Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke

Episode 7

Autumn arrives for Ascendance of a Bookworm along with a new arc. The backgrounded detail of the workshop-slash-monastery moves to the fore now, meaning it's time to address Rosemyne's readiness to rely on child labor for her publishing pursuits. I've cracked wise about this a couple of times, but this episode is particularly pointed about tackling the issue, mainly by laying out how it's a necessity of this world's old-school-style approach, as well as preferable to the ways orphans can be treated by other institutions. It's got a bit more edge to it than Bookworm has had in recent weeks, and also ties it in with another theme it's had through all of this: family.

That theme in Bookworm has really been highlighted in this season, specifically as a result of Rosemyne being cut off from direct access to her original family (well, not original-original, reincarnation and all) and it's actually the focus of the first half of this episode, before it gets to the orphan stuff. Rosemyne's mom and dad, plus Tuuli, are still finding technical workarounds to get a chance to see her under the auspices of Official Business. And, as before, the show sells the feeling behind these interactions extremely well.

The character animation continues to be more reserved in this middle-of-the-season episode, but the voice acting, framing, and general vibe carry the distanced yearning for familial affection between Rosemyne and her mother just in having a new hair ornament delivered. I think a lot of people know the jokes about those who are close, physically communicating their intentions and feelings without saying anything, but that's done sincerely between mother and daughter here. It makes the little direct connections they can manage feel even more meaningful, from Rosemyne's mom getting a "Seeing you so well eases my heart" as the most affectionate bit she can bestow, to Rosemyne having her mom attach the hair ornament just so she can feel her touch, if only for a moment. It's an element that repeats itself across her interaction with her dad, where she tips him a coin just for the brush of his hand. It's no hug, but it's what they can manage, and they must treasure it.

These brief-but-beautiful connections aren't just there to take up schmalzy space in the first half of the episode. Like I said, they're directly informing the theming and Rosemyne's side as she deals with the tribulations of those adorable orphans she's putting to work in her factory. Again, this genuinely is for their own good, as their treatment at the hands of the local mayor is implied to not be terribly above-board. As in "the guy is purposefully trying to hold back a couple of girls he was planning on selling," not above-board. It's implied the mayor is going to be the antagonist for this ongoing arc, but for this episode, he's just here to give these little moppets some conflict as they're entered into Rosemyne's care.

Rosemyne is having to split the difference between her own sympathetic leanings and the truth of this world's classic-style setup, where you have to work if you want to eat—and the work with everything around it is not going to be easy. As Rosemyne explains, these lower-level children lack the education to immediately get on in the society they've entered. But then, as Ferdinand has made clear, she can't expect things to conveniently line up for everyone and everything she works with. Rosemyne isn't blind to the injustices of this world, and she's been enacting her own revolutions (both intentional and otherwise); it just takes time in her position. It takes patience; these troubled orphans might not grasp.

Does that make it more palatable when the guards have to shove them around, and Fran feels the need to slap one of them when Rosemyne's experiences are called into question? Not really, and it's even a bit of an eye-roller when the episode feels the need to include a close-up of Fran's bruised hand alongside comments from Rosemyne trying to sell how this totally hurts him to do more than it hurts the kid. But it's also purposeful alongside all the connective feelings of family. This includes flashbacks alluding to Ferdinand's own family follies, and how that might tie into his guidance of Rosemyne, which she's now further passing on to the orphans.

It adds some friction to the procedural nature of Rosemyne's projects, which Bookworm needs if it's going to avoid feeling like it's getting into a step-by-step rut this many seasons deep. Alongside the family-themed emotional throughline, it helps this new storyline feel like it has a real arc carrying it. These moments of intensity with the children are also where the nicest couple of moments of animation flourish and clever transitions take place. It's a solid start for this new chapter of Rosemyne's book, even as I'm still going to find plenty of opportunities to razz her about the child labor.

Rating:

Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Chris is back to hit the books. You can see him posting about anime, transforming robots, and other quality reading material over on his BlueSky.