From Dreamer to Achiever: The Inspiring Journey of 'Ascendance of a Bookworm'

[@tigasfer_]

It's extremely rare to find an Isekai worth exploring, let alone well put together. While I have not watched Ascendance of a Bookworm before, this video has incentivized me to do so, given how interesting you made it seem. I've always had a thing for shows that put a premise together and try to make it as important as possible just for the viewer to ignore it and care about the world around it. It's interesting how something as dull as books, at least for some of us, can be used as a way of conveying a otherworld story. Honestly this was a great surprise, I was waiting for the video but finally getting to watch it was great. You outdid yourself, but I can't say it was the best one so far! I'm really expecting the one that will blow me out of the water, be it with your script or the video itself. Either way, I'm glad you're now more active and dedicated to the KZbin project, I'm happy for your success as always. I'll be waiting for the next one, don't you dare make me wait too much!! :p

[@Nostalgik]

Ahhhh making someone give Bookworm a chance is music to my ears! 🤩 Yes the premise becomes secondary when a story proves itself to be willing to explore important themes for us ^^ I IGNORED Bookworm when it started airing only to end up... here 😅 Dayum pal! Now I'm curious as for what my best video is for you. For me personally I think this is my best, as I always uploaded videos without giving them a proper 2nd look after finishing the montage, except for this one 😆 But that's the incentive I crave for! Thank you so much for always being here for SO LONG 🤩

[@mlmaronilla]

You’ll be plunging deep into a rabbit hole I tell you. But it’s an enjoyable rabbit hole.

[@LukasJampen]

And the light novels are excellent and go a lot deeper into the worldbuilding. Also the anime is very sanitized. The poor part of the city is supposed to be a lot dirtier. In some instences people get severly injured but barely have a scratch. But still both are fantastic.

[@Nostalgik]

@@LukasJampentho the anime is clearly not in the tops in terms of production, they most likely cut costs here and there as they could. And they probably had to tone down on the shock value as well... So yeah, that gives the LN yet another interest factor!

[@anonnimoose7987]

I'd just read it instead because Myne got what she wanted. A bloody carnival. Shizka's Mom: GLORY TO NOBILITY *explodes* Rozemyne: BLOOD CARNIVAL IS SCARY

[@5thBabbitt]

I am always here for more bookworm videos on KZbin, I got into the LN after season 3 and it went from a show I greatly enjoyed to my favourite piece of fiction and I haven't even finished it (cuz its still being translated, I'm not brave enough for MTL), so if anyone is reading this, having watched the anime and is contemplating getting into the Light Novels, take the plunge, you will not regret it.

[@Nostalgik]

Welcome to another Bookworm video on KZbin, then! ahah I can relate :) Thank you for the incentive! I have been contemplating getting into the LN ever since the 2nd season aired, and I might just do it anytime now! Ty for the comment :)

[@alvasalrey]

This…. THIS SO MUCH!!!! This is one of the most wholesome series I’ve watched and the fact that’s an isekai and not an another isekai harem just makes it so much better (even if I love unplugging my mind for a while with those 😋) After I finished season 3 I got into the light novels and just can’t wait until more volumes are released Ty for the vid

[@Nostalgik]

Yessss!! Bookworm really stands out in quality from 99% of the isekai out there. But of course we all need our comfort food eheh 😊 Thank you so much! Glad to have u here ^^

[@daedalron]

@@Nostalgik I strongly advise you to try the LN, the first 2 parts (3rd seasons anime) are really just the prologue of the serie, and the LN are way more detailed too on how that world works. I'd avise starting at least from part 2 volume 1. The first season of the anime didn't miss too much, but there were quite a few interesting (and sometimes important) details left out from season 2 & 3 in the anime. On a side note, you can expect the serie to be finished (in english) around next year (august or september most likely)

[@Nostalgik]

​@@daedalronmy god that opens up a lot of intrigue 😮 they left out things maybe because they knew they may not get to adapt it... who knows. But yes with so many people recommending the novel, I can only get excited 😊

[@Emmie-kn1mx]

I’m obsessed with the light novels because the anime just wasn’t enough. This is easily my favorite anime/LN and one of my favorite pieces of fiction I’ve ever read/watched

[@Nostalgik]

🤌 beautiful! Can't wait to get my hands on the novel sometime!

