For all its technical, businesslike approach, let it be said that Ascendance of a Bookworm can absolutely still catch me off-guard at times. Early on in this episode, as Rosemyne is pondering methods to raise funds for her new monastery workshop, I naturally cracked the joke “Has she heard about the Love Live!?” Only then was I flashbanged one line later, as the idea Rosemyne comes up with is, in fact, to hold a medieval-fantasy-style idol concert as her fundraiser! Ferdinand playing music for his legions of adoring fans could feasibly rake in the dough that Rosemyne needs, and she’s going to exploit that proto-parasocial relationship potential for all its worth.

This bookends Rosemyne’s efforts through this episode, and is informed by the ups and downs of her relationship with Ferdinand, itself predicted on how she’s absolutely fiending for her shot at some books by this point. Sure, Rosemyne initially negotiates Ferdinand’s participation with promises of some new music and recipes…plus coercion from his old wet nurse Rihyarda, who’s quickly becoming an asset as Rosemyne finds herself fitting in among the nobility. But then Ferdinand repeatedly jerking Rosemyne around regarding getting to read pushes her to double down on embarrassing him for publicity—Rosemyne is basically inventing bromides to sell as part of promoting Ferdinand’s pop-idol appeal, and that leads to codifying mimeograph printing, a new technology that she was planning to use down the line in her efforts anyway.

It’s one more neat example of how Rosemyne’s revolutionary updates to the classical printing tech she’s been speedrunning come out of her personal predilections. This is all initially at the behest of her simply wanting more books to read, after all, so coming up with ways to press Ferdinand’s handsome face onto paper to get back at him and make some money doing so fits with her nobly mercenary tendencies. It works because this is a net good for the technology serving society in the long run, as Rosemyne notes that mimeograph printing was an important step in the real-world version of these advancements as well. It’s already easy to imagine how this will benefit her picture-book printing side hustle. And not for nothing, it also brings back the light edutainment element that Bookworm regularly indulges but which hasn’t gotten the spotlight in a few episodes.

This is all surrounding Rosemyne’s other efforts in the episode and the always-present point that she’s so often having to invent things from scratch that this world isn’t necessarily primed for. For instance, an idol concert in the money-making model necessitates using actual tickets instead of making the event an invitation-only event, as these sorts of celebrations would normally be. It’s the sort of element I’ll leave it up to the series itself to detail the potential societal shifts that could and would come about because of that, simply because that’s always been in Bookworm‘s wheelhouse. But the possibility is there just from the suggestion, and it makes a good case for why Rosemyne’s new, noticeably noble position can propel different stories into this season.

This episode also continues to detail the complications she’ll need to navigate as part of that new environment, however. Some of it’s more detailed politicking, like having to manage Brigitte’s position and clearance level with the trade secrets she’s able to have revealed now. As I’ve said, I like Brigitte, so I like that it seems like she’ll be in a position to explore several elements of this season. Other points are more comical complications, like Rosemyne’s duties and energy levels conspiring to keep her from actually having a chance to read the cool, rare books she now technically has access to. It honestly becomes a bit tiresome as a repetitive gag. Still, it is something among all the aforementioned businesslike banter, keeping the audience up on the projects. The sheer audacity of a Ferdinand charity concert could only take things so far.

And then there are the other asides that feel more incidental, even as they’re details I recognize as important in the long run. The main vignette that comes across this way to me in this episode is Ferdinand teaching Rosemyne about using something called a Feystone to summon her own Highbeast. It’s a neat enough scene, as she pumps the big orange jelly bean with enough imagination power that it actually breaks, then proves she’s capable of fixing it. It’s one of those details that’s key and presented amusingly enough, plus I’m gathering that this is going to lead to Rosemyne scoring that cute cat-racoon-bus-thing she’s driving around in the new OP (aside, my partner was watching the ep with me and questioned “Has the catbus always been a thing?” to which I helpfully responded “No, that’s new.”). But it all comes and goes so quickly and is so disconnected from the rest of the episode’s arc as these vignettes sometimes are in Bookworm that I had to think there could’ve been a more graceful place to put it.

Speaking of the OP, the show’s back to the fixed, non-AI version again for this airing. WIT, Crunchyroll, get it together.

A few extraneous scene placements can’t distract from the main appeal of the episode, and the series hasn’t even actually gotten to what an old-timey idol concert will actually look like here. The advancements are as notable as ever, and they’re tied up in the fun sides that Rosemyne is working to indulge. I’m sure it’ll all work out one way or another. So I’m just hoping that the journey itself can be smoothed out by the new team since they’ve got this opportunity to do more of their own thing with the structure. Organize the detail vignettes a little more tightly, don’t rely on jerking Rosemyne around quite as much (or at least not the same ways), and this will be a smooth sailing season.

Rating:

Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

Chris is back to hit the books. You can see him posting about anime, transforming robots, and other quality reading material over on his BlueSky.