The Book of Bantorra Part II
Studio: David Production
Publisher: Siren Visual
Format: DVD
Release Date: May 23rd, 2013
Price: $49.95 – Available Here

Overview
Enter once again the world of Bantorra, exploring the unique stories of various characters in a twisted world. As mentioned in the Part I review, the series explores the weight of people’s decisions and the impact that their actions have on others. Bantorra Part II is the culmination of the series that began in Part I (the review of which is found here), wrapping up the various stories and bringing to a close The Book of Bantorra.

Story
Since Part I ended in the middle of an arc, Part II naturally jumps right back into it…after a recap episode. Not quite sure why but episode 14 is a clip episode, bookended by Shiron Byacornise explaining details of humanity. Anyway, after that the series kicks back into the Lascall Othello arc that Part I ended on, finally bringing the story to a close. From this point, the story begins to explain the more supernatural elements present in the series, such as the true nature of Othello. The three Gods of the series, Bantorra, Toitorra and Orntorra, are also explored to some degree.

The Book of Bantorra Part II is an escalation of everything that came before. The smaller story arcs more closely tie into the plot at large and disclose more and more information as the series progresses. Though they still focus on separate characters, it is more obvious how they connect as the barriers between people break down. Tying together all of the plot tangents that were opened over the course of the series, resolution is brought to even the smallest story. As the truth that has been hinted at since the beginning is progressively revealed, the entire concept of the world is turned upside down. The focus shifts to the concepts of the world itself more than the characters understanding and adherence to the laws they set themselves.

With the truth set free, the fights hold more weight than ever before and are justifiably more brutal, ranging from intense one on one combat to all out slaughter. These instances come to reveal the Armed Librarians as monsters, their motivations good, yet certainly not pure. Every single character possesses a reason why they fight and, rather than just stating their belief, the series strives to explain it through their eyes. As it has since the beginning, the series does not broadly label good and evil, but rather expresses the notion that people’s own concepts of justice and joy simply clash. As much as Part II connects people, it is still a prevalent theme that each person is their own existence. This is especially noticeable through the earlier explained concept of Magic Rights, wherein one gain powers by simply rejecting a facet of reality. This again notes that through the window of oneself, the world beyond can be altered. Bantorra does an excellent job undermining yet somehow reinforcing notions of hope and righteousness and paradoxically supporting isolation and connectivity simultaneously.

There is a great deal of character development and revelation in Part II. As characters are explained, like the Armed Librarian Minth, their motivations are revealed and a new interpretation of them is created. Characters who once seemed like shallow placeholders are given a complexity that shapes them as more than that. The series also furthers the personal plot of the mystery that is Hamutz Meseta. It delves into her past, providing details on how and why she became the battle lusting Acting Director. Her twisted past sheds new light upon all her actions thus far as well as the goal she strives for. These adjacent story lines create a sense of life in the characters, granting them not only a believability but also a justification.

Visuals and Audio
Just as in Part I, the visuals in Part II are excellent. As the story progresses, more and more fight scenes appear. These scenes are all well animated, expressing power and violence in each of the characters actions. As the story explores each character further, their facial expressions become more defined and recognisable. There is often focused placed on a characters face, such as when Hamutz begins a fight. These instances help define the characters and make them seem unique. The backgrounds are more varied than Part I, adding a number of new locations, including mountain ranges, ancient cities and even deserts. The locales provide dramatic scenery for a majority of the larger fights, adding to the sense of a complete world.

The musical score retains the same orchestral sense it did in the first half of the series, culminating in dramatic operatic notes as the action peaks. Violin is used more heavily as well. It features both as part of the soundtrack and within the story itself, providing insight and development into some characters. The series also receives its obligatory theme song change in episode 16. This new theme song, titled “Seisai no Ripeno”, is also used towards the end of episode 26, in order to rouse emotion and set the mood for the beginning of the finale.

