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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Buy | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:3771#1552] |
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Ascendance of a Bookworm sticks out from many recent titles in the isekai genre in that the lead character isn't involved in some sort of adventure or is overpowered within the scope of the world they are in. The series instead plays out as a sort of slice-of-life title with its lead character, being a big book lover in her past life, possessing the body of an ill girl named Myne in a medieval world where its commoner class lacks access to books. This leads Myne to have to figure out a means to make books accessible to the commoner class through whatever knowledge and resources are available to her, while attempting to learn more about the new world that she is part of. It does take some time for the series to build up its story involving Myne's challenges and learning more about her surroundings, which may turn off those who aren't fans of slice-of-life stories. Plus, I can see where some may not like Myne's single-minded love for books, though part of her character development throughout the series is learning to better socially interact with the new family and friends within her life. But if you can get attached to these elements of Ascendance of a Bookworm's story, it does do a great job of exploring Myne's character developments, the planning she has to go through to accomplish her goals, and its exploration of the new world she is part of. It's still a worthwhile isekai series to get into if you are looking for something different to dabble into within the genre, but I can see where elements of it may not be everyone's cup of tea.
Last updated Sunday, April 25 2021. Created Sunday, April 25 2021. | ||||||||
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 Stretch
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[series:3771#628] | ||||||
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(Rent- or Watch+) (All episodes watched): You could almost describe this as a time travel story as college student Matsuo is transferred to a medieval civilization and becomes the sickly girl Myne with her treasure trove of 21st century knowledge intact within her memory. To a certain extent, this show is kind of a history lesson about how writing and printing came about; several other anime recently have likewise had a sort of classroom feel to them, as 'infotainment', sort of. It looks like she will wind up as a priestess or something like that, as all the amazing things she already knows are distributed to the people and she becomes famous. She gains a reputation as a clever and inventive girl as she seemingly comes up with simple but effective ideas that nobody else would have ever imagined. While I sort of wished the story would move along a little faster and be more complex, I was left curious where this unusual Isekai tale would lead. My frustration with the pace remained in episode two; Myne is trying to accomplish something amazing, but she seems to be doing it in about the most boring way possible. Of course she needs to learn how to read, and acquire paper, but those are not exactly exciting tasks. I wish she would come up with some novel ideas of her own to accelerate the process rather than do these things the same way anyone else in this culture would. And she's doing it all just because she wants books to read herself, not because she thinks it would help other people? Again, I wish this story was a little more realistic and dramatic, and a little less goofy and simple. It almost seems as if it was written for children. Nevertheless, it has a touching family tone to it; the topic Myne chose for her first attempt at a book was just right. Myne tries all sorts of means to acquire something to write on and something to write with, but her efforts are frustrated out of sheer carelessness, which almost makes you want to beat your head against a wall. I was surprised to be reminded that her body is just six years old, because one would think that people would find it a little more odd and startling that such a child has such complex and ambitious ideas. I also get the feeling that Myne's love of books and the withdrawal symptoms she would presumably be feeling now that she is devoid of them haven't been fleshed out much; she strives heroically to achieve a goal, but her motivations are not as clear as I wish they were. Myne is sickly and weak, and it's possible that her health will prevent her from ever achieving her goals, which as the story progresses dramatizes things somewhat. Something about 'mana', whatever exactly that is. It turns out that magic exists in this alternate reality, which, in retrospect, was probably inevitable. Myne's friend, Lutz, realizes that while her body is the same, this is not the same Myne he used to know. The understanding they come to was fairly dramatic and powerful. The show seems to be becoming more dramatic and less educational. Myne makes another friend, Heida, who has her ailment. 'the Devouring'. I wish it had been something more than a magical sickness, but it is. Myne needs a lot of money to afford the magical treatments for the Devouring, which drives her to try to convert more technology from her previous life into sellable items in this one. Time seems to be running out (even though the series has the unusual total of 14 episodes) and I wondered how Myne would ascend to the role of priestess (or whatever) that we saw in episode one in the space of the remaining episodes. As it turns out, by an odd (but not inconceivable) coincidence she comes to the attention of the head priest at the city cathedral, and her illness also represents an opportunity. By this point we have gotten to know her, and to sympathize with her ambitions and frustrations. As we learn more it becomes clear that the church's motives for recruiting Myne may not be entirely pure, and becoming an apprentice Priestess might not be all it is cracked up to be. In the final episode things come to a crisis but ultimately a decent compromise is worked out. I was certain that such an offbeat show wouldn't extend more than one season, but was surprised to learn that a second one is in the works. I suppose I wouldn't mind watching some more, since I have gotten to like Myne and am curious where this new position will take her and what goals she will manage to achieve. In short, an odd but interesting show. It's nice to have a protagonist who seeks to accomplish things by means of thinking rather than hacking and slashing. Last updated Friday, January 03 2020. Created Thursday, October 17 2019. | ||||||||
