Episode 23 – Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke

In hindsight, by this episode’s end, it’s a little funny that it begins with Rosemyne dealing with some relatively rote, day-to-day issues. It’s in line with the typical goings-on of Ascendance of a Bookworm—Charlotte’s baptism ceremony is coming up, so Rosemyne needs to learn to properly bestow the blessing, while also mixing up the magical mana smoothie she needs and preparing for the big snooze she’ll take upon ingesting it. “Overwhelmingly busy,” she describes herself as the episode montages over all her tasks as it has before. It’s all proper preparation for upcoming stages of the story, as the writing has primed audiences for.

So the big day arrives and the typical points are updated within. Rosemyne gets flashbanged with pangs of family love upon seeing her previous parents, and she successfully pulls off the blessing for her current family in Charlotte. And Sylvester deigns to update the whole congregation on what went down with Wilfried, setting up the status quo and ostensibly going on the offensive against the other factions and their plans. It’s progress, but it’s not in a rush. Business as usual for Bookworm.

But the treatment of it all up through these points stands out. The animated flourishes of the characters moving, acting, doing their part in the baptism are all just a bit smoother and livelier here. It’s a big deal, yes, and one becomes aware that the end of the season is coming up, so a little extra sauce goes well with it. And there are nice touches along the storytelling too, highlighting the post-baptism banquet and Rosemyne needing to speak in thinly veiled codes with varying flavors of scheming viziers. It layers on the storytelling that brought the series to this point—and not for nothing, subtly highlighting how Rosemyne technically having an older intellect in her reincarnated body gives her a leg up in these sorts of situations.

It’s all sharp and structured and solidly enjoyable enough, and seeded with just a few seconds of suspicion before it pays off when a bunch of friggin’ ninjas burst through the window to attack Rosemyne and pals! It’s not just the episode upping its aesthetics as it gets close to the finish line; Wit Studio has an explosive climax they’re rendering, and it’s going to look slick. Even after all the instances of feybeast fighting in this season, the flourishes of magically powered human-on-human battling at this point in the series are still a sight to behold. The crowded chaos of the combat brings the show to life around amusing interlocking elements like Rosemyne frantically Tokyo drifting her funky little car-creature in the midst of it all.

Similarly, the chase to catch the captured Charlotte gives way to some lovely layers of action that let characters from this season really show off at last. I knew I liked Angelica, and she makes a terrific showing in the interior fight, then gets magically flung to catch Charlotte at the critical moment. There’s dramatic intensity to the layers of the rescue. The continuing brawl inside adds other elements that bump Bookworm way higher than it regularly hits. Rosemyne’s grandpa flings himself into helping out and winds up punching a guy so hard he explodes! It’s great!

Said guys exploding, alongside other points, seeks to feed into nominally foreshadowing the scheming of it all around this attack. But I don’t know that it super comes through or even matters at this point. Obviously, with everything that circled this season, viewers can presume this plot is at the hands of one of the succession factions the characters have been keeping an eye on. And the finishing cliffhanger suggests that the whole plan with attempting to take Charlotte was more designed around poisoning and abducting Rosemyne herself. So the reveal will likely be next week, with all the schemes and surprises setting this up mostly window dressing to make the explosive action seem more complex—to come off like A Lot was happening. Fair play, it works as a shot in the arm Bookworm could use, barreling toward a big finish for the season.

It’s fun to watch the first half and cotton onto the bump in production quality before grasping why it got that bump. Bookworm has always been a deliberate show, after all. As it switches subgenres on the fly based on where everyone’s schemes are, it shows surprising strengths audiences don’t always get to enjoy. It’s a nice little treat toward the end that audiences get to enjoy the sights like Angelica flying around fighting with her magic talking sword or Rosemyne going Super Saiyan as she takes off to rescue Charlotte. It makes the trip more worth it, and I look forward to the last stop for the 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.