Toshokan no Daimajutsushi (Magus of the Library)

Throughout civilization, books have been revered. They crystallize knowledge, link the past to the future, and convey thought itself. To protect all sorts of written texts, a man known as the Magus of the Library established the Central Library in Aftzaak—the City of Books.

In the slums of the desert village Amun lives Theo Fumis, a young boy who loves to read. Unfortunately, people from the slums are unable to use the local library. To make matters worse, he is continually bullied by his peers due to his unusually long ears. Seeking to escape from his miserable living conditions, he dreams of one day going to Aftzaak.

His unpleasant daily life is soon interrupted by the arrival of the Kafna—elite librarians skillful enough to work at the Central Library. Sedona Bleu, one of the Kafna, lends Theo her most cherished book; however, due to unforeseen circumstances, he is unable to finish reading it by the time the Kafna have to depart. Fortunately for Theo, Sedona renews his loan, giving him yet another reason to go to the City of Books.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Toshokan no Daimajutsushi has been published in English as Magus of the Library by Kodansha USA since July 9, 2019.

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Characters

Fumis, Theo

Main

Bleu, Sedona

Supporting

Guunjoh, Aya

Supporting

Ohgga

Supporting

Hahal'k, Medina

Supporting

Seros, Xtoh

Supporting

Kavishmaf, Sumomo

Supporting

Schwimm, Sophie

Supporting

Midoreen, Kana

Supporting

Loh Tei, Cynthea

Supporting

Reviews

May 3, 2024

nishant0

Recommended

Preliminary (27/? eps)

A tribute to the world building.

So, it's a story of a young boy who wants to read books and work in library that has monopoly over the text.

On reading synopsis, it looks like a simple story about achieving your dreams and some sort, well it indeed is that type of story if you look on surface level, but when you read it and go deep in the manga it can be seen how much effort the author has put in creating this fantasy world, author's love for books and how important is to protect the text for a civilization to grow.

The first ...

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Nov 6, 2023

LuxuriousHeart

Recommended

Preliminary (29/? eps)

If you aren't reading this, please do! The plot is fairly simple, but that's pretty much the only simplistic thing about this manga.

Plot: the main character, Theo Fumis, grew up in the slums. He had a passion for reading, but wasn't allowed access to the library. Not only does he face discrimination for being impoverished, but he also faces discrimination for being a half-breed. His world would shift when some Kafna, guardians of literature, would do a routine check on his village library. From then on, he would work hard to become a Kafna.

The characters well written. The metric ... that I judge characters on is how much depth they have, their development, and how memorable they are. Magus of the Library checks all of these boxes. You see the backstories of many of the characters, and a lot of them are memorable. This was a hard feat that the author managed to accomplished, because even with the information load of introducing the Kafnas and trainees, I was still able to remember the majority of the characters!

This manga also talks about real world topics of racism, classism, sexism, etc. It's explored where women have little to no agency. So a lot of them ascribe to become a Kafna, because that's one of the few jobs that are available to women. Theo faces discrimination for being a half-breed, and Ohgga is another half-breed that faces racism. They talk about classism with Theo being from the sticks, and the people from the more well off families looking down on the the others. It talks about where racism comes from. Usually from fear. Fear of the unknown. But also the fear of the other races potentially taking away from you. Fear of having to reject your own beliefs and to conform to society. The fear of your entire world shifting, just because you meet a group of people with different beliefs from you. It's one of the few manga with the actual balls to talk about this topic.

Though that's also my other issue with this manga. Theo Fumis is a fair skinned boy with light eyes and blond hair. He faces discrimination for being a fair skinned boy. ... sigh. In reality, it's the other way around folks! Like, it's like saying "I'm bullied for being ugly and having a barbaric skin color and..." and the person looks like Candice Swanepoel... It reminds me of a Zelda fanfiction story I read as a kid. The Gerudo people normally have large and pointy noses, but a particular one in the story didn't have the large nose. So she was bullied by her people, but then the main characters, Link and Zelda, said that she was more attractive than the others. Telling a dark skinned woman that she's more attractive than the other dark skinned women, because she doesn't have their ethnic features, has racist implications. "I'm bullied because I have the conventionally attractive features of white Europeans!" Bite me!

Though other than my issue with that, this manga is a worth it read. The struggles that Theo goes through, the history of the other races, the care for books, the fantasy aspect with mana and witches, etc. Also, that plot twist about one of the 'trainees' that was hidden in plain sight... Chef's kiss!

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Feb 15, 2023

XyFeX

Recommended

Preliminary (15/? eps)

Toshokan no Daimajutsushi, or Magus of the Library, is one of, if not the most beautiful piece of media I've seen in years, not limited to just manga, or just books as a whole.

The visuals of this story are on another level of excellent, some panels looking as if they could stand alone as art pieces in a museum, levels of detail which are, to be frank, absurd, and emotive character designs that can stand up to it all. The visuals were so good, to the point where it is the first and only manga I had to buy in physical.

But the manga isn't ...

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Volume seven discussion Avvenirista - Dec 6, 2023	9 replies	by Avvenirista »» Apr 6, 9:48 AM
Poll: Toshokan no Daimajutsushi Chapter 24 Discussion Nidhoeggr - Sep 1, 2022	6 replies	by MDR- »» Mar 30, 7:27 AM
Poll: Toshokan no Daimajutsushi Chapter 19 Discussion Nidhoeggr - Sep 1, 2022	3 replies	by MDR- »» Feb 28, 9:09 PM
Poll: Toshokan no Daimajutsushi Chapter 3 Discussion removed-user - May 4, 2020	4 replies	by nidoqueen106_2 »» Jan 12, 6:41 AM
Poll: Toshokan no Daimajutsushi Chapter 29 Discussion Nidhoeggr - Mar 7, 2023	8 replies	by MajinDodo »» Nov 23, 2023 6:17 PM

Toshokan no Daimajutsushi
Magus of the Library
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Magus of the Library
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