Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 本好きの下剋上～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～

2019 fall | Episodes: 14 | Score: 8.0 (175980)

Updated every Thursdays at 00:30 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Streaming: Crunchyroll | Netflix

Synopsis

Urano Motosu loves books and has an endless desire to read literature, no matter the subject. She almost fulfills her dream job of becoming a librarian before her life is ended in an accident. As she draws her last breath, she wishes to be able to read more books in her next life. As if fate was listening to her prayer, she wakes up reincarnated as Myne—a frail five-year-old girl living in a medieval era. What immediately comes to her mind is her passion. She tries to find something to read, only to become frustrated by the lack of books at her disposal. Without the printing press, books have to be written and copied by hand, making them very expensive; as such, only a few nobles can afford them—but this won't stop Myne. She will prove that her will to read is unbreakable, and if there are no books around, she will make them herself! [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Voice Actors

Tamura, Mutsumi

Iguchi, Yuka

News

Reviews

Rim_Harada
06/10/2024, 05:04 AM
This is real "Anime". I am surprised to have found this masterpiece after so much time of starting to watch anime, it is certainly not something normal that you would see, and it is not at all what we are used to seeing in current works. Each episode of this play makes you want more, in some, it makes you cry and in others it makes you excited and excited because that is what will happen. This is not a review, nor is it a recommendation, it is a call from the universe for you to see this masterpiece. This is Anime.
7barbieringz
09/01/2023, 07:00 PM
No spoilers: I recommend this if youre okay with slow pace and slice of life. The world building is wonderful and I really enjoy watching the MC overcome her hurdles as she gets closer to her dream of reading more books. Its not all about books though, the overall story is pretty interesting but like I said before its slow, theres not a lot of fighting or anything like that. I teared up a few times watching it, its not your typical isekai, but it does have common isekai elements like magic and knights. But i say gice it a try, if you want to dropit by the end os season 1 its prob not for you.
Byc33
08/27/2023, 11:09 PM
Like many others I picked up this series due to the high score and many good reviews. I generally like fantasy isekai so it was going to make it on my list eventually, but the good reviews pushed it up the "watch asap" list. I don't usually write reviews for things I watch, anime or otherwise, so excuse the lack of structure. However, I just felt the need to express my opinion for this one because I have some pretty strong mixed feelings about it after watching all 3 seasons. This series can be summed up as having an interesting premise, a good story butterrible characters. I won't be commenting on the quality of the animation or soundtrack because I don't care or know enough about drawing and music to be able to responsibly critique it. What matters to me most when I watch an anime is whether it tells a good story and whether i enjoy it overall. Story: We of course have a lot of the usual isekai stuff, MC dies and gets reincarnated with powers and quirks etc. Here the MC's power is largely her retained knowledge from her previous life and her quirk is her obsession with books and reading them. That is not to say the MC isn't OP cos it's pretty obvious that she'll only get more OP as the series goes along, it is just not presented in the typical isekai-OP-MC way. The entire series pretty much revolves around the MC using her knowledge to build and change the new world to feed her obsession with books. The world presented is an interesting one and world building is good. We get to see the MC gradually progress through the world, gaining power and influence both economically and politically, the pacing was good in my opinion. There were also no stupid romances or unnecessary fanservice and I came out of it feeling like I enjoyed it overall. Unfortunately, that is the biggest strength of this series and this is where my mixed feelings come in. Characters: The MC is annoying, borderline frustrating. Her personality is extremely inconsistent throughout the series, at times behaving like a child and at times behaving like the adult she is supposed to be(mentally). One could argue that it is to be expected since she is an adult who reincarnated as a child but the personality switches often make no sense. It is hard to express this clearly without spoiling it so I'll just say that a lot of the drama in the series tends to be of her own doing. She doesn't seem to learn from her mistakes, or rather, she learns only from insignificant mistakes but doesn't learn from the meaningful ones that would drive her growth as a character. This results in a lot of time spent setting her up for growth but ultimately ending up with her not growing much at all. She works hard for her goals and they do show her working for it, but she very often proceeds to screw everything up on her own because "I'm suddenly a child", and now others have to fix it for her cos "you'll fix it for me, won't you?" and while she attains the goal eventually, this makes a lot of her achievements feel undeserved and that is a source of frustration for me. As for the other characters, the series does a good job building a pretty diverse bunch of supporting characters around the MC with some interesting and very wholesome ones, but overall most of the characters are pretty one dimensional and show little growth throughout the series. Most of the cast's core motivations are overly simplistic and sometimes illogical, with many of the key supporting characters clearly existing simply to help the MC "fix" all the stupid unnecessary mistakes she makes. Overall: All that said, as mentioned before, I enjoyed it overall, which is the most important thing to me when watching anything and I'd watch the next season if there is one.
AeroGunz
05/20/2023, 06:15 PM
“Ascendance of a Bookworm” is what happens when You have an interesting premise with a cool twist to the isekai genre and skill to make watching it enjoyable. The story is pretty simple. A young girl, who loves books more than anything and I do mean anything, dies. Instead of going to the great beyond she ends up in the body of a little, frail, sickly girl in a different world. A world where books are a luxury only for the nobles or the rich. Possessing the knowledge from her former life and assimilating the memories of her new host body she embarks on aquest to create and sell her beloved books. The main heroine is Myne, well technically it’s Motosu Urano, but we’ll get to that. A blue haired, frail and sickly 5 year old girl. One day she succumbs to her illness and her body gets a new tenant. Motosu Urano - a Young woman from our world, who studied to become a librarian, read a metric shit ton of books on many different subjects and who… died. Yes, it’s death galore when it comes to the MC in this show. For someone who read a lot of books, Urano (I’m just gonna call her Myne, she does assimilate the new reality quite fast after all) wasn’t blessed with the abundance of wisdom. Her first reaction to a new, rather fantastical situation, that is waking up in a new body, isn’t to check her surroundings, determine her status or even to determine her position in the new family. No. It’s to find something to read. I have met people who lack common sense but this is getting into “Hey, kidnap/ kill/ enslave me. I’m really dumb” territory. Her lack of understanding and basic knowledge will come to bite her in the ass rather often… as it should. It’s nice to see a show that at least tries to touch that subject. That said, Myne thanks to her knowledge is rather OP. A different kind of overpowered than in most isekais. Her power is knowledge and she’s adept at using it… without caring that a 5 year old displays knowledge and skills she has no business possessing. Despite that no one actually confronts her on that… except one person but that would be spoiler territory. Everyone else just treats her like a genius, despite the fact that there is little to no evidence that the original Myne was anything other than a sickly child. Something I really liked is that her brains are the only perk of her being overpowered. Her body is weak, she succumbs to the sickness she inherited from the original Myne and she more often than not has to be carried everywhere. I liked that. It’s a nice balance - a word I’m sure that most isekai authors have never heard of. She also isn’t perfect with the use of her knowledge. Apart from cooking her first attempts at creating her own book are rather abysmal. Most of the plot centres around Myne trying to find a way to create a book with trial and error. A lot of errors to be fair. During that undertaking she unintentionally creates some chaos within the local market with the products she produces. The second most important of the plot is Mynes' business venture to secure the means to create the books. To do that she becomes a merchant and sells her knowledge of otherworldly goods. Her confrontations with merchants who want her for themselves are one of the best parts of the show. Not only because it’s fun watching a child confuse adults but also because Myne isn’t savvy enough to fully grasp the value of her creations. The moment she realises that she could have made a better deal are really well done. That said, the plot has some holes. The biggest one is the fact that no one in her surroundings questions the source of her knowledge. One day a 5 year old can create things that even the rich desire, “invents” (I use this term loosely) new dishes and talks about creating paper - something so rare and pricey that most people don’t have a clue about how it’s made, and everyone is ok with that. Her new world is a classical mediaeval world so I would probably expect (no, not the spanish inquisition, no one expects them) an exorcist before everyone accepts the fact that a child invents new things that could very well turn the entire economy on it’s head. Even her young friends just roll with her crazy antics. Second problem is with the characters. More precisely their behaviour doesn’t match their age. Myne is surrounded, at least in the beginning, with mostly 5 to 7 year olds. Yet they all act like at least highschoolers. It’s a bit confusing. I get it, in this world You become an adult when You’re 15 but we are talking about 7 year olds who have skills and physical abilities that You wouldn't expect them to have for at least 5 years. Granted I'm not a hystorian so maybe I'm wrong about this. Most of the adult cast is pretty well done in my opinion, even if some of them should be a little less trusting towards Myne. All in all it’s not a bad plot. Yes, sometimes it loses its focus for an episode or two, but it does remind the viewer of it’s main goal. Well… two goals to be fair. Around the halfway point Myne get’s a second goal but let’s not spoil the surprise. A few more things could be taken apart but the story itself is rather enjoyable. Most scenes don’t overstay it’s welcome (apart maybe some with Lutz but I’ll just put them into “world building” category) and the dialogs are mostly well written. Even if it’s hard to buy a 5 year old would speak in such a way. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the show. Yes, there were moments where I wanted to facepalm so hard I would forget what I have seen but those moments were few and far between. If You can forget about logic, even the shows internal one that it tries to establish, You can have a real blast watching this.
Nazhy
01/08/2023, 10:22 PM
This show is incredibly compelling, the way that most isekai political/ business drama are. It’s enjoyable, in the sense that I can turn off my brain and be like “I love books too!” And relate to the main character and their struggles about loving and missing books throughout the whole show. But that’s all I can say is good about it, cute at times, the drama and suspense is ok, but other than the MC having one relatable trait, she is annoying. The other characters also feel like paper, 2D characters lacking 3D development. Everything about the show is basic and lackluster, only enjoyable ifyou choose to ignore these flaws. If your being critical, the show is barely a 5. If your like me and can’t deny the compelling world of isekai, the love (if not obsession) that the MC shows for books, the cute priest (which may or may not be the reason why I’m waiting for the next season), and don’t mind having your brain operate on low power mode, the show is a 6. Watch it if your easygoing, have time to burn, and the plot seems appealing to you.
Casul_Noob1997
09/03/2020, 05:00 AM
Never have I been so baffled about the popularity of an intellectual property. And that's not to say I "just don't get it," because I believe I do get this show. And I'm NOT HERE to tell those who enjoy 'Ascendance' that their opinion is wrong and mine is right, because that's pompous as all hell first and foremost. All of us have our own tastes and priorities when it comes to what a story "should be" about what it "should" focus on, and by proxy, what it does right by our personal standards' measure. Now, with my "everyone's taste is valid" disclaimer out ofthe way, let me briefly tell you why this show is kinda garbage - that's right, "briefly." There's almost nothing to talk about in regards to this show. People will tell you that this is "not your average Isekai" because it's not about an overpowered protagonist. What they fail to realize is it's still totally about that, but the MC is overpowered in terms of knowledge. The first half of season one is part How It's Made, part meandering rinse and repeat cycle: MC Main gets an idea, she does the idea, everyone save for one are only ever mildly curious as to how she suddenly knows such things, but it doesn't matter because everybody loves Main always for everything she does. Always. And then that's the second half of season one: part How It's Made, part average Isekai where the MC is blessed and gifted thanks to no effort on her part. She's just special, and that's not even related to everybody loving her to pieces. Because of this, you might be wondering if there's even any conflict or entertainment value outside of the "How It's Made" portion of the show. And the thing is, there really isn't. Main is frail and that's where all genuine conflict comes from, but because you know she won't die because of plot armor, it's a moot point that feels like empty drama. And part of the reason for that feeling is because Main has nothing else opposing her. Ever. She does what she wants, gets what she wants, and if she can't she finds a way to get it within the next episode or two. Her sickness isn't a compelling opposing force because it does not challenge Main internally, which is what makes conflict compelling. But Main never has to change who she is or how she goes about things - the season ends with her caring more about this family she pretended was hers for a year, and it's trying to convince us that this is the mark of character growth without ever showing us Main getting closer to her fake family. In fact, before this point it seems as if she's drifting apart from them - not that THEY care, however, as everybody loves Main in this story no matter what she does. The worldbuilding, which you might hear a lot of, is at once kinda cool and utterly pointless. It's unique and down-to-earth due to the perspective of the MC's disposition, and the whole of her society is organically developed and feels grounded in some kind of reality. But it's the fantasy aspects which feel like a negative - every time one is introduced it's for the sake of Main getting ahead in her plans in a manner that would be impossible in our reality. And nothing else. Never do these aspects of the worldbuilding develop the world or challenge the characters in any way. They are genuine plot devices. And that's not even mentioning the religion and the magic system of "mana" - totally out of left field and convenient enough for Main to get exactly what she wants at the end of the season. The gods of this world are so archetypal and vaguely explored that you could grind them up into paste and they'd come out vanilla. People will tell you this anime is part Slice of Life, but I found (as someone who is a fan of the genre) that the best Slice of Life are the ones where you get to know the characters and see their personalities develop outside of big sweeping emotional plot developments or character moments. This is, I've learned, what makes the best SoL shows their own kind of "compelling" - because you want to see these characters doing stuff more, you want to hang out with them and see what shenanigans they get into next. If this show is a Slice of Life, it utterly fails in my eyes. Rarely do we get scenes that don't contribute to Main's ambitions, and that goes for the characters. Nearly all of them barely have a character, and that's no exaggeration. And because they're part of the reason that Main is never challenged, they rarely feel like actual thinking people - just set dressing to make Main look good. The one exception to this is her business partner and, for a couple episodes, Lutz. That's not to say this show is utter garbage - I DID give it a 3 after all. Despite my griping about the characters, all of them are enjoyable presences, even Main surprisingly. She never feels condescending despite her intelligence, which I think is the one thing that keeps her and her perfection from being horrendously received by most viewers. The character Lutz, while not interesting as a person, has an arc that is so compellingly presented and resolved that you could be forgiven for thinking the entire season was just as good. The animation style pops and is quite clean, and the How It's Made portions are interesting and makes the story's sense of progression still feel earned despite the complete lack of actual conflict. I'd say you should watch this if you want a different kind of Isekai - just don't forget that this is not only still an Isekai, but a fairly boring one in terms of plot.
TheSpanishInquis
06/21/2020, 02:16 PM
