Anime Review: Ascendance of a Bookworm Episode 1

Ascendance of a Bookworm Episode 1

Studio: Ajia-Do

Genre: Fantasy, Slice of Life

Streaming: Crunchyroll

When I read the premise of this series and found out it was going to center around a librarian protagonist who loves books, I was pretty excited about this one. Originally based on a manga, Ascendance of a Bookworm tells the story of Maine, a girl growing up in a relatively poor family in a world where books barely exist.  Except that Maine is actually not really a young girl but instead a Japanese high school student reincarnated into the body of a small child.

Does the premise sound somewhat familiar? If you’ve checked out my previous review for Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, it might. Like that one, this series is another isekai featuring a female protagonist transported into a new body after death in a ‘fantasy’ world. Unlike that one, however, the world that Maine finds herself in is distinctly lacking in the magical trappings one might expect. And even worse, this world lacks the very thing which Maine adores mores than anything – books.

In comparison to the much more capable protagonists in the other series, however, Maine certainly doesn’t get the better end of the bargain. The series shows with startling accuracy how disorienting the world is for a five-year-old, particularly one with a frail body so that even the simplest tasks such as reaching and opening heavy doors and navigating obstacles are massive tasks. To add to the confusion, Maine is part of a family that she has no memory or knowledge and due to her youth and frailty is forced to rely on them for almost everything. As of yet, the series hasn’t answered one of the more disturbing questions – if this person in Maine’s body is not the real Maine, then where is she? Did she die in illness leaving the body empty for the new inhabitant or do they now share a consciousness together?

Ascendance of a Bookworm starts off rather slow and whilst this isn’t a bad thing as it allows us to get to learn Maine and the world she now exists in at a more exploratory pace, too much of the first episode feels trapped in the inner monologues of the protagonist. And the subject of these repeated monologues tends to focus towards one clear goal – Maine’s passion (bordering on obsession) of obtaining and reading books. As such, this obsession defines her character in the series… but we are given very little else with which to relate to her. Perhaps it’s Maine’s way of coping with the strange situation, is to latch onto this one objective, but it starts to get irritating quite fast. Maine’s family appears worried about her but Maine comes across as selfish instead.

The animation itself feels rather rough, particularly in comparison with the original artwork from the manga which is seen in the episode ending card. Whilst there were a few elements of artistic flair that hint at a direction the series could take, ultimately it feels like the production quality is rather limited. The opening is an example of this artistic flair, imitating a fairy-tale. The character design itself is quite childish – which is a little at odds with the somewhat melancholy tone.

Perhaps it’s because my expectations for this series were high, but I found the first episode ultimately underwhelming and I was left unsure if this was a series I would take the time to continue with. Clearly, this series is going to be philosophical rather than the typically more action-based isekai series and whilst this is not a bad thing, so far Ascendance of a Bookworm feels rather lost.

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