Priestess for Sale

At the start of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 32, we saw a meeting between 3 nobles and the High Priest. All these nobles (and the High Priest, for that matter), are out to get Myne for various reasons.

The one female noble, for example, is the mother of the knight executed for harming Myne. Although her son wasn’t a good person, I can understand why she would hold a grudge. It’s not quite clear who the other two nobles in this meeting are, though.

I’d imagine that at least one of them has their hand in the ink trade since that’s Myne’s latest venture. I don’t remember if any of them mentioned the assassination of the previous ink guild master. And since I’m not going to go back to check, I’ll assume it wasn’t brought up in the meeting.

What the nobles and the High Priest seem to have settled on at the end of the meeting is selling Myne off. Before Lord Karstedt can adopt Myne, they plan to sell her to a noble from a neighboring land. Somehow, selling a child across borders involves filling out less paperwork.

Now, I’m realizing that the High Priest and the nobles don’t know about the plan for Karstedt to adopt Myne. So, in reality, their plan isn’t to sell Myne off before he adopts her. It all seems to be nothing more than a coincidence. But, which side will come out on top?

Of course, this evil plan to get rid of Myne isn’t going to work. But, I’m curious to see if they spring their plan before Myne’s adopted by Karstedt. Or, will the High Priest be the one in for a shock when Karstedt adopts Myne before she’s sold?

Baby Dirk

So, while Myne got a new baby brother in Episode 31, the orphanage got a new baby orphan in Episode 32. Unfortunately for this orphan, fate dealt him the worst hand possible. Of course, I’m referring to the fact that his name is now Dirk. All I can think of when I hear that name is Dirk Hardpeck.

Not only is this kid going to grow up as a slave to the church, but he has to do so with the name Dirk? If he’s lucky, the chickenpox he came down with at the end of the episode will kill him.

Also, speaking of Dirk’s chickenpox, it seems likely that they’re going to spread. Delia already came into physical contact with Dirk after he became sick, so she’s bound to be next. From there, it’ll spread throughout the orphanage — at least among the children there.

And, since Myne comes into contact with everyone in the orphanage on a daily basis, she might get it too. But, even if she doesn’t, I’m assuming that she’ll bring the disease home to her baby brother, Kamil. He’ll be fine. But, that could be some added drama that doesn’t have to do with the plot to sell Myne.

Moving away from Dirk’s chickenpox, one of the issues with raising him in the orphanage is that he needs milk. There are plenty of grey-robed priestesses around, but none of them are producing milk. So, for now, the next best option is to give Dirk goat milk.

But, we already know of two new mothers who may be able to help out. One is Myne’s mother and the other is Corinna. I’m sure that one of them would be willing to help out with Dirk. Or, there’s also Dirks’ mother.

Myne Invents Colors

Speaking of Dirk’s mother, I’m confident that it’s Heidi, who was also introduced in this episode. Heidi is young, has a husband, and has the same hair color as Dirk. I’d even say that she looks like the silhouette we saw of the woman handing Dirk over to the church.

It’s possible that Dirk won’t be a permanent resident of the orphanage. Once Heidi and her husband start making fat stacks of money with Myne’s colored ink, they could take him back. Unless, that is, there’s some rule against taking children (free labor) back from the church.

Anyway, Heidi and her husband Josef are artisans who have been making Myne’s black ink. Heidi loves everything about ink and even before Myne brought it up, she was thinking of colored ink. Heidi also went out of her way to gather materials to make colored ink.

What doesn’t make sense to me is that colored ink didn’t exist in this world until now (or so it seems). If you can make colored paint, I don’t see why you wouldn’t also have colored ink. Isn’t the basic process the same? It’s oil and mineral powder. How has this not existed before now?

On top of that, why is the colored ink treated as some secret process known only to Myne? Heidi gathered all the materials herself. All she has to do is mix them together. It’s not like that requires Myne’s knowledge. Am I supposed to believe that Heidi knew what materials she needed, but not the basic step that comes next?

Aside from those mysteries, there’s one mystery that seems to be intentional. Why don’t the oil and mineral combinations create the expected colors? They even managed to create yellow, a primary color, by combining two other colors. Magic, perhaps?

