is a Japanese fantasy

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

series written by

Miya Kazuki is a female Japanese light novelist and essayist. Career Kazuki started writing novels when she was in her second year of junior high school. After taking an entrance exam, she entered into a national university before graduating and becoming b ...

and illustrated by You Shiina. It was serialized online from September 2013 to March 2017 on the user-generated novel publishing website

Shōsetsuka ni Narō is a Japanese novel self-publishing website created by . It was launched on April 2, 2004. Users can upload their novels free of charge and the novels are also free to read. As of December 2022, the site hosts close to 1,000,000 novels, has ove ...

. It was later acquired by

TO Books is a Japanese publisher, anime, tokusatsu and film production company, and sales agent. Founded on April 1, 2003, by Takeichi Honda, its main office is currently located in Ebisu, Tokyo. T.O Entertainment also has offices located in Los Angeles, ...

, who has published thirty volumes since January 2015. A

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

adaptation of the first part with art by Suzuka was serialized online via Niconico Seiga website from October 2015 to July 2018. It was collected in seven ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volumes by TO Books. Both the light novel and manga are published in English by J-Novel Club. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation by Ajia-do Animation Works aired the first part from October to December 2019, and the second part aired from April to June 2020. A two-part OVA episode released in March 2020. A third season aired from April to June 2022.

Plot

The story follows Urano Motosu, a book-loving post-secondary college student and soon-to-be librarian who ends up crushed to death beneath a pile of books at her house during an earthquake. With her dying breath, she wishes to be reincarnated in a world where she can read books forever. Urano awakens in the body of a weak, five-year-old girl named Myne in a world where books are scarce and only available to elites. Myne, retaining her memories from her previous life, decides to create and print her own books so that she can read again.

Characters

; : :The titular bookworm, Urano (a college student) was on the cusp of being a librarian when she was ironically crushed to death under a pile of books during an earthquake and reincarnated as a sickly five-year-old girl named Myne, but in a world where books are only for extremely rich nobles. Her frailty is due to a rare disease known as the "Devouring," which consists of high fevers that spark whenever the host is stressed or depressed. Now, Myne has to put her book-knowledge to the test in order to become a librarian in her new world. ; : :The High Priest in the city of Ehrenfest. ; : :Myne's elder sister by one year who follows her mother's craft in becoming a

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Not ...

. ; : :Myne and Turi's mother who is a seamstress by trade and works at a dye factory. ; : :Myne and Turi's father who works as a soldier and a guard for the city of Ehrenfest. ; : :Myne's childhood best friend who helps her in her business to make paper and create books. He initially wanted to be a traveling merchant, but after being dissuaded by Otto, he decides to work with Myne and be the muscle to her brain. He is the first to suspect that Myne is not who she used to be and has been in fact taken over by someone else. ; : :A former traveling merchant and now soldier and military accountant of Ehrenfest. He teaches Myne how to read and write the language of the new world. ; : :A city merchant who takes Myne and Lutz under his wing and helps them grow their bookmaking business. After realizing the potential Myne and Lutz have at their craft, he is insistent on training them to be merchants and argues against others who want the pair for themselves. ; : :An assistant at Benno's store who helps Myne and Lutz on their journey. ; : :The head of the Merchant Guild in Ehrenfest and Benno's senior. He agrees to allow Lutz and Myne to become temporarily registered merchants after seeing the products the duo are able to create. ; : :Gustav's granddaughter who wants to buy one of Myne's hairpins to wear at her baptism. Like Myne, she has the incurable illness known as the "Devouring." ; : :A young grey-robed boy who is placed as Myne's retainer. He is pompous, brash, and believes himself superior to Myne, even though he is beneath her in the temple hierarchy. He eventually comes around and serves Myne faithfully after she shows him kindness and compassion. ; : :A grey-robed young man who is placed as Myne's retainer. He is quiet, follows the rules, and is highly devoted to the temple. He is the first retainer to earn Myne's trust and becomes her right-hand man. ; : : A young grey-robed girl who is placed as Myne's retainer. She is out to annoy and frustrate Myne on the High Bishop's orders, hoping she will grow up to be his concubine if she's successful. After Myne threatens to send her back to the orphanage, she changes her ways and serves Myne faithfully but still retains her snarky attitude. ; : :He is the third of four brothers, and the older brother of Lutz. ; :

Media

Light novels

''Ascendance of a Bookworm'' was originally published by Miya Kazuki as a free-to-read web novel on

in 2013 until it was acquired by

which published the first volume in print in their TO Bunko imprint with illustrations by You Shiina in January 2015. As of August 2022, the series will have accumulated over 30 volumes, divided into five parts. In May of 2019, J-Novel Club released the first official English translation of Part 1 volume 1.

