The Book of Bantorra / Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra
Genres: action, fantasy Themes: life after death, religion Objectionable content: Intense Number of episodes: 27 Vintage: 2009-10-02 to 2010-04-02
Plot Summary: In a world where dead people turn into books and are stored in the Bantorra Library where anyone who reads a book can learn their past. Bantorra Library is maintained by Armed Librarians who wield psychic powers and their enemy is a religious society known as Sindeki Kyōdan.
HOUSTON, February 3, 2012— Sentai Filmworks is glad to announce its licensing of THE BOOK OF BANTORRA, the action-packed anime where the story of your life is a book - literally! Based on the light novels written by Ishio Yamagata and illustrated by Shigeki Maeshima, the 27 episode series is directed by Toshiya Shinohara (Black Butler, Inuyasha movies) with character designs by Masaki Yamada (Appleseed: Ex Machina) and music by Yoshihisa Hirano (Death Note, Broken Blade).
In another time and place, on a world of pain and sorrow, when someone dies, their soul doesn’t go to Heaven or Hell – it becomes a book. A book that reveals the deceased’s innermost secrets… and can be read by anyone. Protecting these priceless treasures is the elite organization known as the Armed Librarians. It’s their job to keep the books and the knowledge within them safe from those who would misuse or destroy them. It’s a tough, dangerous job, so Chief Librarian Hamyuts Maseta recruits only the best and the brightest psychics to join her team of expert fighters. But will they be good enough to stop the fanatics of the Church of Drowning in God’s Grace from wrecking vengeance on the entire world? Only time will tell, but that book hasn’t been written yet. Welcome to the Library of Bantorra, where the past is an open book.
THE BOOK OF BANTORRA will soon be available digitally through multiple outlets, with a home video release on bilingual DVD scheduled for later this year.
About Sentai Filmworks:
Sentai Filmworks is one of the fastest-growing anime companies in North America, producing hit series like High School of the Dead, Towanoquon, Samurai Girls, Guin Saga, Needless and Angel Beats as well as high profile theatrical films such as Grave of the Fireflies and Appleseed. Sentai Filmworks’ programs can be found on home video distributed by Ingram Entertainment, Baker & Taylor, Section23Films, The Right Stuf and other good and fine distributors. Digital product offerings may be found at iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, Zune Marketplace, Anime Network, Playstation Network, Android Market and YouTube. www.sentai-filmworks.com
Is there any ETA for this show to debut on TAN? As far as I’m willing to look, it isn’t streaming legally anywhere and I’m not sure what to think of this show. The picture for the cover doesn’t really answer any questions (though it does remind me of the classic Desert Punk a bit), and the “plot summary” makes the show come off as awful. That said, the plot summary for other shows (the most recent being Broken Blade) have made them seem awful but I actually enjoyed them. Though I did watch them dubbed.
From the picture I get the feeling that this is going to be a fanservice-heavy show. But will it be a Sekirei, a Queen’s Blade, or a Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne-esque show?
I’m ambivalent about Chris Ayres directing. His recent dubs, all 2 of them that I’ve seen, have lacked for “zazz”, and that makes me worry. That lack of “zazz” could just be because Night Raid itself lacked it and that the fans/Japanese forced Sentai’s hand in the ef dub, but I’m feeling pessimistic. After meeting Chris Ayres several times I have a feeling…
On the plus side, he goes to East Coast cons all the time so I should have no shortage of opportunities to get it signed.
Any idea if it’ll make it to TAN in subbed form before then?
I expect that the dub won’t start to debut until around the yet-unannounced release date for the dub. “Summer” is a long time. IMO it’s already started on the East Coast
We blind-bought (well, we saw the trailer and the “plot” summary) Broken Blade and got it signed by the Ayres Brothers before it was supposed to be released. Maybe we can do the same for this, though I’m not sure I want to blind-buy this. Though, come to think, Greg & Chris don’t really do the summer cons I go to
Wow, it’s nice to see John “minor role” Kaiser getting a second notable role. It’s awesome to see the venerated ADV crew is still, sort of, around.
Shepard and Bickham sound eerily alike. If Vic and the bard from Guin Saga were also in here then we’d have 4 roles that could be indistinguishable lol.
A whole 5 cast members also regularly tour the con circuit. I won’t be able to rack up signatures on this like I have with Bamboo Blade or Heroic Age, where I have almost the full cast, but it could become my most-signed Sentai release. I don’t think that I yet have a Sentai release with more than 3 unique signatures
OH MAN. John Kaiser was AMAZING as Mr. Sakurai in Nightraid 1931. He just nailed that role. I wrote about it in my review of the film. Anyway nice cats list, seems fresh.
