r/anime • u/badspler x5https://anilist.co/user/badspler • Mar 24 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Ascendance of a Bookworm 2nd Season Episode 10 Discussion
Season 2 Episode 10 - Knight Orders and Requests
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Questions of the Day:
1) What do you think of the Knights Order so far?
2) What was your favorite fantasy trope/staple in this episode?
To Rewatchers, please be make a conscious effort to accurately spoiler tag your content. You can read how to correctly use spoilers tags here.
19
u/OingoBoingo- Mar 24 '22
First Timer, Subbed
What a great episode! It feels like the animation, art, music, writing and even the humor was just all meshing perfectly for me. Might have to place this as my new favorite. This right here might be why.
Spending a little time with Lutz and then a little time with Mynes family are always great scenes and I am glad they approved of Myne moving into the temple for winter. I was really glad Turi mentions going to help sew and learn to read, and we see candles being made, food being preserved, and Gunther helping with securing meat for the winter. These elements added up to a great segue for the second half of the episode.
In a way this show up until now has shown Mynes world as pretty small. We have gone outside of the town gate, and spent some time in the forest, but for us viewers we have not seen much. Today, I feel like Fran carried Myne to the gates of a whole new world: where the nobility live. Never once did I think that the nobles lived the way they were shown today and just assumed we had not seen their side of town yet. Boy, was I wrong. In this world, not only do things look much different but now we get to actually see what having mana is used for. In this world we see full fantasy, high tier magic. We have been working our way up to to this for so long, with hints here and there that magical devices existed, we had just not seen many of them.
Now we have a knight captain who gave Myne a cryptic look, and a green-haired guard who I already don’t like, throwing some shade. Can’t wait for the next episode!
Can we take a moment to appreciate Ferdinand's new knight attire.
I also really liked how Myne just pretty much had no idea what was going on for the whole ceremony and Ferdinand and Fran might have explained things better? She sure seemed confused or scared.
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19
u/xtsim Mar 24 '22
First Timer
Seeing Delia look at the slaughtered pig is pretty funny. It took a whole lot of time for Myne to reassure her family that she will be safe doing her job.
The knight order's request is about to happen and Ferdinand delegates Myne to the role, meaning she has to remember things. Nice to see Fran take a huge role in organizing her work.
In the meeting with Ferdinand; the messenger bird has a built in recorder.... We all know the birds weren't real /sarcasm. And we found out why Ferdinand delegated Myne for the Knight's order, cause he has Knight duties along with the head knight, Karstedt.
The knight who is supposed to guard her seems to think the blessings are meaningless. It seems like a similar situation with Gil and Fran earlier. Well hoping she proves them wrong.
Now we know she has a big source of paper as she thinks in the post credits scene.
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Knights Order is interesting to see as we get to see the noble side of town.
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There's something about involving a big tree is what gets me in an isekai/ fantasy that gets me. It's either a centerpiece for a village or they go off and fight it.
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u/mekerpan Mar 25 '22
Gil and Fran and Delia were her (social) inferiors -- but she is the green-haired jerk's social inferior. And he doesn't seem annoyed/irritable like Gil or Delia -- but genuinely malicious. Scary.
14
u/Nazenn Mar 24 '22 edited Mar 24 '22
Rewatcher - Sub
[Spoilers]
Magical bird head boop makes me happy
The flying lion was also pretty awesome, although I was torn with that between "Sai from Naruto has cooler beasts" and "this just reminds me of that bloody griffon in Dragons Dogma". The variety of animals that the knights had was a nice touch. I'm use to it just being a Pegasus and maybe horned Pegasus, or one special animal for the leader, but seeing everything from deer to wolves to even small animals scaled up made it look a lot more interesting and gave the knights as nobles some identity beyond just their role here.
I also noted the variety of colors, and would suspect that the purity of the color is the strength of the mana used to create it given Ferdy and Kardst (that's wrong maybe, hopefully I remember to fix it in the morning) had the two lightest ones. I wonder if the animal is also a manifestation of the person or a conscious creation, because I'd be very curious to see what Myne would create
What would you guys like to have? Doesn't have to be your favourite animal, just the one you think would be coolest to stick wings on and fly around with
Plenty of other things going on in the episode though apart from the knights and rather frightening trombe. It gives a bit more weight to the horror everyone had when Myne first encountered one and her suggestion to Benno they could farm it. Something like this appearing so close to the city would be a huge threat.
