The overwhelming number of "in another world" (isekai) anime iterations may well have reached an equilibrium with the number of diatribes decrying the staleness of the genre, so I won't belabor the point; but, well, Ascendance of a Bookworm is so different that I treasure it.
The protagonist, Myne, awakes in her sick bed recalling a previous life as though it was a dream. She remembers achieving her ambition to become a librarian before suffering a fatal accident involving, or abstracted as, a deluge of books. (FN1 below) Now (reincarnated? mind-melded?) in the body of a juvenile girl, Myne must acclimate to her life in a medieval society that is largely illiterate! Since books are prohibitively expensive for her family, she quickly resolves to learn to read and write her own.
And that's pretty much it. Three episodes in and there's no sign of role-playing-game (RPG) fantasy elements, skill level grinding or an epic quest. Somehow it's compelling to just watch Myne overcome the obstacles of limited technology, poor health, age, gender, and class to do something we all take for granted—read a friggin' book.
At least, to me it's compelling. I can countenance the criticism that it's dull, maybe in the "slice of life" isekai sub-genre. Myne's quest for books is stymied by the mundane, but then there's the joy of watching her reinvent shampoo or pancakes. If you're as obtuse as I am, you might expect her to capitalize on these reinventions in a way that would radically alter society, but that's not how this show works. Myne doesn't desire to master or gamify the universe, she just wants to enrich her life and her relationships. For better or worse that's the crux of the show's appeal.
But Myne is conspicuous to me, because she has the most agency of any female isekai protagonist I can recall but simultaneously lacks ambition, relatively speaking. The dominant narrative of modern RPG isekai anime is male conquest, and it's hard to conceive of a similarly empowered female lead, especially one who isn't in some way made more appealing to the male demographic. I think even Bookworm, albeit written by a woman, includes elements to appeal to the male-audience. As a woman trapped in a girl's body, Myne is a potentially non-threatening quasi-sexual agent not unlike many male-marketed shoujo girls or even lolitas. Myne's scenario is exploited for marginally risqué humor, but not at her expense, at least not yet. Conversely, the other anime this season to feature a female protagonist (FN2) shows remarkably less restraint.
It just makes me wonder if isekai is an inescapably male genre. That may not be an inherently bad thing, but I can't deny I find it tiresome. Is a straight-forward female power fantasy character a difficult sell or just unrecognizable in the isekai context? There may be such characters I'm unfamiliar with in isekai light novels and manga (ex. Doctor Elise, Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter), but those properties have yet to receive anime adaptations and at a glance many seem geared towards romance, with heroines trapped in otome games rather than RPGs. Critics recommend fantasy classics with transported heroines like The Vision of Escaflowne or Twelve Kingdoms, but since these pre-date the modern isekai trend, I doubt their protagonists approach modern power levels. Maybe I should watch them though.
***
FN1
There is an urban legend that French-Jewish composer Charles-Valentin Alkan was killed by a falling bookshelf while reaching for his copy of the Talmud, perhaps based on an even older, similar myth. Perilous bookslides have also been known to occur in R.O.D. the TV.
FN2
Poor Adele in Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! is not only denied her chief titular wish by a deity who confuses the meanings of "mean" and "median" due to what I can only assume is a particular weakness of the Japanese language or else incredibly unapologetic writing, but must in addition cope with the conspicuous dearth of fully-developed mammary protrusions on her 12 year-old chest, and the aspersions of all those who would think less of her for it. At least, this was the emotional climax of the first episode.
And yes, I appreciate Ristarte in Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious, but let's be real she has about as much influence on the plot as Sancho Panza had on Don Quixote and even that comparison is probably generous.