Dantalian no Shoka (The Mystic Archives of Dantalian) discussion thread

[EmperorBrandon]

ダンタリアンの書架
Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian

The last of Kadokawa's four TV anime this season (all simulcast on both Niconico and Crunchyroll), I actually have decent expectations of this one unlike the others. The lead female character's design looks awesome, and she's voiced Sawashiro Miyuki, so it's got to be worth something at least.

Airs Saturday, July 16 at 01:23 JST on TV Tokyo.

Animation studio: Gainax

ANN entry (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=11860)
Official site (http://dantalian.tv/)
Niconico simulcast (http://ch.niconico.com/channel/ch60044)
Crunchyroll simulcast (http://www.crunchyroll.com/the-mystic-archives-of-dantalian)

Note
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[EmperorBrandon]

Definitely a rather interesting first episode. Huey seems to be pretty cool so far (Ono Daisuke certainly adds to that). Dalian is very beautiful and Sawashiro uses a rather unique voice for her (love hearing her say "Yes"). The first episode really seems to get us right on into the mysterious side of things with the books and all. I'm intrigued so far and looking forward to some more of this. Rather curious how the interactions between Huey and Dalian will play out from here.

[Fencedude]

Huh, I actually did not immediately recognize Sawashiro, a different voice here. This is probably the voice she would have used if she'd played Victorique, not Cordelia.

Anyway, Dalian and Huey so far make for a good pair, and its been a while since I've seen that particular key related symbolism used.

Will be interesting to see where this ends up going.

[superdry]

Dalian sure is cute. She needs to get out in the sun more...I like pale girls, but that's bordering on albino (either that or it's the crappy encode).

I assume each episode is going to end like the first...he unlocks her hidden powers to seal away the phantom book of the week.

Anywho, with the whole key thing, Huey is the keymaster and Dalian is the gatekeeper. So, when is Gozer going to show up?

[bear]

Definitely a rather interesting first episode. Huey seems to be pretty cool so far (Ono Daisuke certainly adds to that). Dalian is very beautiful and Sawashiro uses a rather unique voice for her (love hearing her say "Yes"). The first episode really seems to get us right on into the mysterious side of things with the books and all. I'm intrigued so far and looking forward to some more of this. Rather curious how the interactions between Huey and Dalian will play out from here.

Mixed feelings on this one. Good to see a smart, courageous male lead. I really liked Huey. The ease at which they vanquished the dragon by reading passages out of a book (seemingly at random) irked me a bit. Dalian could be a character that I'm going to like. She could be as great as Victorique but that remains to be seen.

[FUNiOP]

Definitely not what I expect from Gainax. I guess they were telling the truth when they said it would be more refined, although it's pretty hard to not be more refined than Panty & Stocking. Of course, this isn't an original, so that answers most of that, but the light novels it's based on are by the same guy as the Asura Cryin' ones, so I expected it would be the kind of thing Gainax got to show off more of their usual style with, but also that it wouldn't be very good. Maybe the Asura Cryin' anime just got bad companies and staff assigned to it, but this definitely seemed so much better, it's hard to believe the same guy was behind both original stories. Obviously the Gosick similarities come to many people's minds, with this beginning right after Gosick ended, but it's nice to see this have some fantasy to go along with it. It's too bad that Gainax only gets a cour or two a year worth of anime, but maybe it's because of that reason that everything they've done in the past few years has looked so damn good. The animation in this was definitely beautiful. I don't know why this premiered so much later than anything else this season, but in a disappointing season, this is actually looking like one of the better new series, so I look forward to more.

[FUNiOP]

Showing the entire unlocking sequence every time may get a little old after a while, but it really is so cool that I don't have a problem with that. The opening is interesting. It certainly isn't as memorable as the extremely creepy ending, but I think two of those an episode would be too much. I feel like while the audio and visuals are both nice, they don't sync up very well. I'm about ready to stop thinking of this as a Gainax show, since I can't find any traces of Gainax on it.

[Suwako Moriya]

For a set up episode, it was pretty decent. It helps that I like Dalian's design. Although the pink haired girl interests me as well. That being said, I have no idea what to make of the ritual.... Yeah, I might need to re-watch the episode to further absorb details of the episode, maybe.

[nakimushi]

This was actually pretty interesting.

Huey was surprisingly intelligent, assertive and fairly effective in a fight on his own, from the very beginning - which seems unusual for a light novel adaptation (or at least the ones I've seen. I would guess that Bakemonogatari's Araragi would the only other one I can think of who was somewhat similar, but Huey is so far more mature, which seems appropriate since he is older).

[superdry]

It's nice to know the history of whatever phantom book the two are investigating, but it's almost like a magical girl series with the whole unlock sequence, what looks to be the thing for every episode.

Dalian is really adorable though, and I don't remember in the first episode, but she's REALLY short. She speaks in a very frank manner which adds to her cuteness. And, it doesn't help that her character design reminds me of Shana (anime).

