Sacred tomes, curses, and research librarians in “Libra of Nil Admirari”

The library is introduced in the show’s second episode

Happy United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities! When I started watching Libra of Nil Admirari (also known as Nil Admirari no Tenbin), I had a sense that libraries would be a part of the story. Reading that the story was about a group of people who try and track down cursed books reminded me of R.O.D. the TV, and even Library War a bit. This series is a dark fantasy and a reverse harem. While I’m not, necessarily, a fan of the latter genre, the former was much more intriguing. So, let me get started! As a warning, there will be description of attempted suicide in this article.

The first episode hits like a freight train. Protagonist Tsugumi Kuze (voiced by Juri Kimura) watches her brother, Hitaki Kuze (voiced by Ayumu Murase) try to kill himself by self-immolation. Horrified, she blamed herself, but later learns that a cursed book, written in Japanese handwriting, named a maremono is responsible. She joins the Imperial Library Information Assets Management Bureau (also known as Fukurou), willing to use her ability to “see” the tomes, which she gained following a traumatic experience (her brother’s attempted suicide). In the next episode, she becomes more familiar with the bureau, which has a compound similar, in some ways, to the situation of the Library Defense Force in Library War. She does wear a strange uniform with a cut-out for her breasts, an unnecessary form of fan service which could have easily been avoided in this series, as could the fact that her work uniform has a relatively short skirt.

Within this compound is a room with cursed tomes, guided around by Hayato Ozaki (voiced by Yuuki Kaji), a member of Fukurou who tried to recruit her in the first episode. She meets Yutaka Nabari (voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa), who can also see auras of books, like her, and is researching cursed tomes. Later, Shiori Tokimiya (voiced by Rio Natsuki) shows Tsugami around the Fukurou building, walking through a secret passage to the research division, headed by Motofumi Mashiko (voiced by Kazuyuki Okitsu), who is wearing a mask and has a toucan on his shoulder. A small library room is shown at first, but this is only the beginning. Motofumi is said to be well-versed in many fields, like ornithology and folklore. From there, she goes into a huge room described as the only national library in the country, and there are at least ten library assistants, carrying books. [1] It is noted that Fukurou was originally a department for managing “precious books” and they are still diligently performing this goal. He welcomes Tsugami with open arms and she is grateful for that.

The claim that this is the “only” national library in Japan is accurate! The National Diet Library of Japan was not established until 1948, even though Japan had its first public library in 1872, following introduction of Western culture to the island, and the Japan Library Association (JLA) was founded in 1892 to “promote library services and librarianship in Japan,” with a first All Japan Library Conference held in 1906. [2] There’s more context, that should be established. This series is set in an alternative universe in which the Taisho era of Japan is still ongoing, in 1936. This is a period of Japanese history, from 1912 to 1926, in which there was a liberal movement with growth of power among democratic parties and away from elder politicians. It is also the period Japan developed its first aircraft carrier, and emerged from World War I as a “major industrial nation”. [3]

Although the later part of the episode, where Tsugami goes on patrol with Osaki, Kōgami, and Hisui Hoshikawa, going to bookstores and other shops, looking for cursed books, is not directly about libraries, it is related nonetheless. I haven’t played the otome visual novel video game, Nil Admirari no Tenbin: Teito Genwaku Kitan (written by Yuma Katagiri), that this series is based on, or the manga, written by Shō Yuzuki, but I’d imagine it probably has similar themes. The director of this anime, Masahiro Takata, is well-known for many other productions, including as an episode director of My Roommate is a Cat! Despite mixed reviews from Anime News Network writers, apart from Rebecca Silverman (who was more positive), [4] I decided to keep watching, and expected there would be more library scenes.

Tsugami opposes book burning in the third episode, saying what we can/should all agree with.

