Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu

A child molestation fantasy story decorated with some generic isekai elements.

The story begins portraying a horrible middle-aged pedophile with the main flaws being a recluse (hikikomori) + leech living off his parents (neet) + literal pedophile. After reincarnating in a fantasy world and getting a second chance at life the MC says he will take life seriously now (it's literally the title of the show), so there was a reasonable expectation from the audience that it would be an interesting redemption story, only to utterly fail at that: the first 2 issues are quickly and magically fixed in the first few episodes while his lust ... for children never gets fixed and instead is written off as cheap comedy gags throughout the show.

The MC received for free all kind of benefits just by reincarnating: good looks (from the character's point of view), family with good social status, big magical power, secretly having an adult mind to take advantage of others, etc. He got for free things that a stereotypical loser character think they need for being a "better person", hence, it comes across as a shallow wish fulfillment story where the MC's creep behavior is rewarded with typical things that a lolicon otaku would want (loli harem, little sisters, etc).

The convenient plot writing is all over the place making sure the MC is involved in all kinds of ecchi situations because "he can't help it" (e.g. convenient misunderstandings, "it's legal/not big deal in this world" stuff, most males portrayed as worst than him so he "is not that bad" compared to them, etc), and the inner monologues reveal that this is how the MC fulfills the disgusting dreams he couldn't realize in the past life.

Besides that, the story is the typical generic isekai having the MC going on quests as an adventurer with the purpose of making him seem like a cool hero.

In terms of production value, the animation is good and the art style is attractive, although the quality went downhill in some episodes towards the end.

Male characters are unlikeable as most of them are portrayed as perverts or cheaters, which I guess is convenient for the underlying ecchi theme going on. Female characters seem to mostly exist for fanservice and to fall for the MC.

Overall, this looks like an ecchi anime that pretended to be a redemption story but ultimately failed at that.

I went in blind when I started this show. Didn't know anything about it, and was pleasant surprised by how good it is. It's charming, funny, and gives you interesting characters for sure. Defo one of the better isekai's for sure, and for good reason.

Story and characters
This is where it shines the most. Dropping us in with our MC, Rudeus, as he meets his end from the dreaded truck-kun, after trying to save some people from being hit by it. That is of course after being forced out of his home. Being a loner and basically lazy person, you assume the worst about him, but ... he's mainly just been dealt with a bad hand, from shitty events at school, which has caused him to be who he is. But doing this act, has somehow landed him reborn in a new world. To two lovely and amazing parents, both being super caring, and fun in their own way. They also don't mind showing off their excitement, which surprised me at first, but it's pretty funny seeing it for first time. As of course they don't think Rudeus knows what's going on, but he's still got his previous memories, so he knows what is going on for sure lol.

The story follows Rudeus, as he gets more used to this new world he is in, but also developing himself as well. From the forced bad person he is due to his past. To what he becomes later, along with discovering the world that is now presented to us.

Over the course of the show, we're introduced to more lovely characters. Characters that you will want to see more of. From Roxy, his magic instructor, who helped him when it came to magic, and Sylphiette, who is just really sweet, and I can't wait to see their friendship blossom even more. Along with meeting any more characters that come our way.

Art and sound
The art is on point in a lot of ways. From being bright and colourful when it need be. To when things get dark and disturbing when they're going through some real deep scenes. Along with having that perfect lighting when in certain scenes. Top notch stuff there, and there is no issues with sound as well. Everything here seems well done, on point, and can't say anything about it.

Mushoku Tensei is a hit of a season that you should be watching!

Mushoku Tensei might well be the most controversial anime I’ve come across in a long time. Interspecies Reviewers generated a lot of discussion recently, but that was mostly due to a moronic Youtuber flexing his popularity and trying to mess with MAL.

Mushoku Tensei, on the other hand, divides opinion by simply existing, caused by the character traits and story it follows. Some people, a lot of these LN fans, believe that whatever Mushoku Tensei has done in the anime is just a realistic portrayal of medieval times. Some think that pedophilia and libido for every character is not a good representation. While I knew what ... I was getting into when I first started Mushoku Tensei, my problems begin when the characters get away with rape, pedophilia and sexual harassment and instead, the show plays all of these very sensitive topics in a comedic sense, almost as if they were no big deal. Rape is played off as a joke, pedophilia as a character quirk that has nothing wrong with it, and sexual harassment like flirting.

I don’t argue against the fact that these things can be represented well in anime, but I am not supportive of how easily it’s played off as a humorous copout. I’ve never read the novels, so I speak of what I watched in the first 11 episodes of Mushoku Tensei. LN fans insist these issues will dwindle and Rudues will change for the better as the story progresses, which is fine.

Hell, it’s not Rudeus or the characters I have a problem with. There were, and are scumbags in the world and there always will be, and I don’t mind their portrayal in anime. In fact, I think some anime have too many characters without flaws. My problem is with the presentation. If you’re going to touch on such delicate matters, there’s a fine line that needs to be tread. They can’t be played off as a joke by the show itself and, sometimes, I certainly felt Mushoku Tensei explicitly did that with its portrayal of those scenes. Also, almost everyone in the show thought with their dicks and tits 24/7, and no, that’s not a realistic representation of the world. If you think it is, you need to get out of your bubble and know more people.

The story starts off like any other isekai. A useless otaku meets an accident, dies and is transported to a new world. In MT, the MC gets a completely new start as he’s born into the alternate world instead of having his old body transported. And the first thing that the reincarnated protagonist, newly named Rudeus or Rudy for short, does is ogle at his mother’s breasts and tries to fondle them. Even after realizing that she’s his new mother, he still says “Sucking on a hottie’s tits for free rules”. Already, this left an appalling first impression. It was just awkward? I’ve seen my fair share of ecchi anime with perverted characters, but this was already having me have second thoughts about continuing a few minutes into episode 1. The first episode pulls no punches in showing how much of a trash Rudeus is, as he scrounges for panties of women in his house even before he turns one.

What follows are several time skips within a few episodes until Rudeus turns seven. The start is pretty generic, but I’ll be honest, it’s kinda interesting. If you get rid of the problems many people, including me, have with the portrayal of some issues, then the first season of Mushoku Tensei becomes a polished version of what a lot of other isekai try and fail over and over again. Some do it with some success, but those are few amongst the can of worms that the isekai genre is. So Mushoku Tensei undeniably falls on the better side of the isekai scale, lopsided as that scale may be.

Mushoku Tensei fans like to call it the “Grandfather/Mother of isekai”, but I doubt the validity of these claims because several other popular isekai novels had already come out before it, and SAO (talking about the anime here) might not be an isekai, depending on what your definition of isekai is, but that’s the one that started off the boom of what has basically become a genre now.

Talking about fans, some fans even claim that the people who have issues with pedophilia, rape, etc and how the anime portrays these in good light, are soft snowflakes. According to them, anyone who thinks these things are actually a problem shouldn’t use their own morals on a show.

