“Chapter One – A World Without Books”
What They Say:
Avid bookworm and college student Motosu Urano ends up dying in an unforeseen accident. This came right after the news that she would finally be able to work as a librarian like she had always dreamed of. When she regains consciousness. She was reborn as Myne, the daughter of a poor soldier. She was in the town of Ehrenfest, which has a harsh class system. But as long as she had books, she really didn’t need anything else. However, books were scarce and belonged only to the nobles. But that doesn’t stop her, so she makes a decision … “If there aren’t any books, I’ll just create some.”
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Waking from a fevered dream the little girl does not recognize anything, at first thinking she is still asleep but a quick pinch to the cheek allows her to know this is reality. The door suddenly opens and a strange woman walks in speaking a language she does not comprehend, but all she can remember is her name is Motosu Urano and she had just been hired for what she always wanted to do … become a librarian. After a brief spasm of pain, everything comes into focus – after some unseen accident, she died in her world and was reborn in this one as a young girl named Myne who had just overcome sickness and woken up to greet her mother. Still uncertain what is happening she looks around to a spartan room with bare furnishings and when her sister Turi comes to see if she needs anything, all Myne can ask is if she can have a book to overcome her boredom, but the puzzled child can only respond by stating she has no idea what that is, much to her sibling’s chronic despair.
After the confused pair leave the girl once known as Urano she still cannot believe what she just heard – neither knows of the word and this is even more troubling than thinking she has been reborn into another person. However, as Myne now tries to adjust to this toddler’s body and its various inconveniences the utmost concern on her mind is to prove her conclusions wrong by finding something to read. The bedroom reveals nothing but simple wooden toys and after solving the bothersome problem of lacking the height to reach the doorknob a swift search over the rest of the apartment shows nothing of relevance – there is nothing to read in the entire house, not even a calendar. While she ponders this sad revelation another perplexing notion comes to mind … do books even exist in this world?
In Summary:
While it may at first be disappointing to think another isekai series has been adapted into an anime, with a title like Ascendance of a Bookworm that dissatisfaction is soon dismissed once one becomes endeared with the cuteness and determination of Myne. If you are a lover of books like Urano the same notion of not being able to live without them becomes all too understandable, the thought of being denied handy volumes of knowledge at a moment’s notice is unthinkable and it makes one wonder if you could do the same things as she would to satisfy your needs. Although a lack of background in what happened before she was reborn is maddening, this misstep is soon forgotten as we become charmed by the humor of the story, chuckling to see inner Myne making her thoughts fully known. However with the brief introduction spoiling what will happen you begin to wonder how she will overcome the obstacles and in the end, these stumbles only make you want to know what happens next … with a week too long to wait for the wanted outcomes.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
