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  1. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Recently added titles (July 2026)

    Yamada checks his phone for messages from Nishi outside the Municipal Center and Library in an episode of the new season of You and I Are Polar Opposites

    Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September,  October, November, and December of 2024, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of this year, and January, February, March, April, May, and June of this year, this post notes recent titles with libraries or librarians in popular culture which I’ve come across in the past month. Each of these has been watched or read during the past month. No films, animated series, or other entries with libraries (or librarians) to add for this past month, but I did come across some in webcomics and anime. There may be spoilers for these series, so be aware.

    Animated series recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Anime series recently added to this page

    • I Want To Love You Till Your Dying Day, “Friends” (s1 ep 3)
    • I Want To Love You Till Your Dying Day, “Accomplices” (s1 ep 4)
    • Detective Conan aka Case Closed (s2 ep 22)
    • You and I Are Polar Opposites, “Dilemma of a Winter’s Night” (s2 ep 2)
    • You and I Are Polar Opposites, “New School Term” (s2 ep 4)

    While Ascendance of a Bookworm continues into a second cour (with no more episodes with libraries or the protagonist Myne as a librarian), Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia (set in the 13th century) has the protagonist aiming to get back her book of Eucidlis from an arrogant imperialistic Mongolian princess, and Draw This, Then Die! has the protagonists cleaning the room of a manga book store on the second floor to become their club space, in the second episode of season 2 of You and I Are Polar Opposites, “Dilemma of a Winter’s Night”, Yamada meets Nishi in the middle of winter break as a pretext to see her. While he doesn’t confess his feelings, and nor does she, he wrongly thinks the library doesn’t have a “nice” atmosphere, even though it does. They choose between going to the study room where talking, food, and drink are forbidden, and a free space, with Yamada going with the latter.

    Otherwise, in the episode, Nishi admits she comes to the library “quite a bit,” which Yamada finds commendable, and admits he can’t study at all, at home, as it is far too distracting. He admits that inviting her there was just a pretext by accident while she admits that she comes there every day, and has finished all her homework. He is shocked, she admits she wanted a pretext as well, and he stops himself from saying they should date, feeling it isn’t a right place. He ends up being quiet during their date-not-date while studying.

    There’s another library scene in the episode “New School Term”. Even the description on Crunchyroll indicates this, saying, “Suzuki takes Yamada to the school library, with an ulterior motive in mind. Nishi is happy that Yamada came, but anxious that others might find out about their relationship.” Shenanigans ensue, while Nishi and Taira work as library for their student library duty. At one point, Taira even wants to process the book returns, while Nishi isn’t sure how to handle Yamada there, and Suzuki offers to help Yamada with reshelving books at another point. She also came to see Yamada. Funny enough, no one else comes into the library except them which seems strange (and they comment on this later, saying few people come there anymore), because this is the school library after all! I also like how Taira helps out Nishi and even gives Yamada a book recommendation, showing he is a true friend. I liked how Yamada and Suzuki enjoy reading books in the library, while showing the library duties, like checking in and out books in a way that seems relaxing, making it seems like something you do every day. There is a cute moment where Yamada and Nishi say each other’s full names.

    Then there’s the awful news that Crunchyroll removed Black Lagoon, along with other series like Blood Blockade Battlefront and Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions, as has been reported elsewhere, without any warning. I have an account on that streaming service and the history (which shows what anime series I have watched) doesn’t even mention it at all! I mention this here because that series has a library scene as I noted in my post on here on July 2nd, in the episode “The Succession” (s1 ep 20), first saying that in the episode “Yukio is reading a book by Martin Heidegger as shown in the 20th episode (“Succession”) of the classic crime thriller anime Black Lagoon, which is replete with having girls with guns, particularly hothead Chinese-American Revy.” I went into further detail, saying:

    …Yukio is reading a book by Martin Heidegger, as she tells her friend Maki, in the school library, calling the book philosophical and “very powerful.” In contrast, Maki says she likes skincare guides and modern horror books, with Yukio saying she remembered Maki saying she liked Anne Rice. They talk a bit more with Yukio saying she sometimes feels like she is caught inside of book worlds, and viewers see some of the library bookshelves. She says she doesn’t like Stephen King and Maki says she thought Yukio would like Edgar Allan Poe. She says she doesn’t like the ones that imagine the night, and she does not like the world as it makes her scared, that it is not romantic at all.

     

    There is a second scene in the episode in the reading room where Yukio is thinking about the gang war between the Russian mafia and Japanese yakuza, and does not listen as much to what Maki tells her and decides to not tell her troubles. The reading room is shown briefly in the next episode, but not enough to mention it here. It is worth noting that Heidegger was directly involved with the Nazis from 1933 to 1945, and even banned from teaching after the war until 1949 (when the ban was lifted). He also never expressed remorse for being involved with the Nazis, which is funny because Hannah Arendt, who became known for her political theory against authoritarianism, including Nazism and fascism. I’m not sure why Heidegger was mentioned (in the manga as well), except to possibly indicate that Yukio was intellectual, nihilistic, and his existential philosophy was appealing. At the same time, I seriously doubt she was a Nazi as there was an earlier plot line in the series where the protagonists stole loot from a submarine filled by wannabe Nazis/neo-Nazis and killed a bunch of them, but rather a bit of a mob boss, if I have to guess. At the same time, during his life, Heidegger had intellectual contact with Japanese scholars like racist Hajime Tanabe (who later regretted defending claimed Japanese state and racial superiority) and pro-militarist Shūzō Kuki over the years, influencing his work, according to Reinhard May.

    This all comes when I came across recently this video of an anime fan expressing anger it was removed (along with Crunchyroll locking their anime store behind a paywall effectively), along with this video on the fading, yet important, legacy of the series:

    A late entry here is the third episode of I Want To Love You Till Your Dying Day. In that episode, Sheena Totsuki goes to the library of her school-of-sorts/orphanage/training institute, to study. She had wanted to go with Mimi Kagari, but she is unable to so because Mimi left to fight enemies. While there she meets her school friends, Lizzy Seiran and Ali Maud who are a couple themselves, and she reveals what Mimi’s guardian (Fran) told her. Later in the episode, however, Mimi reveals her secret to Sheena, shocking her beyond belief. In the scene itself, you see the wonder of the library which is well-used by students, and seems like a place to relax (and study), with wooden tables, and all the books you’d like to read.

    Sheena, and other girls at the school, studying in the school library. Note the ornate tables and books on the bookshelves. Sorry for the blurriness.Sheena’s friends talk to her in the library. Sorry for the blurriness.Sheena shushes her friends because they are in the library, while other patrons look over at her her. Sorry for the blurriness.Sheena is reading a book when someone calls out to her. Sorry for the blurriness.

    There was an additional library scene in the fourth episode of that same series, with flashbacks to Sheena thinking of Mimi, and a new scene of Mimi balancing books on her head, while Sheena is learning about resurrection magic, and is surprised by Airi and Seiran. One of my favorite parts (shown below) is when the bell rings and breaks Mimi’s concentration, annoying her, as she almost trying to show off a bit by balancing books on her head.

    My favorite part of this episode, because Mimi is really showing off here

    Last but least is episode 50 of Detective Conan (also known as Case Closed), “The Library Murder Case” / “The Book Without Pages”.  I have been looking forward to watching this episode for a long time, but I finally got to watch it this month, at long last, an episode which fulfills so many stereotypes when it comes to fictional librarians and libraries. I’ll write a whole post on this, but to give the quick and short version of this, Conan Edogawa, a kid detective (wasn’t always a kid) works with his school friends of sorts to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of a librarian, and soon suspect the library director. They learn that there are fake books in the children’s section where drugs were being stored, and this is why the director murdered that librarian. He even tries to kill all of them too, but they turn all the bookshelves into dominos so they fall on him, allowing the police to come in and arrest him, taking him away, while they find the body (which was on top of an elevator). It’s gory, but also feeds into many stereotypes, which, perhaps, is not at all a surprise for an episode that came out on March 1997. Some even put some parts of the episode as one of the top scariest moments in the series!

    Comics recently added to this page

    In the fourth issue of The Burning Scheme, the protagonists, Vera at Sierra Verde Preparatory School, go to the library together, for a group project, with one of them, Calliope, saying the other (Vera) is “pretty.” Vera doesn’t like this closeness and leaves shortly thereafter, to the disappointment of Calliope.

    In the episode “CH 12 | Library Hours” of My Awkward Princess, Alice Evelyn and Luna Charlotte do library service together, with Luna annoying Alice, and Luna getting “tamed” by someone else when they give her a lollipop. At one point, Luna catches Alice when she falls, to her annoyance, saying Luna just wanted to touch her, when in reality she just wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt. And Alice thanks Luna. All this time she is giving instructions to the student vice-president who is relatively incompetent.

    Otherwise, in the episode “|CH 13| Routine”, Alice is overworking herself in the library, feeling it will get better the next day and that there cannot be any distractions because the student council depends on her. She feels that she is almost perfect. One day, Luna is with her in the library, believes with Alice believing she should not slow down, and that she has keep working. She pushes it off, despite blood coming out of her nose, saying she isn’t her problem, telling her to stop distracting her, while Luna is deeply worried.

    In the episode after this, “|CH 14| Almost Everyone,” Luna goes to the library to read, with Alice asking her why her section of the library isn’t organized yet, and starts bossing her around. Luna finds Alice, who she calls “puppy,” entertaining, and thinks back to when Alice thanked her for catching her, saying that doesn’t happen. Later, in the stairwell, Alice gives her cookies and tells her to show up the next day on time, making Luna blush because Alice gave her sweets (remembering that she likes them), and calls her “dangerous.”

    The new version of Literary Link is finally out! That series focuses on libraries at its center, as noted in the series description: “Delinquent Faye Scott just wants to keep her head down and get through her latest sentencing — finish her community service and make it across the graduation stage as unscathed as possible — but her old enemies aren’t letting her go without a fight. However, a certain library volunteer might be the one to show Faye just the kindness she needs to change her life for the better.” I wrote a review about this series a while ago, saying:

    Literary Link Review

    I was going to add in some issues from Love and be Loved, but I had already added that into a posting I did on recently added titles in April, so I nixed that for this post:

    Recently added titles (April 2026)

    Lastly, there are two issues of Pinky Promise. In the first of these, the protagonist, Eva, tries to remind the school group to stay on task (picking books for their presentation), as they work together in the school library, and threatens to tell their teacher, Miss Cielo, that they are wasting time. Another classmate tells Hallie that Eva is too serious about school, asking her to convince Eva to not report them. Through it all, Eva is worried about Hallie and the group she is a part of, and when admiring her, she thinks back to a sexy dream she had, leading her to begin blushing. After her fellow classmate believes something may be wrong, Eva denies it, then gets up to find a book. Following this, Hallie gets up to follow Eva.

    In the next of those issues, Eva thinks about her reaction and how embarrassing it was, while she starts to look for a book. Hallie comes behind her, startling her, when all she wants is to check in on her. Eva keeps blushing and denying that anything is up, saying she had been different since that morning, after Hallie spent the night at her place. She notices that Eva has been avoiding her, with Eva literally turning her head away, as she stands in front of a library bookshelf. She ends up admitting she can’t look her in the eyes because of a dream she had, where Hallie was touching and kissing her. Even after she says she is embarrassed and shouldn’t have dreamed about it, Hallie teases her about it, saying she is being “naughty,” with Eva saying it is only because she has been teasing her so much lately. Hallie gets close to her and says she is cute every time she teases her, something Eva thinks about later.

    Films recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Other entries recently added to this page

    None for this month. However, there was the recent news that…

    • HIDIVE will be streaming The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie on July 14th [English dub]
    • The Apothecary Diaries Anime Film’s Trailer Reveals Title, Cast, December 11 Opening

    The first of these has libraries as central to the series itself, with library scenes in 16 episodes (“I Was Stolen Away” (s1 ep1), “I Died” (s1 ep 2), “I Want To Hug You” (s1 ep 3), “I Have A Problem” (s1 ep 4), “We Split Up” (s1 ep 5), “I Melted It” (s1 ep 6), “We Swapped Places” (s1 ep 7), “I Had A Dream” (s1 ep 8), “Karta 9: I Hate Yamada” (s1 ep 9), “Bonus Dangers” (s1 OVA), “We’re Searching” (s2 ep 1), “I’m growing up” (s2 ep 2), “Yamada Likes…” (s2 ep 4), “We’re Overflowing” (s2 ep 7), “I Want to Be Closer to Yamada” (s2, ep 10), “I, We, Fell in Love” (s2 ep 13, series finale)), as it is a key meeting place of the male and female protagonists, Kyotaro and Anna Yamada respectfully. As for second series, there’s one library scene I briefly described in a post last year:

    In terms of a place of knowledge, consider the 10th episode of the drama/mystery/romance entitled The Apothecary Diaries. In the latter half of the show’s 10th episode, entitled “Honey,” Gaoshun, an assistant of Jinshi, tells Maomao that he will search the court library for information about past events in the rear palace. Later, an assistant behind the information desk helps him. He finds a relevant book and he gives it to Maomao. In it, she learns about events in the past, and that a baby was delivered by Doctor Luomen (her dad!), moving this story in an interesting direction!

    © 2024-2026 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    #AscendanceOfABookworm #BlackLagoon #BloodBlockadeBattlefront #books #CaseClosed #DetectiveConan #friendship #girlsLove #GrimgarAshesAndIllusions #IWantToLoveYouTillYourDyingDay #JaadugarAWitchInMongolia #libraryPatrons #lists #LiteraryLink #LoveAndBeLoved #MyAwkwardPrincess #orphans #PinkyPromise #reading #RecentlyAddedTitles #romance #shortBlogs #shushing #students #studying #sweets #TheApothecaryDiaries #TheBurningScheme #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheDangersInMyHeartTheMovie #YouAndIArePolarOpposites #yuri
    #ascendanceofabookworm #blacklagoon #bloodblockadebattlefront #books #caseclosed #detectiveconan
  2. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Recently added titles (July 2026)

    Yamada checks his phone for messages from Nishi outside the Municipal Center and Library in an episode of the new season of You and I Are Polar Opposites

    Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September,  October, November, and December of 2024, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of this year, and January, February, March, April, May, and June of this year, this post notes recent titles with libraries or librarians in popular culture which I’ve come across in the past month. Each of these has been watched or read during the past month. No films, animated series, or other entries with libraries (or librarians) to add for this past month, but I did come across some in webcomics and anime. There may be spoilers for these series, so be aware.