[something]

Episode 1:

- Sawashiro Miyukiiiiii! And Hanazawa gets the young version of the male lead.
- Ono D~! Sawashiro and Ono jabbering back and forth at each other. This is going to be absolutely lovely to listen to.
- Art style is weird and I don't know if I like it. The photo-like foreground and background stuff... it's going to take a while to get used to.
- AHHHHHH! I'm literally shaking with glee. I love love love how Sawashiro is playing Dalian. She's going to be impossibly fun. I want to hear her do a Perrine grrrrrrowl at some point.

- Dalian likes bread~
- I really like Huey so far. Good first impression, but a lot of that is the voice. Ono D has a knack for making almost any character sound intelligent and refined. I guess we'll see how he performs under pressure. I'd loooove for this to have a feel of, like, Gosick with an actually competent male lead. Someone who can play off Dalian's wit in ways Kujou never could for Victorique, on account of being solidly brain damaged.

- "Episode 00"?
- I love the way Dalian says "Yes". Oh, and hello massacre. Don't mess with dangerous books!
- Ah, so she's also, like, Index. But more awesome.
- He is a superhero with the power of... literacy!

Well, that was a fantastic first episode. Definitely one of the best so far this season. Odd artistic style aside, very well animated and superbly acted, and just really fricking interesting. I'm in. Just sucks that the version with watchable video quality is delayed (fuck no you are out of your minds if you think I'm ever watching a 360p encode, Nico. It's like looking at a scene through dirty glasses).

[Suwako Moriya]

I love the way Dalian says "Yes". I get the feeling the unlocking scene is essentially akin to a magical girl's transformation scene. In any case, I wonder how long before we get additional characters and I mean of the permanent type. Not the "I'm mainly here for the plot of the week then I'll vanish" characters.

[something]

Episode 2:

- Kawasumi Ayako~ She does "sweet and innocent" like few seiyuu can. With a hint of faked naivete, perhaps.
- Dalian is so cute when she's irritated.
- Estella's fiances keep dying? Obviously one of the books is in love with her and knocks off all er suitors...

- And another one bites the dust.
- Estella is crazy...
- I wonder why the eyecatch episode counts are one behind the title card episode counts.

- Craaaazy. I bet the meal she brought them is cooked goose. Or should I say, Geese.
- Man that is the calmest reaction to a stabbing I've ever seen. Dalian doesn't even acknowledge it.
- ...Uhhh and Huey doesn't seem to mind at all. In fact it's almost like he's forgotten. It must have missed.
- Okay, yeah. :sd:
- Soooo. It's a family of psychokiller women.
- Well that ended about as well as you'd expect.

- Dalian with a new hairdo!!
- Also, clearly Huey's right hand is some kind of plot point.

Good episode. Not as amazing as episode one I guess, but definitely still strong. Looks like we're divided into two episodes next time.

[ndm]

Having seen two episodes now, on the positive side this series has excellent voice actors, good animation and likeable lead characters.

On the negative side, the plot this episode was kind of inane, though maybe it was just a bit rushed. And whenever Dalian goes into the keyhole sequence I have the terrible thought that she has a magnificently hairy chest. :P

[FUNiOP]

So the second half of the episode is considered episode 4? That could get confusing. Especially since some episodes only count as one, so you can't figure out the number by multiplying by two. In fact, I thought both halves could have used full episodes to themselves. I'm sure the kids will show up again (I'd be really disappointed if they didn't), but they still should have had more time in this episode. It seemed like it just went "Here's this interesting group of characters. See them? Okay, story's over. Time for something completely different with no further mention of them." Actually, I may have preferred if that got the full episode and the second half got scrapped altogether. Dalian lecturing the burglars about how they treat her books was amusing, but other than that, it seemed like a somewhat forgettable mini-episode, and again, it was too short for me to feel like it had much meaning. Maybe with more time it could have been better.

Also, it seems that Niconico heard me mention that the only good thing about their player was its ability to fully buffer and show you what it buffered, so they made sure to get rid of the buffer bar and have it time out if you leave it paused for too long (less than a half-hour, I believe). I guess they really want me to just wait a week for Crunchyroll. At least it only takes a few minutes to load the episode up to the ED, then a little more for the rest, so maybe I won't go that route quite yet. But damn, Kadokawa, why do you have to make Crunchyroll wait a week, even for its paying members, and not the completely free, and highly flawed, Niconico? In that respect, I'm actually glad this is the only Kadokawa show this season that's any good.

[Fencedude]

Well. That ended badly.

Dalian is just adorable though. I really love her personality. Also its nice that Huey isn't an idiot. It really makes things quite pleasant.

[Fencedude]

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
KOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Camilla alone makes this episode total win. I'm really loving how Noto Mamiko characters are now allowed to actually talk. Also she's playing a pair of really chatty blondes this season.

Anyway, the stories were ok, Dalian's interactions with Camilla and the Burglers are what carried the episode. Huey continued to be non-stupid, which was great.

[HitokiriShadow]

Well, the premise is interesting and has a lot of potential.

