Toshokan Sensou

Description

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In the year 1989, the Japanese government passed the Media Betterment Act, allowing a group of soldiers known as the Media Betterment Committee (MBC) to destroy and censor any “problematic” media under the guise of protecting public morals. As a response, regional governments established the Library Defense Force (LDF), whose members take up arms and put their lives on the line to protect freedom of expression. At the top of the Kanto branch of the LDF stands the Library Task Force (LTF): an elite squad consisting of only the most exceptional fighters.

As a high schooler, Iku Kasahara experienced the terror of censorship first-hand when she refused to surrender the newest volume of her favorite series to MBC agents. She only came out unscathed thanks to a lone member of the LDF, who protected her and her beloved book. Now in her 20s and still unable to forget the man who saved her, Kasahara joins the LDF in the hope of becoming just like her prince.

But LDF training turns out to be far more rigorous than she could have imagined, and her instructor, LTF member Atsushi Doujou, seems fixated on making her life a living hell. Given her struggles, Kasahara is shocked when she is selected as one of the two new LTF recruits as a result of Doujou’s recommendation. As Kasahara does all she can to become worthy of the LTF and unravel her enigmatic superior’s motivations, she wages war—both on the battlefield and in her personal life.

Vol 1 – Toshokan Sensou (図書館戦争) (Library War)
Vol 2 – Toshokan Nairan (図書館内乱) (Library Infighting)
Vol 3 – Toshokan Kiki (図書館危機) (Library Crisis)
Vol 4 – Toshokan Kakumei (図書館革命) (Library Revolution)

Associated Names
One entry per line
Library Crisis
Library Infighting
Library Revolution
Library War
Library Wars
Library Wars: Love & War
Toshokan Sensou Bessatsu-hen
図書館内乱
図書館危機
図書館戦争
図書館革命
圖書館內亂
圖書館危機
圖書館戰爭
圖書館革命
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
N/A
Recommendation Lists
N/A

Latest Release

v.4 c.1 by Toshokan Sensou Novel Translation (09-21-2012)
v.3 c.4 by Toshokan Sensou Novel Translation (05-04-2012)
v.3 c.3 by Toshokan Sensou Novel Translation (07-27-2011)
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2 Reviews sorted by


rinainthemoon
rinainthemoon rated it
November 18, 2022
Status: Completed
The first thing you should know is that this series is very prominently a workplace romance. It also has a great concept and is well written. This novel won a 2008 Seiun Award (a Japanese literature award themed around speculative fiction) and is well regarded in Japan garnering a lot of different adaptations. It reads much more like Josei series than Seinen and has been adapted into a great shoujo manga, a short cancelled shounen manga, an anime and three animated and live action movies.

The concept is genuinely interesting and... more>> carried out quite well (well, considering this was written when the internet wasn't super big and flip phones were still a thing), but it does leave you with food for thought over the importance of information freedom to our society and daily lives. But don't judge this story on the basis of it's concept alone because the main intention and best part of this series is arguably the charming and fun romance and the lovable cast of characters that populate the Musashino public library.

Overall though it has a very unique concept to it and I think that it is very good at tackling the themes of censorship and freedom of speech. But mostly it's just a lot of fun and has plenty of enjoyable side characters beyond the main leads. The entire cast makes this story what it is rather than the female lead alone.

The female lead, Kasahara Iku is a tomboyish jock who is an idealist down to her core and can be pretty naive at times, but that's what makes her a funny character. She is both stereotypically feminine, idealistic, naive and girly but also an athletic beast who can thrown a grown man across the room. The humour and banter in this series is pretty central to its appeal beyond the near-future dystopian concept and a lot of the fun stems from Iku's relationship with her squadmates and their interesting relationships with one another. If you are interested in a romance story that highlights workplace relationships alongside some real world political drama you will probably like this series. But don;t go into this if you want a strictly intellectual or super action heavy exploration of it's concept.

The romance heavily features bickering and some cute fairytale moments and both Iku and Dojo are at their core good hearted idiots who are weak to one another, which personally I can really get on board with.

This series is my favourite kind of speculative fiction because it manages to convey its concept while also managing to have plenty of fun, romance and drama at the same time rather than being a dry or overly serious examination. If you are intrigued by the description, definitely give it a read (hint google is your friend for finding a good unofficial english translation of all 4 volumes) and have some fun while you're at it! <<less
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Shio
Shio rated it
November 17, 2015
Status: --
All of this time, I always think that toshokan sensou is shoujo/josei.... In my defense, it was adapted into shoujo manga.

Toshoka Sensou/ Library war was set in a Japan where all book containing 'prohibited' materials are censored and erased. In opposition to the Media Improvement Act, the library, with their legal ability to store 'forbidden book' stood up and often get into fight with MIA. Iku (MC), despite the opposition from her parents, decided to enter the library self defense force.

Despite feeling annoyed at Iku in several occasion,... more>> I think this one is a pretty solid novel, with interesting character and world. Try it out if you have the time. <<less
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