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I wasn't aware that the Toshokan Sensou light novels existed until quite some time after I was introduced to the 12 episode anime adaptation, and let me tell you, there's great value in reading the original source material. At least, this was my personal experience with reading the light novels. It was a new and intuitive insight into the premise of Toshokan Sensou, its characters, and the main conflict that waged between the Library Defense Force and the Media Betterment Committee that the anime didn't provide in nearly as much depth.

This usually happens with anime adaptations; sometimes it's necessary for time or money constraints, ... or some of the extra little details that the author adds initially in the source material wouldn't quite fit in the context of the visual product that is watched and listened to rather than solely read.

The four Toshokan Sensou light novels are written in, for the most part, straightforward prose; for certain scenes, the prose ranges from very technical (and at times, admittedly it was a bit boring and intimidating, but I quickly got drawn into it) when describing the complexities and nuances of the political and social conflict between the LDF and the MBC, to lighthearted and witty, and to perceptive when the author keenly observes and explains the psychological interactions and nuances between the characters. The author's ability to adapt to the different scenes is quite impressive. The story manages to retain its humorous, serious, and tense moments when needed. At times, however, the mood could tend to abruptly switch - if, let's say, a serious conversation was suddenly intercepted by a lighthearted joke and a comically funny scene - and although it was relatively rare, it made me as a reader wonder what genre the light novels were aiming to be. This decision to combine many genres (comedy, action, romance, etc.) was obviously deliberate and a bit reminiscent of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which almost gratuitously juxtaposes the very horrific and dark themes in the show with occasional humor. It isn't necessarily bad to intentionally intervene very different genres with one another; it just has to be executed successfully. For the most part, Toshokan Sensou succeeds at this, but there were a few times where I wondered which genre it was intended to be.

Other than that, though, I personally have very few gripes with the light novels, or rather the gripes I do have are very minor for the most part. It didn't really ruin the story for me in the long run.

Definitely one of my favorite aspects of the novels were the author's very detailed accounts of the MBC and the LDF, their tumultuous history, and the inner workings of the government infrastructure that initially allowed the MBC to form as a federal organization and censor the media, specifically books and writing. The author also makes it clear that the LDF isn't as 'good' as the protagonist, Iku Kasahara, perceives it to be. Before Iku works at the LDF, she has a scintillating perception of the LDF's workers to be 'champions of justice' that protect books and fight against the MBC's overbearing and often unjustified censorship. I think it was very in-depth and perceptive to explain the full scope, or at least a very broad scope, of the main conflicts in the story, not only between the MBC and the LDF, but also between the characters.

Another thing that I really enjoyed was how pivotal each member of the main cast was to the premise of the story, but also to each other. Individually, they have their own conflicts within themselves and with others, and are at least touched upon separately at least once, and this allowed for profound character development to occur. At the beginning of the series, for example, Iku (the protagonist) was very indignant, dense, and reckless yet also naive and caring, and she constantly clashed with her instructor and squad leader, Dojo (in the English translation of the novels that I found online, his name was spelled as 'Doujou', but in the anime adaptation, his name was spelled as 'Dojo' in the subtitles). As Iku very gradually grows and matures throughout the four novels, she still retains her innate faults, but over time she learns to act rationally rather than impulsively and emotionally, gains a better understanding of knowing when to stop stubbornly insisting, and becomes slightly less dense of people and situations. There is a realistic balance in her character here; fundamentally, she is unchangeable, but she learns how to, in a way, use her faults to her advantage and learn from her mistakes. There is development that occurs in the rest of the main cast, but Iku's is obviously the most notable because she's the protagonist, and this review would become longer than it already will inevitably be if I covered all of that. I guess I could also add that each character felt like a real, tangible person with contradictory traits, faults, core beliefs, and merits. Each character seemed to adhere to a certain personality type on the surface, but it was ultimately revealed that there was much more to them than what met the eye, which is a very human phenomenon.

Ultimately, I am really quite fond of these novels - I thoroughly enjoyed them, I loved the characters and their relationships and felt inspired and sometimes frustrated by them, and I was both intellectually and emotionally appealed to. It was a very intriguing insight into a radical but possible future in regards to censorship. At least on a small scale, I would say that the novels can serve as commentary on censorship, the media, and the profound effect that books, movies, music, and other forms of media have on society and individuals.

