My appreciation for Ascendance of a Bookworm driving for more darkness in its storytelling comes as it gets denser in depicting those depths. The show’s always been rather talky and procedural, but now arrives an episode where fully the first half of it is dedicated to Rosemyne and Ferdinand sitting down and discussing the unsavory political maneuvering that’s become necessary in their plan with the monastery and the children. It’s a sign of Bookworm continuing to grow up, with Rosemyne herself getting a crash course in the real ways of the world that she’s wound up an authority figure in.

To be sure, this is good. This is the kind of dry, detailed proceedings that I appreciate in stories like this. The casual brutality espoused by Ferdinand is almost shockingly blunt, as he explains how Hasse’s Mayor defying him was more of an affront worthy of punishment than any of the things Rosemyne would consider crimes. Because they aren’t crimes here, after all. Bookworm had spent the past few episodes using its heroine’s isekai’d status as a cute way for her to bring over things like idol concerts and anime songs, but this episode now embraces the darker side of that culture clash.

It’s an element that comes up in plenty of other isekai stories—the displaced characters noting that institutions like slavery and servitude are considered normal and acceptable in a medieval-style fantasy world. Whereas some of them shrug it off, Rosemyne gets to be pointedly disturbed as she realizes that buying and selling children, and authority figures enriching themselves off manipulating their subjects, are but business as usual here. She’s got some power to shift and change the direction of this world, as she’s slowly been doing. But she’s not yet in a position where she can wholly revamp these unjust systems. And as exemplified by Ferdinand, the people behind them simply wouldn’t have the worldview to accept such changes anyway.

And so this is the conflicting position Rosemyne finds herself in as of this episode: does she embrace the pragmatist methods of this world to oust the Mayor for effectively personal advancement? Or does she stick to her own morals even if it means things would just continue to get worse for everyone involved? There is some irony in her conflict, which the story is definitely aware of. Rosemyne had no problem utilizing the systems of this world already for her projects, including the aforementioned child labor, because she convinced herself it ultimately benefited people for altruistic reasons. It’s all but stated that the ends justify the means with regards to the kids at the monastery. Only now that she needs to proceed with something specifically vindictive does she get squeamish about operating within this world’s rules.

As it’s explained to Rosemyne though, taking out the Mayor really is the benevolent solution, since the alternative would be to raze the whole town in retaliation. Rosemyne’s compromise then is to use rumors to compel the townspeople themselves to oust the Mayor on their own terms. It’s arguably Rosemyne finding a way to get others to do her dirty work while she still mulls over her discomfort with it, but she’s still aware of what’s being done. It also calls back to a point earlier in the episode about how news doesn’t properly travel far or fast in this setting. They barely have printing presses, after all. So it’s interesting to get details on how merchants can intentionally spread rumors and misinformation when directed to. The talk of the network is all very Spice & Wolf, I dig it.

It can feel pointedly dark seeing Ferdinand use this whole situation as a teachable moment to seemingly corrupt Rosemyne. I have to assume she’ll still come out of all of this assured of her convictions and even more resolved to revolutionize this world so she and others won’t have to bend to these systems. But she’s still operating in them in the here and now, and the distraughtness on her face plays in her interactions with Ferdinand to really sell the unraveling of her innocence. It’s different from the Bookworm of before, and that’s the point. It’s forward momentum where Rosemyne might not like where she’s going or how she’ll get there, but lends enough tension that makes for very entertaining television for those who have followed her story up to this point.

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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.