Dantalian no Shoka

I had high hopes for this show, mostly because I love books, and it sounded like an interesting concept. However, that interesting concept was shunted into a villain-of-the-week formula that soon grew tiresome. While it is possible to do that formula well, these plots ranged from boring to inane. In addition to the stand-alone plots of the episodes was a feeble attempt at an overarching plot, which really failed spectacularly at tying anything together. The ending did little to actually end anything, or explain anything, or give even the least sense of closure.

Which brings me to the characters. This was by far the most negative ... element of the show: the complete lack of character development. Dalian was your generic bitchy little girl who actually cares more than she lets on. Huey was just plain bland. Some of the side characters, such as Huey's friend with the strange wardrobe choices, were cute, but ultimately lacked any sort of depth. The mysterious figure with the braid who we kept seeing is another example of a character wasted: he shows up at the very end, does something crazy for no apparent reason, and then the show ends. Who is he? Why is he such a dick? We don't know. Nothing was explained. Not to mention the mysterious pigtailed girl in the library. We spent so little time with her that it was really hard to give a crap about her when she showed up again in the last episode.

The show's artwork, while polished, was as bland as the characters. I sometimes found it difficult to tell characters apart. There was an exception, however, in the episode with the apprentice medicine woman or whatever she was. The art in that was truly beautiful, and I wish the entire show could've looked like that. In comparison to that high point is the climax to the musical episode, which they chose not to animate but instead to just show us a bunch of stills of the "thrilling" conclusion. It was really jarring considering the quality of animation in the rest of the show.

Dantalian no Shoka had a lot of potential, but just failed to deliver in almost every aspect. I wouldn't waste my time with this one.

Story
The story line was completely mediocre with the introduction of a new mission/adventure or whatever in each episode that goes by so fast that there's no way to become emotionally invested in any trials and tribulations the two main protagonists go through throughout the series, especially because of the fact the show is limited in it's episodes and this type of format would probably take far longer to get used to.

Art
The artwork in this show was also mediocrity, nothing really captivating at all about it. Just felt like some bland fantasy artwork with nothing much in the way of originality to offer.

Sound
The music and quality ... thereof was completely forgettable and boring; the opening theme and ending theme were actually annoyingly bad.

Characters
There are only two characters even worth mentioning because none of the others are even noteworthy;
The main protagonist Huey lacks any form of personality whatsoever making him entirely uninteresting and impossible to, like with pretty much everything else in the show, invest any emotion into. Dalian has a bit more personality but that's not saying much at all because it's basically being compared to a lack thereof and on its' own becomes entirely apprehended by the fact that she's a total cunt. The interaction between the two is nothing more than thinly veiled euphemism for how terrible they are as individuals, which is showed in the fact that they know basically nothing about each other. And whoever the overall stronger person was, whoever saves who, was seemingly decided by flipping a coin before each scene which manages to blur the lines between their character roles and nearly leave them undefined.

Enjoyment
No.

Overall
4/10 and dropped because it's poo poo.

Dantalian no Shoka mixes mystery, crime and supernatural elements and brings them together in Britain in a Victorian setting. A mysterious hunt for the so-called phantom books begins. These books, with their supernatural powers, could throw the earth off balance if they fall into the wrong hands.

Story: Nice idea, but astoundingly lazy and uninterested implemented (4/10)
Phantom books, and any episode revolves around a new book is a good idea. It sounds entertaining to mix a little bit of reality with elements of fantasy and mystery. Unfortunately, the mysterious element is created by leaving the viewer in the dark. In addition, the little secrets are not ... connected, so that one cannot conclude on the final goal in the course of the series. To add insult to injury, the little puzzles, even if based in part on a good idea, do not bring any progress to the story as a whole. Overall, the episodic structure presents itself as a mistake, which manifests itself in particular in the delitarian storytelling and implementation. All in all, the creative crew seems to have had no idea where the story is supposed to go, and therefore the plot cannot arouse a convincing mystical atmosphere.