This anime is not as good as the rating. I have no idea why people are giving it 10/10, because it is clearly not that good. For one, a 10/10 implies a perfect show, and this show has flaws and errors all over the place, specifically, the show fails in animation, art, characters, and story. While at least art and animation can be chalked up to a low budget, it's really bad sometimes, especially those fire sprites. I swear, a Youtuber could make a animated fire better than what they use, it atrocious and tears you out of any semblance of immersion the show buildswhenever it appears.This review contains minor spoilers, not that it really matters, as most of this story is pretty irrelevant and nothing much actually happens. There is no real conflict to speak of, so there is nothing to really spoil. The first problem with the anime is the story. There is essentially no story to speak of. Her goal is to get books, or make books, which is pretty simple, but the entire way she goes about it is just devoid of any interesting plot points. Like seriously, the methods she uses are so contrived, and most episodes just feel like filler. She literally has the knowledge of the modern world and fails to use most of it. Her character is so one dimensional it hurts. The dialogue is very lacking. Every episode there is always some example of bad dialogue. An example that stuck out to me would be in Episode 5, where Eva is talking to another mom and says something along the lines of "Ya, you only have boys." and then goes on to list all the other parents children like she does not know their names or something. Like, wtf, that was so redundant and unnatural. If you wanted to emphasize that she is the parent of Lutz and his brothers, there are plenty of other ways to do that. Made me cringe when I first saw it. Another case is in episode 6, when they meet Benno, which is a mixed case of bad dialogue and bad storytelling. Like seriously, you expect a 5 year old kid, 5 YEARS OLD, to know what he wants to trade if he considers becoming a merchant? Like really? He's 5. 5 year old kids still piss their bed, cry excessively, and are freaking DUMB. I know this is supposed to be medieval fantasy, but that is simply beyond stupid. Nobody would expect a 5 year old to know what he's going to trade as a merchant, even back in medieval times when you were considered mostly grown up by your teens. They would take him in as an apprentice first, teach him how to trade and do arithmetic, and when he learned all the basics he would have a choice on what to do. Even then, considering this show seems to be trying its hardest to depict a "realistic" medieval fantasy, he would NOT really have a choice on what he want to do. Even if he chose to be a merchant, and was permitted to do that, he would be whatever type of merchant accepted him as an apprentice, almost without exception, because breaking an apprenticeship was a crime, and after an apprenticeship a Journeyman was not really good enough to get investment to start their own business. Its just some seriously stupid writing sometimes. I get that kids are usually more mature than their actual age in anime, but that is another inconstancy in the writing. The 5 year old kids tend to act like they are 20 year's old, but then suddenly revert to what a 5 year old would actually act like. Myne is the perfect example of this. She goes form thinking critically about how shes going to make paper to crying like a toddler whenever something goes awry, like when her clay tablets were stepped on. Another example is in episode 7 where shes afraid to cut her finger to complete a contract. Its super jarring and inconsistent. If the writer wanted the characters to be mature, have them be older, like at least 10. There is no reason to have a apprentice system like they have in the show that is similar to real life. Its a fantasy show, you can make a few changes, like making the age of apprenticeship older by making peoples lifespans longer, or something like that. Hell, most apprenticeships in real life occurred form age roughly the age of 14 and on even in the medieval period, so I completely fail to understand why they would make the characters so young. Anyhow, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Also, about all the arguments about "oh, its because the original Myne's personality and the body snatcher mixed" or "Its because her brain is undeveloped but she has the mind of a 20 year old" bugger off with that bull crap excuse. If the writer wanted to have her act like a child and an adult at different times make her a teen. There is no reason to have such contrived reasoning for her to act in such a unnatural manner when you can get away with making her act like both in a logical manner. Ya, maybe she would not cry as much as she does, and some of the "cuteness" would be reduced because she is no longer a kid, but honestly, it would make the show so much better in my opinion. There are plenty of other story things I can ramble about, but this review is already going to be long, so I'll get on to the characters and the animation/art. Most all characters in this story feel shallow. They are puddles, and are lacking depth in most regards, especially for motivation. To be specific for some of them, Myne only cares about books, Lutz is just that one kid who is helpful to Myne and wants to eventually explore the world one day, and EVERYONE else except Benno is simply their to be a foil for Myne. No kidding. The entire cast is foil characters, and it feels like their only purpose is to either get in Myne's way somehow by saying she can't do something because shes weak, or she not a noble, or for some other reason, or to comment "WOW MYNE! What an amazing invention you just made, how weird!" And now for the only spoiler that might matter. Lutz is the only one, after about 7 episodes, and a period of what Lutz said was almost an entire YEAR, to realize Myne is different. That is the most retarded thing ever. Hes the only one who questioned her about it, and after he confronted her and figured everything out, nothing really changed about their relationship. Ya, she mentioned that people thought she acted weird, but that is it. Other than Myne and Lutz, the only other character who seems more human are Benno. Ya, hes written poorly, as shown by the scene in episode 6, but otherwise, he seems like a merchant who wants to protect his money maker in the form of a little girl who has a ton of good ideas. He gets really pissed whenever she does something stupid, and refuses to let anybody try to get her to work for them, which makes sense, considering she is probably the best thing that has ever happened to him as a merchant. Honestly, hes probably the most likable character, even though hes a jerk sometimes, because he feels more real then the rest of them. Myne is so one dimensional I find it impossible to relate, Lutz is way to forgiving for a 5 year old, the parents are fine, but its so amazingly stupid that they don't realize Myne is a different person, and her sister hardly does anything except be a side character with no personality. Lutz is the second best character, mostly because he actually has a dream to pursue. The animation and are is subpar. Nothing is great about it, and a lot is bad about it. This is more of a budgetary issue than anything, so I did not really factor it into my overall score, but its still atrocious sometimes. Sound design is very good though, the music feels great and has a good atmosphere to it that the animation sadly does not live up to. Overall, this anime is about a 4.5/10, definitely not a 10/10, regardless of what people say. The animation is to bad to be considered a 10/10, and the story is not that great either. I recommend anybody who is interested to watch this anime for about the first 5 episodes and then decide if they want to continue. Seems to me like most people enjoyed it for the cuteness aspect, but considering I've watched enough cute anime that I have not gotten around to adding onto my MAL yet, cuteness no longer has an affect on how I rate my shows, unless it is super good. In this case, its just slightly cute, and most of the time its annoying because she is supposed to be in her 20s, which ruins all the times she cries that might otherwise elicit a emotional response.
dot-0-sama
05/19/2020, 07:56 PM
The isekai genre in recent years has done exceedingly well. Especially when we look at the more popular ones like Rezero, No game no life, and konosubarash, being mindful of the fact that none of these anime are not typically what you'd call "happy go lucky" animes in the sense that they don't give the audience a feeling of infancy. Honestly I have nothing against making an isekai into a slice of life; well, I didn't at first. Honzuki no Gekokujou is one of those anime types that you see on forum sites, become intrigued by positive reviews, and then goon to stream the entire season--only for you to end up regretting it. ((Before I continue, this review is for those who have watched the anime, but if you haven't and still need better clarity then you've come to the right place.)) I mean c'mon, enough with your over ambiguous nonsense which raves on and on with large words about how this and that makes you happy and positive and all that other self satisfying nonsense. People need actual, honest reviews--stop spouting crap. I'd like to digress into the overall scheme of things. The anime in question(not bothered with typing the name throughout my review)basically tells the story of a, possibly demented, twenty something year old who died by the hands of the one thing she loved the most: books. THE IRONY!!! She makes it her dying wish to once again be able to read books in her next life too, and seemingly enough she awakens as a 5 year old with an unknown magical illness. You all already know how it goes so I'll give it to you quick and simple. It's normal to be obsessed with obtaining knowledge. Infact, I'm sort of a nerd myself(full blown otaku rage mode), but it is in all sense very psychotic, eerie and downright dimwitted to like Books...No no hear me out, BOOKS!! Oh and not just what's inside the Enclosing; The paper, the very ink used to write the text, that my dear friends is what seems to interest the protagonist. This may seem like me raging over what you may believe to be silly humor thrown to us in context. Well that's partially right, you'd at first see it as so, but then it gets annoying the more they tend to repeat this same gag of her throwing a fit every time she sees what may appear to be leather covering a thin sheets of paper. I would like to move on to discussing the intellectual capabilities of most of the characters in this anime. I watched the first three episodes and i had no complaints. I had honestly believed nothing would go wrong, but I neglected a crucial tiny detail which I didn't want bothering me. Mainly, there are two issues I found annoying: Protagonist's self indulgence; Recklessness in the anime. 1.) Turns out the protagonist in all her wisdom, and what was made out to be broadened knowledge, could only make stuff they basically teach middle schoolers in Home Econ classes: Weaved baskets, Shampoo, Hair ornaments. Paper manufacturing was the only thing keeping me alive through all that, but to make that annoying, as well, they had to focus a lot of unnecessary attention towards that as well. I'm not trying to say that I was expecting some doctor stone type narrative, but it would have been better if she came up with a little more advanced, nuanced items but not the ones that can leave her bedridden for days--yes, I am aware she can't do much because of her illness. 2.) So apparently in the era the anime is set in, adults are no wiser than kids who haven't reached double digits. Why would a person in their right mind waste a ton of resources just because a kid puts an ornament on her hair, applies shampoo, and says she can manufacture a revolutionary product? I mean I get that it's an underdeveloped society, but pouring all that time and effort towards a random five year old just to go about your day wearing hairpins more often? The art and sound are the only aspects I would consider giving a passing grade. As for everything else, my retinas would like to file a formal complaint with whoever the production team are. Lastly, I'd like to cease my unrelenting rage by adding this to the fold: Just because she's cute and most male otaku are Lolicons, that doesn't mean she can just make a cute face and get away with whatever flimsy excuse for a gag joke they could come up with. I'll be very honest, it's hard to say what demographic of otaku i'd recommend this anime to cause it's extremely migraine inducing. i'd possibly recommend it to kids below 10, or girls who just recently started watching anime. To cut things short, Honzuki no gekokujou is a poorly scripted, dissatisfying and mediocre(at best) isekai that has unapologetically been brought to us in the year 2019. As earlier mentioned, this review is for those who have already watched the anime, but if you haven't and are still curious--though i recommend not to--stream or download the first three episodes.
aoikimahri
05/17/2020, 12:32 PM
*contains spoilers up to episode 21 when I dropped it. I've seen beyond this one season.* I was wondering why the ratings were so high as the previews looked like an isekai slice of life show meant for kids. That's exactly what you are getting and not much more. It's something you can turn on when you are wasted on a Saturday night and your mind can't form basic words, and it has its "cute" moments, but it definitely does not deserve an 8 with how childish, nonsensical and slow the plot is. Let's start off with some of the good things before I start rambling witha long diatribe. There can (initially) be some good moments of familial bonding and emotional interaction as the MC comes to accept her new family. The constant buildup of suspicion and the ultimate reveal when one of her friends learns that she is playing an impostor, and justifying the act, is a novel concept and convincingly led well into. (the question of whether the body of the girl she took over still contains the original soul and is alive or not is sadly ignored thereafter) Other isekai anime usually gloss over such an obvious rabbit hole. Her chronic illness seemed like an interesting handicap to keep her from turning into the next davinci too soon with her grand knowledge of yet to be discovered technology. She also uses that knowledge to drive the plot along instead of it relegated to making bento boxes or being completely ignored altogether. The show thus stays pretty decent in the first handful of episodes as you get to learn about and experience these things for the first time. But then the repetition starts kicking in, the intelligence of the characters become more and more questionable, and little things that were overlooked during the honeymoon phase start to grow irritating. It's hard to judge the simplistic nature of plotlines and interactions too harshly since this anime is ostensibly meant for kids, but I'm ultimately reviewing this for anyone beyond the single digit age group. The MC is supposedly a very well read, intelligent young adult who died and had her soul transferred into a small child, but her mental capacity and mannerisms are frequently limited to that of said small child. This juxtaposes sharply against some of the thoughtful exchanges and critical thinking she delivers when recreating products, negotiating sale contracts, or arguing on equal terms with adults over political issues. As the show goes on, she becomes less and less capable and seemingly more and more clueless about the world around her, ignoring social decorum and blindsighted by the most obvious developments, while pouting frequently and prone to emotional outbursts. She basically devolves into a self-centered, screaming two year old toddler that can't understand anything and never learns anything or can see the bigger picture. The other characters also seem to grow worse in personality. In the beginning, they at least had some "character" to them to individualize their interactions with the MC. But eventually they all turn into the same, smiling, copy paste member of the MC's harem, a harem of love, sunshine, and friendship. Conflicts are resolved too easily and with little consequence. There are no villains. It's as hei-wa as can be. Even darker or emotionally disturbing situations are swiftly cut short with rainbows and unicorns. It's a very child-like naive view of the world devoid of any realism. Yes the show is meant for children, but it doesn't seem to aspire beyond that, even in subtext. And the mechanic where her chronic illness constantly leaves her debilitated is extremely overdone. Quite literally half the screentime is of her fainting or feverish in bed. It becomes burdensome very quickly in advancing the already slow plot. Her development of new ideas and inventions frequently hits artificially created snags that are very poorly conceived and juvenile. She tries to dry some stone tablets out in the forest but is too dumb to take them with her or cover them when it rains. The other kids jumping on said tablets and ruining them out of nowhere is also highly manufactured. And the dumbest by far is when she goes out to carve plaques out of wood to write on, but leaves them stacked next to the firewood in her house. Half her house is literally shelves and shelves of nothing but firewood, and she nonchalantly just places them among the many piles. Her mother burns them of course, and the MC literally dies from the shock. It's supposed to be a pivotal moment in the story when she learns about how her fever can immediately consume her if her spirit and resolve to live falters, but it's brought upon by something ridiculously stupid and the dramatic reaction being equally as stupid. The slice of life stories get more and more ridiculous and contrived as the narrative progresses. Even as the MC goes on to do grander things and solves larger problems, the way she conducts herself and how they are resolved get dumber and dumber, as does the world building. Later in the show she randomly decides to join a church priesthood because she wants to read the books in their small library, knowing absolutely nothing about the religion of the church or the ramifications of being a member. The church she is a part of apparently has sex slaves, locks children up like puppy mills in dark basements, uses trickle down economics for food distribution, and somehow expects the people there to survive and become highly coveted and educated servants of nobility that fetch a high price, all while being a house of worship where not a single person is actually pious, while also harboring spoiled nobility that conflicts with the whole notion of asceticism. Two problem children in particular that become the MC's "retainers" are so bratty it's incredulous they were supposedly starving skin and bone just a few months prior with zero interaction with the outside world. And ultimately the kicker that made me drop the show was when the plotline involving the MC's close friend, and his family's disapproval of his merchant apprenticeship, finally stopped dragging on and came to a line snapping conclusion. The premise was already terrible to begin with. This close friend comes from a family of craftsmen who make things. He wants to become a merchant, who sells things. In literally any culture imaginable, these two professions would have a symbiotic relationship. But for some unfathomable reason, his family objects to him becoming a merchant. No concrete reason is given. The disagreement comes to a head and the MC butts in to mediate an intervention. The poor and ill-bred parents, as smug and self-assured as can be, even though they can barely feed their own children or understand the simple concept of money for basic survival, cannot give a single credible reason for objecting to their son becoming a merchant, or even complete a coherent sentence for that matter. Yet somehow the case is resolved by the son apologizing, at his father's command, and everyone smiling and trotting merrily out the door in dance and song. This is somehow also made out to be a life lesson or "moral of the day" that the MC is taught, the moral being she should not interject and instead hear both sides out, even if one side is completely toothless and irredeemable. I don't know what they are trying to teach kids these days but it definitely isn't how to reason or make any sound judgment. In fact, we should praise the irrational, the nonsensical, and the ugly, as long as they scream the loudest and make the biggest scene, much like anime ratings and hype on the internet.
Allwynd
01/24/2020, 01:02 AM
