Overview (Spoilers Below):
Main is preparing for a stay at the cathedral over the winter, but something is amiss in the town. As she goes about her preparations, including collecting supplies and getting fitted with new clothes, a dark force is headed her way: the Ink Guild! With this shadow looming, Main agrees to move up her move in date and bids goodbye to her family.
Our Take:
It feels like Ascendance of a Bookworm has been around for a long time. When the first season debuted back in 2019, I thought it sounded interesting enough to check out. As a former librarian and book aficionado, I appreciated the literary aspects of the premiere but found it pretty dull otherwise. Now that the show is up to its third season, have my feelings changed at all?
If this first episode is anything to judge by, not really. We’ve got Main going about her errands, trying on clothes, selling books, etc. It’s all competently executed, but there’s no real momentum to the events that are happening on screen. If a chill, easy to skim series is what you’re after, Ascendance of a Bookworm’s third season could be just what the doctor ordered, but otherwise it strikes me as being something that’s fine to skip if you’re after something more exciting.
There are a few more engaging moments that I want to highlight, the first being Johann’s search for a patron. With all the supposed trouble brewing, Main can use all the allies she can get, and his skills with a forge are probably going to come in handy. I liked their interaction and how she appreciated how he overthinks his work—it’s a little hard to believe she’s the first person to appreciate his attention to detail, but maybe that’s because Main also thinks for herself and can see the similarities in him.
The other “big” thing in the ep is the teasing of the antagonistic role that the Ink Guild will play in the season. Of course Ascendance of a Bookworm would be the kind of show where the big bad is a bunch of ink suppliers. It’s kind of funny but also a little sketchy, especially when the final scene shows off that the Ink Guild may not be working alone. The story could definitely benefit from a bonafide bad guy to move things along here, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out in the weeks to come.
Finally, it’s impossible to talk about the show without mentioning how anime voice actors have been fighting for better wages of late. Reba Buhr was apparently almost replaced as the main character Main but then Crunchyroll decided to loosen its purse strings. That’s great news for those who have become attached to her performance, but I have to say I’m not one of them. On the whole, this dub felt pretty ‘meh’ to me, and I found Main’s high-pitch kind of grating on the ears. One thing I do enjoy about the production side of things is how the staff absolutely leans into wild hair colors. You get orange hair! You get electric blue! I mean, why not? It’s fun!
Overall, I’d have to say that Beginning of Winter is a pretty mid episode. It’s mainly a lot of re-introducing the characters, even in scenes that make little impact like the tailor fitting, and getting viewers up to speed on Main’s plan to spend the winter in the cathedral. We do get a little hint at the hardships to come courtesy of the Ink Guild, but for now that’s just a dot on the horizon and that means there’s really not too much to keep us entertained.