Character: weak, blunt copies, little background, poor development (3/10)
The story itself already lacks a common thread, and sadly, the characters, who could have been an improvement only make things worse.
Disward, Hugh Anthony (Huey):
He is the male protagonist of the series and initially presents himself as a friendly, reliable gentleman of the Victorian era. He is also his grandfather's heir and is given a country estate with a large library and, as a mysterious plus there is also a little female librarian in a Gothic Lolita costume. At this point, his character becomes lackluster, he doesn't seem surprised at all, and doesn't really want to find out why the little lady with the supernatural abilities was adopted by his grandfather. Well, that's pretty common, isn't it? Unfortunately, this lack of interest does not make his character mysterious, but rather unconvincing and degrades him to a colorless gentleman of the Victorian era.
Danlian:
Her character is an all too obvious allusion to another very popular mystery anime from 2011. She is a small, sophisticated, nifty and energetic Tsundere. But in contrast to the female protagonist in the anime "Gosick", she just seems artificial, not mysterious, but more like a spoiled child trying to get the attention of an uninterested supervisor. In another genre, it could be fun and entertaining, but here it is simply inappropriate and boringly predictable on top of that.
Keynes, Camilla
Camilla is a childhood friend of Hugh and runs a small school. She has a bright, almost playful character and is very fashion conscious, always with the latest trend from America. She has a friendly, polite and open-minded personality. However, it was precisely because of these virtues that I felt her character was out of place in this series. Her really endearing role was shamefully abused for most of the comedy, which also doesn't fit well into a mystery series. The sad result is that the female protagonist, who is not very interesting anyway, unfolds an even more disparaging style, and one inevitably develops sympathy for the actual supporting role, who at times cheekily but charmingly resists the gruff manner.
Shoka no Shoujo:
The girl with the purple hair lives in the Bibliotheca de Dantalian in a dimension that is unfortunately not further explained in more detail. Her character and role are interesting and at the same time the backbone of the story. So it is a catastrophic mistake that the deeper meaning, the who and what she is, remains unclear even at the end of the story. Although a very innocent, tender relationship is constructed between Hugh and her, the potential remains untapped and the story runs almost unnoticed alongside.
Jeremiah, Armand:
He is a military comrade from days at the Norfolk Air Force Base. Hugh was stationed there and Armand's superior officer. Armand is very dependent upon external help and also has the annoying habit of always having problems in tow that mostly concerning women. As if that wasn't bad enough, he also has a particular penchant for exaggerated theatrics and sentimentalism that even women find unattractive. What brings us back to the starting point. He only shows up with problems. He is not a bad person, but still not someone you like to be around.
Kamhout, Hal:
He could be an interesting character in the story, but just like his "companion", he is simply thrown into the narrative with no explanation or background. Actually, that wouldn't be that bad, it happens with many minor characters in many anime. But his character is simply used as a stylistic device for the mystery element. He doesn't get a background story, is not explained, is apathetic, unfriendly and unsympathetic, so that at first he is mistaken for an opponent. It's like a bad novel in which new characters are introduced on the last few pages, just to confuse the reader. This is exactly what happens here, the mysterious has not really worked so far, so let's try a new character. It is cheap, superficial and, on top of that, makes the antagonists look fairly pale. All in all, a potentially great figure was just wasted. Unfortunately, the same also applies to the figure Flamberge.

Visuals: Overall, art and animation are unfortunately below average (4/10)
The art is nice in terms of character designs, though not outstanding, but the Victorian era with figures wearing classic frill dresses or gentleman`s clothing is well implemented. The background art is a hodgepodge. On the one hand, the painted backgrounds are beautiful and detailed, but on the other hand, much of the architecture is simply ugly. Photos of real buildings were filtered and manipulated using image editing software. The aim was to give the backgrounds a mystical charm and the scenery, as a whole a similar atmosphere. Unfortunately, it's cheaply made and doesn't look mystical at all. It would have been better to draw these backgrounds by hand too, maybe in a classic style, e.g. in the style of Lovis Corinth (1858-1925), a representative of dark Impressionism. The backgrounds should not be works of art, but a painted atmosphere with a slightly defused sharpness and the right light and shadow effects could have created a brilliant, mystical atmosphere. Overall, only a below-average visual enjoyment.
Unfortunately, the animation doesn't make the overall picture any better. On the contrary, the movements often appear stiff. One could still say that it should look "British", so it's basically just a homuristic oversubscription of the British ettiquette. This is countered by the fact that the style for magic simply never fits into the scenery. Even worse, it often completely ruins the mystical mood. The mystical ambience is sacrificed to action and tension, which is a pity. It was only in episode 9: "Tasogare no Sho" that the art variant was used sensibly. It should convey that you are in another world. Well, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