Dalian is cute, and I love her tendency to say "Yes" in English.

Huey seems to be a decent male lead.

[HitokiriShadow]

I give Lady Liliburn a 5/10 on the Crazy Murderess/Female Psychopath scale.

Though I was just waiting for the show to reveal that the meat she was serving was Mr. Geese.

And Dalian was a lot of fun. I loved her getting all excited imagining what Lady Liliburn and Mr. Geese were up to and trying to tease Huey about Miss Liliburn and getting jealous over his non-existent interest in her.

[something]

Episode 3:

- So... a bunch of kids find a book of wisdom and plan to take over the world and rule it "correctly"?

- Dalian, what the fuck? Spoilers are not cool!
- NOTO MAMIKOOOOOO!!! And she gets another upbeat character, awesome.
- Hah! She knows just how to work Dalian. I hope these two interact a whoooole lot.
- I could totally go for "short, cute, candy-loving, book-reading gothiloli mystery solvers with an attitude" becoming a bigger movement.

- Damn Dalian, you're vicious. Leave Camilla alone. :sd: Her hair is kinda cute.
- A phantom book that can grant wisdom enough to destroy the world! Ah who cares, Dalian wants scones!
- "Yeah we're basically omnipotent but ain't gonna do anything about it, just trust us." >_>
- Dalian still doesn't give a fuck. All this is just a distraction from scones.

- That is one big cactus.
- Correction, that is one big man-eating cactus.
- Dalian cracks me up. She's so blatantly disdainful of the burglars, even tied up and held at gunpoint. :sd:

- Okay, Dalian is right this time, you look ridiculous, Camilla.
- Dalian's HAPPY HAIR is <3 <3
- Heh... she's not talking about books, Huey.

The Book of Wisdom kids will probably appear again later, but if not... odd. Actually, I might almost like the idea of introducing these children with the ability to destroy the world and then just never addressing them again, leaving us wondering what they're up to. :sd:

Liked this better than episode two.

[ndm]

The Book of Wisdom kids will probably appear again later, but if not... odd. Actually, I might almost like the idea of introducing these children with the ability to destroy the world and then just never addressing them again, leaving us wondering what they're up to. :sd:

Liked this better than episode two.

Yeah, I was a little underwhelmed by episode 2 but thought this episode was much better. It reminded me a little of shows like Kino's Journey, where we are presented with a vignette intended to provoke a thoughtful response rather than a story all tied up with a bow. Such as what might people do if they really became so intelligent they could take over or destroy the world.

I also thought it was good that they told two shorter stories during the episode rather than stretching either of them out to the full half hour.

And yay for Noto Mamiko! She apparently gets to play this show's Avril.

[FUNiOP]

Haha, okay. So the second half of the last episode was episode 4. And this episode was episode 4. And the next episode is episode 4. Okay, glad we got all that cleared up. Also, it's interesting that the title card with the episode number was before the opening, and the eyecatches showed a different episode title and no number. Oh well, I guess there's no explaining how these things work at this point. Glad to see it back to a full episode dedicated to a story. It works much better that way. This episode in particular was very good.

[EmperorBrandon]

Haha, okay. So the second half of the last episode was episode 4.

Just curious, but where did you see it? I double-checked the eyecatch (halfway point of that episode) and rather interestingly, it actually calls the first half "Episode 02" and the second half "Episode 03". Episode 1 was "Episode 00" in the eyecatch, and Episode 2 was "Episode 01". Seems like the eyecatch is using a different numbering scheme, so it's probably best just not to count that the same as the actual TV episode number (even though they line up for the first time now, they won't if we have another two-story episode)

Glad to see it back to a full episode dedicated to a story. It works much better that way. This episode in particular was very good.

I still think dividing them up is good when the story can be appropriately told in half an episode (didn't have a problem with how last ep. was done). That said, though, I agree that this one was really good. It was rather suspenseful for me and showcased Dalian's passion for books in a very enjoyable way too.

[FUNiOP]

Haha, okay. So the second half of the last episode was episode 4.

Just curious, but where did you see it? I double-checked the eyecatch (halfway point of that episode) and rather interestingly, it actually calls the first half "Episode 02" and the second half "Episode 03". Episode 1 was "Episode 00" in the eyecatch, and Episode 2 was "Episode 01". Seems like the eyecatch is using a different numbering scheme, so it's probably best just not to count that the same as the actual TV episode number (even though they line up for the first time now, they won't if we have another two-story episode)

Interesting. I could have sworn the eyecatches said "Episode 03" and "Episode 04" (or maybe the title card at the beginning and another title card where the eyecatches would be between the two parts), but apparently not. I never noticed the episode numbers being wrong before, but I did notice that this episode didn't have a number in the eyecatch (unless I missed it). Ironically, going by that numbering scheme, it would be the first to actually match the real episode number, but it's the first they didn't give a number to.

[Fencedude]

Yaoi. Serious. Fucking. Business.

Really good episode, though pretty disturbing.