[@steven03048]

Ascendance of a Bookworm is such a great Isekai Anime, I hope we will get a fourth season soon to see what Myne is up to as Rosemyne!

[@Nostalgik]

Ikr! We MUST get to see sometime how she'll develop further, especially since she grows so much in the novels!

[@PrograError]

well congrats! New season is announced and in production.

[@maroindefinitlyhuman6857]

The light novel is peak fiction. I highly recommend it.

[@TheAric95]

Finally! A man of culture. Happy to see another happy enjoyer of this wonderful franchise, you man have gain my subscription. Cheers!

[@Nostalgik]

Ahahah we are out there, somewhere! Yes it hooked me completely! I appreciate it, glad to have you here in the channel!

[@PandalfAGA]

Literally the best isekai there is, at least the LNs. Having read re:zero, mushoku tensei, slime, kumo desu ga nagi ka, and a bunch of others I can confidently say that I haven't found anything nearly as good as aoab. The only things that came close is The wandering inn, with 11 million words and quality to back it up, still not as good as aoab though.

[@src6339]

🎶 Don't you give me your love and passion... wait , wrong anime.

[@Nostalgik]

Wrong isekai :3

[@BakedBanana]

oh, nice video. Ascendance of a Bookworm is such a great anime/novel.

[@Nostalgik]

Thank you so much! Hell yeee! You read the novel? :o How far does the novel go compared to the show?

[@BakedBanana]

(@@Nostalgik) Pretty far, the anime only adapts the first two parts of the light novel which are volumes 1 - 7. It still has 3 more parts to adapt which are volumes 8 - 26. I'm currently on part 4 of volume 2 and things are still being introduced without being dull, it's great.

[@Nostalgik]

God dayum. That's glorious news! Hoping to see a season 4 anytime!

[@nineflames2863]

@@Nostalgik To give a bit more context: The story starts when Myne is 5 years old and ends with her coming of age. And in that whole time there is only one timeskip of two years, otherwise it's _very_ detailed. Each part goes over 1-2 years of her life and peels off another layer of the ridiculously intricate world building. As for a season 4, I wouldn't bet on it. Season 3 already had major trouble securing enough funding, as seen with the shorter run time, rushed pacing, and butchered finale. And even if the anime were to continue through some miracle, it would probably take a decade or two to adapt the whole thing. So far the anime only got as far as finishing the prologue to the prologue of the actual main storyline. If you're interested in the series I highly recommend reading the light novels instead of waiting around; they convey the story way better than the anime ever could anyway (even season 1 and 2 skipped a whole bunch) and their official English translation is on pace to finish the last remaining volumes within the next year.

[@daedalron]

@@BakedBanana To clarify from your answer, volume 26 is not the end of the story, it is just the last translated volume. The story ends at volume 33 (which is still not yet released in Japan).

[@gongasdesu]

Yeah this one is definitely going to my plan to watch. Great video overall, loved it!

[@Nostalgik]

Oh hellz yeah! That's a win for me

[@christopherrogers7721]

Not sure if they will go beyond season 3 which is the first 7 books but if you jump into the light novel there are 26 in English no 27 will be digitally available in September 33 in Japanese and a spinoff 8 fan books and multiple short story compilations. If you cant afford all of that (or cant wait to find out what happens) you can try reading the web novel as well.

[@kritikaprasad2410]

The anime was first recommended to me by my brother, he said I will like it and oh boy he had never been any more right. I was more into it than I had ever been on any other series in my entire life. This was so very different from usual. I then moved on to the LN (I have read the Wn since then and LN english twice). The despair I feel after ending of every volume was something I never felt before. I never got this attached to a long running series like AOB, whenever I picked such series I quickly got bored but this was a change. I am grateful, happy as well as sad that my fav. series is finally ending with Part 5 Volume 12. It is so emotional seeing such a wonderful series end

[@Nostalgik]

Damn so happy seeing so many people saying they got into the LN and fell in love with the series even more deeply :) didnt know it was already ending

[@kritikaprasad2410]

@@Nostalgik yeah we just got the last cover art. still waiting for the rest ofthe illustration

[@LuminousArc92]

Ascendance of a Bookworm is an amazing light novel series as an anime it was only good in season 1. Season 2 and especially 3 started rushing due to getting less and less episodes each (14->12->10) and they really fucked up the characters, emotional moments of the season finale's, as well as the worldbuilding among everything else and it drives me insane

[@Nostalgik]

As an anime only, while there certainly were signs of slight production issues, it never took my investment and the emotional impact of scenes, personally. But yeah it's much easier to have issues with adaptations if you're familiar with the original work.