As a protagonist, Rudues is agonizing to watch. This holds especially true for the first half of the season, as he seemed to not even care about how creepy some of his actions were. He’s a degenerate in the truest sense of the word, with very little to redeem his character. I understand he has trauma because of the bullying he was victim to in his first life, but that doesn’t justify his actions. Of the few flashbacks we got of his previous life, he was shown to have been fapping to child porn at the time of his parents’ funeral. Then, in his new life, he still retains the mind of a middle-aged, useless pedophile, who, even in his new chance at life hasn’t changed after spending five years as he’s fantasizing about turning a five-year-old girl he saved from bullying into his ideal woman. Oh, there’s a change this time though, he’s gifted with abilities far surpassing almost anyone in the world. One of the things that I always find funny about isekai is how the protagonist who is usually pretty useless in real life becomes a genius; not just physically gifted but mentally having over 9000 IQ.

Having said all of this about Rudues, he becomes better in the latter part of the season, although still having bouts of his lecherous habits. My biggest gripe with Rudeus as a character is that his filthy actions are not driven by physical attraction; if they were, he wouldn’t be stealing panties or trying to grope women before he turned one. It’s his mind that’s corrupt.

Eris, the main heroine for season 1, is a typical tsundere who starts off as a hotheaded, spoiled brat before the MC wins her over. I wouldn’t say she’s that interesting so far, but I kinda like her.

Roxie is another character who got some attention through the run of the season. She’s a Migurd woman and actually is 30+ but the show never tries to make this known until much later. Looking like a 13-year-old instead, we see a young Rudues, maybe 5 or something, trying to sneak peeks when she’s bathing, changing or even masturbating. And of course, stealing her panties is a given, right?

Paul(o), Rudeus’ new papa, is a bastard. He cheats on his wife, assaults girls and rapes them, gets away with it, apologizes to his wife for cheating, then writes a letter to his seven-year-old son saying how he’s gonna cheat on his wife again while bragging about it. Again, my key concern is the show playing these things off as a joke. Considering there are people who've experienced these traumatic events, the author and studio had no empathy from conception to creation. A few of these things might have been fine if the show was a comedy, but it’s not. It can’t claim to be a serious redemption story and still play most of this shit off for shits and giggles.

Other characters don’t really have much to talk about; not yet anyway.

The visuals in Mushoku Tensei are fantastic; the attention to detail evinces the care and work that Studio Bind put in while crafting the world. It’s got some stunning backgrounds, gorgeous colors and ambience to paint the world and characters. The art is the strongest aspect of the show. My only real critique is the grainy art style which I’m not too fond of, but that’s just one minor complaint I have about the visuals. The animation is pretty fluent most of the time, and more importantly, the animators knew which moments to highlight and which they could put less work toward.

The OP playing while showing the ambience is one of the biggest props for Mushoku Tensei. It sets up the episode by giving us a feel of the area that most of the episode is going to be in.

Speaking of the OP, it’s pleasant to hear in itself. I know plenty of people skip anime OPs, but Mushoku Tensei gives you a reason not to because it’s part of the episode. Apart from the OP though, the OST is bland and lacking. Nothing else made me pause and repeat a scene so that I could hear the sound again, and I didn’t even notice too much of it. That’s not that big of a deal as this is the case with most anime anyway.

Overall, the production values were top notch and you can see that Studio Bind views this a long-term project, considering the studio was created especially for Mushoku Tensei.

Although I’m interested to find out where the story goes after this, I’m not totally sold on Mushoku Tensei yet. Most of it is due to the aforementioned problems in its portrayal of serious issues as jokes. The latter part of the season wasn’t as riddled with those concerns though, so it’s getting better, at least.

According to novel readers, it only gets better and better from here, so we’ll see where it goes, but that’s pretty much all source readers, right? The second cour is scheduled to be back after a season break, and I’m interested to see how it turns out.

Mushoku Tensei is not original. It is the progenitor of the countless anime cliches that we now see in the isekais of anime and label as trash. That being said, it doesn't necessarily mean that you should write off Mushoku Tensei as cliche-filled garbage, because it's not. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation hits right where it should. It is an unusually immersive show with a mixed bag of hilarious and dark moments that will keep you entertained throughout the whole course of it.

Story

First off, I'd like to say that Mushoku Tensei is a long road. The show does not immediately throw our main character into ... an adventure as you would normally expect from an isekai anime. Rather, it puts a greater emphasis on world building and the cast of characters. Once truck-kun puts our main character out of his misery, we follow Rudeus along as he transforms from an infant to a child all the while introducing information about the new world alongside his growth. It does not pile us with crappy monologue to world build but instead puts actions into words through Rudeus' experience with magic. Not only does this build a deeper connection between the viewer and the characters, but also allows more time to become immersed into the show. It takes baby steps in introducing this new world instead of shoving introductions into one single episode, something that several shows unfortunately incorporate too often.

Character

It is crystal clear from the beginning that our main character is not meant to be liked. In his previous life, Rudeus was a complete failure of society. He mooched off his parents, skipped their funeral, and never accomplished a single thing in his life. However, maybe we were never meant to like him in the first place. His flaws as a human being not only makes him relatable as a character, but also leaves room for him to change. Remorse and regret haunt Rudeus, and he sees this second chance at life to correct himself, slowly but surely. The link between Rudeus' past life to his present lives up to the theme of reincarnation, something which MANY MANY isekai animes simply refuse to acknowledge. Through his willingness to learn new languages, it also goes to show that he is willing to work hard and refuses to repeat the habits of the life he had lived previously. Contrary to what many people seem to believe, Rudeus is not overpowered. It is clear that Rudeus has been shown to have countless flaws, one being in battle where he is unable to thrive in close-range combat. His skills as a magician were not passed down to him by some divine power, he had learned and trained himself how to utilize the magic in the unfamiliar world in which he was thrust upon. It is undeniable that he was born with an advantage from the rest, having attained the memories from his previous life, but he has to continuously apply himself with dedication and training to get stronger. His growth may be contradicted by the several perverted tenancies that he contentiously displays throughout the series, but rather than showing that he's incapable of change, it merely goes to show how far he has to go.

Comedy

The controversy around Mushoku Tensei makes sense, it deals with several hateable themes such as sexual assault, slavery, and pedophilia in not so appropriate ways. Surprisingly, what many consistently forget is that Mushoku Tensei is in a medieval setting. Rather than white washing the societal problems that other shows seem to do, Mushoku Tensei dives headfirst into the problems of the past. It is not afraid to sacrifice that E for everyone rating to delve into the f*cked up society and culture that was once seen as normal in the medieval times.

One thing that I'd like to say is that comedy is subjective, and what you find funny may be completely unnatural to someone else. As such, this specific side of the show is one of the main reasons why Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is getting mixed feelings. It's not a comedy like Konosuba per se, but it has its fair share of comedic moments that are undeniably qualified as inappropriate. If you're one who can't bear with a pedophile of a main character and perverted jokes, then you may not find the show as promising as the score reflects.

Animations/Sound

Mushoku Tensei's setting is animated in rich natural textures with beautifully animated effects. Studio Bind does an exceptional job in incorporating ink-like paintings into the setting all the while maintaining a consistent usage of lighting to match with the tone of every scene. All of these elements combined together not only create a show that is bearable for the eyes, but also immerses you into the unfamiliar world. The music directing in the show is unique in that it incorporates the OP song with snippets of different scenes every episode. The soundtrack is typical of a fantasy show and there is not much to be noted besides the usage of a few arrangements to the last scene of a couple episodes.