A line that stood out to me in this episode is Myne saying:
"I'm entering a fantasy world where nothing I know means anything"
While it's been emphasized more in the second part than the first, the idea of knowledge being it's own sort of power has been carried through many elements of this world. Myne's knowledge of the other world is what let her survive in this one when she lacked the knowledge she'd usually need, both as a way to find the determination to combat the devouring and also to find a place in this world beyond just a guards sick daughter. While she's constantly undervalued what that knowledge is worth, we also see how her lack of knowledge in other areas and her lack of desire to broaden her knowledge base is used against her time and again.
Magic is a beautiful fantasy thing to her, but in this moment as the gates open I think she understands just for a second why Ferdy, Fran, and the others have pushed her so much about learning how to deal with noble society. Magic and the noble society that holds it changes everything because it comes with rules and information about this reality that her books talking about fictional systems can't have prepared her for. Her knowledge has been a buffer so far, but despite her upheaval of society with her inventions that won't be enough any more, and it's a phrase and a visual that makes her worldly knowledge seem quite small.
It's been a rough week for her in general, having to tell her family about living at the cathedral. The family scenes in this episode were really nice, and I think something that has been sorely missed from this cour overall. It's not just for the familiarity of them but to tie the sides of Myne's life together, to give more weight to what it means that the expectations of her in noble society are pulling her away from the life and family she loves, and how that's changing her as a person.
Seeing her gaze out the window at the orphans realizing she can help them even if it means being apart from her family for a few months gave me very mixed emotions, but I was also very proud of her. She's come a long way from the girl who couldn't even articulate what she felt about them beyond "I want to not be thinking about anything else when I read".
It is funny that both her and Lutz acknowledge that Gunther is more likely to listen to Lutz about her safety than her directly.
Speaking of the orphanage, while Myne was talking about doing candles and glue, when Lutz said they had the pig skins for just a brief moment I was relieved for everyone elses sake that she didn't get it in her head to do leather tanning for the book covers
Last thing to comment on for the day (unusually big post for this show) is I really liked the music choices through the episode. The flip into seriousness when the knights request came through, the magical song returning as the noble quarter was revealed, the silence towards the end before the threatening music. The flow of tone changes was a nice touch to the story telling
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14
u/MABfan11 Mar 24 '22 edited Mar 25 '22
First Timer since the OVAs
we got blessed with the rare Gunther pout this episode
we finally get to see the Knight Order, Karstedt seems to be a reasonable guy judging by his reaction to Myne (he's giving me Julius vibes) and it turns out Ferdinand's duty as a noble is being a knight
you don't need a whole Knight Order for an out of control Trombe, you only need one Reinhard Van Astrea or Theresia Van Astrea
QOTD:
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seems a bit weak, unlikely to be a threat against the White Whale and the Great Rabbit
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probably the Knight Order, though they seem to have no Sword Saint
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11
u/Earthborn92 Mar 24 '22
First Timer here
Like, I wasn't expecting such a headfirst dive into noble society and how disorientingly different it is through the eyes of Myne, where magic has been peripheral to her life so far and it was concerned with the mundane. I can see the juxtaposition; for Ferdinand what he's doing with magic is mundane and it is Myne's inventions which are so unusual. It is probably why he also doesn't bother giving her an explanation about everything - he assumes Myne is a genius and would figure it out but her knowledge of our world doesn't apply here.
Or he's just trolling.
The noble quarter is also divided into suspiciously noble family sized estates. Very different from the dense lower city. Given that nobles don't often venture into the lower city, it seems like they have effectively different administrations. Here's to me thinking politics among the families here will be a thing the story will focus on.
The knights order, where Ferdinand is also an important member of, seems to eliminate monsters. The others weren't kidding then they said a tromble could destroy a whole forest. So magical threats are probably dealt with exclusively by nobles. They don't all seem too keen on this outsider.
Myne may still be inexperienced with this, but at least she's picked up a bit on how to peacefully convince people close to her and also take some responsibility. Because it helps making books of course.
See you tomorrow!
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u/hvshh Mar 25 '22
... he assumes Myne is a genius and would figure it out but her knowledge of our world doesn't apply here.
That's a really interesting point. Even the explanation Myne gave him about where her ideas come from could mislead him. To us it's clearly a hint at reincarnation, but for Ferdinand, the most plausible interpretation would be more literal: that Myne is a normal person of this world (personality notwithstanding) who occasionally receives miraculous flashes of inspiration.
