Mushikaburi-hime (Bibliophile Princess)

[stray]

I know this is a tried and true shoujo formula but I'm really not feeling this arc.

[Anh_Minh]

I'm starting to really understand those people who say she shouldn't marry the crown prince. How'd she let an actual child (and a very rude, stupid one at that) push her into sabotaging her relationship? And that's the future queen?

[Alchemist007]

She may have knowledge, but not very much in the way of social maneuvering skills.

[Frontier]

Things are tense between our main couple...and Eli realizes she made a mistake and ran away like a cowardly Bibliophile Princess, not that it makes her feel any better .

Man, Jean looks so perpetually tired all the time. Is attending to Eli that much work? Well, knowing the trouble she keeps getting into, I guess that makes sense .

So Sara wasn't the leak? She was just connected to the Dauner Family because they took her in when she was an orphan and helped her get a job at the palace, but despite that Matilda treats her awfully because she's an Azulinite who hails from a village people blame for the plague that killed Eli's mom and almost killed Christophers' mom. And it seems like Sara is pretty used to being judged and shunned for it, as are her people .

Ugh, the gall of this woman to rummage through Eli's office trying to find the dress she's going to wear at the banquet just so she can show her up! Arrogant, resentful, and judgmental, the worst qualities to be found in a woman. But Eli's not having any of it, and she stands up for Sara and spits nothing but facts to Matilda to help her realize how wrong she is about everything and how she doesn't deserve to even be a concubine. That's our Elianna !

Not only is Matilda apprehended for her crimes, but trying to throw her grandfathers' name out there gets her nothing but the promise that her family is likely headed for ruin from Chris' mouth. Yeah, stew on that lady .

I hope Sara's okay...it seems like her only crime was being connected to the Dauner family and not stopping Matilda rummaging through things .

I'm glad Eli and Chris finally talked and Eli was able to unload on Chris everything she had been anxious and worried about. Eli should've had more faith in herself and for Chris, but Chris was also leaving her a lot to deal with alone even though he was working so hard to lighten her load. But now the both of them are totally open about everything and their love for each other, which is great .

Ha! They're already hiding from Christopher's mom! But Henrietta is actually jealous of all the time Christopher gets to spend with Elianna. She wants her Eli time too !

Eli finally says what she wanted to say the moment Henrietta brought up concubines...that she doesn't want Chris to marry any other woman but her. And Christopher is more than happy to fulfill that desire because Eli is the only woman he will ever have eyes on and no woman could carry the heart of the people of Sauslind like she can. And we leave off with Eli declaring her love for Chris as the pair embrace, once again solidifying their bond and love for one another .

[Alchemist007]

I do kind of wish we had a bit more of past Eli's persona being tsun at the prince (or anyone else) for the mistreatment of books.

[FlareKnight]

I guess the show did have to mostly toss the concubine issue. Wouldn't quite be as romantic to honestly accept that Christopher would keep some concubines. Or at the very least he'd be unable to avoid the issue due to his position.

Not quite the shoujo ideal there . Would have been interesting though to have him and Eli really pressed on that issue instead of it just being pinned on one "bad" noble family. But the honest truth is probably more that other noble families are worried about it, but don't want to get crushed for speaking up about their worries. Which I mean...fair enough. While it's been mostly underplayed the last half of the show, Eli's family is supposed to be scary. And obviously Christopher has shown plenty of willingness to take steps against groups that get between him and his intent to marry Eli. So better to swallow doubts and hope nothing bad happens.

Part of me is surprised we didn't just leave this as the last episode. A pretty solid final moment between the leads at the end of this episode. But obviously a few options exist for the last episode and I'm sure it'll be fine.

Originally Posted by Alchemist007

I do kind of wish we had a bit more of past Eli's persona being tsun at the prince (or anyone else) for the mistreatment of books.

I can agree with that. Not that I hate Eli or anything. But certainly that tsun and aggressive version of her was pretty entertaining. She does get upset at people still for mistreating books, but it's not on the same level.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I guess the show did have to mostly toss the concubine issue. Wouldn't quite be as romantic to honestly accept that Christopher would keep some concubines. Or at the very least he'd be unable to avoid the issue due to his position.

