Nanahoshi Will Never Return Home

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 15 was one of those episodes that goes by too fast. I thought the episode was only halfway over when the end credits began rolling. Though, the credits were a bit earlier than normal in this episode.

So, why did this episode feel so short? I’m not entirely sure. A lot of the time, when episodes feel short, it’s because there’s a lot of action. That wasn’t the case here. Most of the episode was about Nanahoshi’s magic circle experiments.

Instead, my guess is that it felt short because I kept anticipating that something would happen. That something never did end up happening. But, I think the anticipation made me not realize how far into the episode I was. And, by something happening, I mean something bad — like Nanahoshi taking her own life.

Why would Nanahoshi take her own life, though? Well, as we saw, after this latest failure, Nanahoshi felt like she’d never succeed. She felt like she’d never be able to go back home. And because of that, she seemed to have been contemplating ending it all.

Unlike Rudeus, Nanahoshi never really assimilated into life within this world. But, that’s not exactly her fault. We need to remember that their situations are very different. Rudeus was reborn into this world and grew up here for about 18 years. Nanahoshi was transported to this world and has only been here for about five years.

From the very start, Nanahoshi has been trying to find a way back home. Rudeus hasn’t. He has family and friends here — things he doesn’t have back in his old world. Nanahoshi could make friends. But, she doesn’t have a family to support her. In her mind, she’s all alone.

Layering Summoning Circles

It now looks like Nanahoshi isn’t going to end her own life, thanks to the work of Rudeus and his friends. He had Zanoba, Elinalise, and Cliff take a look at her magic circle. And, together, they came up with a way to fix it.

Their solution was a pretty simple one, though it required thinking “outside the box.” Why use a single, very complex magic circle when you could use multiple, simple magic circles? By layering magic circles on top of each other, you can have them work as if they were one circle.

When testing this new method, Nanahoshi (with Rudeus’s mana) managed to summon a plastic bottle. A plastic bottle is a simple object. But, it’s a simple object that doesn’t exist in this world. So, it’s proof that they were able to summon something from their old world — the first step in Nanahoshi’s plan.

After this success, Nanahoshi says she’ll be able to summon whatever she wants into this world. However, that’s not what her end goal is. Her end goal is to reverse summon herself back into her old world. Do you think she’s going to succeed?

The way I see it, there are four possibilities. The first is that Nanahoshi can’t reverse summon herself and learns to live in this world. She’ll become friends with Rudeus’s friends and can summon items from her old world as she pleases. That’s the least interesting option.

The second is that she succeeds and eventually returns to her old world. The third is that she returns to her old world, and Rudeus gets caught up in the summoning. And, the fourth is that she dies in a horrific summoning accident. I’m hoping for that one. Things have been going too well for too long.

Ruijerd and the Little Sisters

I mentioned that the end credits started a bit earlier than usual in this episode. That was to make room for a post-credits scene, which I hope you didn’t skip. At the very end of the episode, Norn and Aisha show up at Rudeus’s doorstep.

Norn is easy to remember. But, I always forget that Aisha is the child and not the maid whom Paul knocked up. That’s Lilia. I don’t know why I always think Aisha is the mother and not the daughter, but I do. Anyway, Norn and Aisha are the two who are here.

Of course, we already knew that these two were going to show up at some point this season. The cover art for this half of the season features them both in Rudeus and Sylphie’s house. And, we also see this in the OP.

The big surprise is the person who brought Norn and Aisha to Rudeus’s home — Ruijerd. When Paul mentioned that a man Rudeus knew was escorting them, I had no idea who it could be. I actually forgot about Ruijerd in that moment, despite it being so obvious in hindsight.

Like, what other male character could it be? It could have been the Dedoldian leader, I guess. But, I don’t think Paul knows him. There are very few male characters whom both Paul and Rudeus know. And, the majority of them are members of Paul’s party. So, it wouldn’t have been surprising for Paul to run into them.

Ruijerd, though, now that is a surprise. I wonder if he’s going to have any information for Rudeus about what Eris is up to. I know he separated from Rudeus and Eris before they split up. But, he may have come across her training.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 15? Were you expecting Nanahoshi to take her own life in this episode? Do you think she’ll ever successfully make it back home? And, did you realize that Ruijerd was the one escorting Norn and Aisha before the end of the episode?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about the perks of supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 16 is available now.

Rudeus’s Secret Life

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 14 was another alright episode. The previous episode was fine, and this episode was fine too. It wasn’t anything special. It felt like so little happened that I was originally going to dedicate this first section of the review to the new OP.