    Animated series recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Anime series recently added to this page

    • I Want To Love You Till Your Dying Day, “Friends” (s1 ep 3)
    • I Want To Love You Till Your Dying Day, “Accomplices” (s1 ep 4)
    • Detective Conan aka Case Closed (s2 ep 22)
    • You and I Are Polar Opposites, “Dilemma of a Winter’s Night” (s2 ep 2)
    • You and I Are Polar Opposites, “New School Term” (s2 ep 4)

    While Ascendance of a Bookworm continues into a second cour (with no more episodes with libraries or the protagonist Myne as a librarian), Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia (set in the 13th century) has the protagonist aiming to get back her book of Eucidlis from an arrogant imperialistic Mongolian princess, and Draw This, Then Die! has the protagonists cleaning the room of a manga book store on the second floor to become their club space, in the second episode of season 2 of You and I Are Polar Opposites, “Dilemma of a Winter’s Night”, Yamada meets Nishi in the middle of winter break as a pretext to see her. While he doesn’t confess his feelings, and nor does she, he wrongly thinks the library doesn’t have a “nice” atmosphere, even though it does. They choose between going to the study room where talking, food, and drink are forbidden, and a free space, with Yamada going with the latter.

    Otherwise, in the episode, Nishi admits she comes to the library “quite a bit,” which Yamada finds commendable, and admits he can’t study at all, at home, as it is far too distracting. He admits that inviting her there was just a pretext by accident while she admits that she comes there every day, and has finished all her homework. He is shocked, she admits she wanted a pretext as well, and he stops himself from saying they should date, feeling it isn’t a right place. He ends up being quiet during their date-not-date while studying.

    There’s another library scene in the episode “New School Term”. Even the description on Crunchyroll indicates this, saying, “Suzuki takes Yamada to the school library, with an ulterior motive in mind. Nishi is happy that Yamada came, but anxious that others might find out about their relationship.” Shenanigans ensue, while Nishi and Taira work as library for their student library duty. At one point, Taira even wants to process the book returns, while Nishi isn’t sure how to handle Yamada there, and Suzuki offers to help Yamada with reshelving books at another point. She also came to see Yamada. Funny enough, no one else comes into the library except them which seems strange (and they comment on this later, saying few people come there anymore), because this is the school library after all! I also like how Taira helps out Nishi and even gives Yamada a book recommendation, showing he is a true friend. I liked how Yamada and Suzuki enjoy reading books in the library, while showing the library duties, like checking in and out books in a way that seems relaxing, making it seems like something you do every day. There is a cute moment where Yamada and Nishi say each other’s full names.

    Then there’s the awful news that Crunchyroll removed Black Lagoon, along with other series like Blood Blockade Battlefront and Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions, as has been reported elsewhere, without any warning. I have an account on that streaming service and the history (which shows what anime series I have watched) doesn’t even mention it at all! I mention this here because that series has a library scene as I noted in my post on here on July 2nd, in the episode “The Succession” (s1 ep 20), first saying that in the episode “Yukio is reading a book by Martin Heidegger as shown in the 20th episode (“Succession”) of the classic crime thriller anime Black Lagoon, which is replete with having girls with guns, particularly hothead Chinese-American Revy.” I went into further detail, saying:

    …Yukio is reading a book by Martin Heidegger, as she tells her friend Maki, in the school library, calling the book philosophical and “very powerful.” In contrast, Maki says she likes skincare guides and modern horror books, with Yukio saying she remembered Maki saying she liked Anne Rice. They talk a bit more with Yukio saying she sometimes feels like she is caught inside of book worlds, and viewers see some of the library bookshelves. She says she doesn’t like Stephen King and Maki says she thought Yukio would like Edgar Allan Poe. She says she doesn’t like the ones that imagine the night, and she does not like the world as it makes her scared, that it is not romantic at all.

     

    There is a second scene in the episode in the reading room where Yukio is thinking about the gang war between the Russian mafia and Japanese yakuza, and does not listen as much to what Maki tells her and decides to not tell her troubles. The reading room is shown briefly in the next episode, but not enough to mention it here. It is worth noting that Heidegger was directly involved with the Nazis from 1933 to 1945, and even banned from teaching after the war until 1949 (when the ban was lifted). He also never expressed remorse for being involved with the Nazis, which is funny because Hannah Arendt, who became known for her political theory against authoritarianism, including Nazism and fascism. I’m not sure why Heidegger was mentioned (in the manga as well), except to possibly indicate that Yukio was intellectual, nihilistic, and his existential philosophy was appealing. At the same time, I seriously doubt she was a Nazi as there was an earlier plot line in the series where the protagonists stole loot from a submarine filled by wannabe Nazis/neo-Nazis and killed a bunch of them, but rather a bit of a mob boss, if I have to guess. At the same time, during his life, Heidegger had intellectual contact with Japanese scholars like racist Hajime Tanabe (who later regretted defending claimed Japanese state and racial superiority) and pro-militarist Shūzō Kuki over the years, influencing his work, according to Reinhard May.

    This all comes when I came across recently this video of an anime fan expressing anger it was removed (along with Crunchyroll locking their anime store behind a paywall effectively), along with this video on the fading, yet important, legacy of the series:

    A late entry here is the third episode of I Want To Love You Till Your Dying Day. In that episode, Sheena Totsuki goes to the library of her school-of-sorts/orphanage/training institute, to study. She had wanted to go with Mimi Kagari, but she is unable to so because Mimi left to fight enemies. While there she meets her school friends, Lizzy Seiran and Ali Maud who are a couple themselves, and she reveals what Mimi’s guardian (Fran) told her. Later in the episode, however, Mimi reveals her secret to Sheena, shocking her beyond belief. In the scene itself, you see the wonder of the library which is well-used by students, and seems like a place to relax (and study), with wooden tables, and all the books you’d like to read.

    Sheena, and other girls at the school, studying in the school library. Note the ornate tables and books on the bookshelves. Sorry for the blurriness.Sheena’s friends talk to her in the library. Sorry for the blurriness.Sheena shushes her friends because they are in the library, while other patrons look over at her her. Sorry for the blurriness.Sheena is reading a book when someone calls out to her. Sorry for the blurriness.

    There was an additional library scene in the fourth episode of that same series, with flashbacks to Sheena thinking of Mimi, and a new scene of Mimi balancing books on her head, while Sheena is learning about resurrection magic, and is surprised by Airi and Seiran. One of my favorite parts (shown below) is when the bell rings and breaks Mimi’s concentration, annoying her, as she almost trying to show off a bit by balancing books on her head.

    My favorite part of this episode, because Mimi is really showing off here

    Last but least is episode 50 of Detective Conan (also known as Case Closed), “The Library Murder Case” / “The Book Without Pages”.  I have been looking forward to watching this episode for a long time, but I finally got to watch it this month, at long last, an episode which fulfills so many stereotypes when it comes to fictional librarians and libraries. I’ll write a whole post on this, but to give the quick and short version of this, Conan Edogawa, a kid detective (wasn’t always a kid) works with his school friends of sorts to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of a librarian, and soon suspect the library director. They learn that there are fake books in the children’s section where drugs were being stored, and this is why the director murdered that librarian. He even tries to kill all of them too, but they turn all the bookshelves into dominos so they fall on him, allowing the police to come in and arrest him, taking him away, while they find the body (which was on top of an elevator). It’s gory, but also feeds into many stereotypes, which, perhaps, is not at all a surprise for an episode that came out on March 1997. Some even put some parts of the episode as one of the top scariest moments in the series!

    Comics recently added to this page

    In the fourth issue of The Burning Scheme, the protagonists, Vera at Sierra Verde Preparatory School, go to the library together, for a group project, with one of them, Calliope, saying the other (Vera) is “pretty.” Vera doesn’t like this closeness and leaves shortly thereafter, to the disappointment of Calliope.

    In the episode “CH 12 | Library Hours” of My Awkward Princess, Alice Evelyn and Luna Charlotte do library service together, with Luna annoying Alice, and Luna getting “tamed” by someone else when they give her a lollipop. At one point, Luna catches Alice when she falls, to her annoyance, saying Luna just wanted to touch her, when in reality she just wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt. And Alice thanks Luna. All this time she is giving instructions to the student vice-president who is relatively incompetent.

    Otherwise, in the episode “|CH 13| Routine”, Alice is overworking herself in the library, feeling it will get better the next day and that there cannot be any distractions because the student council depends on her. She feels that she is almost perfect. One day, Luna is with her in the library, believes with Alice believing she should not slow down, and that she has keep working. She pushes it off, despite blood coming out of her nose, saying she isn’t her problem, telling her to stop distracting her, while Luna is deeply worried.

    In the episode after this, “|CH 14| Almost Everyone,” Luna goes to the library to read, with Alice asking her why her section of the library isn’t organized yet, and starts bossing her around. Luna finds Alice, who she calls “puppy,” entertaining, and thinks back to when Alice thanked her for catching her, saying that doesn’t happen. Later, in the stairwell, Alice gives her cookies and tells her to show up the next day on time, making Luna blush because Alice gave her sweets (remembering that she likes them), and calls her “dangerous.”

    The new version of Literary Link is finally out! That series focuses on libraries at its center, as noted in the series description: “Delinquent Faye Scott just wants to keep her head down and get through her latest sentencing — finish her community service and make it across the graduation stage as unscathed as possible — but her old enemies aren’t letting her go without a fight. However, a certain library volunteer might be the one to show Faye just the kindness she needs to change her life for the better.” I wrote a review about this series a while ago, saying:

    Literary Link Review

    I was going to add in some issues from Love and be Loved, but I had already added that into a posting I did on recently added titles in April, so I nixed that for this post:

    Recently added titles (April 2026)

    Lastly, there are two issues of Pinky Promise. In the first of these, the protagonist, Eva, tries to remind the school group to stay on task (picking books for their presentation), as they work together in the school library, and threatens to tell their teacher, Miss Cielo, that they are wasting time. Another classmate tells Hallie that Eva is too serious about school, asking her to convince Eva to not report them. Through it all, Eva is worried about Hallie and the group she is a part of, and when admiring her, she thinks back to a sexy dream she had, leading her to begin blushing. After her fellow classmate believes something may be wrong, Eva denies it, then gets up to find a book. Following this, Hallie gets up to follow Eva.

    In the next of those issues, Eva thinks about her reaction and how embarrassing it was, while she starts to look for a book. Hallie comes behind her, startling her, when all she wants is to check in on her. Eva keeps blushing and denying that anything is up, saying she had been different since that morning, after Hallie spent the night at her place. She notices that Eva has been avoiding her, with Eva literally turning her head away, as she stands in front of a library bookshelf. She ends up admitting she can’t look her in the eyes because of a dream she had, where Hallie was touching and kissing her. Even after she says she is embarrassed and shouldn’t have dreamed about it, Hallie teases her about it, saying she is being “naughty,” with Eva saying it is only because she has been teasing her so much lately. Hallie gets close to her and says she is cute every time she teases her, something Eva thinks about later.

    Films recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Other entries recently added to this page

    None for this month. However, there was the recent news that…

    • HIDIVE will be streaming The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie on July 14th [English dub]
    • The Apothecary Diaries Anime Film’s Trailer Reveals Title, Cast, December 11 Opening

    The first of these has libraries as central to the series itself, with library scenes in 16 episodes (“I Was Stolen Away” (s1 ep1), “I Died” (s1 ep 2), “I Want To Hug You” (s1 ep 3), “I Have A Problem” (s1 ep 4), “We Split Up” (s1 ep 5), “I Melted It” (s1 ep 6), “We Swapped Places” (s1 ep 7), “I Had A Dream” (s1 ep 8), “Karta 9: I Hate Yamada” (s1 ep 9), “Bonus Dangers” (s1 OVA), “We’re Searching” (s2 ep 1), “I’m growing up” (s2 ep 2), “Yamada Likes…” (s2 ep 4), “We’re Overflowing” (s2 ep 7), “I Want to Be Closer to Yamada” (s2, ep 10), “I, We, Fell in Love” (s2 ep 13, series finale)), as it is a key meeting place of the male and female protagonists, Kyotaro and Anna Yamada respectfully. As for second series, there’s one library scene I briefly described in a post last year:

    In terms of a place of knowledge, consider the 10th episode of the drama/mystery/romance entitled The Apothecary Diaries. In the latter half of the show’s 10th episode, entitled “Honey,” Gaoshun, an assistant of Jinshi, tells Maomao that he will search the court library for information about past events in the rear palace. Later, an assistant behind the information desk helps him. He finds a relevant book and he gives it to Maomao. In it, she learns about events in the past, and that a baby was delivered by Doctor Luomen (her dad!), moving this story in an interesting direction!

    © 2024-2026 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    #AscendanceOfABookworm #BlackLagoon #BloodBlockadeBattlefront #books #CaseClosed #DetectiveConan #friendship #girlsLove #GrimgarAshesAndIllusions #IWantToLoveYouTillYourDyingDay #JaadugarAWitchInMongolia #libraryPatrons #lists #LiteraryLink #LoveAndBeLoved #MyAwkwardPrincess #orphans #PinkyPromise #reading #RecentlyAddedTitles #romance #shortBlogs #shushing #students #studying #sweets #TheApothecaryDiaries #TheBurningScheme #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheDangersInMyHeartTheMovie #YouAndIArePolarOpposites #yuri
    #ascendanceofabookworm #blacklagoon #bloodblockadebattlefront #books #caseclosed #detectiveconan
  3. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Recently added titles (July 2026)

    Yamada checks his phone for messages from Nishi outside the Municipal Center and Library in an episode of the new season of You and I Are Polar Opposites

    Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September,  October, November, and December of 2024, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of this year, and January, February, March, April, May, and June of this year, this post notes recent titles with libraries or librarians in popular culture which I’ve come across in the past month. Each of these has been watched or read during the past month. No films, animated series, or other entries with libraries (or librarians) to add for this past month, but I did come across some in webcomics and anime. There may be spoilers for these series, so be aware.

    Animated series recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Anime series recently added to this page

    • I Want To Love You Till Your Dying Day, “Friends” (s1 ep 3)
    • I Want To Love You Till Your Dying Day, “Accomplices” (s1 ep 4)
    • Detective Conan aka Case Closed (s2 ep 22)
    • You and I Are Polar Opposites, “Dilemma of a Winter’s Night” (s2 ep 2)
    • You and I Are Polar Opposites, “New School Term” (s2 ep 4)

    While Ascendance of a Bookworm continues into a second cour (with no more episodes with libraries or the protagonist Myne as a librarian), Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia (set in the 13th century) has the protagonist aiming to get back her book of Eucidlis from an arrogant imperialistic Mongolian princess, and Draw This, Then Die! has the protagonists cleaning the room of a manga book store on the second floor to become their club space, in the second episode of season 2 of You and I Are Polar Opposites, “Dilemma of a Winter’s Night”, Yamada meets Nishi in the middle of winter break as a pretext to see her. While he doesn’t confess his feelings, and nor does she, he wrongly thinks the library doesn’t have a “nice” atmosphere, even though it does. They choose between going to the study room where talking, food, and drink are forbidden, and a free space, with Yamada going with the latter.