Conclusion

Mushoku Tensei is NOT FOR EVERYONE. It prioritizes comedy over dramatic moments and disregards several imaginary borders that most animes would not cross. It is not an emotional rollercoaster that will pull at your heartstrings, do not expect badass fight scenes or numerous amounts of blood and gore. It is better characterized as a comedic adventure rather than a seriously dramatic show. Nevertheless, it is undoubtedly a fun watch for anyone looking for a typical isekai anime that does not fail in its execution.

Two quotes to describe this show:
-"I wish I could've atleast lost my virginity."
-"If I live and try as hard as everyone else, get back up when I fall, and keep facing forward... Maybe I can do it. Maybe even I... Maybe a jobless, reclusive bum like me can get a do-over at life, and can get serious about living."

PS: Where the hell is the comedy tag on this show?

Overall: 8
Story: 7
Art: 7
Sound: 7
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 8

This show was one of my more anticipated of the season going into it. Isekai stories are a fair bit played out at this point, but I really liked the nuance it seemed to be giving as to what made this rebirth a second chance. delving into topics such as mental trauma and overcoming obstacles of a more personal nature then your typical fantasy wish filament story. The only problem is those topics, as well as others of a more serious nature, are handled with the delicacy of drop kicking a baby down a flight of stairs.

The most recent episode, episode 4, has dispelled ... any lingering notion that it would be anything other then a disappointment. The main character's father is reviled first to be an adulterer, and latter a rapist, and while he is verbally rebuked, there is no change in how he is portrayed by the narrative. He is still shown to be a figure to be admired. It is even pointe out in monolog that he shares the trait of "womanizer" with his son, who latter monologs about desiring to cultivate a young "friend".

This has been a bit disjointed, but honestly I'm a bit pissed off. This show had every opportunity to be a good show that actually meant something, but instead it has fallen every hurdle set in it's way. I don't expect to be proven wrong by the rest of it's run.

"IsekaiHood, the Anime"

That is how i could define Mushoku Tensei - Jobless Reincarnation.

It is funny and ironic how just in 2021, after we met all kinds of trash Isekai series, with cheap plot, no devenlopment, and all kinds of distractions (Smartphone, Shield, Animals, Vendor Machine etc) as a excuse for the same Overpower and/or Harem narratives, we are now presented to a story where the original meaning of ISEKAI element is respected and kept into the core.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is made with the purest interest of this kind of story: the opportunity, in another world, for us to be different from what we ... were in our "real world".

And that is what this anime delivers. A story of complete character development following up the life of Rudeus Greyrat, literally from his birth, but always under the reaction/observation of the his previous self (represented by the superb voice work of Tomokazu Sugita as the previous life conscience of Rudy).

But not only Rudeus is subject of development. Along the series you will meet other characters with strong personalities, that helps and are helped by the protagonist. By the 1st episode you know Roxy Migurdia, tutor of Rudy and the 1st to aid in his upgrade in the new world.

Sure it have many cliché elements that even before 2012 was already usual in japanese works (Medieval Fantasy, horny MC, "adult" Loli, truck-kun from Yuyu Hakusho etc), used by the author Rifujin na Magonote to make that world more familiar to the audience. However, not his fault, it become too much unoriginal at 2021.

The anime was produced by a new studio formed by a collaboration of the famous studios Egg Firm(SAO, DanMachi, Gate) and White Fox (Stein's Gate, Re:Zero, Goblin Slayer), so was not a surprise that the art, animation and soundtrack is being amazingly well done.

An explanation to all this effort is that although obscure to the western anime community, Mushoku Tensei's Novels (WN and LN), the source material, are very famous in Japan, a real reference that influenced lots of other posterior works. When the 1st episode aired in Japan, the tag #Mushoku Tensei reached the 5th place in the twitter trends of Japan, and still keep taking 1st weekly place in japanese anime rankings.

So Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is a series that deserves attention, coming like a healing magic over the battered subgenre of Isekai.

First of all, and the worst: this anime has child sexual abuse by a 40-year-old man in a child's body. This is just despicable and horrible.

"Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu" could have been a very good series. But it was totally destroyed by whoever decided to put a totally perverted main character who palpates children's breasts, tries to strip their underwear when they are unconscious, and dreams of "molding" children to his sexual desires.

It's disgusting.

The animation can be good, as well as the art style... and it had so much potential... but the main character and other details of characters characterization screwed up everything.

[Overall Score: 7.5]

Mushoku Tensei is a long awaited adaption (And a very controversial one), and it's a fairly good adaption coming from a new studio and an excellent director who knows what he's doing. The anime was able to create a medieval setting that most other isekai failed at doing, starting from the amazing opening sequence from Yuiko Oohara to the entire production of this anime, enjoyable characters combined with great animation and direction, all ruined by Rifujin na Magonote's inability to write a consistent story.

Mushoku Tensei is a controversial adaption because of it’s over the top ecchi scenes. Now I’m not the type of ... person to get mad at fan service and ecchi, in fact, I was one of the first people to defend Mushoku Tensei when people started hating on it. The part where I was completely lost at was when Eris was sleeping, and Rudeus thought “She's sleeping but what if I grope her breasts and take off her panties” and does exactly that with a very unattractive grin on his face. At one scene, Roxy is having a conversation with her former student, it’s loving moment, all until some random fat guy jumps from behind and starts intensely groping her boobs. Humour is subjective and I only speak for myself, so personally, rather than that scene being funny, it was creepy and ruins the tonal consistency of the story. You can’t have a serious conversation and add a sex joke between that conversation and expect people to take it seriously. While it doesn’t completely ruin the anime for me, it definitely hinders my enjoyment and ruins the consistency of the story (sometimes).

This is only season one, but it has been very slow at the start, although I have to admit, the slow start didn’t feel bad, until they rapidly started changing settings and characters. The setting of the anime was changed two times within 11 episodes. At the start, it had a SoL fantasy feeling to it, which later turned into SoL adventure in the second half of the anime.
The worst part of the story and the characters are how often they keep changing the casts. After four episodes, I was getting used to Rudeus’ family, that’s when they decided that they need to add new characters. Again, just when I was getting used to the new cast, they dumped another cast change on us. I’d really prefer if Rudeus stayed with someone for a long term, rather than that character staying with Rudeus for an arc, going away for a timeskip and then reuniting with Rudeus again. This season felt more like an epilogue rather than the start of the actual story, so I’ll wait for the second cour to expand of the story part.

The characters are good, except Rudy. I wouldn’t say that he is a bad character, but he is inconsistent. At one scene, he’s protecting an elf girl who’s getting bullied, because it reminded him of the time other people used to bully him on his previous life, it’s a good scene. And in the next scene, he’s thinking about how he’s gonna make a fine woman out of her in the future. All the other characters, while great, are still underdeveloped (I don’t mean that in a physical way lol). I did mention the problem of how the writer introduces a character, that character stays with Rudy for a while, and then that character goes away and returns after one time skip. The cast changes get annoying after a while.

