English Dub Review: Ascendance of a Bookworm “Knight Orders and Requests”

Overview:

Main takes on a new challenge: helping out a group of knights as a priestess.

Our Take:

While magic was briefly touched upon before, such as seeing spells used in a practical way (keeping silence and creating barricades for locked doors), this is the first time that magic has been shown in a grandiose fashion.

This time, Main participates in a ceremony with a company of knights and headed by wouldn’t you guess it, but Ferdinand. We have always known that Ferdinand was a noble, as he wears blue robes and is intimately familiar with the happenings of nobility, but we didn’t know what he or his family does. Now we have the answer: he was the former leader, or perhaps still the current leader, it’s not entirely clear, of a group of holy knights. The knights serve a practical purpose rather than being all for war, as they are in charge of getting rid of magical creatures when they become too much of a problem. The country overall seems to still be one at peace, but this is an interesting way to show military usage regardless.

We also have a new perspective on the trombe. Main uses it for her papers, so it’s been a while since we saw it as a threat. The orphan children can easily dispatch of it, granted that they’re fast enough, even if the trombe’s original introduction was a threatening one. This time, we see a fully grown trombe, not just one that’s been in the ground for a few minutes. Not only is it aggressive, but requires a small army armed with magic to take it down. It’s no easy feat either: even though Ferdinand has talent as a leader, it still requires coordination and finesse to be able to take down.

In comparison to most of the season where we have an awareness of books and printing to fall back on, even just from lessons in school, here the audience has no basis of comparison. We know fantasy tropes and concepts of magic aren’t foreign, but we don’t know anything about the magic system in this world. We know about the religion, and that magic exists and can be harnessed, but the finer details we’re still in the dark– because Main herself doesn’t know any better. As a result, we’re learning along with her, and equally mystified along with her.