    Otherwise, in the episode, Nishi admits she comes to the library “quite a bit,” which Yamada finds commendable, and admits he can’t study at all, at home, as it is far too distracting. He admits that inviting her there was just a pretext by accident while she admits that she comes there every day, and has finished all her homework. He is shocked, she admits she wanted a pretext as well, and he stops himself from saying they should date, feeling it isn’t a right place. He ends up being quiet during their date-not-date while studying.

    There’s another library scene in the episode “New School Term”. Even the description on Crunchyroll indicates this, saying, “Suzuki takes Yamada to the school library, with an ulterior motive in mind. Nishi is happy that Yamada came, but anxious that others might find out about their relationship.” Shenanigans ensue, while Nishi and Taira work as library for their student library duty. At one point, Taira even wants to process the book returns, while Nishi isn’t sure how to handle Yamada there, and Suzuki offers to help Yamada with reshelving books at another point. She also came to see Yamada. Funny enough, no one else comes into the library except them which seems strange (and they comment on this later, saying few people come there anymore), because this is the school library after all! I also like how Taira helps out Nishi and even gives Yamada a book recommendation, showing he is a true friend. I liked how Yamada and Suzuki enjoy reading books in the library, while showing the library duties, like checking in and out books in a way that seems relaxing, making it seems like something you do every day. There is a cute moment where Yamada and Nishi say each other’s full names.

    Then there’s the awful news that Crunchyroll removed Black Lagoon, along with other series like Blood Blockade Battlefront and Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions, as has been reported elsewhere, without any warning. I have an account on that streaming service and the history (which shows what anime series I have watched) doesn’t even mention it at all! I mention this here because that series has a library scene as I noted in my post on here on July 2nd, in the episode “The Succession” (s1 ep 20), first saying that in the episode “Yukio is reading a book by Martin Heidegger as shown in the 20th episode (“Succession”) of the classic crime thriller anime Black Lagoon, which is replete with having girls with guns, particularly hothead Chinese-American Revy.” I went into further detail, saying:

    …Yukio is reading a book by Martin Heidegger, as she tells her friend Maki, in the school library, calling the book philosophical and “very powerful.” In contrast, Maki says she likes skincare guides and modern horror books, with Yukio saying she remembered Maki saying she liked Anne Rice. They talk a bit more with Yukio saying she sometimes feels like she is caught inside of book worlds, and viewers see some of the library bookshelves. She says she doesn’t like Stephen King and Maki says she thought Yukio would like Edgar Allan Poe. She says she doesn’t like the ones that imagine the night, and she does not like the world as it makes her scared, that it is not romantic at all.

     

    There is a second scene in the episode in the reading room where Yukio is thinking about the gang war between the Russian mafia and Japanese yakuza, and does not listen as much to what Maki tells her and decides to not tell her troubles. The reading room is shown briefly in the next episode, but not enough to mention it here. It is worth noting that Heidegger was directly involved with the Nazis from 1933 to 1945, and even banned from teaching after the war until 1949 (when the ban was lifted). He also never expressed remorse for being involved with the Nazis, which is funny because Hannah Arendt, who became known for her political theory against authoritarianism, including Nazism and fascism. I’m not sure why Heidegger was mentioned (in the manga as well), except to possibly indicate that Yukio was intellectual, nihilistic, and his existential philosophy was appealing. At the same time, I seriously doubt she was a Nazi as there was an earlier plot line in the series where the protagonists stole loot from a submarine filled by wannabe Nazis/neo-Nazis and killed a bunch of them, but rather a bit of a mob boss, if I have to guess. At the same time, during his life, Heidegger had intellectual contact with Japanese scholars like racist Hajime Tanabe (who later regretted defending claimed Japanese state and racial superiority) and pro-militarist Shūzō Kuki over the years, influencing his work, according to Reinhard May.

    This all comes when I came across recently this video of an anime fan expressing anger it was removed (along with Crunchyroll locking their anime store behind a paywall effectively), along with this video on the fading, yet important, legacy of the series:

    A late entry here is the third episode of I Want To Love You Till Your Dying Day. In that episode, Sheena Totsuki goes to the library of her school-of-sorts/orphanage/training institute, to study. She had wanted to go with Mimi Kagari, but she is unable to so because Mimi left to fight enemies. While there she meets her school friends, Lizzy Seiran and Ali Maud who are a couple themselves, and she reveals what Mimi’s guardian (Fran) told her. Later in the episode, however, Mimi reveals her secret to Sheena, shocking her beyond belief. In the scene itself, you see the wonder of the library which is well-used by students, and seems like a place to relax (and study), with wooden tables, and all the books you’d like to read.

    Sheena, and other girls at the school, studying in the school library. Note the ornate tables and books on the bookshelves. Sorry for the blurriness.Sheena’s friends talk to her in the library. Sorry for the blurriness.Sheena shushes her friends because they are in the library, while other patrons look over at her her. Sorry for the blurriness.Sheena is reading a book when someone calls out to her. Sorry for the blurriness.

    There was an additional library scene in the fourth episode of that same series, with flashbacks to Sheena thinking of Mimi, and a new scene of Mimi balancing books on her head, while Sheena is learning about resurrection magic, and is surprised by Airi and Seiran. One of my favorite parts (shown below) is when the bell rings and breaks Mimi’s concentration, annoying her, as she almost trying to show off a bit by balancing books on her head.

    My favorite part of this episode, because Mimi is really showing off here

    Last but least is episode 50 of Detective Conan (also known as Case Closed), “The Library Murder Case” / “The Book Without Pages”.  I have been looking forward to watching this episode for a long time, but I finally got to watch it this month, at long last, an episode which fulfills so many stereotypes when it comes to fictional librarians and libraries. I’ll write a whole post on this, but to give the quick and short version of this, Conan Edogawa, a kid detective (wasn’t always a kid) works with his school friends of sorts to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of a librarian, and soon suspect the library director. They learn that there are fake books in the children’s section where drugs were being stored, and this is why the director murdered that librarian. He even tries to kill all of them too, but they turn all the bookshelves into dominos so they fall on him, allowing the police to come in and arrest him, taking him away, while they find the body (which was on top of an elevator). It’s gory, but also feeds into many stereotypes, which, perhaps, is not at all a surprise for an episode that came out on March 1997. Some even put some parts of the episode as one of the top scariest moments in the series!

    Comics recently added to this page

    In the fourth issue of The Burning Scheme, the protagonists, Vera at Sierra Verde Preparatory School, go to the library together, for a group project, with one of them, Calliope, saying the other (Vera) is “pretty.” Vera doesn’t like this closeness and leaves shortly thereafter, to the disappointment of Calliope.

    In the episode “CH 12 | Library Hours” of My Awkward Princess, Alice Evelyn and Luna Charlotte do library service together, with Luna annoying Alice, and Luna getting “tamed” by someone else when they give her a lollipop. At one point, Luna catches Alice when she falls, to her annoyance, saying Luna just wanted to touch her, when in reality she just wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt. And Alice thanks Luna. All this time she is giving instructions to the student vice-president who is relatively incompetent.

    Otherwise, in the episode “|CH 13| Routine”, Alice is overworking herself in the library, feeling it will get better the next day and that there cannot be any distractions because the student council depends on her. She feels that she is almost perfect. One day, Luna is with her in the library, believes with Alice believing she should not slow down, and that she has keep working. She pushes it off, despite blood coming out of her nose, saying she isn’t her problem, telling her to stop distracting her, while Luna is deeply worried.

    In the episode after this, “|CH 14| Almost Everyone,” Luna goes to the library to read, with Alice asking her why her section of the library isn’t organized yet, and starts bossing her around. Luna finds Alice, who she calls “puppy,” entertaining, and thinks back to when Alice thanked her for catching her, saying that doesn’t happen. Later, in the stairwell, Alice gives her cookies and tells her to show up the next day on time, making Luna blush because Alice gave her sweets (remembering that she likes them), and calls her “dangerous.”

    The new version of Literary Link is finally out! That series focuses on libraries at its center, as noted in the series description: “Delinquent Faye Scott just wants to keep her head down and get through her latest sentencing — finish her community service and make it across the graduation stage as unscathed as possible — but her old enemies aren’t letting her go without a fight. However, a certain library volunteer might be the one to show Faye just the kindness she needs to change her life for the better.” I wrote a review about this series a while ago, saying:

    Literary Link Review

    I was going to add in some issues from Love and be Loved, but I had already added that into a posting I did on recently added titles in April, so I nixed that for this post:

    Recently added titles (April 2026)

    Lastly, there are two issues of Pinky Promise. In the first of these, the protagonist, Eva, tries to remind the school group to stay on task (picking books for their presentation), as they work together in the school library, and threatens to tell their teacher, Miss Cielo, that they are wasting time. Another classmate tells Hallie that Eva is too serious about school, asking her to convince Eva to not report them. Through it all, Eva is worried about Hallie and the group she is a part of, and when admiring her, she thinks back to a sexy dream she had, leading her to begin blushing. After her fellow classmate believes something may be wrong, Eva denies it, then gets up to find a book. Following this, Hallie gets up to follow Eva.

    In the next of those issues, Eva thinks about her reaction and how embarrassing it was, while she starts to look for a book. Hallie comes behind her, startling her, when all she wants is to check in on her. Eva keeps blushing and denying that anything is up, saying she had been different since that morning, after Hallie spent the night at her place. She notices that Eva has been avoiding her, with Eva literally turning her head away, as she stands in front of a library bookshelf. She ends up admitting she can’t look her in the eyes because of a dream she had, where Hallie was touching and kissing her. Even after she says she is embarrassed and shouldn’t have dreamed about it, Hallie teases her about it, saying she is being “naughty,” with Eva saying it is only because she has been teasing her so much lately. Hallie gets close to her and says she is cute every time she teases her, something Eva thinks about later.

    Films recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Other entries recently added to this page

    None for this month. However, there was the recent news that…

    • HIDIVE will be streaming The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie on July 14th [English dub]
    • The Apothecary Diaries Anime Film’s Trailer Reveals Title, Cast, December 11 Opening

    The first of these has libraries as central to the series itself, with library scenes in 16 episodes (“I Was Stolen Away” (s1 ep1), “I Died” (s1 ep 2), “I Want To Hug You” (s1 ep 3), “I Have A Problem” (s1 ep 4), “We Split Up” (s1 ep 5), “I Melted It” (s1 ep 6), “We Swapped Places” (s1 ep 7), “I Had A Dream” (s1 ep 8), “Karta 9: I Hate Yamada” (s1 ep 9), “Bonus Dangers” (s1 OVA), “We’re Searching” (s2 ep 1), “I’m growing up” (s2 ep 2), “Yamada Likes…” (s2 ep 4), “We’re Overflowing” (s2 ep 7), “I Want to Be Closer to Yamada” (s2, ep 10), “I, We, Fell in Love” (s2 ep 13, series finale)), as it is a key meeting place of the male and female protagonists, Kyotaro and Anna Yamada respectfully. As for second series, there’s one library scene I briefly described in a post last year:

    In terms of a place of knowledge, consider the 10th episode of the drama/mystery/romance entitled The Apothecary Diaries. In the latter half of the show’s 10th episode, entitled “Honey,” Gaoshun, an assistant of Jinshi, tells Maomao that he will search the court library for information about past events in the rear palace. Later, an assistant behind the information desk helps him. He finds a relevant book and he gives it to Maomao. In it, she learns about events in the past, and that a baby was delivered by Doctor Luomen (her dad!), moving this story in an interesting direction!

    © 2024-2026 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    #AscendanceOfABookworm #BlackLagoon #BloodBlockadeBattlefront #books #CaseClosed #DetectiveConan #friendship #girlsLove #GrimgarAshesAndIllusions #IWantToLoveYouTillYourDyingDay #JaadugarAWitchInMongolia #libraryPatrons #lists #LiteraryLink #LoveAndBeLoved #MyAwkwardPrincess #orphans #PinkyPromise #reading #RecentlyAddedTitles #romance #shortBlogs #shushing #students #studying #sweets #TheApothecaryDiaries #TheBurningScheme #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheDangersInMyHeartTheMovie #YouAndIArePolarOpposites #yuri
    #yuri #youandiarepolaropposites #thedangersinmyheartthemovie #thedangersinmyheart #theburningscheme #theapothecarydiaries
  4. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Recently added titles (January 2025)

    Panels from the first/only issue (“A Difficult Start”) of Unleashed: Holly’s Story [left] and first/only issue (“Love Letter“) of Literary Link, both of which are playable stories/movable comics.

    Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September,  October, November, and December of 2024, this post notes recent titles with libraries or librarians in popular culture which I’ve come across in the past month. Each of these has been watched or read during the past month. There may be spoilers for these series, so be aware, apart from other news to share.