Now, for the aspect which truly carries this season, the animation. Boy oh boy, the production is just on another level, especially for a new studio. When you pay attention to the small details the studio put out, it puts a really big smile on your face. I encourage everyone to search for these small details as they are quite intriguing. And that’s not all, even the small fight scenes are so well animated. When’s the last time a light novel got this special treatment? I don’t remember. Studio Bind deserves tons of appreciation for this adaption. The anime truly is amazing when you pay attention to the small details, you’ll understand how high the production value was for this anime.

The sound has been the bread and butter of the anime. The voice actors take this anime to the next level, the dialogue delivery feel genuine compared to the average copy paste isekai, thus making the voice acting one of the best aspect of this anime. Not only this, but as I already mentioned, the opening sequence song and the ending sequence song are amazing, it feels like it was made for the anime rather than the radio. Especially the opening, gotta give credit where it's due. The opening gives such a pleasant medieval vibe, with the flute and all, it's perfectly fits the setting of the anime and also doubles as an enjoyable song.

Now it brings us to the main question, should you watch this anime? If you haven’t watched it already, then my review should give you a good answer for whether you want to watch it or not. Personally, I really encourage everyone to look beyond those ecchi scenes and get into this series, while I agree that some scenes were a bit uncomfortable, but then again, everything else about this anime is too good to miss. In fact, I kind of feel bad that some people might miss out on a great series because the author feels the need to add these inconsistent over the top ecchi scenes. As for me, whilst I was disappointed at certain parts, I thoroughly enjoyed mosts aspect of the anime. Since my rating for this dwells between a seven and an eight, I chose to give this anime a seven and a half, clearly because it's an above average isekai and it's an irrefutable fact (Comparing it with Wise Man's Granchild, Death March and Isekai Cheat Magician, the big 3 of copy paste generic isekai). I'll be looking forward to see how the studio handles it's second cour.

There are more number of isekai anime now a days. I heard many saying this is just another isekai. Guys now here this out "THIS IS NOT ANOTHER ISEKAI ANIME" , This is the best ever isekai (a.k.a GOD FATHER of isekai). I just read the manga which was ongoing at chapter 68, the story was so exciting so actually moved to read the light novel also finished it.... believe it or not, This anime has best story(saying form novel reader).

Story: 10/10 This anime has more than isekai...call it a fantasy treat folks....there is a lot of action battle sequence, world powers, magic, swords, kingdoms, ... demons, gods, politics, army, Great plot twists and little erotic love scenes. There is no single plot like all other isekai, this anime comes with many plot twists. It is a perfect anime to watch.

Character: 9/10 The character growth of NEET in another world is like what you guess, but here there is more than that. The hero starts from a new birth and has shown courage unlike any other has greatly suited this anime its this anime's own uniqueness. All the characters depicted in this show will be amazing especially the world powers attracts highly. The female characters all have their own special eroticness.

Art : 9/10 The anime studio has greatly put a lot of effort its clearly shown on every episodes hope the second sequel will be also great. Studio Bind which is a new one has created this anime also has shown great graphic content here in this show, a great start for them.

This is isekai. Not the plethora of cheaply produced and poorly written knockoffs that we seem to get every single season that feature a protagonist getting transported to another world but do literally nothing in terms of plot progression, character development, and more. Mushoku Tensei steps up to the plate to demonstrate how to effectively utilize this overused genre, and it's about damn time!

Which is why it's a shame that it's getting so much negative attention simply because of the perverted nature of the protagonist Rudeus. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me, but I'll get into my thoughts on that a little later. Get excited ... to read my potentially controversial opinion! Yay~

Edit: Oh no, I broke one of the sacred rules of reviewing! NEVER write big boring walls of text. Whoops. Uh, please don't be intimidated by my giant paragraphs! I was just so impressed by this anime that I couldn't stop writing about it, that's all!

World building, setup, and setting. These three features are essential in establishing an effective fantasy series. That's one of the many reasons why great anime like No Game No Life and Re:Zero (hey, I gotta give my isekai favs a shoutout!) work, because they do an excellent job at setting up their worlds to be fun and unique places while simultaneously explaining countless diverse and fascinating factors about how everything works as the protagonists progress. Yet I find myself constantly watching anime of this genre that seem to completely neglect these important narrative tools. Viewers are usually presented with the bare minimum like "Hey look! Here's a medieval style town for the protagonist to live in and we won't explore anything else outside of it!" Or "Wow! Some of these girls have animal ears! What an excellent way to showcase a variety of diverse species!!!" And that's it. We're supposed to be following a hero through an epic journey in a fictional world with monsters and magic and so forth, yet so many fantasy anime do absolutely nothing remotely interesting with their concept. And as a result, such shows end up being excruciatingly dull and mind-numbingly forgettable. I don't mean to be rude, but it's like the writers of these stories lack creativity and inventiveness in everything except coming up with bafflingly long titles. Seriously though, what's up with that? Anyway, this wouldn't be nearly as important in a different genre with say a school life setting for example, because shows like that have other merits and qualities to focus on. However, with isekai and fantasy as a whole, I believe it's absolutely vital to have a well developed setting in order to be memorable and good overall. Thankfully, Mushoku Tensei does this incredibly well.

Ok yeah, I kinda went on a tangent about this. But hold up! There's an important reason behind this. It's because not only does Mushoku Tensei have excellent world building, but the entire purpose of this first season is to explore this concept. That's right, we get a whole season focusing on revealing and describing the expansive setting, demonstrating proper world building by explaining the rules, cultures, history, abilities and beliefs of this land, and providing thoughtful setup for character motivations, conflict, and development. While it might be a stretch to call it "brilliant", the writing nonetheless has been carefully crafted and detailed to showcase a fantasy world that's actually interesting, memorable, and makes you want to learn more about it. And hey, for me this works really well, so I'm grateful to author Rifujin na Magonote for not following the cheap and easy path of writing a story that goes along the lines of "Even plainer than Kirito himself Kirito knockoff dies and reincarnates in an underdeveloped fantasy world where cardboard cutout chicks love him because reasons and he kills bland bad guys for like 12 episodes lol", and instead actually crafting a well thought out plot. Because nothing is more ingenious than writing some quality loli heroines, amirite!? Ok, I'm still gushing about the world building, but I'm looking forward to talking about the girls, especially the firey redhead tsundere Eris. Man, it's been awhile since I've seen a quality violent anime girl who'll go all deredere when she warms up to you. I mean, she has both a sweet AND a spicy side, I just love it. I seriously miss her character trope so much...totally underused in modern anime...

*Ahem* A-Anyway! Due to the heavy focus on build up, I've noticed that some people are apparently underwhelmed by the Mushoku Tensei season 1 experience as a whole. And that's because it's taking its time instead of just prematurely rushing into things. To paraphrase a friend, he informed me that Mushoku Tensei doesn't have any EPIC or INSANE moments in comparison to the season of Re:Zero that it's airing alongside. Yes, its peaks aren't admittedly that high as of now, but I've been impressed by the quality and detail put behind the setup of this anime, and I'm excited to see where it goes in the future. Now this would be the perfect time to throw out the obligatory "I read the light novel" shtick to provide some hints about what the future of the show holds cuz I normally can never do it due to my lack of reading and I wanna sound cool and cultured (spoilers: this doesn't actually make me sound cool and cultured), but I read Mushoku Tensei so long ago that there was only one English translated novel that I could find at the time, and I didn't keep up with it after reading the first one, so...Yeah, I'm frickin ancient! I mean, uh, I'm just as in the dark as the anime only squad (wow, I really dislike using that term) on what will come in upcoming installments. But if the greatness of this first season is anything to go off of, I have the utmost confidence that Mushoku Tensei's sequels will be well worth the watch. And who knows? They might even contain some of those AMAZING and SUPER SPECIAL SPECTACULAR scenes that everyone seems to want.

