I’ve been pretty patient with Dantalian so far, but really, when are they planning to go somewhere with this? These short stories all get resolved without our protagonists doing anything, and have nothing in common with each other aside from Dalian acting cute. The creators decided to address the lack of continuity this week by bringing back Camilla and the stupid suitor. That suitor is pretty much the last thing I ever wanted to see make a return.

Huey and Dalian’s Continued Uselessness

I mentioned last week how Huey and Dalian are passerby, powerless to change the events unfolding around them. This pattern continued this week. They chase after Camilla to save her from trading her life away with a phantom book, only to discover that she traded the dangerous phantom book away for a teddy bear. Are Huey and Dalian concerned about how the book will be used in the hands of its new owner? Nah, they just head home with Camilla to eat snacks. Huey and Dalian were ineffectual throughout this ordeal.

Then we have the suitor with his girlfriend trying to kill him. He literally begs Huey for help, and Huey refuses, although a simple explanation could clear everything up. Dalian says that he needs to die at least once. They proceed to watch politely from the sidelines as the woman burns Huey’s friend alive, then cheerfully escort her to the door.

So it turns out they sent the friend to the underworld and brought him back with a phantom book: what of it? The fact remains that Huey and Dalian stood by impassively with a smile while their friend was burned to death, and politely escorted his murderer to the door. Even British manners have their limits. Making your characters powerless bystanders is one thing, but this scene brought it beyond the point of ridiculousness.

References

• The Teddy Bear. Camilla mentions it was named after a certain president, Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt’s association with the Teddy Bear began after a cartoonshowed his role in the mercy killing of a bear. For those unfamiliar with Roosevelt, he was one of the most badass presidents in American history (I’d rank him second after Andrew Jackson).
• The Book of Equivalent Exchange. This appears to refer to alchemy of the Fullmetal Alchemist variety. The twist is that value is only relative, so Camilla is able to trade a paper clip for a unwanted pocket watch. I don’t really get this book though: if the two people think something is an equivalent exchange, won’t they just do it? Why do they need the book…?
• The Straw Millionaire. Camilla mentions this Japanese folktale. A man begins with a single piece of straw, and makes a series of trades to eventually receive a house.
• The Book of Relationship. The two halves of this book, written 3000 years ago in the Mediterranean, represent two lovers tied together. It’s fictional (who would make a book with two halves?) and contains the spell from Hecate that Medea used to get revenge on Jason, her lover that ditched her. According to the most common version of the tale, Medea actually used poison, not fire, and killed the woman Jason was cheating with rather than Jason himself. Medea is often associated with Hecate and dark magic, however.
• Book of Eleusis. This book refers to the Eleusinian mysteries, a set of rituals following Persephones’ yearly descent to Hades and return to her mother Demeter.

In one of the most strait-laced episodes of Dantalian to date, Huey and Dalian encounter a perfumer who is (unwillingly) selling a drug she created with the aid of a phantom book. Huey and Dalian arrive just in time to witness her family and coworkers killed by the gang they collaborated with. They witness the woman take her own life and destroy the recipe and phantom book in an act of “atonement.”

Heightened Emotional Involvement

I’ve complained in the past that Huey and Dalian have shown almost no emotional attachment to the cases they’ve been involved in. This may be the first time Dalian has truly become emotionally involved with the people she met. She even shed tears at the woman’s death. And this was the same woman who, horror of horrors, dropped Dalian’s precious bread on the floor.

Dalian even attempted to comfort the woman on her deathbed. As she travels with Huey, is she becoming more attached to the outside world and the passions of the flesh?

A Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time

I believe that this is the first time we’ve heard mention of limitations placed on Dalian’s powers as a mystical library. The limitation is that Dalian cannot use a phantom book to save the same life twice. A restriction like this is not all that surprising— powers such as Dalian’s always seem to come with strings attached.

Passerby through Eternity

Jesus said, “Be passerby.”

— The Gospel of Thomas, v. 42

 

He has set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

— Ecclesiastes 3:11

In each of the earlier episodes, I was surprised at how small a role Huey and Dalian played in resolving the short stories. Yet now I have come to expect it. There is indeed a purpose to Huey and Dalian’s uselessness. They are powerless and impotent bystanders to history, not actors on the stage of time.

The show’s atmosphere provides an acute sense of timelessness and of isolation, both from the scenes with the girl in the library and from Huey and Dalian’s travels. Huey and Dalian don’t form intimate bonds with the people they meet, and many of the people they do meet happen to die. Huey and Dalian have not been able to prevent any of the tragedies brought about by the phantom books or by magic, only to mitigate their effects. The pair continues to travel without a destination or clear purpose. And who knows how many generations Dalian has journeyed for?

