A Good Librarian Like a Good Shepherd

Alt title: Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai

TV (12 eps)
2014
Fall 2014
3.453 out of 5 from 3,281 votes
Rank #7,071
A Good Librarian Like a Good Shepherd

Kyoutarou Kakei is a shy student at a prestigious academy known for its massive library. The sole member of the school’s library club, Kyoutarou’s always been better with books than girls – until a text message from the mysterious “Shepherd” hints that his fate will soon be changing. Life gets wild in a hurry after a vision allows Kyoutarou to rescue Tsugumi, a beautiful girl who also received a text message from the “Shepherd.” Soon, Tsugumi announces her intentions to join the Library Club and, with Kyoutarou’s help, make school life much more interesting! It doesn’t take long for a host of other pretty girls to follow Tsugumi’s lead and join the club in the hopes of spicing up their boring academy lives. But just who is this “Shepherd,” what does he or she have to do with the Library Club’s sudden popularity, and how in the world will Kyoutarou survive being surrounded by all these girls!?

Source: Funimation

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Reviews

AngryJellyfish
7

I watched the first episode of Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai back when it first aired. Two years later, I didn't remember a thing about it, but looking back at my one line comment that I'd 'dropped it without a second thought', I had to wonder what I was getting myself into... Story Main character Kakei is a bookworm who happens to have the ability to see people's futures. Despite his wish to simply be left alone to read in peace, he gets dragged into joining the “Shiomi Happy Project” by his shy but joyfully optimistic classmate Shirasaki. This unofficial group has no clear goals, aside from making life more enjoyable for everyone in the school. Other members join as the episodes go by. They all receive emails from an unknown individual known only as the Shepherd... The first half of the series was quite dull to be honest – its eroge origins were clear from the harem setup and suggestive dialogue (barely an episode went by without Kakei telling one of the five female characters that he could see their underwear). The whole 'seeing the future' thing wasn't mentioned again for a long time after Kakei uses it to save Shirasaki back in ep 1, and aside from the slowly developing Shepherd storyline, nobody else seemed to have any special abilities. Things got MUCH better after episode 6, when we finally learned about the Shepherds and the Magic Library. Kakei was invited to become a Shepherd where he could read in peace and make the world a better place for others at the same time... but by this point he'd began to warm to his fellow club members. Cue a few disasters to threaten the lives and futures of his friends, obstacles that only the power of a Shepherd could overcome. Right up to the last few seconds of the final episode, it wasn't clear what Kakei's final decision would be, quite well written in my opinion. Characters Kakei didn't come across as particularly special early on, but gets bonus points for crossdressing as a maid~ As already mentioned, he became more interesting once faced with the Shepherd dilemma. As for his club mates/harem, design-wise they all looked like they'd been lifted from other anime or games, nothing original there. But I soon learned not to judge these books by their covers, as they all had fun personalities, great dialogue and amusing character interactions. Misono had to be my favourite – despite looking like a quiet Nagato rip-off, her confident, relentless teasing of Kakei made me hope that they'd somehow get together. Or that she'd end up with Kana, that'd be fine too. Animation and Sound The animation was above average, and kept to the same level of quality throughout. I especially liked the style used in the Magic Library – muted purple, clockwork, a slight mist... I'm a sucker for things like that! Not much to say about the music and sound – voice acting was perfect, OP and ED were catchy, though not the type of thing I'd listen to on their own. Misono's singing voice was lovely. Overall The early episodes definitely had a 'Key/Haruhi Suzumiya, but not as good' vibe to them. I can understand why the me from two years ago decided against continuing with it. But I'm glad my Secret Santa gave me a reason to watch it to the end, as it improved so much once the characters and story developed. Flawed but fun. (Secret Santa Review)

Brizent
6.5

Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai is pretty average, it has some interesting elements that keep me watching but it never really breaks out of being a pretty generic harem even with the shepherd elements. Story The Sheered elements are the main thing that keep me watching the series, beyond that it is your basic harem show.  A bunch of girls of varying personality like the main characters for one reason or another. The pacing is also very good, with each of the characters given proper development and screen time. Also there are some, if not laugh out loud at least chuckle worthy bits.  7/10 - Though it is a harem and that part is not unique, the shepherd storyline does keep it interesting enough if you enjoy the characters. Characters In a sentence, the characters are likeable enough.  Really though there isn't much special about any of them.  I will say that each of the haremettes is given enough screen time for their story and are given a proper arc sadly none of them are that interesting and are fairly generic.  Two more things, One the MC is pretty good as the harem lead, though again he isn't that interesting.  Two, the cat is the best character hands down though he isn't given that much screen time.   6/10 - I liked every character, but none of their stories were new or interesting.   Animation I was somewhat surprised when I came back to this show (I watched about half then came back at the end of the season and finished the rest) and paid attention to the animation and it was surprising good, overall I was impressed it’s nothing that will blow your socks of or anything but it good overall and it's consistent.  Besides the eyes I though the character designs were alright but definitely nothing that jumps out. 7.5/10 - Well-done and consistent, but I didn't like the design of the characters eyes at all. Sound The VA's were fine as far as I could tell.  The music is forgettable.  The OP is ok but wasn't good enough for me to download and the ED was forgettable too. 5.5/10 - The music was completely forgettable. Overall 6.5/10 The series does ok for what it wants to achieve but it is certainly not going to blow anyone's mind. Recommended to - Fans of the harem genre that what a simple show with likeable characters and a somewhat interesting plot about Shepherds (not the sheep kind) and can look past the fact that it brings nothing new to the table.

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