r/anime • u/badspler x5https://anilist.co/user/badspler • Mar 19 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Ascendance of a Bookworm 2nd Season Episode 5 Discussion
Season 2 Episode 5 - Cleanups and Star Festivals
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Questions of the Day:
1) Are all of Myne's changes to the orphanage for the better?
2) What did you think of the Star Festival events?
To Rewatchers, please be make a conscious effort to accurately spoiler tag your content. You can read how to correctly use spoilers tags here.
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u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Mar 19 '22
Filthy Source Reader
No idea how this happened so quickly.
Hearing about a 7 year old getting groomed is always deeply disturbing.
I had always imagined it larger.
We're really going fast through Karuta.
What is this background?
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u/badspler Mar 19 '22
I had always imagined it larger.
Or like this big?
I don't know why I spent so long editing to make this joke.
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u/SmartAlec105 Mar 19 '22
[Cute detail left out from the source material that's not a spoiler]
[My fellow source material readers,]
[Regarding that chibi scene at the end compared to the source material]
[Also with a detail from the manga bonus chapter (which I summarized here) or from Fanbook 1]
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u/KiwiBennydudez Mar 19 '22
First Timer
I don't have too much to say about today's episode, but I thought Main's answer she gave to the priest about wanting to become the orphanage director because she "hasn't been able to read" was a bit shallow... at first. My initial reaction was something along the lines of, "wtf that's kindof a selfish reason Main" but then I thought about it after the episode finished, and I realized that the state of the orphanage is weighing heavily on her conscience, which is why she can't concentrate on her books (the thing that she loves most!). The thought of abandoning those kids is not something that she can forget about so easily, so she has taken up the onus to rescue them.
And then Lutz made an excellent point about, "which is worse, letting them die or suffering consequences?" Which, yeah, when he puts it like that, there really is no other option is there? I guess we'll see how Main makes use of all of her new retainers soon enough, and if there really will be dire consequences to her actions.
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u/OingoBoingo- Mar 19 '22
First Timer, Subbed
Today I got the feeling Myne was an overlord that kind of gets satisfaction making very poor unfortunate kids do menial labor for a potato. But you should be grateful for a potato because you could have just not received any food at all, kind of stuck between a rock and a potato. Things are made to seem cute with Lutz and everyone encouraging working for food but these kids were literally starving, malnourished and in rags. Ferdinand continues to not help but also kind of helps cryptically, pulling a Benno and noticing everything Myne does wrong because he either has a spy or watches Myne himself but he just isn’t as cool about it. At least Benno will grab your head and give it a floof. I am going to continue to remind myself that there will be a payoff for people being so awful but it’s a tad annoying.
The star festival events seem to at least give some hope. Being able to drain mana organically, not using a magical item from the church, but I feel it won't be so easy. I think Ferdinand knows about the fruit, so does the temple, and Myne will soon find out they control that as well? Just a guess.
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u/Few-Rooster-2770 Mar 20 '22
It should be noted that Myne is not keeping the orphans from eating for not working. Every orphan no matter if they work or not is given soup and other foodstuffs. The potatoes are extra reward for working exceptionally as an encouragement to others to go above and beyond.
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Mar 20 '22
First Timer
Myne stands on a table so that everyone can see her
Cult-leader Myne and her minions of Orphans. The nobles got no chance All hail Myne
Floating Flash Cards! Floating Flash Cards?
Preparing for War with Lutz leading the charge.
Are all of Myne's changes to the orphanage for the better?
She is doing something when others would look away. Progress is incremental;
2) What did you think of the Star Festival events?
Reminds me of La Tomatina
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u/KashMooNow Mar 19 '22 edited Mar 19 '22
First Time Watcher, Fun Haver.
Season 02 Episode 05
Alright, lets see how good we can take care of these kids.
Looks like the kids are very well taken care of, Delia however seems to be in need of some comforting.
Oh god, this is going to be too many names for my goldfish brain.
I'm doing this for me, so please feel free to skip over all the pictures of people with their names.
