Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen

Urano Motosu loves books and has an endless desire to read literature, no matter the subject. She almost fulfills her dream job of becoming a librarian before her life is ended in an accident. As she draws her last breath, she wishes to be able to read more books in her next life.

As if fate was listening to her prayer, she wakes up reincarnated as Myne—a frail five-year-old girl living in a medieval era. What immediately comes to her mind is her ion. She tries to find something to read, only to become frustrated by the lack of books at her disposal.

Without the printing press, books have to be written and copied by hand, making them very expensive; as such, only a few nobles can afford them—but this won't stop Myne. She will prove that her will to read is unbreakable, and if there are no books around, she will make them herself!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Myne Main

Iguchi, Yuka Japanese

Lutz Main

Tamura, Mutsumi Japanese

Ferdinand ing

Hayami, Show Japanese

Benno ing

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Gunther ing

Koyama, Tsuyoshi Japanese

Tuuli ing

Nakajima, Megumi Japanese

Frida ing

Uchida, Aya Japanese

Otto ing

Hino, Satoshi Japanese

Eva ing

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Ralph ing

Nabatame, Hitomi Japanese

Ozawa, Fumihiro Producer

Oomori, Shinji Producer

Kashimura, Emi Producer

Nagano, Masahiko Producer

Reviews

May 12, 2025

Rigga

Recommended

If you are thrown off by the strong concept-oriented nature of this show, I suggest you give it a chance before dismissing it.

The summary of the show doesn't really speak for what the purpose of this show is. To keep the pitch simple, I contend that this show is a much healthier examination of family dynamics, and has a more realistic take on the Isekai rebirth trope. This show is one of the few shows that takes the time to show you the interpersonal issues that come with something like being reborn as a child into a less-developed world; trying to hide your knoweldge and ... utilize it. Because of her rebirth, Myne is more mature than most of her nearby adults when it comes to pragmatic issues. This does not stop her from being immature and childish as she should be, since she is definitely a child in this life. The matter of her rebirth can be viewed in different lenses, but the most reasonable manner to me and the one that most people in the universe of the show would consider realistic is that she is a child who suddenly had the memories of another person from a different world fill her mind, and these memories are useful. Overall, I believe this is handled in a very mature manner, and the story only continues to improve in later seasons.

Art: The show is sometimes hit or miss with character art, and much of the show is still frames, but for what it aims to be, it is more than fine. (6)

Music / Audio: The score is fine, it serves it's purpose. It's never overly grandiose or anything, it does it's job well. Dialogue is always clear as well. (7)

Characters: This is the highlight of the show. While many of them are simple people, they each have their own quirks, relationships, and desires which wonderfully play off one another. This story has some of the most gut-wrenching stuff going on in it, primarily through character drama. The writers knew what they were doing, and I imagine the light novel is even better. (10)

Plot: The driving plot is somewhat mundane if taken at its face value, however the purpose of the plot is to provide interactions between the characters. It follows the general structure of working towards a far-off-goal, and as such we mostly just follow the progress of the characters towards the goal. Steady progress is made, but there are lots of reasonable and interesting wrenches thrown in her path, which by the end of the season has gotten so bad that you honestly feel bad for her situation. It gets even more complicated in later seasons, so be prepared to be shocked at how far some of the relationships will be strained if you continue this story beyond this season. (10)

Setting: The world they live in (and in particular the city of Ehrenfest) is technologically underdeveloped, equivalent to pre-plague Europe. Literacy rates are almost zero, and the societal norms are draconian. It is a perfectly horrible place for Myne to find herself, and serves to make it more satisfying for her to eventually succeed in promoting literacy and spreading literature. The world seems more open to the idea of literacy than should be reasonably expected considering almost nobody has ever read anything in their life (aside from Myne, nobles and some merchants). While it initially seems like a plain fantasy world, there is at least some depth to it. (7)

Review: Overall, I can't say that this show is perfect, however I believe it and its sequels, when taken as a whole, are genuinely some of the best narative storytelling I have borne witness to in my short time on earth. I consume a lot of slop, and I didn't know if I would be able to handle a show with a premise which seems so boring on its face, but I stand corrected. I thought it would be another sloppy low-budget power fantasy, but instead I got a mature-ish drama. While this show is written and suitable for kids, it doesn't take a discerning eye to realize there's something more here. I wish people the best and I hope you enjoy it if you decide to watch it. I know it won't be for everyone, but maybe it'll surprise you. Who knows? I give this show an 8.5/10 for its extremely good writing.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Rigga (29)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Apr 21, 2025

BadDecisionFan

Mixed Feelings

I really wanted to like this show. It's well written for the most part, the characters are fun, and the worldbuilding is interesting. Unfortunately none of that matters because it annihilated it's own pacing by committing one the of the greatest sins a fantasy story can.

Magic exists, but it barely is shown.

I've seriously never seen someone make magic boring until this show. It was cool how they wrote it in as almost a disease, but the solution isn't the MC learning to use it in any sort of interesting way.

This would've have legitimately been a better story of they nixed the whole magic system and ... made it low fantasy with the MC introducing cheap books to the world. Instead we get poorly written political intrigue.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by BadDecisionFan (12)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Sep 10, 2024

maxlagomorph

Not Recommended

Never felt like writing a review but seeing this anime score so high compelled me to write this one.

The premise is very bland, the script is awful and full of plotholes, main character is annoying, extremely childish (she's in the body of a child, but was supposed be an adult), episodes dwell on the most trivial, boring and mundane details and characters. Many praise it's world building but it's all very flat and basic, and the way things work is always conveniently suited to the Myne's objectives. Like the world building, the magic system serves purely as deus ex machina plot device.

One of the earlier ... plots is she's worrying people might discover she's not the child bc of all the knowledge from earth, but at some point they completely ignore this and everyone simply glosses over when she's citing earth's stuff.

in summary, it's awful , don't waste your time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by maxlagomorph (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Creators on creators (WIP)

by NovaMelony

32 Entries · 1 Restacks

ISFJ Anime

by keyboardroll

34 Entries · 14 Restacks

Isekai and company

by slayra

10 Entries · 3 Restacks

North American Anime & Manga Releases for January

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for January Week 1: January 5 - 11 Anime Releases Black Bullet Blu-ray [2021 re-release] Conception Blu-ray [E...read more

Jan 5, 2021 2:08 PM by Discuss (8 comments)

2020 April Fools' Day Collection

Each year, April Fools' Day gives a chance for creators in the anime, manga, and video game industries to showcase their creativity. With the popularity of soci...read more

Apr 2, 2020 7:11 PM by Discuss (34 comments)

	Poll: Stark700 - Nov 20, 2019	96 replies	by »» Jun 3, 7:27 PM
	Poll: Stark700 - Dec 25, 2019	192 replies	by »» May 6, 2:00 PM
	Poll: Stark700 - Sep 12, 2019	165 replies	by »» Feb 11, 6:41 AM
	Poll: Stark700 - Dec 11, 2019	99 replies	by »» Sep 11, 2024 12:42 PM
	Poll: Stark700 - Nov 13, 2019	66 replies	by »» Sep 11, 2024 8:23 AM

In Numbers: The Best and Worst Anime of Fall 2019

Scores, , favorites — everything you need to know about who won and lost Fall 2019.

by Shymander

112,944 views

Spoiler

MAL Staff Picks: Anime of the Year 2019

Hidden gems, blockbuster sequels, extraordinary debuts, and more are all on the list for our favorite anime of 2019!

by MAL_Articles

61,188 views

Spoiler