The death of Huey’s grandfather leads him to a path filled with potential wonders come to life.
What They Say:
In the early part of the last century, there was a young man named Huey, whose grandfather was an avid collector of rare books, what you might call a bibliomaniac. Upon his grandfather’s death, Huey inherited his grandfather’s antiquated mansion and the collection of books within. Huey arrived at the mansion to investigate the meaning of his grandfather’s last request, to take over responsibility for the Bibliotheca. There, in the cellar filled with stacks of books, he encounters a beautiful young girl in a black dress—
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the light novel series of the same name by Gakuto Mikumo which began in 2008, The Mystic Archives of Dantalian is the kind of show that definitely has appeal right out of the gate for some, myself included, by working a turn of the century type concept in the 1900’s and setting it all in a European style country. This gives it quite a different feel compared to the usual Japanese settings and with it going back in time about a century, it has a certain flavor and atmosphere that’s definitely interesting, especially if the music score can enhance it, which this one does quite elegantly.
The show focuses on a young man named Huey who has gone to his grandfather’s house upon his passing. His grandfather is a piece of work in that he was quite a book lover as the mansion is filled with them, or rather they should be. It turns out that they’ve all been moved to the basement which is a surprise, but not as much of a surprise as discovering a young woman named Dalian pretty much living in the place. She claims to be a friend of his grandfathers, but she has a curious feel and look about her that sets her apart. With Huey there to take over the care of the books, the Bibliotheca, she’s something unexpected about it all but he has a rather relaxed and mildly curious manner about himself that has him slowly drawing things out of her.
His grandfather’s death isn’t exactly without suspicion, and it comes into the forefront when a man named Conrad comes to visit and Dalian hints that he may be the one who broke into the mansion and killed his grandfather in an effort to get a rare book from the collection. The pair do go into the lion’s den, almost literally at one point, and we get a good look at how these two work as a team in trying to survive what’s happened. It leads to a curious series of events within Conrad’s place where portions of books seem to come to life with dragons, lions and more leaping about as Huey deals with them with his gun. They’re real in a sense, but easily dealt with by simple means.
What becomes of the pairing is that they have to seal books that are problematic, such as the one Conrad had stolen, because it can be unleashed into the world. The sealing of it and the incantations are all interesting aspects of it, but there’s something about the show that kept me feeling at a distance from it. The characters aren’t ones I expect to be fully defined in the first episode, but there’s a sense of pacing here that keeps it from really coming together well. It hits all the right marks, but it’s lacking something I can’t put my finger on just yet. Huey and Dalian come together too easily, the things they see no shock or surprise, and they join on their mission together all too easily. It’s just too pat, too easily done and that kept me from being able to get into it easily.
In Summary:
The opening episode of the Mystic Archives of Dantalian is one that definitely has its positives, mainly in its setting, atmosphere and animation, and has plenty of potential when it comes to the story and characters. But it reminds me a lot of Gosick in a way where it’s particular pacing and style, partially coming from the light novel origins possibly, feels off and disjointed. Everything comes together too easily here, too quickly, with the leads working together after having barely just met. It is a standard contrivance to be sure, especially with what they went through, but there was little emotion to it, little connection to the characters and ultimately they just fell flat in presence. The overall idea is certainly an interesting one and as a book lover I’m curious to see where it goes, but it’s a series that’s going to have to work hard if it’s like this for its entire run.
Grade: C+
Simulcast By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