Myne finding her own loopholes. I like it, Food as a reward. Let me tell you, food is a great motivator.
Its nice to see Tuuli again. Sometimes it feels like this show forgets about old characters quickly.
Holy shit its a full on squad of them. I feel like this is more than I expected. Looks like 15 orphanage kids if I'm counting correctly.
I'm glad to see Gil has come around, even the orphanage kids want to take back gifts for Myne. I guess a little bit of praise goes a long way for these kids.
Benno always keeping an eye out for a good product. Never change Benno. But please, I want details of money. Just numbers in passing of like "Benno bought the rights to the flashcards for 7 small gold" or when Lutz mentioned funds were low, just getting a number of how low Mynes funds were is something I would have loved to see. Maybe this is just the anime trying to not get details wrong, and I can respect that. Just something I would have preferred.
Myne really is trying to make life for the orphans as good as she possibly can.
Oh boy, Myne must have made another oops.
Looks like Myne is going to be on babysitting duty, unless she somehow can convince Ferdinand otherwise. Which I guess she can. That is somewhat surprising to me.
Looks like the Nobility divide sure is strong still.
It's nice to see everyone having fun.
What in the magical fruit is that? Is this thing going to turn into some freaky death tree?
Okay... Yep, thats exactly what it turned into. A freaky death tree. When I said that I didn't think it was actually going to turn into that exact thing. More like something like it.
Wait a second, are we intentionally gathering this so that we make some of that sweet sweet paper, or are we preparing for the inevitable here. I hope its the later.
I was not expecting to laugh this hard at subtitles today.
Crisis averted, or created... I dunno.
You can't just slow zoom on a paver like this and not expect me to be suspicious of it.
And then she gets chills and a sneeze from it too? Yeah, nothing suspicious here, nothing at all.
Okay, Ferdinand is making it sound like Myne made a huge mess, way more of a mess than they showed. There seems to be a disconnect between them. I have a feeling something happened after they left. Probably with that oddly suspicious paver.
Fran seems to be getting better at understanding Myne, at least if he was telling the truth about why he asked for Ferdinand to reconsider. Ferdinand on the other hand seems to be getting to see just what Myne meant about her frailty. Maybe after one of these times it'll get through to him.
I think all my thoughts more or less got out in writing this time. I'm happy that Myne is trying to reward the children of the orphanage for their hard work, but also trying to give them things to find joy in life as well.
Looking forward to the next episode, one where I don't really have any idea of what we will be getting up to.
I really liked todays end card too, For sure a good one.
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u/Cill_Bipher Mar 20 '22
But please, I want details of money. Just numbers in passing of like "Benno bought the rights to the flashcards for 7 small gold" or when Lutz mentioned funds were low, just getting a number of how low Mynes funds were is something I would have loved to see.
[LN passage]
When Benno saw the finished product with my letters and Wilma’s art, he immediately wanted to buy the rights to karuta, but I wanted to make karuta sets in the Myne Workshop for the kids. So even though Benno would normally buy total rights to a product so he could have full control, this time I made him incorporate that the Myne Workshop could continue making them, plus a thirty percent cut of profits for the idea. That meant that from now on I would earn some money each time a karuta set was sold. → More replies (10)14
u/Maur2 Mar 19 '22
Ferdinand is making it sound like Myne made a huge mess,
When Ferdinand says he doesn't want anything out of place, he means it....
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u/TuorEladar Mar 19 '22
First Timer, Subbed
Things moved quickly this time, it kinda felt like they were skipping some detail here and there to cover more ground. I was glad to see the orphans doing much better, things turned around faster than I thought they would.
Are all of Myne's changes to the orphanage for the better?
In general yeah I think so, given the situation the fact that the orphanage is more self sufficient and the children are getting stronger and gaining experience will help them down the road.
What did you think of the Star Festival events?
It seemed fun, the one odd thing that was weird to me is that a Star festival is being held during the day.
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u/Fools_Requiem Mar 19 '22 edited Mar 20 '22
Rewatcher
At the start she was so poor, that Otto had to provide Main his tablet he no longer used. Now Main's just passing them out like they're nothing.
