Sylvester, Lord of the Realm

I can’t say I was expecting the twist we got in Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 36. Who could have guessed that Sylvester was actually the Lord of the country? We knew he was a noble, but nothing else hinted at his true role.

Even if you look back at everything we saw of Sylvester before this episode, nothing stands out. I figured that he was an eccentric noble who may be on the same level as Ferdinand. That would be enough to explain why Ferdinand told Myne to deal with his antics.

We now know that Sylvester is the Lord. He’s not a lord. I’m pretty sure a lot of the nobles use the lord honorific. But Sylvester is the Lord among lords. But, his exact role is still a bit unclear. Is he the top person in the entire country? Or is there a king? I don’t remember if there’s a king.

Anyway, let’s assume that Sylvester is the top dog. That would mean that those related to him are also quite important. And in this episode, we learn both the High Priest and Ferdinand are members of Sylvester’s family.

The High Priest is Sylvester’s uncle while Ferdinand is Sylvester’s half-brother. Sylvester and Ferdinand have different mothers, with Ferdinand being an illegitimate child. This could somewhat explain why Ferdinand ended up a member of the Church. I know he already said he joined to weed out the corruption. But, both can be true.

Sylvester seems to trust Ferdinand. So, it may have been that Ferdinand was working to weed out the corruption on Sylvester’s behalf. Since Sylvester seems to have known his uncle wasn’t trustworthy, that seems likely. But, I don’t understand how his uncle wouldn’t be a Noble.

Everyone Gets a Death Sentence!

Sylvester turning out to be the Lord was a big shock. But, something that was almost as shocking is how cruel he can actually be. From what we’ve seen of Sylvester up to this point, he seemed very laid-back and friendly. Now we’ve also seen his ruthless side.

The first person Sylvester sentences to death is his uncle, the High Priest. That makes sense. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Count Bindewald gets a death sentence, as well. Though, since he’s a lord of another country, Sylvester may spare him. You know, for diplomatic purposes.

That’s not where the death sentences end, though. Sylvester also sentences everyone who had a part in the High Priest’s plan to death. Of course, that includes all the High Priest’s attendants — even Delia. It doesn’t seem to matter that Delia’s a child or that she didn’t play a willing role in the plot.

Now, that’s where Sylvester’s death sentences end. But, Sylvester mentions that he actually planned to dish out further punishments. And some of these punishments were going to be the death penalty. What did these other people whom he decided to spare in the end do? They were inconvenient to him.

While he wasn’t going to kill everyone at the Gilberta Company, he did consider shutting them down. Their only crime would have been that they knew and had relationships with Myne. Still, they would have gotten off easy compared to the next group.

Myne’s own family was on the chopping block. Sylvester tells them that he thought about having them all killed. His reasoning was that they’re a roadblock to his adoption of Myne. And the only reason he decided against killing them was that he figured Myne would go berserk. He was right.

Rozemyne Is Born

As part of Myne’s adoption, she’s no longer allowed to see her old family and will also receive a new name. Hearing that Myne was going to get a new name had me worried. I thought it might be something completely different. But, that’s not the case, which is nice.

Myne’s new name is Rozemyne. So, I’d argue that we can keep referring to her as Myne. After all, what is Myne if not a nickname for Rozemyne? To be honest, though, I’m not yet sure what I’ll refer to her as in the future.

The best way to go about it might be to use both names. I could call her Myne when discussing her before her adoption by Sylvester. And I could call her Rozemyne when discussing her after her adoption. But, what’s more likely is that I’ll continue to call her Myne.

Something interesting we learn about Rozemyne is that she has an official state job now. Her printing business is no longer all about creating books for herself and others to read. Sylvester has big plans for Myne’s printing business. And while his plans don’t align with Myne’s, they’re not adversarial either.

As Ferdinand says, Sylvester wants his domain to be the capital of the printing industry. So, it seems clear that Sylvester sees the economic benefits of printing. And he wants to use Myne’s business to bring money and jobs into the country.

Again, that doesn’t go against Myne’s goals. But, it could mean that she has less freedom when it comes to what she gets to print. Or, Sylvester could defer to Myne’s expert opinion on those sorts of matters. In reality, there will be some sort of middle ground — like when Myne printed the scriptures.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 36? Did you expect Sylvester to be the Lord? Were you surprised by how liberally he handed out death sentences? And how do you feel about Myne’s new name? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

A Shounen Protagonist in a Slice of Life Series

Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 35 was pretty good. There was action, intrigue, plot development — the whole works. It also gave me a glimpse of what this series could be and what I want it to be.

