my phone in pure anger at the wall.

Plot:
Dantalian no Shoka follows the story of our two two main characters Dalian, a seemingly childisch, tsundere like but very mysterious and intelligent girl and an ex-military pilot, Hugh Anthony Disward, also known as Huey. Huey unexpectedly inherits a giant mansion from his uncle. As a former book lover he decides to visit it as soon as possible and quits his piloting job. Within the endless towers of books he finds a young girl, ... dressed in Gothic/Victorian dresses. She explains him, that she is the "black princess of Dantalians mysterious library. On their quest to find and store socalled "phantombooks", Books and texts that contain paranormal powers all scattered around the world, they meet various persons. The entire story happens around 1918 and 1920 (estimated)

Disclaimer:
This review is "S P O I L E R F R E E" (excpetions of names and general informations)





Story:
Oh boy, where do I start. The story begann unbelievably strong. A first episode, that truely captured me with every frame. But as time passed by, more and more of the beautiful facade begann to cramble away and uncovered the very raw und undefined core of the story.
Not only do we encounter one stereotypical plottwist after another. We also beginn to ask ourselves: "How? Why". As the show tries to make our characters seem caring and prudent over their actions, it makes them seem fucking dumb. Especially Huey has to suffer under this decision, as he often is displayed as a very generic and kinda dense character. This is however a great contrast to his true nature, indicated at various points.
The story is devided into 12 Arcs of their own, each covering one Phantombook.
And the arcs vary greatly in how pleasing their storytelling is. Some are truely fascinating, others are mere bullshit and pain for the viewer. I will not go into to much detail here, just keep in mind, that you will have to bring a lot - and I mean A LOT - of patience when watching this show.

Art:
This is kinda hard. I wanted to give the show a 9 for its art, then hesitated. Although there is a very consistent art and animation and some scenes are extremely beautiful, they seemed to be a bit lazy at times. Of course, reusing the same frames from time to time makes sense. However it is just lame to see the sequence of Huey accesing the mysterious library of Dantalia every episode in the exact same frames. They literarely just copy and pasted the sequence whenever he gets permission to use Dalian's Library.
BUT, take the op of the show as an example: its hard to deny, how beautiful the scenery is and the setting is an absolute beast in terms of ambiance.

Sound:
Nothing to be added. The OST is phenomenal, probably one of the best I've ever heared. Listen for an example to the OP and this song:
https://youtu.be/j5VRIQtyQyU (from episode 12)
Now tell me, can an OST get any better?
I don't think so.

Character:
Huey was a very interesting Character at first, but soon turned into your average, generic sidekick. On the other hand there was a very nice background story later revealed, that gave him some extra depth (and he needed it very badly)
Dalian is a very cute character. I can understand that a lot of people may dislike her very tsundere like behaviour but I found it kinda fit her pretty well. Her Design was refreshing and fits my taste very well. On the other hand some may hate her for beeing that "gothic loli with an eatingdissorder". Thats up to you.

Enjoyment:
I liked the show a lot, especially for its Mystery/Gothic theme (something that is sadly very rare in the world of anime). I recomend checking it out, but don't drop it after the 3 episodes rule: take your time and watch until episode 5 or so, then you'll be able to tell, if it fits your taste.

Overall:
Well, I liked it. But it got a lot of deductions for its poor handle of the concept and the fairly dense huey (I really had my hopes up that he would be more than the sidekick)

Overall this show tries to be a paranormal version of Gosick, but miserably fails at it.
If you liked this show, you may also like:

- Gosick
- Ergo Proxy
- Guilty Crown
- Shiki
- Rozen Maiden

Thats it for me folks. Cheers.

Story & Characters:
• Generic and basic story. Characters without any tension, climax, or development.
• Uses all the cheesiest plots for each episode with random supporting characters lacking depth and purpose.
• Some of the poems recited by the main character are very heart touching in relation to the plot and I appreciated that different writings were used for each episode. For that, I admire the historical and artistic value brought by the narrative.