    Animated series recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    No updates, but just the news that series like Teen Titans Go!, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Static Shock, were removed from Max, along with We Bare Bears, Steven Universe, and Regular Show, in October. Furthermore, Paramount+ cruelly removed various Nickelodeon titles, like My Life As a Teenage Robot last year. All of these series had library scenes. Specifically the following episodes with library scenes can no longer be streamed on Max (note: Steven Universe, Regular Show, Teen Titans Go!, and We Bare Bears can be streamed on Hulu/Disney+, as can Adventure Time, Thundercats, and some others, which originally aired on Cartoon Network, while My Life As a Teenage Robot, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Static Shock can be streamed, by paying, on Prime Video):

    • Teen Titans Go! episode “Magic Man” (s6 ep 14); Raven and Beast Boy travel to the “Azarath Public Library” to get a new spellbook for Raven, as she presses a special code and fly to even get in the library.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “The Boy Who Cried Robot” (s1 ep 7b); Jenny gets a book about the “boy who cried wolf” story from Tuck, who picks up the book from a traveling bookmobile which comes to their neighborhood. An elderly White female librarian is shown working inside the bookmobile and is giving out books.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “Shell Game” (s1 ep 10b); Jenny works in a library, shelving books. In one scene, an elderly White female librarian is shown.
    • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy episode “Duck!” (s5 ep 5); Mandy is trying to study in the library, but the duck keeps making fart sounds. The librarian yells at Mandy, asking her if this is how she behaves, and Mandy responds that walking up to someone, while they are trying to work, and yelling “does seem kind rude.” The librarian says she doesn’t tolerate “such behavior” in “her” library. Mandy says that is the librarian’s problem, not her problem. The librarian persists, saying she will not stand for this, steam starts coming out of her nostrils, and Mandy tells her to have her meltdown somewhere else, saying she has a report due the next day about the history of corn, and saying the librarian is distracting. She is brought to the principal’s office, Principal Good Vibes, but he can’t say anything because of the duck. Later, the duck does a farting sound over the intercom, and she talks down the duck, causing it to disappear.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Our Stuff” (s1 ep 1); The protagonists go to the library to find if their stuff is there and they use a computer to look up a phone’s location. A Black librarian at the desk shushes them.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Shush Ninjas” (s1 ep 11); The protagonists are in the library enjoying their quiet, with a theater worker pleading for their help. They agree to help him.
    • We Bare Bears episode “The Library” (s2 ep 21); Grizz, Ice Bear, and Panda all go to the library, where they learn they have a number of overdue books, from a librarian. They find their friend Chloe there, who is cramming for a chemistry test. In the resulting episode, there are hi-jinks, like Chloe eating too much candy and zooming across the library. There are also jokes about old technology at the library and the library shown as a community space which people use to study. The presumably Thai librarian is likely voiced by Ashly Burch, when looking at the episode credits. Interestingly, the Black librarian shown in episode 1 is sitting at a table with two other presumed librarians (a Black man with glasses and a White man), at one point, and then a second time, in another scene.
    • Steven Universe episode “Buddy’s Book” (s4 ep 3); Steven and Connie visit the local public library and the library book shown in this episode is later featured in “Steven’s Dream.”
    • Regular Show episode “Skips vs. Technology” (s3 ep 15); Skips reads books in the library about how to fix computers and tries to help solve the problem his friends are having with a computer, and they say he needs to recognize that are some problems he just doesn’t know how to fix. It turns out his friends, Mordo and Rigs, were just trying to print out a thank you message to him all along.
    • Regular Show episode “The Last Laserdisc Player” (s4 ep 30); Two store assistants tell them that a library is where “all junky stuff goes”; Mordo, Rigs, and their friend go to the local library to search for a laserdisc player, talking to two older guys who try to say that a VHS is better than a laserdisc; Archie the Archivist (voiced by John Cygan) takes them down to the basement where there are thousands of formats in storage, with the librarian thinking they are the ones who will end the “format wars,” and tells how VHS took over from laserdisc, with a goon squad which destroyed all the players in society, so VHS could be dominant; the laserdisc opens a secret chamber in the library, where they find the last laserdisc player. They have to fight off the “ancient order of the VHS” so they can watch their film, with the library getting destroyed in the process. The librarian turns into the laserdisc guardian and they later watch the movie together, which is an absurdly long film.
    • Regular Show episode “Party Horse” (s6 ep 21); They go to the library to try and help Party Horse, but the library is too distracting for him, somehow. As such, the scene in the library is very short.

    Anime series recently added to this page

    • Honey Lemon Soda, “Because I Met You” [s1 ep 1]
    • Hug! Pretty Cure, “Everyone’s Angel! Hooray Hooray! Cure Ange!” [s1 ep 2]
    • Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, “In Love with Him” [s1 ep 2]

    In Honey Lemon Soda, Uka Ishimori laments her life after hearing students from her previous school bully her, writing in a notebook, while sitting in the school library, that she wants to change, and Kai Miura confronts her, embarrassing her, and it seems like she is going to say something to him. However, this does not happen after she (Ishimori) hears bullies saying they will trash her shoes and their bullying gets to her, yet again, and her self-confidence is plummeting.

    Then in the second episode of Hug! Pretty Cure, Hana Nono meets Saaya Yakushiji in the school library, catching her off guard, while she is working on the school newspaper. She laments that no one wants to read it. Hana helps her write an article about the Pretty Cure (herself) and even does an illustration.

    Also, in the second episode of Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, Mona Kawai sees Medaka Kuroiwa in the library and grabs the same book as her. He rejects her sexual advance, and this annoys her. In actuality, he does find her cute, but he is trying to resist his desires so he can become a monk and not fall in love. She sees Tsubomi Haruno, who is watching her, and is confused. Later Mona suspects that Tsubomi is a love rival and begins to tease/flirt with him even more, which gets a rise out of him.

    No new episode, but it was sadly announced that HIDIVE will be took down a series I have listed on here before, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, describing it as “a romantic high school story that sees high schooler Junta progressively dared to do wilder things to gain attention thanks to Kubo’s influence.” I wrote about the series exclusively back in March of last year:

    Another library which a very similar role is the one in the romantic comedy series Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible. In the sixth episode of that series, entitled “Nurse’s Office and Main Character”, in which Junta Shiraishi tries to study for a class in the library but doesn’t understand the content and is nervous because his video games will be confiscated by his mom if he does badly on his tests. Nagisa Kubo finds him in the library and they study together. She even borrows glasses from the student librarian who she is friends with so she can look like a teacher. He agrees to let her help him with questions that he doesn’t know. She says she won’t tease those trying to learn something. [3] It may be one of the better examples of studying in the library, apart from scenes in episodes of Teasing Master Takagi-san, another romantic comedy.

    …

    [3] They agree to study the next day and Kubo gives the unnamed student librarian her glasses back, glasses which are fake anyway. However, they never end up having the study session the next day because Junta is sick or the day after because Kubo is sick.

    I also mentioned the series in posts in May (here and here) and September of last year. The series will also be mentioned in a post next year, with a section about the (Student) librarian in the above-mentioned episode of the series. Luckily the series can still be purchased on the Sentai Filmworks store, Robert’s Anime Corner Store, and elsewhere! I purchased a copy of my own and I recommend that other people do the same.

    Comics recently added to this page

    In these two episodes of Do You Like Tomboys, Shaye, while wearing a suit, brings Charlie into a library room, claiming they have serious business. She asks her if she is a “top or bottom” (referring to sexual positions) and Charlie says both (she still doesn’t totally get it). I hope there are more library scenes in this yuri/girl’s love series going forward. I think it is possible, but its up to the author.

    As for the young adult series, The Dark Mermaid, in episode 11, Seulbi Yu and Hae-on Kim are working side-by-side in the library, as student librarians, and Seulbi tries to check out books, but she messes up badly and causes the books to be damaged by mistake. And Hae-on tells the patron she’ll get another book for her, and tells Seulbi to take a break. Some episodes later, in episode 21, Seulbi is informed about a mandatory field trip to another library, specifically the Barley Library in Seoul, to get another perspective on school library work. She doesn’t want to go and says she shouldn’t have joined the club. Another student librarian is also shown as well.

    Later in that same episode, Hae-on, Seulbi, and others go inside the library, watched by a suspicious woman. This is followed up in episode 22 when they continue their visit to this private library, noting the books available, and events for patrons (storytime for kids), including a story about a mermaid (The Little Mermaid story). One girl speaks up and says that the story is wrong, wanting a happy ending instead. The mysterious woman talks to the girl later, who points to Hae-on and calls her a “mermaid girl.” This all continues episode 23, when Hae-on catches up with everyone, enlists Seulbi in finding the girl and her bracelet, which makes it easier for her to change form (from mermaid into human). The girl demands to play with Hae-on, she gave her bracelet, and the girl ran away. The time in the library ends in episode 24, with Hae-on getting her bracelet back, and Seulbi still remains relatively cold to Hae-on, based on a misunderstanding about their friendship (this is later cleared up in a later episode, in episodes 26 and 27 after Hae-on saves her from a guy who bullied her in the past, who is creepy and unhinged). They later conclude, in episode 27, that the woman could have been a siren just like Hae-on, although it isn’t confirmed.

    Films recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Other entries recently added to this page

    As this year began, I wasn’t sure what series to add since there weren’t many with library scenes. Even wonderful comics on the Glow platform (i.e. playable stories), like Susuhara Is A Demon! Asinine Adventures, Pick Me, Don’t Look At The Sky, In My Heart, Diamond Dive – Running Latte, Office Talk, Solar Eclipse, and Warm Spring Rain, have no library scenes. [1]

    However, the Diamond Dive playable story features Bailey noting a book club is moving to Cafe Diamond because the librarian is strict with the club for being too loud. In comic that this playable story is based on, there’s library scenes in the third issue (“Girl Crush“) where one protagonists, Karta Kloss (also known as “Pinky”), heads to the library at the Montgomery University, and she first meets a librarian who helps her with telling her where to get school books. Then, in the “Winter Special – Part 2” issue, a crossover with Our Days in Lumain, it ends with Pinky and Bailey arriving at the school library, Pinky telling Bailey that it was cute how starstruck she was around Lady Cassidy, causing her to blush in response. Finally, in “Issue 37“, they go to a library-like setting so they an schedule a duel, with Ms. Davies, between Karta Kloss and Bailey Montgomery.

    On the other hand, some playable stories have library scenes. Unleashed: Holly’s Story [based on the webtoon Unleashed], shows Holly relaxing in the library in the first story, as she reflects on being better to her coworkers and reading a story about two older women falling in love, she meets Blaze there, an attractive woman. She gives her a card with her number on it [she meets her again in the next story, as Blaze is the new author her firm is taking on]. In the comic this is playable story is based on, originally entitled My Masochistic Boss, there’s two library scenes, from episodes 49 to 50. In the first, Blaze Clarke remembers when she went to the library because of a hostile home environment, and found a “completely different world” and a helpful elderly librarian. In the second, Blaze notes how books were an important part of her childhood, with all the information and knowledge, with all “sorts of different stories and worlds”, and that she almost gave up on a love for literature until she met Holly, and Holly accepted her as a girlfriend.

    Then in the story for Literary Link on the same platform, it begins when Atlas finds a love letter, while shelving books in the library. Of course, Faye, whose also working at the library, is completely embarrassed, while Vega remains confident. Following this, Faye and Vega work efficiently to shelve the books, while Vega teases Faye about who sent the love letter to Atlas. He continues teasing her about her crush on Atlas, saying she should write her own love letter, and implies that Atlas may be gay to increase Faye’s chances. Even so, Atlas continues thinking about the letter, but puts it aside, until he leaves temporarily, and the crush between them is clear. It turns out, at the end, that the love letter is for someone entirely different! Similar to Diamond Dive, this also has library scenes. In fact, the entire series is based around library interactions. In the comic itself, Faye begins working at a local library after being obliged to do so as a form of community service, and meets Atlas, who she develops a crush on. She also helps out with events at the library.

    Lastly, there’s a book I got recently which was released on September 3, 2019, after the third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power came out (on August 2nd). There are some mentions of the library/archive run by Bow’s family in this book, which is broadly from Adora’s perspective. This includes describing the library as a key spot in the Whispering Woods which is “packed with First Ones books and artifacts” (page 113) and description of Bow’s family on page 19:

    Bow’s dads take care of the library in the Whispering Woods. They are fascinated with First Ones tech, which is probably why Bow is so good at figuring it out. He has twelve older siblings who are all historians.

    © 2024-2025 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] The first is based on the webtoon Susuhara Is A Demon, the second is based on the webtoon Pick Me!!, the third is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fourth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fifth is based on the webtoon Diamond Dive, the sixth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the seventh is based on the webtoon of the same name, and the eighth is based on the webtoon of the same name.

    #AdventureTime #BillyMandy #BlackLibrarians #BlackMen #bullying #DiamondDive #DoYouLikeTomboys #DonTLookAtTheSky #gayLibrarians #HoneyLemonSoda #HugPrettyCure #InMyHeart #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #librarianStereotypes #LibrariansOfColor #lists #LiteraryLink #MedakaKuroiwaIsImperviousToMyCharms #MyLifeAsATeenageRobot #MyMasochisticBoss #OfficeTalk #OurDaysInLumain #PickMe #quiet #RebelPrincessGuide #RecentlyAddedTitles #RegularShow #SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower #shortBlogs #SolarEclipse #StevenUniverse #students #SusuharaIsADemon #TeasingMasterTakagiSan #TeenTitansGo #Thundercats #WarmSpringRain #WeBareBears #yuri

    #adventuretime #billymandy #blacklibrarians #blackmen #bullying #diamonddive
  5. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Recently added titles (January 2025)

    Panels from the first/only issue (“A Difficult Start”) of Unleashed: Holly’s Story [left] and first/only issue (“Love Letter“) of Literary Link, both of which are playable stories/movable comics.

    Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September,  October, November, and December of 2024, this post notes recent titles with libraries or librarians in popular culture which I’ve come across in the past month. Each of these has been watched or read during the past month. There may be spoilers for these series, so be aware, apart from other news to share.

    Animated series recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    No updates, but just the news that series like Teen Titans Go!, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Static Shock, were removed from Max, along with We Bare Bears, Steven Universe, and Regular Show, in October. Furthermore, Paramount+ cruelly removed various Nickelodeon titles, like My Life As a Teenage Robot last year. All of these series had library scenes. Specifically the following episodes with library scenes can no longer be streamed on Max (note: Steven Universe, Regular Show, Teen Titans Go!, and We Bare Bears can be streamed on Hulu/Disney+, as can Adventure Time, Thundercats, and some others, which originally aired on Cartoon Network, while My Life As a Teenage Robot, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Static Shock can be streamed, by paying, on Prime Video):

    • Teen Titans Go! episode “Magic Man” (s6 ep 14); Raven and Beast Boy travel to the “Azarath Public Library” to get a new spellbook for Raven, as she presses a special code and fly to even get in the library.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “The Boy Who Cried Robot” (s1 ep 7b); Jenny gets a book about the “boy who cried wolf” story from Tuck, who picks up the book from a traveling bookmobile which comes to their neighborhood. An elderly White female librarian is shown working inside the bookmobile and is giving out books.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “Shell Game” (s1 ep 10b); Jenny works in a library, shelving books. In one scene, an elderly White female librarian is shown.
    • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy episode “Duck!” (s5 ep 5); Mandy is trying to study in the library, but the duck keeps making fart sounds. The librarian yells at Mandy, asking her if this is how she behaves, and Mandy responds that walking up to someone, while they are trying to work, and yelling “does seem kind rude.” The librarian says she doesn’t tolerate “such behavior” in “her” library. Mandy says that is the librarian’s problem, not her problem. The librarian persists, saying she will not stand for this, steam starts coming out of her nostrils, and Mandy tells her to have her meltdown somewhere else, saying she has a report due the next day about the history of corn, and saying the librarian is distracting. She is brought to the principal’s office, Principal Good Vibes, but he can’t say anything because of the duck. Later, the duck does a farting sound over the intercom, and she talks down the duck, causing it to disappear.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Our Stuff” (s1 ep 1); The protagonists go to the library to find if their stuff is there and they use a computer to look up a phone’s location. A Black librarian at the desk shushes them.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Shush Ninjas” (s1 ep 11); The protagonists are in the library enjoying their quiet, with a theater worker pleading for their help. They agree to help him.
    • We Bare Bears episode “The Library” (s2 ep 21); Grizz, Ice Bear, and Panda all go to the library, where they learn they have a number of overdue books, from a librarian. They find their friend Chloe there, who is cramming for a chemistry test. In the resulting episode, there are hi-jinks, like Chloe eating too much candy and zooming across the library. There are also jokes about old technology at the library and the library shown as a community space which people use to study. The presumably Thai librarian is likely voiced by Ashly Burch, when looking at the episode credits. Interestingly, the Black librarian shown in episode 1 is sitting at a table with two other presumed librarians (a Black man with glasses and a White man), at one point, and then a second time, in another scene.
    • Steven Universe episode “Buddy’s Book” (s4 ep 3); Steven and Connie visit the local public library and the library book shown in this episode is later featured in “Steven’s Dream.”
    • Regular Show episode “Skips vs. Technology” (s3 ep 15); Skips reads books in the library about how to fix computers and tries to help solve the problem his friends are having with a computer, and they say he needs to recognize that are some problems he just doesn’t know how to fix. It turns out his friends, Mordo and Rigs, were just trying to print out a thank you message to him all along.
    • Regular Show episode “The Last Laserdisc Player” (s4 ep 30); Two store assistants tell them that a library is where “all junky stuff goes”; Mordo, Rigs, and their friend go to the local library to search for a laserdisc player, talking to two older guys who try to say that a VHS is better than a laserdisc; Archie the Archivist (voiced by John Cygan) takes them down to the basement where there are thousands of formats in storage, with the librarian thinking they are the ones who will end the “format wars,” and tells how VHS took over from laserdisc, with a goon squad which destroyed all the players in society, so VHS could be dominant; the laserdisc opens a secret chamber in the library, where they find the last laserdisc player. They have to fight off the “ancient order of the VHS” so they can watch their film, with the library getting destroyed in the process. The librarian turns into the laserdisc guardian and they later watch the movie together, which is an absurdly long film.
    • Regular Show episode “Party Horse” (s6 ep 21); They go to the library to try and help Party Horse, but the library is too distracting for him, somehow. As such, the scene in the library is very short.