Conclusion

What do you think of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 32? Do you think Karstedt is going to adopt Myne before she’s sold off? How do you feel about the name Dirk? And why do you think the ink colors don’t come out as expected? 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 33 is available now.

This Will Change History

Back in my review of Episode 27, I said that Myne’s movable type printing press would have a big impact on the world. I said it would have the biggest impact of all her inventions to date. And it may even have the biggest impact even considering her future inventions.

In Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 31, Ferdinand says almost the exact same thing. He says that Myne’s printing press will change history. But, Ferdinand is only focused on the “negative” impact the printing press will have.

Now, when I say negative here, I mean negative for the ruling class. If the commoners learn to read, it could have some major consequences. They’ll be able to understand contracts, for example. They’ll also be able to read the news and know what’s going on in the world. And, they’ll be able to organize protests easier.

The thing is, I’m not sure that a printing press will have the same effect in Myne’s world as in our own. And the reason is that magic and mana exist. As far as we know, there is a physical difference between commoners and Nobles.

Mana is (generally) exclusive to Nobles. That means only Nobles can use magic. So, how are commoners supposed to overthrow these magic-wielding Nobles? Myne is a very special exception. Most other commoners born with Mana don’t survive. Their bodies can’t handle the mana they’re born with, and thus they suffer from “the Devouring.”

Also, remember that (generally) only Nobles can hold important positions within the Church. Again, this is due to their ability to use mana. So, in theory, commoners learning to read won’t change the structure of the church. The mana of the Nobles is still necessary for the Church to function.

Magic Necklace

In this episode, we learned that Sylvester has a soft spot for children. I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to be anything weird. He got along with Gil and Lutz, hunted an animal so the orphans could eat meat, and gave Myne a protective pendant.

That pendant necklace is what I want to discuss in this section. According to Sylvester, while it is a magic item, it’s unlike many of the others Myne has encountered. You could say that it’s more of a magic tool than a magic item if we’re distinguishing between the two.

For example, a magic item is anything you can store mana in. From what I remember from the First Season of the series, objects made of gold serve this purpose. I don’t remember if other precious metals and jewels work too, but it would make sense for that to be the case.

A magic tool is a magic item that also has added magical properties. An example of a magic tool would be the object Ferdinand uses to put up a barrier to prevent eavesdropping. Another would be the earing-looking objects used for telepathic communication.

So, the necklace that Sylvester gives to Myne in this episode would be a magical tool by this definition. We don’t know exactly what the pendant does. But, we know that if Myne activates it with her blood (like a magic contract), Sylvester will come to her rescue.

The spell on the pendant may work like a tracking device. If Myne gets kidnapped, she might be able to activate it and then Sylvester will know her location. Or, it might even summon Sylvester to Myne’s location. While the latter would be neat, the former seems more likely to be the case.

The Birth of Kamil

Toward the end of the episode, Eva gives birth to a baby boy. He’s named Kamil, and Myne now has a younger brother. That’s great, but does Kamil actually matter? After all, Tuuli isn’t all that important. Well, I’m going to bet that Kamil will serve as a sort of bridge between Myne and Tuuli.

As explained earlier in this review, there’s a difference between Nobles and commoners. That difference is mana. But, what exactly is mana? Why do only the Nobles tend to have it? And why are there some commoners born with it in the form of “the Devouring?”

A hint might come from the main premise of the series itself. At the end of the day, what is Ascendance of a Bookworm all about? It’s about reading. Myne wants to read and she wants other people to be able to read.

Aside from their mana, what’s something else that separates Nobles from commoners? Literacy. The Nobles know how to read, while the commoners generally don’t. Merchants like Benno can read, and he’s not a Noble. But, he’s still of a higher class than Myne’s family, for instance.

With this in mind, I’m thinking that literacy, especially at a young age, might lead to mana production. Benno may not have learned to read until he was an adult. But, Noble children would learn to read from a young age. And so, it’s possible that this causes them to begin producing mana.

Myne got summoned into the body of a child after already being very proficient at reading. That would explain why she has “the Devouring.” I’m going to predict that Myne will teach Kamil to read from an early age. And, I’m going to predict that he’ll begin showing signs of mana.

Conclusion

If literacy is the source of mana, then Myne has a real shot at changing the world as Ferdinand predicted. To me, this theory connects everything together. But, what do you think? Is the moral of the story going to be that reading is magic? Let me know in the comments.

