Mushoku Tensei Part 2 Episode 9

Zanoba Shirone, The Decapitator Prince

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2 Episode 9 introduced us to another prince of the Shirone Kingdom. First, we had met Pax, the seventh prince. Now, we meet Zanoba, the third prince.

Even if we never met all of the princes of the Shirone Kingdom, I would have liked it if we got a quick rundown of the royal family. I’m guessing Pax is the youngest prince. But what about all the others? Who’s the crown prince?

I get that the rest of the royal family probably doesn’t matter for the story. I just like it when we’re given extra information like that even when it’s not relevant. It helps to build out the world a bit more.

Even though Zanoba is the only new prince we learn about, there are still some interesting things about him that might come up again later. The fact that he’s an otaku who’s obsessed with figures isn’t one of those interesting things.

What I’m referring to is his designation as a “blessed child” and his title “The Decapitator Prince.” This episode is the first time we hear of blessed children, which Aisha claims are those born with superhuman abilities.

In Zanoba’s case, he was born with superhuman strength and is said to have decapitated one of his siblings with his bare hands. This might be leading to the discovery that Rudy is another such blessed child — one who was born with the ability to use vast amounts of mana.

After all, despite Rudy claiming that anyone can build up their mana capacity, we haven’t seen that to be the case. If that were really true, you’d think all the mages who use magic every day would have figured that out by now.

Eris is Looking for a Fight

Since Eris Boreas Greyrat is my favorite character of the series, I obviously have to dedicate an entire section of today’s review to her. There were three Eris scenes in this episode that I really liked.

The first is when the guards tell Eris, Ruijerd, and Aisha that Rudy is being held in the dungeon beneath the castle. Upon hearing this, Eris’s immediate thought is to storm the castle — just as it was last week. I like her combination of devotion toward Rudy and absolute fearlessness.

Her absolute fearlessness is highlighted even more in the second scene I liked, which is when Aisha tells her about the Decapitator Prince. Eris’s response is that she wants to fight him because he sounds strong. And when she sees him, she ditches Aisha to go pick a fight.

There’s just something about Eris viewing herself as invincible that I love. She’s weaker than both Rudy and Ruijerd, and yet she doesn’t seem to fathom that anyone else could possibly be stronger than she is. This scene reminded me of when she went hunting goblins on her own, not even thinking about the potential danger.

The final scene of the episode involving Eris that I liked highlights her devotion to Rudy. This is toward the end of the episode when Aisha asks to hear more stories of Rudy’s exploits and Eris is more than happy to oblige.

I like this side of her because it’s cute. She talks about Rudy as if he’s her sibling she’s proud of. She’s technically the older of the two, and so often talks about Rudy as if he’s her younger brother. But there are also times when she looks up to him as an older brother because he’s dependable.

Aisha, Future Dog of the Kennel Master

For a moment at the end of the episode, I thought Aisha was actually going to join Dead End. I do think she’s going to join their party eventually. But as we saw, now isn’t the right time since she’s only about six years old.

What’s a little suspicious is how Lilia appears to be raising Aisha for that eventual role. Not only has Aisha been raised to serve Rudy, but her mother even commented on her future “growth” and how she’ll be “voluptuous.”

Once again, let me remind you that Aisha is six years old and also Rudy’s half-sister.

But, things get a bit stranger when you consider how Lilia herself views Rudy. She kept the pair of Roxy’s panties he had hidden away so she could return them to him. She knows that he’s a pervert. And she seemed to have been hitting on him herself a bit when she hugged him.

As far as I can tell, Lilia’s understanding of what a maid is supposed to be is very different from the traditional understanding of what a maid is supposed to be. It would appear she believes it’s her — and her daughter’s — duty is to please the men of the Greyrat household in any way.

I have no issue with Lilia basically offering her body to Rudy. My response to that is, “nice.” But when she’s also offering up her daughter who’s blood-related to Rudy, I have to draw the line.

Aisha’s cute and I want her to stick around in the story for the long term. But, I don’t necessarily think she needs to be added to Rudy’s harem — Eris, Roxy, and Sylphie have that covered. And, for that reason, I’m glad Rudy shut Aisha down.

Conclusion

What do you think of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2 Episode 9? Do you think the concept of “blessed children” will come up again later? What was your favorite Eris moment of the episode? And are you more of a Lilia or Zenith kind of person? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 10 is available now.