English Dub Review: Ascendance of a Bookworm “The Dedication Ceremony and Spring Arrives”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Main has a new bodyguard and everyone is excited to meet him. His name is Damuel, and even though he’s not used to being in such a high station, he’s eager to do his best. Later, Main checks in with Johann and is overjoyed at his craftsmanship on her order. Finally, she receives news that Wolf has been killed and it’s still not safe to return to her family—she will have to remain at the cathedral throughout the springtime.

Our Take:

Another Monday, another new dubbed episode of Ascendance of a Bookworm from Crunchyroll. This week is the third episode of the third season, so things should really be picking up here, but are they? Not really. Even before starting this third season I expected a slow burn of a show, but after three episodes I can say this is probably one of the most sloggingly-paced series I’ve seen. And things don’t get any better with the creatively (hah!) titled The Dedication Ceremony and Spring Arrives.

Despite supposedly being safe at the cathedral, Main has a new bodyguard to help keep her even safer. His name is Damuel and he seems like a pretty easygoing guy for the most part. Not all of Main’s attendants like him so far, but as long as his presence allows her to visit the library, he’ll do just fine for Main. There’s a little bit of intrigue where the red-headed attendant tries to rat on Damuel to the high priest, but nothing really comes of it.

Speaking of the priest, this episode is pretty much filled with prayers and ceremonies and other not-very-stimulating stuff. We get to watch Main and her current guardian saying prayers and transferring their mana into so-called holy grails for a while. There’s some sort of drama between the high priest and the head priest apparently, but even drama in this show is so subdued that it leaves little impact.

When there is a bigger moment, like a murder, it happens off-screen and we just get to hear about it from others as Main does. Wolf being killed is definitely the biggest surprise of the episode for sure—I thought he would come into play as one of the main antagonists perhaps—but I wish the show had actually made the framing and presentation of the shocking news more exciting.

It’s hard to pick a favorite part of an episode where so little really seems to happen, but I guess I’m glad Johann’s letter presses worked out for Main’s purposes. Her shouting about Gutenberg is kind of fun and very confusing for everyone else. Apart from that, though, there honestly wasn’t much here to enjoy. Most of it was just following Main around in her daily activities like reading and praying. Wolf being taken out of the picture is the most intriguing thing, and I hope we learn more about who or what is behind that next week.