Though Huey and Dalian were pretty much entirely extraneous to the events.

[something]

Episode 4:

- Dalian is a fan of Dog Days too! Oh, nevermind.
- Dalian is adorable as she rages about the unfinished trilogy. And haha, she's into BL.
- Awwww, Dalian in her hat and big fluffy coat. <3 I love her design so much... so pale, contrasting against the deep deep purple hair and reddish eyes.
- Woman, maybe you should clean your murder weapons somewhere else.
- Oh wow, that's kind of neat. The characters actually made a distinction between Ms. and Mrs. I am, almost as a rule, violently opposed to translation of honorifics; however I really appreciate when the original dialogue actually uses the setting-appropriate titles from the get-go. That way there's no cognitive dissonance and lost meaning over translated or omitted honorifics. Everyone in this show actually says Mister and Lord and the like, and thus of course there's no question for anyone over how to subtitle it. And here they even make a distinction a lot of native speakers English don't pay attention to (not that it's all that relevant in today's society, from what I gather). Very neat.

- Old cars are so loud... how did killer lady not hear it a mile away?
- And I guess she's still busy making Lenny bite-sized for convenient disposal?
- Oh, uh. Huh. He looks surprisingly intact for so much blood.
- So does his "lover". Soooo what exactly is Paula doing?
- And why does this woman not want to escape? What is going on...

- Dalian's most charming character trait is her utter, complete lack of respect for anyone around her. She doesn't care who she's with, she'll bluntly speak her mind. And it's awesome.
- ...Another Lenny? How many are there?
- And, uh, episode four again.
- Ah neat, sending them a message by typing. Too bad it's not a computer where he can easily delete it so crazy woman (who is or is using a phantom book) can't find it.
- "Yes." <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

- Nasty looking shoulder wound. Poor Leticia.
- Nasty looking shotgun wound to the knee too, ouch.
- Daaamn, kind of brutal. Bam right to the head. Revived Leticia. Bam right to the head. Revives Lenny. They're stuck in a cycle where both are willing to die to the other, but all that does it trap them in an endless loop. Man.
- And they have to die every night because their bodies will decay after a day anyway.
- Death resistance. And then we turn into a cross between a SHnY Celestial and an Eva Angel or something.
- And literally tears the lunatic Paula into pieces.

- Tragedy! Oh god Dalian, I know your pain! There is nothing worse than a sudden hetero ending. ;_; Burn the manuscript! Fuck you Lenny! You deserve to die!
- Haha now she's going to write her own fanfic ending. Dalian, you are a hilarious little fangirl.

Wow, that... was a pretty incredible episode. My favorite so far. And extremely violent, considerably more than I expected this show to be. The interplay between Huey and Dalian continues to be just as fantastic as you'd expect of Ono and Sawashiro.

It's slow going, but my estimation of this series is definitely rising.

[FUNiOP]

This definitely had the kind of awkward moments that make you feel like you're watching an amateur performance, like Dalian says near the beginning. Because of that, I'm guessing it was intentional. At any rate, it was funny because of it and enjoyable overall. It's too bad there's no overarching plot yet...

[superdry]

Yay! Another good episode. I'm so sad that I won't be able to import this one...maybe at a later date


- Dalian is adorable as she rages about the unfinished trilogy. And haha, she's into BL.

I like how Huey is sort of confused/doesn't care when she was raging...then again, she did open his mail. I, too, found it funny that she's into BL and gushes about it.


- Awwww, Dalian in her hat and big fluffy coat. <3 I love her design so much... so pale, contrasting against the deep deep purple hair and reddish eyes.

Does she only have dark clothing? Also, I don't think that hat really does much against the cold. Whatever....she looked adorable in it. She needs to get out in the sun a little more though.


- Dalian's most charming character trait is her utter, complete lack of respect for anyone around her. She doesn't care who she's with, she'll bluntly speak her mind. And it's awesome.


I love her attitude towards people. It's all about her and her only. Normally, people like that would be considered annoying/embarrassing when in public or with other people, but not with her. It's actually rather cute with her.

[something]

Episode 5:

- Dalian visits a brothel? Well this is going to be an awesome ep already.
- Or maybe we spend 10 seconds in there.

- Armand is a twit.
- And Viola is... dramatic.
- Dalian continues to be painfully blunt. <3
- Hahah, when Huey kicked Armand out of the way, I at first thought he was protecting him from Dalian., :sd:

- Oh wow, Viola almost has a private army.
- "Yes." <3
- Turned their blood into mercury. Ewww.

- Boy the pacing sure went to hell in the second half of this episode.
- Oh, opening the gate. Been a while.

Heh, I was sure Viola was going to pick Huey as the guy she'd fallen in love with.

Decent episode, but hoping we don't have to deal with this lame magician again. And hoping future episodes are better paced.

[Fencedude]

That was...something else.

For the first time I really felt like I could tell that this was animated by GAINAX.

It is nice to get confirmation that the world this takes place in is one where magic is far more common and accepted than normal. It makes some previous events a bit easier to buy.