Not quite the shoujo ideal there . Would have been interesting though to have him and Eli really pressed on that issue instead of it just being pinned on one "bad" noble family. But the honest truth is probably more that other noble families are worried about it, but don't want to get crushed for speaking up about their worries. Which I mean...fair enough. While it's been mostly underplayed the last half of the show, Eli's family is supposed to be scary. And obviously Christopher has shown plenty of willingness to take steps against groups that get between him and his intent to marry Eli. So better to swallow doubts and hope nothing bad happens.

I think it's much too early to worry about it. They're not even married yet. If, after a few years, she fails to produce children, then they may have to revisit the issue. Anything earlier is just ambition, not worry.

[Frontier]

Dang it Sharon, you've put Eli through enough grief at this point! You shouldn't be interrupting the first Eli and Chris kiss we've gotten in a while !

Okay, I have to admit, as bad as Sharon has been in this arc, the idea of her bribing Eli with a rare book to get her to give Sharon Christopher was actually pretty genius. Heck, Eli had to use all her willpower to refuse, even if Chris has some mixed feelings about how anguished she was to choose him over a book .

Sharon has been a petulant child making nothing but trouble...but that's what she is, a child, and a little sister who just wanted to make her big sister (and who practically raised her after her mother died) happy the only way she felt like she could. Was she heavily misguided? Yeah. Did she emotionally hurt Eli? Yeah, But at the same time, I can't completely hate her .

As far as Mireille herself, it seems she genuinely did love her deceased husband, and the "legend" of her and Christopher's romance was apparently trumped up by men who possibly had her husband killed. She wants to investigate it internally rather than get Chris involved, but that's actually kind of serious .

Elianna might not be a natural princess, but she has the right idea of what a noble should be. They owe their high class of living to the people, which means they need to do their part to take care of the people and to better their country, as Eli has .

Well, Sharon getting dressed down and compared to a piglet feels like enough punishment for her at this point. I really feel like Chris might force Glen to keep entertaining her .

Dang, Elianna and Christopher looked absolutely stunning as a royal couple in that fancy dress wear! Eli really looks amazing in red .

Was that Takaya Kuroda as the king? Eli's father-in-law is Sullivan/Kazuma Kiryu? Although he has to put in the work to make her call him "father" like his wife did to earn being called "mother" which his wife is apt to remind him .

Theodore hasn't had a lot of lines lately, but Christopher isn't about to let him get in any flirting with Eli this time around .

Queen Henrietta really does cherish Eli! She is hard on her, but that's because she wants Eli to take care of herself because she's so protective of her, and she won't broker any disrespect to her daughter. And being called "mother" is super effective against her, our tsundere queen mother !

Oh, so Anna and Elianna's brother are a thing now? They were holding hands at the end there .

The kingdom is offering Eli a reward for all her hard work, and the only thing she can ask for is a vacation so she can read books. Never change, Eli !

Can't beat some practical Christmas Trees with lights as the snow falls upon our couple as they basically gush about each other and re-affirm their love for each other and desire to be husband and wife! And we even get a lovely kiss in the snow !

What better way to end it than Eli reading like always, Chris trying to be accommodating to her wanting to read, but Eli decides she'd rather spend some time with him instead of reading. Our Bibliophile Princess has changed !

[zztop]

Reminder that Bibliophile Princess' novels are currently on a catchup special for this month from J-Novel Club, so anyone interested to see what the anime left out/wanting to know how the story continues can check it out.
https://j-novel.club/series/bibliophile-princess

Also, J Novel is finally translating novel Vol 6, which originally came out in Japan back in Feb 2022. (Which means 7's translation; original release in Oct 2022, should also come out afterwards as well.)

[stray]

Enjoyable series but ultimately pretty forgettable, and the last arc wasn't that great either. Probably a 6/10.

[Alchemist007]

Amusing enough of a watch.

7/10

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for final thoughts:

7/10

Pretty average shoujo stuff. The setting kinda gave me a bit of hope that it would be more than just that, but it didn't really turn out so. In general, it felt a lot of the conflict in the episodes would have been solved if the heroine had more confidence in herself and stopped doubting her relationship whenever a hiccup occurred.
That, or the conflict involves an antagonist that is considerably stupid.

But it didn't hurt either, so it was an okay watch.