Tags
Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian, Circus, Dalian, Dantalian, Dantalian no Shoka, Dantalion, Huey, Hugh Anthony Disward, Index Librorum Prohibitorum, Liber de Nymphis, Library of Labyrinth, Weasley Disward, Wes
Reading was not used to be for everyone. In the early days, only the privilege ones had the opportunity to read. Despite of this fact, not all books were accessible to the public. One example is the promulgation of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. This was a list of all the prohibited books, mostly based on Arts and Science, which were banned by the Church. Hence, it’s no wonder if Dantalian no Shoka is heavily themed with mythology and some religious references.
Further, one of the most obvious references of this series was the used of the term “Dantalian,” (popularly known as “Dantalion”) it’s described as the demon of knowledge who emits a blue aura and holds a book on his right hand. According to the book of Key to Solomon’s Key, he’s the Duke Great and Mighty appearing in the form of a man with many Countenances, and it’s also said that Dantalion teaches all Arts and Sciences—during the old times, these topics were said to counter the teachings of the Church. So arguably, linking to Arts and Science was the main reason why this series used Paracelsus’ Liber de Nymphis.
Although I have no idea what’s the connection between Paracelsus and the sheol, I believed that one of the grounds why this anime “phantomized” Liber de Nymphis was because during Paracelsus time, his works were largely misinterpreted. His approach to nature which was known for understanding the role elemental spirits was labeled by some as fake medicine. Also, his books on medicine were rampantly regarded as something that’s pertaining to magic, alchemy and occult philosophy. Hence, this justifies why Dalian considered Paracelsus’ Liber de Nymphis as a Phantom Book which was never meant to exist the world.
So, what about the relationship between Paracelsus and the circus? Since Paracelsus, had been regarded as a freak of his time, his book became an ideal candidate to seal the freaks. In addition, the binary thinker in me suggested that it’s a matter of knowledge of nature transcribing to civilization versus wilderness. Further, circus is known for presenting man taming animals. As aforementioned, Paracelsus is celebrated for his elemental beliefs. For him non-humans should be treated well, “although they are beasts, they have all the reason of man, except the soul.”
For sure, these are not the only references used in this anime. I just happened to pick these because they sound nice. Also this time, I’m just going skip summarizing the plot. Pretty much the main idea of this series is, knowledge can be the start of sin. Those who unfittingly hold knowledge will just break down the laws of reason and causality, thus it became Dalian and Huey’s mission to protect the library.
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Side Remarks:
- This post is meant for Thursday, however I just realized that the moment I post this on Thursday, a new episode is already out.
- Is there a need to strictly stick with schedules in terms of posting?
- The two characters are so adorable and so good-looking.
- Huey is the most reliable male lead that I’d seen lately. He’s truly a bodyguard potential.
Lemmas and Submodalities 
Wow, you sure did some research in regards to the mythos of the series and all the allusions they made to historical documents. It’s funny how the Index Librorum Prohibitorum was real since I always thought it was fantastical given the nature of To Aru Majutsu no Index. But what do you know, it was as real as rain.
Wait…Index Librorum Prohibitorum is real?!
Lol haha!
Yet another good read Snippy! Keep up the professionalism :D
@tomphile Yeah, I did some research since this anime is about books. :) I haven’t seen To Aru Miajutsu no Index, but that’s something that I wanted to see one of these days.
@Sabishii indeed it’s real. Hmm… for some reason first thing I thought of after reading professionalism is salaryman. ^^;
LOL Salaryman :D
“Is there a need to strictly stick with schedules in terms of posting?”
Yes, we need more posts!!! :D
“The two characters are so adorable and so good-looking.”
Dalian is mine! >_<
"Huey is the most reliable male lead that I’d seen lately. He’s truly a bodyguard potential."
True, Huey combining both awesomeness and Daisuke Ono voice sure looks like reliable
The problem with me is, I easily get bored with what I’m doing and I need to miss writing for a while to come up with something.
Aww… but I want to be greedy this time, both Dalian and Huey are mine. ^^
Ugh, I don’t see the name or hear the name Index Librorum Prohibitorum again. Had to do an exhaustive paper on it during my AP European History class in high school. Earned that “A” with all the research I did. As for the anime, looking forward to seeing it, since I see a lot of interesting historical parallels ^^
Last time I discussed about this was during the Dan Brown’s phenomena, where everyone was so hyped with his books: The Da Vinci Code, and Angels & Demons. I’m also looking forward on the next episode. I was surprised though, because this only has eleven episodes.
I actually thought The Da Vinci Code was decent. Not perfect, but a decent read. I have yet to read Angels & Demons…or see the movie for that matter.