[Suwako Moriya]

Ah, it looks like we got a situation that actually required them to make use of opening the gate.

We shall all fight for Viola! We shall all lose to the Baron! So much for that....

So Dalian has an nickname as the Black Book Princess. Simple, but fitting. Oh, and we get to somewhat see the Girl of the Mystic Archives again. Been awhile.

[Buckeye]

This was such a nice episode, one that is typical of something Gainax would animate. We have a desperate guy who, out of nowhere, requests that he borrows a phantom book. And in doing so, it was apparently to impress a chick. The best scene happened when he got kicked by Huey and Dalian for being an idiot. But then it turns out that chick is not human and that there are five men after her. Even so, their affection is still real, but another guy out of nowhere ends up with her. Whoa, boy!

[FUNiOP]

Or episode 7 if you're going by the title card. Or extra episode 01 if you're going by the eyecatches. In which case the title is Bibiliocide instead of Libricide. Even though it seems like those should mean the same thing. But I guess they just wanted to make a point of giving it two different titles. This episode takes a different turn to the extent of having a completely new pair of leads to follow, although they do mention Dalian, so even though this is an "extra episode", it seems inevitable that they will meet. This pair has its clear similarities to our usual lead pair, but they also have personalities that are very different. The episode played out pretty similarly to how a normal episode with Huey and Dalian would, but these new characters gave it a new spin, and made it a little more interesting. That said, I definitely look forward to getting back to the real main characters of the series.

[EmperorBrandon]

Or extra episode 01 if you're going by the eyecatches. In which case the title is Bibiliocide instead of Libricide. Even though it seems like those should mean the same thing. But I guess they just wanted to make a point of giving it two different titles.

Actually the title in the eyecatch is "Bibliocaust". Though with "caust" meaning to "burn", they are still pretty much the same thing. Guess they wanted to use all of the fancy ways of saying "book burning".

I thought it was interesting too that we got some focus on this different pair. It has me curious what will happen when they cross paths with Huey and Dalian. I'm also wondering about the other pair from Mabel's past too.

[FUNiOP]

Or extra episode 01 if you're going by the eyecatches. In which case the title is Bibiliocide instead of Libricide. Even though it seems like those should mean the same thing. But I guess they just wanted to make a point of giving it two different titles.

Actually the title in the eyecatch is "Bibliocaust". Though with "caust" meaning to "burn", they are still pretty much the same thing. Guess they wanted to use all of the fancy ways of saying "book burning".

Yeah, my bad. I had forgotten the exact word by the end of the episode, and Niconico isn't the easiest player to move to the point you want.

[Fencedude]

Huh, well that was unexpected. And WTF at Hal's staff. Belkan tech much?

Good story though, will be interesting to see how this pair ties into Dalian and Huey's story.

Flamberge amuses me greatly.

[something]

Episode 6:

- Flam Berge. >_> Man she so looks like she should be voiced by Yukana. But Koshimizu Ami is just as good a choice! Also, uh, nice straightjacket. Maybe that's why I was expecting Yukana.
- Endou Aya is also great as Mabel. I love when she does this voice... seems like it isn't nearly enough. She's about as good as Oohara Sayaka at the cute but mature woman voice.
- Six a half minutes so far without Sawashiro, this would be tragic if I weren't having such a blast listening to Koshimizu and Endou.
- Alright so Flam definitely seems like another... whatever it is that Dalian is. But what a different relationship she has with his dude than Dalian with Huey.

- Patty is kind of mean.
- Oh god Flam is gonna eat her.
- Man, Hal is pretty cool. I could definitely watch a show about these two.

- Okay, the grandparents are clearly automatons/puppets too.
- Awww, Patty was just trying to protect them. And she was sleeping with Flam. <3 <3
- Mabel was given the spells by yet another keyholder/cute girl pair?

- Okay, the key sequence is way more disturbing with this pair. Also, nipples. Sort of.
- "Cartridge Load" WTF, the great great great great grandmother of Intelligent Devices?
- Yaaay, Mabel is still alive. And Hidaka Rina is adorable as Patty.

Very good episode. Damn, no Dalian or Huey and I still loved it? This show is a keeper.

[Fencedude]

Very good episode. Damn, no Dalian or Huey and I still loved it? This show is a keeper.

I can't wait till the pairs meet.

Its going to be glorious.

[Suwako Moriya]

Ah, so we get to focus on a different pair and their relationship is err an interesting one. That activation scene is more painful looking than the one with Dalian. Not only that we have screaming.

Nice episode over all and it was fun to have a girl with freckles.

[FUNiOP]

This time, it's episodes 6 (eyecatches), 7 (actual episode number), and 8 (title card), with episodes 9 and 10 coming next episode, in episode 8 (which will probably be episode 7 in the eyecatches).

