The story of a girl being transported to another world and chasing her dream of reading a book is simple and perfect. Seeing Mein desperately try to get closer to her dream only for another obstacle to get in her way was really interesting. No matter what she never gave up and even though the series is slow it's totally worth the watch when she finally starts making progress. I love that this anime is something fresh and new, giving us a slow story of a Slice of Life Isekai. The Isekai genre has been done to death so its great to see anime like Ascendance of a Bookworm take the Slice of Life female main protaganist approach like Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne! which also aired this anime season.
Mein is one of my favourite characters of this anime season. She's cute and her absolute determination to read/make a book in this world where they're only possessed by nobility really makes me want to support and see her achieve that goal. Mein is basically a cuter version of Miku Kohinata from Senki Zesshou Symphogear which is also voiced by Iguchi Yuka.
Speaking of Iguchi Yuka, she was such a perfect choice to play Mein as she perfectly plays the type of character that is super cute and scary as hell when they're angry. Getting an entire series with Iguchi Yuka as the main character was the main appeal of Honzuki for me and is the reason I started watching it and I'm so glad I did.
One main focus of Honzuki is Mein's family and god is it wholesome. Throughout the series, we learn more about the family and see Mein grow closer to them and its so cute to see her interacting with them. The father Guntha is hilarious. He's an overprotective father that easily gets jealous when others take his girl's attention away. His overprotectiveness is also another way it shows the family bond and strengths it. The mother is the typical concerned mother who worries for her daughters and overall the family feels absolutely real which makes it all the more heartwarming to see them enjoying themselves together. Particularly towards the end, the family bond is tested.
One of my favourite parts of this series is its world. It's a fantasy world where books are rare forcing our main Heroine to find other ways of acquiring one. But there are other elements that get sprinkled in overtime to make the world more unique like a plant that could take out a city if not cut immediately and the presence of mana and magic used for contracts in business. The houses also have very interesting designs being similar to skyscrapers but made out of wood. All of this helped immerse me in its world.
Lutz, one of the main characters, is a really good member of the cast. He helps Mein with the things she makes and is always there to help her out when something goes wrong. At first, I was worried that this series would be adding romance but it always keeps a safe distance but by the end of it, I was an avid believer in Lutz X Mein.
The art is nice especially with some of the effects later on in the series. The series introduces an interesting element sometime during the midpoint of the season which I won't spoil but it gives us so many good scenes with Mein and the rest.#
Overall absolutely loved this wholesome adventure from start to finish. Getting a full series with Iguchi Yuka as the lead was great and the story ended up keeping me excited every week. This anime season has given us a lot of new settings and ideas that keep giving us these unique anime and Honzuki is definitely one of them. It's definitely a slow series but if you're like me and just enjoying watching characters slowly build up to something and like the Slice of Life in between, I'm sure you'll love Ascendance of a Bookworm.
I can't wait for season 2 which has already been announced and see Mein back in full swing.
9/10 Would definitely recommend it.
