Ascendance of a Bookworm

Ascendance of a Bookworm follows Urano Motosu, a Japanese university student whose overriding ambition is to become a librarian. Just after finally obtaining a job connected to books, she dies during an earthquake and awakens in another world as Myne, the frail five-year-old daughter of a poor commoner family in the city of Ehrenfest. The setting’s books are rare, expensive objects largely controlled by nobles, temples, and wealthy merchants. Myne’s intense need to read therefore becomes the central force driving her new life. Unable to buy books, Myne decides to make them. With help from her childhood friend Lutz, she experiments with materials available in a preindustrial society, first trying clay tablets, wooden boards, papyrus-like sheets, and eventually paper. Her unusual knowledge brings her into contact with merchant Benno, who recognizes the commercial value of her inventions. Through Benno and his employee Otto, Myne learns about contracts, commerce, and the dangers of revealing too much knowledge too quickly. Myne’s weak body is not her only problem. She suffers from the Devouring, a condition in which excessive mana causes dangerous fevers and can kill commoner children without magical tools. Her mana makes her valuable to the nobility and leads to her involvement with Ehrenfest’s temple. There she meets Ferdinand, a stern blue-robed priest who becomes one of the most important figures in her development, as well as High Bishop Bezewanst, whose hostility creates a major threat to Myne and her family. The television anime adapts Miya Kazuki’s light-novel series, illustrated by You Shiina. It was produced by Ajia-do Animation Works and directed by Mitsuru Hongo. The first anime season aired from October to December 2019 and covers Myne’s early efforts to create books and paper. A second season aired from April to June 2020, continuing her temple-related story. The third season aired from April to June 2022 and focuses on the conflict surrounding the orphanage, the High Bishop, and Myne’s position within the temple. Yuka Iguchi voices Myne in Japanese, while Show Hayami voices Ferdinand. The anime’s Japanese title is Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiramasen, commonly translated as Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian. Rather than treating Myne’s reincarnation as an excuse for effortless power, the series repeatedly ties her ambitions to practical work: making paper, developing printing, negotiating with merchants, teaching orphanage children, and protecting the family she gains as Myne.