Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 2 (Manga Review)
Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll do anything to become a librarian! Part 1 (If there aren’t any books, I’ll just have to make some!!)
Honzuki no Gekokujou: Part 2
本好きの下剋上 ～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～ 第一部 「本がないなら作ればいい！」

It has been about 3.5 years since I read the first volume of this series. But now that I have a new bookcase, and I have my manga unearthed from my move, I decided I would get back into this series after I reread the first volume. And I have to say, missing Japanese honorifics not withstanding, I’m enjoying it so far.

–> Buy Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 2 from Amazon.com

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

URANO Motosu, “reborn” as the young child in another world named Myne, continues to adjust to the harshness of her new, medieval life. However, he quest for books continues, and she is happy to have a slate to write her name (Myne) on. She attempts to make papyrus without success. Motosu-Myne discovers that a fruit’s waste byproduct that people use for bird food can actually be consumed by humans.

She continues to learn letters with Otto. He is impressed with her mathematics skills, so much so, he has her assist him in his official work. Motosu-Myne works to make flower decorations for her older sister’s (Tuuli) hair. Armed with this and a new dress their mother made, Tuuli is ready for her baptism. Meanwhile, Motosu-Myne officially joins Otto’s literacy class.

Lutz escorts Motosu-Myne to the forest so she can try to create clay tablets in order to record text on them. Her hard work is accidentally destroyed by Lutz’s older brothers. Lutz encourages her to redo the work. However, when it came time to bake the tablets, they exploded in the oven.

Adventures in Recording Text

The central plot device in Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 2 is Motosu-Myne’s drive to create something with which she can record text for later reading. As such, we see her initially attempt to make papyrus, then clay tablets. Unfortunately for her, both efforts fail. To me, it is kind of a stretch that Motosu remembered so much about the crafting of things with which to record text on. However, I let that ride since Motosu was such a bookworm in her former life. And she is good at academics, combined with Japan focusing on memorization. So it isn’t unreasonable that she could remember stuff like this, even if there was no reason for her to ever remember it.

While minor, it is a stretch that Motosu would discover that a fruit’s waste from juice extraction could be used as human food rather than bird food.

That aside, I really find myself enjoying this interesting, medieval world that Motosu finds herself in. Despite the terrible way Motosu entered this world (the real Myne apparently consumed in some kind of unnatural, internal heat; Motosu died in an earthquake), Motosu has quickly adapted to her situation. Having retained her own memories, and having access to all of Myne’s memories helps for sure. So I suppose there’s a part of her that naturally accepts her new family since they were Myne’s family.

Another story element I like is the friendship between Motosu-Myne and Lutz. I think Lutz has a bit of a crush on Myne. As Myne, Motosu doesn’t appear to have that same level of feelings. Yet due to how weak she is physically, she’s come to depend on Lutz. I don’t know how many years progress in the series, but when they are older, I would like to see them become a married couple.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review of Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 2 with some final thoughts.

• Because J-Novel Club strips the Japanese honorifics, the “Otousan” joke is again lost. 🤷‍♂️
• I really like Suzuka’s art for the manga. It really helps when a manga is visually pleasing on top of having a good story.
• As to the omake content, there are notes (with Japanese honorifics) from Suzuka-sensei and Kazuki-sensei. There’s also a page for how to make papyrus and a bonus image. And there’s a little omake manga chapter as well. J-Novel Club also has ads for their other stuff.

In the end, although I have some minor issues, I really enjoyed reading Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 2. I’m invested in the characters and story and look forward to the next volume!