Honzuki no Gekokujou

[Kraco]

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan o Erande Iraremasen
Ascendance of a Bookworm

"Urano, a young Japanese soon-to-be librarian, dies in an earthquake. She is reincarnated in another world as a young girl named Myne, but learns that books are scarce and only provided to prestigious elites. Myne (retaining her memories from her previous life) decides to create and print her own books so that she can read again." -Wikipedia



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I've been reading the manga adaptation of this story, one of the many isekai series I read, and quite like it. This is, as far as the manga has so far got at least, quite the opposite of the most usual isekai series these days with their overpowered main characters. Because Main (or Myne), the MC, is beyond weak. But then again, she's not fighting anything, unless it's her family's poverty. The world is more realistic than in most fantasy series by having the commoners be as piss-poor as commoners were back in the day. Many other medieval sounding social structures and facts of life are also in effect.

Naturally this does share some of the common isekai weaknesses as well, such as many very old common inventions being absent just so that the MC can introduce them. But all in all it's not so bad. The story is quite slow, at least in the manga, so if the first eps make it look like not your thing, then it probably isn't. I'm happy enough with the anime as well.

[MFauli]

Standout anime for me is Gekokujo no Honzuki. Such a wholesome show. Reminds me of the anime of 20-30 years ago, before I knew that they're 'anime'.

[neflight86]

Pretty good, slow burn feel-good type show. I look forward to her progress in making a book, and likely elevating general literacy along with it.

[Munsu]

I'm watching, just a laid back show that's easy to watch. Wonder how the magic, which we've seen glimpses of so far, will materialize as the series goes on.

Also wonder if the first scene of the series is something towards the end game of the series, or if we'll catch up to it soonish and go from there.

[Kraco]

Also wonder if the first scene of the series is something towards the end game of the series, or if we'll catch up to it soonish and go from there.

I was bloody annoyed by the first scene! I felt spoiled by it, despite being a long-time manga reader. No such spoilers happened in the manga adaptation and the manga hasn't yet reached any such point as was present in the first scene. Although I suppose the anime will overtake the manga as they usually do, so it was going to be just a temporary annoyance in any case.

[MFauli]

The feeling reminds me a lot of Kemono no Souja Erin. Although the story probably won't have similar serious twists.

[Kraco]

Episode 5


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The mother is funny. She wants to burn everything.

[Munsu]

Episode 5


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The mother is funny. She wants to burn everything.

Mai was a complete idiot.

[MFauli]

I wonder if that aura we've seen twice now is dangerous for others. Felt like she was about to kill that kid, then her new mother. Without truly wanting to, ofc.

[Munsu]

I wonder if that aura we've seen twice now is dangerous for others. Felt like she was about to kill that kid, then her new mother. Without truly wanting to, ofc.

Hard to tell at this point. Like at first it seemed like she was powering up towards something, then it seemed like it was a reflection of losing hope on this world and wishing to disappear from here (got sicker as a result too)... so who knows...

[MFauli]

Episode 6:

The devouring, huh? I wonder ig'f that's what's happening to Main. Tbh I'm still trying to figure out if Main's spirit killed the original Main, switched places, or fused.

Feel bad for Lutz. This is such a stiff world where nothing fresh ever happens and you don't even have much say in what you want to do. Although I thought maybe craftsmanship is great for Lutz, because he can be the one to build all the crazy devices Main tells him about. That's more interesting than most jobs, I'd guess.

Also Otto, lol, get a grip on yourself lol

[Kraco]

Feel bad for Lutz. This is such a stiff world where nothing fresh ever happens and you don't even have much say in what you want to do. Although I thought maybe craftsmanship is great for Lutz, because he can be the one to build all the crazy devices Main tells him about. That's more interesting than most jobs, I'd guess.

That's what the world used to be, more or less. In the towns, you had to be a member of a guild to have a profession where you weren't strictly serving someone. To become a member of a guild, you needed to be a master's apprentice for however long it took to learn the craft and pass the master's exam. Of course there were some schools as well, but those were often tied to the church in one way or another and/or required money/sponsor, so they were academic institutions for the elite. Becoming an apprentice, servant, soldier, sailor etc. was serious business because vagrants were not often tolerated by the law at all, at least officially.

For Lutz it was great his background was such because it means he actually can make stuff for Main, for the time being. Assuming he manages to become a merchant, he can merely supervise the production or subcontract it, in order to have stuff to sell. That's what he wants to do.

[Munsu]

Episode 7:

So now we know, she's just untrained (and doesn't have the means) to control her excess of mana.

[MFauli]

Which made me wonder if the other devouring kids also were 'travellers' like Main.

The big thing in this episode, however, was how Lutz started figuring out she's not the real Main, right? This makes me want to know w things:

1.) What happened to original Main? Did she die and Main took over OR did Main, unintentionally of course, kill her?

2.) How will people react to finding out? Especially her parents? Tbh they should have long noticed that this isn't their Little girl anymore.

[Kraco]

I suppose her obsession with books, which is pretty ridiculous for a commoner in that world, is helping masking her weirdness in people's eyes. Perhaps the parents think she's so strange because of the frequent fevers. Superstitions and all that. As long as she hasn't pulled off anything truly outrageous, people would overlook a lot since she's a kid. Lutz's pov would be a bit different because he's also a kid himself, so he would view Main as a peer and thus more readily notice odd things.

[MFauli]

But the way she talks to adults that aren't her parents? That she's about to make paper?

The shampoo can be explained as coincidence. Paper? Not so much.

[Kraco]

But the way she talks to adults that aren't her parents? That she's about to make paper?

The shampoo can be explained as coincidence. Paper? Not so much.

It's indeed an interesting question what makes Benno trust so much in her. Of course he's really happy he got to buy the rights to the shampoo, but he's quite ready to invest in her paper venture as well. On the other hand she's not asking for any small loan of a million dollars, so he's not risking much presently. Perhaps the culture believes in divinely inspired people or something. At the end of the day, he's a businessman, so when he smells a potential for profit, he will go for it, even if it involves a weird kid.

Otto must simply think she's super talented.

[David75]

Benno knows about magic and the Devouring. So it might not be that strange to have a little child speaking on equal footing with him.
He also immediatly understood the value there's in Main with the Kanzashi and Shampoo, because it seems some of his business(es) deal with clothing/apparel.
So when she talks about a new and cheaper way to get paper in a world where it is a rarity for nobles, of course he listens...
Also, let's be cynical: Main dying quick is his way out the contract. It's not a surprise he wants the first batches of paper right before her baptism as he knows it might be her time limit.
Although we know she won't die and will meet that priest who is probably key to her survival... And Benno might be the one helping her getting proper help because it also serves his interrests for the future when he understands the true depths of Main knowledge and the large number of new markets he can create thanks to her.

[MFauli]

Hello dead forum

Anyway, next episode should be inteResting. fighting the devouring.

Btw if Lutz told Main he loves her and Main accepted, she'd be a pedophile, right? 🐧🙈

[Kraco]

This anime flows quite smoothly. As a manga reader, at least, I haven't got any complaints, aside from the spoilers in the kind of extra parts of the episodes.


Episode 10



Main's collapse was quite phenomenal. Benno's attitude was proper for a businessman: He doesn't care as long as there's coin to make.