Art & Sound:
• The art is beautiful, especially the environment art and early 20th century European atmosphere. The lighting is used appropriately and the colors are mesmerizing.
• The design of the episode pause is ... also stunningly captivating, one of the best that I have seen in all anime - it reminds me a bit of Shoujo Kakumei Utena
• I enjoyed the music very much - it has a classical, melancholic, and elegant quality, which is fitting for the European setting and supernatural themes.

Overall:
Terrible story and plots, however, the series will give enjoyment to niche audiences who like historical European elements, poetry, elegant and experimental music.

33% into the show, I'm quite certain I can drop this show without needing to watch anymore of it.
After just watching Bantorra and having a good time, I was hoping Dantalian no Shoka, another show about magical and mysterious books might be interesting as well. it was a complete coincidence that I even started watching this show right after Bantorra, but nonetheless, I was hoping for something decent.
Well, I can't really say that Dantalian no Shoka is terrible. It just lacks and creativity. It's bland and doesn't stand out. It's just like Moriarity in that regard. This show is just episodic cases relating to mystical ... books. The problem is that with no culminating plot going forward, what really needs to shine is either the current case at hand or the characters. None of these elements are present during Dantalian no Shoka.
Cases are extremely simple and lack any profoundness. It's more of just a series of formulaic episodic stories with nothing jumping out at you. None of these cases last more than an episode, and some are even just half an episode. Thus, there's no real time for the mysteries to ever really brew, and you're kind of just watching our main characters "solve the mystery," whatever boring one that might be. It's not thought provoking, and none of the cases really focus on a particular recurring character, nor do they really develop any character to any degree. Thus, you're stuck with not only uninteresting characters, but also static ones that don't have much of a personality. Diswald's your typical boring MC that happens to have a sense of justice and inherits his grandfather's will to solve mysteries about books for no apparent reason. Dalian is your typical tsundere loli character, but surprisingly, she's not really super annoying. While she does fit the character archetype, the dialogue and the actions she makes is doesn't annoy me as much as the other tsundere characters I have seen. Overall, if there was a good character dynamic and a focus on the relationship between Diswald and Dalian, there might have been a chance for the series to be good. It's like I'm watching an extremely watered down and bad version of Shinobu and Araragi's relationship. Both are in a "pseudo master-servant" relationship, yet both parties acknowledge each other and it's much more a equal contract rather than a dominant and weak party, and I guess both Shinobu and Dalian are lolis. Other characters don't ever matter and there are barely any characters that reappear in multiple episodes. In the end, characters are still just mediocre at best, a bust.
The mystical book mechanic is merely just a plot device, a macguffin in some cases. Most of the time, the mystical book doesn't even matter, or it doesn't exist. Of course, Diswald has access to 960,666 mystical tomes himself, so he always is able to get out of sticky situations. It's always the same pattern of him taking a convenient book for the situation and turning it around with Dalian.
Another thing to note is that despite all of the killing and death involved in this show, no character really shows any sort of realistic response to such a dramatic event. Dalian and Diswald, despite being morally respectable characters, never really bat an eye to someone dying, which is extremely strange. In one episode they watch someone die, and the first thing they do is not question the most suspectable person, but just engage in a normal conversation in order to investigate the case more. they don't put their guard up against that person either
Animation is surprisingly up to standard for me, at least. It's nothing special, but it's also not bad. No complaints here.
This show is just a boring episodic series that involves Dalian and Diswald solving cases related to mystical tomes, but it falls short in all aspects, whether it be the storytelling of the cases, the characters themselves, or any potential aspects that could have been used in a unique way, such as the mystical tomes or the potentially good relationships that could have happened.

This is an oddity.

At a glance it looks like it should be an amazing, melancholic story with gothic overtones. And it looks like the components are there - nice music, mystic stories, england in early 20th century.... except for some reason it doesn't work. At all. I finished the whole series and felt literally nothing. The events happen, sometimes they're clearly supposed to be dramatic, dark or fantastic, but they fail to deliver any impact properly. And I don't know why.

