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**This review is only based on the web novel not the light novel**
**contains some spoilers**

Welcome to another episode of manga reviews, I am your host Pokyqu!

I very much enjoyed ascendance of a bookworm. By far the best thing about this novel is the world building and the chapters with character perspectives other than the mc!

Structure

Part 1 was wholesome, a bit of a slow read at times but satisfying exploring the mc relationship with her family as a commoner in the medieval like world she was reincarnated into with a little bit of an educational kind of thing going on dr stone type vibes. Part ... 2 introduced a set of new characters in the setting of a temple. Parts 3-5 focused on the life as a noble and the house of lords (magic school) and politics of the world. I like the way it is structured, the plot developing with each part but some parts are better than others. imo part 2 + 3 were the most fun as it contained world building but still included new characters and some of the older characters.

Characters

Ascendance of the bookworm had a very pleasant cast of characters from her time as a commoner till the end as a noble. Most were quite interesting and likable especially when given the treat of a chapter with another characters perspective. An issue that I believe that the novel had was that in the later parts mostly parts 4 + 5 there were too many characters being introduced in quick succession. Most of the names of the characters are "noble names" which are intentionally long and hard to pronounce/remember not to mention the "Gods" in the story so it took me quite some time to distinguish the large cast of characters which weren't eased in to the story like characters from the earlier parts. Another concern I have is a lack of focus or priority for certain characters most notably the antagonists. Georgine who was set up to be a major villain mastermind type since part 3 who was defeated off screen, Gervasio a major villain who seemingly out of nowhere showed up in late part 5 and was displayed as a significant antagonist in terms of power and influence was also beaten chapters after his introduction off screen, same thing with the prince of Island and Detlinde very disappointing antagonists even tho most of them had a lot going on with them in the narrative. Other characters just got too much or too little focus that didn't make sense. For example Kartlsted/Elvira and their family, Florenzia and the fuedal lord family not being involved more in part 3. As well as characters like Hildebrand who had a great amount of screen time but only was really a plot device like Letzia but with double the appearances. I would have liked to see more perspective type chapters but I believe there will be much more for the light novel.

Lore

As a result of the long confusing names and lore as well as reading the web novel via google translate a lot of details were missed in the translation. However the lore and world building are very interesting with good fantasy elements and I'm sure will be a much smoother experience when reading with the light novel. Part 5, specifically in the final arc saw a large amount of lore dump and felt very rushed towards the end.

Conclusion
Rating : 8 /10

Overall Ascendance of a bookworm is a well written novel although sometimes the author gets excessively descriptive. Details are sometimes difficult to follow with long names and lore dumps at part 5 but due to being read from poorly translated web novel a lot of the details would go underappreciated. Its an engaging story with great plot, world building, and a likable cast of characters. Although I have my criticisms with some characters mostly the antagonists, rushed final arc of part 5, most of these will likely be fixed in the light novel with even more perspective chapters which are extremely enjoyable. I'm sure if I read the light novel version I would've enjoyed it even more! Highly recommend :)

Welcome to another episode of manga reviews, I am your host Pokyqu!

This manga in one word, charming. Although the premise and characters arent really unique the author made it unique with its direction. Instead of explaining the past and have more world building elements and more characters it seems that the author intentionally made this just a story of our two protagonists move on towards the top aimlessly almost saying that no matter the struggle, we must move forward even if our actions are insignificant or result in nothing, we just have to continue trodding on and enjoy life and the simple things it offers. ... The art is kinda childish and seemingly unfinished but it really gives the manga character imo.

However, It is incredibly slow, and a majority of it is just straight up boring and I had to stop reading a couple times. Definitely not something to binge read. So much more cud have been achieved with this in regards to plot, story, and characters but it wasnt done and like I mentioned above seemed to be what the author was going for.

Overall its an ok read. Its pleasant yet very boring for me. I probably wud only recommend if u want to read something on the side casually, other than that dont read it if u want something interesting plot/character wise. Its just something to relax to. A few funny moments and a few really great chapters but Id recommend only based on what ur looking for.

Welcome to another episode of manga reviews, I am your host Pokyqu!

Today we are going to discuss a manga I recently read called RElife. Although I have watched the anime a long time ago, it felt like a lot of things were just missing. The story had an interesting premise and a decent plot and progression but I am very pleased to say that everything the anime fell short on was expanded on and made the Relife experience a worthwhile one. It finally felt complete with the different arcs if you will and side stories that focus on some of the other side characters who ... become very loveable.

