The Mystic Archives of Dantalian
The Mystic Archives of Dantalian is a Japanese light novel series written by Gakuto Mikumo and illustrated by G-Yuusuke. The series started serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's light novel magazine The Sneaker on February 29, 2008. A manga adaptation by Chako Abeno started serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Shōnen Ace on March 26, 2010. Another manga adaptation by Monaco Sena started serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's seinen manga magazine Comp Ace on March 26, 2010. A 12-episode anime adaptation by Gainax aired between July and October, 2011.
Plot
This story takes place in England after World War I. After the death of his grandfather, Hugh Anthony Disward, also known as Huey, receives a mysterious key and according to his grandfather's will, must take custody of the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian in order to inherit his estate and all his possessions. Upon meeting Dalian, a child living at the estate, he learns that she is the guardian of the Archives which contain forbidden knowledge stored in thousands of magic books called "Phantom Books". Upon agreeing to become Dalian's new Keykeeper, Huey joins her into investigating incidents regarding people misusing the power of the Phantom Books, most of them with tragic consequences, and using his power as Keykeeper to seal the power of the Phantom Books and restore order to the area.Characters
;Dalian;Hugh Anthony Disward
;Flamberge
;Hal Kamhout
;Raziel
;Professor
;Camilla Sauer Keynes
;Armand Jeremiah
;Jessica Elphinstone
Media
Light novels
Between February 29, 2008, and February 28, 2011, eight light novels were serialized in The Sneaker. They were subsequently published under Kadokawa Shoten's Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint, with the eighth volume released on July 1, 2011.Manga
The Mystic Archives of Dantalian has received three manga adaptions, all of which have reached completion. The first, sharing the name of the novels, began serialization in Shōnen Ace on March 26, 2010, and ran for five volumes until July 26, 2012. The second, Dantalian Days, began serialization in Comp Ace on March 26, 2010, and ran for two volumes until October 26, 2011. The third, a yonkoma spinoff titled Dalian-chan no Shoka, began serialization in 4-koma nano ace on July 7, 2011, and ran for one volume until July 9, 2012.Anime
In June 2010, Kadokawa announced that an anime television adaption was being developed. Produced by Gainax under the direction of Yutaka Uemura, The series aired its broadcast run on TV Tokyo from July 16, 2011, to October 1, 2011. The series is also streamed with English subtitles by the media websites Crunchyroll and NicoNico. The opening theme is "Cras numquam scire" by Yucca while the ending theme is "yes, prisoner" by maRIONnetTe. Funimation has licensed the series for North America and released the series on subtitled DVD on February 14, 2017.An OVA, "Ibarahime", was produced as a cross-promotion with the release of the manga The Mystical Archives of Dantalian, volume 5.