Ascendance of a Bookworm, aka Honzuki no Gekokujou, is one of the thousands of works in the genre of isekai and fantasy, which have an important place in Japanese anime and manga culture. However, with its unique storyline, the series stands out among these thousands of works with its light novel and also anime. The series, which was previously published as a web novel and continues to be published as a light novel today, is written by Miya Kazuki. Ascendance of a Bookworm, published as a light novel since 2015, first came to the screen with an anime adaptation in 2019. The anime is being animated by Ajia-do Animation Works, also the studio of Kemono Jihen. Licensed by Crunchyroll, the anime has 3 seasons aired so far, and it last aired on June 14, 2022, with the third season finale episode. Fans are now wondering about the fourth season. We have compiled all the known about the Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 4.
Will there be a fourth season of Ascendance of a Bookworm?
The anime’s third season aired weekly from April 11, 2022, to June 14, 2022. Sometimes we can see new season confirmations in the season finale of anime. However, unfortunately, there is no such statement in the season three finale of Ascendance of a Bookworm. As of September 5, 2022, at the time of writing, light novel publisher TO Books, Studio Ajia-do Animation Works, or any anime-related company has not yet renewed the anime for a fourth season.
Renewals of animes are evaluated under certain criteria. If everything seems fine after this evaluation and a new season of anime seems profitable, a new season is green-lit. We made a similar assessment about whether the anime could have a new season. For Ascendance of a Bookworm to have a new season, we first looked at the light novel situation.
Light Novel
As we mentioned at the beginning of our article, Ascendance of a Bookworm is an anime adaptation, and the light novel, the original of the series, is written by Miya Kazuki and illustrated by Yū Shiina. The series, which started being published by TO Books on January 25, 2015, has 29 volumes published at the time of writing, and the 30th volume of Light Novel will be released on August 10, 2022.
The first two parts of the light novel series, Part 1: Daughter of a Soldier and Part 2: Apprentice Shrine Maiden, were adapted into anime’s first three seasons. These two parts correspond to the first 7 volumes of the light novel. Considering the part adapted in the anime series, we see that the anime series is far behind the light novel. This is good news because the source material for the 4th season and more is already available. The likely fourth season will tell the story from Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke.
The continuation of the light novel also keeps the advertising work in full swing, thus increasing the possibility of a new anime season. In addition, if you want to learn the rest of the story from the light novel, there is a digital and physical English version of the series. So far, J-Novel Club released the series in English until the 20th volume.
Popularity
Another important criterion for an anime to be renewed for a new season is popularity. Animes are for-profit productions, and only a few of them get a new season chance. Anime is ranked 824th in popularity according to Myanimelist data. We cannot say that this ranking is good for an anime that came out in 2019. On the other hand, Ascendance of a Bookworm has an average search volume on Google.
On Twitter, the official account of the anime is followed by about 50k people. Although this number of followers can be considered above average, animes with more than 100k followers receive new season approvals by more than 70%, but this rate drops below 50% for animes with 50-100k followers. We can’t say that things are perfect for anime in terms of popularity.
Disc sales and exclusive distributors
We mentioned that animes are for-profit productions. Therefore, revenues from disc sales and exclusive distributors are important for anime productions. Disc sales have declined in recent years as online streaming services have gained popularity. However, it is still important data to compare the animes that went on sale in the same period in Japan.
Generally, an average sales figure of over 4,000 units is considered good for an anime. However, the anime remained below 1,000 units in all the seasons sold, and the targeted figures in disc sales could not be reached.
The anime is licensed by Crunchyroll and is currently only streamed by Crunchyroll. The exclusive distribution of anime by major streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon generates significant revenue and increases the likelihood of a new season. In addition, releasing a video game also means an extra income. But currently, Ascendance of a Bookworm doesn’t have a major distributor other than Crunchyroll, and the franchise doesn’t have a video game.
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Ascendance of a Bookworm 4th Season Release Date
The anime has not yet been confirmed for a new season, but we speculated about the fourth season based on some important metrics above. We cannot say that the situation is very bright for the anime series in terms of popularity and finances. However, the anime still managed to receive renewals twice before, and the reviews of the third season were as good as the first two seasons. We can say that the Ascendance of a Bookworm anime is underrated worldwide. Therefore, you need to recommend it to your loved ones and make it gain more popularity. We have some concerns, and we have mentioned them above; however, we think the possibility of a new season is high considering that it has managed to get renewals before, and the last season was a good one.
Since there is no renewal yet, it is difficult to predict the release date, but the anime’s third season was announced on June 12, 2020, and started airing about 2 years later. Therefore, considering the renewal and production period, we can say that the possible fourth season can be broadcast in early 2024. Till then we recommend you to watch Re:Zero which is a beloved anime series in the isekai genre. Stay tuned for official news and updates.