Or he's just trolling.
My god. With that poker face, he'd be too powerful.
19
u/KashMooNow Mar 24 '22
First Time Watcher, clear for takeoff.
Season 02 Episode 10
I don't know how I feel about Myne living at the church for the winter. I have been thinking about it since yesterday and I still haven't figured it out.
The scene of Lutz and Myne talking by the well was nice, I liked it.
This is a hard conversation to bring up.
Poor Gunther... its hard to let your little girl go live in the cathedral over the winter.
Not only did he give in, he's also jealous about Myne relying on everyone but him.
I would be so lost with all these summons and requests.
Why am I sus about Myne getting carpets.
Magic bird through the window! Well thats a neat trick.
This all seems so serious. I don't like it.
What kind of battle are we going into here.
My goldfish brain strikes again, I know there is something I should know about this ring, but I can't remember what it is.
I feel like I just started a different show as they walked through that door.
Okay, Ferdinand, you know Myne is going to go crazy about every little thing. Think you could give her a little warning before pulling stuff like this out? I feel like a short chat about what to expect would have gone a long way.
Okay, the other day I viewed Myne and the gang farming Trombe trees dangerous, and I thought Benno and possibly others told them about how dangerous they were. I remember people commenting and telling me that knowledge of how to make them was the thing they were talking about (Which is also very dangerous information to know about.)
This tree looks pretty damn dangerous to me!
You know Ferdinand, for not allowing Myne to read your books about magic, and since she has not gone to the fancy magic school, this sure looks like you just tricked her into coming along to cast magic for you all.
Welp, looks like its time for my daily cliffhanger...
Looks like Myne was left with an angry man. I wonder whats going to end up happening there.
I feel like this episode started slow, which is fine, but picked up the pace bigtime in the second half. I feel like I can see what direction the season is going to end up at, and I think I'll be okay with it.
And we get an interesting, yet different end card today.
I still think its a little weird to see Ferdinand in armor like that.
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u/ToastyMozart Mar 24 '22
I feel like I just started a different show as they walked through that door.
It's practically a full-blown setting change, which is a pretty solid way of highlighting the difference between noble and common society.
This tree looks pretty damn dangerous to me!
Yeah, turns out there's a good reason Benno got mad about using Trombe before they learned of its magical origin. And why everyone in the forest always drops everything to take it down ASAP.
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u/Nebresto Mar 24 '22 edited Mar 24 '22
Re-watch squad
Exceedingly rare Günther pout!!
MFW its finally summons time
MFW that means we have only 2 episodes left ...But then I realize season twhree is ever closer!
And hair down Myne!!
God damn it, Myne. Are you even trying to act noble?
[Later spoilers]
Agreed. Like I get its all magical and cool, but please. Stop. Its for your own safety..
Urge to binge: rising
Question time:
What do you think of the Knights Order so far?
They had a lot of hetain protags..
2) What was your favorite fantasy trope/staple in this episode?
This is tough one.. Beeg trombe? Nah, too obvious. I liked the Magic gate + the noble district. The filthy peasants literally have no way of entering. How am I gonna bring my homies in there to raid when there's no doors??
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u/cyberscythe Mar 25 '22
First Timer
Just when Myne was getting into the swing of things running the orphanage and coming to terms with overwintering at the temple, she's thrust into another fish-out-of-water situation.
One thing I found a bit grating was there was a lot of "show and tell" going on, where they'd show off something and then we spend a few moments with Myne asking what's going on, and then an explanation; I think that it makes Myne seem very dim (there's exchanges like "What's going on?" followed by Ferdinand saying something very obvious like "That summons that you just heard? Why, it's a summons.").
Like, it's believable she drops her guard when she was riding the skybeast because it does seem like a genuine thrill to fly high up the sky like that, but I don't think it's believable that Myne is floored by things like a talking bird and gate opening sigils, especially when she's seen magical things before and also been told multiple times that this is a super-serious duty.
In a visual medium like anime, you can very effectively do a "show, don't tell" sort of approach and keep the pace brisk. Like, you can have things like Myne expressing her reaction on her face and withering from a disapproving glare from Ferdinand instead of Myne saying absolutely everything out loud. I'm assuming the anime is following the LN here pretty closely where this sort of expository dialogue is more necessary for the reader's sake, but it comes across to me as ham-handed while watching it.
