Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – 06



This sereis just continues to defy my expectations. It’s so incredibly fresh and imaginative; it takes nothing for granted and really goes with its own direction, rather than relying on a bunch of clichés. Of ocurse, I’m not sure how the rest of this sereis will turn out, but out of all the shows that aired this year that are longer than 13 episodes, these first six episodes stand amongst my top 3 favourites, along with Phantom and Konnichiwa Anne. I’m not going to say that this is one of the best shows of the year: first I need to have seen the second half of this show for that, not to mention that shows as Phantom really began to pick up after this point, while Konnichiwa Anne went south so anything can still happen. But oh, I love this show so far.

And guess which characters were fleshed out with this episode? Norotei is the focus of the second half of the episode, which does make sense. It’s great to see her with a bit more detail, since she wasn’t really in the spotlight before. The first half however, focused on the background of that other Meat-guy that Colio was with. Holy hell!? I thought he was only a minor cardboard character?! These creators really want to give everyone the chance to tell their story, don’t they?

What I loved about this episode were the differences in everyone’s beliefs: the gap between young and old. There were the leader of the church and Segal with their twisted mind of killing, versus Colio’s friend, who has nothing to live for and hasn’t experienced anything. Then there’s the naive Norotei versus the battle-hardened Hamyuts. It’s a very nice view on experience versus rookies without copying what any other show has done before. Excellent.

However, as much as I love this series, I am going to have to be a bit critical here. With as much details that this series puts to its fights and battles, I was a bit disappointed at how weak that bad guy’s powers of electicity are. With shocks that bad, it’s a miracle that Minth survived. That thunder felt more like media thunder than real thunder. A chance missed.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

5 thoughts on “Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – 06

  1. I know the blond guy was the same one who was with Colio, but isn’t the guy who was the focus of the first half someone else? The meats understandably tend to look and act similarly.

  2. I’m kinda starting to worry where this series is going. Even though it’s interesting to watch all those characters contrast and interact like you said, it really is quite open what this series will end up becoming, since there’s no apparent focus right now.

  3. Agreed with Kamibito. It’s a really interesting series and the action is decent, but there’s no focus and it seems to jump around a little too much. I always have a feeling that there’s some important details missing when watching this show.

  4. Well in the last story-arc, I made a post about how they brought all these tiny details, plot threads and foreshadowings together in a beautiful way. I am fairly certain that the larger story is probably also going to come together like this. As of now, it only seems like the plot is unfocused. In actuality, it is just very layered, complex and beautiful. As long as they dont let the complexity get out of their own control, I think we’re in for something truly epic.

  5. I didn’t like this episode quite as much as last week’s but maybe that’s just because I enjoyed the Mirepoc stuff so much. Defying expectations is a perfect way to describe this show. Every time I think I’ve got a handle on it they go out and do something I never would have expected. It’s fun to have so many surprises.

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