Literature Unremarkable isekai dragged down by awful protagonist
This review covers up to the end of Episode 8
I've heard that this work was surprisingly groundbreaking in the Tensei Isekai genre, even if peopl seem to have forgotten that. I'll concede that it has a novel premise, but there are too many distasteful elements for me to give it a passing grade.
The story is about an unemployed 34-year-old Japanese man who, after leeching off his parents for two decades, stays home to masturbate to child porn rather than attend their funeral, resulting in his siblings kicking him out. He dies saving some teenagers from a truck, resulting in him reincarnating in a fantasy world as Rudeus Greyrat. As a boy with the mind of a middle-aged man, Rudeus intends to make up for his failure of a previous life.
Rudeus is the main reason why I dislike the show. While he does make some progress in overcoming his vices from his previous life, from getting out of the house to working a job to actually caring for his family, he makes no attempt to address his most disgusting quality, his perversion. Being a pervert is no longer considered an acceptable character quirk, at least not in the West after the rise of #Me Too!, so it's much harder to find Rudeus stealing people's panties (aka "holy relics") funny. If his past life's behavior hadn't been bad enough to make him on par with cartoonishly over-the-top Hate Sink characters, the idea of him achieving redemption in his new life would have been easier to swallow.
The other characters aren't all that likeable. Rudeus' father Paul is a sexual deviant with an unpunished sexual assault under his belt. Rudeus' relative Eris is a textbook Tsundere who embodies most of the worst aspects of the trope. On the other hand, I actually liked Rudeus' mother Zenith for her realistic and measured reaction to her husband cheating on her with the family maid, and find Ghyslaine to be a decent deconstruction of the consequences of being Book Dumb.
The setting is a bog-standard high fantasy world without much unique going for it. That said, I liked how the setting ha some realistic touches, such as how expensive books are before the advent of the printing press. Partly because of that, I would have liked it better if Rudeus had been forced to turn his original life around; a lot of people who end up in worse situations through no fault of their own would kill for the second chance he got.
The series isn't entirely bad. The art in the anime is excellent, and I often enjoyed Rudeus' past self's internal monologues(e.g. "You better take the L, Paul..."), even as loathsome of a person as he is. Nevertheless, Mushoku Tensei stands out from the rest of the isekai genre, both those that came before and those that came after it, in all the wrong ways, so I cant' recommend it to anyone in good conscience.
Literature Presentation Over Substance
The best way to describe my experience of Jobless Reincarnation is to compare it to watching a well-produced documentary. I say this because in a documentary you don’t feel emotionally invested, but you’re still enjoying yourself. That’s Jobless Reincarnation for me, I don’t care for any of its substance, but it’s presented well-enough that it’s worth seeing.
First of all, this isn’t a series with strong characters when looked upon individually. However, the series is still engaging, because what the characters lack individually, their interactions with each other make up for it.
The slow-paced beginning lends the series some more build up before the obvious power fantasy begins, which I can appreciate, if only because the current events are enjoyable. At the same time, I can’t see many uses for the slow pacing, because there’s nothing worthy of such focus, as the setting is your standard fantasy setting. If the pacing was to make me care for the characters, then it failed, because while I like watching them, I don’t care for them. They’re too simple for me, even the protagonist. You could’ve easily done an establishing character moment for all of them and not spend an entire episode learning about them. Though, I still appreciate that they take the time to establish a relationship between the cast.
So, if you’re looking for a unique or interesting cast, story, setting, or premise, back out now because you’re not going to get it here.
In terms of character development, yes, Rudeus does develop, but it’s so bland and formulaic that it not only detracts from the rest of the series but feels like it was done to cross it off on a checklist. Even worse, it doesn’t give me much to look forward to. He’s barely mediocre as a character in general, for me at least.
So, if you can handle a simple and slow show that handles the little but still important aspects correctly, you’ll likely enjoy yourself…for now, at least. I say this because this series doesn’t have much to offer other than it’s slow build up. Yes, I understand Seinfeld is Unfunny is in effect here, but originality doesn’t impress me as much as having a well-written and entertaining cast and story from start to finish. So, while this series may have started many of the well-known isekai tropes, it doesn’t use them quite as well as its few good successors do. Overall, I won’t say this is the “best” isekai. It’s not too far behind, but that’s mostly thanks to the animation. Even with the eventual Wham Episode, my thoughts remain relatively the same.
Also, There's been a lot of talk about how perverted Rudeus is and some of the more uncomfortable aspects. Honestly, I'm fine with the perversion because it's so "out there" that it's funny as hell. The other uncomfortable aspects I'm also fine with because I tend to expect these things in your standard medieval fantasy world, it'd be weird if I saw the cast having better social values and morals than our world.
Literature Mushoku Tensei Season 1: All my children are strong!
Mushoku Tensei is not for everybody, I guess. Some people think that it's too slow, or too formulaic, or that its protagonist is too unlikable.
I'm not one of those people.
See, I think that the discourse around Re:Zero's Subaru is kind of funny. Many say that viewers are supposed to feel uncomfortable watching him because he's supposed to be a deconstruction, some kind of harsh reflection if you will, of the kind of loser who seeks to evade from reality by watching losers like him become Gary Stus in other worlds. In other words: a good chunk of the isekai genre target audience. But here's the thing: I've watched Re:Zero's first season and I don't see myself reflected in Subaru. But I do see myself reflected in Rudeus Greyrat.
That sounds almost crazy, doesn't it? Nobody seems to do that. No no, Rudeus is just a disgusting pig. Sure, he undergoes Character Development and eventually redeems himself, but at the beginning he's just human scum, right? So much so that some people even think that he's beyond the Moral Event Horizon, that he can't really redeem himself. Surely you are better than him, SorPepita!
No. No, I'm not.
I know what it's like to see yourself as a hopeless loser. I know what it's like to think that your life has no meaning. I know what it's like to not have friends. I know what it's like to indulge in sexual fantasies, even dark ones, because fantasies are the only thing you have, the only thing you believe you'll ever have. I know all of that despite having, like Rudeus had in his first life, a loving mother. The kind of mother who believes that you'll get over it because "all my children are strong!". But he didn't get over it. He never exited his room, and she died, and he didn't even attend her funeral. And it breaks my ****ing heart. It's so sad, so unfair. For her, but also for Rudeus.
Mushoku Tensei is not a power fantasy. Rudeus may be technically powerful, but a freak magical phenomenon shook his entire new life and he couldn't do anything to prevent it. The Dragon God almost killed him, and he couldn't do anything to save himself. He starts the season finale alone and depressed, without the mental energy to get out of bed and exit his tent. History repeating itself. Until...
Until he remembers his new mother, and how much she loves him, and how she's still missing. She needs her son to find her. She needs him to be strong. And this time... this time he is.
In the final scene of the season, his childhood friend talks about him as her savior, her mentor and the person she respects the most. She is talking about the same loser who died alone and unloved, but it's all true. He could be all of those things for someone, all along. And I think I could be them too.
You don't have to understand my tears, I guess. Mushoku Tensei is not for everybody.