The story takes place in the UK during the gap years between WW1 and WW2. A certain warplane pilot just got a letter from his deceased grandfather, who wishes him to inherit his old mansion and taking care of his library. His grandfather was often described as an intellectual unsettling, a collector of many forbidden books, who would often sacrifice everything to get the knowledge he wanted. Because of his collections, he's often pursued by many who wanted to rob his collection, for power, for money, for wishes.

But the thing is, the library isn't exactly what it looks like. Instead of a building, the forbidden book library is located inside the girl's soul, named "Dalian"--as gatekeeper of "The Mystic Archives of Dantalian". His grandson, Huey inherit the key to the gate and become the keeper of the archives.

What's Huey job after getting the key to the gate? Well, continuing what his grandpa has been doing, collecting the forbidden books alongside living with Dalian. But this time, it's for people's safety, not just for collecting it.

--- Story: 9/10

The anime follows an episodic format, which makes the narrative flexible to the watcher. While you should watch Episode 1 first and Episodes 11–12 last, Episodes 2–10 can be enjoyed in any order without losing the plot.

The plot always progressed by following an adventure of Huey and Dalian, to make sure they stop the information hazard from reaching to many people (so it doesnt cause much danger than it should). But they did not eradicate the information, they kept it safe in the Dantalian Bookshelves inside the soul of Dalian. Which makes the archive getting catalogued as "Forbidden Knowledge", if we're fitting the real term of it.

As in the story, the anime referenced a lot about archives and studies from various science. Such as biology, psychology, literature, mysticism, mythology, mechanical, musicology, etc.

They even referenced the real archives or story from our world. Like, Clay Tablet of Ugarit, 72 Sacred Notes of Shem HaMephorash, Eleusinian Mysteries, etc.

There are a lot of types of archive medium that have been referenced too, some of which I just know it exist by watching the anime! Not just your modern flipped book (predecessor of codex/guternberg book), they reference an archive medium like: clay tablet, chinese scroll, megillah, quipu, samut khoi, etc!

Megillah Samut Khoi Clay Tablet

The archives is all in their original language! Some of the text seems wrriten in Latin, some of it written in cuneiform, some of it in ancient Chinese. I think that's so cool!

It's so surprising to find this in Japanese media. Since I bet only certain people know this kind of knowledge. The author seems to know a lot about archives & mythology, and is trying to pour his passion into this medium.

--- Character: 7/10

The character doesn't have much character development. This series doesn't really tell its world thru the character, but through the play of plot devices; the archives the characters found and interacted with.

Otherwise, the dynamic of these two protagonist character, Huey and Dalian--are pretty much like Sherlock Holmes and... Dr. John. Other than these two, there are some interesting characters that represent the book-banning aspect, which you can form a discussion for fun with your friend to learn about each other's perspective: on how we should act on forbidden knowledge.

Character design wise? They stay true to their historical genre. I think they did a very good job applying some of the fashion trends in 1910-1930.

Huey's wearing a military trench coat. It's usually common for military to have this coat.

Dalian wearing a leftover culture of 19th dresses, with a corset pinched waistlines and bustling full skirt that flowed in and out. She even wear a puffy sleeve, common trademark in 19th century western fashion.

One of the character, Kamila also wearing a trendy United States 1920s century fashion with an obvious body silhouette.

--- Art: 8/10

The background is certainly a paint over of a real photograph. The aesthetic is moody and sepia-toned, mimicking 1940s photography. The color palette is always earthy and mostly colored with a brown tone. Otherwise, I see some animation downgrade after eps 7, atleast. It's a very common thing appear in TV anime tho. While the animation consistency fluctuates, the visual sequences where Dalian opens the "Archives" remain hauntingly beautiful. Dalian opens the gate of Dantalian Bookshelves. Huey reading one of the archive

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Now, should you watch it? This anime would be a great gift to watch together if you have friend who's into library and archival science in general. But, if you--yourself are a "nerd" for archives, history, or the philosophy of science, the answer is yes. The show really explores the weight and responsibility of knowing. If you are interested in how information shapes our world and the dangers of letting it fall into the wrong hands, please give The Mystic Archives of Dantalian a go!