    Anime series recently added to this page

    • Honey Lemon Soda, “Because I Met You” [s1 ep 1]
    • Hug! Pretty Cure, “Everyone’s Angel! Hooray Hooray! Cure Ange!” [s1 ep 2]
    • Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, “In Love with Him” [s1 ep 2]

    In Honey Lemon Soda, Uka Ishimori laments her life after hearing students from her previous school bully her, writing in a notebook, while sitting in the school library, that she wants to change, and Kai Miura confronts her, embarrassing her, and it seems like she is going to say something to him. However, this does not happen after she (Ishimori) hears bullies saying they will trash her shoes and their bullying gets to her, yet again, and her self-confidence is plummeting.

    Then in the second episode of Hug! Pretty Cure, Hana Nono meets Saaya Yakushiji in the school library, catching her off guard, while she is working on the school newspaper. She laments that no one wants to read it. Hana helps her write an article about the Pretty Cure (herself) and even does an illustration.

    Also, in the second episode of Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, Mona Kawai sees Medaka Kuroiwa in the library and grabs the same book as her. He rejects her sexual advance, and this annoys her. In actuality, he does find her cute, but he is trying to resist his desires so he can become a monk and not fall in love. She sees Tsubomi Haruno, who is watching her, and is confused. Later Mona suspects that Tsubomi is a love rival and begins to tease/flirt with him even more, which gets a rise out of him.

    No new episode, but it was sadly announced that HIDIVE will be took down a series I have listed on here before, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, describing it as “a romantic high school story that sees high schooler Junta progressively dared to do wilder things to gain attention thanks to Kubo’s influence.” I wrote about the series exclusively back in March of last year:

    Another library which a very similar role is the one in the romantic comedy series Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible. In the sixth episode of that series, entitled “Nurse’s Office and Main Character”, in which Junta Shiraishi tries to study for a class in the library but doesn’t understand the content and is nervous because his video games will be confiscated by his mom if he does badly on his tests. Nagisa Kubo finds him in the library and they study together. She even borrows glasses from the student librarian who she is friends with so she can look like a teacher. He agrees to let her help him with questions that he doesn’t know. She says she won’t tease those trying to learn something. [3] It may be one of the better examples of studying in the library, apart from scenes in episodes of Teasing Master Takagi-san, another romantic comedy.

    …

    [3] They agree to study the next day and Kubo gives the unnamed student librarian her glasses back, glasses which are fake anyway. However, they never end up having the study session the next day because Junta is sick or the day after because Kubo is sick.

    I also mentioned the series in posts in May (here and here) and September of last year. The series will also be mentioned in a post next year, with a section about the (Student) librarian in the above-mentioned episode of the series. Luckily the series can still be purchased on the Sentai Filmworks store, Robert’s Anime Corner Store, and elsewhere! I purchased a copy of my own and I recommend that other people do the same.

    Comics recently added to this page

    In these two episodes of Do You Like Tomboys, Shaye, while wearing a suit, brings Charlie into a library room, claiming they have serious business. She asks her if she is a “top or bottom” (referring to sexual positions) and Charlie says both (she still doesn’t totally get it). I hope there are more library scenes in this yuri/girl’s love series going forward. I think it is possible, but its up to the author.

    As for the young adult series, The Dark Mermaid, in episode 11, Seulbi Yu and Hae-on Kim are working side-by-side in the library, as student librarians, and Seulbi tries to check out books, but she messes up badly and causes the books to be damaged by mistake. And Hae-on tells the patron she’ll get another book for her, and tells Seulbi to take a break. Some episodes later, in episode 21, Seulbi is informed about a mandatory field trip to another library, specifically the Barley Library in Seoul, to get another perspective on school library work. She doesn’t want to go and says she shouldn’t have joined the club. Another student librarian is also shown as well.

    Later in that same episode, Hae-on, Seulbi, and others go inside the library, watched by a suspicious woman. This is followed up in episode 22 when they continue their visit to this private library, noting the books available, and events for patrons (storytime for kids), including a story about a mermaid (The Little Mermaid story). One girl speaks up and says that the story is wrong, wanting a happy ending instead. The mysterious woman talks to the girl later, who points to Hae-on and calls her a “mermaid girl.” This all continues episode 23, when Hae-on catches up with everyone, enlists Seulbi in finding the girl and her bracelet, which makes it easier for her to change form (from mermaid into human). The girl demands to play with Hae-on, she gave her bracelet, and the girl ran away. The time in the library ends in episode 24, with Hae-on getting her bracelet back, and Seulbi still remains relatively cold to Hae-on, based on a misunderstanding about their friendship (this is later cleared up in a later episode, in episodes 26 and 27 after Hae-on saves her from a guy who bullied her in the past, who is creepy and unhinged). They later conclude, in episode 27, that the woman could have been a siren just like Hae-on, although it isn’t confirmed.

    Films recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Other entries recently added to this page

    As this year began, I wasn’t sure what series to add since there weren’t many with library scenes. Even wonderful comics on the Glow platform (i.e. playable stories), like Susuhara Is A Demon! Asinine Adventures, Pick Me, Don’t Look At The Sky, In My Heart, Diamond Dive – Running Latte, Office Talk, Solar Eclipse, and Warm Spring Rain, have no library scenes. [1]

    However, the Diamond Dive playable story features Bailey noting a book club is moving to Cafe Diamond because the librarian is strict with the club for being too loud. In comic that this playable story is based on, there’s library scenes in the third issue (“Girl Crush“) where one protagonists, Karta Kloss (also known as “Pinky”), heads to the library at the Montgomery University, and she first meets a librarian who helps her with telling her where to get school books. Then, in the “Winter Special – Part 2” issue, a crossover with Our Days in Lumain, it ends with Pinky and Bailey arriving at the school library, Pinky telling Bailey that it was cute how starstruck she was around Lady Cassidy, causing her to blush in response. Finally, in “Issue 37“, they go to a library-like setting so they an schedule a duel, with Ms. Davies, between Karta Kloss and Bailey Montgomery.

    On the other hand, some playable stories have library scenes. Unleashed: Holly’s Story [based on the webtoon Unleashed], shows Holly relaxing in the library in the first story, as she reflects on being better to her coworkers and reading a story about two older women falling in love, she meets Blaze there, an attractive woman. She gives her a card with her number on it [she meets her again in the next story, as Blaze is the new author her firm is taking on]. In the comic this is playable story is based on, originally entitled My Masochistic Boss, there’s two library scenes, from episodes 49 to 50. In the first, Blaze Clarke remembers when she went to the library because of a hostile home environment, and found a “completely different world” and a helpful elderly librarian. In the second, Blaze notes how books were an important part of her childhood, with all the information and knowledge, with all “sorts of different stories and worlds”, and that she almost gave up on a love for literature until she met Holly, and Holly accepted her as a girlfriend.

    Then in the story for Literary Link on the same platform, it begins when Atlas finds a love letter, while shelving books in the library. Of course, Faye, whose also working at the library, is completely embarrassed, while Vega remains confident. Following this, Faye and Vega work efficiently to shelve the books, while Vega teases Faye about who sent the love letter to Atlas. He continues teasing her about her crush on Atlas, saying she should write her own love letter, and implies that Atlas may be gay to increase Faye’s chances. Even so, Atlas continues thinking about the letter, but puts it aside, until he leaves temporarily, and the crush between them is clear. It turns out, at the end, that the love letter is for someone entirely different! Similar to Diamond Dive, this also has library scenes. In fact, the entire series is based around library interactions. In the comic itself, Faye begins working at a local library after being obliged to do so as a form of community service, and meets Atlas, who she develops a crush on. She also helps out with events at the library.

    Lastly, there’s a book I got recently which was released on September 3, 2019, after the third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power came out (on August 2nd). There are some mentions of the library/archive run by Bow’s family in this book, which is broadly from Adora’s perspective. This includes describing the library as a key spot in the Whispering Woods which is “packed with First Ones books and artifacts” (page 113) and description of Bow’s family on page 19:

    Bow’s dads take care of the library in the Whispering Woods. They are fascinated with First Ones tech, which is probably why Bow is so good at figuring it out. He has twelve older siblings who are all historians.

    © 2024-2025 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] The first is based on the webtoon Susuhara Is A Demon, the second is based on the webtoon Pick Me!!, the third is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fourth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fifth is based on the webtoon Diamond Dive, the sixth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the seventh is based on the webtoon of the same name, and the eighth is based on the webtoon of the same name.

    #AdventureTime #BillyMandy #BlackLibrarians #BlackMen #bullying #DiamondDive #DoYouLikeTomboys #DonTLookAtTheSky #gayLibrarians #HoneyLemonSoda #HugPrettyCure #InMyHeart #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #librarianStereotypes #LibrariansOfColor #lists #LiteraryLink #MedakaKuroiwaIsImperviousToMyCharms #MyLifeAsATeenageRobot #MyMasochisticBoss #OfficeTalk #OurDaysInLumain #PickMe #quiet #RebelPrincessGuide #RecentlyAddedTitles #RegularShow #SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower #shortBlogs #SolarEclipse #StevenUniverse #students #SusuharaIsADemon #TeasingMasterTakagiSan #TeenTitansGo #Thundercats #WarmSpringRain #WeBareBears #yuri

    #adventuretime #billymandy #blacklibrarians #blackmen #bullying #diamonddive
  6. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Recently added titles (January 2025)

    Panels from the first/only issue (“A Difficult Start”) of Unleashed: Holly’s Story [left] and first/only issue (“Love Letter“) of Literary Link, both of which are playable stories/movable comics.

    Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September,  October, November, and December of 2024, this post notes recent titles with libraries or librarians in popular culture which I’ve come across in the past month. Each of these has been watched or read during the past month. There may be spoilers for these series, so be aware, apart from other news to share.

    Animated series recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    No updates, but just the news that series like Teen Titans Go!, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Static Shock, were removed from Max, along with We Bare Bears, Steven Universe, and Regular Show, in October. Furthermore, Paramount+ cruelly removed various Nickelodeon titles, like My Life As a Teenage Robot last year. All of these series had library scenes. Specifically the following episodes with library scenes can no longer be streamed on Max (note: Steven Universe, Regular Show, Teen Titans Go!, and We Bare Bears can be streamed on Hulu/Disney+, as can Adventure Time, Thundercats, and some others, which originally aired on Cartoon Network, while My Life As a Teenage Robot, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Static Shock can be streamed, by paying, on Prime Video):

    • Teen Titans Go! episode “Magic Man” (s6 ep 14); Raven and Beast Boy travel to the “Azarath Public Library” to get a new spellbook for Raven, as she presses a special code and fly to even get in the library.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “The Boy Who Cried Robot” (s1 ep 7b); Jenny gets a book about the “boy who cried wolf” story from Tuck, who picks up the book from a traveling bookmobile which comes to their neighborhood. An elderly White female librarian is shown working inside the bookmobile and is giving out books.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “Shell Game” (s1 ep 10b); Jenny works in a library, shelving books. In one scene, an elderly White female librarian is shown.
    • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy episode “Duck!” (s5 ep 5); Mandy is trying to study in the library, but the duck keeps making fart sounds. The librarian yells at Mandy, asking her if this is how she behaves, and Mandy responds that walking up to someone, while they are trying to work, and yelling “does seem kind rude.” The librarian says she doesn’t tolerate “such behavior” in “her” library. Mandy says that is the librarian’s problem, not her problem. The librarian persists, saying she will not stand for this, steam starts coming out of her nostrils, and Mandy tells her to have her meltdown somewhere else, saying she has a report due the next day about the history of corn, and saying the librarian is distracting. She is brought to the principal’s office, Principal Good Vibes, but he can’t say anything because of the duck. Later, the duck does a farting sound over the intercom, and she talks down the duck, causing it to disappear.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Our Stuff” (s1 ep 1); The protagonists go to the library to find if their stuff is there and they use a computer to look up a phone’s location. A Black librarian at the desk shushes them.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Shush Ninjas” (s1 ep 11); The protagonists are in the library enjoying their quiet, with a theater worker pleading for their help. They agree to help him.
    • We Bare Bears episode “The Library” (s2 ep 21); Grizz, Ice Bear, and Panda all go to the library, where they learn they have a number of overdue books, from a librarian. They find their friend Chloe there, who is cramming for a chemistry test. In the resulting episode, there are hi-jinks, like Chloe eating too much candy and zooming across the library. There are also jokes about old technology at the library and the library shown as a community space which people use to study. The presumably Thai librarian is likely voiced by Ashly Burch, when looking at the episode credits. Interestingly, the Black librarian shown in episode 1 is sitting at a table with two other presumed librarians (a Black man with glasses and a White man), at one point, and then a second time, in another scene.
    • Steven Universe episode “Buddy’s Book” (s4 ep 3); Steven and Connie visit the local public library and the library book shown in this episode is later featured in “Steven’s Dream.”
    • Regular Show episode “Skips vs. Technology” (s3 ep 15); Skips reads books in the library about how to fix computers and tries to help solve the problem his friends are having with a computer, and they say he needs to recognize that are some problems he just doesn’t know how to fix. It turns out his friends, Mordo and Rigs, were just trying to print out a thank you message to him all along.
    • Regular Show episode “The Last Laserdisc Player” (s4 ep 30); Two store assistants tell them that a library is where “all junky stuff goes”; Mordo, Rigs, and their friend go to the local library to search for a laserdisc player, talking to two older guys who try to say that a VHS is better than a laserdisc; Archie the Archivist (voiced by John Cygan) takes them down to the basement where there are thousands of formats in storage, with the librarian thinking they are the ones who will end the “format wars,” and tells how VHS took over from laserdisc, with a goon squad which destroyed all the players in society, so VHS could be dominant; the laserdisc opens a secret chamber in the library, where they find the last laserdisc player. They have to fight off the “ancient order of the VHS” so they can watch their film, with the library getting destroyed in the process. The librarian turns into the laserdisc guardian and they later watch the movie together, which is an absurdly long film.
    • Regular Show episode “Party Horse” (s6 ep 21); They go to the library to try and help Party Horse, but the library is too distracting for him, somehow. As such, the scene in the library is very short.