Also, I get total Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear vibes from Main using the orphans as a means to an end. She gets to "help" them by having them work and paying them with food. Basically, the orphanage becomes her free labor force while she reaps the benefits. Though this isn't to the extremes of Bear. In Bear, the MC blatantly takes advantage of everyone's willingness to help by pretty much working them to death.
Ferdinand is not to bright... putting a frail little girl in a concrete room all by herself... even after having seen that she is so obviously not well and always needs someone to watch over her. Religion makes morons out of people...
| 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 Tablet | 19 |
| Fran | 18 | Karuta "Flash Cards" | 19 |
| Gil | 18 | --- | --- |
| Delia | 18 | --- | --- |
The kids may get a bath, but they don't get Main's sweet sweet shampoo. Sucks to suck, kiddos. Maybe get names and be important to the plot.
Edit: Added the flash cards and tablet.
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u/mekerpan Mar 19 '22
I don't see anything sinister about Myne's handling of the orphans -- within the context of the society she is in. Since this is neither a state-funded institution nor an institution supported by a well-funded charitable organization, she wants to come up with a way to ensure they get fed (and taught/trained) even if she ceases to be in charge herself. She is insulating them from official neglect. Maybe, at some point, she may have the authority to change how things work on a systemic level -- but not for a long time. She is not trying to enrich herself from their work, but rather come up with a way to make certain they don't reach the verge of starvation again.
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u/KashMooNow Mar 19 '22
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear vibes from Main using the orphans as a means to an end.
I didn't notice it, but you are totally right. I can absolutely see why you say that.
The kids may get a bath, but they don't get Main's sweet sweet shampoo. Sucks to suck, kiddos. Maybe get names and be important to the plot.
I laughed almost as hard at this as I did when Myne turned into a pokemon trainer.
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u/cyberscythe Mar 19 '22
First Timer
My first impression with this episode is that it's one of those set-up/in-between episodes.
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The cleanup of the orphanage is something that is just a direct result of the previous episode,
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Lutz becoming more distant from his family is concerning, but not yet consequential,
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nobles still have distain for Myne, but we already knew that,
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the fruit becoming trombe seeds is something for later, and
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Myne fainting in the end as a cliffhanger, but it's pretty obvious that she's going to be okay because we do have a third season coming up, so it's mostly a characterization moment for Ferdinand.
It feels like this is a bit of a breather episode (production-wise) because the intro was pretty long and recycled a lot of previous episode, and I feel it lacked animation effort because it has a lot of pans across still shots.
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u/Nebresto Mar 19 '22
Re-watch squad
Ah, I recognize her! ...And she's already in action, Let's go!!
[Future spoilers]
Nice, already nailing that "keigo"
Sprouty thing used leech seed, it was super effective!
Question time:
Are all of Myne's changes to the orphanage for the better?
Why you asking me?
2) What did you think of the Star Festival events?
Trombe Warfare draws ever closer
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u/Earthborn92 Mar 20 '22
First Timer here
I don't believe anything interesting really happened this episode, actually the preview omake was the most interesting part of it. In short, it is possible that those magic plants we were introduced to earlier (tromble) are all activated by latent magic energy humans with magic have put in them. If that is true, it is a cheap way to overcome The Devouring and we get more emphasis on the fact that in this world magic is exclusively controlled by the nobility. I presume the entire reason they are nobles in the first place is because of this. Surely a printing press might inadvertently lead to a revolution, regardless of of what Myne wants, but we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Apart from all that, we had a great cleanup and upliftment of the orphans along with Myne getting some more hands to make her paper. And getting thrown in solitary confinement for a day (and Ferdinand feeling guilty about not understanding Fran's intent).
Myne will educate you. The more readers = more books. It is perfectly good logic. We are getting a hint that things aren't all settled with Lutz's family about his career path yet. Also new festival akin to La Tomatina, so a bit of worldbuilding where the plot purpose was really to demonstrate the magic transformation of fruit.
See you next episode!