The premise of the anime, at least in the Synopsis section made it feel like it was going to be something interesting and out of the ordinary. Turned out to be one whiny anime riddled with plot holes and plot armor left and right. Even in the first episode when the protagonist gets the memories of the body it now inhabits, she doesn't get all of them and starts looking through the house for books as if she doesn't already have the memory of the body that there are no books there. This trend of things not making any sense continues as the anime develops. The moststriking of all is all other characters, like her sister, her friend and his brothers, all act too mature for their age. These kids are supposed to be ages 5 and 7 and yet they act like they are 25-27 all the time. When you make a story where your characters are 5 and 7 old, either make them act like it, or just make them older. The characters are the worst imaginable as they all act like the main character, except they don't have her 21 century planet Earth knowledge. Seeing a 5 year old acting and deducting like he is in his 20s is just laughable. I know anime and manga like to portray young character like 13-15-17 to be more mature than their age, but this is just getting out of hand and being the most ridiculous thing I've seen in many years. As the story unfolds during the 12 episodes, I expected more "greatness" from the show, with the last few episodes being the culmination. All that happened was the last scene with the head priest, the rest has been just boring and uneventful chatter about unimportant things and the occasional (probably supposed to be funny, but come off just retarded) moment where the main character shows her version of "Inner Sakura", which got boring and retarded in Naruto back in the day and it's stupid still now. The second part of the show was the one that felt like it was losing its direction and the plot armor created for the last episode built by Benno the merchant is just awful. The anime ends with a happy ending that made everything (no matter how little or insignificant it was) feel like it was meaningless. The anime feels like a toned down, more boring and whinier version of Dr. Stone where inventions are put aside and whiny, meaningless dialogue is the forefront. I watched this anime out of sheer curiosity seeing how high score and placement it has, so I thought it was good. It was different, I give it that, but the nature of it was too whiny and stupid for my taste, also those plot holes and plot armors become even more visible in an anime with no fighting. Fighting works to cover up the shortcomings of an anime, because it's a change of pace and viewers don't give it too much thought. Back around 2010 I watched some Yaoi anime called Gravitation, I don't like this genre as with my track record, I prefer shounen, thriller and mystery anime, mostly with fighting, so I don't even know why I watched that anime back then, but it felt weird, I didn't care for the story, but just pushed through, because it was only 12 episodes and didn't want to have dropped an anime. Now I don't know why I watched it, but this one feels the same way - I only pushed through it, because I hoped it would get better, but it didn't, it only got worse in the end. If there is a second season, I won't be watching it.
Agent_Redacted
01/23/2020, 06:24 AM
If you don't like Business Studies, then Myne would prove you wrong with her inventions and her intellectual brain she brought to an unfamiliar world! You can hate the isekai genre all you want. But Ascendance of a Bookworm will surely imprint a question mark above your head and make you think otherwise. Ascendance of a Bookworm is the closest thing we'll get for another season of Spice and Wolf. And of course, the closest thing we'll get for an isekai that doesn't actually suck. Despite of the fact that Ascendance of a Bookworm's MAL thumbnail looks like some kind of rip-off of Kenja noMago's MAL thumbnail. Giving the first bad impression of "Wise Man's Loli". Ascendance of a Bookworm doesn't have a single trace of the MMORPG trash unlike the majority of other isekai shows out there. Instead, the anime is pretty much just about a blue-haired loli with big brain being transported to another world and she uses her big brain to create inventions and make easy cash. Very chill. Very entertaining. Probably the best isekai I've ever seen so far. This anime is no McDonald's. It is a fine Kobe beef topped with caviar, gold and truffle. An utter masterpiece. ( Recommended to everyone so long as you don't use Myne as a fap material )
Honesty
01/12/2020, 01:57 PM
*NO SPOILERS* I watched this anime due to the high ratings it has been receiving on this website and I can say that it most certainly did not live up to them. Honzuki no Gekokujou is an isekai in which a japanese bookworm gets reincarnated into a sick five year old's body and lives as Myne/Main, the daughter of peasants. One of my primary gripes with this anime is the MCs mental age. Myne is meant to be at least a young adult, but instead acts and thinks like a child with the knowledge of an encyclopedia. Subsequently, she fumbles around social interaction with the emotionalintelligence of a child, not knowing how to handle her own position. People are praising this show for changing the isekai formula, but there isn't much substance past that. It's a slice of life show where the MC invents things from the future in a Middle Ages setting, if you enjoy that coupled with some wholesome family and friendship moments, you'll enjoy this. However, saying this show is anything more than a moe primitive technology from Youtube is giving it too much praise. Also, this idea of an MC inventing technology in an isekai is hardly unique to this show, and is handled with more thought in other novels and manga. Story: 4 There really is none, as I said the MC invents things in a Slice of Life manner while attempting to deal with the illness plaguing the body of Myne, who she spawned into. Art: 8 Art is good, around what one would expect from a modern anime. Animation is clearly a bit choppy at times, with the budget clearly not reaching Ufotable levels, but show still does a good job conveying the emotions of characters and the mood the author intended to create. Sound: 9 Quality sound, nothing to complain about especially, not extraordinary either. Characters: 4 This really is the major flaw with this show, most of the characters are extremely shallow and the MCs actions are not what one would expect from one in her position. Myne is incredibly naive and the majority of the world reflects that same design, not testing the limits of her character. Would have made for a more interesting plot if there were characters that truly challenged the mood of the MC and show, but instead it stayed monotonous throughout, the characters interacting in a very fantastical and ideal manner to suite the others desired world. Thus, the characters were very cute but also quite shallow. Enjoyment: 6 Was a fair waste of 5 hours or so, obviously watching the inventing process and cute relationship interactions was fun, but not anything overly stimulating either. The drama fell flat for the most part, as did the majority of the show, still was a decent time killer however as I had nothing else I wanted to do [Sry government, I'll do my taxes eventually].
Yuri-Crusader
01/03/2020, 02:31 AM
Welcome to my review of Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen! This review contains minor spoilers!! The story is the biggest problem in my opinion! It has an awful start and just keeps failing as it moves along!! Motosu Urano is a Librarian and writes books for children. She lives in a distant world and she loves books in all their forms! Fiction to mathematics philosophy and everything in between. She is the definition of a bookworm and literature is her love in life! And she surrounded herself with books! But the books was not happy at all!! They were angryand took their revenge on the tyrant who imprison them!!! What? Really? Well, all the fucking information I got here is " But then" followed by an ugly animation of falling books!! Then the text " On the verge of death I uttered a silent prayer" ... Thank you for all the details!! We are not even 3 minutes in and already in the shit creek without a paddle!! As I said the story has big problems and overall is confusing and contradicts itself constantly!! And make no sense at all!! Even the beginning is weird and fails with the logic!! The head priest is holding a stick and saying "Myne is the only one who has used this to tie her hair!!" It's a hairpin you idiot!! People have been using them for a long time!! For, well, tying their hair!! But you can also take it and stick it up you damn ass if you wish!! You fucking imbecile! Then the head priest transfers Myne to another world!!! By giving her some vine!!! That scene made me feel really uncomfortable to be honest!! She is transferred to the body of the young girl Myne! Who lives with a poor family around the middle ages!!! This anime more the less revolves around Myne's hunt for more literature. But her search for those precious books comes to a screeching halt because of her family's low social status! Books were a luxury item back then!! Made for kings and nobles, not for the common folks or simple guardsmen who can't even read!! She needs to find other means and decides to try to make books herself! Which is not an easy task!! And she struggles to find a way to solve her problems. It tries so hard to be realistic but fails miserably!! It's like a history lesson that tries to teach you about the medieval period, but it has no knowledge about how things worked back then!! Like when the poor hungry street children are learning how to read - they should be sent to the coal mine where they belong!! YURI-CRUSADER!!! What are you saying?? Those are children!!!!! Well yes!! But still, they call it the dark ages for a fucking reason!! Nobles and rich people learned how to read not the common folk! They send them to the mines where their stupid poor asses belong!! And commoners marrying rich people? It's all over the place!! Please choose a tone and stick with it!!! When you think you have passed the worst bit, the animation hits you in the face like a shovel!! It's ugly as hell!! It's dull grey and so boring!! It's so lifeless and unattractive!! The food the characters everything looks tasteless!! I eat with my eyes and love anime because of how tasty and delicious it looks but this is unappetizing foulness! Even the females are boring and uninteresting!! They look like zombies!! Usually, I go nuts for anime girls!! I collect waifus and going to catch them all!! But here they are just a grey lifeless mess!!! The sound is actually ok the voice actors do a decent job. No bigger problem here! Nothing to remember fondly, but in this hellhole it's the only positive aspect!! The characters are as exacting as the animation!! The Father is overly jealous annoying and loud!! The mother is dull and so are the rest of the characters!! They are very shallow no form of development in any meaning!! The street children don't add much either! Like the rest, it's just a waste of time!! Nothing to love or cherish here!! Also, the character's behavior is weird. Lutz who is 5 behaves like he is 40. Gunther (the father) who is 40 behaves like he is 5. It's like they had a mind swapped. Maybe the anime forgot to tell us because it was busy nagging about fucking baskets or how to dry clay! Their behavior is unrealistic and doesn't fit their age. The is no enjoyment to be found, only boredom! Everything from the story to the characters!! It takes more time to explain how to make a fucking basket than to go into details about the main character!! The lack of information makes the ordeal very confusing!! But the non-important aspect gets a lot of time!!! Everything to goddamn fucking baskets, how to dry clay!! And for god's sake, it sure takes its time to explain how to make wooden panels!!! And the rest of the time goes to Myne being displeased, angry or crying!! Well, I was crying too and wondering what the fuck I'm doing with my life!!! I have no problem with slow anime. The problem is not the lack of action. It's more how it tells the story and how the characters are being portrayed. I watch plenty of anime with no violence or action, but they are warm and comfortable with lovable characters!! This is a grey lump of emptiness. A void!! And gives about as much as staring at an empty concrete wall!! It has no soul!! So the big question here is, Do YOU wanna watch this anime? No, You don't!! Take my advice and run and never look back!! Or better go and read a fucking book about how to make a basket!! That is way more productive than wasting your life by watching this filth!! But thank you for reading!!!
maxiburger
12/30/2019, 09:36 AM
I'm surprised at how much I ended up enjoying this show, even though it's a light novel-based isekai. That's usually a bad omen, but Bookworm makes the right decision of rejecting all the Dragon Quest based isekai tropes and instead goes for the mundane subgenre in which the main character tries to live a quiet life, rather than going on an adventure. It takes a while for the show to pick up the pace, so if you're already interested by the premise, I'd recommend sticking with it for more than just 2 episodes. The beginning is admittedly a big roadblock: The main character Main is justas clueless as the audience about the new situation, but she's slowed down by her weak constitution and can't find out more about the fantasy world until she's healthy enough. That means she's stuck on the first rung of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (physiological needs), even though the show promises us the 5th (self-actualization). I know this can be frustrating, but when you know that there's a good reason for it and that there is a payoff, it'll be a little easier to endure. Most of the time when I found myself wondering why something wasn't addressed yet, it got addressed soon after, proving that the author gave a lot of thought to the worldbuilding. The pacing is just a little unfortunate. What appears to be a Stranded Time Traveler plot into a medieval world where letterpress printing and paper haven't been invented yet at first turns out to be more of an exploration into business in feudal societies and class struggle. That's where the show shines the most in my opinion. The revela-tion that magic exists and that the rift between haves and have-nots is mostly based on this offers some further intrigue, but as long as the limits of magic aren't fully explained it's hard to tell if the magic isn't just a writing crutch or a cop-out. In the beginning, magic is only used for contracts and other legal work which I found very acceptable within the bounds of the setting. But in the later epi-sodes it was shown to have more force-related uses too - and that's where things might get a little too convenient. Admittedly, the one convenient magic thing in the final episode was very satisfying to me, so I'll accept it for now. Hopefully the 2nd season keeps the magic shenanigans to a minimum lest it breaks the fragile suspension of disbelief that this fantasy world could function on its own. When spectacle or comedy isn't the focus, I treasure progress the most in my stories. Watching some-one work their way up through hardships and obstacles is motivating. Bookworm certainly delivers in that regard. I kinda wish it went even harder on Main using her modern world knowledge for enterprising purposes once she finally found an outlet for it. Though maybe that would've betrayed the show's family-oriented tone and ultimate goal. Main wants to create books after all, not become a rich business-woman. If she was as smart as she sometimes proves to be, she should realize that she could reach her goal much faster and more efficiently and maybe even change society for the better with the vast riches she could make with her knowledge. That's why I feel a little cockblocked that the merchant guild plotline was cut short by the introduction of the church, even though it was obvious from the start that Main would get majorly involved with the church. After all, her baptism ceremony had a set timer. Plus, the real-life church used to be the main consumer of books for the longest time. And the episode forecasts always foreshadowed the Head Priest as a major character too. Let's just hope the enterprising aspect doesn't get too overshadowed in the following season. I'm certainly looking for-ward to seeing more of Main's ascendance.
Marinate1016
12/28/2019, 08:32 PM
Bookworm is a perfect example of why preliminary reviews should not be allowed on this website and allowing them only lowers the credibility of MAL reviews. I truly must apologise to this series for writing it off when I first started watching it. When I made my first review for this show, I gave it a 6/10 after 4 episodes and felt that there was little to no substance here. I could not have been more wrong. It wasn't the show that had issues, it was me. It was the fact I wasn't appreciating the little things that make good storytelling and instead of substance, Iprioritised style. I'm more than happy to admit I was wrong and that Bookworm is one of the best anime I have ever seen. Bookworm is an isekai, which may initially turn some people off, however, I promise you, it is not your typical isekai. There's no harems, battle scenes, crazy power scaling and OP Otaku self insert protags here. Instead, you have a middle aged Librarian being isekai'd into the body of a frail young girl who is stricken with an illness and who's only objective is to be able to read books again. A simple premise, but a difficult objective as books in this world are reserved for only the most elite of nobles and are very expensive. Well, if you can't buy books, why not make them? Bookworm is extremely grounded and realistic in its storytelling, world building and even things like the magic system feel very real and down to Earth. What I truly appreciate about the series is that the emphasis is on the character development, interactions and economic repercussions of Maine's simple goal to start a bookshop. It's really the first isekai I've seen since Log Horizon to be truly unique in that regard. Instead of focusing on how to beat the demon lord of a planet or how to get home, or how to become the world's strongest to save it from annihilation, Bookworm focuses on the real world implications of waking up in another world in a different body. How would you interact with your family and the people around you? How would you go about truly making this new life your own? If you're tired of the same old isekai after another with the same isekai starting town with the big white wall, you know the one I'm talking about, and want something genuinely fresh, unique and most importantly, cute as fuck, this is the series for you. You will not be disappointed. I've never seen Spice and Wolf, but from what I can gather, the themes and topics covered in the story are very similar to that, if that helps contextualise things for you. Bookworm gets a 10/10 and I can't wait to start reading it/for season 2. TL;DR Starts slow, but if you want a fresh and original take on Isekai, watch this.
Burning_Light
12/28/2019, 10:51 AM
O M G! Finally an isekai which isn't related with a demon king or something dark! ·Story: 7/10 As I said at the beginning, this story is different from other isekais. It's based on a girl that wants to make books, and yes, the story is all related to that topic. Instead of focusing in fights, it is more about creating or learning the different aspects from the world the girl is transported to in order to achieve her objective. ·Art: 7/10 For the type of genre I can affirm that the scenes in general have good animation despite the fact that they are ''relaxed'' scenes and don't needthat much work from the company. Obviously, everything can be improved, but overall art is pretty good. ·Sound: 7/10 I didn't like the OP and ED as I prefer the ones that have rock style, but they are not so bad (They are more relaxed, which I understand for this type of anime). Effects and OST are pretty simple and just give a relaxing feeling during the show. ·Character: 5/10 In this part, I didn't like the MC personality because I'm tired of gentle and obstinate mcs. Also, the design of the rest of the characters didn't appeal to me as they were very superficial and didn't give any focus to details of them. Maybe another reason is because I'm more keen to strange characters with excentric designs. ·Enjoyment: 5/10 I liked that the story was different from other isekais, but with the recent anime Dr.Stone, which was about inventions, Honzuki wasn't so relevant to me. I think is good that they change the typical plot of isekais, but that's all. They didn't invent nothing new and the more I see from this anime, the less I enjoy it as they don't give anything new and comedy isn't one of the strenghts from this show. ·Overall: 6/10 I think that the idea of this serie was great, but it remained there, with no progression. Apart from this, I think that it's a fair anime with good and bad points everyone should give a try if they are tired of general isekais. Thanks for reading!
DarknessReality
12/26/2019, 01:18 PM