Manga

A manga adaptation was published by TO Books and follows similar format as the novels. Part 1, subtitled , was illustrated by Suzuka, serialized in Comic Corona from October 2015 to July 2018, and was compiled into a total of seven volumes. Suzuka continued to illustrate Part 2 subtitled which began serialization in Comic Corona on September 24, 2018 and currently has a total of seven volumes. Part 3 subtitled is illustrated by Ryo Namino and began serialization in Comic Corona despite Part 1 still being ongoing at the time. Part 3 currently has five volumes. Part 4 illustrated by Hikaru Katsuki started December 24, 2020 also in Comic Corona. Volume 3 was published November 25, 2021.

''Part 1''

''Part 2''

''Part 3''

''Part 4''

Anime

television series adaptation was announced on March 7, 2019. The series is animated by Ajia-do Animation Works and directed by

Mitsuru Hongo is a Japanese anime director of television and film. Hongo originally worked at Ajiado as an animator but moved to Shin-Ei Animation where he directed '' Crayon Shin-chan''. He left in 1996 and went on to direct ''Immortal Grand Prix'', ''Outla ...

, with Mariko Kunisawa handling series composition, Yoshiaki Yanagida and Toshihisa Kaiya designing the characters, and Michiru composing the series' music. The first part ran for 14 episodes, which aired from October 3 to December 26, 2019, on ABC,

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

, Wowow, and

BS Fuji Fuji Network System (known in Japan as simply , FNS) is a Japanese television network operated by Fuji Television Network, Inc., part of the Fujisankei Communications Group. FNS distributes entertainment and other non-news television programmes t ...

, and covers ''Part 1: Daughter of a Soldier'' of the light novel.

Sumire Morohoshi is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer from Kanagawa Prefecture. She debuted as a solo singer under the Flying Dog record label. Biography Sumire Morohoshi was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, in 1999. At the time of birth, the righ ...

performed the series' opening theme song , while

Megumi Nakajima is a Japanese voice actress and singer, who is affiliated with Stay Luck. Her involvement in the entertainment industry began in 2003 when she participated in an audition held by the talent agency Stardust Promotion, becoming affiliated with the ...

performed the series' ending theme song . A two-part OVA series (numbered collectively as episode 14.5, both airing on March 9, 2020) consisted of two parts titled "Eustachius's Incognito Operation Downtown" and "Visiting Missus Corinna". The second part ran for 12 episodes, which aired from April 5 to June 21, 2020, and covers Volumes 1 and 2 of ''Part 2: Apprentice Shrine Maiden'' of the light novel. Sumire Morohoshi also performed the second part's opening theme song (Commotion), while Minori Suzuki performs the ending theme "Ephemera wo Atsumete". The production of a third season was announced on July 12, 2020, which ran for 10 episodes and aired from April 12 to June 14, 2022 on ytv, and covers Volumes 3 and 4 of ''Part 2: Apprentice Shrine Maiden'' of the light novel.

Nao Tōyama is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with the agency Intention. Before joining Intention, she was affiliated with Arts Vision. She debuted as a voice actress in 2010, and played her first leading role as Kanon Nakagawa in '' The Wo ...

performed the third season's opening theme song , while

Maaya Sakamoto Maaya may refer to: * Maaya (given name) Maaya (written: 真綾 or 真礼) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese singer-songwriter, actress and voice actress *, Japanese actress and voice actress *, ...

performed the ending theme song .

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and t ...

licensed the series and has partnered with

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

for distribution in North America.

Other

Six fanbooks were published by TO Books and released on December 20, 2016, December 9, 2017, November 10, 2018, November 9, 2019, November 10, 2020, and November 10, 2021. TO Books also published seven Drama CDs released on September 9, 2017, June 9, 2018, June 10, 2019, December 10, 2019, September 10, 2020, August 10, 2021, and April 9, 2022.

Reception

The series has sold over 6 million copies across physical and digital sales combined as of February 18, 2022. The series ranked fifth in 2017, first in 2018 and 2019, second in 2020 and 2021, and third in 2022 in

Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...

's annual light novel guide book ''

Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! is an annual light novel guide book published by Takarajimasha. The guide book publishes a list of the top ten most popular light novels according to readers polled on the Internet and votes from "collaborators" (critics, influencers, and other p ...

'', in the ''

'' category. The 2nd season of anime was nominated for "Best Fantasy" in 2021's Crunchyroll Anime Awards.

Notes

References

External links

* at

* * * * * * * {{Ajia-do Animation Works 2019 anime television series debuts 2020 anime television series debuts 2015 Japanese novels Ajia-do Animation Works Anime and manga based on light novels Crunchyroll anime Isekai anime and manga Isekai novels and light novels Japanese webcomics J-Novel Club books Light novels Light novels first published online Muse Communication Novels about reincarnation Television shows about reincarnation Shōjo manga Sentai Filmworks Shōsetsuka ni Narō Webcomics in print