If you read my post on Monday, you pretty much saw the moment inspiration hit for this particular post.
I love libraries and bookstores. When I was little, I wanted to live in one when I grew up. I kind of do as I’ve covered my walls in bookcases. But it’s not the same. There’s something just a little magical and majestic about a grand ol library. And there is only one way I know to make magical and majestic places just a little bit better. Make them anime.
Here are the 5 anime libraries I would really like to visit some day.
5. Yuru Camp
Maybe it’s because I really don’t like camping. Or maybe it’s because this place looks way way fancier than even my university library. Whatever the reason, the school library Rin worked at during the series always caught my eye as a particularly pleasant looking place to spend an afternoon.
It was my favourite setting in the series and I do wish we had gotten the chance to see it a bit more.
4. The Mystic Archives of Dantalian
Is it cheating to pick an anime with the word Archives in the title. I mean that’s basically the same as library. Dantalian was a bit of an odd show but I ended up liking it a lot more than I would have thought. It’s a shame not many people have seen it.
You can’t quite make it out, but the main characters spend most of their time in libraries, either at home or when visiting others. Those classical British style libraries with tons of dark wood and prim canapes to sit on with lacquered tables to set your cup of tea down. For all the supernatural murders happening, these scenes were always so relaxing!
3. Read or Die
Maybe I should have chosen Yomiko’s room as the library for this show. It looks a little like this:
Not the neatest library but there’s something joyful about it. Also all rooms are immediately 18% better when they include a bed….
Read or Die is a series that made you really appreciate the love of a good book. Or really of any book. And you can see it in the choice of settings. Whether it’s the many libraries that the characters find themselves in or the private residences so packed with books that they might as well be libraries, very few scenes didn’t feature a few bound volumes littered about.
2. Gosick
It’s a real shame I couldn’t find a good picture of Gosick’s enormous library with it’s many stories, it’s magnificent spiral staircase and the beautiful conservatory on top. Truly one of the most impressive libraries I have ever seen. If I had to pick a single room to spend the rest of my life in, I might also go with that one (provided I get some Wi Fi in there).
Due to its enormous scale, we rarely got to see the entire thing in the series all at once. It’s the sort of room you need to take in a bit at the time with a sweep of the camera and a wide shot zoom out. With that many books available, I bet you could spend years reading before you ran out of material.
1. The Ancient Magus’ Bride (OVA)
I fell in love with the Ancient Magus’ Bride OVAs. So much so that the series didn’t really stand a chance to live up to them. It was enchanted and mesmerized by the story of a lost little girl who could see things no one else can. And a big part of that was the stately and inviting library in the middle of the woods.
A warms a bright refuge from a dark and menacing world it beautifully represented the solace I had always associated with bookcases and paper bound adventures. This library captivated me so that even when the pain and fear wormed it’s way past the walls, it was still a shining beacon of hope in the cold dark night. I really want to find a library like this some day.
I think writing this post sort of convinced me to pursue librarian as a career. I’m not qualified for it at all. I might in fact have to buy a library to have any chance at getting a job as a librarian but sometimes you gotta invest in your dreams.
The other thing this post taught me is that it’s really hard to find good screen caps of libraries. I reviewed most of these series before I started to take my own screen caps so I didn’t have any available. It’s sort of odd though. Who is trying to prevent the world from seeing all those gorgeous anime libraries?