But you know what? Even without content like that, I was still thoroughly engaged by what this anime has to offer. I loved the simple moments like the dialouge between Rudeus and his father Paul. Parents are rarely given any focus in anime, especially in this type, so I was pleased to see them giving some depth to Rudeus' family. It was great to see the dynamic between a young father and his picture perfect son who's actually older than him mentally. The way that their arguments as well as advice to each other played out was just so satisfying to watch, and ended up being a highlight of the show for me. And speaking of that, did you notice that the writing actually draws attention to Rudeus being, you know, from another world? Especially being an adult reincarnated as a newborn. He's clearly different, and it shows with how people interact with him. His parents have no trouble raising him, and are actually a little weirded out by just how perfect of a child he is. And I absolutely love how he reacts to the cruelty of a fantasy world. Many take death for granted and don't bat an eye at killing others, yet Rudeus, having been brought up on a different set of morals, is absolutely mortified at the thought of death and killing. Even of "bad" people, who his eventual companion Ruijerd argues are ok to eliminate as long as the victims are evil. I really enjoy this characterization and believe it should be utilized a lot more often in such a setting.

Besides his parents, you know who else Rudeus has great chemistry with? Not the trio of main girls! I mean Roxy brushed off his declaration of love and treats him as a student child, Sylphy friend zoned him instantly, and Eris beats the crap out of him on a daily basis. Oof, poor guy actually has to take the time and effort to form proper relationships with females. Who would've thought? And see? To everyone saying that this show was conceived simply to showcase a loli harem, the girls don't even acknowled him romantically yet! The dude (Or should I say kid...? Idk what he is lol) has to actually work for his ideal harem ending while developing alongside his companions...and survive while doing so. Wow, it's a surprisingly harsh and cruel life over in anime land...

But seriously, I like the female leads. While this show is predominantly a character study of Rudeus as well as a narration of his odyssey, the girls provide some fun dynamics and interactions, despite getting split screen time between them. Roxy was a great way to introduce us to the functionality of magic in this world as well as to showcase different races. She was also a great way to show us that girls in fantasy worlds masterbate just like the ones in our world. Yup, pretty significant stuff. The mage girl trope is pretty popular, and it was nice to see Roxy get a lot of attention despite her limited time in the spotlight thus far. She is a cool girl after all. It was also amusing to see a village full of cute Roxys...and blue haired demon dudes too, but does anyone really care about them? They also live in giant turtle shells in the desert or something. Yeah. Hope they invent air-conditioning soon. Moving to girl two, Sylphy gets the least amount of attention this season, but she potentially has the greatest impact on Rudeus. While Roxy got him to get over his fear of the outdoors, Sylphy helped him learn how to talk to others his age and make friends, something we all probably take for granted. I liked their dynamic as well as the comical way that Rudeus found of that Sylphy wasn't in fact a he, but a she. Sylphy is the shy, soft spoken type, but she seems to come out of her shell around Rudeus, and I can't wait to see what she'll be like after reuniting with him...as soon as he finishes up his quest of walking across an entire demon continent and getting back home. Wow, this might take awhile.

Finally, we have Eris, the girl with the greatest screen time AND temper. I'm gonna say it. For me, Eris = best girl. One of the reasons is because she actually has on screen development. She starts out by punching Rudeus, who's hired as her tutor, and then utterly beating the crap out of him when he hits back. All shall fear the wrath of pampered, aristocratic girls! Her violent tendencies might seem a LITTLE much, but Rudeus, being a man of culture, understands the power of the dere side of the tsun. This is especially noted when he shouts out "Money can't buy dere!", a courageous and highly intellectual quote, when he's being coerced by thugs to give up on Eris and join them in selling her. He's rewarded of course as the anime progresses as Eris mellows out to him and she eventually grows to respect and cherish him above all else...how adorable. I also like how she still maintains her hostile nature too since it's a part of her character. When some animal person messed with the outfit that Rudeus bought for her, she beats the crap out of them. I was shocked at first but then realized that she's really only mellowed out to Rudeus so far. The pair also have my favorite interactions in the show bolstered by some nice wholesome dialouge. And that bed scene during Rudeus' birthday though...wow, that was something. There was definitely something rising in Rudeus that day, and it wasn't the shield hero. She's a great character, and I'm excited to witness her development. And speaking of that particular bed scene, I guess this is a good transition to my next topic.

Warning: this section details my thoughts on...drumroll...CONTROVERSIAL MATERIAL. Though I personally don't think it's that bad or worth making a fuss over, I respect those who are turned off and in some cases disgused by the admittedly excessive perverted content and just wanted to go over my own thoughts on the matter. I marked the start and end of this segment if you just want to skip it since wow, I'm already writing so damn much about this show!

- Start of iffy subject matter

Lol just kidding. There's really no point in making a big deal out of it. Some people may not mind Rudy's perverted nature and will argue that he's a child now anyway so there's nothing immoral about him lusting after girls his age, whereas others simply can't get behind that argument and are against it. And you know what? That's ok. Everyone has their own ideals and opinions, and I'm not gonna delude myself into thinking that I can change them. Just don't condemn people like myself who enjoy this show for what it is. After all, it's just fiction at the end of the day.

- End of iffy subject matter

I mentioned earlier how I have confidence in the future quality of this series. Well, that's partially because of the admirable care that this adaptation is being given. I can't verify the authenticity of this, but I heard that Studio Bind, the ones handling this show, were created particularly for making an adaptation of Mushoku Tensei. And boy, does it show. While there are some other well animated series from this season, I say Mushoku Tensei takes the gold for their presentation and production values. The art is vibrant, giving viewers a great taste of the scenery as well as the wonder of magic. The scene where Rudeus uses Roxy's training to cast sacred level water magic was especially breathtaking. Also, fun hair colors baby! Just look at the beautiful rainbow of hair colors featured in the show. We got blue, green, red, yellow, and more! Good stuff. The animation itself is generally pretty fantastic, with the exception of characters going up and down stairs, hills, and the like. I dunno, I've seen several scenes of this nature, and the movement just looks off. But aside from that, I love the fluidity of the show. Movement is generally great, and I especially appreciate the way that Eris is animated when wielding her blade.

Stylistically speaking, the soundtrack is a great fit. The instrumentation of the opening theme song in particular really fits with my mental image of how fantasy music should sound. I'm also a fan of the chanting at the beginning as well as the soothing nature of the vocalist and the piece as a whole. The ending theme is equally good. It has a simple structure, but I really like how it sounds, especially the guitar parts...hey, I like strumming sounds, ok? The lyrics were also well thought out as they can be interpreted to represent Eris' feelings towards Rudeus. Ya love to see it. The anime also took the route of hiring two voice actors for Rudeus, one to represent his child speaking voice and the other to portray his inner adult thoughts. This isn't the first time this has been done, but I do respect the choice. And the girls sound cute...what, you want me to say more? That's all that really needs to be said. They sound like anime girls so therefore their voices are a success in my book.