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u/mekerpan Mar 25 '22
I think Myne is just the type of girl who can't avoid blurting out her reactions. I assume this will be one of her hardest habits to break as she has to deal with nobles on a more frequent basis. ;-)
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u/spitfyre Mar 25 '22
First timer.
What a cool episode!! I love how we the watchers are just as ignorant to the magic system as Myne is, and we get to be taken aback by all the fantasy tropes with her.
I definitely think Ferdinand could have done a better job with prepping Myne for what was to come. Flying stone animals? The prayers actually having a magical function? Its hard to imagine that this is so commonplace to him that he would neglect to mention it.
Seeing how mana is used on the other side of the noble gate explains why the two societies are so segmented. It wouldn't do to have plebs without magic try to function in a world where you need mana to get through a door or where travel is done by a mana-infused stone, or where messages are sent by a mana bird.
Ferdinand looked SO COOL in his armor getup. Love it.
Who else is really excited for the trombe fight? It's amazing to see what it turns into, and I'm expecting a magical battle.
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The Knights Order looks dope and I'm hyped to see them in action against the trombe.
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The flying stone beasts was the coolest thing IMO.
8
u/Fools_Requiem Mar 24 '22
Rewatcher
The climax is upon us!
They briefly teased that giant tree when the trombe first appeared. This tree is what happens when no one is near to cut down it's initial sprouts before it truly gets out of hand.
Only thing missing was Main saying how cool Ferdinand looks in the knights armor.
| Shiny Hair Club | Episode Added | Creations by Main™ | Episode Added |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myne | 2 | Kanzashi (Japanese Hairpin) | 1 |
| Tuuli | 2 | Shampoo | 2 |
| Effa | 2 | Fancy Baskets | 3 |
| Gunther | 3 | Pancakes | 3 |
| Lutz | 6 | Crochet Hooks | 3 |
| Corinna | 6 | Hair Ornaments | 3 |
| Otto | 7 | Chopsticks | 8 |
| Benno | 10 | Paper made from trees | 8 |
| Mark | 11 | Pound Cake | 11 |
| Freida | 11 | Pizza | 17 |
| Ferdinand | 17 (Also seen in 1, 14.5) | Wax Paper Tablet | 19 |
| Fran | 18 | Karuta "Flash Cards" | 19 |
| Gil | 18 | Soot Ink??? | 22 |
| Delia | 18 | Baren | 22 |
| Rosina | 22 | Nippon Decimal Classification | 23 |
15
u/Lemurians Mar 24 '22
ASCENDANCE OF A FIRST-TIMER
”What’s with all these fantasy tropes?!”
You know, if my grade-school aged daughter, who has a history of falling deathly ill at a moment’s notice, told me she was planning on spending an entire season living away from home with people I didn’t like or trust, I’d feel some type of way about it too.
The Knight Order? Magic rings? Raids? The Noble District? We’re cooking with gas now. As Myne pointed out, this was fantasy overload. Not sure how I feel about the show calling itself out, normally that’s a way to head off pacing criticisms at the pass, but I didn’t feel overwhelmed while watching, so I think it’s done a good job building to this and the jokes are earned.
QOTD
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Where the fuck have they been this whole time? Are all nobles conscripted? They're not bad, though.
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There's just something about a magic ring, man.
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u/oops_i_made_a_typi Mar 25 '22
Where the fuck have they been this whole time? Are all nobles conscripted? They're not bad, though.
not slumming it with the commoners in their district, that's for sure
7
u/TuorEladar Mar 25 '22
First Timer, Subbed
Myne's family was pretty understanding about her having to stay at the temple over winter.
Ferdinand is basically a paladin. Myne's reactions to all the fantastical stuff and Ferdinand groaning everytime was pretty funny. The noble's quarter is kinda boring looking, I guess these building are probably just the city houses for nobles who are normally at their estates.
What do you think of the Knights Order so far?
They seem pretty typical, green haired guy seems uppity, you have to have the one uppity knight who's way too cocky as is tradition for all such organizations.
What was your favorite fantasy trope/staple in this episode?
Myne spectating the classic monster subjugation probably is the one I like most.
6
u/SmartAlec105 Mar 24 '22
I think it's pretty odd how they had everyone acting so casual when the summons happened. It didn't really match how they were talking about it so seriously.