Ascendance of a Bookworm was exactly the type of series I needed. The story of a girl being transported to another world and chasing her dream of reading a book is simple and perfect. Seeing Mein desperately try to get closer to her dream only for another obstacle to get in her way was really interesting. No matter what she never gave up and even though the series is slow it's totally worth the watch when she finally starts making progress. I love that this anime is something fresh and new, giving us a slow story of a Slice of Life Isekai. The Isekai genre hasbeen done to death so its great to see anime like Ascendance of a Bookworm take the Slice of Life female main protaganist approach like Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne! which also aired this anime season. Mein is one of my favourite characters of this anime season. She's cute and her absolute determination to read/make a book in this world where they're only possessed by nobility really makes me want to support and see her achieve that goal. Mein is basically a cuter version of Miku Kohinata from Senki Zesshou Symphogear which is also voiced by Iguchi Yuka. Speaking of Iguchi Yuka, she was such a perfect choice to play Mein as she perfectly plays the type of character that is super cute and scary as hell when they're angry. Getting an entire series with Iguchi Yuka as the main character was the main appeal of Honzuki for me and is the reason I started watching it and I'm so glad I did. One main focus of Honzuki is Mein's family and god is it wholesome. Throughout the series, we learn more about the family and see Mein grow closer to them and its so cute to see her interacting with them. The father Guntha is hilarious. He's an overprotective father that easily gets jealous when others take his girl's attention away. His overprotectiveness is also another way it shows the family bond and strengths it. The mother is the typical concerned mother who worries for her daughters and overall the family feels absolutely real which makes it all the more heartwarming to see them enjoying themselves together. Particularly towards the end, the family bond is tested. One of my favourite parts of this series is its world. It's a fantasy world where books are rare forcing our main Heroine to find other ways of acquiring one. But there are other elements that get sprinkled in overtime to make the world more unique like a plant that could take out a city if not cut immediately and the presence of mana and magic used for contracts in business. The houses also have very interesting designs being similar to skyscrapers but made out of wood. All of this helped immerse me in its world. Lutz, one of the main characters, is a really good member of the cast. He helps Mein with the things she makes and is always there to help her out when something goes wrong. At first, I was worried that this series would be adding romance but it always keeps a safe distance but by the end of it, I was an avid believer in Lutz X Mein. The art is nice especially with some of the effects later on in the series. The series introduces an interesting element sometime during the midpoint of the season which I won't spoil but it gives us so many good scenes with Mein and the rest.# Overall absolutely loved this wholesome adventure from start to finish. Getting a full series with Iguchi Yuka as the lead was great and the story ended up keeping me excited every week. This anime season has given us a lot of new settings and ideas that keep giving us these unique anime and Honzuki is definitely one of them. It's definitely a slow series but if you're like me and just enjoying watching characters slowly build up to something and like the Slice of Life in between, I'm sure you'll love Ascendance of a Bookworm. I can't wait for season 2 which has already been announced and see Mein back in full swing. 9/10 Would definitely recommend it.
KANLen09
12/25/2019, 11:41 PM
Isekai Bookworm: the Isekai we needed but didn't deserve, and furthermore, the most underrated and least watched Isekai of the season, that's at least getting a continuation in Spring 2020 for its 2nd cour...like how great is that! It's almost like in the slew of all-too-familiar Isekai LNs that purge the same formula as if that's the ONLY way to make it interesting, that Ascendance of a Bookworm FINALLY saw the change towards that formula to forge and become its very own thing. *Spoilers be warned* In the sense of realism, Isekai Bookworm retains the fantasy that the genre is all but known for, but with thetwist that this is actually more of a slice-of-life than the fantastical elements it bargains at the beginning, and all but perishes it right from the start, as evident from the MC Maine (or Myne as the manga/LN states). Originally a girl named Urano Motosu who has substantial interest in books and literature with a dream to be a librarian one day, her life was cut short but not without hoping to see the dream be realized in her reincarnated afterlife. When fate strikes her a chord, she awakes into a 5-year old girl living in the Medieval era town of Ehrenfest, except that body that her soul is tugged into isn't as healthy as she'd thought. The body, frail and weak from an occurring disease, can only be cured if her passion is kept reeling in a.k.a books and literature, and so that dream she had from before, becomes her conquest to make and create modern things in old times. First things off the bat, Isekai Bookworm is unlike similar brethrens out there trying to play the Hero counterpart to defeat evildoers, but rather, focuses on the one element that keeps it going: to find books in primitive times, because paper isn't common at all. Furthermore, the sole reason for Maine's purpose to find paper can even be referred to as a kid's struggle in trying to find something of interest in a world that the word "invention" doesn't really ring a bell towards its citizens. To make matters even worse, Maine's "upbringing" in a poor family doesn't make things any better for her as materials of paper and even books are only available for the wealthy, not to mention the ancient language that she supposedly has a hard time settling into at the start. To counteract all this, Maine would befriend many of the character cast, starting with the family who has it rough to always take care and watch out for her flailing health: father Gunther, mother Effa and elder sister Turi, who were the first people to notice Maine's progress in both her wellbeing and inventive innovations whilst prepping her for the medieval world's terms and conditions. Along with Gunther's friend Otto's help to teach Maine about the ancient language, and Lutz, Maine's childhood friend shows up along the way when she decides that her paper-making process (that he has witnessed) be turned into a for-profit business, all looks set for the plan to be in motion. And whaddya know, his dream of being a merchant coincides with Maine's interest of selling her stuff, much to Otto's rejection being an afterthought, the two decided to cooperate, and taken to Merchant Benno, who'd supervise their business and lay off others who'd want a slice of their business for ulterior motives. And you know the intricacies of mere 5-6 year-olds in business where Maine literally has an adult's mind that shocks even the most seasoned merchants, but could still potentially be cheated due to the aggravating giveaways of her weak health. Regardless, this character cast, especially MC Maine is what hooks me onto this show for reasons. Probably what will turn people off from this anime is the entire slice-of-life regime that is flushed all around, but trust me, that same regime is what draws me into this show with awe and fascination, at how the world could be different for what it is, going back to being children and solving problems with mistakes and failures that aren't offset from growing human life. Maine makes no attempts to sweep her failures under the rug, as her experimentation allows her to know what does and does not work to make her paper-making business flourish, and along with her "secret stash" of modern-day knowledge and education to teach the others and be wowed by such items. If you don't get what I'm trying to infer here, is that everything is damn wholesome and educational that I can't shift my eyes away from it to see what would Maine's next step forward is gonna bring onto the table. Ajia-Do Animation Works' visuals are just perfect for this anime, the art being reminiscent of one being very light and a great mix of color palettes along with the many Maine-chibi forms of educational explanation content that are easy to watch and have fun alongside it. On the animation side, I'm just glad that there was just the right amount of animation, given that there are still sprinkles of the bits and pieces of low-budget work that exist within the anime, but are not glaringly noticeable that it affects the overall quality. Music-wise, lots of lightheartedness (and some serious notes) with the world and its worldbuilding established from the setting that it does mimic so well, and same goes to the cheery atmospheric and lovely OST by both Sumire Moroboshi and Megumi Nakajima. For one, I'm sure that this isn't the end of Maine and her world-building shenanigans, as we'll have to wait until the 2nd cour to flesh out more of what's to come of her sickness and how that affects the people she abides by. But as much as this Iyashikei of a feeling this anime has, it's certainly one to take on a chill ride. It's very personal too and it never stops being intriguing to see things through, if that is ever anything to win hearts by.
Goober-fish
12/25/2019, 07:50 PM
To round off this year of abysmal drops in the bucket from the rusty spigot tapped into the vast ocean of low-effort isekai anime still waiting down the pipeline, “Ascendance of a Bookworm” hit me like a brief mouthful of ambrosia that I desperately desired. There are only so many ways to frame an isekai anime nowadays, it’s like when Fox announces they’ve renewed The Simpsons for another 3 seasons and realizes, “Haven’t we already done everything?” In this regard, Bookworm isn’t exactly novel when you think about how it recontextualizes this tired concept. It’s not an original concept, but it’s one that recognizes thecharming beauty of its simplicity. To put it simply, Bookworm is a tight and focused character-piece that neither preoccupies itself with empty flash or needless frills. It feels deceptively quaint and almost procedural compared to most high-concept isekai anime. Its scale is cleverly stripped back, its pace slowed to a manageable stroll, and its tone kept consistently light to taste. Bookworm’s centerpiece is Maine, a delightfully original spin on tired isekai protagonist tropes. Maine incrementally and deliberately progresses through her world much slower than you’d expect of normal protagonists. She is thoroughly constrained by the fact that she is now a sickly young girl on the lower-end of the tax-bracket and social pecking-order. The only thing that Maine really has going for her is her vast retention of book-knowledge, but don’t expect her to go full Senkuu any time soon. Bookworm embraces the mundanities of plausible conflict. Maine is a child (one who frequently suffers from an otherworldly fever) and at that one who actively lacks the resources to overcome short-term goals because of her social class. Bookworm never feels overbearing despite this. It never beats you over the head with misery-porn or begs you to feel sorry for Maine's situation, not that there aren't occasional emotional beats peppered throughout its episode count. Instead, Maine is both intrepid and charming, taking her failures in stride with a childlike irreverence. Save for towards the very end, I never really got the sense that the show was trying to hold Maine’s hand by introducing a plot-contrivance or hand-out that would get the ball rolling. Bookworm’s idea of trial and error is one of very gradual progression, and it makes those smaller victories all the more satisfying when Maine does clear her hurdles. Bookworm was a consistently low-key and understated viewing experience. Despite the darker implications of Maine’s reincarnation, the show never makes it a point to become overtly shocking for the sake of creating a tonal dissonance. I’m happy that Bookworm both decided to address this detail and show a commendable amount of restraint by not playing up the melodrama. Bookworm posits the question, is this world better off now that Motosu Urano has become a surrogate for this young girl who perished under the noses of her family? Is it fine for this family to keep living under the pretense that the daughter they once knew continues to live under their roof? Bookworm’s real meat comes in the form of Maine’s identity crisis. Maine is fully cognizant of how she has essentially deceived everyone into thinking there’s nothing going on beneath the surface. This is a subplot explored through the character of Lutz. Being forced to sort of play along with Maine’s antics, Lutz begins to cultivate a deeper relationship than he previously had with her, as well as a suspicion for her true identity. This eventually culminates in one of the most cathartic and emotionally potent scenes I’ve seen in an anime in recent memory, but you kind of just have to see it to believe it. It’s simply wonderful watching this character accept both her new identity and her new family as her own. Looming fever aside, there’s always a sense of dread that Maine will have to confront her conflict of identity again and that it might just come crashing down on her. It’s an effectively simple conflict that I wish more isekai anime would take the time to explore. Technically speaking, Bookworm isn’t all that impressive as it doesn’t particularly necessitate flashy action set-pieces. There are endearing gag sequences where the art-design will completely flip into a stylized chibi format but those don’t tend to last more than a couple of seconds and are mostly used as eye-catches to transition between scenes. The character designs lack the edge that you’d expect from an anime in this genre, although I wouldn’t necessarily consider that a bad thing. As always, Yuka Iguchi is excellent and characterizes Maine with her typical brand of saucy sarcasm. Ascendance of a Bookworm is Dr. Stone for those who were let-down by its over-the-top antics and seemingly infallible protagonist. It’s pragmatic almost to a fault, and a show that I wouldn’t easily recommend to viewers not willing to get caught up in its slower pace. If you’re like me and have resigned yourself as an unabashed isekai garbage-eater, Bookworm might just be what the doctor ordered. Ascendance of a Bookworm was a classic case of a show far surpassing my expectations and one I learned to love more and more with each passing episode. Bookworm is as warm and comforting as curling up with a good book, and I’m sure that’s the sentiment it wanted to leave us with until its second season.
Stark700
12/25/2019, 07:47 PM
You’ve probably heard the phrase “knowledge is power”. One of the fundamental elements of power comes from books and even in our modern world today, that phrase remains as true as ever. Ascendance of a Bookworm attributes to a bookworm named “Myne” who is reincarnated into another world as she hopes to regain her ability to read. With the amount of isekai anime coming out in recent years, it’s easy to paint this show as another clone. However, you should actually take a careful look into this anime and see it more of as a slice of life isekai. What does that mean? In some ways,Ascendance of a Bookworm contains fantasy elements but also relies a lot more on realism than what people will realize. The first episode drops main protagonist Myne into a world of uncertainty. It doesn’t take long for her to adjust to her newfound life as she carves for books and love of reading. To her, reading books is equivalent to a life necessity and she would do anything to get her hands on them. We shouldn’t judge on Myne too much. She’s a child who is eager to learn and explore. My impression of the show at first is that of a slow paced story to teach us about the person Myne really is. She’s an innocent girl who is staring a new life with a passion to collect books. On the surface, she is a kind girl who is also eager to make friends. Considering the difficulty to acquiring them in the new world, it comes to no surprise that she would have to use some creativity to further her ambitions. She experiments with inventing objects associated with books and begins to gain a reputation among their society. This is where a certain level of realism comes in. Throughout the anime, the show rarely relies on magic when inventions are made. Most of it comes down to trial and error in the hands of Myne’s ideas. Ironically, Myne seems to be suffering from a mystical mana related illness that often puts her into a weakened state. This happens often in the show where viewers may wonder if her life is at jeopardy. The main plot doesn’t devote too much time into this although it does limit Myne’s abilities to make books and inventions. Instead, we are treated with a show that focuses on the life of Myne and her character. Whether you like her or not, this is an anime that dedicates time into exploring the reincarnated life of a bookworm. And as the starring protagonist, it didn’t take long for Myne to establish meaningful relationships in the show. Myne is highly protective of her family where in one particular episode, she shows a dangerous side of her after they were threatened. It’s the type of bond that translates into how much she values her family. Similarly, Myne makes friends with the locals including a young child named Lutz. As someone close to her age, Lutz often looks after her well-being and they forge a close relationship. While the anime doesn’t truly dedicate them as a couple, there’s some charming amount of teases that fans can imagine. Other close relationships Myne develops throughout the show includes Eva, Ralph, Turi, and others who realizes how kind and gentle she is. Even someone as stubborn as the merchant Benno sees her good side despite not showing it. However, I should say off the bat that most of the anime is focused on Myne. Most of the characterization is limited to our protagonist so it may disappoint some people if they wish to see more depth into the other cast members. Thankfully, the character chemistry among the cast is charming and often embedded to get us to understand Myne more. I’m not going to lie though. Watching Ascendance of a Bookworm can be a bit of a chore sometimes due to its repetitive story nature. Most of the episodes revolves with the same concept of storytelling and recycled themes. With each passing episode, it’s easy to see how slowed pace the show is. Unlike most isekai, you won’t find much action. This actually feels more like a coming-of-age slice of life but taking place in fictional fantasy world. There’s a balanced amount of drama and comedy that shouldn’t be overlooked. The drama comes from Myne living her new life but often facing obstacles when she isn’t prepared for. Meanwhile, the comedy comes from Myne’s own imaginative mind that often takes the shape of cartoonish skits. I mean, she is a child after all and her imaginations are limitless. It’s often played for laughs but also shows how open minded she can be. For a bookworm, she definitely shows exactly why she loves books. As someone who has read the novels, the 14-episode anime adaptations serves more as a baseline to get viewers into the franchise. Make no mistake though, there’s definitely more that I wish to see being adapted. But on the plus side, I do welcome studio Ajia-Do’s effort into making the show as colorful and vibrant as it can be. As an anime that doesn’t rely on magic, the show tells some surprising amount of choreography with the body language and character designs. In fact, characters looks like they belong in this setting with their simple clothing and everyday lifestyle. The most noticeable character is protagonist Myne. Designed with a frail and petite look, there’s no doubt people will see vulnerability in her character. Also, I would also give praise to the voice acting to her character as taking on the role of a child is no easy task. Yet, voice actress Yuka Iguchi is able to portray Myne perfectly. It’s exactly how I pictured Myne as a character bought to life in animated form. If you’re a fan of isekai anime, this may be something unorthodox that you’re not used to. Rather than a decorating itself as a fantasy adventure, Ascendence of a Bookworm explores more of the mundane life of a bookworm. I can’t say it’s easy to recommend this show with the story’s slow pacing. But if you want a different type of isekai than what you see too often these days, then this anime might just surprise you.