    Anime series recently added to this page

    • Honey Lemon Soda, “Because I Met You” [s1 ep 1]
    • Hug! Pretty Cure, “Everyone’s Angel! Hooray Hooray! Cure Ange!” [s1 ep 2]
    • Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, “In Love with Him” [s1 ep 2]

    In Honey Lemon Soda, Uka Ishimori laments her life after hearing students from her previous school bully her, writing in a notebook, while sitting in the school library, that she wants to change, and Kai Miura confronts her, embarrassing her, and it seems like she is going to say something to him. However, this does not happen after she (Ishimori) hears bullies saying they will trash her shoes and their bullying gets to her, yet again, and her self-confidence is plummeting.

    Then in the second episode of Hug! Pretty Cure, Hana Nono meets Saaya Yakushiji in the school library, catching her off guard, while she is working on the school newspaper. She laments that no one wants to read it. Hana helps her write an article about the Pretty Cure (herself) and even does an illustration.

    Also, in the second episode of Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, Mona Kawai sees Medaka Kuroiwa in the library and grabs the same book as her. He rejects her sexual advance, and this annoys her. In actuality, he does find her cute, but he is trying to resist his desires so he can become a monk and not fall in love. She sees Tsubomi Haruno, who is watching her, and is confused. Later Mona suspects that Tsubomi is a love rival and begins to tease/flirt with him even more, which gets a rise out of him.

    No new episode, but it was sadly announced that HIDIVE will be took down a series I have listed on here before, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, describing it as “a romantic high school story that sees high schooler Junta progressively dared to do wilder things to gain attention thanks to Kubo’s influence.” I wrote about the series exclusively back in March of last year:

    Another library which a very similar role is the one in the romantic comedy series Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible. In the sixth episode of that series, entitled “Nurse’s Office and Main Character”, in which Junta Shiraishi tries to study for a class in the library but doesn’t understand the content and is nervous because his video games will be confiscated by his mom if he does badly on his tests. Nagisa Kubo finds him in the library and they study together. She even borrows glasses from the student librarian who she is friends with so she can look like a teacher. He agrees to let her help him with questions that he doesn’t know. She says she won’t tease those trying to learn something. [3] It may be one of the better examples of studying in the library, apart from scenes in episodes of Teasing Master Takagi-san, another romantic comedy.

    …

    [3] They agree to study the next day and Kubo gives the unnamed student librarian her glasses back, glasses which are fake anyway. However, they never end up having the study session the next day because Junta is sick or the day after because Kubo is sick.

    I also mentioned the series in posts in May (here and here) and September of last year. The series will also be mentioned in a post next year, with a section about the (Student) librarian in the above-mentioned episode of the series. Luckily the series can still be purchased on the Sentai Filmworks store, Robert’s Anime Corner Store, and elsewhere! I purchased a copy of my own and I recommend that other people do the same.

    Comics recently added to this page

    In these two episodes of Do You Like Tomboys, Shaye, while wearing a suit, brings Charlie into a library room, claiming they have serious business. She asks her if she is a “top or bottom” (referring to sexual positions) and Charlie says both (she still doesn’t totally get it). I hope there are more library scenes in this yuri/girl’s love series going forward. I think it is possible, but its up to the author.

    As for the young adult series, The Dark Mermaid, in episode 11, Seulbi Yu and Hae-on Kim are working side-by-side in the library, as student librarians, and Seulbi tries to check out books, but she messes up badly and causes the books to be damaged by mistake. And Hae-on tells the patron she’ll get another book for her, and tells Seulbi to take a break. Some episodes later, in episode 21, Seulbi is informed about a mandatory field trip to another library, specifically the Barley Library in Seoul, to get another perspective on school library work. She doesn’t want to go and says she shouldn’t have joined the club. Another student librarian is also shown as well.

    Later in that same episode, Hae-on, Seulbi, and others go inside the library, watched by a suspicious woman. This is followed up in episode 22 when they continue their visit to this private library, noting the books available, and events for patrons (storytime for kids), including a story about a mermaid (The Little Mermaid story). One girl speaks up and says that the story is wrong, wanting a happy ending instead. The mysterious woman talks to the girl later, who points to Hae-on and calls her a “mermaid girl.” This all continues episode 23, when Hae-on catches up with everyone, enlists Seulbi in finding the girl and her bracelet, which makes it easier for her to change form (from mermaid into human). The girl demands to play with Hae-on, she gave her bracelet, and the girl ran away. The time in the library ends in episode 24, with Hae-on getting her bracelet back, and Seulbi still remains relatively cold to Hae-on, based on a misunderstanding about their friendship (this is later cleared up in a later episode, in episodes 26 and 27 after Hae-on saves her from a guy who bullied her in the past, who is creepy and unhinged). They later conclude, in episode 27, that the woman could have been a siren just like Hae-on, although it isn’t confirmed.

    Films recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Other entries recently added to this page

    As this year began, I wasn’t sure what series to add since there weren’t many with library scenes. Even wonderful comics on the Glow platform (i.e. playable stories), like Susuhara Is A Demon! Asinine Adventures, Pick Me, Don’t Look At The Sky, In My Heart, Diamond Dive – Running Latte, Office Talk, Solar Eclipse, and Warm Spring Rain, have no library scenes. [1]

    However, the Diamond Dive playable story features Bailey noting a book club is moving to Cafe Diamond because the librarian is strict with the club for being too loud. In comic that this playable story is based on, there’s library scenes in the third issue (“Girl Crush“) where one protagonists, Karta Kloss (also known as “Pinky”), heads to the library at the Montgomery University, and she first meets a librarian who helps her with telling her where to get school books. Then, in the “Winter Special – Part 2” issue, a crossover with Our Days in Lumain, it ends with Pinky and Bailey arriving at the school library, Pinky telling Bailey that it was cute how starstruck she was around Lady Cassidy, causing her to blush in response. Finally, in “Issue 37“, they go to a library-like setting so they an schedule a duel, with Ms. Davies, between Karta Kloss and Bailey Montgomery.

    On the other hand, some playable stories have library scenes. Unleashed: Holly’s Story [based on the webtoon Unleashed], shows Holly relaxing in the library in the first story, as she reflects on being better to her coworkers and reading a story about two older women falling in love, she meets Blaze there, an attractive woman. She gives her a card with her number on it [she meets her again in the next story, as Blaze is the new author her firm is taking on]. In the comic this is playable story is based on, originally entitled My Masochistic Boss, there’s two library scenes, from episodes 49 to 50. In the first, Blaze Clarke remembers when she went to the library because of a hostile home environment, and found a “completely different world” and a helpful elderly librarian. In the second, Blaze notes how books were an important part of her childhood, with all the information and knowledge, with all “sorts of different stories and worlds”, and that she almost gave up on a love for literature until she met Holly, and Holly accepted her as a girlfriend.

    Then in the story for Literary Link on the same platform, it begins when Atlas finds a love letter, while shelving books in the library. Of course, Faye, whose also working at the library, is completely embarrassed, while Vega remains confident. Following this, Faye and Vega work efficiently to shelve the books, while Vega teases Faye about who sent the love letter to Atlas. He continues teasing her about her crush on Atlas, saying she should write her own love letter, and implies that Atlas may be gay to increase Faye’s chances. Even so, Atlas continues thinking about the letter, but puts it aside, until he leaves temporarily, and the crush between them is clear. It turns out, at the end, that the love letter is for someone entirely different! Similar to Diamond Dive, this also has library scenes. In fact, the entire series is based around library interactions. In the comic itself, Faye begins working at a local library after being obliged to do so as a form of community service, and meets Atlas, who she develops a crush on. She also helps out with events at the library.

    Lastly, there’s a book I got recently which was released on September 3, 2019, after the third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power came out (on August 2nd). There are some mentions of the library/archive run by Bow’s family in this book, which is broadly from Adora’s perspective. This includes describing the library as a key spot in the Whispering Woods which is “packed with First Ones books and artifacts” (page 113) and description of Bow’s family on page 19:

    Bow’s dads take care of the library in the Whispering Woods. They are fascinated with First Ones tech, which is probably why Bow is so good at figuring it out. He has twelve older siblings who are all historians.

    © 2024-2025 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] The first is based on the webtoon Susuhara Is A Demon, the second is based on the webtoon Pick Me!!, the third is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fourth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fifth is based on the webtoon Diamond Dive, the sixth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the seventh is based on the webtoon of the same name, and the eighth is based on the webtoon of the same name.

    #AdventureTime #BillyMandy #BlackLibrarians #BlackMen #bullying #DiamondDive #DoYouLikeTomboys #DonTLookAtTheSky #gayLibrarians #HoneyLemonSoda #HugPrettyCure #InMyHeart #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #librarianStereotypes #LibrariansOfColor #lists #LiteraryLink #MedakaKuroiwaIsImperviousToMyCharms #MyLifeAsATeenageRobot #MyMasochisticBoss #OfficeTalk #OurDaysInLumain #PickMe #quiet #RebelPrincessGuide #RecentlyAddedTitles #RegularShow #SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower #shortBlogs #SolarEclipse #StevenUniverse #students #SusuharaIsADemon #TeasingMasterTakagiSan #TeenTitansGo #Thundercats #WarmSpringRain #WeBareBears #yuri

    #adventuretime #billymandy #blacklibrarians #blackmen #bullying #diamonddive
  7. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Recently added titles (January 2025)

    Panels from the first/only issue (“A Difficult Start”) of Unleashed: Holly’s Story [left] and first/only issue (“Love Letter“) of Literary Link, both of which are playable stories/movable comics.

    Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September,  October, November, and December of 2024, this post notes recent titles with libraries or librarians in popular culture which I’ve come across in the past month. Each of these has been watched or read during the past month. There may be spoilers for these series, so be aware, apart from other news to share.

    Animated series recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    No updates, but just the news that series like Teen Titans Go!, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Static Shock, were removed from Max, along with We Bare Bears, Steven Universe, and Regular Show, in October. Furthermore, Paramount+ cruelly removed various Nickelodeon titles, like My Life As a Teenage Robot last year. All of these series had library scenes. Specifically the following episodes with library scenes can no longer be streamed on Max (note: Steven Universe, Regular Show, Teen Titans Go!, and We Bare Bears can be streamed on Hulu/Disney+, as can Adventure Time, Thundercats, and some others, which originally aired on Cartoon Network, while My Life As a Teenage Robot, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Static Shock can be streamed, by paying, on Prime Video):

    • Teen Titans Go! episode “Magic Man” (s6 ep 14); Raven and Beast Boy travel to the “Azarath Public Library” to get a new spellbook for Raven, as she presses a special code and fly to even get in the library.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “The Boy Who Cried Robot” (s1 ep 7b); Jenny gets a book about the “boy who cried wolf” story from Tuck, who picks up the book from a traveling bookmobile which comes to their neighborhood. An elderly White female librarian is shown working inside the bookmobile and is giving out books.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “Shell Game” (s1 ep 10b); Jenny works in a library, shelving books. In one scene, an elderly White female librarian is shown.
    • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy episode “Duck!” (s5 ep 5); Mandy is trying to study in the library, but the duck keeps making fart sounds. The librarian yells at Mandy, asking her if this is how she behaves, and Mandy responds that walking up to someone, while they are trying to work, and yelling “does seem kind rude.” The librarian says she doesn’t tolerate “such behavior” in “her” library. Mandy says that is the librarian’s problem, not her problem. The librarian persists, saying she will not stand for this, steam starts coming out of her nostrils, and Mandy tells her to have her meltdown somewhere else, saying she has a report due the next day about the history of corn, and saying the librarian is distracting. She is brought to the principal’s office, Principal Good Vibes, but he can’t say anything because of the duck. Later, the duck does a farting sound over the intercom, and she talks down the duck, causing it to disappear.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Our Stuff” (s1 ep 1); The protagonists go to the library to find if their stuff is there and they use a computer to look up a phone’s location. A Black librarian at the desk shushes them.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Shush Ninjas” (s1 ep 11); The protagonists are in the library enjoying their quiet, with a theater worker pleading for their help. They agree to help him.
    • We Bare Bears episode “The Library” (s2 ep 21); Grizz, Ice Bear, and Panda all go to the library, where they learn they have a number of overdue books, from a librarian. They find their friend Chloe there, who is cramming for a chemistry test. In the resulting episode, there are hi-jinks, like Chloe eating too much candy and zooming across the library. There are also jokes about old technology at the library and the library shown as a community space which people use to study. The presumably Thai librarian is likely voiced by Ashly Burch, when looking at the episode credits. Interestingly, the Black librarian shown in episode 1 is sitting at a table with two other presumed librarians (a Black man with glasses and a White man), at one point, and then a second time, in another scene.
    • Steven Universe episode “Buddy’s Book” (s4 ep 3); Steven and Connie visit the local public library and the library book shown in this episode is later featured in “Steven’s Dream.”
    • Regular Show episode “Skips vs. Technology” (s3 ep 15); Skips reads books in the library about how to fix computers and tries to help solve the problem his friends are having with a computer, and they say he needs to recognize that are some problems he just doesn’t know how to fix. It turns out his friends, Mordo and Rigs, were just trying to print out a thank you message to him all along.
    • Regular Show episode “The Last Laserdisc Player” (s4 ep 30); Two store assistants tell them that a library is where “all junky stuff goes”; Mordo, Rigs, and their friend go to the local library to search for a laserdisc player, talking to two older guys who try to say that a VHS is better than a laserdisc; Archie the Archivist (voiced by John Cygan) takes them down to the basement where there are thousands of formats in storage, with the librarian thinking they are the ones who will end the “format wars,” and tells how VHS took over from laserdisc, with a goon squad which destroyed all the players in society, so VHS could be dominant; the laserdisc opens a secret chamber in the library, where they find the last laserdisc player. They have to fight off the “ancient order of the VHS” so they can watch their film, with the library getting destroyed in the process. The librarian turns into the laserdisc guardian and they later watch the movie together, which is an absurdly long film.
    • Regular Show episode “Party Horse” (s6 ep 21); They go to the library to try and help Party Horse, but the library is too distracting for him, somehow. As such, the scene in the library is very short.

