is a Japanese light novel

Light novel

A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...

 series written by Gakuto Mikumo

Gakuto Mikumo

' is a light novelist from the Oita Prefecture in Japan. He studied the English language at Sophia University, where he graduated. In 1998 Mikumo won silver in the fifth Dengeki Novel Prize with his debut novel, Called Gehenna. He went on to win the Japan SF Rookie of the Year Award in 1999 with...

 and illustrated by G-Yuusuke. The series started serialization in Kadokawa Shoten

Kadokawa Shoten

is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...

's light novel magazine The Sneaker

The Sneaker

is a Japanese light novel magazine that was published by Kadokawa Shoten between 1993 and 2011, that was aimed at young adult males. It serialized many popular light novels, including the Haruhi Suzumiya and Trinity Blood series, and the novel adaptations of the Code Geass anime series....

 on February 29, 2008. A manga adaptation by Chako Abeno

Chako Abeno

is a female Japanese illustrator and manga artist. She publishes dōjinshi with the circle . She is also involved in the artwork of adult games.-Manga: , Illustrator...

 started serialization in Kadokawa Shoten

Kadokawa Shoten

is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...

's shōnen manga magazine Shōnen Ace

Shonen Ace

is a monthly shōnen manga magazine in Japan published by Kadokawa Shoten, started in 1994. Unlike the big shōnen weeklies with circulation figures in the millions, Ace is aimed at a less mainstream audience, and has a particular emphasis on anime tie-ins...

on March 26, 2010. Another manga adaptation by Monaco Sena started serialization in Kadokawa Shoten

Kadokawa Shoten

is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...

's seinen manga magazine Comp Ace

Comp Ace

is a Japanese computer game and manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. Comp Ace began as a special edition version of another one of Kadokawa Shoten's magazines, Comptiq. The first issue was released on March 26, 2005, and was published quarterly for the first three volumes which had cover...

on March 26, 2010. An anime adaptation began airing on July 16, 2011.

Plot

This story takes place in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. After the death of his grandfather, Hugh Anthony Disward, also known as Huey, receives a mysterious key and according to his will, must take custody of the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian in order to inherit his estate and all his possessions. Upon meeting Dalian, a child living at the estate, he learns that she is the guardian of the Archives which contain forbidden knowledge stored in thousands of magic books called . Upon agreeing to become Dalian's new Keykeeper, Huey joins her into investigating incidents regarding people misusing the power of the Phantom Books, most of them with tragic consequences, and using his power as Keykeeper to seal the power of the Phantom Books and restore order to the area.

Characters

Dalian's Keykeeper, also known as Huey. A young man with wavy dark blonde hair and sharp sapphire eyes, he is a former Royal Air Force Pilot and the grandson of the previous Keykeeper Sir Wesley Disward, who left Huey the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian and Dalian in his will. He is often seen as a calm and generally unfazed character who takes everything in stride, as he accepted his new-found responsibilities as the Keeper of the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian without much question or argument. When he retrieves books from Dalian, he appears as a young child inside of the archives, speaking with a girl dressed in white with twin silver pigtails and purple eyes. The girl's nature is unclear; it is suggested that she is librarian of the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian, an alternate persona of Dalian's, or possibly even the materialized form of the archives themselves. One thing is clear, though, which is that she and Huey share a keen personal relationship for reasons currently unknown.

The , or Black Biblioprincess. A young girl with long black hair tinted purple and large dark pink eyes, she is the custodian of the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian housing 900,666 phantom books. Because of this, she generally considers herself of great importance and believes to be more knowledgeable than most humans, even going so far as to praise others in a presumptuous manner when they exhibit more wisdom than she anticipated. When asked a question that calls for a "Yes" or "No" answer, she will reply appropriately in English rather than Japanese. She is often seen as a judgmental and arbitrary character, which clashes with her unexpected weakness for sweets; whenever presented with something sweet, or the opportunity to eat something sweet, a small lock of her hair will flick out from the rest of her head. She and Huey appear to share a very formal and business-like, but lighthearted, relationship.

Flamberge's Keykeeper. He has sharp blue eyes and long side-swept brown hair. He and Flam do not share a very warmhearted relationship, and will often use the phrase "Keep your mouth shut, you piece of junk" in response to Flam's endless accusations of being a pervert, making it almost something of a catchphrase for him. Rather than reading the Phantom Books he retrieves from the Long-Lost Library, he places them in the Staff of Surtr that he carries, and uses the book as fuel for the fire the staff produces, burning any Phantom Books he comes across along with the memories the current owner had in relation to them. Thus, because of this, he refers himself as a "Libricide Officer". He is often seen as a very serious and highly observant character, and appears to have highly advanced deduction and cognitive abilities.

