Library Wars: Love & War by Kiiro Yumi & Hiro Arikawa

Posted by : Deborah Takahashi Sunday, April 14, 2013

Plot Summary:
It's the future and books are under fire. In order to restore morale, the Media Betterment Committee (MBC) was formed by the National Government to prevent keep out materials that would corrupt the land. In other words, this committee is authorized to confiscate books, movies, and music they deem unworthy. Iku Kasahara, the newest Library Defense Forces recruit, has dedicated her life to protecting books because a Library Force soldier came to her aide when the MBC tried to arrest her because she refused to give up her favorite book. Not only was a hero, she fell in love with him and wants to be exactly like her idol. However, this could have been a lot easier if it wasn't for Sgt. Dojo who pushes her to the extreme and she finds him irritating, mean, and cruel. Although her roommate and fellow librarian, Shibazaki, says quite the opposite, Iku continues to try hard to prove him wrong. After becoming the first woman in the Library Defense Forces, she now works closely with Dojo and even though the fight constantly, she learns another side of him that confuses her and makes heartbeat pound. What is about Dojo that reminds her of her "Prince?" In this action packed series is a great selection of characters and scenarios that will make readers laugh and sigh at the same time.

Critical Evaluation:
I will be honest, I just had to read this series. As a Librarian, I want to see how this profession is conveyed in contemporary times and I love it!! Although I don't want to live in a time where Libraries and the government are warring, I love that the principals these brave individuals are the same exact principals I defend as well. I also love the fact that all Library Defense Force soldiers are librarians as well so one day we could a tough looking guy with guns blazing and then he is working a reference desk. Not only is this a "novel" idea, it doesn't hurt that most of them are super cute so I would definitely not have any qualms working on one of those libraries. My favorite character has to be Iku because she is not the stereotypical librarian. Unlike her superiors, she is goofy, klutzy, avid leader, honest, direct, reckless, loveable, and vulnerable. Despite the fact that sounds a lot like me, she is the embodiment of this profession because, unlike the Nancy Pearls, librarians need to make people feel at ease and we have to be approachable. Moreover, we have to bend over backwards to make the impossible, possible, and we have to stand up and fight when its necessary. All kidding aside, this series is fun and sweet because even when the world is turned upside down, there is still room for love, happiness, and triumph.

Information about the Author:
Unfortunately, there is not a lot of useful information about Kiiro Yumi, but there is a littl about Hiro Arikawa from Wikipedia:

Hiro Arikawa won the tenth annual Dengeki Novel Prize for new writers for Shio no Machi: Wish on My Precious in 2003, and the book was published the following year. It was praised for its love story between a heroine and hero divided by age and social status, and for its depiction of military structures. Although she is a light novelist, her books from her second work onwards have been published as hardbacks alongside more literary works with Arikawa receiving special treatment in this respect from her publisher, MediaWorks. Shio no Machi was also later published in hardback. Her 2006 light novel Toshokan Sensō (The Library War) was named as Hon no Zasshi's number one for entertainment for the first half of 2006, and came fifth in the Honya Taishō for that year, competing against ordinary novels.

She often writes about the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and her first three novels concerning its three branches are known as the Jieitai Sanbusaku (The SDF Trilogy); she also wrote about the fictional Library Forces in the Toshokan Sensō series. Raintree no Kuni, which first appeared as a book within a book in Toshokan Nairan was later published by Arikawa as a spin-off with another publisher.