OH MAN. John Kaiser was AMAZING as Mr. Sakurai in Nightraid 1931. He just nailed that role. I wrote about it in my review of the film. Anyway nice cats list, seems fresh.[/quote]
I’m surprised that Karbowski, the female “vocal constant”, isn’t in this. I think her exclusion is what makes the cast seem fresh as elsewise it is very similar to other recent Sentai casts.
Hopefully this show will be significantly better than Night Raid. The dub for Night Raid was well done, though I think it lacked verve, but I feel that it was wasted on such a lackluster show. Hopefully that won’t happen again with this.
I’m still kinda confused. Most of the people on that list have been leads in recent Sentai releases, as I recollect.
I’m not sure how recent a dub has to be to be “recent”, but Shelly Calene-Black was the lead in Princess Resurrection, Greg Ayres was the lead in *Broken Blade *(as was Emily Neves) and ef:Memories, and David Wald was/will be the lead in Golgo 13 (arguably also including Chris Ayres as a lead), all of which either have or will release this year.
Has the Luci Christian/Chris Patton duo come up recently besides TWGOK?
I have high hopes for this dub. I’m looking forward to it.
Sooooooooo, the review for the show is up on Fandom Post. The review didn’t really tell me anything that I need to know for purchase (the site doesn’t focus–to be polite–on dubs, and I didn’t like the show subbed), so when can we expect an ep or 2 to post up here on TAN?
Not going to happen. New episode every Friday from now through November 2nd 2012.
That’s how the cookie crumbles around here. If you want to see it all legally dubbed before then the cheapest and fastest way is buy the two parts on DVD during the next Rightstuf Sentai sale.
Yep, because Sentai doesn’t want to cater to people who would pay for the show but either can’t have or don’t want a physical copy, and they seem to believe that if people can easily stream the whole show that they won’t buy a physical copy of it.
Sentai missed the “if watching it legally is more convenient than watching it illegally, more people will watch it legally” memo that other companies are following. It is painful to keep seeing full shows on vod without a good reason for them not being here. The technical and legal requirements have been met, the only reason Book of Bantorra isn’t all here is because of tan’s business “strategy”, which I find to be pretty damn annoying.
When I look at it, I guess Sentai isn’t loosing much money from me by not streaming the while show. I’ve already paid for tan, so no matter what Sentai streams they already have my money. Odds are that one of my friends will buy the DVDs and we’ll watch them as a group, so Sentai gets one DVD purchase from “me” as well. I probably won’t buy a physical copy though, not unless the show is incredibly awesome IMO (or the cast appears at cons near me, but that rarely happens) so Sentai has, most likely, lost a physical sale from me. So they get 130 bucks instead of 200. I don’t think that’ll phase em.
If I could stream the show, I’d buy it, provided that it didn’t suck. If I have to wait for my friends to get the DVDs to watch it, then I won’t buy the DVDs (with limited exception) because they’ve already been bought and I’ve already “supported the industry”. It might not be the most rational stance around, but it’s how I’m operating.
I’m not sure that the litany of streaming sites that are on Google are illegal per se, they seem to have some “legalese” disclaimer explaining that they are legal, somehow…
Anime Network Announces Book of Bantorra Collection 1 and 2 Giveaway**
HOUSTON, TX — May 15, 2012 — In celebration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Anime Network invites fans to enter this summer’s hit series Book of Bantorra promotional giveway. The first 13 episodes of this hit series are now airing on Video on Demand and Xfinity’s Top Picks.
Successful entrants will watch the first six episodes of Book of Bantorra now through June 30 and visit the Book of Bantorra Contest Page to answer a few simple questions.
Book of Bantorra is among four anime titles featured in May’s Xfinity Top Picks section celebrating Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Anime Network. Along with Angel Beats, Elfen Lied and Infinite Stratos, Book of Bantorra was selected because they represent the unique use of colorful illustration, pop music and storytelling indicative of the Japanese art form that has grown in worldwide popularity.
About Book of Bantorra
When a person dies, the soul departs from its body and is crystallized into a book. Written in that book are all the memories of that soul’s life. For anyone who touches that book, the dead person’s past can be relived…. It is in the Library of Bantorra, run by an elite organization known as the Armed Librarians, that all excavated books are stored. Under the direction of Acting Chief Librarian Hamutz Meseta, all Armed 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 the fanatics of the Shindeki Church from exacting vengeance on the entire world? Only time will tell, but that book hasn’t been written yet.
ABOUT ANIME NETWORK
Celebrating its 10th year, Anime Network is a leading broadcast and digital distributor of Japanese animation and Asian cinema in North America. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Anime Network was founded in 2002 and launched as one of the first VOD networks on most major cable providers. Anime Network’s mission is to bring the best in anime programming to every household in North America. In addition to our VOD network, consumers can access our Online Streaming Service on our official website. This dynamic website, featuring an ever growing anime community, includes a subscription service that mirrors the VOD network and allows viewers to catch up on episodes they may have missed on broadcast.[/quote]