[@LuminousArc92]

@@Nostalgik not even talking about the adaptational issues (I'll never forgive how badly they did the memory search and final blessing moments, fucking christ) but the anime is fucked on a fundamental storytelling level all its own an example from season 3: Myne has to start her stay in the temple early because she is being targeted by the ink guild. Ferdinand gives her a strict order to remain in her chambers. Myne ignores this order, twice, so she can see Lutz and Tuuli off at the gate. this is idiotic for a couple reasons but most notably because she was given the order by a noble. Ferdinand, the high priest, second highest authority in the temple, the archduke's half brother gave a strict order. Myne wouldn't defy that order since it would risk her being executed. Also Fran who is loyal to Ferdinand, to the extent he'll sometimes prioritize his order over Myne's, would NEVER permit her to go against Ferdinand's order they did it so they can have the shots of Myne looking sad as Lutz and Tuuli leave amidst the sunset. Know what would be way better visual storytelling? Keeping her in her room. Wide shot of Myne standing in front of her chamber doors after they leave. Frame the shot with her boxed in by the door, trapping her, gaged in. Moreover, the temple walls are white, a cold colour, for her isolation and lack of familiar warmth. Simple how did they get the final blessing so wrong? The anime has her all happy and triumphant but it's not. She's absolutely heartbroken; the chapter when it happens is called Ripped Apart and this is the illustration just before the blessing: ascendance-of-a-bookworm.fandom.com/wiki/Part_2_Volume_4/Gallery?file=LN_P2V4-7.jpg having to say goodbye to her family makes her mana start to surge and she decides to use it for her loved ones, starting to chant a prayer to the main 7 gods, something that shouldn't be possible. The more gods you invoke the higher the chance the prayer will fail, especially when the God of Life is invoked as the other gods don't like him. It fills me with so much rage that they could get it so wrong. And that's not even considering all the other fuck ups in the finale, like Damuel and Myne's outfits indicating storytelling incompetence

[@IAmebAdger]

A shame that the anime does not seem to be continuing anytime soon, as after the end of the latest season, if you read the story in the novel, there is a veritable explosion of world building!

[@Nostalgik]

🤩 It's amazing how novel readers say it gets even better! The anime is already so GOOD even with the little it covered, I can only get hyped for seeing more of Myne! 💙

[@gerardmanvussa501]

Unfortunately, with how low budget the anime is, even the obvious interest of the staff can't do the job anymore. The first season was ok, the second began to reach the limits and the third was cutting so much on costs for being able to do an ok job on the couple of magical scenes that it was a bit painful, if you ask me ( not to mention that the director had needed to argue with the producer just to have a ten episodes season, instead of the ridiculous eight one initially expected ). There likely won't be another season and even if I really love Ascendance of a Bookworm, it's likely for the best. Anyway, both the writing and the english translation are, as far as I can tell, leagues beyond the average LN, so people might as well read it :p.

[@LuminousArc92]

@@gerardmanvussa501 personally I don't want another season of Bookworm from how badly they did season 3. I mean they kinda can't because they fucked up an important bit of worldbuilding in the finale that affects an important storybeat in what would be season 3. Also they got the emotions of the finale so wrong and messed too much with the characters. I mean anime Damuel is an incompetent buffoon whereas light novel Damuel deservedly got 3rd most popular in the first character pole

[@gloriabento489]

Congratulations, good editing, good effects and the diction is much better, I even got emotional with the story. That's why it's always going up 🤗

[@Nostalgik]

🥰 Thank youuu

[@DragonGirl408]

Looking forward to the 4th season 0v0

[@Nostalgik]

It'll be awesooome! 🤩😍

[@expms7160]

you just made me want to reread the novel

[@Nostalgik]

That's a win then! (Right? 😁) And these comments make me want to read the novel

[@rebekadoczi2136]

I wonder if the story ever thought or will ever think about trying to find other people who also reincarnated into that world similarly to Myne. Will she ever hand out papers to everyone with Japanese and English letters on? Will she ever search for other people like her? I have no idea.

