UlasanAnime.com – The Ascendance of a Bookworm shares a striking resemblance with Inside Bill’s Brain. In a season that also features Dr. Stone, it’s easy to see the appeal of a fantasy where the protagonist, unlike the lead in Bookworm, could achieve their goals more readily given their circumstances.
At its core, world-building fiction involves mapping thoughts, inputs, models, and the guiding principles that shape our interaction with the external environment. In fiction, we have the creative freedom to externalize this perspective, introducing unrealistic boundary conditions and shortcuts. A thought experiment within fiction often involves more realistic, though still fantastical, boundary conditions. In JK Haru, for instance, the narrative explores themes of prostitution and the human condition through the lens of isekai tropes. It suggests that almost anything can be constructed from anything in fiction, and to some extent, in real life. This parallels documentaries or biopics that delve into how an individual connects with their significant endeavors, revealing a similar underlying pattern.
Setting aside Bill Gates’s motivations for his mission to eradicate polio, I see a parallel in Main’s aspiration to attain the comforts enjoyed by bookworms. Her goal is to encode information into print and to craft narratives that depict her isekai world through the fairy tales her adopted mother shares. It’s akin to building a new world upon the remnants of another, albeit without the context of warring empires. Though, one might argue that conflicts like Boko Haram persist in Africa.
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This comparison becomes particularly interesting when considering the vast resources of the Gates Foundation versus Main’s limited means. In Bookworm, the protagonist, an adult woman with a passion for books, is reincarnated as a young girl in an alternate world. Born into a modest rural family in a setting resembling late medieval Europe, literacy is a rarity. Main must first learn to read, a process that involves finding someone who can teach her. Books themselves are also scarce. Consequently, Main becomes driven to create her own books, as purchasing them is impossible. Her efforts involve seeking materials for writing, such as paper, clay tablets, wooden tablets, or even attempting to make papyrus.
Eradicating polio might seem an insurmountable challenge compared to the task of making paper at home in the 15th century, especially for a young, impoverished girl. However, with thousands of species facing extinction annually, gauging the relative difficulty of such endeavors, given their differing scales and complexities, is challenging. Bill Gates, on the other hand, is an exceptionally intelligent and resourceful individual, not only in terms of wealth but also as a renowned businessman and technical expert. He is also, notably, a bookworm.
Perhaps their pursuits are interconnected. In her new world, Main could be considered its equivalent of Bill Gates.
PS. I mentioned JK Haru because it shares a significant aspect with Bookworm: the narrative often emphasizes that the power fantasy inherent in world-building doesn’t always translate into portable power. In series like Gate or Slime, the protagonists gain immense power early on. Bookworm, conversely, presents a starkly different scenario, where Main arguably excels as a world-builder compared to characters in those other series. This highlights how the isekai genre can be both compelling, by distilling power imbalances and separating them from contemporary realities, and problematic, by potentially reinforcing those same injustices. On that note, I found Chouyoyu somewhat disappointing (questioning the intelligence of its portrayal of Japanese society) and couldn’t get into Noukin. I’m currently behind on Isekai Cheat. Are there any other isekai series worth exploring?
PPS. An isekai fantasy where a character establishes and runs an NGO would be an interesting concept.
