Nil Admirari no Tenbin

Nil Admirari no Tenbin (ニル・アドミラリの天秤) is a 2018 Japanese dark fantasy anime television series based on a video game of the same name created and developed by Otomate for PlayStation Vita. The series is directed by Masahiro Takata at Zero-G, written by Tomoko Konparu, character design and chief animation direction by Yukie Sakō, and music composed by Tomoki Hasegawa. The series was broacast on Tokyo MX, Sun TV and BS Fuji from April to June 2018.

Premise
A young woman agrees to an arranged marriage with a man she does not know in hopes of protecting her family. Before she does so, her younger brother attempts suicide while holding an old book. She is approached by two members of the Imperial Library Information Assets Management Bureau, also known as "Fukurō", who tell her that a book may the cause of the cause, noting that there are books, called Maremono, which greatly influence their readers to engage in self-harm. She begins to see an "aura" the books emit and decides, after some debate, to join the Bureau, assisting them in their duties, leaving behind her old life.

Characters

 * Juri Kimura as Tsugumi Kuze, name of unvoiced protagonist in the original video game. In this series, she believes it is her fault that her brother, Hitaki attempted suicide, but later learns that a book is responsible, and she later joins the Imperial Library Information Assets Management Bureau.


 * Ayumu Murase as Hitaki Kuze, younger brother of Tsugami who attempts suicide.


 * Rio Natsuki as Shiori Tokimiya, a supervisor at the Imperial Library Information Assets Management Bureau, who scouts out Tsugami.


 * Norio Kobayashi as Keizaburō Ōchi, the family servant of the Kuze family who helps Tsugami and tries to comfort her after her brother's attempted suicide.


 * Yuki Kaji as Hayato Ozaki, a member of the Imperial Library Information Assets Management Bureau who tells Tsugami that her brother's attempted suicide was caused by a cursed book. After learning of her power to see the aura of Maremono, he attempts to recruit her to the Bureau.


 * Nobuhiko Okamoto as Akira Kōgami, a colleague of Hayato, who goes with him to tell Tsugami that a book may have caused her brother to attempt suicide.


 * Ryōta Ōsaka as Hisui Hoshikawa, a member of the Imperial Library Information Assets Management Bureau, who has superpowers.


 * Ryohei Kimura as Shōgo Ukai, a law school student and son of the country's prime minister, Shozo Ukai, who attempted suicide due to effects from a Maremono.


 * Kenichi Suzumura as Shizuru Migiwa, a well-known romance novelist who lives in an Owl apartment, along with Shogo, and is somewhat of a playboy.


 * Takahiro Sakurai as Rui Sagisawa, a student at the country's imperial academy, who has a scholarship, and often reads at the library or a cafe.

Production
In July 2016, the anime adaptation was announced, as well as the game's sequel. In September 2017, the teaser video for the series was released, as was the cast and crew. This included Masahiro Takata as director at studio Zero-G, Tomoko Konparu overseeing the scripts for the series, Yukie Sakō as character designer, and Tomoki Hasegawa as music composer at Pony Canyon. The series released on April 1, 2018, on Tokyo MX and Sun TV. The series premiered in late April on BS Fuji and AT-X, and begin streaming on the d Anime Store.

The opening theme is "Tandeki Miragism" (耽溺ミラアジュイズム) by Kradness, and the ending theme is "Black Thunder" by Hiro Shimono.

Critical reception
The series had a mixed reception.. Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the series a solid B rating, and stated "It's a dark story, but one with interesting aspects and an engaging vocal cast, and one that's really worth checking out". Paul Jensen, Theron Martin, Nick Creamer, and Rebecca Silverman reviewed the first episode for the ANN Spring 2018 preview guide. Jensen argued that the episode has a "whiplash-inducing tonal swing" and a solid entry in the genre, with decent writing and "an intriguing premise", while Martin called it a "period piece" which is a "reverse harem", and a "middling show", and Creamer called it an "extremely average" series, which has a "pretty standard" narrative. In contrast, Silverman praised the series, calling in a "much darker version" of Märchen Mädchen, with handwritten books having special powers, and called it a good start for fans of reverse harem stories who "also enjoy the power of a good book."