I know this isn’t an action series. And I know Myne isn’t a shounen battle series protagonist. But, I do wish that she was a bit more liberal in her mana usage. From this episode, we saw that Myne has a lot of mana. She can also use that mana to do significant harm to people.

Sure, Myne wants to create a world in which she and everyone else can enjoy books. She doesn’t want to fight. But, fighting might be the quickest way to achieve her goal. And it would keep her and her family safe in the process.

Think about it, if everyone knows not to mess with Myne, she’d be able to do so many things. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad for Myne to murder the guy who kidnapped Tuuli. And the same goes for Count Bindewald and the High Priest. I mean, what’s the worst that’ll happen to her?

Are the knights going to come to arrest her? Not with the support of Ferdinand, Sylvester, and Karstedt. And even if some rogue knight tries to take her in, would they actually be able to defeat her? I doubt it. Well, that is, if she used her mana to its full extent.

Unfortunately for me, I have a feeling nothing like that’s going to happen. I’d love to see Myne snap and destroy one of these antagonists. Put the smug Nobles in their place, Myne. The time for the proletariat to rise is now!

Count Bindewald

Count Bindewald is one of those villains who looks like a villain. And not in a cool way. He looks exactly as he is — rich, smug, and a terrible person. But, the good news is that he might die in the next (final) episode of the season.

Anyway, with Count Bindewald in the picture, it’s finally explained why Dirk is part of the plot to get rid of Myne. And when I say it’s explained, I mean the explanation is so poor that you have to read between the lines to figure it out.

So, allow me to break it down for you. The original plan was for the High Priest to sell Myne off to a Noble from another country. He wanted to do this to get rid of Myne. There’s no other reason. But, we then found out Dirk was being sold to this Noble instead.

Dirk replacing Myne didn’t make any sense. But, as the High Priest says in this episode, he’s keeping Dirk. And in return for keeping Dirk, the High Priest is giving Myne to Count Bindewald. How does that make sense, though? Why is the High Priest trading Myne for Dirk?

The answer comes from a comment Ferdinand makes when he shows up. He says that the High Priest wouldn’t know about the new laws because that meeting was only for Nobles. The implication here is that the High Priest is not a Noble. And if he’s not a Noble, he can’t form a contract with Dirk.

In the end, we have the High Priest offering Myne to Count Bindewald in exchange for making a contract with Dirk. The High Priest gets his own baby mana slave and so does Count Bindewald. It’s a win-win.

It’s Lord Ferdinand to You

So, despite what I said about it being the time for the proletariat to rise up, I liked Ferdinand flexing his status. Even though he’s supposed to be below the High Priest, the High Priest is a filthy commoner. Ferdinand is Lord Ferdinand.

Oh, and let’s not forget that not only is Ferdinand a Noble, but he’s a knight too. Ferdinand is everything the High Priest wishes he was. But, I’d prefer if Ferdinand was a bit smugger about his status. You know, to one-up the smugness of the antagonists.

He almost got there when he explained to Count Bindewald that he’s a Noble and a graduate of the Royal Academy. But, it wasn’t quite there. It would have been good if Ferdinand made it clear that he’s the one with the highest status of everyone present. No leaving it even a bit ambiguous.

Speaking of Nobles, what’s the deal with the pendant Sylvester gave Myne? She used it when she was in need and he never arrived. I assumed that Sylvester would be the one to come to the rescue, not Ferdinand. But, I guess we’ll find out why Sylvester never showed up in the next episode.

Oh, and let’s not forget that Sylvester is also a Noble. In fact, all the blue-robed priests other than Myne are Nobles. So I guess that means they all actually outrank the High Priest. That would explain why he doesn’t surround himself with them.

I’m not sure if Sylvester is a member of the knights, though. Was that said before or even in this episode? I know he can use powerful magic. But, I can’t remember if he’s actually a knight like Ferdinand is. If you know, and it’s not a spoiler, comment it.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 35? Do you think Myne should kill some villains with her mana? Did you pick up on why Dirk was part of the agreement for Myne’s sale? And why is Ferdinand the best character? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 36 is available now.