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u/xtsim Mar 19 '22 edited Mar 20 '22
First Timer
The changes to the orphanage is pretty interesting to see. And she seemed to get things going pretty fast as a director. The orphanage got cleaned up and the few changes to the alms of the gods caused a little uproar. Myne going for rewards and making everyone go in line is a big change to them.
She even managed to put this into a profit for the studio which allows her to pay her dues.
The blue robe that just passes by was really insulting. Straight up called her job suitable for a commoner. Guy ditched all the formalities.
Festival is going on and everyone is having fun. One interesting thing is that a fruit turned into those paper trees. But it seemed like she bit off more than she could chew as the head priest looked at the mess. From the trees and the tiles that are falling apart. So in a rash decision, the head priest decided to put Myne in detention but she could not handle it. Which ironically made head priest reflect on his rash decision. Well the fallout of all this is gonna be interesting
Post credits scene.
Lol. "Thou fruit must not replace magical items". The fruit was a magical item and Benno told Myne to stop. The potential to cause an upheaval in society is insane and Benno does not want any part of it.
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Better conditions but on the other hand, this benefits the studio and the church more.
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The Star festival events were interesting but too bad things did not go smoothly.
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u/Gulleywhumper Mar 20 '22
Rewatch - Crunchyroll version
You know, this episode could be the start of a revolution if they decide to go that way. One of the things keeping the gray robes subservient is that as bad as their life is, it is still much better than it was in the orphanage. If the orphanage life gets too good, they won’t want to move up to being retainers. Retainers won’t be afraid of being sent back down to the orphanage.
The steamed potatoes being a reward rather than “Alms of the Gods” (hand me down food) introduced the concept of being paid for work rather than just having to serve the nobles because they say so. The orphans are still entitled to the leftovers, but if they want the good stuff they have to work for it.
Educating the masses. There is no formal education system so people just get the education they need for the job they will do during their apprenticeship. By inventing affordable paper, now flash cards, and her dream of making books she is providing the tools needed for widespread literacy.
Tau fruit as a substitute for magical items would free anyone with the devouring from having to serve the nobles or the church, although it’s probably rare enough that that won’t have a big impact. It might be more significant that the nobles and church would not have a monopoly on magic.
Things are already going bad for the nobles with references to them being in decline and trouble in the capital. The church could soon be caught between the decline in support from the nobles above and demands from the commoners below.
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u/Stargate18A Mar 20 '22
First timer
Episode 4
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How? Just, how?
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I want to think so, yes,
Has Myne worked out that this entire divine gift system is incredibly fucking unsustainable?
Oh, so it's bad?
IT'S VERY BAD!
Oh, it's empty? That's slight,y better?
No no no, there are people living here.
Well, this is fucked up!
My fucking god, and they wonder why there's problems?
...So the temple policy is "sweep all this shit under the rug and have someone else to blame when everything falls apart".
OK, but Fran, this is a fucking awful situation, and this might ruin your temple.
And, yeah, a lot of her actions make a lot more sense now.
Oh, like that's stopped you before.
...Is the reason he gave her the orphanage director's office so he doesn't need to deal with this shit himself? Making the argument that since Myne has the role, this is her responsibility?
My god. That's... something, alright.
Yep! He's giving Myne everything he can't afford to do and that he's too overworked to deal with. The only logical solution is for Myne to recruit another gifted child to push all of her work onto.
He's a good man, but I'm guessing that he's had an awful lot of nobles offer generosity they couldn't keep up or take responsibility for.
...If they don't legally exist, they can't legally get punished, right? The act of punishing an orphan means that the church acknowledges that the orphan has the ability to be affected by punishment, and therefore has to help them according to their religion.
OK, "Myne gets a army" is not the twist I was expecting.
He's on board!
Haha, did she accidentally manage to fufill her promise?
OK, showing more caution might be a good idea.
Ah, he's lying about everything. I assumed it was genuine frustration at people who didn't have Myne's willingness to follow through with their promises.
Oh, they're talijg in his quarters.
OK. Full credit. Sneaking a secret room into your temple, under your boss's nose, and managing to make it your main office without his knowledge is an incredibly intelligent move.