Clearly, Motofumi Mashiko and the other unnamed assistant librarians, are all research librarians, as they are researching these tomes, and storing them in a huge space. While undoubtedly librarians instruct, research, connect people to technology, manage social media, build websites, and digitize archives. Research librarians specifically analyze information requests to “determine which materials will best meet that researcher’s needs”. In some sense, the library in this series is a research library, as it has an in-depth collection, even though it doesn’t have a large volume of peer-reviewed work, and other works. More accurately, it is a special library, in that it is serving a particular population and is dedicated to a certain collection. [5]

By the third episode, Tsugami sees a book burning. In the process, she meets Sagisawa Rui, a doctor-in-training. While she calls herself “Kuze” here, I am calling her Tsugami in this article to distinguish from her brother. Later, they have a debriefing with Shiori Tokimiya, where it is revealed that a group called “Kagutsuchi” is stealing people’s books and burning them, in a number of recent incidents. Other members explain that the public burn cursed tomes because they are afraid of them and see them as dangerous. Tsugami later meets with Sagisawa. A man holding a cursed tome later dies on the train tracks, horrifying them all, and it is guessed that someone is purposely creating cursed tomes. Later, she tells Sagisawa that burning potentially dangerous books is wrong, which is a sentiment we can all agree with. At the end of the episode, she raids a building, with the help of her fellow agents, where the Kagutsuchi are holed up, and trying to burn books.

Tsugami meets the pompous son of the Prime Minister, Ukai, who also attempted society. However, she sympathizes, as he tried to kill himself, but she struggles with this, because he is so arrogant… She later learns that a legislator jumped from a building, and died, with a tome in one hand. She is informed she can’t do anything, even though people are dying, and is told this is why they are investigating every day and getting information from the press. She later tells Ukai that the job gives her freedom and that she enjoys it, says that communal living is fun, and hopes to get along better with him. He agrees to take her to a ball so they can learn about possible individuals involved in the book burning. She reports back what she saw. Later, Ukai realizes he was wrong about her and endeavors to become better friends with her. At the end of the episode, a woman is shown dead, with a tome, a romantic novel, nearby.

While I could go further, I decided to stop watching this series at this point, as it wasn’t to my fancy, and because I’ve already noted the existing library themes here.

© 2023-2025 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] Motofumi is the only character who speaks, as the others are only as background characters.

[2] “Brief Information on Libraries in Japan,” Japan Library Association, accessed Jul. 18, 2023; “History,” National Diet Library, Japan, accessed Jul. 18, 2023;

[3] Hoffman, Michael. “The Taisho Era: When modernity ruled Japan’s masses,” Japan Times, Jul. 29, 2012; Hoffman, Michael. “‘Taisho Democracy’ pays the ultimate price,” Japan Times, Jul. 29, 2012; “IJN Imperial Japanese Navy / ( Nihon Kaigun ),” globalsecurity.org, accessed Jul. 18, 2023; Japan: a country study (Washington, D.C., Library of Congress Federal Research Division, ed. Ronald E. Dolan and Ronald L. Warden: 1990), xviii, 46, 49-53. The Library of Congress country study says there were two other periods of history: Showa from 1926 to 1989 and Hensai from 1989 to present. The latter era actually ended in 2019, and replaced by the Reiwa era, which is currently ongoing.

[4] Jensen, Paul; Theron Martin; Nick Creamer; Rebecca Silverman, “The Spring 2018 Anime Preview Guide: Libra of Nil Admirari,” Anime News Network, Apr. 8, 2018; Silverman, Rebecca. “Libra of Nil Admirari Episodes 1-12 streaming Review,” Anime News Network, Jun. 28, 2018.

[5] “Become a Librarian,” American Library Association, accessed Jul. 18, 2023; Matthews, Rose. “Research Librarian Job Description,” Chron.com, accessed Jul. 18, 2023; “What is a Research Library?,” Linda Hall Library, accessed Jul. 18, 2023; “What is Research Library,” IGI Global, accessed Jul. 18, 2023; “research library,” dictionary.com, accessed Jul. 18, 2023; “Special Libraries,” American Library Association, accessed Jul. 18, 2023.

#abandonedSeries #AnimeNewsNetwork #bookBurning #fanService #history #Japan #JapaneseLibrarians #LibraOfNilAdmirari #LibraryWar #MyRoommateIsACat #RODTheTV #rareBooks #referenceLibrarians #research