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 本好きの下剋上～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～

2019 fall | Episodes: 14 | Score: 8.0 (175980)

Updated every Thursdays at 00:30 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Streaming: Crunchyroll | Netflix

Synopsis

Voice Actors

Tamura, Mutsumi

Iguchi, Yuka

News

Reviews

Rim_Harada
06/10/2024, 05:04 AM
This is real "Anime". I am surprised to have found this masterpiece after so much time of starting to watch anime, it is certainly not something normal that you would see, and it is not at all what we are used to seeing in current works. Each episode of this play makes you want more, in some, it makes you cry and in others it makes you excited and excited because that is what will happen. This is not a review, nor is it a recommendation, it is a call from the universe for you to see this masterpiece. This is Anime.
7barbieringz
09/01/2023, 07:00 PM
No spoilers: I recommend this if youre okay with slow pace and slice of life. The world building is wonderful and I really enjoy watching the MC overcome her hurdles as she gets closer to her dream of reading more books. Its not all about books though, the overall story is pretty interesting but like I said before its slow, theres not a lot of fighting or anything like that. I teared up a few times watching it, its not your typical isekai, but it does have common isekai elements like magic and knights. But i say gice it a try, if you want to dropit by the end os season 1 its prob not for you.
Byc33
08/27/2023, 11:09 PM
Like many others I picked up this series due to the high score and many good reviews. I generally like fantasy isekai so it was going to make it on my list eventually, but the good reviews pushed it up the "watch asap" list. I don't usually write reviews for things I watch, anime or otherwise, so excuse the lack of structure. However, I just felt the need to express my opinion for this one because I have some pretty strong mixed feelings about it after watching all 3 seasons. This series can be summed up as having an interesting premise, a good story butterrible characters. I won't be commenting on the quality of the animation or soundtrack because I don't care or know enough about drawing and music to be able to responsibly critique it. What matters to me most when I watch an anime is whether it tells a good story and whether i enjoy it overall. Story: We of course have a lot of the usual isekai stuff, MC dies and gets reincarnated with powers and quirks etc. Here the MC's power is largely her retained knowledge from her previous life and her quirk is her obsession with books and reading them. That is not to say the MC isn't OP cos it's pretty obvious that she'll only get more OP as the series goes along, it is just not presented in the typical isekai-OP-MC way. The entire series pretty much revolves around the MC using her knowledge to build and change the new world to feed her obsession with books. The world presented is an interesting one and world building is good. We get to see the MC gradually progress through the world, gaining power and influence both economically and politically, the pacing was good in my opinion. There were also no stupid romances or unnecessary fanservice and I came out of it feeling like I enjoyed it overall. Unfortunately, that is the biggest strength of this series and this is where my mixed feelings come in. Characters: The MC is annoying, borderline frustrating. Her personality is extremely inconsistent throughout the series, at times behaving like a child and at times behaving like the adult she is supposed to be(mentally). One could argue that it is to be expected since she is an adult who reincarnated as a child but the personality switches often make no sense. It is hard to express this clearly without spoiling it so I'll just say that a lot of the drama in the series tends to be of her own doing. She doesn't seem to learn from her mistakes, or rather, she learns only from insignificant mistakes but doesn't learn from the meaningful ones that would drive her growth as a character. This results in a lot of time spent setting her up for growth but ultimately ending up with her not growing much at all. She works hard for her goals and they do show her working for it, but she very often proceeds to screw everything up on her own because "I'm suddenly a child", and now others have to fix it for her cos "you'll fix it for me, won't you?" and while she attains the goal eventually, this makes a lot of her achievements feel undeserved and that is a source of frustration for me. As for the other characters, the series does a good job building a pretty diverse bunch of supporting characters around the MC with some interesting and very wholesome ones, but overall most of the characters are pretty one dimensional and show little growth throughout the series. Most of the cast's core motivations are overly simplistic and sometimes illogical, with many of the key supporting characters clearly existing simply to help the MC "fix" all the stupid unnecessary mistakes she makes. Overall: All that said, as mentioned before, I enjoyed it overall, which is the most important thing to me when watching anything and I'd watch the next season if there is one.
AeroGunz
05/20/2023, 06:15 PM
“Ascendance of a Bookworm” is what happens when You have an interesting premise with a cool twist to the isekai genre and skill to make watching it enjoyable. The story is pretty simple. A young girl, who loves books more than anything and I do mean anything, dies. Instead of going to the great beyond she ends up in the body of a little, frail, sickly girl in a different world. A world where books are a luxury only for the nobles or the rich. Possessing the knowledge from her former life and assimilating the memories of her new host body she embarks on aquest to create and sell her beloved books. The main heroine is Myne, well technically it’s Motosu Urano, but we’ll get to that. A blue haired, frail and sickly 5 year old girl. One day she succumbs to her illness and her body gets a new tenant. Motosu Urano - a Young woman from our world, who studied to become a librarian, read a metric shit ton of books on many different subjects and who… died. Yes, it’s death galore when it comes to the MC in this show. For someone who read a lot of books, Urano (I’m just gonna call her Myne, she does assimilate the new reality quite fast after all) wasn’t blessed with the abundance of wisdom. Her first reaction to a new, rather fantastical situation, that is waking up in a new body, isn’t to check her surroundings, determine her status or even to determine her position in the new family. No. It’s to find something to read. I have met people who lack common sense but this is getting into “Hey, kidnap/ kill/ enslave me. I’m really dumb” territory. Her lack of understanding and basic knowledge will come to bite her in the ass rather often… as it should. It’s nice to see a show that at least tries to touch that subject. That said, Myne thanks to her knowledge is rather OP. A different kind of overpowered than in most isekais. Her power is knowledge and she’s adept at using it… without caring that a 5 year old displays knowledge and skills she has no business possessing. Despite that no one actually confronts her on that… except one person but that would be spoiler territory. Everyone else just treats her like a genius, despite the fact that there is little to no evidence that the original Myne was anything other than a sickly child. Something I really liked is that her brains are the only perk of her being overpowered. Her body is weak, she succumbs to the sickness she inherited from the original Myne and she more often than not has to be carried everywhere. I liked that. It’s a nice balance - a word I’m sure that most isekai authors have never heard of. She also isn’t perfect with the use of her knowledge. Apart from cooking her first attempts at creating her own book are rather abysmal. Most of the plot centres around Myne trying to find a way to create a book with trial and error. A lot of errors to be fair. During that undertaking she unintentionally creates some chaos within the local market with the products she produces. The second most important of the plot is Mynes' business venture to secure the means to create the books. To do that she becomes a merchant and sells her knowledge of otherworldly goods. Her confrontations with merchants who want her for themselves are one of the best parts of the show. Not only because it’s fun watching a child confuse adults but also because Myne isn’t savvy enough to fully grasp the value of her creations. The moment she realises that she could have made a better deal are really well done. That said, the plot has some holes. The biggest one is the fact that no one in her surroundings questions the source of her knowledge. One day a 5 year old can create things that even the rich desire, “invents” (I use this term loosely) new dishes and talks about creating paper - something so rare and pricey that most people don’t have a clue about how it’s made, and everyone is ok with that. Her new world is a classical mediaeval world so I would probably expect (no, not the spanish inquisition, no one expects them) an exorcist before everyone accepts the fact that a child invents new things that could very well turn the entire economy on it’s head. Even her young friends just roll with her crazy antics. Second problem is with the characters. More precisely their behaviour doesn’t match their age. Myne is surrounded, at least in the beginning, with mostly 5 to 7 year olds. Yet they all act like at least highschoolers. It’s a bit confusing. I get it, in this world You become an adult when You’re 15 but we are talking about 7 year olds who have skills and physical abilities that You wouldn't expect them to have for at least 5 years. Granted I'm not a hystorian so maybe I'm wrong about this. Most of the adult cast is pretty well done in my opinion, even if some of them should be a little less trusting towards Myne. All in all it’s not a bad plot. Yes, sometimes it loses its focus for an episode or two, but it does remind the viewer of it’s main goal. Well… two goals to be fair. Around the halfway point Myne get’s a second goal but let’s not spoil the surprise. A few more things could be taken apart but the story itself is rather enjoyable. Most scenes don’t overstay it’s welcome (apart maybe some with Lutz but I’ll just put them into “world building” category) and the dialogs are mostly well written. Even if it’s hard to buy a 5 year old would speak in such a way. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the show. Yes, there were moments where I wanted to facepalm so hard I would forget what I have seen but those moments were few and far between. If You can forget about logic, even the shows internal one that it tries to establish, You can have a real blast watching this.
Nazhy
01/08/2023, 10:22 PM
This show is incredibly compelling, the way that most isekai political/ business drama are. It’s enjoyable, in the sense that I can turn off my brain and be like “I love books too!” And relate to the main character and their struggles about loving and missing books throughout the whole show. But that’s all I can say is good about it, cute at times, the drama and suspense is ok, but other than the MC having one relatable trait, she is annoying. The other characters also feel like paper, 2D characters lacking 3D development. Everything about the show is basic and lackluster, only enjoyable ifyou choose to ignore these flaws. If your being critical, the show is barely a 5. If your like me and can’t deny the compelling world of isekai, the love (if not obsession) that the MC shows for books, the cute priest (which may or may not be the reason why I’m waiting for the next season), and don’t mind having your brain operate on low power mode, the show is a 6. Watch it if your easygoing, have time to burn, and the plot seems appealing to you.
Casul_Noob1997
09/03/2020, 05:00 AM
Never have I been so baffled about the popularity of an intellectual property. And that's not to say I "just don't get it," because I believe I do get this show. And I'm NOT HERE to tell those who enjoy 'Ascendance' that their opinion is wrong and mine is right, because that's pompous as all hell first and foremost. All of us have our own tastes and priorities when it comes to what a story "should be" about what it "should" focus on, and by proxy, what it does right by our personal standards' measure. Now, with my "everyone's taste is valid" disclaimer out ofthe way, let me briefly tell you why this show is kinda garbage - that's right, "briefly." There's almost nothing to talk about in regards to this show. People will tell you that this is "not your average Isekai" because it's not about an overpowered protagonist. What they fail to realize is it's still totally about that, but the MC is overpowered in terms of knowledge. The first half of season one is part How It's Made, part meandering rinse and repeat cycle: MC Main gets an idea, she does the idea, everyone save for one are only ever mildly curious as to how she suddenly knows such things, but it doesn't matter because everybody loves Main always for everything she does. Always. And then that's the second half of season one: part How It's Made, part average Isekai where the MC is blessed and gifted thanks to no effort on her part. She's just special, and that's not even related to everybody loving her to pieces. Because of this, you might be wondering if there's even any conflict or entertainment value outside of the "How It's Made" portion of the show. And the thing is, there really isn't. Main is frail and that's where all genuine conflict comes from, but because you know she won't die because of plot armor, it's a moot point that feels like empty drama. And part of the reason for that feeling is because Main has nothing else opposing her. Ever. She does what she wants, gets what she wants, and if she can't she finds a way to get it within the next episode or two. Her sickness isn't a compelling opposing force because it does not challenge Main internally, which is what makes conflict compelling. But Main never has to change who she is or how she goes about things - the season ends with her caring more about this family she pretended was hers for a year, and it's trying to convince us that this is the mark of character growth without ever showing us Main getting closer to her fake family. In fact, before this point it seems as if she's drifting apart from them - not that THEY care, however, as everybody loves Main in this story no matter what she does. The worldbuilding, which you might hear a lot of, is at once kinda cool and utterly pointless. It's unique and down-to-earth due to the perspective of the MC's disposition, and the whole of her society is organically developed and feels grounded in some kind of reality. But it's the fantasy aspects which feel like a negative - every time one is introduced it's for the sake of Main getting ahead in her plans in a manner that would be impossible in our reality. And nothing else. Never do these aspects of the worldbuilding develop the world or challenge the characters in any way. They are genuine plot devices. And that's not even mentioning the religion and the magic system of "mana" - totally out of left field and convenient enough for Main to get exactly what she wants at the end of the season. The gods of this world are so archetypal and vaguely explored that you could grind them up into paste and they'd come out vanilla. People will tell you this anime is part Slice of Life, but I found (as someone who is a fan of the genre) that the best Slice of Life are the ones where you get to know the characters and see their personalities develop outside of big sweeping emotional plot developments or character moments. This is, I've learned, what makes the best SoL shows their own kind of "compelling" - because you want to see these characters doing stuff more, you want to hang out with them and see what shenanigans they get into next. If this show is a Slice of Life, it utterly fails in my eyes. Rarely do we get scenes that don't contribute to Main's ambitions, and that goes for the characters. Nearly all of them barely have a character, and that's no exaggeration. And because they're part of the reason that Main is never challenged, they rarely feel like actual thinking people - just set dressing to make Main look good. The one exception to this is her business partner and, for a couple episodes, Lutz. That's not to say this show is utter garbage - I DID give it a 3 after all. Despite my griping about the characters, all of them are enjoyable presences, even Main surprisingly. She never feels condescending despite her intelligence, which I think is the one thing that keeps her and her perfection from being horrendously received by most viewers. The character Lutz, while not interesting as a person, has an arc that is so compellingly presented and resolved that you could be forgiven for thinking the entire season was just as good. The animation style pops and is quite clean, and the How It's Made portions are interesting and makes the story's sense of progression still feel earned despite the complete lack of actual conflict. I'd say you should watch this if you want a different kind of Isekai - just don't forget that this is not only still an Isekai, but a fairly boring one in terms of plot.
TheSpanishInquis
06/21/2020, 02:16 PM
This anime is not as good as the rating. I have no idea why people are giving it 10/10, because it is clearly not that good. For one, a 10/10 implies a perfect show, and this show has flaws and errors all over the place, specifically, the show fails in animation, art, characters, and story. While at least art and animation can be chalked up to a low budget, it's really bad sometimes, especially those fire sprites. I swear, a Youtuber could make a animated fire better than what they use, it atrocious and tears you out of any semblance of immersion the show buildswhenever it appears.This review contains minor spoilers, not that it really matters, as most of this story is pretty irrelevant and nothing much actually happens. There is no real conflict to speak of, so there is nothing to really spoil. The first problem with the anime is the story. There is essentially no story to speak of. Her goal is to get books, or make books, which is pretty simple, but the entire way she goes about it is just devoid of any interesting plot points. Like seriously, the methods she uses are so contrived, and most episodes just feel like filler. She literally has the knowledge of the modern world and fails to use most of it. Her character is so one dimensional it hurts. The dialogue is very lacking. Every episode there is always some example of bad dialogue. An example that stuck out to me would be in Episode 5, where Eva is talking to another mom and says something along the lines of "Ya, you only have boys." and then goes on to list all the other parents children like she does not know their names or something. Like, wtf, that was so redundant and unnatural. If you wanted to emphasize that she is the parent of Lutz and his brothers, there are plenty of other ways to do that. Made me cringe when I first saw it. Another case is in episode 6, when they meet Benno, which is a mixed case of bad dialogue and bad storytelling. Like seriously, you expect a 5 year old kid, 5 YEARS OLD, to know what he wants to trade if he considers becoming a merchant? Like really? He's 5. 5 year old kids still piss their bed, cry excessively, and are freaking DUMB. I know this is supposed to be medieval fantasy, but that is simply beyond stupid. Nobody would expect a 5 year old to know what he's going to trade as a merchant, even back in medieval times when you were considered mostly grown up by your teens. They would take him in as an apprentice first, teach him how to trade and do arithmetic, and when he learned all the basics he would have a choice on what to do. Even then, considering this show seems to be trying its hardest to depict a "realistic" medieval fantasy, he would NOT really have a choice on what he want to do. Even if he chose to be a merchant, and was permitted to do that, he would be whatever type of merchant accepted him as an apprentice, almost without exception, because breaking an apprenticeship was a crime, and after an apprenticeship a Journeyman was not really good enough to get investment to start their own business. Its just some seriously stupid writing sometimes. I get that kids are usually more mature than their actual age in anime, but that is another inconstancy in the writing. The 5 year old kids tend to act like they are 20 year's old, but then suddenly revert to what a 5 year old would actually act like. Myne is the perfect example of this. She goes form thinking critically about how shes going to make paper to crying like a toddler whenever something goes awry, like when her clay tablets were stepped on. Another example is in episode 7 where shes afraid to cut her finger to complete a contract. Its super jarring and inconsistent. If the writer wanted the characters to be mature, have them be older, like at least 10. There is no reason to have a apprentice system like they have in the show that is similar to real life. Its a fantasy show, you can make a few changes, like making the age of apprenticeship older by making peoples lifespans longer, or something like that. Hell, most apprenticeships in real life occurred form age roughly the age of 14 and on even in the medieval period, so I completely fail to understand why they would make the characters so young. Anyhow, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Also, about all the arguments about "oh, its because the original Myne's personality and the body snatcher mixed" or "Its because her brain is undeveloped but she has the mind of a 20 year old" bugger off with that bull crap excuse. If the writer wanted to have her act like a child and an adult at different times make her a teen. There is no reason to have such contrived reasoning for her to act in such a unnatural manner when you can get away with making her act like both in a logical manner. Ya, maybe she would not cry as much as she does, and some of the "cuteness" would be reduced because she is no longer a kid, but honestly, it would make the show so much better in my opinion. There are plenty of other story things I can ramble about, but this review is already going to be long, so I'll get on to the characters and the animation/art. Most all characters in this story feel shallow. They are puddles, and are lacking depth in most regards, especially for motivation. To be specific for some of them, Myne only cares about books, Lutz is just that one kid who is helpful to Myne and wants to eventually explore the world one day, and EVERYONE else except Benno is simply their to be a foil for Myne. No kidding. The entire cast is foil characters, and it feels like their only purpose is to either get in Myne's way somehow by saying she can't do something because shes weak, or she not a noble, or for some other reason, or to comment "WOW MYNE! What an amazing invention you just made, how weird!" And now for the only spoiler that might matter. Lutz is the only one, after about 7 episodes, and a period of what Lutz said was almost an entire YEAR, to realize Myne is different. That is the most retarded thing ever. Hes the only one who questioned her about it, and after he confronted her and figured everything out, nothing really changed about their relationship. Ya, she mentioned that people thought she acted weird, but that is it. Other than Myne and Lutz, the only other character who seems more human are Benno. Ya, hes written poorly, as shown by the scene in episode 6, but otherwise, he seems like a merchant who wants to protect his money maker in the form of a little girl who has a ton of good ideas. He gets really pissed whenever she does something stupid, and refuses to let anybody try to get her to work for them, which makes sense, considering she is probably the best thing that has ever happened to him as a merchant. Honestly, hes probably the most likable character, even though hes a jerk sometimes, because he feels more real then the rest of them. Myne is so one dimensional I find it impossible to relate, Lutz is way to forgiving for a 5 year old, the parents are fine, but its so amazingly stupid that they don't realize Myne is a different person, and her sister hardly does anything except be a side character with no personality. Lutz is the second best character, mostly because he actually has a dream to pursue. The animation and are is subpar. Nothing is great about it, and a lot is bad about it. This is more of a budgetary issue than anything, so I did not really factor it into my overall score, but its still atrocious sometimes. Sound design is very good though, the music feels great and has a good atmosphere to it that the animation sadly does not live up to. Overall, this anime is about a 4.5/10, definitely not a 10/10, regardless of what people say. The animation is to bad to be considered a 10/10, and the story is not that great either. I recommend anybody who is interested to watch this anime for about the first 5 episodes and then decide if they want to continue. Seems to me like most people enjoyed it for the cuteness aspect, but considering I've watched enough cute anime that I have not gotten around to adding onto my MAL yet, cuteness no longer has an affect on how I rate my shows, unless it is super good. In this case, its just slightly cute, and most of the time its annoying because she is supposed to be in her 20s, which ruins all the times she cries that might otherwise elicit a emotional response.
dot-0-sama
05/19/2020, 07:56 PM
