&hearts toshokan sensou &hearts, etc.
Mar. 21st, 2011 04:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glass_icarusSo thanks to being post-weekend shenanigans (and late to work this morning due to surprise!snow), I have rewatched all of Toshokan Sensou/Library Wars [wiki; 'ware spoilers]! I'D FORGOTTEN HOW MUCH I LOOOOOOVE IT, YOU GUYS. 12 delicious eps of libraries! Battling for freedom of information! and against government interference/censorship! If the Freedom of Library Law doesn't put hearts in your eyes, I don't know what will:
(... okay, that is perhaps a slightly clunky translation, but still. *____*) Anyway, the Library Corps was mobilized by the libraries in order to defend the public's freedom of knowledge, and their opponents are the Media Betterment Corporation, whose objective is to limit access to and/or destroy media deemed inappropriate in order to achieve a "better society." With all that premise, the adorable hilarious het romance is TOTALLY JUST A BONUS.
Kasahara Iku is the main character: tall, opinionated, unabashedly emotional, and (predictably enough) MY FAVORITE. She's far from the brightest member of the Library Corps, but she has the biggest heart by far. Also, uh, it's possible that I over-identify with her quick-to-peevishness. xD Her greatest advantages in the Corps are her athleticism (she's demonstrably the best runner and the strongest fighter of all the trainees); her roommate, Shibasaki Asako, a member of the Corps' Intelligence Division; and her boss, Doujou Atsushi.
Shibasaki is Iku's opposite in pretty much every way. Her super-femme-y mode of presentation vs. Iku's relative butchness, her calculating wit vs. Iku's cluelessness, her reserve vs. Iku's openness. Regardless, they are BFFs who don't judge each other (beyond some amiable mockery on Shibasaki's part, naturally) and know each other inside out and have each other's backs no matter what. Basically AHEM, this is SOLID GROUNDS for a femslash OTP pairing, and if it weren't for Doujou, I'd ship it beyond the BFFery. :3
Doujou and Iku are usually at each other's throats over one thing or another- Doujou has a bad habit of picking on Iku's faults because he recognizes that they're the ones he had to overcome in himself, and Iku's quick temper leads to immediate verbal or physical retaliation without much thought for the consequences. I think this is SUPER fun to watch- snarky fireworks ftw!- but if interference from superiors at work happens to be one of your no-nos, these moments might not always come across as amusing. There are a few instances where I take issue with Doujou's high-handedness, but his giant soft spot for Iku (obvious, of course, to everyone but Iku) ameliorates them for me in the narrative.
I am finding it hard to avoid plot-spoiler territory at this point, so have a few random notes!
Likes:
+ IKU. And Shibasaki!
+ Iku/Doujou! Also I am inordinately fond of the fact that Doujou is shorter than she is by 5cm or so, because in basically every other het romance I can think of, the guy is the taller one. SHE GETS TO CALL HIM CHIBI, OKAY!! AND HOLD THINGS OUT OF HIS REACH!! I THINK THIS IS BOTH GREAT AND LOLARIOUS.
+ No hypersexualization of female characters! Nobody is built like a porn star, and nobody dresses for the explicit male gaze! I take great satisfaction in watching Iku kick ass in uniform, like everybody else.
+ Iku's parents! They exist in the narrative! :D
Dislikes:
- Gender roles, sigh! The Library Corps' Defense Division is overwhelmingly male, and Iku is the only female member of the elite Task Force. Also, there are almost no women that we get to see in powerful positions.
- In the main cast, Shibasaki and Iku are the only regularly appearing female characters, and of the host of minor female characters we see in a later episode, half of them are meek and timid and the other half are bitchy/entitled. Not that I really object to either of those, but... some middle ground (beyond Iku) would be appreciated here?
- While Iku's parents both have overprotective tendencies, Iku's mom is the one who gets painted as unreasonable/hysterical. :\
In conclusion: the amount of win overwhelms the minor irks I have with this show. Also, it's a short series! 12 20ish-minute eps is NOTHING, okay, this is why I blew through the entire thing on a break from Shikabane Hime. :D
It is the most important responsibility of libraries to offer collected materials and library facilities to the people who have the Right to Know as one of their fundamental human rights. In order to fulfill their mission, libraries shall recognize the following matters as their proper duties, and shall put them into practice.