Back to our main pair. Nice to see them back, as they're always enjoyable characters to watch, but at least the previous episode offered something different. This episode continues to be more of the same episodic stories we've already seen plenty of times. Still, the characters are good and the animation is great. I just wish it would go somewhere with the plot, since it has great potential to do so. This episode kind of reminded me of that episode of Darker than BLACK with the perfumes and smelling.

[Fencedude]

Bread. Serious. Fucking. Business.

And once again, an interesting story, that was rushed through just a bit too quickly. I don't know if most of these stories really need two episodes each, but one episode does seem to cramp them a bit more than is ideal.

Dalian and the Civet Cat were hilarious, especially the noises when they were offscreen.

[superdry]

Very good episode. Damn, no Dalian or Huey and I still loved it? This show is a keeper.

I can't wait till the pairs meet.

Its going to be glorious.

I'm interested when the pairs meet, but other than that I wasn't entirely excited about Hal and Flam. The story of the town was pretty cool (reminded me of Kino's Journey) and it seems like Hal has a thing against our cute little bibliophile, maybe?

[something]

Episode 7:

- ::sniff sniff:: "You seem like a good person!" Haha what? Also, Itou Shizuka.
- The look of horror on Dalian's face when the bread is dropped is stronger than we've ever seen from her. :sd:
- Dalian... you know, I really like her, and her bad attitude is actually a major part of her charm, but viewed objectively she is a really friggin' rude person. :sd: It doesn't matter how much you try to placate her, if she perceives even the slightest wrong has been done to her, she will ruthlessly insult you and your family and everything you hold dear without holding back at all.

- Hahaha, Dalian is completely freaked out by Fiona.
- SAWASHIRO GRRRRROWL!!!! Not quite as good as her more rolling Perrine growl, but fuck yeah anyway!
- And Dalian befriends the critter.

- The death begins.
- Oh wow, it's not often anime bothers to consider the existence of shrapnel. Or whatever you call it when it's not coming from something intentionally devised as a fragmentation weapon. Anyway, glass in the face looks unpleasant!
- Man Fiona is like some kind of master alchemist class.

- But of course, it ends in tragedy. And for all I said about Dalian earlier, she actually seems to have taken a bit of a liking to Fiona. But, too late.

Good episode. But I assume we'll be moving to some big plot twist soon - this is only one cour after all.

[Buckeye]

So we get a story where we have another keeper and yomihime. Interesting backstory this was. I have a feeling that Huey and Hal will meet and what becomes of it remains to be seen.

[Buckeye]

It's another nice episode where we see perfume being used as a dangerous weapon. And I love the way Dantalian reacts when someone contaminates her bread. Unlike in previous episodes, this one ended much differently.

[FUNiOP]

Correction: This was episodes 9 and 10, in episode 8, and was both episode 7 and 8 in the eyecatches. Did that say episode 10 for the title card next time again? I may have mixed some of that up anyway. I can't keep track of all that.

I don't think the two-for-one style worked that well here for the first part. The second part was alright, but I still think it could have used some extra time to expand on its concepts. Still pretty good overall.

[Fencedude]

So it was a phantom book that activated an RPG Barter Quest. Thats certainly...unique.

And really, I've had enough of Armand. And he'd better stay the hell away from Camilla.

[Buckeye]

I just watched this episode yesterday. I never knew that Phantom Books could be used in such a comical way that happened in this episode. First, there is the book that could be used to get anything, provided that equal compensation is given up like the House of Wishes in xxxHolic. At least with Camilla, there was no danger as the book was used for a bear plush. And of course, that fake mustache was great as well. Then for the second half, we get Armand, who looks as desperate as ever going so far as to go through hell and back to try and find love that failed. When a wife thinks you are cheating on her just through a conversation with a maid, you know that this marriage was destined to have an ugly end. It's a good thing that Dalian can bring him back from the dead and now, he is back to square one again.

[FUNiOP]

Dammit, Gainax. Stop giving Osamu Kobayashi episodes of your shows. It's jarring as hell. Probably my favorite thing about this anime is the great animation, and the occasional animation that really shows that it's Gainax behind it, but this not only didn't deliver on that level, it's pretty much the exact opposite. The other great thing about the series is the lead pair, but they were absent for much of this episode, and that worked fine a few episodes back when they were replaced by another pair who were very different, but had a similar charm to them, but this time the story and new characters weren't nearly as compelling. On the other hand, seeing Huey and Dalian animated like this was even worse than seeing these characters we've never seen before in the same style. It's one of the few times that I really wish they used stock footage, since the usual unlocking sequence is beautiful even for this show's standards, but instead they reanimated it to fit the style and it was even more noticeably bad after having seen how good they usually make it look. I get that they like throwing in little novelties, but I really didn't enjoy them here.

[superdry]

Camilla really like Dalian. Even though she get's berated, at least Camilla is kind enough bring Dalian all sorts of gifts.

Dalian was all sorts of cute in the episode. I loved when she fell into Camilla trap and gushed over the bear she liked in the catalog.

I liked that the first-half was a good spin on a well known story and all ended well for now.