[@Nostalgik]

I also dunno, since I didnt read the novels, but that's definitely an interesting thought they may explore! In any case, I'd just be over the moon if we get any other season at all :')

[@rebekadoczi2136]

@@Nostalgik Same here. 🥲

[@mlmaronilla]

I don't seem to remember some of the chibi scenes shown here. Could they possibly have been cut depending on territory? What else could have been missed? :(

[@Nostalgik]

Noooo, that's cruel Q.Q I highly doubt it. Unless there are blu-ray exclusive scenes... but tell me exactly which ones are and I'll try to tell you :)

[@Nostalgik]

There are scenes here that I either cut or edited together with others as a sequence. But also there are some scenes that are really short in the series and one could easily miss them x)

[@mlmaronilla]

for example, the scene where Ferdinand is running with books.

[@Nostalgik]

I know that in season 2 not sure if right away on ep 1 or not. I dont have a pc rn so i cant check the eps, but in 2 days I'll get back to you! 😄

[@rafibausk7071]

A lot of them go by really fast. And since they're all over the episodes, they're easy to forget. I just did a rewatch and was surprised how many of them there are. Also there's the one that's guaranteed at the end of each episode, so that one eats up a lot of your attention.

[@melonlord1414]

How are they mid class? They live in the cheapest part of town and their neighbours ask them why they would waste resources on that weak girl that won't make it to adulthood anyway when this reduces their other daughter's chance to make it. They are straight up poor.

[@daedalron]

They are definitely in the poor class, not mid class. But they're also not in the poor-est class. Gunther (father) is after all a soldier captain, so given his rank he gets a higher pay than normal soldiers. There are definitely some people who are even more poor than they are.

[@Nostalgik]

I mean I was clearly undecided when writing the script to decide what to call them, because, yes, while they probably are in the lower class, they most certainly aren't the ones having a harder time. And yeah, her dad works as a soldier so that should bump it up a bit xD

[@kritikaprasad2410]

while you are right, I would like to add that most of this poorness is because Myne was frequently sick and had to be given many medicines. However they become upper middle class later in the series

[@ladwigs]

I wonde how long, until they continue the anime

[@Nostalgik]

Hopefully they'll do it soon 😤 but some people commented that they had increasingly harsh problems with funding / justifying its production. In any case, even if it isn't that soon, there's definitely always the hope for it to continue! 🥳

[@kagato23]

What’s the last violin/ piano music in this?

[@Nostalgik]

The Chase by Ting Si Hao

[@kagato23]

@@Nostalgik bless you good sir

[@thechosenone729]

I like anime a lot but compare to LN it's kind of rushed and short which is shame because when you compare it to most of Isekai genera today you only have like Jobless reincarnation and Re:Zero if you want more seriousness. Ascendance of Bookworm in LN is 10/10 but in anime i would have to give it 9/10 because they are skipping over details and important stuff sometimes i hope that will change with new studio and it will rise to where it belongs because it's one of those that have great worldbuilding, characters and setting and trust me that i would rather see more work being put into something like this then Vending Machine or whatever.

[@proxnoob6177]

SO the thing about why i did not watch this anime knowing it is good and totally my type of anime is: I tried watching it and felt like a 4th diemnsional demon was trying to stop me from watching it. Don' think i am calling it boring same happend with Ergo proxy and Berserk Ergo proxy is A tier anime in my eyes. Berserk is my all time favorite anime. Guts is my all time favorite character. Griffith is my all time most hated anime character. Need i say moreee! Edit: I typed Anime by mistake. My all time favorite anime is either Ousama Ranking or Gurren Laggan. My all time favorite manga is Berserk.

[@Nostalgik]

Ahahah well we shouldn't force ourselves to watch an anime - or consume any media really! It may be your type of show but you not in the mood for it 😆 that's also me with Ergo Proxy (and Texhnolyze) - anime that I'm sure I'd appreciate but I need to be in a veryyy specific mood to watch. Ahhhh BERSERK is GOAT no doubt ❤ I also love Gurren Lagann and Ousama Ranking to bits! You can expect me to make a video on ANY of those 3 at any point! 🎉 Dope taste 🌟

[@hepariart]

She couldn't just 'access her skills' and say 'summon book'? What a weak character! (NOT) This series is one of the best fantasy stories in existence, in my opinion.

[@Nostalgik]

😁 Thats a big statement, but it's also one of my favorites, so I gotta agree 🤍