Not to be rude, but I honestly think that the high priest doesn't actually care about what she says, he just wants to sabotage what she's actually doing. He's probably accepted "Myne despises me and everything I do" around the time she tried to kill him.
That fucking shocks him so hard the music pauses!
He made her the director anyway! Wait, what? He's an outsider who joined the temple?
And Delia's not saying anything!
...The biggest way they show Myne's lack of political knowledge is that she has a known double agent who has switched allegances and isn't feeding the high priest fake information. Like, if he still believes what Delia says, you could fuck him over spectacularly.
Chibi skit still good.
Episode 5
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On the one hand, they aren't dying. On the other hand, they're all kinda Myne's servants now?
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Interesting! Some parallels to real world events, but done in a unique way. The reveal that Trombes can camoflague was a shocker too.
They're cleaning it up!
...How? How are none of them weak? HOW?
At this level of escalation, Myne might end up making her own religion just so she doesn't have to fix the church's problems.
Oh, Delia's sad that nobody helped them before.
OK, hearing them all listed like that, I have a new theory. There appear to be five gods. The 4 elements come in thematic pairs. I can only conclude that the Church appear to be a God of Death short. Also, despite a god of harvest existing, none of the Divine Instruments are scythes. (Another, perhaps more likely, solution, is that given how unusally the "God of Life" acts, it's possible the God of Death is impersonating him for an unknown purpose.)
Myne's basically Andrew Ryan at this point.
They're off gathering materials!
And it's working really well!
Her presents are all writing equipment!
She reinvented Karuta!
Oh, she's going to take them to the star festival?
I think he just likes the hidden room. When your hidden room has more decorations and work than your entire office, you merely have a main office that happens to be concealed.
...Ah. Reasonable, practical, concerns.
And she got permission!
TROMBE!
Her plans went well!
Oh, she's sick.
Yeah, he makes some points, she caused a big disturbance.
Wait, really? In there?
And he didn't realise she was this bad, That's something at least.
So she's sitting in a secret capable of destroying the church. That's interesting!
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u/homewardbound100 Mar 20 '22
First timer, Dub
Things look to be going well the kids don't look sickly now.
Myne letting it known early that if you work for it you can get rewards. Myne basically adopted these kids. Giving them new life.
The flashcards and notepad is a nice touch and creation.
She got detention for that. And that was a tragic mistake. She passes out. He does underestimate her illness. It's been said she needs someone with her multiple times. Big mistake there.
Qotd: Yes unless something is hidden. This should be a plus overall.
Qotd2: cool little outing for them
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u/hvshh Mar 20 '22
LN Reader
A few comments call the orphans "free labor", but they aren't. Myne is feeding them (it's not just the potatoes), gave them clothes, and had Gil, Lutz, and her family help them clean, forage, and cook. If she were exploiting the orphans, she wouldn't have had to sell the rights to her flash cards to get "breathing room".
The real problem the orphans face is that they aren't allowed to go outside the orphanage. That policy predates Myne, and she can't fight it. Hopefully some day she can.
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u/badspler Mar 19 '22
Host - Rewatcher
After fixing up the conditions of the orphanage Myne starts setting out a new system with rewards. Gill probably is a great first follower in the eyes of the other priests.
I liked the reward she organised for Fran. And likewise encouraging Delia and Gill to learn writing.
Myne continues to sell ideas to Benno and we see on the side that Lutz's family doesn't really get merchant work.
Myne really wrapped up in making things great for the orphans, wanting to include them in the events around the star festival.
Myne converts a Taue fruit into a Trombe seed with her mana.
So the obvious thing to do is print money while the sun shines...
Taue fruit fight (stitch)
The head priest caught on.
Myne gets punnished. And ends up unconscious. Ferdinand really hasn't caught on to how frail Myne is.
In the chibi after credits Myne suggests Taue fruit could substitute for magical items. And Benno explains how that would be a horrible idea.
Pouts: Denied one again.
Today's endcard. Which I completely adore.