Second half - ehh...I like the background of the phantom book, but Armand seriously needs to find a woman without the use of a phantom book. I was quite surprised that they let him die, but that's the way out of the problem. Maybe he should have stayed dead...hopefully, he learned his lesson.

[something]

Episode 8:

- Haha wtf Camilla?
- She gets the cutest reactions out of Dalian.
- In this episode, Camilla goes on an RPG-style fetch quest.
- Camille values Dalian's smile more than anything. <3

- Uhhh and this suddenly took a turn for the weird.
- This Lianna woman is wacky.
- HAHAH, Dalian has proclaimed Armand's death sentence. Huey has no objections. Sucks to be you, Armand.
- ...o_O I'm sure there's some explanation but, Armand did burn? :sd:
- Uh, wow. They're going to bring him back, but he really DID die.
- Hahaha, he's hitting on Camilla as soon as he's back. Big breasts are nice!

[Fencedude]

Well, that was certainly...different.

I figured out eventually that they were in a book, but still, very strange.

[Buckeye]

I just watched this episode yesterday, and it was, to say the least, weird. I had a feeling that they were not in England anymore given the new style of animation, which proved to be the case as Huey and Dalian were there to exterminate bookworms in the form of mantises. So there is a phantom book that can do that.

[superdry]

The artstyle was weird when the episode started. I knew something was up.

The episode reminded me very much of a Kino's Journey episode with more focus on the townspeople, though. Overall, very interesting.

I still love how frank Dalian is when talking to people and to Huey.

[William K]

If characters who are not one of leads are introduced, the chances of them surviving the episode are very slim. I think this show could even rival Blood C in body count.

Anyway, was a good episode and it's great hearing Nakahara Mai but it's still episodic in nature and we're already up to 10. How are they going to end this in a single cour? Will they do a split cour like the author's other series Asura Cryin? I think Asura Cryin had many more novels to draw from.

[Buckeye]

In this episode, we get a violinist whose skills are more destructive than Kotomi Ichinose's playing ability. Turns out that the violinist is not human and was built to play a complicated composition that nobody else could play. Then there is the villain in the episode who orders her to play a hypnotic composition, but unbeknownst to him, she instead plays the destructive composition with a warning beforehand to let everybody know to get out. It's a decent episode, but overall, was not as good as the others. With two episodes to go, I think things will get serious in the final two episodes as it looks like next up, we will learn more about the girl of the mystical archives.

[Fencedude]

You know, Huey and Dalian sure take things like the creation of a fully sentient clockwork robot in stride.

Anyway, once again our leads are present for events, but don't really participate in them to any real extent. I really don't think I've ever seen a show take quite this tack.

BTW, didn't they have a book of Cure Critical Wounds?

[Fencedude]

And we finally meet the third Yomihime, Rasiel (Yahagi Sayuri!) and her keykeeper, a mysterious "professor". Rasiel is...interesting. Also for all her incredible shortness, she's got quite the rack on her.

Anyway, it was really an episode about Huey's time during the war, and it was quite interesting actually, and we learned a bit about how Phantom Books are created.

Only one episode left though, doubt there will be any real conclusion...

[bear]

And we finally meet the third Yomihime, Rasiel (Yahagi Sayuri!) and her keykeeper, a mysterious "professor". Rasiel is...interesting. Also for all her incredible shortness, she's got quite the rack on her.

Anyway, it was really an episode about Huey's time during the war, and it was quite interesting actually, and we learned a bit about how Phantom Books are created.

Only one episode left though, doubt there will be any real conclusion...

I got the impression that each Yomihime controls a different library from what Rasiel said. So is there a competition for the Phantom Books? It seems almost as if Dalian it trying to add them to the library (but not always), Rasiel's keeper is trying to create them, and Flamberge's keeper is trying to destroy them.

[Fencedude]

Well. That was a tad...abrupt.

Really would have liked more Dalian/Rasiel interactions, they were quite amusing.

Anyway, Zombies! Huey gets shot! The girl inside Dalian...somethings! Hal burns trucks!

So yeah.

[something]

Episode 9:

- Oh god what the fuck happened to the art? Please tell me this is going to change after the OP. Because right now it's giving me TTGL ep 4 flashbacks.
- Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. It's still like that. Now I don't even want to watch this episode. It is just so visually offensive that I know I won't be able to pay attention to anything that is happening.

Yeah fuck this I'm just going to skim other people's comments instead.

::reads::

Okay good it's just another one-off and can be disregarded. I don't give a shit if it was "because they were in a book", eye cancer is eye cancer. The only remotely reassuring thing is that it was explicitly a "stylistic" decision specific to this one story and we won't see it again. Or damn well better not. On to ep 10.

[something]

Episode 10:

- Hey, Nakahara Mai. I feel like we haven't heard her much lately.
- Bad violins make Dalian violent. Did Huey train with Ichinose Kotomi, or is it just broken?
- Christabel is creepy as fuck. But it's always so cute when Dalian runs behind Huey.
- Dalian praised someone for something! Stop the presses!

