Originally airing in Japan back in 2009 and getting a DVD-only release from Sentai Filmworks in North American in 2012, The Book of Bantorra is beginning its streaming run on Hulu today. The series clocks in at twenty-seven episodes and the first thirteen are now available in standard definition and subtitled only. Based on the ten volume light novel series that ran from 2005 to 2010, The Book of Bantorra came from the original creator Ishio Yamagata. The original work also spawned a manga series that ran briefly, but it’s the anime series that is more the legacy at this point. Animated by David Production, it was fairly well received but was the kind of series that seemed to just disappear after it ended with little said since.
Plot concept: When a person dies, the soul is crystallized into a book. Anyone who touches that book can relive the dead person’s past. In the Library of Bantorra, where all excavated books are stored, all Librarians possess an extraordinary combination of encyclopedic knowledge and fighting skill. For this reason, the Armed Librarians are the most difficult profession to enter in the world. But will they be good enough to stop a group of fanatics from exacting vengeance on the entire world?