First the plot. The story follows an interesting premise, our protagonist who cant find a job who unusually might I add as reviewer Belmakor19 mentions is an older guy who is about 27 unlike the typical stories especially ones relating to school life. However what’s really interesting is that our protagonist isn’t the typical neet type character. Although he cant manage to find a job due to his resume in leaving his previous job in only 3 months, our protagonist is still applying for jobs and working part-time but due to his circumstances and as we follow long get to understand his reasons for leaving relating to his trauma in his past toxic and hostile work environment. Unable to pursue a career and with his current lonely life approached by a mysterious man claiming to work for the RElife organization and is then given the choice to have an opportunity to take a pill and join highschool again for a year. This proves to be a very engaging journey for our protagonist as he finds out more about himself, gains his confidence back, and moves past his trauma all achieved through his interactions with his newfound friends as well as by helping them with their own issues. This makes the side characters almost feel like they could almost be their own main character in another story because most are given a great deal of focus well besides for Tama and her 2 childhood friends but there is some resolution in the additional side story chapters after the end. All the characters are very loveable and relatable, and even though they aren’t given as much focus earlier on as the main adult group, you really get to understand them more later on in a deeper level especially with our adult group.

Also something that Id like to add and disagree with the aforementioned reviewer is that I absolutely love the memory plot point. At the end of the experiment, all those around the subject will lose their memories of the person. Although it may not be optimal in a practical real life sense, It allows the author to effectively tackle themes like friendships, the inevitable drifting apart with our bonds, and memories and how we must cherish them for the short time we have.

The art is somewhat average but its simplicity is something that can be quite deceiving on first glance. It kinda reads like an anime? Its also in color which many new manga readers may appreciate with since many tend to enjoy Mahwas a lot although it has typical manga panel structures which many old manga readers may appreciate.
The comedy is quite hilarious the around the first few chapters, it stops being as funny later on past maybe chapter 30 and starts to focus more on the characters and their struggles more and less about their comedic interactions but there are still plenty of reoccurring gags to come which I found quite funny as well.

I was slightly worried some characters wont get enough shine or that there wont be enough chapters for a meaningful ending but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It flowed very well and had the perfect amount of interactions between characters, quite a bit of comedy here and there. Although I would have liked better explanations for the Relife organization and their methods looking back it probably wouldn’t fit in the story in a mood kinda sense and I felt it wasn’t necessary after a certain point. So with that being said.
Overall this manga is something that was a joy to read (even though you will probably cry quite a bit, I know I had many of those moments), the characters are all phenomenal (personally I love Ryo and An from the support group the most) and because of the premise/plot it allows for the development of our characters mainly to our adult group which in turn results in development for the normal students through their help. There is nothing I would change, add or remove from this story and because of my high level of enjoyment I will give it a 10/10 which is a masterpiece status on MAL. Although I didn’t have much expectations based on the anime, the manga did blow me away with a rollercoaster of emotions for our cast of characters and gave me new found motivation and inspiration for my life. I hope you all give this a try because I highly recommend it.

SPOILERS:

First of all id like to say its probably closer to a 3 maybee a 4 if ur generous but I gave it a 2 because I considered the whole story not just the ending. The first 60 chapters are absolutely horrendous, incredibly boring and ridiculous I considered dropping. None of the world building + power scaling makes sense / is consistent or even relevant for the rest of the story after the school arc. Things that are irrelevant are explained in detail like the way abilities work but the important things are just glossed over or explained really late in the last few chapters. ... Side characters after school arc manage to somehow become even worse and more annoying and the rest are very bland or uncreative like the classic tsundere female character. The main character starts out as an underdog then becomes one of the strongest instantly ultimately destroying the purpose of school arc. The villain who has been hyped for ages is an utter disappointment, his entire story is done in about 2 chapters and is only shown with his revealed identity in about 4 chapters before the end. The author makes the villain have his way destroying everything our protagonist has as well as everything the author created (world/characters) with typical villain motives I destroy world and create utopia ideology. The author proceeds to try to clunkily piece together his story with a reset button and happy ending with some miracle of the last phoenix god. The ending isnt bad but it just feels like a waste of time reading which is usually the case with time travelling to the past to fix the world esque story. It wud have been fine if everything was explained better.
tldr : shallow characters, unexplained/non-existent world building/power scaling, feels like a waste of time since "nothing happened" with cheesy message end. For a manga called flow it flowed horribly