"The Book of Bantorra" is a 2009 anime, based on a light novel series called "Tatakau Shisho" (this title didn't keep for the American release). It's a high-concept fantasy series that, on paper, might be difficult to understand or describe, even though the story isn't far off from the norm in the genre. On many levels, the show is average, but in several ways, it stands out just enough to be memorable, the result of which makes for one of the better fantasy anime from its year, depending on your tastes. Now, I have to try to explain what it's about...The high concept story involves an alternate European-style setting, where the souls of people are turned into books, then stored in the sacred Bantorra Library. These books can be referenced for learning the past of a person's life. Naturally, the library is guarded by the "Armed Librarians," fighters with supernatural abilities, and their talents are also used to gather new books to add for the collection. The large cast is led by the poster character, Hamyuts Meseta: a mature woman in tight black pants, and a white buttoned-shirt have undone to reveal her large chest, with a taste for violence that earns her both respect and fear from the rest of the team. At first, the adventures are mostly stand-alone, switching from different library workers, each working on different quests. Sometimes, an episode or two is spent explaining the complex lore of this universe. It's not written especially well. Early episodes might even come off as confusing for newcomers, and as it continues, one can't help but feel the adventures are random and without an end goal.However, the story does get better, in part because it DOES have an end goal in mind. There is an over-arching antagonist, early events do have purpose towards the climax, and unlike many other anime, it does have a final, satisfying ending. An ending that relies a bit too much on unexplained magic, perhaps, but an ending nonetheless. This alone is a huge selling point for anyone curious to devote time to the 27-episode series.Hamyuts, the lead, is also another selling point for me, for being a strange and fascinating character. Her dark personality almost makes her an anti-hero, with trust in her eventually being put into question. While there isn't much fanservice to speak of (despite her large assets), she is sexually active, in one of several benefits of the show's cast being mostly comprised of adults. "The Book of Bantorra" feels like a show meant for adults who happen to like anime or fantasy, even if it is a little junvenille at times. 
The third boon is the European setting, and other international places in the globe-trotting adventures. While not well-rendered, it's refreshing compared to the typical "Japanese high school" setting we see in anime. As for production values, the show looks fine for when it was produced, but struggles to find a sense of style to call its own. Character designs vary greatly to represent the countries they came from, but in most cases, you could randomly pick any two characters from "Bantorra" and not believe them to be from the same series. Backgrounds, in part because of the variety of locations, don't have much detail, as expected for a weekly show on a budget. Animation is reasonable, but not especially impressive either. If anything, the font choices for titles make up the most memorable part of the show's style, but that style choice feels a little edgier than what the show came to look like.Music for "The Book of Bantorra" is better than I remember, after listening to the soundtrack online, but that it wasn't memorable says a lot on its own. The first opening theme was by Ali Project, a group whose distinct violin-fast-paced-opera-style of music was popular in the mid 2000's, and it's memorable in an overbearing way. The English dub is fairly good, thanks to the varied adult cast, but it also came from Sentai FIlmworks in their early days (at the time, this might have been better than average for them). "The Book of Bantorra" isn't exceptional, but I understand why it would be a cult-classic and underrated gem for well-versed anime fans. The show has been widely available by Sentai Filmworks for over a decade, so it's easy to find, and worth risking the time to sit down with.