My initial reaction was "...what?" simply because it's a combination of two words you'd least expect to be together in a sentence, never mind a title. I also saw it was tagged as a romance animé, and I'm a sucker for shows with a little bit of romance (think of Ed and Winry's scenes amidst all the twists and turns of the Brotherhood storyline) Then again, here it was, and I thought it looked promising, so I gave it a shot. It surprised me by introducing a completely unique setting, plot and characters. It wasn't as stellar as other war or military--related shows (Code Geass, etc.) but it's still an interesting watch.
Story: 9/10
To be honest, this is really the most unique show I've seen so far story-wise. It kicks off by giving us the heads-up on what's going on: media censorship is rampant in a fictional era in Japan, and the government is divided into pro-censorship and anti-censorship. Our characters belong to the anti-censorships, who chose to stand their ground and protect the rights of people for information and the freedom of expression. The show does well in exposing social issues regarding the media, which the show clearly focuses on.
The soldiers and the guns were pretty much standard for me; what surprised me is that these trained soldiers also perform library duties. Yeah, you heard right: they're majors in military science and library science. (I meant that figuratively and literally too)
Basically, it's people protecting sources of information armed forces-style. This setting alone already got me interested. Sadly, Toshokan Sensou has a major flaw: it takes awfully long for the story to be progressive enough to catch attention. I wouldn't have minded if they progressed the story a bit while introducing characters and explaining them, but the writers probably decided it was better to just give us some pseudo-filler episodes first. The first episodes were just some slice-of-life-style stories about the main character, Kasahara Iku, and her daily encounters with her friends and instructors. This stopped me from giving the story part a perfect 10.
Art: 6/10
I'll be honest: I didn't think their style was suitable for telling the story, at least in the comedic parts. The writers give us some funny moments that might give its viewers a good chuckle or two--I guess it was to keep things fresh--but they show it as if we'd be on the floor crying out of sheer laughter. I think that chibi-style drawings for comedic scenes aren't fit for a military-themed show (about libraries), though that's just my opinion. I do commed them for their character designs, though. They don't stand out, but at least they're not that bad.
Sound: 6/10
Sound was... barely there. I didn't notice any good background music, but the ones that I did notice were at least chosen well; they really were suited for infiltration, rescue operation, and battlezones.
Character: 8/10
I was expecting some character development, being a part-romance show and all. I at least got what I expected, though not as stellar as I wished it would be. We're introduced to the aforementioned Kasahara Iku and Doujou Atsushi, her instructor. The rest of the characters follow suit, but I would really like to focus on these two, since they comprise the 95% of the romance this show claims to have. Kasahara is your usual sporty-girl type, just a little bit more knowledgeable in crossfires and VIP protection. Doujou is a strict instructor with a hidden soft side (does "tsundere" even apply to him?).
They weren't characters as excellent as some other famous ones we know of, but the show managed to make the ending meaningful, which involves these two. I mentioned that the story picks up slowly (I was actually close to dropping this once) but the ending more than makes up for it. I really am a sucker for romances, huh.
Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall, Toshokan Sensou is an interesting watch that deserves your time--and needs it. If you're willing to watch the show 'till the ending, you'll see that it was also somehow worth it. Like I said, it isn't stellar, but it isn't bad either. I recommend this for those who have a lot of time and patience on their hands. An excellent backstory and fine characters make up an interesting package called Toshokan Sensou.