The isekai genre in recent years has done exceedingly well. Especially when we look at the more popular ones like Rezero, No game no life, and konosubarash, being mindful of the fact that none of these anime are not typically what you'd call "happy go lucky" animes in the sense that they don't give the audience a feeling of infancy. Honestly I have nothing against making an isekai into a slice of life; well, I didn't at first. Honzuki no Gekokujou is one of those anime types that you see on forum sites, become intrigued by positive reviews, and then goon to stream the entire season--only for you to end up regretting it. ((Before I continue, this review is for those who have watched the anime, but if you haven't and still need better clarity then you've come to the right place.)) I mean c'mon, enough with your over ambiguous nonsense which raves on and on with large words about how this and that makes you happy and positive and all that other self satisfying nonsense. People need actual, honest reviews--stop spouting crap. I'd like to digress into the overall scheme of things. The anime in question(not bothered with typing the name throughout my review)basically tells the story of a, possibly demented, twenty something year old who died by the hands of the one thing she loved the most: books. THE IRONY!!! She makes it her dying wish to once again be able to read books in her next life too, and seemingly enough she awakens as a 5 year old with an unknown magical illness. You all already know how it goes so I'll give it to you quick and simple. It's normal to be obsessed with obtaining knowledge. Infact, I'm sort of a nerd myself(full blown otaku rage mode), but it is in all sense very psychotic, eerie and downright dimwitted to like Books...No no hear me out, BOOKS!! Oh and not just what's inside the Enclosing; The paper, the very ink used to write the text, that my dear friends is what seems to interest the protagonist. This may seem like me raging over what you may believe to be silly humor thrown to us in context. Well that's partially right, you'd at first see it as so, but then it gets annoying the more they tend to repeat this same gag of her throwing a fit every time she sees what may appear to be leather covering a thin sheets of paper. I would like to move on to discussing the intellectual capabilities of most of the characters in this anime. I watched the first three episodes and i had no complaints. I had honestly believed nothing would go wrong, but I neglected a crucial tiny detail which I didn't want bothering me. Mainly, there are two issues I found annoying: Protagonist's self indulgence; Recklessness in the anime. 1.) Turns out the protagonist in all her wisdom, and what was made out to be broadened knowledge, could only make stuff they basically teach middle schoolers in Home Econ classes: Weaved baskets, Shampoo, Hair ornaments. Paper manufacturing was the only thing keeping me alive through all that, but to make that annoying, as well, they had to focus a lot of unnecessary attention towards that as well. I'm not trying to say that I was expecting some doctor stone type narrative, but it would have been better if she came up with a little more advanced, nuanced items but not the ones that can leave her bedridden for days--yes, I am aware she can't do much because of her illness. 2.) So apparently in the era the anime is set in, adults are no wiser than kids who haven't reached double digits. Why would a person in their right mind waste a ton of resources just because a kid puts an ornament on her hair, applies shampoo, and says she can manufacture a revolutionary product? I mean I get that it's an underdeveloped society, but pouring all that time and effort towards a random five year old just to go about your day wearing hairpins more often? The art and sound are the only aspects I would consider giving a passing grade. As for everything else, my retinas would like to file a formal complaint with whoever the production team are. Lastly, I'd like to cease my unrelenting rage by adding this to the fold: Just because she's cute and most male otaku are Lolicons, that doesn't mean she can just make a cute face and get away with whatever flimsy excuse for a gag joke they could come up with. I'll be very honest, it's hard to say what demographic of otaku i'd recommend this anime to cause it's extremely migraine inducing. i'd possibly recommend it to kids below 10, or girls who just recently started watching anime. To cut things short, Honzuki no gekokujou is a poorly scripted, dissatisfying and mediocre(at best) isekai that has unapologetically been brought to us in the year 2019. As earlier mentioned, this review is for those who have already watched the anime, but if you haven't and are still curious--though i recommend not to--stream or download the first three episodes.
aoikimahri
05/17/2020, 12:32 PM
*contains spoilers up to episode 21 when I dropped it. I've seen beyond this one season.* I was wondering why the ratings were so high as the previews looked like an isekai slice of life show meant for kids. That's exactly what you are getting and not much more. It's something you can turn on when you are wasted on a Saturday night and your mind can't form basic words, and it has its "cute" moments, but it definitely does not deserve an 8 with how childish, nonsensical and slow the plot is. Let's start off with some of the good things before I start rambling witha long diatribe. There can (initially) be some good moments of familial bonding and emotional interaction as the MC comes to accept her new family. The constant buildup of suspicion and the ultimate reveal when one of her friends learns that she is playing an impostor, and justifying the act, is a novel concept and convincingly led well into. (the question of whether the body of the girl she took over still contains the original soul and is alive or not is sadly ignored thereafter) Other isekai anime usually gloss over such an obvious rabbit hole. Her chronic illness seemed like an interesting handicap to keep her from turning into the next davinci too soon with her grand knowledge of yet to be discovered technology. She also uses that knowledge to drive the plot along instead of it relegated to making bento boxes or being completely ignored altogether. The show thus stays pretty decent in the first handful of episodes as you get to learn about and experience these things for the first time. But then the repetition starts kicking in, the intelligence of the characters become more and more questionable, and little things that were overlooked during the honeymoon phase start to grow irritating. It's hard to judge the simplistic nature of plotlines and interactions too harshly since this anime is ostensibly meant for kids, but I'm ultimately reviewing this for anyone beyond the single digit age group. The MC is supposedly a very well read, intelligent young adult who died and had her soul transferred into a small child, but her mental capacity and mannerisms are frequently limited to that of said small child. This juxtaposes sharply against some of the thoughtful exchanges and critical thinking she delivers when recreating products, negotiating sale contracts, or arguing on equal terms with adults over political issues. As the show goes on, she becomes less and less capable and seemingly more and more clueless about the world around her, ignoring social decorum and blindsighted by the most obvious developments, while pouting frequently and prone to emotional outbursts. She basically devolves into a self-centered, screaming two year old toddler that can't understand anything and never learns anything or can see the bigger picture. The other characters also seem to grow worse in personality. In the beginning, they at least had some "character" to them to individualize their interactions with the MC. But eventually they all turn into the same, smiling, copy paste member of the MC's harem, a harem of love, sunshine, and friendship. Conflicts are resolved too easily and with little consequence. There are no villains. It's as hei-wa as can be. Even darker or emotionally disturbing situations are swiftly cut short with rainbows and unicorns. It's a very child-like naive view of the world devoid of any realism. Yes the show is meant for children, but it doesn't seem to aspire beyond that, even in subtext. And the mechanic where her chronic illness constantly leaves her debilitated is extremely overdone. Quite literally half the screentime is of her fainting or feverish in bed. It becomes burdensome very quickly in advancing the already slow plot. Her development of new ideas and inventions frequently hits artificially created snags that are very poorly conceived and juvenile. She tries to dry some stone tablets out in the forest but is too dumb to take them with her or cover them when it rains. The other kids jumping on said tablets and ruining them out of nowhere is also highly manufactured. And the dumbest by far is when she goes out to carve plaques out of wood to write on, but leaves them stacked next to the firewood in her house. Half her house is literally shelves and shelves of nothing but firewood, and she nonchalantly just places them among the many piles. Her mother burns them of course, and the MC literally dies from the shock. It's supposed to be a pivotal moment in the story when she learns about how her fever can immediately consume her if her spirit and resolve to live falters, but it's brought upon by something ridiculously stupid and the dramatic reaction being equally as stupid. The slice of life stories get more and more ridiculous and contrived as the narrative progresses. Even as the MC goes on to do grander things and solves larger problems, the way she conducts herself and how they are resolved get dumber and dumber, as does the world building. Later in the show she randomly decides to join a church priesthood because she wants to read the books in their small library, knowing absolutely nothing about the religion of the church or the ramifications of being a member. The church she is a part of apparently has sex slaves, locks children up like puppy mills in dark basements, uses trickle down economics for food distribution, and somehow expects the people there to survive and become highly coveted and educated servants of nobility that fetch a high price, all while being a house of worship where not a single person is actually pious, while also harboring spoiled nobility that conflicts with the whole notion of asceticism. Two problem children in particular that become the MC's "retainers" are so bratty it's incredulous they were supposedly starving skin and bone just a few months prior with zero interaction with the outside world. And ultimately the kicker that made me drop the show was when the plotline involving the MC's close friend, and his family's disapproval of his merchant apprenticeship, finally stopped dragging on and came to a line snapping conclusion. The premise was already terrible to begin with. This close friend comes from a family of craftsmen who make things. He wants to become a merchant, who sells things. In literally any culture imaginable, these two professions would have a symbiotic relationship. But for some unfathomable reason, his family objects to him becoming a merchant. No concrete reason is given. The disagreement comes to a head and the MC butts in to mediate an intervention. The poor and ill-bred parents, as smug and self-assured as can be, even though they can barely feed their own children or understand the simple concept of money for basic survival, cannot give a single credible reason for objecting to their son becoming a merchant, or even complete a coherent sentence for that matter. Yet somehow the case is resolved by the son apologizing, at his father's command, and everyone smiling and trotting merrily out the door in dance and song. This is somehow also made out to be a life lesson or "moral of the day" that the MC is taught, the moral being she should not interject and instead hear both sides out, even if one side is completely toothless and irredeemable. I don't know what they are trying to teach kids these days but it definitely isn't how to reason or make any sound judgment. In fact, we should praise the irrational, the nonsensical, and the ugly, as long as they scream the loudest and make the biggest scene, much like anime ratings and hype on the internet.
Allwynd
01/24/2020, 01:02 AM
The premise of the anime, at least in the Synopsis section made it feel like it was going to be something interesting and out of the ordinary. Turned out to be one whiny anime riddled with plot holes and plot armor left and right. Even in the first episode when the protagonist gets the memories of the body it now inhabits, she doesn't get all of them and starts looking through the house for books as if she doesn't already have the memory of the body that there are no books there. This trend of things not making any sense continues as the anime develops. The moststriking of all is all other characters, like her sister, her friend and his brothers, all act too mature for their age. These kids are supposed to be ages 5 and 7 and yet they act like they are 25-27 all the time. When you make a story where your characters are 5 and 7 old, either make them act like it, or just make them older. The characters are the worst imaginable as they all act like the main character, except they don't have her 21 century planet Earth knowledge. Seeing a 5 year old acting and deducting like he is in his 20s is just laughable. I know anime and manga like to portray young character like 13-15-17 to be more mature than their age, but this is just getting out of hand and being the most ridiculous thing I've seen in many years. As the story unfolds during the 12 episodes, I expected more "greatness" from the show, with the last few episodes being the culmination. All that happened was the last scene with the head priest, the rest has been just boring and uneventful chatter about unimportant things and the occasional (probably supposed to be funny, but come off just retarded) moment where the main character shows her version of "Inner Sakura", which got boring and retarded in Naruto back in the day and it's stupid still now. The second part of the show was the one that felt like it was losing its direction and the plot armor created for the last episode built by Benno the merchant is just awful. The anime ends with a happy ending that made everything (no matter how little or insignificant it was) feel like it was meaningless. The anime feels like a toned down, more boring and whinier version of Dr. Stone where inventions are put aside and whiny, meaningless dialogue is the forefront. I watched this anime out of sheer curiosity seeing how high score and placement it has, so I thought it was good. It was different, I give it that, but the nature of it was too whiny and stupid for my taste, also those plot holes and plot armors become even more visible in an anime with no fighting. Fighting works to cover up the shortcomings of an anime, because it's a change of pace and viewers don't give it too much thought. Back around 2010 I watched some Yaoi anime called Gravitation, I don't like this genre as with my track record, I prefer shounen, thriller and mystery anime, mostly with fighting, so I don't even know why I watched that anime back then, but it felt weird, I didn't care for the story, but just pushed through, because it was only 12 episodes and didn't want to have dropped an anime. Now I don't know why I watched it, but this one feels the same way - I only pushed through it, because I hoped it would get better, but it didn't, it only got worse in the end. If there is a second season, I won't be watching it.
Agent_Redacted
01/23/2020, 06:24 AM
If you don't like Business Studies, then Myne would prove you wrong with her inventions and her intellectual brain she brought to an unfamiliar world! You can hate the isekai genre all you want. But Ascendance of a Bookworm will surely imprint a question mark above your head and make you think otherwise. Ascendance of a Bookworm is the closest thing we'll get for another season of Spice and Wolf. And of course, the closest thing we'll get for an isekai that doesn't actually suck. Despite of the fact that Ascendance of a Bookworm's MAL thumbnail looks like some kind of rip-off of Kenja noMago's MAL thumbnail. Giving the first bad impression of "Wise Man's Loli". Ascendance of a Bookworm doesn't have a single trace of the MMORPG trash unlike the majority of other isekai shows out there. Instead, the anime is pretty much just about a blue-haired loli with big brain being transported to another world and she uses her big brain to create inventions and make easy cash. Very chill. Very entertaining. Probably the best isekai I've ever seen so far. This anime is no McDonald's. It is a fine Kobe beef topped with caviar, gold and truffle. An utter masterpiece. ( Recommended to everyone so long as you don't use Myne as a fap material )
Honesty
01/12/2020, 01:57 PM
*NO SPOILERS* I watched this anime due to the high ratings it has been receiving on this website and I can say that it most certainly did not live up to them. Honzuki no Gekokujou is an isekai in which a japanese bookworm gets reincarnated into a sick five year old's body and lives as Myne/Main, the daughter of peasants. One of my primary gripes with this anime is the MCs mental age. Myne is meant to be at least a young adult, but instead acts and thinks like a child with the knowledge of an encyclopedia. Subsequently, she fumbles around social interaction with the emotionalintelligence of a child, not knowing how to handle her own position. People are praising this show for changing the isekai formula, but there isn't much substance past that. It's a slice of life show where the MC invents things from the future in a Middle Ages setting, if you enjoy that coupled with some wholesome family and friendship moments, you'll enjoy this. However, saying this show is anything more than a moe primitive technology from Youtube is giving it too much praise. Also, this idea of an MC inventing technology in an isekai is hardly unique to this show, and is handled with more thought in other novels and manga. Story: 4 There really is none, as I said the MC invents things in a Slice of Life manner while attempting to deal with the illness plaguing the body of Myne, who she spawned into. Art: 8 Art is good, around what one would expect from a modern anime. Animation is clearly a bit choppy at times, with the budget clearly not reaching Ufotable levels, but show still does a good job conveying the emotions of characters and the mood the author intended to create. Sound: 9 Quality sound, nothing to complain about especially, not extraordinary either. Characters: 4 This really is the major flaw with this show, most of the characters are extremely shallow and the MCs actions are not what one would expect from one in her position. Myne is incredibly naive and the majority of the world reflects that same design, not testing the limits of her character. Would have made for a more interesting plot if there were characters that truly challenged the mood of the MC and show, but instead it stayed monotonous throughout, the characters interacting in a very fantastical and ideal manner to suite the others desired world. Thus, the characters were very cute but also quite shallow. Enjoyment: 6 Was a fair waste of 5 hours or so, obviously watching the inventing process and cute relationship interactions was fun, but not anything overly stimulating either. The drama fell flat for the most part, as did the majority of the show, still was a decent time killer however as I had nothing else I wanted to do [Sry government, I'll do my taxes eventually].
Yuri-Crusader
01/03/2020, 02:31 AM
Welcome to my review of Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen! This review contains minor spoilers!! The story is the biggest problem in my opinion! It has an awful start and just keeps failing as it moves along!! Motosu Urano is a Librarian and writes books for children. She lives in a distant world and she loves books in all their forms! Fiction to mathematics philosophy and everything in between. She is the definition of a bookworm and literature is her love in life! And she surrounded herself with books! But the books was not happy at all!! They were angryand took their revenge on the tyrant who imprison them!!! What? Really? Well, all the fucking information I got here is " But then" followed by an ugly animation of falling books!! Then the text " On the verge of death I uttered a silent prayer" ... Thank you for all the details!! We are not even 3 minutes in and already in the shit creek without a paddle!! As I said the story has big problems and overall is confusing and contradicts itself constantly!! And make no sense at all!! Even the beginning is weird and fails with the logic!! The head priest is holding a stick and saying "Myne is the only one who has used this to tie her hair!!" It's a hairpin you idiot!! People have been using them for a long time!! For, well, tying their hair!! But you can also take it and stick it up you damn ass if you wish!! You fucking imbecile! Then the head priest transfers Myne to another world!!! By giving her some vine!!! That scene made me feel really uncomfortable to be honest!! She is transferred to the body of the young girl Myne! Who lives with a poor family around the middle ages!!! This anime more the less revolves around Myne's hunt for more literature. But her search for those precious books comes to a screeching halt because of her family's low social status! Books were a luxury item back then!! Made for kings and nobles, not for the common folks or simple guardsmen who can't even read!! She needs to find other means and decides to try to make books herself! Which is not an easy task!! And she struggles to find a way to solve her problems. It tries so hard to be realistic but fails miserably!! It's like a history lesson that tries to teach you about the medieval period, but it has no knowledge about how things worked back then!! Like when the poor hungry street children are learning how to read - they should be sent to the coal mine where they belong!! YURI-CRUSADER!!! What are you saying?? Those are children!!!!! Well yes!! But still, they call it the dark ages for a fucking reason!! Nobles and rich people learned how to read not the common folk! They send them to the mines where their stupid poor asses belong!! And commoners marrying rich people? It's all over the place!! Please choose a tone and stick with it!!! When you think you have passed the worst bit, the animation hits you in the face like a shovel!! It's ugly as hell!! It's dull grey and so boring!! It's so lifeless and unattractive!! The food the characters everything looks tasteless!! I eat with my eyes and love anime because of how tasty and delicious it looks but this is unappetizing foulness! Even the females are boring and uninteresting!! They look like zombies!! Usually, I go nuts for anime girls!! I collect waifus and going to catch them all!! But here they are just a grey lifeless mess!!! The sound is actually ok the voice actors do a decent job. No bigger problem here! Nothing to remember fondly, but in this hellhole it's the only positive aspect!! The characters are as exacting as the animation!! The Father is overly jealous annoying and loud!! The mother is dull and so are the rest of the characters!! They are very shallow no form of development in any meaning!! The street children don't add much either! Like the rest, it's just a waste of time!! Nothing to love or cherish here!! Also, the character's behavior is weird. Lutz who is 5 behaves like he is 40. Gunther (the father) who is 40 behaves like he is 5. It's like they had a mind swapped. Maybe the anime forgot to tell us because it was busy nagging about fucking baskets or how to dry clay! Their behavior is unrealistic and doesn't fit their age. The is no enjoyment to be found, only boredom! Everything from the story to the characters!! It takes more time to explain how to make a fucking basket than to go into details about the main character!! The lack of information makes the ordeal very confusing!! But the non-important aspect gets a lot of time!!! Everything to goddamn fucking baskets, how to dry clay!! And for god's sake, it sure takes its time to explain how to make wooden panels!!! And the rest of the time goes to Myne being displeased, angry or crying!! Well, I was crying too and wondering what the fuck I'm doing with my life!!! I have no problem with slow anime. The problem is not the lack of action. It's more how it tells the story and how the characters are being portrayed. I watch plenty of anime with no violence or action, but they are warm and comfortable with lovable characters!! This is a grey lump of emptiness. A void!! And gives about as much as staring at an empty concrete wall!! It has no soul!! So the big question here is, Do YOU wanna watch this anime? No, You don't!! Take my advice and run and never look back!! Or better go and read a fucking book about how to make a basket!! That is way more productive than wasting your life by watching this filth!! But thank you for reading!!!
maxiburger
12/30/2019, 09:36 AM
I'm surprised at how much I ended up enjoying this show, even though it's a light novel-based isekai. That's usually a bad omen, but Bookworm makes the right decision of rejecting all the Dragon Quest based isekai tropes and instead goes for the mundane subgenre in which the main character tries to live a quiet life, rather than going on an adventure. It takes a while for the show to pick up the pace, so if you're already interested by the premise, I'd recommend sticking with it for more than just 2 episodes. The beginning is admittedly a big roadblock: The main character Main is justas clueless as the audience about the new situation, but she's slowed down by her weak constitution and can't find out more about the fantasy world until she's healthy enough. That means she's stuck on the first rung of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (physiological needs), even though the show promises us the 5th (self-actualization). I know this can be frustrating, but when you know that there's a good reason for it and that there is a payoff, it'll be a little easier to endure. Most of the time when I found myself wondering why something wasn't addressed yet, it got addressed soon after, proving that the author gave a lot of thought to the worldbuilding. The pacing is just a little unfortunate. What appears to be a Stranded Time Traveler plot into a medieval world where letterpress printing and paper haven't been invented yet at first turns out to be more of an exploration into business in feudal societies and class struggle. That's where the show shines the most in my opinion. The revela-tion that magic exists and that the rift between haves and have-nots is mostly based on this offers some further intrigue, but as long as the limits of magic aren't fully explained it's hard to tell if the magic isn't just a writing crutch or a cop-out. In the beginning, magic is only used for contracts and other legal work which I found very acceptable within the bounds of the setting. But in the later epi-sodes it was shown to have more force-related uses too - and that's where things might get a little too convenient. Admittedly, the one convenient magic thing in the final episode was very satisfying to me, so I'll accept it for now. Hopefully the 2nd season keeps the magic shenanigans to a minimum lest it breaks the fragile suspension of disbelief that this fantasy world could function on its own. When spectacle or comedy isn't the focus, I treasure progress the most in my stories. Watching some-one work their way up through hardships and obstacles is motivating. Bookworm certainly delivers in that regard. I kinda wish it went even harder on Main using her modern world knowledge for enterprising purposes once she finally found an outlet for it. Though maybe that would've betrayed the show's family-oriented tone and ultimate goal. Main wants to create books after all, not become a rich business-woman. If she was as smart as she sometimes proves to be, she should realize that she could reach her goal much faster and more efficiently and maybe even change society for the better with the vast riches she could make with her knowledge. That's why I feel a little cockblocked that the merchant guild plotline was cut short by the introduction of the church, even though it was obvious from the start that Main would get majorly involved with the church. After all, her baptism ceremony had a set timer. Plus, the real-life church used to be the main consumer of books for the longest time. And the episode forecasts always foreshadowed the Head Priest as a major character too. Let's just hope the enterprising aspect doesn't get too overshadowed in the following season. I'm certainly looking for-ward to seeing more of Main's ascendance.
