Kari’s Manga Corner: First Impressions of ‘Library Wars’ And Film Review Special!

I noticed Library Wars (manga) at my local library but never picked it up because they were always out of v1 or I was reading something else at the time. The LA Eigafest (Japanese film festival) rolled around in December and I saw that they were going to screen a live action version of Library Wars. I hurried out to read the manga but was only able to finish v1 before the movie screening. The film covers the main storyline from v1-v4, so for v2-v4, I ended up seeing the movie version before reading it. It was a unique experience for me because I was able to partially read it before seeing it and partially see it before reading it. This is probably one of the few times where I loved both mediums equally and each just made me enjoy the other that much more!

Library Wars is set in the near future where media censorship has been taken to the extreme! The Japanese government passed the Media Betterment Act in 1989 which allowed the censorship of any material deemed “inappropriate” and said material would be confiscated and possibly destroyed. Local governments who opposed this act passed The Library Freedom Act which provided armed units to protect the libraries and continue to offer library collections to citizens.

The story takes place in 2019 with Iku Kasahara, who is the first female to apply to the library Defense Force. She is a spunky, often reckless and a tomboy, but it is her determination that sets her apart. When she was in high school, a library Task Force officer saved a book that was about to be taken from her by a Media Betterment officer. From then on, she idolized that man as her “prince” (though she does not remember what he looks like) and she wants to defend books just like him! Well, it turns out that being part of the library Defense Force is much harder then Iku expected with instructor Dojo working her into the ground (at least from her point of view). Will Iku find her “prince”? Why is Dojo picking on her? What will happen to Iku in training? Will she be able to keep up?

The manga is a fun and easy read and I am currently on v5 (still loving it!). I thoroughly enjoyed the movie as well! It is an action story with comedy, lots of heart and it encourages standing up for what you believe in. I also enjoyed having a female character that was able to keep up, and at times, surpass the boys. She often needs rescuing but on many other occasions she is able to fend for herself and take out the bad guy.  Iku feels like a real person who is just trying to do her best but can often let her emotions dictate her actions. I feel the love story develops in a believable way with a logically slow progression which just makes you all warm and fuzzy inside when the romantic moments happen. Shojo manga is all about relationships, and not just romantic ones; friendship is equally important.

Since Library Wars is based in a realistic setting (not fantasy or sci-fi) it translates well to live action. In the manga, the characters are drawn younger and some are better looking but that is partially due to the style of manga (Shojo). At first, I was thrown by what instructor Dojo looked like in the movie but then he grew on me. Iku was perfect casting and I felt she embodied the character and her mannerisms spot on. The stories in the film and the manga are pretty similar but the film cuts out some of the side stories from the manga which is for the better (in terms of having a coherent movie). There are some more action scenes in the movie which are really cool. All the changes that were made for the film make sense. I highly recommend checking the movie out, even if you are not into anime/manga because it is a highly entertaining film. Then, if you like reading manga, you should definitely read this title because it offers all you want in a Shojo manga (romance, humor, excellent characters and good looking artwork) along with a believable and engaging storyline.