It seems like the majority, myself included, have gotten tired of the whole isekai boom and are anticipating its eventual decline and the rise of something new. Yet if all isekai were anywhere close to the quality of Mushoku Tensei, I would most definitely be singing a different tune in support of the genre. The detail and care in this anime is apparent, and the show is just a joy to watch. I found myself consistently entertained and invested in the story and characters. The solid presentation helped to bolster my enjoyment of the show as well. Even if it doesn't have any "big" moments yet that would elevate it to the next level, I'm pleased with what we were given, and I look forward to seeing what comes next.

I'm gonna say something incredibly rare: I highly recommend watching this isekai anime!

I've been thinking about getting into review writing for some time now, and I think Jobless Reincarnation (the Japanese name is a mouthful, sorry) is a good place to start because oh boy, I have things to say about this show. I know that a lot of you might be thinking why review a show with only four episodes out. Well, I wouldn't really call this a review to be honest. Think of this as me documenting my thoughts on the show so far, and speculating where it will go from here - because I think I have a fairly good idea judging from the ... quality of the content so far. So without further ado, let's begin.
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I first heard of this series late last year when the PV dropped, and saw some big words thrown around it. "Peak isekai!" O-kaay. I'm usually wary when source readers hype a franchise with such extravagance, but this time the PV seemed to corroborate these claims. The breath-taking visuals, the promise of a grand setting, of worthwhile characters and adventure potential. I was mesmerized! I am a sucker for fantasy epics, and this looked as close to one as I have seen in anime.

If only I had known what I was in store for.

The show opens with us inserted into the protagonist by default. He seems to have gotten into a fatal accident, but that has no bearing on his attitude as he keeps up with the degenerate quips even as he breathes his last. Tactless but fine. Surely, he'll act more normal once we get into the isekai. Wrong! The first thing he does when he comes out of the womb is leer at the woman who just birthed him in her dishevelled, vulnerable state. Oblivious to the fact that her new-born son is in reality a 34-year-old degenerate, she proceeds to wean him just as he makes a sexual remark about her oppais. Yikes!

For the next ten minutes as waves of cringe wash over me seeing the adventures of the pervert baby unfold - complete with running commentary in MC's ugly bastard voice - one thing was clear: I had been bamboozled. For all its production value, this was as trash as the isekai before it. Maybe even more. What's even more appalling is that all of this is presented as fanservice. A dream come true for anyone who fantasizes about impostering as an innocent child to peep on people's intimate moments. Oh, and by the way, this show is not tagged ecchi so go ahead and recommend it to family and friends. That'll make for some fun reactions.

But enough about the fanservice, what about the plot? Well, if it is possible, that's actually even worse. The characterization is bad; seems like the author's idea of writing an interesting character is to just make them a pervert. In terms of plot-progression and worldbuilding, the first episode doesn't give us anything. They spend half the episode on what looks like an exposition but is essentially just main character droning about how he assumes (wrongly, as we later learn) magic works. If you weren't already repulsed by the fanservice, the tedious start might drive you away.

The story finally starts progressing in the second episode but its badly executed. Main character is given the standard "bullied in the past" sob story to justify him being a shut-in, as well as garner some sympathy from the audience. But all it takes is the waifu character to accompany him outside and, just like that, years’ worth of trauma goes away in a poof! For being a failure in his past life, this was the only baggage our main character brought along (him being a pervert is never acknowledged as a flaw). And now that it’s gone, the show is free to exalt his standing to the ultimate wish fulfilment protagonist. Every plot development from here on out has just one purpose: to make the main character look good.

Within the next two episodes, Rudy literally goes from a shut-in loser with zero social skills to someone who makes people swoon just by existing. When he gets scolded by a parent, they end up getting schooled by him. When he coerces a child to undress, she ends up falling for him. When his family seems on the verge of falling apart from a drama forced upon them, he simply utters the magic words and it's all forgotten like it never happened. His maid who thought he was a devil now worships him, even going as far as to pledge her unborn child's future to serving him.

This is fanfiction level of writing. It's hard to take this shit seriously.

So, what next? I know we're only 4 episodes in but those are more than enough to deduce that this show isn't getting any better (after all, what are the chances the author will become competent overnight?). If anything, things will only get worse from here as more drama is contrived and characters are created solely to idolize the main character without justification.

I want to end this by saying that I may have been bamboozled at the start but now I am fully invested in this with a new objective: witness the heights of trashiness isekai can achieve.

Cheers!

The "Grandfather of Isekai". You may have heard on the grapevine about which was the FIRST series to start the whole Isekai fantasy lore, and truth be told, there have been many series that try to push forward the genre of "fan-fiction" and growing its culture, at a time when there was no concrete "grouping" that allowed authors to run freely of ideas unimaginable. And I'm here to say that even if Mushoku Tensei regards itself as the "pioneer of Narou-kei LNs" (or Syosetu as its more well-known), it's definitely the "first" to bring the wave of what has now become the oversaturated Isekai genre ... with its many genre-defining tactics...not in the easiest ways possible, but through luck and persistence via Syosetu. Heck, even the novelist himself Rifujin no Maganote said so that Mushoku Tensei just borrows similar prospects of web novels that were popular at the time, and mashes it all in one package. But let's not take the high road too quick, and slow down the paces as this road gets interesting down the line.

In order to understand how highly regarded Mushoku Tensei has been sought with its massive popularity, a brief introduction into the world of Syosetu (translated et al. Let's Become a Novelist!): A popular online general literature depository for free Japanese web novels, but mostly a place where amateur authors can publish their works without being tied up to the corporate plan with publishers and editors. In fact, most authors tend to post the works for hobby or fun, and would develop the stories as they go, ranging from a few pages to long, epic novels.. They have a simple but effective system of rating works and providing comments and reviews, and you can view recent rankings of the top works across genres and also over longer spans of time. Because anyone can submit a story, amateur readers can expect a wide range of stories with varying qualities, from struggling amateurs to semi-pro and beyond, and there is even a section on the site about authors who have gotten their works published, and links to buy them. But generally speaking, if you stick with stories high the rankings you’re likely to get some well-written material. In a nutshell, Shōsetsuka ni Narōu-kei (or Syosetu) is very much the Japanese equivalent of Wattpad, Tumblr, fan-fiction, but operating more towards the veins of YouTube in regards to the tools they give their writers and the whole potential for monetization.