The or Silver Biblioprincess, otherwise known as the custodian of the Long-Lost Library. She is often called just "Flam" for short. She appears to be a girl in her teenage years, with long silver hair and sharp magenta eyes. She wears a white straitjacket with nine padlocks, although she says that she chose to wear it herself because she thought it "matches Hal's tastes". In comparison to Huey's technique of retrieving Phantom Books from Dalian, the method used by Hal to retrieve books from Flam is shown to be very raw, painful and less dignified. She is often seen as a very arrogant and unpleasantly blunt character, and enjoys harassing Hal by accusing him of having perverted tendencies or a dirty mind.

Rasiel's key keeper. A man with long light blonde hair braided into a plait over his left shoulder, a mole on the lower left-hand corner of his mouth, and dark circles under his faded purple eyes, he was an old bartender at the camp Huey was assigned to during the war. His reason for contracting with Raziel is to create more Phantom Books and bring destruction wherever they go forth.; it is indicated throughout the first anime season that he and Raziel gave out or manipulated people into creating Phantom Books, causing mayhem both indirectly as well as directly. Outwardly he tends to look and act pleasantly but actually speaks and acts in a cold-blooded and arduous manner. Because Huey and Dalian's intentions with the Phantom Books are not like his own, he considers them a nuisance and attempts to kill them on several accounts. It is implied he has greater intentions than simply creating new Phantom Books, as he speaks of "creating a new world."

The or Red Biblioprincess, otherwise known as the custodian of the Bibliotheca Razielis Archangeli. A girl with the appearance of a small child, she has short green hair and golden eyes, although her left eye covered with an eyepatch attached to her keyhole. She has a very strong sense of balance, and tends to leap very slowly and gracefully or twirl atop of furniture without much trouble. She will answer questions with "Yes" or "No" in German rather than Japanese. It seems that she doesn't have any issues with the Professor's intentions, and seems to enjoy watching his plans unfold. She has an uncanny calm persona, and doesn't show much consideration for typical human affairs, such as death, pain, destruction, and so on. She and Dalian appear to share a very vicious and spiteful relationship.

A childhood friend of Huey, Camilla is a woman with large green eyes and bright blonde hair, which she keeps non-traditionally short, claiming it is a trend from the New World that will soon catch on. Similarly, she also dresses in fashions or "trends" from across the globe, which she picked up while traveling. Dalian usually calls her a spinster

Spinster

A spinster, or old maid, is an older, childless woman who has never been married.For a woman to be identified as a spinster, age is critical...

, and seems to harbor a dislike for Camilla, but she does not let this bother her and tries to get on Dalian's good side by presenting her with sweets, a weakness of Dalian's that she picked up on fairly quickly. She works as a teacher and runs a school for the neighborhood children. She seems to have some knowledge of the Phantom Books due to an incident with the Book of Wisdom and the Book of Equivalence. She is often seen as a very bright-spirited and cheery person, and she seems to be the least serious person in a dire situation; rather, her personality will become curiously confused or distraught.

A friend of Huey's, Armand is a man with short dark blond hair and meek dark purple eyes who was assigned to the same air base as him when they were both working as Air Force pilots during the war. His father is an owner of a famous shipbuilding company. Because Huey was his superior commanding officer during the war, he has a habit of calling him "Lieutenant," despite Huey's attempts to get him to drop the title. He seems to have some knowledge of the Phantom Books due to an incident when a courtesan he was infatuated with requested him of the Salamander's Tablet--and even used the Phantom Book himself while protecting her from a magician--and the Book of Relationship. He is often seen as a very dramatic and love-sick person, especially in the presence of his current crush.

A student at the boarding school where Huey's aunt serves as the principal.

Anime

In June 2010, Kadokawa announced that an anime television adaption was being developed. Produced by Gainax

Gainax

is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Gunbuster, The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which have gone on to critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as for their association with...

 under the direction of Yutaka Uemura, the series began its broadcast run on TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo

is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

 on July 16, 2011 at 1:23am. The series is also streamed with English subtitles by the media websites Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...

 and NicoNico.

The series uses two pieces of theme music: one opening and one ending. The opening theme is "Cras numquam scire" (Tomorrow is Never to Know) by Yucca (feat. Daisuke Ono

Daisuke Ono

is a Japanese voice actor who works for Mausu Promotion. He was born in Kōchi Prefecture. He won the 4th Seiyū Awards for best voice actor for his role as Sebastian Michaelis in Kuroshitsuji.-Anime:2002*Full Metal Panic!...

) whilst the ending theme is "yes, prisoner" by maRIONnetTe.

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No.	Title	Original airdate

External links

• Kadokawa Shoten's Dantalian no Shoka website
• TV Animation Dantalian no Shoka website