Marinate1016
12/28/2019, 08:32 PM
Bookworm is a perfect example of why preliminary reviews should not be allowed on this website and allowing them only lowers the credibility of MAL reviews. I truly must apologise to this series for writing it off when I first started watching it. When I made my first review for this show, I gave it a 6/10 after 4 episodes and felt that there was little to no substance here. I could not have been more wrong. It wasn't the show that had issues, it was me. It was the fact I wasn't appreciating the little things that make good storytelling and instead of substance, Iprioritised style. I'm more than happy to admit I was wrong and that Bookworm is one of the best anime I have ever seen. Bookworm is an isekai, which may initially turn some people off, however, I promise you, it is not your typical isekai. There's no harems, battle scenes, crazy power scaling and OP Otaku self insert protags here. Instead, you have a middle aged Librarian being isekai'd into the body of a frail young girl who is stricken with an illness and who's only objective is to be able to read books again. A simple premise, but a difficult objective as books in this world are reserved for only the most elite of nobles and are very expensive. Well, if you can't buy books, why not make them? Bookworm is extremely grounded and realistic in its storytelling, world building and even things like the magic system feel very real and down to Earth. What I truly appreciate about the series is that the emphasis is on the character development, interactions and economic repercussions of Maine's simple goal to start a bookshop. It's really the first isekai I've seen since Log Horizon to be truly unique in that regard. Instead of focusing on how to beat the demon lord of a planet or how to get home, or how to become the world's strongest to save it from annihilation, Bookworm focuses on the real world implications of waking up in another world in a different body. How would you interact with your family and the people around you? How would you go about truly making this new life your own? If you're tired of the same old isekai after another with the same isekai starting town with the big white wall, you know the one I'm talking about, and want something genuinely fresh, unique and most importantly, cute as fuck, this is the series for you. You will not be disappointed. I've never seen Spice and Wolf, but from what I can gather, the themes and topics covered in the story are very similar to that, if that helps contextualise things for you. Bookworm gets a 10/10 and I can't wait to start reading it/for season 2. TL;DR Starts slow, but if you want a fresh and original take on Isekai, watch this.
Burning_Light
12/28/2019, 10:51 AM
O M G! Finally an isekai which isn't related with a demon king or something dark! ·Story: 7/10 As I said at the beginning, this story is different from other isekais. It's based on a girl that wants to make books, and yes, the story is all related to that topic. Instead of focusing in fights, it is more about creating or learning the different aspects from the world the girl is transported to in order to achieve her objective. ·Art: 7/10 For the type of genre I can affirm that the scenes in general have good animation despite the fact that they are ''relaxed'' scenes and don't needthat much work from the company. Obviously, everything can be improved, but overall art is pretty good. ·Sound: 7/10 I didn't like the OP and ED as I prefer the ones that have rock style, but they are not so bad (They are more relaxed, which I understand for this type of anime). Effects and OST are pretty simple and just give a relaxing feeling during the show. ·Character: 5/10 In this part, I didn't like the MC personality because I'm tired of gentle and obstinate mcs. Also, the design of the rest of the characters didn't appeal to me as they were very superficial and didn't give any focus to details of them. Maybe another reason is because I'm more keen to strange characters with excentric designs. ·Enjoyment: 5/10 I liked that the story was different from other isekais, but with the recent anime Dr.Stone, which was about inventions, Honzuki wasn't so relevant to me. I think is good that they change the typical plot of isekais, but that's all. They didn't invent nothing new and the more I see from this anime, the less I enjoy it as they don't give anything new and comedy isn't one of the strenghts from this show. ·Overall: 6/10 I think that the idea of this serie was great, but it remained there, with no progression. Apart from this, I think that it's a fair anime with good and bad points everyone should give a try if they are tired of general isekais. Thanks for reading!
DarknessReality
12/26/2019, 01:18 PM
Ascendance of a Bookworm was exactly the type of series I needed. The story of a girl being transported to another world and chasing her dream of reading a book is simple and perfect. Seeing Mein desperately try to get closer to her dream only for another obstacle to get in her way was really interesting. No matter what she never gave up and even though the series is slow it's totally worth the watch when she finally starts making progress. I love that this anime is something fresh and new, giving us a slow story of a Slice of Life Isekai. The Isekai genre hasbeen done to death so its great to see anime like Ascendance of a Bookworm take the Slice of Life female main protaganist approach like Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne! which also aired this anime season. Mein is one of my favourite characters of this anime season. She's cute and her absolute determination to read/make a book in this world where they're only possessed by nobility really makes me want to support and see her achieve that goal. Mein is basically a cuter version of Miku Kohinata from Senki Zesshou Symphogear which is also voiced by Iguchi Yuka. Speaking of Iguchi Yuka, she was such a perfect choice to play Mein as she perfectly plays the type of character that is super cute and scary as hell when they're angry. Getting an entire series with Iguchi Yuka as the main character was the main appeal of Honzuki for me and is the reason I started watching it and I'm so glad I did. One main focus of Honzuki is Mein's family and god is it wholesome. Throughout the series, we learn more about the family and see Mein grow closer to them and its so cute to see her interacting with them. The father Guntha is hilarious. He's an overprotective father that easily gets jealous when others take his girl's attention away. His overprotectiveness is also another way it shows the family bond and strengths it. The mother is the typical concerned mother who worries for her daughters and overall the family feels absolutely real which makes it all the more heartwarming to see them enjoying themselves together. Particularly towards the end, the family bond is tested. One of my favourite parts of this series is its world. It's a fantasy world where books are rare forcing our main Heroine to find other ways of acquiring one. But there are other elements that get sprinkled in overtime to make the world more unique like a plant that could take out a city if not cut immediately and the presence of mana and magic used for contracts in business. The houses also have very interesting designs being similar to skyscrapers but made out of wood. All of this helped immerse me in its world. Lutz, one of the main characters, is a really good member of the cast. He helps Mein with the things she makes and is always there to help her out when something goes wrong. At first, I was worried that this series would be adding romance but it always keeps a safe distance but by the end of it, I was an avid believer in Lutz X Mein. The art is nice especially with some of the effects later on in the series. The series introduces an interesting element sometime during the midpoint of the season which I won't spoil but it gives us so many good scenes with Mein and the rest.# Overall absolutely loved this wholesome adventure from start to finish. Getting a full series with Iguchi Yuka as the lead was great and the story ended up keeping me excited every week. This anime season has given us a lot of new settings and ideas that keep giving us these unique anime and Honzuki is definitely one of them. It's definitely a slow series but if you're like me and just enjoying watching characters slowly build up to something and like the Slice of Life in between, I'm sure you'll love Ascendance of a Bookworm. I can't wait for season 2 which has already been announced and see Mein back in full swing. 9/10 Would definitely recommend it.
KANLen09
12/25/2019, 11:41 PM
Isekai Bookworm: the Isekai we needed but didn't deserve, and furthermore, the most underrated and least watched Isekai of the season, that's at least getting a continuation in Spring 2020 for its 2nd cour...like how great is that! It's almost like in the slew of all-too-familiar Isekai LNs that purge the same formula as if that's the ONLY way to make it interesting, that Ascendance of a Bookworm FINALLY saw the change towards that formula to forge and become its very own thing. *Spoilers be warned* In the sense of realism, Isekai Bookworm retains the fantasy that the genre is all but known for, but with thetwist that this is actually more of a slice-of-life than the fantastical elements it bargains at the beginning, and all but perishes it right from the start, as evident from the MC Maine (or Myne as the manga/LN states). Originally a girl named Urano Motosu who has substantial interest in books and literature with a dream to be a librarian one day, her life was cut short but not without hoping to see the dream be realized in her reincarnated afterlife. When fate strikes her a chord, she awakes into a 5-year old girl living in the Medieval era town of Ehrenfest, except that body that her soul is tugged into isn't as healthy as she'd thought. The body, frail and weak from an occurring disease, can only be cured if her passion is kept reeling in a.k.a books and literature, and so that dream she had from before, becomes her conquest to make and create modern things in old times. First things off the bat, Isekai Bookworm is unlike similar brethrens out there trying to play the Hero counterpart to defeat evildoers, but rather, focuses on the one element that keeps it going: to find books in primitive times, because paper isn't common at all. Furthermore, the sole reason for Maine's purpose to find paper can even be referred to as a kid's struggle in trying to find something of interest in a world that the word "invention" doesn't really ring a bell towards its citizens. To make matters even worse, Maine's "upbringing" in a poor family doesn't make things any better for her as materials of paper and even books are only available for the wealthy, not to mention the ancient language that she supposedly has a hard time settling into at the start. To counteract all this, Maine would befriend many of the character cast, starting with the family who has it rough to always take care and watch out for her flailing health: father Gunther, mother Effa and elder sister Turi, who were the first people to notice Maine's progress in both her wellbeing and inventive innovations whilst prepping her for the medieval world's terms and conditions. Along with Gunther's friend Otto's help to teach Maine about the ancient language, and Lutz, Maine's childhood friend shows up along the way when she decides that her paper-making process (that he has witnessed) be turned into a for-profit business, all looks set for the plan to be in motion. And whaddya know, his dream of being a merchant coincides with Maine's interest of selling her stuff, much to Otto's rejection being an afterthought, the two decided to cooperate, and taken to Merchant Benno, who'd supervise their business and lay off others who'd want a slice of their business for ulterior motives. And you know the intricacies of mere 5-6 year-olds in business where Maine literally has an adult's mind that shocks even the most seasoned merchants, but could still potentially be cheated due to the aggravating giveaways of her weak health. Regardless, this character cast, especially MC Maine is what hooks me onto this show for reasons. Probably what will turn people off from this anime is the entire slice-of-life regime that is flushed all around, but trust me, that same regime is what draws me into this show with awe and fascination, at how the world could be different for what it is, going back to being children and solving problems with mistakes and failures that aren't offset from growing human life. Maine makes no attempts to sweep her failures under the rug, as her experimentation allows her to know what does and does not work to make her paper-making business flourish, and along with her "secret stash" of modern-day knowledge and education to teach the others and be wowed by such items. If you don't get what I'm trying to infer here, is that everything is damn wholesome and educational that I can't shift my eyes away from it to see what would Maine's next step forward is gonna bring onto the table. Ajia-Do Animation Works' visuals are just perfect for this anime, the art being reminiscent of one being very light and a great mix of color palettes along with the many Maine-chibi forms of educational explanation content that are easy to watch and have fun alongside it. On the animation side, I'm just glad that there was just the right amount of animation, given that there are still sprinkles of the bits and pieces of low-budget work that exist within the anime, but are not glaringly noticeable that it affects the overall quality. Music-wise, lots of lightheartedness (and some serious notes) with the world and its worldbuilding established from the setting that it does mimic so well, and same goes to the cheery atmospheric and lovely OST by both Sumire Moroboshi and Megumi Nakajima. For one, I'm sure that this isn't the end of Maine and her world-building shenanigans, as we'll have to wait until the 2nd cour to flesh out more of what's to come of her sickness and how that affects the people she abides by. But as much as this Iyashikei of a feeling this anime has, it's certainly one to take on a chill ride. It's very personal too and it never stops being intriguing to see things through, if that is ever anything to win hearts by.
Goober-fish
12/25/2019, 07:50 PM
To round off this year of abysmal drops in the bucket from the rusty spigot tapped into the vast ocean of low-effort isekai anime still waiting down the pipeline, “Ascendance of a Bookworm” hit me like a brief mouthful of ambrosia that I desperately desired. There are only so many ways to frame an isekai anime nowadays, it’s like when Fox announces they’ve renewed The Simpsons for another 3 seasons and realizes, “Haven’t we already done everything?” In this regard, Bookworm isn’t exactly novel when you think about how it recontextualizes this tired concept. It’s not an original concept, but it’s one that recognizes thecharming beauty of its simplicity. To put it simply, Bookworm is a tight and focused character-piece that neither preoccupies itself with empty flash or needless frills. It feels deceptively quaint and almost procedural compared to most high-concept isekai anime. Its scale is cleverly stripped back, its pace slowed to a manageable stroll, and its tone kept consistently light to taste. Bookworm’s centerpiece is Maine, a delightfully original spin on tired isekai protagonist tropes. Maine incrementally and deliberately progresses through her world much slower than you’d expect of normal protagonists. She is thoroughly constrained by the fact that she is now a sickly young girl on the lower-end of the tax-bracket and social pecking-order. The only thing that Maine really has going for her is her vast retention of book-knowledge, but don’t expect her to go full Senkuu any time soon. Bookworm embraces the mundanities of plausible conflict. Maine is a child (one who frequently suffers from an otherworldly fever) and at that one who actively lacks the resources to overcome short-term goals because of her social class. Bookworm never feels overbearing despite this. It never beats you over the head with misery-porn or begs you to feel sorry for Maine's situation, not that there aren't occasional emotional beats peppered throughout its episode count. Instead, Maine is both intrepid and charming, taking her failures in stride with a childlike irreverence. Save for towards the very end, I never really got the sense that the show was trying to hold Maine’s hand by introducing a plot-contrivance or hand-out that would get the ball rolling. Bookworm’s idea of trial and error is one of very gradual progression, and it makes those smaller victories all the more satisfying when Maine does clear her hurdles. Bookworm was a consistently low-key and understated viewing experience. Despite the darker implications of Maine’s reincarnation, the show never makes it a point to become overtly shocking for the sake of creating a tonal dissonance. I’m happy that Bookworm both decided to address this detail and show a commendable amount of restraint by not playing up the melodrama. Bookworm posits the question, is this world better off now that Motosu Urano has become a surrogate for this young girl who perished under the noses of her family? Is it fine for this family to keep living under the pretense that the daughter they once knew continues to live under their roof? Bookworm’s real meat comes in the form of Maine’s identity crisis. Maine is fully cognizant of how she has essentially deceived everyone into thinking there’s nothing going on beneath the surface. This is a subplot explored through the character of Lutz. Being forced to sort of play along with Maine’s antics, Lutz begins to cultivate a deeper relationship than he previously had with her, as well as a suspicion for her true identity. This eventually culminates in one of the most cathartic and emotionally potent scenes I’ve seen in an anime in recent memory, but you kind of just have to see it to believe it. It’s simply wonderful watching this character accept both her new identity and her new family as her own. Looming fever aside, there’s always a sense of dread that Maine will have to confront her conflict of identity again and that it might just come crashing down on her. It’s an effectively simple conflict that I wish more isekai anime would take the time to explore. Technically speaking, Bookworm isn’t all that impressive as it doesn’t particularly necessitate flashy action set-pieces. There are endearing gag sequences where the art-design will completely flip into a stylized chibi format but those don’t tend to last more than a couple of seconds and are mostly used as eye-catches to transition between scenes. The character designs lack the edge that you’d expect from an anime in this genre, although I wouldn’t necessarily consider that a bad thing. As always, Yuka Iguchi is excellent and characterizes Maine with her typical brand of saucy sarcasm. Ascendance of a Bookworm is Dr. Stone for those who were let-down by its over-the-top antics and seemingly infallible protagonist. It’s pragmatic almost to a fault, and a show that I wouldn’t easily recommend to viewers not willing to get caught up in its slower pace. If you’re like me and have resigned yourself as an unabashed isekai garbage-eater, Bookworm might just be what the doctor ordered. Ascendance of a Bookworm was a classic case of a show far surpassing my expectations and one I learned to love more and more with each passing episode. Bookworm is as warm and comforting as curling up with a good book, and I’m sure that’s the sentiment it wanted to leave us with until its second season.
Stark700
12/25/2019, 07:47 PM
You’ve probably heard the phrase “knowledge is power”. One of the fundamental elements of power comes from books and even in our modern world today, that phrase remains as true as ever. Ascendance of a Bookworm attributes to a bookworm named “Myne” who is reincarnated into another world as she hopes to regain her ability to read. With the amount of isekai anime coming out in recent years, it’s easy to paint this show as another clone. However, you should actually take a careful look into this anime and see it more of as a slice of life isekai. What does that mean? In some ways,Ascendance of a Bookworm contains fantasy elements but also relies a lot more on realism than what people will realize. The first episode drops main protagonist Myne into a world of uncertainty. It doesn’t take long for her to adjust to her newfound life as she carves for books and love of reading. To her, reading books is equivalent to a life necessity and she would do anything to get her hands on them. We shouldn’t judge on Myne too much. She’s a child who is eager to learn and explore. My impression of the show at first is that of a slow paced story to teach us about the person Myne really is. She’s an innocent girl who is staring a new life with a passion to collect books. On the surface, she is a kind girl who is also eager to make friends. Considering the difficulty to acquiring them in the new world, it comes to no surprise that she would have to use some creativity to further her ambitions. She experiments with inventing objects associated with books and begins to gain a reputation among their society. This is where a certain level of realism comes in. Throughout the anime, the show rarely relies on magic when inventions are made. Most of it comes down to trial and error in the hands of Myne’s ideas. Ironically, Myne seems to be suffering from a mystical mana related illness that often puts her into a weakened state. This happens often in the show where viewers may wonder if her life is at jeopardy. The main plot doesn’t devote too much time into this although it does limit Myne’s abilities to make books and inventions. Instead, we are treated with a show that focuses on the life of Myne and her character. Whether you like her or not, this is an anime that dedicates time into exploring the reincarnated life of a bookworm. And as the starring protagonist, it didn’t take long for Myne to establish meaningful relationships in the show. Myne is highly protective of her family where in one particular episode, she shows a dangerous side of her after they were threatened. It’s the type of bond that translates into how much she values her family. Similarly, Myne makes friends with the locals including a young child named Lutz. As someone close to her age, Lutz often looks after her well-being and they forge a close relationship. While the anime doesn’t truly dedicate them as a couple, there’s some charming amount of teases that fans can imagine. Other close relationships Myne develops throughout the show includes Eva, Ralph, Turi, and others who realizes how kind and gentle she is. Even someone as stubborn as the merchant Benno sees her good side despite not showing it. However, I should say off the bat that most of the anime is focused on Myne. Most of the characterization is limited to our protagonist so it may disappoint some people if they wish to see more depth into the other cast members. Thankfully, the character chemistry among the cast is charming and often embedded to get us to understand Myne more. I’m not going to lie though. Watching Ascendance of a Bookworm can be a bit of a chore sometimes due to its repetitive story nature. Most of the episodes revolves with the same concept of storytelling and recycled themes. With each passing episode, it’s easy to see how slowed pace the show is. Unlike most isekai, you won’t find much action. This actually feels more like a coming-of-age slice of life but taking place in fictional fantasy world. There’s a balanced amount of drama and comedy that shouldn’t be overlooked. The drama comes from Myne living her new life but often facing obstacles when she isn’t prepared for. Meanwhile, the comedy comes from Myne’s own imaginative mind that often takes the shape of cartoonish skits. I mean, she is a child after all and her imaginations are limitless. It’s often played for laughs but also shows how open minded she can be. For a bookworm, she definitely shows exactly why she loves books. As someone who has read the novels, the 14-episode anime adaptations serves more as a baseline to get viewers into the franchise. Make no mistake though, there’s definitely more that I wish to see being adapted. But on the plus side, I do welcome studio Ajia-Do’s effort into making the show as colorful and vibrant as it can be. As an anime that doesn’t rely on magic, the show tells some surprising amount of choreography with the body language and character designs. In fact, characters looks like they belong in this setting with their simple clothing and everyday lifestyle. The most noticeable character is protagonist Myne. Designed with a frail and petite look, there’s no doubt people will see vulnerability in her character. Also, I would also give praise to the voice acting to her character as taking on the role of a child is no easy task. Yet, voice actress Yuka Iguchi is able to portray Myne perfectly. It’s exactly how I pictured Myne as a character bought to life in animated form. If you’re a fan of isekai anime, this may be something unorthodox that you’re not used to. Rather than a decorating itself as a fantasy adventure, Ascendence of a Bookworm explores more of the mundane life of a bookworm. I can’t say it’s easy to recommend this show with the story’s slow pacing. But if you want a different type of isekai than what you see too often these days, then this anime might just surprise you.

