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Ascendance of a Bookworm Novels' Part 5 Gets Manga Adaptation
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
TO Books announced on Monday that manga creator Suzuka will launch a manga adaptation of Part 5 of Miya Kazuki's Ascendance of a Bookworm (Honzuki no Gekokujō - Shisho ni Naru Tame niwa Shudan o Erandeiramasen) "biblia fantasy" light novel series on TO Books' Corona EX manga website on January 19. A preview of the manga is available on the website now.
J-Novel Club is releasing both the light novels and the various manga adaptations in English. Suzuka drew the art for the manga adaptations of Part 1 and 2 (the adaptation of Part 2 only ended recently with its 13th compiled book volume on September 15), and Ryō Namino is drawing the adaptation of Part 3. Hikaru Katsuki is drawing the adaptation of Part 4. J-Novel Club is releasing the manga adaptations of Parts 1-4.
J-Novel Club describes the first novel volume of Part 5:
Ehrenfest's first winter without Ferdinand is colder and more oppressive than usual. A surprise betrayal within the former Veronica faction makes the purge even more urgent, and the few who know about Georgine's destructive goals compare her to the Goddess of Chaos.Meanwhile, Rozemyne throws herself into her third year at the Royal Academy, trying to stave off the loneliness eating away at her. She pushes to win over the students of the former Veronica faction, hoping to save their lives, and meets a new archnoble librarian sent from the Sovereignty.Rozemyne also attends her first class of the archduke candidate course—though her personal ambitions mean she is taking the scholar course as well. In the midst of this balancing act, she finds that her environment has changed drastically once again! Here begins Part 5, the final chapter of this biblio-fantasy—and the legend of the saint grips Yurgenschmidt to the core!
Kazuki began the original Ascendance of a Bookworm novels on the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" website in 2013, and ended the web novel in 2017. You Shiina illustrated the print edition. The main series ended with its 33rd volume (volume 12 of part 5) in December 2023. The novel series has over 12 million copies in circulation (including digital copies).
Kazuki launched the Ascendance of a Bookworm: Hannelore's Fifth Year at the Royal Academy (Honzuki no Gekokujō ~Hannelore no Kizokuin Gonensei) spinoff novels on the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" website in 2017 and is still ongoing. TO Books published the novels' first volume with illustration by You Shiina in August 2024, and the second volume on August 10. J-Novel Club is releasing the spinoff story in English. Rei Kusakabe recently launched a manga adaptation of the spinoffs at Corona EX on September 22, and TO Books released the manga's first volume on December 10.
The light novels inspired a television anime adaptation with three seasons by Ajia-do. The first anime season premiered in October 2019, and ended in December 2019 with 14 episodes. The second season premiered in Japan in April 2020. The anime's third season premiered in April 2022. Crunchyroll streamed the third season as it aired, and started streaming an English dub in May 2022.
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke, the new television anime that will adapt the third part of the original novel series, will premiere in spring 2026.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.