I've noticed that this anime is highly acclaimed as a very underrated anime. Most of the reviews here rate it a 9 or 10. I've observed that the show's fans usually mention that it's a realistic sci-fi rather than...well, mecha sci fi. I personally don't like mecha anime simply because it's rehashed so frequently, so Planetes was refreshing in comparison. The sci fi genre is an excellent platform for exploring the plausibility of the future, other worlds, and space, and Planetes succeeds at this.

I genuinely enjoyed this anime. It left a profound impact on my psyche, and I won't be forgetting it any time ... soon. Regardless, the anime's faults are very stark against its thought-provoking and overall well-crafted premise. I would also like to specify that the concept and the premise of the story is excellent and very intriguing, but the way it was expressed could have been better at times. I elaborate upon the pacing of the story a bit later in my review.

My first impression of Planetes was that it was a lighthearted, amusing, and unique anime that had the potential to become serious, but I didn't really know what to expect if it did. And then it did become serious. Very serious. By episode 16 it turned on its head and, excuse my french, went batsh*t crazy and suddenly explored existentialism in the context of space exploration. I was completely deceived by the lighthearted humor that I was introduced to in the first half of the series. In a way, it's reminiscent of the direction that the anime Trigun took, which is also a deviant sci-fi anime comprised of 26 episodes.

In both Trigun and Planetes, the first half was lighthearted, and the second half was more serious and philosophical, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. With Planetes, at times it felt very...abrupt, messy, and random after it turned from lighthearted to solemn. Sh*t hit the fan, and consequently it forced the viewer to reconsider the whole premise of the show. It was a bit off putting and confusing at times. It's a dangerous line to tread; it can either pique the viewer's interest, or possibly drive them away, but perhaps it's worth the risk.

In this particular case, I would say it was definitely worth the risk because the sudden change in pacing was used as a catalyst to develop and further explain the protagonist, Hachi, and his constant inner conflict with not only his despicable and cynical inner voice, but also his incredibly self-centered goals. That character conflict really drove it home for me because of how intriguing and plausible it was. Despite what a selfish jackass Hachi was, I was still drawn to his character, and I was able to understand him. He was a strong character not because he was a particularly great person, but because he was realistic, and I really liked this aspect of the series.

Near the end of the show, however, a conflict between Hachi and another main character, Ai Tanabe, seemed very rushed. The show began as blithe, became dark, and yet it still managed to resolve itself and become calm again, especially between the two main characters. Episode 15 still retained the show's lighthearted demeanor, episode 16 is when everything began to turn batsh*t, and 25 and 26 is when the conflicts were finally and calmly resolved as if the past several episodes didn't just happen. I felt a tad bit unsatisfied with the ending because of this abruptness, but it wasn't a terrible ending. I suppose it served to prove how much the show had changed and how much the characters had grown over the course of the 26 episodes, and I'm willing to acknowledge that.

Uhm, I guess I'll talk about the art and sound of Planetes. I liked the art style. The character design was a bit bland, but the animation was smooth and always seemed to be constantly moving, and there was a keen attention to detail that I was really fond of. The music in this show is phenomenal and it was also utilized correctly. If I'm correct, Planetes means 'wanderers' in Greek, and the music really captured the essence of almost wandering in the intangible vastness of space. It really evoked a sense of fear, danger, and wonder; of boundlessness and empty loneliness, of cynicism and of wavering but insistent hope...holy sh*t, the soundtrack successfully covered a broad range of emotion. I cried a few times because the music combined with the imagery and of certain scenes struck a cord within me.

Ultimately, Planetes has its irrevocably phenomenal moments, but at the same time, it suffers from a few setbacks that can't really be overlooked. At times, it was unnecessarily silly, at other times it was rushed and very unexpected, and at others it left me wanting just a bit more development in certain areas. And yet those mediocre moments were juxtaposed by harrowing, beautiful, and unforgettable scenes. It managed to transcend the confines that nearly boxed the show into a state of mediocrity, and I'm very glad that it did.

With this anime, there were both things that I enjoyed, but there were also things that I didn't like. I rated the story as 'Fair' for a couple of reasons, mostly on the basis of my bias towards shoujo anime. I usually don't like shoujo anime and manga in its original, flowery, roses and sparkles and hot anime guys form. Although, there are, of course, exceptions. Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii, aka Still World is Beautiful, aka The World is Still Beautiful, is, I admit, an exception. (Toshokan Sensou is also definitely an exception...okay, so is Lovely Complex. Lovely Complex is hilarious).

