Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke

Episode 13

This is a pretty good foot forward for the mid-season premiere of Ascendance of a Bookworm after taking a week off. There's a bit more verve to the movements of the characters after hitting that sustained season stiffness previously. That's to be expected since this is a big action episode (mostly, anyway), but even the characterful facial expressions on Rosemyne's face as she has to down her gross-tasting magic Gatorade have a little more polish. It's complemented by the flashy new intro, which doesn't have any immediately apparent AI elements, and by putting said huge action setpiece up front. Bookworm is back…worm.

Said action centerpiece is both attention-getting and relevant in rounding back to previous material. The episode's got "Material Gathering" right in the title just like "First Material Gathering" a month ago—this time Rosemyne and crew have the chance to successfully score a feystone from an even bigger feybeast. It's actually categorized as the "Lord of Winter" and appears as a massive living natural disaster before resolving into an arguably more manageable (but still impressive) big beastly kitty. As a basic escalation, it shows how Rosemyne isn't going to let her previous slip-ups and setbacks keep her down, nor is Ferdinand going to let her. He even has her drink the aforementioned magic Gatorade after she offers a single prayer to help the huge number of knights going into battle, since he doesn't want to chance her running out of power at all. He does also entrust her with the ceremonial big ol' magic spear she'll use to land the killing blow, and as someone who thinks Rosemyne ought to have access to any weapon she can handle, I'm in favor of this plan.

So that previous feybeast fight was effectively a preview of this big main event for the winter, even as this episode's battle is significantly shorter and less multi-layered than that showdown. Although the scale of the fight with the Lord of Winter is effectively communicated and there are enough close calls depicted that I can believe it's as big a deal as it's sold as, it also feels like the show has somewhat downgraded the amount of moving parts so as not to overcomplicate things for an audience that just got through that previous plan. Parts of the fight seem downright cozy and casual, as Rosemyne sits in her silly flying car-creature and a couple of different knights take turns sliding in like she's picking up different Uber passengers (putting their little seatbelts on, of course) to discuss the different elements of the combat engagement. Again, there are some close calls at said car, but it's all otherwise largely a spectator sport for Rosemyne before Ferdinand calls her over to huck the spear at the titanic tiger and deliver the coup de grâce

Credit where it's due, it does look appropriately big and spectacular, and it's cool to see Rosemyne get a direct win after her previous near-miss. It's just funny to see it so acknowledged as mildly anticlimactic in-universe as the whole thing comes off viewing. It's even remarked that, as huge as this battle seemed, it apparently went quicker than previous years! That's fine, what's here is cool, and I understand that Bookworm has plenty else to get through. But doesn't that also smack of the skipping-over pacing that was noted in previous parts of this season?

Look, I said this episode was Bookworm back in form overall, and I did mean it. A fight with a giant magic tiger is a great way to frontload the appeal for the show before it settles into more business and side-hustle management for the last third of the episode. Again, though, it's a good job of linking past points with newly introduced elements. Rosemyne's still producing books and cards, but her utilizing them in the playroom with all her would-be attendants gets her the chance to sell those materials to their noble families as the new school year rolls around. That's the power of networking in business, baby!

The other point is that Rosemyne is made aware that less well-off families might take issue with not being able to afford those materials at the normal price. And as is known about Rosemyne, she's always on the cusp of some social strata revolution. That said, with the chatter about the possibility of borrowing materials, I thought for sure that Rosemyne was going to introduce a modern library system into the proceedings, and I am a little shocked it didn't turn out that way. Her solution is much more personalized, specifically honing in on the previously established Philine as someone in need of such assistance. Philine had stories she wanted to turn into physical book material with Rosemyne, so the enterprising bookworm resolves to let her borrow what she needs by using said stories as "payment." It's a cute, if unconventional way to pay off that thread, enough so that I'll keep an eye on where else this systemic setup might go.

The other returning point is one I didn't expect to return, but am pleased by. I thought that Angelica's remark about becoming a knight because she didn't like studying was just a throwaway gag, but it endeared me to her so much that I'm delighted to see her come back for her own lined-up storyline. It's admittedly so along the same lines of Wilfried's studious story that it's even called out in the writing, but in this case, it's important to remember that I did not like Wilfried, but I do like Angelica, so this is totally fine by me. Plus, it's a cute continuation of Rosemyne's desire to ensure people still find places with their families even if their abilities to contribute don't perfectly line up—she cites her own experiences, and the audience can recall she recently learned that Ferdinand went through similar tribulations. So that's a lot of components from previous seasons, including some pretty major thematic ones, realigning as Bookworm returns for this season. And so I can't begrudge it too hard for running pretty quickly through a lot of those plotlines to arrive here.

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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.