References

• When Huey reads the book of healing, Huey mentions “Arawn, the king of the otherworld Annwn.” This makes the book most likely part of the Mabinogion.
• The phantom book used for making perfumes is an unnamed Gandharva sacred text. The Gandharva are Hindu nature spirits which dwell in scents and are known for their skill with music.
• I don’t think I ever mentioned the origins of the library of Dantalian. Dantalian is one of the 72 demons of Solomon mentioned in the grimoire, the Lesser Key of Solomon.
  

  The Seventy-first Spirit is Dantalion. He is a Duke Great and Mighty, appearing in the Form of a Man with many Countenances, all Men’s and Women’s Faces; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one; for he knoweth the Thoughts of all Men and Women, and can change them at his Will. He can cause Love, and show the Similitude of any person, and show the same by a Vision, let them be in what part of the World they Will. He governeth 36 Legions of Spirits; and this is his Seal, which wear thou, etc.

• A similar idea for a mystical library is the subject of Borges’ short story The Library of Babel (Spanish original here). Borges’ library, however, contains all possible books, and not merely Dalian’s comparatively tiny subset of 900,666.

One thing I can say for sure about Dantalian: it never does what I expect it to. This episode came as another big surprise. The creators completely ditched Dalian and Huey to instead focus on a new pair of Phantom Book collectors— Flamberge, the bearer of the long-lost library, and her keykeeper Hal, a Libricide. The two have some feisty banter similar to Huey and Dalian, but their game mainly focuses on insults such as “piece of junk”. It became a bit repetitive in comparison to the more original infighting we’ve become accustomed to.

I spent most of the episode wondering when Hal was going to fulfill his title of Libricide and start burning books. But I was still surprised by how he did it— by placing a book into his Raging Heart-style staff of Sutr and burning it to cast a powerful single use AoE spell. It’s a cheap shot but limited ammunition.

I have to wonder— the title of Libricide suggests that Hal and Flamberge’s goal isn’t to prevent the misuse of Phantom Books and collect them, as with Huey and Dalian, but to eradicate them and their influence on humans. Will this be a cause of conflict between the two groups in the future? Dalian has the world’s largest library of Phantom books, after all, and didn’t worry about letting those children who were corrupted by the books live. And it appears that the two keepers from this episode are chasing another book keeper who gives away books. I kind of thought it was Dalian at first, but I highly doubt she would give away books like that. This episode seems as if it could be the beginning of an overarching conflict.

One last thing about the two book keepers: try comparing how their books are extracted. Flamberge’s extraction resembles a Caesarean section. Hal reaches in to pull a beast out of the womb (or fallen world) as Flamberge screams in pain. On the other hand, Dalian’s extraction sequence is dignified and nearly orgasmic. Dalian loves books so checking them out is pleasurable, and the checkout counter is located near her heart. Flamberge and Hal seem to despise books, so checking one out is painful and the checkout counter is located in the nether regions of Flamberge’s body.

This episode’s villain and short story were solid, but it was more by the book (ha ha ha ha) than what we’ve become accustomed to: a woman raises an army of puppets to comfort the living in a town devastated by war.

This week’s book is a collection of Taoist sutras. The most famous Taoist work is the Tao Te Ching, if you’ve never read it before then knock yourself out, it’s great. The other item of interest is Hal’s staff, the staff of Surtr. Surtr is a Norse giant who will destroy the world at Ragnarok with his flaming sword (sword / staff, close enough).

Dantalian no Shoka certainly has a penchant for keeping its viewers on their toes. The directions this show takes are just downright bizarre. Two weeks ago, we had evil geniuses who were too lazy to do anything and villains who randomly got eaten by a cactus. Last week the victims of a phantom book evolved to gain immunity from death. This week we have a set of suitors who look like they’re cut out of a cheesy soap opera who end up becoming the five heroes of light. The direction is bizarre, but aside from last week’s ending, I love it. It’s just the right mix of absurdity and profundity.

Last week I had trouble with Dalian and Huey impassively observing a killing spree, but this week I had no problem at all with them rolling their eyes by the sidelines. The whole setup looked like it was taken out of a bad play filled with incompetent actors. The humor the creators used in this situation was top-notch as well. I was eagerly awaiting Dalian’s kick to Huey’s friend, and the interruption by Huey in favor of an even stronger kick was unexpected and delightful. Fortunately Dalian got her turn later on. I enjoyed Dalian’s retelling of the story of princess Kaguya just to get in a jab about how men are so stupid to get twirled around the woman’s thumb.  I also liked how corny the ending fight scene was. Viola’s final choice of suitor was the icing on the cake.