Did you enjoy this review? If so, 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 32 is available now.

The Spring Prayer

This week, I’m going to spend a lot of the review discussing magic. Magic was a pretty big part of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 30. We got the spring prayer, magical kidnappers, and a magic battle all in the episode.

Starting with the Spring Prayer, this is when the church offers mana to the gods for good harvests. I mentioned this back in my review of Episode 29. And I’d like to explain what I said back then in a bit more detail here.

I said that this was proof that gods exist within the world Myne is in. But, I should clarify that these mana offerings themselves don’t prove that. How mana gets offered is what’s important here. The names of the gods and what they stand for are part of the ritual. And it’s implied the ritual wouldn’t work without them.

What I mean by all this is that offering mana in Myne’s world isn’t the same as offering food or something in our world. There’s no proof that offering anything to gods in our world has any effect. But in Myne’s world, we can see the immediate effects of offering mana to the gods.

For example, after Myne offers her mana to the gods, we see the grail fill with glowing liquid. But, I also want to point out an argument for the opposing side. Because, despite what I’ve said so far, it’s still possible the gods don’t exist.

It’s possible that the incantations including the gods’ names are meaningless. If you know how to manipulate mana, you might not need to say anything. The words could be a simple way to help users concentrate on manipulating their mana. There doesn’t need to be any other meaning.

Kamikaze Kidnappers

Next, let’s move away from the connection between gods and magic. Don’t worry, we’ll get back to that in the next section with a better proof of the existence of the gods. In this section, I want to discuss the implied magic use of the kidnappers.

Two kidnappers attempted to snatch Myne in the middle of the night. They failed, in part, because they didn’t realize Myne was sleeping in an attendant’s room. They also failed because they had to go up against Lords Karstedt and Ferdinand.

Both of the kidnappers ended up dying. The one who was being disarmed by Ferdinand killed himself in an undisclosed way. He may have used magic, or he may have used some other means. So, we’ll ignore that one. The other kidnapper, who was being pursued by Lord Karstedt, exploded — horse and all.

Did this man explode because his horse stepped on a landmine? I doubt it. Was he carrying an explosive of some kind? Also unlikely. Based on the little information available to us, it would appear that he died from a magic explosion. And I don’t mean the kind caused by runaway mana as Ferdinand explains at the end of the episode.

So, there are two possibilities when it comes to how this man exploded via magic. Either he blew himself up or someone else blew him up. Blowing himself up makes sense when you consider that his accomplice was also willing to die. They’d rather die than get captured.

But, I’m going to go with the other option. My guess is that whoever hired the kidnappers was the one who blew him up. After all, he was escaping. Sure, Karstedt likely would have caught up to him. But there’s no point in blowing himself up before then.

Gods and Magic

As promised, I have a better piece of evidence pointing toward the existence of gods in Myne’s world. That evidence is that Myne’s prayers had a direct effect on Sylvester’s and Karstedt’s mana. When she and Ferdinand prayed that they would be successful in battle, they were.

So, why is this any different from the other evidence I’ve offered up? The answer is that these prayers had nothing to do with a specific spell or type of magic. Remember how I said that invoking the names of the gods could work as a default way to manipulate mana? That’s not happening here.

When Myne wanted to use a wind spell, she called upon the goddess of the wind. You might expect this to help her transform her mana into wind magic. But with her prayer, there was no specific spell she was trying to use. And she didn’t even speak words aloud.

How do we know that Myne’s prayer affected Sylvester and Kastedt, though? She asks Ferdinand if their prayers helped, and he doesn’t give a response. But, it’s implied through context. Notice that the power of Karstedt’s attack surprised even him. That implies it was being boosted by something beyond his control.

Of course, it’s still possible that the gods don’t exist. But, that’s not fun. It’s way more fun to theorize about the “what ifs.” And even if the gods do exist in Myne’s world, that doesn’t mean they ever need to play a direct role.

Myne never needs to come face to face with one of these gods. They can exist as things that exist out in the world that add to the world-building indirectly. And, I’d prefer it if it stayed that way. Making the gods part of the plot is overdone.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 30? Do you think the gods exist in Myne’s world? Who do you think blew up the fleeing kidnapper? And will Myne ever meet any of the gods? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over 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 31 is available now.