Detailed breakdown below:

Story: 5/10:
The story follows basic premise of finding and dealing with "forbidden books" which contain some secret knowledge which grant people strange ... abilities. Usually there's a caveat involved. In a sense, it is somewhat similar to Mushishi except that instead of Mushi there are books. Most of the anime fail to follow any single theme, and the middle of it could've been watched in any order. The disappointing thing is... sometimes some possibly important events just... end. No conclusion. As if they wanted to pursue some story, but at the last moment decided "nah, we're done. " and wrapped it up quickly. This happens very often. They introduce some adversary, some sort of new book, and end the story at an inconclusive note, just pretty much declaring that the spisode is over. You see at the ending and see that there's a room for some sort of followup, or possible plot twist, or for some sort of continuation.... but it never happens. They just drop storylines without concluding them and never talk about the stories again. It is incredibly weird.

Art: 6/10:
Well, few backgrounds look like they're processed photos. I'm not sure if they are actually processed photos, but they still kinda stand out and do not really match the art style of characters. On occasion there are art shifts, and in some of those occasions visuals look worse. I would say it is above average art, even though the characters could use a bit more detail.

Sound: 7/10:
The ending theme is quite good, even though it is no "Lilium". There is nice melancholic music throughout the anime, but the thing is it somehow isn't harmonious with the actual story. This is the case where the music might be better than anime itself.

Characters: 5/10:
Everybody is odd and everything characters do is done half-heartedly. Dantalian herself, on occasion tries to act "cute" (not sure how to better put it), but it honestly looks forced and ab it out of place. Something is seriously wrong with acting in those series, although I'm not sure what exactly, and can't put my finger on it. I did like (at least, a bit) a certain character in a certain jacked which arrived only for a few episodes.... but that's about it.

Enjoyment: 5/10:
I pretty much felt nothing while watching it. Wasn't impresed/fascinated with it, but also didn't hate. I suppose it means the title is okay?

Overall: 5/10:

It is really, really, really, odd. There are many bits and pieces in this anime which suggest it was meant to be something astonishingly amazing. However, the pieces never play well together, so the amazing miracle doesn't happen. It is clearly supposed to be a drama, horror, horror, mystery... instead it looks like not very interesting slice of life movie. The conclusion doesn't help either. The beautiful ending theme hints at something dark, but the rest of the material doesn't deliver on the promise. Or something.

So, I can't really recommend it. You could check first few episodes, maybe?

This show is, for the most part, successful in creating the mood it is going for. I can’t really say much else in its favor. This show is somewhat incomplete in character development and exposition. The characters and the show carry an attitude of vague disinterest, which is likely to rub off on viewers. In short, this show is boring.

This is an anime I picked up from the library one day, on the notion that a two-disc box set could be knocked out in no time, and on the whole I found I rather liked the show, with a handful of caveats.

The characters run the gamut from "not offensive" to "is also on the show." That Dalian, resident plucky sidekick, manages to have a personality largely through catty insults and being easily bribed by sweets is a testament to the lack of sophistication on offer. Even the main character tends to fall into a vacuum of "main character," from which no discernible personality emerges ... that isn't at the whim of the plot. Honestly, the most interesting episode, in terms of character, is probably the one featuring the Libricide officer, who's relationship with his do-nothing plucky sidekick is the sort of abusive I'm sure could be written by fanfic writers as being code for some kind of dom-sub thing, but that could just be me.

So, the characters are uninspired. The plot is okay. The idea of magical books that in some backfirey way grant the wishes of the innocent and not so innocent is the kind of thing that lends itself to interesting plots. By the exact same token, however, giving the main characters seemingly unlimited access to a whole library of magic books means that any threat or problem, once sufficiently established, usually goes away as fast as it shows up. When the once-an-episode "pull books out of the sidekick's chest cavity" canned animation plays and Huey reads a passage from the "shoot indiscriminate plot-erasing lasers" book, the story tends to lose any sense of stakes.

Overall, it's a serviceable anime, if relatively bland. Coming from the same studio that brought us Evangelion and Gurren Lagan, I suppose a part of me was expecting a show with a bit more bite, but it's not a bad way to eat up a portion of time, generally.