StellaeSamos

Now, I'll admit that I was drawn to this anime because, as a fellow book-lover, I was intrigued by the concept of a bookworm being reincarnated and trying to make books in a world that didn't really have them. However, I stayed because this anime is about so much more than that.

Sure, the first season focuses pretty explicitly on Maine's attempts to create books, but I realize that I would have been bored if that was all the second season had done as well. The way I see it, it is still very much about the book-making process, but it takes a more realistic aproach. Instead of this outsider just showing up, inventing brand new technology on a whim and generally upsetting the whole social, political, and economic order with absolutely no resistance unless a big, powerful, magical baddie shows up. Ascendance of a Bookworm shows how something like this would realistically be taken in a world like hers. 

Realistically, the nobles who hold onto power by being smarter and more powerful than the commoners wouldn't take well to a mysteriously intelligent commoner who knows things no one else does and has an insane amount of mana that chokes out anyone who pisses her off. That just wouldn't happen. The way Maine is going, she'll completely change everything about her world. Not because she's trying to, but because in order to make her books she has to invent new technologies and carve out a niche where she can live and read peacefully, which is not something a commoner can do without changing the way a few things work. Her books are her motivation for everything she does, but Ascendance of a bookworm gives us a deep-dive into her world in order to show us, the viewer, that these things aren't as simple as they seem.

Sure, this anime isn't action-packed with great battles, flashy magic, and grand adventures. Instead, it offers a look at the everyday life of its world. The world-building is exceptional, every detail is meticulous, and there are complex layers of interactions. This anime really makes it feel realistic, like you really are looking through a window into another world. It's a different kind of escape than the one offered by dragons and robots and quests, but satisfying on a whole different level to the audience who cares to listen.