Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 4 (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 1
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！」

The revelation I received that in canon, Myne is still Myne, only as a reincarnation of Motosu with access to Motosu’s memories, certainly gives the events in this volume take on a somewhat different light. Of course, I didn’t know that when I initially read the volume, but upon reread, it does make a difference.

–> Buy Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 4 manga from Amazon.com

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Lutz questions Myne’s identity, but backs off. However, this causes Myne to worry, but Lutz tries to assure her he doesn’t hate her. Sometime later when they are out in the woods, Myne picks up a fruit that grows hot. When she throws it, it causes numerous trombe plants to immediately spring up and rapidly grow. Lutz and some boys manage to cut them all down. Lutz and Myne decide to use the young wood for paper. However, Myne again lets out stuff from Motosu’s memory.

Once the paper is made, Lutz confronts Myne. She explains what happened and that to give him back the original Myne, she would have to die. At the end of their talk, Lutz tells her that in the past year, the Myne before him has become his Myne. The two take paper samples to Benno, who’s surprised that trombe wood made the best quality paper. Benno takes Myne to the Merchant’s Guide to get her registered so she can sell her paper.

The guildmaster attempts to recruit Myne to his store. However, the man does make an order for the fancy hair ornament like the one Myne made for Tuuli. Lutz has difficulty making his parents understand his desire to be a merchant. Later, the guildmaster’s granddaughter Freida visits Myne.

The Truth Comes out

Man, the discussion between Myne and Lutz in Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 4 hit kinda hard. Since Lutz is around Myne the most, it makes sense that he’d be more observant about things. So when she makes the slip-up over chopsticks, then later reveals that she’d made paper before (from old milk cartons as Motosu), there’s no way Lutz can let this slide. He rightfully confronts Myne as the formerly bedridden Myne should not know any of this stuff, much less have done it before.

Myne’s depression over the situation hurt to read and observe. On one hand, she’s ready to die if that will help. On the other, she wants to at least make a book in this new world, thus she would like to live. Not only that, but it has been Lutz who’s kept her going all this time. It is a lovely character moment, both for Lutz and for Myne. I think Myne’s thoughts at the end of chapter 17 reflect her possibly deciding that Lutz is the perfect husband for her when they come of age.

Since I’ve actually now read several volumes ahead, on my reread of this volume for the review, I noticed Myne’s eyes “change color” when she (as Motosu) got upset over the notion that she’d purposefully off the real Myne and take over her body. Since Myne actually cares for Lutz, everything remained internalized. (I can’t WAIT to talk about what happens in a future volume.)

Omake

The extra manga chapter in Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 4 gives us an explanation of this new world’s money system. Then there’s a short story about Lut’z older brother Zeg (or as the light novels apparently have it, Seig) and his apprenticeship. There are the usual notes from Suzuka-sensei and Kazuki-sensei. And finally, there’s a pseudo Life game board path, recapping the major events in Myne’s life from volume 1 to present.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review of Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 4 with some final thoughts.

• I do like Myne’s progression through the story. It takes her and Lutz quite a while before they can make their sample paper sheets to sell. And then Myne’s hair ornament also is a nice product she can sell. It is lovely how she gives this money to her family so that they have a little extra for the upcoming winter.
• I wish I had access to the raw Japanese. I’m curious as how Benno is addressed. In the official adaptation, he’s called “Mr. Benno”, but in a scanlation I saw, they used “Master Benno”, which I think is actually a better choice (assuming “-sama” was in the Japanese version). If you know what the original Japanese was, let me know.
• I really love Suzuka-sensei’s artwork in this series. The art really makes the manga that much more enjoyable to read.

In the end, there’s a tough, emotional section to get through in Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 4. However, this gets resolved in a logical form. The story’s progression is quite enjoyable, which is why I couldn’t just stop when when volume came to an end.