Sounds: merely average, reaching midrange only because of the good VA (5/10)
The background music was composed by Yô Tsuji and is relatively unspectacular. None of the musical arrangements has remained in my memory. The only thing that struck me was that I often found the music to be underrepresented. In general, the audio department could have done more to musically accompany and emphasize the moods of the series. The opposite is the case, the series lacked suitable music in many scenes, which was not because no suitable music have been available. The existing, mostly classic-looking arrangements are a nice selection, but are rarely used. Savings in the wrong place.
The opening sequence introduces the main and secondary characters and refers to the series' plot elements. The overall picture would actually be well done and typical for an anime, but even here the whole thing seems half-hearted. The action sequence with the classic vocals, additionally in Latin, unfortunately seems out of place. That's a pity because the music and the idea of having the lyrics sung in Latin really would have had a mystical touch. It doesn't help that I like the song "Cras Numquam Scire", which is sung by the Japanese singer Yucca. The singer from Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture) already has a nice discography. You might already know her beautiful voice for e.g. "The Slightly Chipped Full Moon" from the anime Kuroshitsuji II. The voice of Daisuke, Ono, who does the monologue of Hugh Anthony Disward in the opening, has also a pleasant sound. Unfortunately, image and sound don't really fit together and don't complement each other. It's also a bit of a shame that the beginning of the OP has been cut out. The melody actually starts with a sequence of notes, which sounds nicely, like a nostalgic music box melody.
The ED ist preformed by "maRIONnetTe". The formation was founded by Yoshihito Onda, known as "BANSHEE ALIOUXCE", the bassist of the groups "JUDY AND MARY" and "ZAMZA", to interpret the credits (ED) of the Anime Dantalian no Shouka. The song entitled "Yes, Prisoner" was composed by BANSHEE ALIOUXCE, the lyrics are by Takemoto, Novala and the voice is that of singer A.M.U. Well, an obscure mixture, the British punk rock and Shibuya pop undertone comes from "Judy and Mary" and on the other hand "Zamza" adds the more experimental rock, which also has a strong Gothic-note here. The video is unsettling, and although the lyrics fit well and also have a supposedly deeper meaning, the video of the credits is, as far as I am concerned, more suitable to use the skip button immediately.
Regarding the dubbing actors, it's not surprising that I really enjoyed the performance of Ono, Daisuke. He is already a very experienced seiyū and also has his own radio show. His voice fits well with the character and the intonation is very well hit.
Among the female Seiyū, I liked the voice of Sawashiro Miyuki. She speaks both the role of Dalian and that of Shoka no Shoujo, which is also a nice indication of the connection between the two roles. The voice of Koshimizu, Ami as spokeswoman for the figure of the Flamberge, was also very good. Her interpretation of the role has aptly something slightly rough, but also feminine and lascivious, a really good portrayal of Flamberge's character.

The series demands a sequel, but to be honest, even if there was a second season, I wouldn't watch it. All in all, I think the anime adaptation is just too flawed, so I wouldn't recommend it. If you still want to get into Dantalian no Shoka, I recommend the light novel, mainly because of the better ending. For those who prefer to watch an anime and like the genre, I recommend "ゴシック- Gosick".

As always, thanks for reading.

Sorry, but after watching very simple story "Gosick" I just CAN"T STAND the voice of Dalian. This is so bad I don't want to watch this anime! Even if the plot is really interesting, I'm so discouraged to "Dantalian no Shoka" that I probably won't finish watching this anime.

I don't watch mystery themed works most of the time, but I was lured by the visuals and the synopsis while browsing through mystery anime one night. The Mystic Archives of Dantalian had a wonderful first episode, but the more progress I made, the less impressed I got, and the ending was just an epic fail. I really wanted to not put this anime in the red zone, but after attempting a second chance at it, it's clear to me that I truly dislike it.

The Mystic Archives of Dantalian is a historical fiction anime that takes place in England after World War I. The main ... character Hugh (Huey) Anthony Disward received a letter informing him of his grandfather's death. According to his grandfather's will, Huey is entrusted to take care of his property, specifically his massive collection of books at his mansion. Upon arriving at the mansion, Huey finds a secret passage leading him to a room filled with books and a girl named Dalian. I got to call Huey out for being dumb in his first meeting with Dalian. The last line on his grandfather's will said to take care of Dalian. He read the sentence, he finds the first living person inside the place, and yet he still assumes his grandfather was referring to a pet. Dalian had every right to get mad at him in that moment.

Moving right along, it just so happens that Dalian isn't any regular girl. She is known as the Black Reading Princess and holds the entire archives of Dantalian inside her body and can only be accessed by the one who holds the key to opening the lock on her chest. Huey actually has the key, which he held on to since he got it from his childhood. When he was a kid, he somehow managed to get inside the archives and there he meets a girl who is in charge of taking care of the place. Huey promises her that he will one day find a way to free her from the archives and into the outside world. It's never explained how he ever got inside all those times as it's been shown that he would've needed the key to get in.

The purpose of the archives is to contain all the Phantom Books of the world. However, it appears that somehow some people have gotten their hands on some of these books and they ended up either abusing their powers or getting cursed by the mystic tomes. Throughout the anime, Huey and Dalian go around England to investigate any incidents they come across and they must fix the problems. In most cases, Huey will need to open up the archives within Dalian, which will give him the proper book to read in order to undo the spell caused by a Phantom Book. This sort of anime would be fine in the old school era where anime had around thirty to over fifty episodes. Let me put it to you this way: This is a 2011 anime, the year where shows started to have on average twelve episodes, that tried to do the filler style. Yes, THE filler style. You know, the very thing that shows like Sailor Moon utilized? The first light novel may have been published in 2008, but the anime came in too little, too late. Filler episodes simply cannot be tolerated in the modern day, and The Mystic Archives of Dantalian sadly fell into the pitfall.

