Learn Japanese with Ascendance of a Bookworm

Anime by Japanese level › N3 to N2

How hard is the Japanese in Ascendance of a Bookworm?

Ikkimi rates Ascendance of a Bookworm at N3 to N2 (faster talk with more unusual words). What sets its level: narration, book-making and temple words. Of the 192 anime Ikkimi rates by hand, 112 are easier and 53 are harder.

Levels follow the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, from N5 (easiest) to N1 (hardest). They are Ikkimi’s estimate of how hard a show’s Japanese is to follow, from how fast people talk, how many unusual words there are and how clear the voices are. They are not official JLPT ratings.

Format, episodes, year and genres are from AniList’s entry, which may cover only the first season.

The words in the title

The Japanese title, 本好きの下剋上 司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません, is a first lesson in itself. Its 6 words, as a dictionary lists them:

How to learn Japanese with Ascendance of a Bookworm

Ikkimi lists Ascendance of a Bookworm on Crunchyroll. What each service carries varies by country. Ikkimi does not stream anything: you watch on your own account, in Chrome on a computer, and Ikkimi adds a Japanese line you can click on top of the player.

On Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll rarely has Japanese subtitles. On a Crunchyroll episode, Ikkimi looks for a matching Japanese subtitle file in Jimaku’s public catalogue, loads it and lines it up with the episode by itself. If Jimaku has no file for an episode, you can search by hand in the Ikkimi popup or load a subtitle file from your computer.

1. Add Ikkimi to Chrome

   Get the extension from the Chrome Web Store and sign in.

2. Play an episode

   Open Ascendance of a Bookworm on Crunchyroll. The Japanese line appears on top of the video.

3. Click the words you keep hearing

   The video pauses and the word opens: kana, romaji, meaning, JLPT level and a recording by a native speaker where one exists (never a computer voice; otherwise the line from the show plays again). At this level, turn on the English line under the Japanese at first, and keep only the words that come back.

4. Review them later

   Kept words come back as flashcards on the Ikkimi website, with the scene and the line they came from, just before you would forget them.

Easier and harder shows

Shows within a level of Ascendance of a Bookworm, with the most genres in common first.

Easier

• N3Wolf Childrenおおかみこどもの雨と雪a film, a mother’s narration, children talkingCrunchyroll
• N3Natsume’s Book of Friends夏目友人帳gentle pace, spirit and folklore wordsCrunchyroll
• N3Restaurant to Another World異世界食堂food described at length, polite service speechCrunchyroll

Also N3 to N2

• N3 to N2Violet Evergardenヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデンformal polite speech, letters read aloudNetflix
• N3 to N2HUNTER×HUNTERlong explanations of invented rulesCrunchyrollNetflix
• N3 to N2Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活fast emotional monologues, fantasy wordsCrunchyroll

Harder

• N2Mushishi蟲師quiet, old-fashioned and nature wordsCrunchyroll
• N2Attack on Titan進撃の巨人military words, fastCrunchyroll
• N2Demon Slayer鬼滅の刃old-fashioned speech, a lot of shoutingCrunchyrollNetflix

See every N3 to N2 anime or all 192 anime by Japanese level, and read how to learn Japanese by watching anime from zero.

Questions

Is Ascendance of a Bookworm good for learning Japanese?

Not as a first show. Ikkimi rates it N3 to N2 (faster talk with more unusual words). What sets its level: narration, book-making and temple words. It is harder than most beginner shows. Watch it for fun from the start if you like, but learn your first words from an easier one.

What Japanese level is Ascendance of a Bookworm?

N3 to N2, on Ikkimi’s scale from N5 (easiest) to N1 (hardest). Of the 192 anime Ikkimi rates by hand, 112 are easier and 53 are harder. The level is Ikkimi’s estimate, not an official JLPT rating.

Where can I watch Ascendance of a Bookworm with Japanese subtitles?

Ikkimi lists Ascendance of a Bookworm on Crunchyroll. What each service carries varies by country. Crunchyroll rarely has Japanese subtitles, so Ikkimi looks for a matching file in Jimaku’s catalogue and lines it up with the episode.

What does the title 本好きの下剋上 司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません mean, word by word?

本 (hon) means “book; volume; script”; 好き (suki) means “liking; being fond of; to one's liking”; 下剋上 (gekokujou) means “juniors dominating seniors; inferiors overthrowing their superiors; retainer supplanting his lord”; 司書 (shisho) means “librarian”; 手段 (shudan) means “means; way; measure”; 選ぶ (erabu) means “to choose; to select; to pick (out)”. Words the title writes in another form are shown here as a dictionary lists them.

How many episodes does Ascendance of a Bookworm have?

AniList’s entry lists 14 episodes of about 24 minutes, first aired in 2019. Later seasons may be listed separately.

What should I watch before Ascendance of a Bookworm?

Shows a little easier than Ascendance of a Bookworm, with genres in common: Wolf Children (N3), Natsume’s Book of Friends (N3) and Restaurant to Another World (N3).

Sources: show details from AniList; meanings from JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0); readings and word splits from kuromoji.js with IPADIC; JLPT word levels from Jonathan Waller’s unofficial lists. See Credits. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@ikkimi.app.