- Dalian's sharp tongue is such a delight. Everyone and everything is her verbal pincushion.
- Even cops.
- And things start to go badly.
- Huh, I just noticed... the line on Christabel's neck, it's not from clothing. Or sure doesn't look like it.

- Well that explains that. She's a machine.
- It's always really kind of moving when Dalian softens her voice and becomes almost gentle. It happens here, when she's explaining to Christabel what is happening to Dallaglio. Because she's so fierce and unforgiving most of the time, you know she means it when she's softening up.
- I thought the whole audience would die, but it was just Dallaglio and the jerks.

Good episode. But, there isn't exactly much time left. Wasn't there going to be a plot? :sd:

[superdry]

Anyway, it was really an episode about Huey's time during the war, and it was quite interesting actually, and we learned a bit about how Phantom Books are created.


The whole bit on how Phantom Books are created was the only interesting part in the episode.

That's about it.

[Buckeye]

This was a really interesting episode that shows the history behind Huey during World War I. Then we get a German Bibiloprincess. This episode explains a lot about the Phantom Books. Now for the final episode, I will see what happens. Given the episodic nature of this show that follows the formula used in Kino's Journey, I think that when it is all said and done, there will be a lot of unanswered questions.

[FUNiOP]

Oh wow, I really should have waited for Crunchyroll more often. This series is quite gorgeous when they don't give Osamu Kobayashi control.

Which is good, because this episode was kind of a mess of a finale. You'd think they'd be better at this whole pacing thing, instead of spending most of the series dicking around (as fun as most of that was) and then shoving a ton of huge plots into the final episode. Fencedude's post pretty much says it all. "Okay, then this happens, then this happens, then this happens... *looks at the countdown* Dammit, we need to fit this into 24 minutes!" There were a lot of things I really liked about this show, but it wasn't too great, and at times had some notable lows. I'm still glad I watched it all, but it probably won't be something I remember and think of too much in the future.

[Buckeye]

I just watched this episode today, and while the episode itself was nice to watch, the lack of buildup really put a damper into things. So we get a zombie invasion, orchestrated by a nameless professor. Huey gets shot, then meets a mysterious girl who helps him to battle the zombies. Professor is ready to invoke more of it. But not so fast, Hal saw right through it. And so, Huey wakes up after recovering from the gunshot in front of Camilla and Armand.

Overall, I feel that the episodic nature of the episodes is highly inappropriate for this show, at least having it that way all the way through. Some buildup would have been nice rather than throwing the book at us only in the final episode. It was a nice show to watch since I liken this to Kino's Journey. But it's not a show that wore off on me since there is an awful lot going on that presenting the show the way it was presented was not exactly the most appropriate way of going about it.

[something]

Episode 11:

- And the show remembers it only has two episodes left but no plot so we get a flashback! :sd:
- New key pair in the next to last episode. Well I guess they can be final bosses.
- Yahagi Sayuri~
- So Dalian has her "Yes" and Rasiel has her "Ja." Did Flamberge have one? I can't remember.
- Spinning spinning spinning~

- For what seemed like it'd be a Huey flashback he's sure not the focus.
- Ah there we go, it was all leading up to how he left the military and eventually met Dalian. And now Raziel and bartender professor magician keyholder guy are the baddies. For one more episode anyway.

Good episode. Not expecting much of a conclusive ending and we're never seeing a sequel, but here goes nothing!

[something]

Episode 12:

- There are zombies on the loose. But much more importantly, delicious buns! <3 Dalian.
- I love how Calm Dalian is as she watches a child run screaming in terror and zombies advancing.

- Heh, Dalian and Raziel are pretty shocked to see each other.
- And this sure moves quickly. There should have been another full cour of episodes before this, but oh well.
- Jeeeeeeeeze, we have clearly skipped so so much material.
- Joan of Arc? Pandora's box? You're pretty old, aren't you, Dalian?
- Oh hey, Fla and Hal! Awesome.

Well, what do you know, that ended up being really good. In many ways it was so very much a textbook case of a rushed ending that threw major plot at us without proper setup, but skipping OP and ED gave it three extra minutes it used very well.

I'm really happy with this show... too bad it's the second worst selling show of the season so far. We'll never see more, but I liked what we got. Great animatino all around, and some really nice pieces in this episode in particular. It deserves to sell a lot better than it has. Ah well Dalian is guaranteed a mention among my favorite characters of the year, and Huey is easily one of the top male characters of the year.

[superdry]

Zombies? Yay.

So, all three keymasters meet up in the final episode. Nothing too amazing besides the Professor vs. Huey. Hal just showed up and razed everything - that was a quick cameo in the episode.

Dalian vs. Raziel was cute. I loved their sharp banter back and forth. I'd love to know their past history, though.

So, the episode ends and all ends well.

Overall, I like the show besides a few episodes. Definitely had that Kino's Journey feel to it and it didn't detract from the story overall. Dalian is definitely one of my favorite female characters of this year - doesn't hurt that she reminds me of Shana sometimes.