Mixing Colors Doesn’t Exist

It’s pretty amazing that Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 currently has an average score of 8.00 on MAL. If you’re wondering, I currently have it rated as a 5. But, why is the average score surprising to me? Is it because I’m a hater?

Well, I’m sure some people would argue that to be the case. But, no. It’s surprising because one of the most interesting aspects of this season has to do with colors. Who knew that so many people cared about the mystery surrounding colors in this world?

That’s not me making fun of people interested in this mystery. I count myself among them. Why do colors in this world act in unexpected ways? And why is that important enough to be a main plot point of this season? I need answers. But, I’m starting to doubt we’ll get those answers in Season 3.

The next phase of the color mystery is about mixing colors. As we already know, mixing two colors always results in black. Or, close enough to black. That’s why Episode 33 introduced fixing agents. When using a fixing agent, colors don’t blend together and become black.

That’s great for some things. But, it also means you can’t mix colors to make a new color. Imagine you have red and blue paint and you want to make purple. In our world, you’d mix the red and blue. But in Myne’s world, you’d have to create purple paint from scratch.

There must be something important about colors not mixing in this world. If not, why is the series spending so much time focusing on it? If there’s not a payoff at the end of this whole ink saga, it deserves my score of 5.

Kamil Hates Myne

Since Kamil was born, the fact that he cries when he sees Myne’s face has been a running gag. But, what if it wasn’t a gag? What if there was some in-universe reason for him crying when he sees her? It’s time to theorize.

Alright, so my first thought was that Kamil is the reincarnation of someone Myne knew in her past life. But, that theory doesn’t add up for a few reasons. For starters, Kamil doesn’t have the Devouring. And, Myne looks different now than she did in her past life, so how would Kamil recognize her?

It’s not stated that anyone who gets summoned into this world has the Devouring. Myne’s the only otherworlder we know, and she happens to have it. Also, there are other people with the Devouring who aren’t otherworlders. For example, I’m pretty sure Frida said she has the Devouring.

With that said, Myne’s case of the Devouring does seem to have a connection to her summoning. It could be that her summoning is the result of the Devouring going out of control. The previous Myne may have summoned the current Myne into her body by accident.

Anyway, back to Kamil. My next theory is that Kamil is somehow sensitive to mana. He might be able to feel the massive amount of mana within Myne, and it scares him. Or, he might be able to actually see the Devouring. That could be interesting later on.

Then, there’s also the possibility that both theories are correct in some regard. Kamil may be able to sense that Myne isn’t from this world. He might not have known her in her old world or be able to sense her Devouring. But, he could still recognize that she’s different.

Dirk Gets Adopted

Episode 32 introduced 2 things into the series. The first is the concept of selling off orphans to nobles from neighboring lands. If you recall, this is what the High Priest and some nobles planned to do to Myne.

The second thing introduced in Episode 32 was Dirk. So, it’s only fitting that Dirk is now the one the High Priest is selling off. But, what’s unclear is why the High Priest is doing this. He wanted to sell off Myne because he dislikes her (and Ferdinand). So is he only selling off Dirk because Ferdinand was trying to get Dirk adopted?

That seems like a lot of work for something petty that doesn’t benefit the High Priest. Well, of course, the money he’ll be getting in return for Dirk benefits him. With Myne, though, it was more about removing a commoner from the blue-robed priesthood.

We have to assume that Myne’s kidnapping at the end of the episode has to do with all this. Is it a coincidence that she’s kidnapped at the same time that Dirk is being adopted (sold)? I doubt it. It could be that Dirk was never the one up for adoption (sale) after all.

But, if that’s the case, why would the High Priest say he was? What would he gain by leaking that information if it wasn’t true? It’s not like hearing that would make Myne let her guard down so she can get kidnapped. The kidnapping could happen either way.

The only thing I can think of is that Dirk’s adoption was an excuse to get the foreign noble into the country. Once in the country, they could kidnap Myne and traffic her out by hiding her in the carriage. Even that’s a stretch.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ascendance of a Bookworm Episode 34? Do you think mixing colors is possible in this world? Does Kamil have some special ability? And why is the High Priest having Dirk adopted by a foreign lord? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Key Mochi for supporting this blog at the Heika and Senpai tiers this month. I’d also like to thank Rob, Toma, and Pepe for supporting at the Kouhai tier. To learn more about becoming a supporter, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 35 is available now.

