is a manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series by Nobuyuki Takagi

Nobuyuki Takagi

is a male Japanese manga author. He originally worked as an electrical engineer and published dōjinshi under the pen name "Boo", though he wanted to create manga professionally...

 that has been adapted into a moe anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 directed by Koji Masunari, who is also known for being the director of the anime OVA series Read or Die

Read or Die

is a series of light novels authored by Hideyuki Kurata, published under Shueisha's Super Dash Bunko imprint. Read or Die follows Yomiko Readman, codename "The Paper", an agent for the Special Operations Division of the British Library. There are currently 11 Read or Die novels. In volume 11, a...

 and the 2005 anime series Kamichu

Kamichu

is a Japanese anime television series, strongly influenced by the Shinto religion, that follows the adventures of teenage goddess Yurie Hitotsubashi and her friends. The title is short for . The series was created by , which is the joint pen name of Tomonori Ochikoshi, Koji Masunari, and Hideyuki...

.

Plot

A idealistic young soldier meets a nurse whose bibliophile young patient convinces him to bloom where he is planted as he pays forward his courage to the people with books from a nearby war-damaged library while helping to pick up the pieces. The collective goodwill visited unto him convinces the soldier to construct what is Kokoro Library as the "place where miracles happen" with the nurse as his spouse with whom he spawns three daughters: Iina, Aruto, and Kokoro.

Several years later, Iina and Aruto have refined themselves into the librarian

Librarian

A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...

s of Kokoro Library with such quality that their baby sister Kokoro wishes to emulate them. A sunny disposition along with a willingness to eschew the stereotypical professional relationship with her customers are among Kokoro's best assets; still, the road to being the consummate librarian is neither straight nor smooth in fair weather. Kokoro Library's seclusion within the mountains away from the city deters all but the most determined and adventurous users—an attribute that has gotten it in hot water on more than one occasion along with the public grant money necessary for its operation. In spite of the odds against her, Kokoro resolves herself for a euphoric epilogue.

Sun-Shindo Family

At the beginning of the anime Kokoro has just become a librarian at the place with the same name as me. She is very polite and will go out of her way to help her customers, even going as far as to make home visits to collect overdue books. She likes reading, especially Himemiya Kirin novels and enjoys watering flowers and creating rainbows while doing so. She has a cat called Kito and, judging by her taste in the decor of her room, she has a special fondness for cats. Kokoro's hair is very long and similar in colour to Aruto's. Her eyes are grey and her uniform is red.

Kokoro lives and works with her two older sisters, Iina and Aruto. Both of their parents are deceased. In episode 8, she reveals that her mother died immediately after Kokoro was born and her father died a short while afterwards.

The eldest sister, Iina has an overactive imagination, is good with computers and likes taking photographs, especially of Kokoro. Her room is decorated with many pictures of Kokoro, including a poster sized one. She adores her youngest sister, perhaps a little more than is healthy. She is very protective of Kokoro and has the tendency to get jealous when Kokoro is with Aruto, Hikari, or Akaha. She even has a Kokoro keyring and a collection of Kokoro dolls, one of which she sleeps with. Iina has light brown hair and green eyes. Her uniform is blue and she drives a white car with cat seat-covers.

The middle sister, Aruto is strong-willed, an excellent cook and has the ability to sleep anywhere. She is a talented writer and illustrator. Unknown to Kokoro, she has published several novels under the pen-name Himemiya Kirin. Aruto stays up at night to write her story, thats one reason why she's always seen sleeping anywhere during the day. Aruto has short dark hair and wears large round glasses. Her eyes are blue-grey and her uniform is black. As Himemiya Kirin, she wears a long blonde wig.

----
The two characters listed below are deceased for most of the series.

Also romanised as Sun Joldy. The sisters' late father. A member of the third squad. He lost his family in a raid. He speaks in a very formal manner which causes good-natured teasing among his comrades. He is very caring and helpful. He feels it is his duty to protect the people of his city. He does not approve of fighting but condones it if it is absolutely necessary to protect the city. Uezawa finds his ideals to be immature. After the war, he helped to rebuild the bridge and spent time in the mountains, living in a cabin and growing vegetables. He shares Kokoro's skill of creating rainbows with a watering-can. Like Shindou, he understands the importance of books and worked to create a library, which he named Kokoro, meaning 'heart', which he discovers is also the given name of Shindo, his future wife.

Kokoro, Aruto and Iina's late mother. She was a nurse at a hospital in a war zone, where she met Jordi. She cared for Akari, a child at the time, and was often found in the library, looking for books to read to her young patient. She is very similar in appearance to her youngest daughter.

Uezawa Family

The younger Uwezawa's father. Was a driver for hire before the war and dislikes driving weapons for the military.He was stationed with Momochi, Jordi, Kaji and Kameyan. When the war ends, he returns to his old job.

The delivery man who delivers new books to Kokoro Library in his white van. According to episode 9, it is not a job that pays well. The sisters take advantage of his huge crush on Iina so he will do small jobs for them such as handing out flyers

Flyer (pamphlet)

__notoc__A flyer or flier, also called a circular, handbill or leaflet, is a form of paper advertisement intended for wide distribution and typically posted or distributed in public place....

. He is something of a daydreamer and a romantic but not very skilled at expressing his feelings. His overactive imagination is comparable to that of Iina. He often gets himself into awkward situations and people's misunderstandings of his kindness have resulted in him being labelled a pervert by Iina and, in two instances, being arrested.

Uezawa has black hair and dark eyes, and he smokes cigarettes.