With that set in mind, I'd like to bring the attention of the year when Isekai started to rise up from the ashes of the Syosetu community (and then the anime scene in general): 2012, the year when the now-infamous "Black Sheep" progenitor hit the small screen...a masive show now known as Sword Art Online (or SAO) written by Reki Kawahara. Bear in mind that at the time before SAO hit the scene, there were the earliest fantasy stories like Mahouka (a.k.a Irregular in Magic High School) and Log Horizon that have long existed in Syosetu ever since 2008 and 2010 respectively, but we'll come back to them shortly. Series like The Familiar of Zero was groundbreaking for its "Isekai summoning" traits (though it mostly stuck to being fan-fiction), but that's about the extent of fan-fiction popularity in the anime scene in the late 2000s. For the simple-minded reader/viewer that just thinks that Isekai as a genre now is a shitstorm, I'd like you to understand the term what was brought in the beginning of this review: Narou-kei, essentially a term derived from Syosetu to define a certain set of "power fantasy" story structures: (Usually) Male protagonists, Overpowered with cheat abilities, JRPG/game mechanics, inhabitation of the world's logic, harems, a lack of difficulty in life or the opposite that is Hikikomori (or severe social withdrawal, essentially a NEET). Turning the clock back to SAO, the one defining moment when it did when it came out in 2012, was to show that not only the turn of growing adaptations have provided a way to make these series more sought into the mainstream, the anime scene itself also contributed to the massive wave of Isekai LNs that we see today with varying opinions. In an instant, authors hitting big allowed for more amateur authors to copy similar aspects that defined the genres with the earliest of counterparts, and along with it, the growing popularity of anime adaptations (of which Mahouka, Log Horizon, Re:Zero, KonoSuba and many others) that are constantly popping up more as the years pass by.

Now back to Mushoku Tensei, considered as the Ultimate Syosetu fan-fiction novel as per ANN's Kim Morrissy (that got popular overtime, while still desperately missing the anime adaptation for almost a decade, that is until now): All the traits of the usual Isekai tropes are pronounced here, just that rather than going through "The Usual Suspects" cases of copying the bog-standard, Rifujin no Maganote opted to piece this story in the most traditional way of an ACTUAL Isekai. Think about it: an unemployed 34-year-old adult lazes at home watching sleazy content amidst a backdrop of despised fear shall he even step a foot outside of his house, only to get thrown out and as the Bible proclaims in Acts: "consider his life worth nothing to him" (the NEET/Hikikomori structure, got it?). The fate-twist of self-sacrifice (via Truck-kun, the best well-known trope) lays all hands bare to the once despised human that no one cares about, and in an instant, he is reincarnated into a fantasy world as an infant that has just been newly born from his parents Paul Notos Greyrat and Zenith Greyrat (the Reincarnation structure, got it?). A second chance at life, with a new name of Rudeus Greyrat, living in a mundane fantasy world and learning as he ages: a coming-of-age story at that (which in my book, is one of, if not, the most brillant well-structured story structure to ever grace source materials).

If I have to take a gander of what Mushoku Tensei represents for the entire Isekai genre now, is that it does not need to be the first to replicate the entire Isekai genre through its past and present contemporaries. Rather, it was the first to make headwaves through its own community situated in Syosetu, as depicted by the boy who still retains his trauma from his previous life, now faced with the prospect that the knowledge for magic skills in the fantasy world is learnt at a brisk pace (that Rudeus has to earn these powers by himself, the overpowered AF structure, got it?). Enter Roxy Migurdia of the Migurd race, despite being a 44-year-old in a young child-like teenage body. Being requested to help the Greyrat family in tutoring Rudeus to progress his magic powers, it all seemed like the usual "parental" tutoring, until the moment where Rudeus has to confront and overcome his past trauma, that Roxy encouraged him to press on, on a trip as simple as outside the Greyrat House. Being the pedophilia that Rudeus was from birth (and we have Paul to blame for the "Acts of Deed" with Zenith when in a world such as this, there are NO rules to depict what is right and what is wrong), it's not by choice that Rudeus is compounded to be the pervert that we've all been watching his growth from the very beginning (heck, even with the Greyrat household maid Lilia, Rudeus exhibits the same egregious behaviour). That all changed within this one defining moment that sealed the popularity of Mushoku Tensei to reach the No. 1 rating of Syosetu for years, even beating out similar contemporaries like Re:Zero and Overlord (though that result has long been overthrown).

If you still don't understand what I'm trying to say here, is that despite the ONE persistent objection of a negative satire that is Rudeus's pedophilia behaviour (that could continue to reek within the confines of this series and trigger LOTS of people), Mushoku Tensei is definitely to me: the "Isekai of Isekais", the one that did everything "correctly". The world-building itself is quite the fascination with its hugely vast universe, not to mention from the magic skills, the various sword terminology styles, languages and even to the locales themselves, it truly is a rich world to behold of its magnificence and wonder that is Rifujin na Magonote taking into account readers' feedback for much-needed refinement of the story development in the stems of anticipation, surprises and building interests that would set it apart from many a similar stories out there, even if it has to incoporate the large portion of the tropes and cliches we now have seen with distaste from magic academys to adventurer guilds. One interesting tidbit is that according to producer Nobuhiro Osawa, Mushoku Tensei's anime was first greenlit in 2016, and that year was stacked from the likes of Re:Zero and KonoSuba, of which evidently proved that if SAO can win anime fans on the Isekai VRMMO space, then both comtemporaries would do likewise based on the Narou-kei front, a worthy investment indeed that brought in some of the most reputable people, along with the creation of a specialized studio. Read on to find out what it is.

Let's step back again and appreciate the vast character cast there is to face in Mushoku Tensei, because every one of them is memorable in their own ways:
- The Greyrat household that bears Paul, Zenith, Lilia and Rudeus under one roof. Paul himself is a master swordsman, someone who is able to master all the sword techniques and is once a ferocious warrior, part of a party of adventurers. It's there that he encountered Zenith, who gave birth to Rudeus, and conspicously, a ladies' man that got into all sorts of trouble, and lustful ones at that, similar to how Rudeus's old life was similarly correlative of. As mentioned earlier in the review, there are no rules speculating what is right or wrong, but damn did Paul commit some of the grave mistakes that almost caused the family to break apart, whether laid bare or hidden against the kind-hearted Zenith. Talk about an insult to injury, and the "family values" that reek all the lustful pervertic instances.
- The three girls who would soon be important figures in Rudeus's life: the "Goddess of Wisdom" Roxy Migurdia, part-human, elf, best girl Sylphiette and distant noble relative Eris Boreas Greyrat. Roxy is such a nice and kind-hearted character, though she'll often try not to put herself down by being the stub that she is, always trying to be patient with her teachings and not get ahead of herself. Even kindly as to help Rudeus overcome his trauma, she's one keeper of a girl. Sylphiette on the other hand, was found right where Rudeus's trauma was situated at in the fantasy world, and due to her soft-spoken childlike-ness, she becomes a darling in the Greyrat household. Unlike Rudeus, Sylphiette pretty much has little experience in the fantasy world, and constantly needs guidance from the caretaking of Zenith to Rudeus's magic powers with the facial expression of a child wanting to pair up with his/her siblings. Eris though, she will come off as a potential tsundere due to how messy her relative family is in handling her humanly morales and values, and is one obnoxious 'mad dog" loud-speaker of a spoiled brat. Despite the Boreas Greyrat's non-persistence to train her to be like the nobles that the Greyrats are to be expected to uphold, getting Rudeus to discipline her takes a real deal of effort, and it isn't easy for a growing 10-year-old to withstand a high libido of someone who's always a stuck-up person, yet cowers in fear at the most extreme of cases.
- The relative of the Greyrat family, the Boreas Greyrat mansion-hold. Despite living such the high life of nobles, bear in mind that the city of Roa that they live in also permits the same "nothing is right nor wrong" juxtaposition. Master Sauros and husband-and-wife Philip and Hilda sure are as scummy as family fascists, always trying to askew every opportunity to their advantage, even sometimes coming down from up high to Rudeus's standpoint. You can understand why even though Paul came from the same family name, it was an entirely different bloodline that definitely shed some light on the internal conflict, as such with labelling Paul as their cousin. Even down to Ghislaine of the Dedoldia tribe, a rock-solid swordswoman dubbed the "Sword King" and simultaneously Eris's bodyguard, she's such a dutiful beastkin with a rock-solid butt.
- The other characters (of what we know so far) that will play a huge part for the 2nd Cour: Human-God, Ruijerd Superdia and many others. Often disguising as the "voice of dreams" for the past Rudeus to inquisite in the fantasy world, its words are vague, yet very descriptive and easily discernable. Who knows what this Human-God has under its belt. Ruijerd, a demon from the Supard race that was once allied with but betrayed by the Demon God Laplace, attempting to fix his reputation in a world where the Supard are regarded as fearsome, murderous beings. Hopefully with the 2nd Cour we'll be able to see more of the liberation with Rudeus at the charge,