Devouring Dirk

At the start of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 33, we learned that Dirk doesn’t have chickenpox. Chickenpox don’t appear and disappear as the spots on Dirk’s skin did. So, what’s wrong with Dirk? What sort of illness does he have?

Once chickenpox was disproven, my next thought was that Dirk had a goat milk allergy. After Myne mentioned the milk, I was thinking that the spots on his skin were hives. That could have been an interesting development considering Dirk has no other food. There’s nobody to breastfeed him, right?

Wrong. As I mentioned in my Episode 32 review, Myne’s mother also recently gave birth. She could feed both Dirk and Kamil. And so, I was expecting that to be the direction the series went in. But, that wasn’t the case. It turns out that Dirk doesn’t have a goat milk allergy.

So, again, what’s wrong with Dirk? As Myne discovers, the problem is that he suffers from the Devouring. This means that unless he obtains a way to release his pent-up mana, Dirk will die young. But, the Devouring isn’t as much of a death sentence now as it was at the start of the series.

We now know that there are many ways to release mana. Using magic is one way, but that doesn’t appear to be viable. Even Myne can’t use magic at this stage. So there’s no way a baby like Dirk would be able to.

Another option is to pour mana into magic objects. That’s what Myne currently does for the church. And this is the way most people with the Devouring would survive. But, we also know that Tau fruit absorb mana. Tau fruit may be a viable option until Dirk gets older.

Fixing Agents

It’s time to revisit colors in the world of Ascendance of a Bookworm. Last time, we learned that creating colored ink wasn’t as simple as it appeared. The materials weren’t resulting in the expected colors. Even though Myne has knowledge of colors from her past life, it didn’t help.

Now, it’s time to test these colors on paper. The first thing Myne and her creative team learned is that the type of paper matters. Different kinds of paper produce more vibrant or muted colors. And when the ink dries, regardless of what kind of paper it’s on, it gets darker.

When mixing colored ink on paper, the result always ends up black when the ink dries. I’m guessing this doesn’t have to do with the weird nature of colors in this world. Instead, that seems more like the result of the mixed ink darkening when it dries.

So, what’s the solution? Myne learns from her mother that there’s a liquid called a fixing agent. When combined with a color, a fixing agent will stop that color from changing. Myne’s mother mentions that dye shops use fixing agents to keep the color of garments.

Myne also learns from Wilma that Rosina uses fixing agents for her painting. And, this was a pretty interesting statement to me. I forgot that Myne had an artist as an attendant. So, why didn’t Myne consult Rosina when she was attempting to create colored inks? That seems like the obvious play.

Of course, Rosina doesn’t create her own paint. Specialty shops produce paint and keep their methods a secret. But, Rosina should still have an understanding of how colors mix together. Myne might ask Rosina about fixing agents in next week’s episode. Or, she might forget Rosina exists again.

Adoption by a Noble

Let’s move back over to discussing Dirk. I already covered a few ways for Myne to keep his mana in check. But, the option Ferdinand suggests is for a Noble to adopt Dirk. And at face value, this doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

The plan is for Lord Karstedt to adopt Myne soon. So, what would be so bad about a Noble adopting Dirk? The big issue with adoption for Myne is that she already has a family. That’s not an issue for Dirk since he’s an orphan. Having a family would be good, right?

Unfortunately, Karstedt’s adoption of Myne wouldn’t be the norm. In most cases of adoption by Noble, the adopted child isn’t made a member of the family. Instead, they’re adopted only so that the Noble can make use of their mana. And that tends to look a lot like slavery.

The bright side is that the adopted child would be able to survive. Since they’d be giving their mana to a Noble, the Devouring wouldn’t pose a threat. But, surviving isn’t the same as living. Myne knows all this, which is why she’s opposed to adoption for Dirk.

With that said, is adoption actually the worse option? If it’s between that and death, adoption may be better. That’s up to the individual, though. Some people may rather die than serve a Noble in that capacity. And considering we’re talking about babies and children, I’d suspect there’s a lot of abuse.

Toward the end of their conversation, Ferdinand points out that Myne could be the one to adopt Dirk. After Karstedt adopts Myne, she’ll be a Noble. And as a Noble, she’ll be able to form a contract with Dirk to siphon off his mana. That seems pretty good to me.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 33? Did you suspect that Dirk had the Devouring? Do you think the use of a fixing agent is going to solve Myne’s color problems? And, do you expect Myne to adopt Dirk? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 34 is available now.