Ascendance of a Bookworm Episode 34

Ascendance of a Bookworm Episode 34

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.

Colors with fixing agents not mixing or turning black from the anime series Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 34
Colors with fixing agents not mixing or turning black

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.

Kamil starting to cry after seeing Myne from the anime series Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 34
Kamil starting to cry after seeing Myne

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.

Delia telling the High Priest about Dirk from the anime series Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 34
Delia telling the High Priest about Dirk

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.

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My review of Episode 35 is available now.

6 Replies to “Ascendance of a Bookworm Episode 34”

  1. Actually it’s pretty heavily implied(just short of being explicitly stated outright) that Myne originally died of the devouring before the story of the show and that’s how our bookworm was able to inhabit her body, even if unintentionally.

    1. That wouldn’t contradict what I said about Myne potentially being summoned into the body by the Devouring.

      1. Devouring doesn’t work that way. Commoners call it a sickness but it’s just really a person having mana but have no way to expend or control it because the only way you can take it out is through magic tools. For someone young like a baby it is impossible to control the mana hence nobles are given a mana extracting tools to extract it. There is no spell or magic circle in the novel to summon souls. So that theory is quite impossible to happen. Myne cannot and could not have summoned Urano into her body.

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