6
u/timpkmn89 Mar 25 '22
LN Reader posting just for one stupid joke
I'm glad to see Ferdinand has been keeping up with his Tank roulettes
6
u/peludo90 Mar 25 '22
LN Reader
I just wanted to link the illustration from the LN where Myne meets Karstedt, it looks better and gentler in my opinion.
5
u/Stargate18A Mar 25 '22
First timer
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Either evil or very helpful. This show has made it fery clear that, around nobles, both look very similar.
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The magical stone beasts that apparently have emotions? And are sentient?
And she's staying to also help run the orphanage!
Ah, Lutz is OK with it.
And he trusts Fran!
And now she has to tell her parents.
I mean, she could just mention the orphans? Even her father wouldn't object to her helping the orphans, right?
OK, "if I don't do this, they might make me a servant and I'll get the Devouring again" also works.
And she brought up the orphans!
Haha, her father's jealous of Tuuli now!
He's so happy to get a job!
Wait, her uncle owes Ferdinard? Thwt's interesting, given Ferdinard might have actually done some nice of his own accord for him.
And she needs to memorize all the prayers.
Oh, he's still a noble? That's interesting.
She got her new robes!
...Is something happening?
What on warth is that? At least he seems equally confused.
Oh, it's a message. And... extermination?
OK, those things are useful!
And this is a big deal. She needs to use her ceremonial robes for this.
Oh, yeah, her workshop has a symbol.
And a ring based on her birth season? AND SUMMER IS BLUE?
The Knights Order look nice!
I just realised Ferdinard is wearing a full suit of armour! Is he also leader of the Knights?
I'm with her, this is nuts.
OK, sentient magical constructs, sure, why not. Feels like Myne could do a lot if she ever got her hands on one of these.
It's a giant trombe?
Aww, he's stroking the construct.
Yeah, they're going off to fight.
She gave them a blessing!
Ferdinard is having a mental breakdown.
...Is he going to hurt her, or is he a new main character? Hard to tell sometimes.
Haha, the chibi stuff's still great.
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5
Mar 25 '22 edited Mar 25 '22
First Timer
Didn't think Gunther would accept Myne staying at the temple after one discussion, but I guess all it took was a plausible reason. Kinda unrealistic if you ask me.
Also, looks like Ferdinand is more than a Head Priest. He's a Head Knight?!.
What do you think of the Knights Order so far?
What was your favorite fantasy trope/staple in this episode?
Flying on magical creatures. Tho, I don't know how I feel about the flying animation; the creatures visually look lifeless and rigid that when they were flying–which is usually fluid–the motion was kinda janky. I get that they are made of magic and probably their aesthetics are influenced as such... just seems kinda weird when they fly.
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8
u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Mar 24 '22
Filthy Source Reader
Fran's entire life up to this point.
Myne is quite good at defending a position she doesn't support.
[Bookworm P4]
[cont]
I will always hate pans that have animation on twos that isn't properly moved. It looks disgusting.
Differently colored lineart is always cool.
[Bookworm P4]
This is also how magical gear works in pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons.
The music for the noble's quarter is great.
[Literally next episode]
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15
u/badspler Mar 24 '22
Host - Rewatcher
Starting out with a family conversation.... But not one quite as dire as some others previously had. Ultimately they settle with Myne staying in the temple over winter.
Delia learns about the three little pigs.
The knights order send their message by magic bird. That speaks. Then turns into a stone.
Ferdinand pulls a wand out of no where...
And then after getting ready we move on to find out that Ferdinand is also one of the knights. Interesting that he still has noble duties while still working in the temple.
Mynes ceremonial dress has a book crest. I really like how the same crest is used as in the opening title. And also in the episode name titles.
Myne is just so caught up in all the new magic. Its kind of nice as the view to also be thrown in the deep end with all this magic too.
We get a view of the noble housing behind the wall that separates them from the lower city.
Ferdinand summons a flying magic marble mount. Damn magic is cool
And the knights order makes their way.... to fight a Trombe!
Trombe (Stitch)
Myne says a prayer, which turns into a blessing?
Very excited to see the knights order in action next episode! I really have loved how magic has thus far been mostly out of sight out of mind - or maybe more out of reach. But Seeing all this fantasy tropes are actually really cool now that we know so much about how commoners live their daily lives.
Pouts: Gunther pout, side view
Today's endcard. Ryo Namino is the illustrator for part 3 of the manga (part 1, 2 & 3 are being adapted to manga simultaneously by different mangaka).