Myne’s Bodyguard

Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 29 is the first episode in which Myne’s new bodyguard is on the job. In Episode 28, Lord Karstedt appointed the Lesser Noble Sir Damuel as Myne’s guard. This appointment is part of Damuel’s punishment for not protecting Myne from Schicocoza.

You may remember from the last episode that another part of his punishment was monetary. Damuel (and Karstedt) had to pay for Myne’s new ceremonial robes. But, that’s not all that happened to Damuel.

Damuel received a demotion due to the incident, as well. And, he’s no longer engaged. Based on this information, it seems like Damuel is now a Noble in name only. It’s unlikely that many other Nobles will want to associate with him from this point on.

But, I doubt that will be a big deal for Damuel in the long run. The title of this anime is Ascendance of a Bookworm. So if he sticks with Myne as she takes over the kingdom, he’ll be fine.

Toward the end of the episode, we get a scene of Damuel and Ferdinand talking over a meal. During this discussion, Damuel blames Schicocoza’s actions for his own misfortunes. That seems like a pretty natural reaction to me. But, Ferdinand explains that Damuel isn’t faultless.

Damuel’s punishment isn’t due to the actions of Schicocoza. His punishment is due to the fact that he didn’t act as he should have in that situation. Damuel knew what Schicocoza was doing was wrong. And yet, he let it happen.

Of course, he did so because Schicocoza outranked him. But, as Ferdinand points out, there are others who outrank Schicocoza. Damuel should have sought help from a higher-ranking noble, such as Lord Karstedt.

Assassination Plot

Before this episode, the main threat to Myne was the Ink Guild master. His name was Wolf, and he’s now dead. So, that’s good, right? The person who was attempting to kidnap, extort, and sell Myne is gone. Well, not so fast.

It’s not that Wolf somehow happened to die. An assassin got to both him and his assistant while they were out traveling for business. Still, that’s good, right? Someone assassinated the guy who was going after Myne. Again, it’s not as good as it at first seems.

Myne doesn’t know anyone who would have assassinated Wolf on her behalf. Her father would want to. But, he’s not going to follow through with that. And I don’t see Benno, Ferdinand, or Karstedt doing something like this either. So, that means someone else who’s powerful and yet unknown to Myne had this done.

What’s bad about that is their motive. Whoever hired the assassins must have done so for their personal gain. Did they happen to have a grudge against the Ink Guild master? It’s possible. Or, it’s possible that they wanted him out of the way so that they could pursue Myne.

Myne is the single most important person in the entire kingdom right now. Her ideas can make anyone rich. And on the flip side, they can ruin the monopolies the wealthy currently have. She also has far more mana than most of the Nobles. And if you remember, having mana is something that sets Nobles apart from commoners.

Oh, and mana is very important for the church, as well. So, who are Myne’s potential enemies? Only the richest, most powerful, and most influential people in the kingdom. If one of them has their sights set on her, she needs to be careful.

The New Priest

At the end of Episode 29, we’re introduced to a new blue-robed priest. In case you forgot, blue-robed priests are those who come from the Noble class. Gray robes are for commoners who joined the church. And Myne was only granted blue robes because the church needs her vast amount of mana.

Let’s go over some information about the priests, in case you forgot. From what I remember, Ferdinand said that most blue-robed priests didn’t join by choice. They joined because there was something preventing them from performing their Noble duties. For example, if they dishonored their families.

That means we should assume that most of the blue-robed priests aren’t good people. Ferdinand is different, though. He joined the church because he wanted to change it from the inside. He saw how corrupt the church was and thought he could only make a difference from within.

The gray-robed commoners are somewhat similar in that most didn’t join by choice. Most of the commoners who joined the church did so out of desperation. Either they were orphans taken in by the church or they were too poor to live anywhere else.

It’s kind of amazing how much power the church wields when you consider who runs it. It’s all failed Nobles and the poorest of the poor. But, I guess they have power because the job they do is vital for the running of the kingdom. For example, the church’s offerings to the gods dictate the year’s harvest.

