“The Story About Winter Stays and the Future”
What They Say:
Avid bookworm and college student Motosu Urano ends up dying in an unforeseen accident. This came right after the news that she would finally be able to work as a librarian like she had always dreamed of. When she regains consciousness. She was reborn as Myne, the daughter of a poor soldier. She was in the town of Ehrenfest, which has a harsh class system. But as long as she had books, she really didn’t need anything else. However, books were scarce and belonged only to the nobles. But that doesn’t stop her, so she makes a decision … “If there aren’t any books, I’ll just create some.”
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the cold morning begins, Myne attempts to start the day by drawing back the curtains but is promptly scolded by Delia that this is improper behavior, warning her mistress that she should stay in bed until summoned, but even as she tries to apologize for the misunderstanding, that too is seen as bad manners since she should not ask for forgiveness from her retainers. And so the day drags on with the apprentice priestess unable to do anything aside from sitting in her chambers, soon wanting to return home where she could at least talk to Tuli when she was alone, but even music lessons from Rosina do little to brighten the mood, especially when she is told by Fran she cannot help the head priest due to the dangers posed from outside the cathedral, which also means no library privileges. As her head attendant attempts to distract Myne with small tasks feasible within her room and Delia asks for help with arithmetic, this small moment of cheerfulness is taken away once the idea of a church classroom is squashed, again deemed inappropriate for a blue-robed priestess to teach those below her status.
Once Lutz arrives for a visit, a delighted Myne is glad to see her friend and wants to be hugged, sadly stating she wishes to go home, even as the blonde boy calmly reminds her it has only been a day, and yet his closeness only makes her homesickness that much more tangible, desperately being empty without her family and causing her think she might die from loneliness. But as the group plans for what handiwork they will do over winter, and after the discussion, Lutz proudly announces he will be visiting a papyrus workshop in a neighboring city this spring, allowing Myne to realize his first step in the dream of becoming a traveling merchant is coming true, prompting her to become more isolated once he leaves. And yet when Gill attempts to coddle his mistress in this time of distress, once again Fran steps in and boldly states it would not be proper for a grey robe to comfort a blue robe, allowing this saddened girl to complain to Tuli once she visits the next day, and become ever more depressed after her sister leaves, whispering in a pleading voice not to go.
In Summary:
While it is always delightful to see Inner Myne burst upon the scene and cheerful elaborate ideas to the audience, even these happy moments as ruthlessly crushed by Fran’s suffocating responsibility to explain what is appropriate behavior for a blue-robed priestess, and though we can begrudgingly accept his well-intentioned duty to mold Myne into a proper lady, it does not make this first act any less depressing, allowing the audience truly sympathize with this seven-year-old girl in wanting to flee from this cold environment, and making us want to cry more when those wished cannot be met. But as Benno visits with new ceremonial robes, the following conversation between himself, Ferdinand, and Karstedt forces an already depressing episode to become more so due to the maddening desires of noble society, inflated due to Myne’s extraordinary spring of ideas and excessive mana, making everyone wanting to claim her for their own as danger rapidly closes in and causing all to sadly realize there may be only one way out for our heroine, even at the cost of her dear family.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
