In the 1980s, the Japanese government debates and ultimately creates the Media Betterment Department, whose purpose is to confiscate those books deemed to be detrimental to the Japanese population. Following a horrific massacre and book-burning in 1999, some librarians decide to fight back, and thus the Library Defense Force is born. Fast-forward to 2014 and young Iku (Nana Eikura) has found the last volume in a fantasy series, but Media Betterment officers try to confiscate it; a member of the Library Defense Force arrives, declares the book authorized and saves the day for her. Iku is smitten, and resolves to become a member of that dedicated body, and in 2019 she finally becomes an officer of the Library Defense Force. But it's a harder job than she thinks, involving as it does military-level physical training and organizational skills. In addition, her military commander, Dojo (Junichi Okada) seems to dislike and despise her, and he does all he can to get her to quit the Force.... This is a really strange idea, that librarians are a para-military force whose purpose is to defend against censorship, but director Shinsuke Sato pulls it off magnificently. The film is part farce, part rom-com and part gritty war film, which might suggest that it's all over the map, but in fact it all holds together beautifully. Apparently the main 6 or 7 characters are all played by superstars of Japanese cinema, and we're definitely treated to their expertise in all these styles of acting; and the way the film ends sets it up perfectly for a to-be-hoped-for sequel, yay!
Review of Library Wars