Only 11 episodes? Have go into that…thought it be at least around 13 or longer…
*look into :P
I liked those for their mind boggling twists, symbolism and controversies. I haven’t seen Angels & Demons the movie too, I just read the book.
When I checked MAL it says 11 eps only. I was also expecting more than that, but let’s just hope that it’ll give us a good mystery plot, although I’m not expecting it’s going to be really deep.
This is why I only review stuff, I don’t have the patience to do this much research for entertainment purposes but I suppose it would boost the appearance of my IQ if I were to become more journalistic. In any case, this may be a show geared towards both “geezers” and supernatural fans alike. Oh and Dalian’s currently in the lead to becoming Victorique’s successor due to her personality and dress code. Huey isn’t as entertaining as Kujo to me but he’s certainly looking to be more respectable.
When I read your Denpa Onna post that gave me quite a “nerdy” vibe, and I really liked it because it’s also so entertaining and full of humour. If there’s something that I want to improve with my writing, that’s incorporating humour on it.
I don’t really know Victorique’s character that deep, but I find her cuter and more adorable than Dalian. And as for the male leads, I’m in huge favour of Huey over Kujo. As you said, he looks more reputable, plus I also liked his overall appearance compared to Kujo’s.
I think the Denpa Onna review was one of my more creative ones. Usually I either give personal opinions, experiences or rants. If I’m lucky I could be on the funky side with one of my reviews and since that one caught your eye, I’m happy my writing is as noticeable as your own.
It’s understandable since Huey looks more competent than Kujo and apparently more handsome.
Your funky side is really fun to read it’s full of enthusiasm.
LOL that made me laugh. But anyway, absolutely agreed Huey is so handsome. He can make me kyaa the same way as Rei from Evangelion could make me kyaa. ^^
This anime seems to embody the sayings “knowledge is power” and “power corrupts”. When you consider that books have been the vessels for transferring knowledge for centuries, it’s no wonder that you get stories of their great and dangerous powers.
I think the book itself isn’t dangerous, it’s how the reader perceived the text or message makes it treacherous.
Dantalian no Shoka got me hooked from the get go. I have to say i was quite surprised with some of the things I read in here. I didn’t realize hte similarity between the Index Librorum Prohibitorum and the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian until now, so yeah, nice one.
I do agree that Huey is shaping up to be a rather capable main character. And it is sad that this series will only get 11 episodes. Let’s just hope they make the most out of it.
Thank you, I’m glad that you find my post interesting. I used to be really intrigued about Librorum Prohibitorum that’s why I tried draw a connection between that and Dantalian, and thankfully that I made sense.
Yes, I agreed. Huey’s character made a huge impact for me to liked this series. Balanced character roles is also something that I consider in deciding whether to follow or not an anime.
Btw, thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. :)
This is why i’m envious of bloggers who do their homework and is able to deliver an enjoyable post.
For some odd reason, I could relate this to how old man Wes, Huey’s grandfather, treats the magical books. While he was only described by Huey, I think that the reason why he wasn’t killed by the Phantom Book of Paracelsus compared with the fate of his rival (Conrad, was it?) was because old man Wes treated these objects properly. The best example of this would be requesting that his successor would take care of all the books and Dalian and perhaps, from Dalian’s time with Wes, we can say that he treated her well despite being an object of power.
Thanks.^^ I’m also jealous of someone who can just write instinctively. If I’m going to open up my brain, it’s full of cluttered ideas that’s why sometimes I need to do some research to pull out a pleasant read.
Your points are interesting. I remembered Wes was described as bibliomaniac so for sure he valued his books more than his life. That said, I really wish that this anime will focus more on solving Wes’ death and searching what Huey is looking for compared to just fighting the forces of evil and keeping the library safe.
Index Librorum Prohibitorum totally reminds me of Index from A Certain Magical Index. The struggle between the church and open information seems to be a pretty common motif in anime, doesn’t it? (Although the introduction of mythology into it muddles the free speech and church vs. science themes somewhat.)*
Anyway, great post on the references!
Also, no, I don’t think there is a need to stick to a strict posting schedule. For me, blogging should be first and foremost a fun, stress free experience. It’s OK to be just a little loose with it~
*I haven’t seen this anime, so I’m assuming some things based on what people have said. But it is a lot of fun to read about Liber de Nymphis. ^ ^
I’m afraid haven’t seen Index from A Certain Magical Index, and to be honest, I’ve only seen quite a few anime in comparison to a regular anime viewer. I only happen to know Index Librorum Prohibitorum because I read it from some novels and documentaries. But yeah, pretty much it’s about the Church vs Science. After its abolishment, they Christianized some philosophers e.g. Aristotle, Spinoza, Descartes etc. But please don’t be confused with the use of that reference. It wasn’t mentioned in Dantalian, I just tried to draw out some connection between the two to present my thoughts about Paracelsus.