The story, although amusing ... and depicts that there are still beautiful, pleasant things in life in the midst of all the bullshit we have to deal with as human beings, like, for example, anguish and grief and being ostracized and all the things that just aren't fair, still has the shoujo element of two characters meeting each other, not liking each other at all, and then somehow falling in love(p.s - I know this says to avoid spoilers, but it's very blatantly obvious who's going to fall in love with who. I really try to avoid spoilers).

Even though I hardcore ship the main coupling in this anime, at the same time I coped with the whole 'tsundere-love-obvious-love-happening' thing that goes on. The story line does have a uniqueness to it that I haven't seen in other anime, which is a plus. The story is simple, however; no hardcore, complex, masterful, and well thought out plot lines and connections that exist in something like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Canaan, Darker Than Black, or Baccano!. It's not as plotless as something like Full Metal Panic!, however. It's just, as aforementioned, simple. Not that simple is bad. Sometimes after sapping up the intricate details that appears in anime like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or in shows like White Collar, I need something nice and clean cut and simple and short. Something like Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii, for example.

However, it's also not the most realistic...well, realistic isn't the right word. Anime isn't really realistic like other types of media because of dramatic effects and whatnot that you don't notice in real life in intense situations, or aren't flared up for a dramatic effect that you can utilize in anime and other shows, movies, etc. I mean...like...accurate responses to situations and hardcore, sheer animation that properly, beautifully depicts someone shooting a gun, for example...kind of like when Re-L Mayer shot a gun in this one scene in Ergo Proxy...wragiojeijtwrj ohmygoodness the sheer amount of detail...the realism...oh yes. Shoujos aren't realistic like that. They're lighthearted and amusing. I'm usually a seinen kind of person, whose brain mentally jacks off to carefully placed details and realistic reactions to certain situations and whatnot, but regardless I was still able to enjoy this anime.

I enjoyed the character development, for one. I really liked the main characters. However, the two mainmainmain characters were much more fleshed out and paid attention to, overshadowing all the other less-developed characters, which I guess wasn't that hindering, but at times I wished I could have stomped into the anime and got to know the characters that I didn't get to know while watching it.

Another thing I really liked about this anime was its emphasis on how beautiful life really is despite all of the ugly, grotesque, unpleasant chaos that's very often mixed in. One of the main characters, after experiencing one of life's not-so-pleasant things at a somewhat young age, is very cold and hardened after the fact, and there's something just so realistic about that particular character. They are human, they have good moments and equally bad, more darker moments, which I really liked while watching this. It made it easier to emphasize with them and understand why they didn't find much beauty in anything, really. I felt like I could just hop onto the bandwagon of their pain and what they've gone through and then jump off the bandwagon and understand. Also, the bond between the two main characters gradually grows stronger over the duration of the series, which was a plus.

I liked the art style; it was pretty, but it wasn't over-the-top or generic either. It was pleasant. The sound was very impressive. One of the main themes from the anime, 'The Tender Rain', is a very beautiful song. So that gets a '10' under the sound category.

I really enjoyed watching this anime despite its drawbacks; it was very amusing, easy and fun to watch, and it wasn't hard to grasp what was going on. However, at times, the reactions of the characters and what happened was a bit too laid back and dolloped with a bit too much shoujo sparkly rosy frosting on top at times when it should have been slightly more serious because it would have made more sense, but other than that it was pretty good. I rarely got bored with this anime, which somewhat surprised me. There were a few not-too-detrimental lulls in the plot line, but it didn't make me grimace and click away from the anime.

So, would I recommend this anime? If you like a laid back, easy-to-understand plot and a bit of deep meaning and thought sprinkled on it, and you're willing to watch a shoujo that isn't too uncomfortably shoujo if you cringe at the term 'shoujo', then yes. This isn't exactly one of my favorite anime(Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Toshokan Sensou are very precious to me *u*), but it's not one of my least favorite, either. 7/10; 70%! This anime got a C. Barely passing, but it's still solid enough to enjoy. I hope you liked this review! This is my first review. Also, I don't mean to insult anyone with what they like; we all have different tastes, after all. :3