Keep It or Trade It?: Tales of Graces f (PS3)
Keep It or Delete It?: Ketzal’s Corridors (3DS eShop)
Keep It or Trade It?: Prototype 2 (360)
Keep It or Trade It?: Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (3DS)
Keep It or Delete It? : Mass Effect Infiltrator (iPad)
VIZ recently released a new title in their Shojo Beat line called Library Wars: Love & War. The manga is drawn by Kiiro Yumi and based on a light novel series of the same name by Hiro Arikawa (not to be confused with Fullmetal Alchemist mangaka Hiromu Arakawa).
The story takes place in an alternate version of Japan in 2019. In this world, the government has taken censorship to levels comparable to those found in Fahrenheit 451, with invasions of bookstores and book burnings a common occurrence thanks to the “Media Betterment Act of 1989.” The act gave the government the right to censor and remove any materials they found offensive or puerile from circulation. The only thing stopping them from complete control is the Library Defense Force, a group of librarians and military created under the Freedom of Libraries Law which also made Libraries a sanctuary for any censored material.
Library Wars centers around Sergeant Iku Kasahara, a new addition to the LDF’s special task force and the first female recruit in the task force’s history. Iku was inspired to join after a mysterious member of the LDF stopped a Media Betterment Committee from taking away the book she was about to purchase. Her physical prowess made her a highly touted candidate during training; however, those strengths are not matched when it comes to the intellectual side of the operation. As most initial volumes do, volume one of Library Wars spends much of its time introducing the characters and the structure of the Library Defense Force. The volume ends with Kasahara having worked in the library system and in the field one time each.
Most of the characters are generally enjoyable, but they spend a lot of energy giving each other a hard time. Iku is earnest and wants to succeed but doesn’t have all the right tools yet, which frustrates her and the rest of her team, especially the annoyingly perfect Sergeant Hikaru Tezuka. And the rest of the squad love to use that to their advantage. Unfortunately, Iku doesn’t get much of a break as she shares a dorm with librarian Asako Shibasaki who delights in giving Iku just as much of a hard time as her superiors.
The story progression and pacing are done well, not spending too much time on one facet of the Iku’s life. The dialogue is generally humorous, but the over-the-top reactions from some of the characters could have been toned down just a hair. Iku is prone to overreact when she feels she is picked on by her superior, First Lieutenant Dojo, much the same way Dojo feels when dealing with Major Genda. These incidents don’t ruin the work by any means, but they might grow a little tiresome by the end of the series if the characters don’t mature enough.
The translation was also well done and flows nicely; there were no red flags or poor edits to be seen. Kiiro Yumi’s art is quite nice all around. She does a good job of using body positioning and lining to indicate motion without going overboard. Kiiro also uses tones and textures to accent her drawings quite a bit, but they never feel over the top. The character and clothing designs all fit the setting well. As long as they stay consistent throughout the series, the aesthetics will be easy to enjoy.
Hopefully, the mangaka will spend some more time on the censorship issue in the later volumes, as I find that whole storyline very intriguing. It’s hard to go too deep into it in volume one though, as you’d have to sacrifice a lot of character introduction and development.
Library Wars: Love & War volume one is definitely worth picking up. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
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