Inoue Family

Hikari's mother. A former patient in a war hospital. She bears a strong resemblance to her daughter, something further emphasised by the same seiyū

Seiyu

Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...

 voicing both characters.

Hikari is a young girl who was sent to Kokoro Library to train as a special-case librarian while her mother was in hospital. At first she appears introverted and refuses to speak or do any work. At one point she even lashes out at Kokoro for looking at a photograph of her mother. After attempting to run away from the library, Hikari opens up to Kokoro and the two become close friends. Once her true personality is revealed, Hikari appear strong-minded, honest and affectionate. Though she is even younger than Kokoro, she seems wise beyond her years as she tells Uezawa to give up on Iina as their 'love will not bloom.' She also criticises Aruto's novels for their lack of realism (though she later admits that she quite enjoys them). Hikari has green eyes and wears a single side pigtail in her otherwise loose dark hair. Her uniform is pink.

Momochi Family

Sergeant Momochi

Marie's father. He was stationed with Uezawa, Jordi, Kaji and Kameyan. He is a good-natured, kindly man.

The town's beautiful female major. She travels in an expensive chauffer-driven black car. She plans to close down Kokoro Library because its under-utilization convinces her that it is more of a burden on the taxpayers than anything. It is not that outrageous to conclude that Marie's contempt for the Library is because she does not understand the historical rationale behind the Library. Fortunately for Kokoro, Marie backs down when the whole city ties the fate of her career with that of Kokoro Library.

Okajima Family

A customer of Kokoro library. She is Akaha's mother.

A friend of Kokoro's and one of Kokoro Library's customers. They met when Kokoro helped her find her way home. She is a relative of Misato and is short, helpful and soft-spoken. She lives in a villa in Kokoro's town and likes squirrels and reading.

A lonely rich girl Kokoro encounters while on holiday. She suffers from the same unspecified sickness her late mother had. Though she is getting better, her over-protective father and strict butler

Butler

A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...

 do not allow her to leave the house or socialise, therefore she is very happy to receive a visit from Kokoro. She spends her time reading and watching the ocean view from her window. She dreams of seeing the ocean up close and touching a dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...

, dreams which Kokoro and Akaha help her to fulfill.

Androids

An android who sacrifices herself so that her power source can be used to blow up a bridge, halting enemy advance. She does not appear nearly as human as June, a later model, and has a more mechanised voice. She wishes that in the future, her kind will be used for helping people, rather than battle, a dream which comes true.

June is a long-haired brunette with bright green eyes wearing a blue librarian uniform that warmly greets Kokoro as her roommate when she is sent on a librarian training course. June explains that she is a comparoid -- a type of android that has parallels to the persocoms in Chobits

Chobits

is a Japanese manga created by the Japanese manga collective Clamp. It was published by Kodansha in Young Magazine from February 2001 to November 2002 and collected in eight bound volumes....

 -- developed by Nakanishi Industry and sent to attend the training session to appraise the quality of her programming and the utilization of the library-related data installed in her electronic brain as a new development. Much to Kokoro's pleasant surprise, June does not oppressively wield her emphasis on efficiency when she counsels Kokoro on how to conquer the training session. She learns what it means to be a librarian from Kokoro.

Miscellaneous Characters

Kokoro's first customer. She rides a moped and becomes quite friendly with Kokoro. When she does not return the book she borrows, Kokoro takes it upon herself to retrieve it. Kokoro is disheartened when she learns that Hoshino has moved away because of her job. However, the book is returned to the library in the mail.

Aruto's editor. She works for Celery Library's editorial department. She assists Aruto in hiding Himemiya Kirin's identity from Kokoro and Iina.

Nicknamed Kaji by other officers. He is sent by Interpol

Interpol

Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...

 to track the Funny Tortoise Thief and arrives at Kokoro Library which is being targeted. He is accompanied by a number of female officers known as Kaji's Angels. He is constantly seen smoking a cigar and is always on edge and very suspicious of everyone. He was formerly in the army.He was stationed with Uezawa, Jordi, Momochi and Kameyan. He lost his wife and children in a raid

Raid (military)

Raid, also known as depredation, is a military tactic or operational warfare mission which has a specific purpose and is not normally intended to capture and hold terrain, but instead finish with the raiding force quickly retreating to a previous defended position prior to the enemy forces being...

.

Asakura is in charge of Kokoro and June's librarian training.

(Real name: Kameyan Aigame) (Funny Tortoise), Kenichi Suzumura

Kenichi Suzumura

is a Japanese voice actor who was born in Niigata Prefecture, but raised in Osaka Prefecture. He is currently affiliated with Arts Vision. He made his television animation debut on Macross 7 in 1994...

 (Aigame)

Funny Tortoise is notorious thief and master of disguise who disguises himself as Uezawa, Kokoro, Kaji and as a policewoman by the name of Itou to steal a valuable locked book (which turns out to be Jordi's diary) from the library. He travels in a hot-air balloon with a tortoise logo on it. He is also talented at imitating other people's voices. Though a criminal, he has a good heart and helps Kokoro on several occasions.

Aigame is the thief's true identity. He met the girls' parents as a 14 year old soldier with no family. Before the army, he was a thief, working his way up from petty theft to highway robbery. As punishment, he was forced to join the army. He often argues with Kajihara. After the war, he disappears, leaving behind a note simply bidding everyone farewell. Jordi speculates that he has returned to his old life of crime, which, of course, turns out to be true.

External links

• Kokoro Toshokan website