Maybe in a later review, I’ll discuss the OP. But, for this review, I thought of something else. During the wedding ceremony, Sylphiette asked Nanahoshi what she meant when she said that she and Rudeus were from the same place.

Obviously, Nanahoshi saying that wasn’t going to make sense to Sylphiette. Sylphiette knew Rudeus as a child. She knows Rudeus’s parents, Paul and Zenith Greyrat. And, she knows that Rudeus was born to them in Fittoa. So, what could Nanahoshi have meant?

Well, Nanahoshi deflects Sylphiette’s question. She says that she thought Rudeus was from the same place as her because he speaks her language. With that, she’s trying to imply to Sylphiette that she was wrong about Rudeus. That he’s not actually from where she’s from. And, that could be believable considering Rudeus knows multiple languages.

However, it made me think more about this secret Rudeus is hiding from everyone. As far as I can remember, Nanahoshi is the only one who knows Rudeus comes from another world. He didn’t tell Sylphiette, Eris, Roxy, or even Ruijerd.

Some people, like Orsted, know there’s something different about Rudeus. When Rudeus brought up the name of the Man-God, Orsted asked what Rudeus knew about him. But, that’s as close as anyone’s come to learning Rudeus’s secret.

So, do you think he’ll ever tell Sylphiette? It doesn’t matter. He’s not planning on returning to his old world. But, shouldn’t she know?

Grandma Elinalise

The reveal that Elinalise is Sylphiette’s grandmother wasn’t a surprise, for me. I had that little piece of information spoiled for me a while back. I don’t remember how. But, I’ve known that was the case at least since the first half of this season.

Let’s talk about it, though. Why does it matter if Elinalise is Sylphiette’s grandmother? Well, the simple answer is that it doesn’t matter. Elinalise’s condition is a curse. It’s not something that’s passed down her bloodline. So, no, Sylphiette doesn’t require constant sex to survive.

However, if she did, I’m not so sure that would be a dealbreaker for Rudeus. He’d just want to be the person she has sex with every day. As long as that was the case, he’d probably have no issue with his wife having a curse like that.

The one way in which this fact could matter is if other elves find out. Did you ever wonder why Sylphiette and her parents moved to the town in Fittoa where Rudeus lived? I didn’t. But, we now know why. They were chased out of the Great Forest because of their connection to Elinalise.

Sylphiette even mentions that her father had trouble marrying because he was Elinalise’s son. So, from all this, we can assume that the other elves don’t look fondly upon Elinalise. If they found out Sylphiette was Elinalise’s granddaughter, they’d most likely shun her, as well. That’s the only real way in which this could matter.

Will Rudeus and Sylphiette ever go to the Great Forest? I don’t know. Will they ever run into other elves Sylphiette isn’t related to? I don’t know that, either. But, at least this hints at how the other elves may react if those things ever do happen.

Greyrat Family Duel

Toward the end of Episode 2, Princess Ariel insists that Rudeus have a duel against Luke. The purpose of this duel seems to be for them to ensure that Rudeus is strong enough to protect Sylphiette. Though, neither Luke nor Ariel states this.

I like the action scenes in Mushoku Tensei. The animators always do a great job. But, I wish this duel lasted a bit longer. Yes, it was pretty satisfying to see Rudeus dispatch Luke so quickly. However, I’d have liked it if he spent more time showing off his skills.

The fact that Rudeus could beat Luke is impressive, though. Remember, Rudeus is a mage. Mages don’t typically fight with swords — they fight with magic. Luke isn’t a mage — he’s a knight. So, Rudeus defeated Luke in his own domain. And, that’s after Rudeus previously showed everyone at the university his magic skill.

Rudeus is a powerful enough mage that he was able to “harm” the Demon King Badigadi. Any mage of this caliber wouldn’t be expected to also be skilled at sword fighting. But, as we know, Rudeus isn’t a normal person.

Something to keep in mind, though, is that his skill with a sword is mostly authentic. He has his demon eye, which allows him to see a little into the future. That’s going to make a difference — if he uses it, which we have no proof that he did here. But, other than that, he trained to get this good with a sword.

His skills are the result of training with Eris and Ruijerd while traversing across the demon continent. He’s one of the few people at the University who we know has adventurer experience. Considering all that, it’s no wonder he’s the “Boss.”

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 14? When, if ever, do you think Sylphiette will learn about Rudeus’s previous life? Are you expecting Sylphiette’s relation to Elinalise to ever come up again? And, were you satisfied with the duel between Rudeus and Luke?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about the perks of supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 15 is available now.