    Anime series recently added to this page

    • Honey Lemon Soda, “Because I Met You” [s1 ep 1]
    • Hug! Pretty Cure, “Everyone’s Angel! Hooray Hooray! Cure Ange!” [s1 ep 2]
    • Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, “In Love with Him” [s1 ep 2]

    In Honey Lemon Soda, Uka Ishimori laments her life after hearing students from her previous school bully her, writing in a notebook, while sitting in the school library, that she wants to change, and Kai Miura confronts her, embarrassing her, and it seems like she is going to say something to him. However, this does not happen after she (Ishimori) hears bullies saying they will trash her shoes and their bullying gets to her, yet again, and her self-confidence is plummeting.

    Then in the second episode of Hug! Pretty Cure, Hana Nono meets Saaya Yakushiji in the school library, catching her off guard, while she is working on the school newspaper. She laments that no one wants to read it. Hana helps her write an article about the Pretty Cure (herself) and even does an illustration.

    Also, in the second episode of Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, Mona Kawai sees Medaka Kuroiwa in the library and grabs the same book as her. He rejects her sexual advance, and this annoys her. In actuality, he does find her cute, but he is trying to resist his desires so he can become a monk and not fall in love. She sees Tsubomi Haruno, who is watching her, and is confused. Later Mona suspects that Tsubomi is a love rival and begins to tease/flirt with him even more, which gets a rise out of him.

    No new episode, but it was sadly announced that HIDIVE will be took down a series I have listed on here before, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, describing it as “a romantic high school story that sees high schooler Junta progressively dared to do wilder things to gain attention thanks to Kubo’s influence.” I wrote about the series exclusively back in March of last year:

    Another library which a very similar role is the one in the romantic comedy series Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible. In the sixth episode of that series, entitled “Nurse’s Office and Main Character”, in which Junta Shiraishi tries to study for a class in the library but doesn’t understand the content and is nervous because his video games will be confiscated by his mom if he does badly on his tests. Nagisa Kubo finds him in the library and they study together. She even borrows glasses from the student librarian who she is friends with so she can look like a teacher. He agrees to let her help him with questions that he doesn’t know. She says she won’t tease those trying to learn something. [3] It may be one of the better examples of studying in the library, apart from scenes in episodes of Teasing Master Takagi-san, another romantic comedy.

    …

    [3] They agree to study the next day and Kubo gives the unnamed student librarian her glasses back, glasses which are fake anyway. However, they never end up having the study session the next day because Junta is sick or the day after because Kubo is sick.

    I also mentioned the series in posts in May (here and here) and September of last year. The series will also be mentioned in a post next year, with a section about the (Student) librarian in the above-mentioned episode of the series. Luckily the series can still be purchased on the Sentai Filmworks store, Robert’s Anime Corner Store, and elsewhere! I purchased a copy of my own and I recommend that other people do the same.

    Comics recently added to this page

    In these two episodes of Do You Like Tomboys, Shaye, while wearing a suit, brings Charlie into a library room, claiming they have serious business. She asks her if she is a “top or bottom” (referring to sexual positions) and Charlie says both (she still doesn’t totally get it). I hope there are more library scenes in this yuri/girl’s love series going forward. I think it is possible, but its up to the author.

    As for the young adult series, The Dark Mermaid, in episode 11, Seulbi Yu and Hae-on Kim are working side-by-side in the library, as student librarians, and Seulbi tries to check out books, but she messes up badly and causes the books to be damaged by mistake. And Hae-on tells the patron she’ll get another book for her, and tells Seulbi to take a break. Some episodes later, in episode 21, Seulbi is informed about a mandatory field trip to another library, specifically the Barley Library in Seoul, to get another perspective on school library work. She doesn’t want to go and says she shouldn’t have joined the club. Another student librarian is also shown as well.

    Later in that same episode, Hae-on, Seulbi, and others go inside the library, watched by a suspicious woman. This is followed up in episode 22 when they continue their visit to this private library, noting the books available, and events for patrons (storytime for kids), including a story about a mermaid (The Little Mermaid story). One girl speaks up and says that the story is wrong, wanting a happy ending instead. The mysterious woman talks to the girl later, who points to Hae-on and calls her a “mermaid girl.” This all continues episode 23, when Hae-on catches up with everyone, enlists Seulbi in finding the girl and her bracelet, which makes it easier for her to change form (from mermaid into human). The girl demands to play with Hae-on, she gave her bracelet, and the girl ran away. The time in the library ends in episode 24, with Hae-on getting her bracelet back, and Seulbi still remains relatively cold to Hae-on, based on a misunderstanding about their friendship (this is later cleared up in a later episode, in episodes 26 and 27 after Hae-on saves her from a guy who bullied her in the past, who is creepy and unhinged). They later conclude, in episode 27, that the woman could have been a siren just like Hae-on, although it isn’t confirmed.

    Films recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Other entries recently added to this page

    As this year began, I wasn’t sure what series to add since there weren’t many with library scenes. Even wonderful comics on the Glow platform (i.e. playable stories), like Susuhara Is A Demon! Asinine Adventures, Pick Me, Don’t Look At The Sky, In My Heart, Diamond Dive – Running Latte, Office Talk, Solar Eclipse, and Warm Spring Rain, have no library scenes. [1]

    However, the Diamond Dive playable story features Bailey noting a book club is moving to Cafe Diamond because the librarian is strict with the club for being too loud. In comic that this playable story is based on, there’s library scenes in the third issue (“Girl Crush“) where one protagonists, Karta Kloss (also known as “Pinky”), heads to the library at the Montgomery University, and she first meets a librarian who helps her with telling her where to get school books. Then, in the “Winter Special – Part 2” issue, a crossover with Our Days in Lumain, it ends with Pinky and Bailey arriving at the school library, Pinky telling Bailey that it was cute how starstruck she was around Lady Cassidy, causing her to blush in response. Finally, in “Issue 37“, they go to a library-like setting so they an schedule a duel, with Ms. Davies, between Karta Kloss and Bailey Montgomery.

    On the other hand, some playable stories have library scenes. Unleashed: Holly’s Story [based on the webtoon Unleashed], shows Holly relaxing in the library in the first story, as she reflects on being better to her coworkers and reading a story about two older women falling in love, she meets Blaze there, an attractive woman. She gives her a card with her number on it [she meets her again in the next story, as Blaze is the new author her firm is taking on]. In the comic this is playable story is based on, originally entitled My Masochistic Boss, there’s two library scenes, from episodes 49 to 50. In the first, Blaze Clarke remembers when she went to the library because of a hostile home environment, and found a “completely different world” and a helpful elderly librarian. In the second, Blaze notes how books were an important part of her childhood, with all the information and knowledge, with all “sorts of different stories and worlds”, and that she almost gave up on a love for literature until she met Holly, and Holly accepted her as a girlfriend.

    Then in the story for Literary Link on the same platform, it begins when Atlas finds a love letter, while shelving books in the library. Of course, Faye, whose also working at the library, is completely embarrassed, while Vega remains confident. Following this, Faye and Vega work efficiently to shelve the books, while Vega teases Faye about who sent the love letter to Atlas. He continues teasing her about her crush on Atlas, saying she should write her own love letter, and implies that Atlas may be gay to increase Faye’s chances. Even so, Atlas continues thinking about the letter, but puts it aside, until he leaves temporarily, and the crush between them is clear. It turns out, at the end, that the love letter is for someone entirely different! Similar to Diamond Dive, this also has library scenes. In fact, the entire series is based around library interactions. In the comic itself, Faye begins working at a local library after being obliged to do so as a form of community service, and meets Atlas, who she develops a crush on. She also helps out with events at the library.

    Lastly, there’s a book I got recently which was released on September 3, 2019, after the third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power came out (on August 2nd). There are some mentions of the library/archive run by Bow’s family in this book, which is broadly from Adora’s perspective. This includes describing the library as a key spot in the Whispering Woods which is “packed with First Ones books and artifacts” (page 113) and description of Bow’s family on page 19:

    Bow’s dads take care of the library in the Whispering Woods. They are fascinated with First Ones tech, which is probably why Bow is so good at figuring it out. He has twelve older siblings who are all historians.

    © 2024-2025 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] The first is based on the webtoon Susuhara Is A Demon, the second is based on the webtoon Pick Me!!, the third is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fourth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fifth is based on the webtoon Diamond Dive, the sixth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the seventh is based on the webtoon of the same name, and the eighth is based on the webtoon of the same name.

    #AdventureTime #BillyMandy #BlackLibrarians #BlackMen #bullying #DiamondDive #DoYouLikeTomboys #DonTLookAtTheSky #gayLibrarians #HoneyLemonSoda #HugPrettyCure #InMyHeart #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #librarianStereotypes #LibrariansOfColor #lists #LiteraryLink #MedakaKuroiwaIsImperviousToMyCharms #MyLifeAsATeenageRobot #MyMasochisticBoss #OfficeTalk #OurDaysInLumain #PickMe #quiet #RebelPrincessGuide #RecentlyAddedTitles #RegularShow #SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower #shortBlogs #SolarEclipse #StevenUniverse #students #SusuharaIsADemon #TeasingMasterTakagiSan #TeenTitansGo #Thundercats #WarmSpringRain #WeBareBears #yuri

    #yuri #webarebears #warmspringrain #thundercats #teentitansgo #teasingmastertakagisan
  8. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Recently added titles (January 2025)

    Panels from the first/only issue (“A Difficult Start”) of Unleashed: Holly’s Story [left] and first/only issue (“Love Letter“) of Literary Link, both of which are playable stories/movable comics.

    Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September,  October, November, and December of 2024, this post notes recent titles with libraries or librarians in popular culture which I’ve come across in the past month. Each of these has been watched or read during the past month. There may be spoilers for these series, so be aware, apart from other news to share.

    Animated series recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    No updates, but just the news that series like Teen Titans Go!, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Static Shock, were removed from Max, along with We Bare Bears, Steven Universe, and Regular Show, in October. Furthermore, Paramount+ cruelly removed various Nickelodeon titles, like My Life As a Teenage Robot last year. All of these series had library scenes. Specifically the following episodes with library scenes can no longer be streamed on Max (note: Steven Universe, Regular Show, Teen Titans Go!, and We Bare Bears can be streamed on Hulu/Disney+, as can Adventure Time, Thundercats, and some others, which originally aired on Cartoon Network, while My Life As a Teenage Robot, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Static Shock can be streamed, by paying, on Prime Video):

    • Teen Titans Go! episode “Magic Man” (s6 ep 14); Raven and Beast Boy travel to the “Azarath Public Library” to get a new spellbook for Raven, as she presses a special code and fly to even get in the library.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “The Boy Who Cried Robot” (s1 ep 7b); Jenny gets a book about the “boy who cried wolf” story from Tuck, who picks up the book from a traveling bookmobile which comes to their neighborhood. An elderly White female librarian is shown working inside the bookmobile and is giving out books.
    • My Life as a Teenage Robot episode “Shell Game” (s1 ep 10b); Jenny works in a library, shelving books. In one scene, an elderly White female librarian is shown.
    • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy episode “Duck!” (s5 ep 5); Mandy is trying to study in the library, but the duck keeps making fart sounds. The librarian yells at Mandy, asking her if this is how she behaves, and Mandy responds that walking up to someone, while they are trying to work, and yelling “does seem kind rude.” The librarian says she doesn’t tolerate “such behavior” in “her” library. Mandy says that is the librarian’s problem, not her problem. The librarian persists, saying she will not stand for this, steam starts coming out of her nostrils, and Mandy tells her to have her meltdown somewhere else, saying she has a report due the next day about the history of corn, and saying the librarian is distracting. She is brought to the principal’s office, Principal Good Vibes, but he can’t say anything because of the duck. Later, the duck does a farting sound over the intercom, and she talks down the duck, causing it to disappear.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Our Stuff” (s1 ep 1); The protagonists go to the library to find if their stuff is there and they use a computer to look up a phone’s location. A Black librarian at the desk shushes them.
    • We Bare Bears episode “Shush Ninjas” (s1 ep 11); The protagonists are in the library enjoying their quiet, with a theater worker pleading for their help. They agree to help him.
    • We Bare Bears episode “The Library” (s2 ep 21); Grizz, Ice Bear, and Panda all go to the library, where they learn they have a number of overdue books, from a librarian. They find their friend Chloe there, who is cramming for a chemistry test. In the resulting episode, there are hi-jinks, like Chloe eating too much candy and zooming across the library. There are also jokes about old technology at the library and the library shown as a community space which people use to study. The presumably Thai librarian is likely voiced by Ashly Burch, when looking at the episode credits. Interestingly, the Black librarian shown in episode 1 is sitting at a table with two other presumed librarians (a Black man with glasses and a White man), at one point, and then a second time, in another scene.
    • Steven Universe episode “Buddy’s Book” (s4 ep 3); Steven and Connie visit the local public library and the library book shown in this episode is later featured in “Steven’s Dream.”
    • Regular Show episode “Skips vs. Technology” (s3 ep 15); Skips reads books in the library about how to fix computers and tries to help solve the problem his friends are having with a computer, and they say he needs to recognize that are some problems he just doesn’t know how to fix. It turns out his friends, Mordo and Rigs, were just trying to print out a thank you message to him all along.
    • Regular Show episode “The Last Laserdisc Player” (s4 ep 30); Two store assistants tell them that a library is where “all junky stuff goes”; Mordo, Rigs, and their friend go to the local library to search for a laserdisc player, talking to two older guys who try to say that a VHS is better than a laserdisc; Archie the Archivist (voiced by John Cygan) takes them down to the basement where there are thousands of formats in storage, with the librarian thinking they are the ones who will end the “format wars,” and tells how VHS took over from laserdisc, with a goon squad which destroyed all the players in society, so VHS could be dominant; the laserdisc opens a secret chamber in the library, where they find the last laserdisc player. They have to fight off the “ancient order of the VHS” so they can watch their film, with the library getting destroyed in the process. The librarian turns into the laserdisc guardian and they later watch the movie together, which is an absurdly long film.
    • Regular Show episode “Party Horse” (s6 ep 21); They go to the library to try and help Party Horse, but the library is too distracting for him, somehow. As such, the scene in the library is very short.

