English Dub Review: Ascendance of a Bookworm “Blessing”

Overview

Main’s mana goes berserk as the high priest and Bindewald try to force her to agree to an unreasonable contract. Ferdinand then shows up and faces off with Bindewald. Sylvester and Karstedt also eventually show up. Bindewald and the high priest demand that Mainbe punished for threatening them. A judgment will be placed upon all of them. Also, Main’s family is told about a certain decision about her as well…

Our Take

Sylvester’s a tricky guy. First hiding his identity as the lord of the realm from the Mainland then gave her the charm not as physical protection but as a legal safeguard. For being half-brothers, Sylvester and Ferdinand have pretty different personalities. When it comes down to it Sylvester’s not above being harsh though, even to family. Honestly, I feel bad for Main. Much like Dirk, she got forcibly entangled in this mess of a story And Delia’s new punishment for her specifically may sound bad, but getting to live and continue looking after Dirk’s a blessing of its own kind.

As for what Main accomplished throughout this series, all she wants to do is make books and here she is, getting dragged into the noble’s petty conspiratorial feuds, political coups, human trafficking, and a weird magic church who’s obsessed with her and Dirk’s Mana Intake. If the nobles or even the church within this show’s universe were smart, they’d recognized the potential Main’s goal would have of having books made in general, which would not only help expand their profits in publishing & selling them but further influence their reach across over lands and push whatever narrative they wish to spread. But instead, it felt like an on-the-nose satirical jab at how much control we let the corrupt rich elites & governments have over us rather than working alongside them to ensure that the innovation of making and reading books could benefit everyone in the long run. Honestly, fuck this society and its noble customs & laws!

Overall, this truly was a fitting close for both the season and possibly this series due to the sense of finality this bittersweet ending seems to give off. It manages to hit all its emotional beats perfectly and you could feel the full weight of everything that culminated up to that point. Upon research, the animators fought tooth & nail to give us two more episodes just to properly finish this series when originally they were assigned 8 episodes this season. But I give them points for actually finishing this to some capacity. Whether or not Season 4 becomes a thing, now remains to be seen…