We did get a little more development of Huey and Dalian, in particular with the flashback to the mystical library, but the show could bear to put more of the focus on its main characters. I’m starting to wonder if this is part of the series’ charm, though: by not becoming intimately involved in each of the mysteries, Dalian, Huey and the viewers are able to view the unfolding events as cynical outsiders. Which leads back to the scene in the mystical library: Dalian, Huey and the viewers have seen all there is to see about each of the short stories, but have they really experienced them by remaining as outsiders? Dalian claimed to know about sleeping in a warm bed by reading a book. The two could say they know about love by observing the suitors in this episode and the couple in the last. But do they truly know love?

As for this week’s phantom books:

• The Salamander’s Tablet. This may refer to the Book of Mormon, or, as is more likely, is fictional. The salamander is believed to have powers associated with fire.
• The Anthology of the Burning, Golden Pearls. Apparently one way to tell if a pearl is authentic or fake is by putting it in a fire- real ones won’t burn. All I could find about golden pearls were references to jewelry and a quote from some crazy Frenchman who intended to summon Nessie at Loch Ness: “Nessie will breathe golden pearls for all the children from the earth, this endangered innocence that badly needs air.” I wouldn’t attach much significance to that.
• The Sage’s Lithograph. Couldn’t find anything about this.
• The King’s Codex. This one looks like it’s an actual book. I haven’t read it, so I’m not sure how it relates to healing.
• The Manuscript of Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna was a Buddhist philosopher who thought about existence and non-existence, so the power to revive those killed by illusions is both pertinent and convenient. The book is most likely the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

The previous episode was anticlimactic in the best way. This episode was anticlimactic in the worst way. What were the creators thinking here?

The setup was for the mystery was great, until the end, when the author and his lover are lying on the floor getting murdered over and over again as Huey and Dalian watch from the sidelines without much concern. (For a sensitive young maiden, Dalian sure seems inured to slaughter.)  Here I’m expecting Huey or Dalian to do something to end this impasse. Then one of the shots happens to decapitate the dead man. He proceeds to pick up his head. At this, the woman goes ballistic and shoots him even more but the shots have no effect. He begins to glow, as does his lover. They merge into a gelatinous mass of light, and smother their murderer to death. They disappear.

Now while this is happening, Dalian and Huey are standing in the jail cell. As the corpse picks up its head and begins glowing green, they stand there and watch, nodding sagely that it’s evolution. They seem unimpressed by the transformation into an energy being with two souls. After all, the two people have died thousands of times, so there’s plenty of time for evolution to work its magic! Of course they have developed an immunity to death! It’s science! After the organism passes away, Huey prays for its soul, Dalian says “Amen”, they grab the conclusion of the BL novel for Dalian and go on their merry way.

This episode just made me ask: what is the point of our main characters? They were worse than useless in this final scene. Couldn’t they at least feign some concern or surprise upon witnessing a massive killing spree and a decapitated man transforming into an energy being? If not, why are they even there? In the last episode, our main characters didn’t do much to solve the mysteries either: but at least they weren’t indifferent. They were worried about the children, and were certainly not pleased about being robbed. In this episode, they’re just passerby who don’t even care about a mass murder right in front of them.

Aside from that I actually liked the episode though, so who knows, I think this was just a one-off thing with a conclusion not to my liking. The two main characters do need to start getting more involved though. I was hoping for some longer non-episodic story line… or at least something involving Huey and Dalian.

This week’s Phantom Book is Ras Alhague by Asclepius. As far as I can tell a book by this title doesn’t exist. Asclepius is the Greek god of healing and medicine. There are several stories about Asclepius’ death: in all of them, he is killed for bringing someone back from the dead. The rod with a snake around it (see the book’s cover) is Asclepius’ symbol. The snake is believed to symbolize rebirth and rejuvenation, through the shedding of its skin, and also the snake’s venom may bear some comparison to medicine.  This snake leads to the title of the book, Ras Alhague, which means “the head of the serpent” in Arabic. This is also the name of the star which is, well, the head of the serpent, in Asclepius’ constellation Ophiuchus.

A blog note: I’m travelling again and will be gone next week. I won’t be quite as busy or travel nearly as far as my last trip (just across the country), so I may still be able to update: it all depends on my hotel’s internet connection. I do have at least three posts scheduled for my absence either way. So Stein’s; Gate and Iroha posts may be delayed until next weekend, and next Thursday’s shows will be delayed a day or two as well.