    Anime series recently added to this page

    • Honey Lemon Soda, “Because I Met You” [s1 ep 1]
    • Hug! Pretty Cure, “Everyone’s Angel! Hooray Hooray! Cure Ange!” [s1 ep 2]
    • Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, “In Love with Him” [s1 ep 2]

    In Honey Lemon Soda, Uka Ishimori laments her life after hearing students from her previous school bully her, writing in a notebook, while sitting in the school library, that she wants to change, and Kai Miura confronts her, embarrassing her, and it seems like she is going to say something to him. However, this does not happen after she (Ishimori) hears bullies saying they will trash her shoes and their bullying gets to her, yet again, and her self-confidence is plummeting.

    Then in the second episode of Hug! Pretty Cure, Hana Nono meets Saaya Yakushiji in the school library, catching her off guard, while she is working on the school newspaper. She laments that no one wants to read it. Hana helps her write an article about the Pretty Cure (herself) and even does an illustration.

    Also, in the second episode of Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, Mona Kawai sees Medaka Kuroiwa in the library and grabs the same book as her. He rejects her sexual advance, and this annoys her. In actuality, he does find her cute, but he is trying to resist his desires so he can become a monk and not fall in love. She sees Tsubomi Haruno, who is watching her, and is confused. Later Mona suspects that Tsubomi is a love rival and begins to tease/flirt with him even more, which gets a rise out of him.

    No new episode, but it was sadly announced that HIDIVE will be took down a series I have listed on here before, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, describing it as “a romantic high school story that sees high schooler Junta progressively dared to do wilder things to gain attention thanks to Kubo’s influence.” I wrote about the series exclusively back in March of last year:

    Another library which a very similar role is the one in the romantic comedy series Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible. In the sixth episode of that series, entitled “Nurse’s Office and Main Character”, in which Junta Shiraishi tries to study for a class in the library but doesn’t understand the content and is nervous because his video games will be confiscated by his mom if he does badly on his tests. Nagisa Kubo finds him in the library and they study together. She even borrows glasses from the student librarian who she is friends with so she can look like a teacher. He agrees to let her help him with questions that he doesn’t know. She says she won’t tease those trying to learn something. [3] It may be one of the better examples of studying in the library, apart from scenes in episodes of Teasing Master Takagi-san, another romantic comedy.

    …

    [3] They agree to study the next day and Kubo gives the unnamed student librarian her glasses back, glasses which are fake anyway. However, they never end up having the study session the next day because Junta is sick or the day after because Kubo is sick.

    I also mentioned the series in posts in May (here and here) and September of last year. The series will also be mentioned in a post next year, with a section about the (Student) librarian in the above-mentioned episode of the series. Luckily the series can still be purchased on the Sentai Filmworks store, Robert’s Anime Corner Store, and elsewhere! I purchased a copy of my own and I recommend that other people do the same.

    Comics recently added to this page

    In these two episodes of Do You Like Tomboys, Shaye, while wearing a suit, brings Charlie into a library room, claiming they have serious business. She asks her if she is a “top or bottom” (referring to sexual positions) and Charlie says both (she still doesn’t totally get it). I hope there are more library scenes in this yuri/girl’s love series going forward. I think it is possible, but its up to the author.

    As for the young adult series, The Dark Mermaid, in episode 11, Seulbi Yu and Hae-on Kim are working side-by-side in the library, as student librarians, and Seulbi tries to check out books, but she messes up badly and causes the books to be damaged by mistake. And Hae-on tells the patron she’ll get another book for her, and tells Seulbi to take a break. Some episodes later, in episode 21, Seulbi is informed about a mandatory field trip to another library, specifically the Barley Library in Seoul, to get another perspective on school library work. She doesn’t want to go and says she shouldn’t have joined the club. Another student librarian is also shown as well.

    Later in that same episode, Hae-on, Seulbi, and others go inside the library, watched by a suspicious woman. This is followed up in episode 22 when they continue their visit to this private library, noting the books available, and events for patrons (storytime for kids), including a story about a mermaid (The Little Mermaid story). One girl speaks up and says that the story is wrong, wanting a happy ending instead. The mysterious woman talks to the girl later, who points to Hae-on and calls her a “mermaid girl.” This all continues episode 23, when Hae-on catches up with everyone, enlists Seulbi in finding the girl and her bracelet, which makes it easier for her to change form (from mermaid into human). The girl demands to play with Hae-on, she gave her bracelet, and the girl ran away. The time in the library ends in episode 24, with Hae-on getting her bracelet back, and Seulbi still remains relatively cold to Hae-on, based on a misunderstanding about their friendship (this is later cleared up in a later episode, in episodes 26 and 27 after Hae-on saves her from a guy who bullied her in the past, who is creepy and unhinged). They later conclude, in episode 27, that the woman could have been a siren just like Hae-on, although it isn’t confirmed.

    Films recently added to this page

    None for this month.

    Other entries recently added to this page

    As this year began, I wasn’t sure what series to add since there weren’t many with library scenes. Even wonderful comics on the Glow platform (i.e. playable stories), like Susuhara Is A Demon! Asinine Adventures, Pick Me, Don’t Look At The Sky, In My Heart, Diamond Dive – Running Latte, Office Talk, Solar Eclipse, and Warm Spring Rain, have no library scenes. [1]

    However, the Diamond Dive playable story features Bailey noting a book club is moving to Cafe Diamond because the librarian is strict with the club for being too loud. In comic that this playable story is based on, there’s library scenes in the third issue (“Girl Crush“) where one protagonists, Karta Kloss (also known as “Pinky”), heads to the library at the Montgomery University, and she first meets a librarian who helps her with telling her where to get school books. Then, in the “Winter Special – Part 2” issue, a crossover with Our Days in Lumain, it ends with Pinky and Bailey arriving at the school library, Pinky telling Bailey that it was cute how starstruck she was around Lady Cassidy, causing her to blush in response. Finally, in “Issue 37“, they go to a library-like setting so they an schedule a duel, with Ms. Davies, between Karta Kloss and Bailey Montgomery.

    On the other hand, some playable stories have library scenes. Unleashed: Holly’s Story [based on the webtoon Unleashed], shows Holly relaxing in the library in the first story, as she reflects on being better to her coworkers and reading a story about two older women falling in love, she meets Blaze there, an attractive woman. She gives her a card with her number on it [she meets her again in the next story, as Blaze is the new author her firm is taking on]. In the comic this is playable story is based on, originally entitled My Masochistic Boss, there’s two library scenes, from episodes 49 to 50. In the first, Blaze Clarke remembers when she went to the library because of a hostile home environment, and found a “completely different world” and a helpful elderly librarian. In the second, Blaze notes how books were an important part of her childhood, with all the information and knowledge, with all “sorts of different stories and worlds”, and that she almost gave up on a love for literature until she met Holly, and Holly accepted her as a girlfriend.

    Then in the story for Literary Link on the same platform, it begins when Atlas finds a love letter, while shelving books in the library. Of course, Faye, whose also working at the library, is completely embarrassed, while Vega remains confident. Following this, Faye and Vega work efficiently to shelve the books, while Vega teases Faye about who sent the love letter to Atlas. He continues teasing her about her crush on Atlas, saying she should write her own love letter, and implies that Atlas may be gay to increase Faye’s chances. Even so, Atlas continues thinking about the letter, but puts it aside, until he leaves temporarily, and the crush between them is clear. It turns out, at the end, that the love letter is for someone entirely different! Similar to Diamond Dive, this also has library scenes. In fact, the entire series is based around library interactions. In the comic itself, Faye begins working at a local library after being obliged to do so as a form of community service, and meets Atlas, who she develops a crush on. She also helps out with events at the library.

    Lastly, there’s a book I got recently which was released on September 3, 2019, after the third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power came out (on August 2nd). There are some mentions of the library/archive run by Bow’s family in this book, which is broadly from Adora’s perspective. This includes describing the library as a key spot in the Whispering Woods which is “packed with First Ones books and artifacts” (page 113) and description of Bow’s family on page 19:

    Bow’s dads take care of the library in the Whispering Woods. They are fascinated with First Ones tech, which is probably why Bow is so good at figuring it out. He has twelve older siblings who are all historians.

    © 2024-2025 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] The first is based on the webtoon Susuhara Is A Demon, the second is based on the webtoon Pick Me!!, the third is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fourth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the fifth is based on the webtoon Diamond Dive, the sixth is based on the webtoon of the same name, the seventh is based on the webtoon of the same name, and the eighth is based on the webtoon of the same name.

    #AdventureTime #BillyMandy #BlackLibrarians #BlackMen #bullying #DiamondDive #DoYouLikeTomboys #DonTLookAtTheSky #gayLibrarians #HoneyLemonSoda #HugPrettyCure #InMyHeart #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #librarianStereotypes #LibrariansOfColor #lists #LiteraryLink #MedakaKuroiwaIsImperviousToMyCharms #MyLifeAsATeenageRobot #MyMasochisticBoss #OfficeTalk #OurDaysInLumain #PickMe #quiet #RebelPrincessGuide #RecentlyAddedTitles #RegularShow #SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower #shortBlogs #SolarEclipse #StevenUniverse #students #SusuharaIsADemon #TeasingMasterTakagiSan #TeenTitansGo #Thundercats #WarmSpringRain #WeBareBears #yuri

    #adventuretime #billymandy #blacklibrarians #blackmen #bullying #diamonddive
  9. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, an unamed schoolgirl confesses to Yuki in the library and he pushes her off.

    Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

    In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

    Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

    There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

    Student librarian checks out materials for Tohru

    The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

    Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

    Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

    A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

    This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

    In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

    © 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

    [2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

    [3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

    [4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

    #AkebiSSailorUniform #AmityBlight #AoiHana #AzumangaDaioh #beautyStandards #ChiyoTsukudate #disabledPatrons #FobaziEttarh #FruitsBasket #groomingStandards #HanamaruKunikida #HaroldAndKumar #HisamiHishishii #IWantToEatYourPancreas #IsTheOrderARabbit #JapaneseLibrarians #JapanesePatrons #JapaneseWomen #KinIroMosaic #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LaidBackCamp #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #libraryPatrons #libraryWorkers #LiteraryLink #LoveLiveSunshine #MariaWatchesOverUs #MissBernardSaid #MyNextLifeAsAVillainess #MyRoommateIsACat #MyselfYourself #professionals #RevengeOfTheLibrarians #RevolutionaryGirlUtena #ShikimoriSNotJustACutie #StrawberryPanic #students #SweetBlueFlowers #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheOwlHouse #TheTrumanShow #vocationalAwe #WhisperedWords

    #akebissailoruniform #amityblight #aoihana #azumangadaioh #beautystandards #chiyotsukudate
  10. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, an unamed schoolgirl confesses to Yuki in the library and he pushes her off.

    Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

    In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

    Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

    There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

    Student librarian checks out materials for Tohru

    The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

    Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

    Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

    A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

    This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

    In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

    © 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

    [2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

    [3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

    [4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

    #AkebiSSailorUniform #AmityBlight #AoiHana #AzumangaDaioh #beautyStandards #ChiyoTsukudate #disabledPatrons #FobaziEttarh #FruitsBasket #groomingStandards #HanamaruKunikida #HaroldAndKumar #HisamiHishishii #IWantToEatYourPancreas #IsTheOrderARabbit #JapaneseLibrarians #JapanesePatrons #JapaneseWomen #KinIroMosaic #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LaidBackCamp #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #libraryPatrons #libraryWorkers #LiteraryLink #LoveLiveSunshine #MariaWatchesOverUs #MissBernardSaid #MyNextLifeAsAVillainess #MyRoommateIsACat #MyselfYourself #professionals #RevengeOfTheLibrarians #RevolutionaryGirlUtena #ShikimoriSNotJustACutie #StrawberryPanic #students #SweetBlueFlowers #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheOwlHouse #TheTrumanShow #vocationalAwe #WhisperedWords

    #akebissailoruniform #amityblight #aoihana #azumangadaioh #beautystandards #chiyotsukudate
  11. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, an unamed schoolgirl confesses to Yuki in the library and he pushes her off.

    Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

    In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

    Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

    There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

    Student librarian checks out materials for Tohru

    The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

    Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

    Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

    A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

    This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

    In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

    © 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

    [2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

    [3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

    [4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

    #AkebiSSailorUniform #AmityBlight #AoiHana #AzumangaDaioh #beautyStandards #ChiyoTsukudate #disabledPatrons #FobaziEttarh #FruitsBasket #groomingStandards #HanamaruKunikida #HaroldAndKumar #HisamiHishishii #IWantToEatYourPancreas #IsTheOrderARabbit #JapaneseLibrarians #JapanesePatrons #JapaneseWomen #KinIroMosaic #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LaidBackCamp #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #libraryPatrons #libraryWorkers #LiteraryLink #LoveLiveSunshine #MariaWatchesOverUs #MissBernardSaid #MyNextLifeAsAVillainess #MyRoommateIsACat #MyselfYourself #professionals #RevengeOfTheLibrarians #RevolutionaryGirlUtena #ShikimoriSNotJustACutie #StrawberryPanic #students #SweetBlueFlowers #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheOwlHouse #TheTrumanShow #vocationalAwe #WhisperedWords

    #akebissailoruniform #amityblight #aoihana #azumangadaioh #beautystandards #chiyotsukudate
  12. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, an unamed schoolgirl confesses to Yuki in the library and he pushes her off.

    Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

    In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

    Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

    There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

    Student librarian checks out materials for Tohru

    The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

    Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

    Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

    A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

    This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

    In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

    © 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

    [2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

    [3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

    [4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

    #AkebiSSailorUniform #AmityBlight #AoiHana #AzumangaDaioh #beautyStandards #ChiyoTsukudate #disabledPatrons #FobaziEttarh #FruitsBasket #groomingStandards #HanamaruKunikida #HaroldAndKumar #HisamiHishishii #IWantToEatYourPancreas #IsTheOrderARabbit #JapaneseLibrarians #JapanesePatrons #JapaneseWomen #KinIroMosaic #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LaidBackCamp #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #libraryPatrons #libraryWorkers #LiteraryLink #LoveLiveSunshine #MariaWatchesOverUs #MissBernardSaid #MyNextLifeAsAVillainess #MyRoommateIsACat #MyselfYourself #professionals #RevengeOfTheLibrarians #RevolutionaryGirlUtena #ShikimoriSNotJustACutie #StrawberryPanic #students #SweetBlueFlowers #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheOwlHouse #TheTrumanShow #vocationalAwe #WhisperedWords

    #whisperedwords #vocationalawe #thetrumanshow #theowlhouse #thedangersinmyheart #sweetblueflowers
  13. Pop Culture Library Review @popculturelibraries.wordpress.com@popculturelibraries.wordpress.com ·

    Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, an unamed schoolgirl confesses to Yuki in the library and he pushes her off.

    Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

    In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

    In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

    Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

    There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

    Student librarian checks out materials for Tohru

    The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

    Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

    Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

    A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

    This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

    In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

    © 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

    Notes

    [1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

    [2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

    [3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

    [4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

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