So, why am I bringing all this up? Because of the new blue-robed priest. I’m thinking he’s going to be up to no good. And I’m also thinking that the High Priest assigned him to escort Myne. I don’t know what his goal is, but it can’t be good.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 29? Is Damuel going to be a lifer in Myne’s harem? Who do you think had Wolf assassinated? And do you agree that the new blue-robed priest looks like Sinbad from Magi? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over 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 30 is available now.

Gamemaster Myne

With winter approaching, the paper-making season is almost over. I guess the plants Myne uses for her paper don’t grow in the winter. I’m guessing it’s not the weather preventing resources from being gathered because Myne’s winter gig still involves acquiring wood.

What is Myne’s new product for the winter season? Board games. In Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 28, Myne decides to manufacture board games to sell to the nobles (presumably because they’d be too expensive for commoners).

One question I have about this new endeavor is, will the board games come with rule books? Surely, these games are going to need to be sold with rules. So does Myne have a stockpile of paper saved up for this?

Also, in the future, Myne could print books that explain how to play these board games for commoners. Even if they can’t afford the wooden boards and pieces to play the games, they may be able to afford the book and then improvise.

Card games would be a bit more complex. But, something like Reversi is extremely simple to improvise. You just need a space on which to mark out a grid and then small objects of two colors. You could even draw the board in the dirt and play with rocks and trash if you wanted to.

Maybe Myne could install some public game boards that are engraved into tables. She could then sell the game rulebooks along with some cheap game pieces. And, as people learn to play these games, they’ll also be learning to read (the rules).

With more people who can read, her future books will be more popular.

Protection from Nobles

Apparently, the trouble with the Ink Guild hasn’t gone away since Benno forged a contract with them on Myne’s behalf. As I mentioned in my review of Episode 27, Myne’s inventions are extremely valuable to the right people. And her ink is extremely valuable to the Ink Guild.

Her ink is valuable to anyone, really. But it’s even more valuable to the Ink Guild because if they don’t own it, their monopoly on ink begins to fall apart. Now that they have Myne’s ink, though, they seem to be interested in capturing her and selling her (and her ideas) off to other nobles.

To prevent this from happening, we already know that Myne has begun living at the Cathedral earlier than initially planned. However, in this episode, extra steps were taken to safeguard Myne. Specifically, Myne has been assigned a soldier as a guard.

This soldier is Damuel, who previously didn’t help Myne when she was being attacked by another soldier back in Season 2. From what I remember, that other soldier didn’t outrank Damuel in the military but did outrank him in terms of nobility. So when he told Damuel to stand down, he “had no choice.”

Speaking of the other soldier who attacked Myne (I don’t remember his name), he was apparently executed. We’re told that the punishment handed down to him was execution and that his family was told that he died in the line of duty.

I’m bringing this up for two reasons. First, it shows that Myne is kind of a big deal if people are going to be executed for hurting her. And second, I was a bit surprised that Myne didn’t seem to care that this man was executed. She seemed to feel bad for his family, but there was no indication she viewed his death penalty negatively.

Myne’s New Family

Something that was suggested was for Karstedt to adopt Myne as his own daughter. This would provide Myne with the protections that come with being a member of a noble family. However, I don’t think it would actually matter all that much.

As we’ve already seen, the church is extremely powerful in this world. A man was executed for daring to harm Myne, a commoner who’s an apprentice priestess. And, we know that the church isn’t just some fake authority like it is in the real world.

What I mean by that is that magic is very real in the world Myne now finds herself. The gods appear to be real as well, at least as far as we know. With that in mind, isn’t the church the best protection Myne could ask for? If her life is in danger while with the church, I don’t see being associated with a noble family helping.

Anyway, just the mention of possibly being adopted into a noble family was enough to trigger a mana episode in Myne. When she’s unable to control her emotions, her mana begins to leak out and puts everyone around her in danger.

The idea of not seeing her family again triggered this response from Myne because of her unique position as an otherworlder. Remember, Myne has a family from her past life that she’ll never get to see again. So the thought of losing her new family too is upsetting.

I think Myne’s only been in this world for a year or two so far, from what I remember. But, it’s clear that during that time she’s become very close with her new family. She depends on them due to her condition and they’ve also helped her feel less alone in this world.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 28? I thought this was a better episode than Episode 27. But, maybe I’ve just already gotten used to what it looks like again.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing 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 29 is available now.