Motosu Urano loves books. She recently got her librarian certification and was about to enter her dream job when an earthquake caused her to be crushed by her collection of books. She is reincarnated into a new world as the five year old daughter of a soldier. Unfortunately, in this world, books are reserved for the elite nobility. What do you do when your station in life does not afford you access to books? Make your own.
It’s the isekai of the season, but with a more interesting twist than most recent “isekai twists” have been. If you are looking for anime recommendations like Ascendance of a Bookworm, we got you.
Anime Like Ascendance of a Bookworm
For Fans of Non-Battle Isekai
Restaurant to Another World
The nondescript Youshoku no Nekoya is a cafe that has been in business for 50 years. However, while it serves salarymen and other workers most of the week. On Saturdays, it closes down to the public in order to serve special guests, mythical creatures that come from another world looking for comforting cuisine.
Restaurant to Another World actually dabbles in several worlds, but regardless, it is an isekai that isn’t about fighting. However, unlike Bookworm, this series is very obviously about food.
High School Prodigies Have it Easy Even in Another World
After their plane goes down, seven prodigy children wake up to find themselves in another world. However, as none of them are just normal students, they set out to improve and take over this world through the use of their specialties.
Both are new series this season and both oddly enough are pretty similar sort of isekai series. They aren’t about being the legendary heroes of whatever, but instead are about very smart people in not very smart worlds.
These Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?
Three extraordinary teenagers are blessed with psychic abilities, but are bored with their mundane lives. Unexpectedly, they are invited to go to a mysterious new place to participate in a high-stakes game using their abilities.
Both are isekai series in which the main characters aren’t legendary battle heroes, but rather pursue non-violent pursuits. Problem Children is a little more intense with its games compared to the leisurely Bookworm, but they both aren’t about battling.
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For Fans of Smart Characters
Dr. Stone
After years of unspoken feelings, Taiju Ooki is about to confess to his crush. However, at that moment, a bright green light engulfs humanity, and suddenly everyone is turned to stone. Thousands of years later, exactly the right series of events lines up in nature and leads to teenage genius and best friend of Taiju, Senku Ishigami, to be cured. After using the cure on Taiju, the pair set out to jump-start civilization and save humanity by speeding through all the most useful inventions of human history.
Both series feature characters that are wildly obsessed with something, either science of books. They use this obsessive knowledge in attempt to better the world around them.
Spice and Wolf
For generations, Holo was a revered wolf deity that helped the local wheat harvest in exchange for tribute. However, as the villagers become more self-sufficient, they no longer need or even believe in her anymore. During her annual festival, she sneaks into the cart of Kraft, a visiting merchant, hoping he will let her hitch a ride home.
While it is not so much that the characters in Spice and Wolf are more intelligent than their peers like in Ascendance of a Bookworm, it is just that they are made out to seem that way. Lawrence explains economics in such detail that it makes the characters seem very intelligent.
For Fans of Medieval Women With Goals
Snow White With The Red Hair
Shirayuki is an herbalist that lives a normal life in the country of Tanbarun. However, when her beautiful red hair is noticed by the Prince Raji, he tries to make her his concubine. She then decides to cut her hair and flees into the forest. It is there she is rescued by the second Prince of neighboring country, Wistalia, named Zen. In order to repay her life debt to him, she sets her hopes on becoming the court herbalist in the capital of Clarines.
Did your enjoy Ascendance of a Bookworm because it is about a bright girl flourishing in a world that is not so much set up for that? Snow White with the Red Hair is the same. The main character is strong and smart with a dream, and works towards it. Of course, it does end up as a romance, so it is different in that respect.
Kemono no Souja Erin
In a nation that is threatened by civil war, Erin lives with her mother who tends to the Grand Duke’s powerful war-lizards as a doctor. However, after an incident with the Grand Duke’s favorite war-lizard, Erin’s mother is held responsible. While trying to save her mother, Erin falls in a river and is swept away to a neighboring region. On her quest to get home, she encounters many different people and learns the harsh truths of her world.
While not an isekai series, Erin features a young girl that has dreams that are perhaps above her station and the brains to back it up. However, unlike in Ascendance of a Bookworm, you follow Erin as she grows and embarks in a more dramatic story.
Do You Have more anime series like Ascendance of a Bookworm? Let Fans know in the comments section below.
