English Dub Review: Ascendance of a Bookworm: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke “Ruelle Rechallenge”

Overview

Rosemyne tries to gather the ruelle fruit once again. This time Ferdinand and Karstedt join to ensure success.

Our Take

Picking up from the previous episode, Ascendance of a Bookworm left me feeling more disappointed than impressed. The episode itself isn’t necessarily bad, but several developments felt underwhelming, and some moments came across as oddly placed. There were also a few scenes where I couldn’t help but wonder why this was what they decided to spend their limited time on.

The character moments were easily the highlight for me. Gunther getting to spend time with Rozemyne and reminisce about Myne was genuinely sweet, and the scenes involving Brigitte and Damuel were fun as well. Those smaller interactions gave the episode some much-needed personality and reminded me why these characters are so enjoyable to watch. Even with the episode’s flaws, there were definitely moments that made me smile.

Overall, the episode feels like it’s being held together with duct tape and sheer determination. There’s clearly a lot of interesting material here, but the execution makes some of it feel strangely hollow. And when an adaptation has enough time to squeeze in things that barely matter while rushing past the moments you actually want to see, you have to wonder what exactly the priorities were. At least the characters are still carrying the show because apparently they’re going to have to do it themselves.