Overall
Book of Bantorra Part II answers all the questions of the series, adds more, then answers those too. It ramps up the stakes and action tenfold. Bantorra does an excellent job of tying everything together, even small elements that seemed unimportant connect to the plot at large. This creates are more believable world, one where things don’t just happen, they happen for a reason.The series conveys intricate notions of self and the impact one has on the world, elements conveyed well through the number of interesting characters.  It shows that no matter how dark and twisted the world seems to be, there is always something worth clinging to. All in all The Book of Bantorra is a complex series full of consequences and pain, yet still containing an underlying sense of hope at its core.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

The Book of Bantorra Part I
Studio: David Production
Publisher: Siren Visual
Format: DVD
Release Date: March 21st, 2013
Price: $49.95 – Available Here

Overview
Set in a fantasy world full of magical abilities, The Book of Bantorra is one of those anime series that delves into some serious issues. It looks into the truth of people and whether one person’s desires mean more than another’s. Bantorra is an interesting, inherently dark series. It tends to focus on the corruption of the world and how selfish desire, whilst possibly providing happiness for one, can damage it and the people within. Since each person knows they will become a book, a lot of focus is placed on them creating an interesting life story. Essentially the show acts as a commentary on life and how people act and how this is amplified in a world where you’re life can be shown in full to anyone. A series in which every person is literally their own story it begs the questions that if every man is an island, then what is their place in the world?

Story
The Book of Bantorra is set in a world where, upon death, the soul of a person is transformed into a stone tablet known as a book. Said books allow any who touch it to see the events of that person’s life. Naturally, these books are highly sought after for various reasons, some less…innocent than others. The books are guarded by the Armed Librarians, who protect and store them in the labyrinthine Bantorra Library. Each of these Librarians possess incredible supernatural powers which they use to protect the library and all of the books housed within from their enemy, The Shindeki Church otherwise known as The Church of Drowning in God’s Grace. Each member of this church seeks out happiness, believing that they will attain entrance into Heaven by sating every one of their desires, whether it be fame, money or murder. Rather than being outright evil, they’re more selfish than anything, their doctrine being to achieve  their deepest desires regardless of  any obstacle. They’re still evil, but that tends to come from their specific desire, like a longing to murder or destroy.

As the series progresses questions are raised about the ethically questionable nature of the Armed Librarians Acting Director Hamutz Meseta. Established as a mysterious character, it becomes more apparent that she possesses a slightly vicious nature, and that is to say a very violent nature. It calls into question whether the ends justify the means, just another complex issue the series explores. She possesses an intense lust for battle and actively searches for one strong enough to kill her, all tying into the theme of sating desire, though she opposes those with said doctrine.

A lot of the moral questions also arise from the characters known as Meats. These beings are not even referred to as human, being labelled no more than cattle, mentally broken to the point of emotionless servitude. Their role in the plot forces you to wonder what constitutes a human, is it an inalienable right of birth, or can it be lost? The irony being that those who create the Meats are themselves less human, being able to actually do that to another person.

The series itself is broken up into small story arcs, each which focus on specific characters and their own internal conflicts. These more personal stories tend to develop characters, providing insight into their motivations and desires and creating a deeper universe. From the arcs presented, it is made clear that there is a much larger plot in action, though it has yet to culminate as of the end of Part I. Each arc pieces together more information, creating an interwoven story that runs deeper than each character.

Visuals and Audio
The animation in Bantorra was done very well. The movement of the characters in action scenes was very fluid. The combat scenes also tend to display a fairly generous helping of wounds, notable in that there is generally a believable amount of blood shown from each. The characters themselves also possessed a unique style, each easily distinguishable from one another. The characters also show a lot of emotion and variations in their expression. Occasionally there was some obvious CGI used, which didn’t really fit into the visual style of the series but thankfully it was used sparingly, the main example being a boat in the first episode. The series also contained some very picturesque, if sometimes haunting, locales. The backgrounds did an excellent job a conveying the dark, sinister world that the story was describing.

The soundtrack for Bantorra suited the situations of the episodes very well. It relied on orchestral pieces to further the dramatic tension in scenes. The violin was also used frequently, adding an ominous sense. The English dub of Bantorra was done very well. Each character was uniquely voiced and actually had an emotional range, the voice of the character Hamutz Meseta especially. Her voice acting, performed by Shelley Calene-Black, made the character more believable and interesting, inciting curiosity into her own personal story and development.

Extras
There really isn’t much in the way of extras in this Part I DVD collection. There is a textless version of the opening sequence as well as an alternate intro and ending. Also included is a short trailer for the series itself.

Overall
The Book of Bantorra is a unique and interesting series. It delves deeply into what it means to be a human as well as how desires and action affect the world. It presents the world as dark with faint traces of hope, in the form of people. The series itself is a commentary on life, in its own twisted sort of way. Part I ended partway through a story arc, which is kind of annoying but it leaves you wanting to know what happened. Hopefully Part II answers some of the plot threads left hanging, but in a series like this that’s almost certain. All in all it’s a dark yet curiously uplifting series.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.