Btw, thanks for the suggestion. For the past years, deadline has become my lifestyle that’s why I’m easily bothered by schedules, but I totally agree with you that blogging should be a fun experience. I guess I just really need to find when is my best time to write.
I haven’t been able to watch this, but it does sound very interesting! Also, you don’t really need to stick to a schedule; you get to have a flexible schedule and can change it around. Me, I’m way behind, but hopefully I’ll get back on track sometime near the end of August or after college starts…
The first episode was really interesting. I love it that’s why I thought it would be promising. But right now I’m disappointed because it turned out to be episodic rather than having an actual plot. That said, I’m not saying it’s bad, it has sensible characters and not to mention superb art.
1. The Index of Forbidden Books had no legal status, except possibly in the Papal States. But in most European states, writing a controversial political book meant censorship, fines, imprisonment, or the death penalty.
2. It wasn’t about what “normal people weren’t allowed to read”. It was a list of books that, if you were a good Catholic, and if you were looking for a book to read that wasn’t for purposes of study and refutation, you would know not to buy it and read it. This of course increased sales among those not interested in being good Catholics.
3. The only serious inconvenience involved was for libraries owned by church organizations (in which case, there was usually a Restricted Section only for use by mature readers with permission) or for members of religious orders under obedience not to read books on the Index (who could ask their superiors for permission to read them).
4. Nowadays, we have all sorts of reviewers to warn us about the presence of heresies in movies and books — though of course the heresies differ by the reviewer. But generally one hears all sorts of horrible fates wished on authors and books by secular reviewers, whereas religious ones don’t.
5. And yes, it was nearly always heresy that got you on the Index. Didn’t matter what scientific results or political insights you had; it mattered whether or not you badmouthed the BIble doing it. (Or proclaimed yourself the One True Interpreter of the Bible, like Galileo did.)
1. Every state has its own law and policy that’s why indeed, it’s true that the Forbidden Books had no legal status except in the Papal States.
2. If you’re going to revisit history, Index Librorum Prohibitorum prohibited Arts and Science works which challenged the notion of divinity. Since at some point Catholicism was the most widespread religion in Europe (or even in the World), the Church domination was threatened by the some philosophical ideologies, hence a list of banned books was released by the Church. (PS: before, Church more or less shared in running the politics of a State, and some states might be still doing the same practice)
“if you were looking for a book to read that wasn’t for purposes of study and refutation, you would know not to buy it and read it.”
It’s interesting that you brought this up, why would somebody hinder someone from exploring or reading for recreation? I believed that the start of knowledge occurs out of just mere curiosity and no one has the right to prohibit someone from learning and exploring. Take for instance Descartes, why did the Church ban his works? Don’t you find it ironic that now his works are greatly considered as foundation of mathematics, which are also being taught in Catholic schools. Hence, this is just one of the examples that the Church had mistakenly labelled great philosophical works, by which at the end they recognized their own mistake.
3. It’s possible that the Church has restricted section and I believed they have the rights to do so. FYI Index Librorum Prohibitorum was officially abolished on 1966. I’m not knowledgeable about the architecture of the Vatican and its Restricted Section so I can’t really react on this
4. “But generally one hears all sorts of horrible fates wished on authors and books by secular reviewers, whereas religious ones don’t.”
I’m sorry but I beg to disagree. I respect your opinion… but this is just an opinion. I don’t believe that religious ones are more “sacred” or offer “more valid” reviews than the secular reviewers or vice versa. We all have our own ideologies and that affects our reasoning, but to say that one form of ideology is superior than the other, that’s just absurd. Indeed, heresies exist but through research and investigation we can prove or disprove these. But going back to Index Librorum Prohibitorum, to be honest I find it so unfair that the Church banned most of the greatest scientific works… Again, no wonder why the Church abolished Index Librorum Prohibitorum… It’s good that they realized their fault.
5. “Didn’t matter what scientific results or political insights you had; it mattered whether or not you badmouthed the BIble doing it.”
I respect your beliefs and it’s none of my business if you are considering the Bible as the one sole truth, but you also have to consider that not everyone shares the same religious faith as you do. To simplify this, I believed that there’s no such thing as superior ideology. Truth always varies from person to person that’s why whatever the person’s scientific and political insights are, should be treated and respect equally as the others.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading my post and sharing your thoughts. It’s always such a pleasure to see none anime bloggers commenting on my posts. You also raised up a very interesting discussion and I really enjoyed reading your insights. Please accept my sincerest apologies if ever I said something offending, however I mean no harm in my comments. Just like you, my goal is just to share what I know.
What’s up to all, how is all, I think every one is getting more from this site, and your views are nice for new people.