This review on Honzuki no gekokujou 2 Contains spoilers. If you have not seen the chapter, we recommend you do it and then go back to read the review.

Chapter 7 (21): New Servants

Myne's mother confesses her pregnancy to Myne. She wants to do something for her new sibling, but nobody knows what a picture book is. For which she decides to make one and needs Wilma, she talks with the High Priest and in exchange for him learning music and the culture of the nobility, he accepts. The two new maids are Wilma and Rosina, the second an instrumentalist, specifically the harspiel, who lives with the memory of a better past time, a past time that will not return. After certain difficulties with her, Myne manages to get along with the new maid and she accepts her new role. In an exchange of words things about Wilma come to light, it will be time to find out.

Chapter opinion

Another week with the little mouse. In this chapter I think that is where I realized that maybe they are leaving explanations that may be in the original material, however, and if so, they are also knowing how to put together the structure of the continuity of the anime at a good pace. What requires explanations with a few dialogues make it clear and they use visual language very well, that is, what the scenes show us without the need to say anything, like that look of Fran and the reaction of Wilma. Another thing, at the beginning it seemed to me that there was an increase in the quality of the image, I felt the most vivid colors, although perhaps it was only my perception and it may not have really happened. An interesting chapter, which may not stand out, but which prepares a strong theme very well.

Pregnancies and noble culture

The chapter begins with strong news that is the trigger for the events: Myne's mother tells her that she will be a sister. Then you can see that Myne wants to do a picture book, but nobody knows what it is. To create it requires Wilma and asks her as a servant. The High Priest says that he must learn music, which is what the nobles do, in the end he makes us understand that he wants Myne to learn that culture. He tells her certain things and that it depends on Myne if it is used or not, but in order not to be, she must learn to do certain things, like learning music. The system of children is not very different from what we supposedly know from the middle ages, of course with the addition of mana. This nobility seems to have an aggressive and utilitarian average culture, in turn they are the only ones who seem to possess artistic things, music being the most outstanding, which is the most appreciated by them, even in an orphan, like Rosina.

Tips from the High Priest

Learning music, especially the instrument called harspiel, is the recommendation of the High Priest, who knows this world very well. What seems curious to me is that it seems that Myne has been passing from teacher to teacher, the first being the door guard who taught him the letters, then his friend and merchant Benno, in the end we have the High Priest. All of them, in one way or another, have supported and advised Myne and she reciprocated. Although she does not realize it, Myne was climbing socially, so much so that she got to wear a blue habit and needs a mentor like the High Priest, without him Myne would be lost in the cathedral. The advice of the High Priest is proving useful and this advice on learning music is no less.

In search of the new maids

After the High Priest's consent, Myne goes to find Wilma first and then Rosina. The first is complicated, because she wants to stay in the orphanage because the children are alone and she is the only one who takes care of them, but then we find out the truth. In order for him to accept, Myne had to keep him living in the orphanage. Rosina was easier to get, they just told her that she would teach harspiel and she immediately made herself available to Myne, of course she told Rosina that she will also do other things besides teaching.

The melancholy of a past musical time

Everyone seems to dislike Rosina, since she has been a middle manager from the beginning. And here we learn that her former mistress, Christine, pampered servants with artistic qualities, Rosina being one of them. This made the girl's way of being different from that of an ordinary servant, since it seems that he spent most of his life (I think this is something they omit from the original material, because a good story would tell these things that are necessary to clarify) he spent playing the instrument. This is shown in her innocence, because although she had told Myne that she did not know how things work, it was really Rosina who did not know, because her reality was different, it was a constant melody that had a great silence.

Sacrifice some notes to compose a symphony

Myne sets out to do what she learned in the last chapter, find out and have more knowledge of all possible points of view, especially her servants, old as well as new (although it was only Wilma). Wilma is the one who tells us about the last part. Myne gives Rosina an ultimatum and tells her that if she wants to stay she must do others, that she (Myne) is not Christine. Rosina returns to the orphanage, one night under the dark sky she remembers her past and her tremendous taste for music and playing harspiel, Wilma appears and tells her that not everything will be the same as before. At these words from an old friend, Rosina hugs the wood she has had for years so as not to forget the feeling of the instrument. I feel that this wood also has a history, this wood has been through a lot together with Rosina, because it not only appears there, but before, when she is called and I feel that this in the original material is also commented. Rosina in the end decides to sacrifice those memories and turn them into new notes to compose her new symphony.

Past scars

By the end of the chapter we are shown Rosina much more willing to collaborate, helping Myne. It is in this scene that Rosina tells us the real reason why Wilma does not want to leave the orphanage: fear of the boys. It is not an inexplicable fear, it is one that in our very reality occurs and more often than we can see, precisely because those people with fear do not show themselves, especially before that being they fear. Wilma, it seems, was outraged or almost becomes so, by a nobleman who took advantage of her status and through deceit led Wilma to things she would not have accepted. This in itself, along with that of Delia, makes me think that the original material may be darker than the anime. But these two have been the new servants presented, both with marks of the past: one indelible but treatable as much as possible, the other memorable but surmountable.

This was today's chapter. It has made me want to look for the original material (he called it that because I am still not sure if it is a light novel, although my quick inquiries say yes). The next week he will talk to us about Wilma, at least the title indicates that. I hope they deal with the past and I say this because this anime in a sense knows how to deal with these delicate issues and gives certain practical answers. And I also hope to learn more about Mother Myne's pregnancy. What will it be like?

.

About the Author

Sweety Otaku

One of the best parts of watching anime is how many times a show can surprise you. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. But if the Otaku know one thing, it's that anything is possible.

View All Articles