- Libraries have freedom in collecting their materials.
- Libraries secure the freedom of offering their materials.
- Libraries guarantee the privacy of users.
- Libraries oppose any type of censorship categorically.
When the freedom of libraries is imperiled, we librarians will work together and devote ourselves to secure the freedom.
(... okay, that is perhaps a slightly clunky translation, but still. *____*) Anyway, the Library Corps was mobilized by the libraries in order to defend the public's freedom of knowledge, and their opponents are the Media Betterment Corporation, whose objective is to limit access to and/or destroy media deemed inappropriate in order to achieve a "better society." With all that premise, the adorable hilarious het romance is TOTALLY JUST A BONUS.
Kasahara Iku is the main character: tall, opinionated, unabashedly emotional, and (predictably enough) MY FAVORITE. She's far from the brightest member of the Library Corps, but she has the biggest heart by far. Also, uh, it's possible that I over-identify with her quick-to-peevishness. xD Her greatest advantages in the Corps are her athleticism (she's demonstrably the best runner and the strongest fighter of all the trainees); her roommate, Shibasaki Asako, a member of the Corps' Intelligence Division; and her boss, Doujou Atsushi.
Shibasaki is Iku's opposite in pretty much every way. Her super-femme-y mode of presentation vs. Iku's relative butchness, her calculating wit vs. Iku's cluelessness, her reserve vs. Iku's openness. Regardless, they are BFFs who don't judge each other (beyond some amiable mockery on Shibasaki's part, naturally) and know each other inside out and have each other's backs no matter what. Basically AHEM, this is SOLID GROUNDS for a femslash OTP pairing, and if it weren't for Doujou, I'd ship it beyond the BFFery. :3
Doujou and Iku are usually at each other's throats over one thing or another- Doujou has a bad habit of picking on Iku's faults because he recognizes that they're the ones he had to overcome in himself, and Iku's quick temper leads to immediate verbal or physical retaliation without much thought for the consequences. I think this is SUPER fun to watch- snarky fireworks ftw!- but if interference from superiors at work happens to be one of your no-nos, these moments might not always come across as amusing. There are a few instances where I take issue with Doujou's high-handedness, but his giant soft spot for Iku (obvious, of course, to everyone but Iku) ameliorates them for me in the narrative.
I am finding it hard to avoid plot-spoiler territory at this point, so have a few random notes!
Likes:
+ IKU. And Shibasaki!
+ Iku/Doujou! Also I am inordinately fond of the fact that Doujou is shorter than she is by 5cm or so, because in basically every other het romance I can think of, the guy is the taller one. SHE GETS TO CALL HIM CHIBI, OKAY!! AND HOLD THINGS OUT OF HIS REACH!! I THINK THIS IS BOTH GREAT AND LOLARIOUS.
+ No hypersexualization of female characters! Nobody is built like a porn star, and nobody dresses for the explicit male gaze! I take great satisfaction in watching Iku kick ass in uniform, like everybody else.
+ Iku's parents! They exist in the narrative! :D
Dislikes:
- Gender roles, sigh! The Library Corps' Defense Division is overwhelmingly male, and Iku is the only female member of the elite Task Force. Also, there are almost no women that we get to see in powerful positions.
- In the main cast, Shibasaki and Iku are the only regularly appearing female characters, and of the host of minor female characters we see in a later episode, half of them are meek and timid and the other half are bitchy/entitled. Not that I really object to either of those, but... some middle ground (beyond Iku) would be appreciated here?
- While Iku's parents both have overprotective tendencies, Iku's mom is the one who gets painted as unreasonable/hysterical. :\
In conclusion: the amount of win overwhelms the minor irks I have with this show. Also, it's a short series! 12 20ish-minute eps is NOTHING, okay, this is why I blew through the entire thing on a break from Shikabane Hime. :D