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 本好きの下剋上～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～

North American Anime & Manga Releases for January

2020 April Fools' Day Collection

Second Cours of 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Airs in Spring 2020

Fall 2019 Simulcast List [Update 11/16]

Fall 2019 Preview

PV Collection for Sep 9 - 15

More Cast Announced for TV Anime 'Honzuki no Gekokujou'

TV Anime 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Premieres in Fall 2019

Light Novel 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Receives TV Anime Adaptation

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 本好きの下剋上～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～

North American Anime & Manga Releases for January

2020 April Fools' Day Collection

Second Cours of 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Airs in Spring 2020

Fall 2019 Simulcast List [Update 11/16]

Fall 2019 Preview

PV Collection for Sep 9 - 15

More Cast Announced for TV Anime 'Honzuki no Gekokujou'

TV Anime 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Premieres in Fall 2019

Light Novel 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Receives TV Anime Adaptation

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 本好きの下剋上 ～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～

North American Anime & Manga Releases for January

2020 April Fools' Day Collection

Second Cours of 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Airs in Spring 2020

Fall 2019 Simulcast List [Update 11/16]

Fall 2019 Preview

PV Collection for Sep 9 - 15

More Cast Announced for TV Anime 'Honzuki no Gekokujou'

TV Anime 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Premieres in Fall 2019

Light Novel 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Receives TV Anime Adaptation

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 本好きの下剋上 ～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～

North American Anime & Manga Releases for January

2020 April Fools' Day Collection

Second Cours of 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Airs in Spring 2020

Fall 2019 Simulcast List [Update 11/16]

Fall 2019 Preview

PV Collection for Sep 9 - 15

More Cast Announced for TV Anime 'Honzuki no Gekokujou'

TV Anime 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Premieres in Fall 2019

Light Novel 'Honzuki no Gekokujou' Receives TV Anime Adaptation

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 本好きの下剋上～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 本好きの下剋上～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～