Already we're off to a bad start, but it wouldn't be so bad if the characters were at least entertaining. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them weren't. The main duo Huey and Dalian aren't too shabby... when they are simply living their lives in the mansion and running errands. I really like Dalian's feisty personality. Whenever someone makes a mistake or embarrass themselves in front of her, she will literally disparage them especially if the person she trash talks to is Huey. I also like it when asked a Yes or No question, Dalian answers in English. Even though I like Dalian's personality and style of speech, she's completely all bark and no bite. What do I mean by this? See, whenever Huey ends up making Dalian REALLY angry, she would punch or kick him. That alone would make her look like a lovable character, but when there's an enemy on the screen, Dalian just does not know self-defense and literally cannot fight for her life. Every single time the duo encounters an enemy, Huey literally has to carry Dalian away from attacks that are directed towards her, and in the worst case where he looks away for even a split second, Dalian will get caught forcing Huey to forfeit and comply to the enemy's demands. Having to watch the female lead not fight at all was nothing but pure agony.

Huey's acquaintances aren't much better either. His childhood friend Camilla doesn't get to do much that contributes to the main conflict. Instead, her role most of the time is to butter Dalian up with all sorts of sweets and desserts. Also, Camilla really enjoys travelling and likes to wear all sorts of costumes in public. They're so silly that there is a scene at the end where she wanted to go out wearing one of them, but her servants try to advise her not to. Huey's other friend is Armand, who was also his comrade in the war. Armand is the very definition of a village idiot. He messed around with Phantom Books not once, but twice. The first time wasn't so bad. He, along with four other men, wanted to rescue a woman they all fell in love with. It's the second time he really should've known what he was signing up for. I'm not going to go in depth on what went down. All you need to know is that he used a book to find a woman to fall in love with, but even the slightest interaction with any other woman will get him in trouble.

The sixth episode strays away from Huey and Dalian and focused on another duo: Hal Kamhout, the Libricide Officer and Flamberge (Flam), the Silver Reading Princess who houses the Long Lost Library. Like the main duo, Hal and Flam are also investigating around England in search of areas affected by Phantom Books. Instead of reading books retrieved from Flam's body, Hal uses them as fuel for his magic staff to burn Phantom Books as well as wipe out the owner's memories of them. This, along with the relationship between the duo and their personalities, made me wish they were the main characters instead. Plus, even though Flam's limbs are restrained, she actually can attack enemies. See that, Dalian? You punch and kick Huey all the time. Shouldn't you be dealing blows to your ENEMIES?

Finally, we have the antagonist duo, some guy who is only referred to as the Professor and the Red Reading Princess Raziel. I really wish they gave the former an actual name. I'm not a fan of characters who are only addressed as their occupation. Anyways, these two are the ones responsible for all the incidents involving Phantom Books all around England. Huey and Dalian come into contact with them in the final episode and without spoiling the details of their meeting, I'm personally not satisfied with how the anime ended. This is the problem with trying to do the filler style in twelve episodes. The anime tries to cram in a lot of content from the source material so it can reach the encounter between the two duos, but at the cost of the potential of proper storytelling and character development as well as what could have been a much better final challenge for the main characters.

Those were my reasons I didn't enjoy The Mystic Archives of Dantalian. The anime does have some saving graces to keep it away from the dreadful rating of 1. First, the artstyle. It perfectly captures the atmosphere of England in the late 1910s and the animation is extremely well done. The voice acting was very good and the background music perfectly matches the setting. I am mixed on the song selection for the Opening and Ending. To Never Know Tomorrow sounds like it came straight out of England post World War I, and its leitmotif is what's used for background music most of the time. The Ending song Yes, Prisoner sounds way too creepy even though it sort of fits the theme of the anime. What hurts it even more is that they didn't make an animated sequence. They literally had actors dress up in creepy costumes and do a skit in a forest and have the whole footage be colorless. Maybe some will find that impressive that it's live action, but I honestly think it's out of place.

Even though I couldn't stand the story, characters, and the finale, there were some episodes I actually enjoyed watching. My top three episodes are episodes 11, 6, and 1. I'm not kidding. To me, this anime peaked at the very beginning and completely fell from grace right at the very end. The Mystic Archives of Dantalian will unfortunately be taking a 4/10 from me and adding it to its bookshelf.