The one sole thing that stuck out to me, is the seriously intense levels of visuals and animation, not to mention the very subtle details referencing to real life, and all of this done by a new studio no less. But if you think that this studio are like the recent new ones that just suddenly sprouted out to help tackle the anime industry's problems, you're dead wrong. Studio Bind, a collaboration joint-venture from management planning company Egg Firm and White Fox, first started helping out in Karakuri Circus, before jumping ship into Mushoku Tensei, in what has been announced to be a continuous, long-term production in a systematic manner. And just by hearing the studio White Fox alone, you know that you're watching and experiencing something special akin to the likes of Re:Zero. Directed by Gamers! director Manabu Okamoto, even if his past directorial works aren't great, the making-up with Mushoku Tensei definitely gave a boost to his career, and it's great for the most part trying to direct this show and keeping the realism of the series alive to fruition.

The music, I'm definitely speechless about this one, because of all the shows that are stacked in the "Best of the Best and Worst" Winter 2021 season, Mushoku Tensei knows how to differentiate itself from the pack, and with a very good reason: a star-studded cast of Seiyuus, most in particular the comedy god himself Tomozaku Sugita for voicing Rudeus's inner voice, with their performances pushing right out of the gate to perfection. That is something worth noting for the 2nd Cour coming upward. With such sound and music designs by veterans Jin Aketagawa and Yoshiaki Fujisawa, these legends have once again carved their name onto a masterpiece in the making. Even better, is Yuiko Oohara's songs, because like Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, she has once again proved her worth to have a song repertoire of the soothing kind, only that this OST is similarly paved in the ways of Spice and Wolf that's just as good as her previous offerings. The small tidbit is that her songs here DO actually have a significance to the show's counterparts: from songs of Tabibito (Traveler) to Mezame (Awakening) for the OP and "Only" which signifies a love song from Rudeus to the three central girls. WOW what symbolism.

All in all, what a great show despite the controversy for SJWs to lay the elitist treatment, I have simply no words for the brillance to wait upon the Isekai that started it all, and the long wait it is to finally see Mushoku Tensei get adapted sooner than later, even if later than most Isekai to test the waters of the anime spectrum.

All ready for the 2nd Cour!

Do you know how good a LN has to be to literally get an entire studio made just to adapt it? Only the “Godfather of isekai” could pull that off. Indeed Studio Bind was created purely to adapt Mushoku Tensei and it’s evident in the art, character designs, animation, movie quality directing and choreography, that every ounce of this studio’s creative talent and energy has gone into the show.

The moniker “godfather of isekai” comes from the fact that Mushoke pioneered the now tired and overdone motif of an MC being hit by a truck and transported to another world. What separates Mushoku from the hundreds ... of other isekai to follow it, is its execution and world-building. Mushoku features one of the richest and most diverse fantasy worlds of all time. What I love most is that Mushoku actually feels like a fantasy world. Other than Rudy’s monologues about his previous life, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that this is an isekai. It feels like a Lord of the Ring, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest style fantasy world with fully fleshed out species, cultures, politics, etc.

The first cour of the anime is only an appetiser for what’s to come later on in the story, but does an amazing job of laying the foundation for future development for the characters and world as a whole. As a LN supremacist, my only complaint is that the final 2 episodes condensed large portions of volume 3 into a few minutes of screen time. These were pretty important scenes that added context to character motivations. Other than that, Studio Bind absolutely knocked the ball out of the park on this.

The art, animation, OST, etc are all of movie quality. The series features a very unique cinematic style with film grain applied. Studio Bird did a great job separating Mushoku from every other isekai both narratively and artistically and I loved that.

Even if you are not a fan of isekai or you’re tired of the generic tropes in anime as of late, many of which were started by the series, Mushoku Tensei is worth a watch. It handles these tropes in such a refreshing and unique way and has easily been the anime of the season for Winter 2021. You won’t regret it. Mushoku Tensei part 1 gets 9 Roxy wax statues out of 10.

(TLDR Review at the bottom, as always, thanks for reading in advance)

I feel quite bad for Jobless Reincarnation, there is no hiding that the anime has quite a bit of moral issues. It is a shame when people come together to slander something by superimposing their beliefs onto something else, better to just talk it out instead. I just took this for what it is and wish to give an opinion without merging my political, moral, ethical nonsense no one came for or cared about in the first place. I believe that is what most people do in cases like these, so I will proceed ... as the general audience does. In saying that though, Jobless Reincarnation is apparently "the grandfather of isekai", in which I say "lmao lol". I won't go and generalize isekai, but I still have to point out that people just forget that this is that hotspot theme in which vapid and arbitrary callouts are the most prominent. You won't not hear words like "generic" yeeted around within this theme. That title did not age well. Not that it meant much to begin with. Just saying.

If you didn't get it already, I am in the middle grounds with this anime. No hate stemming off from morality, but no love due to commended origins. Jobless Reincarnation is just another one of those decent isekai anime we get every other season or so in my eyes.


Narrative:
Jobless Reincarnation's story is quite a simple one. Surprisingly simple. It is a goalless isekai, which automatically makes it better than the "defeat the demon lord" Super Mario consistency plot we keep getting nowadays.

The main theme of the story is basically changing, changing for the better. Imagine this, you live on this somewhat decent Earth and you just happen to be living as one of the "worse", or struggling if you wish, members of society. Why not try again with life and see if you can find yourself in a better place? I haven't watched a ton of isekai anime but this kind of narrative of redoing life for the better is surprisingly not as large as you think it is, at least for me and my collection (and what I searched for), first two similar stories, when it comes to retrying, that come to mind are ReLIFE and Spirited Away. But the theme is not one that seems to be greatly touched on. So Jobless Reincarnation has a lot of opportunities to make this category shine with this, and does it? It does for sure. With this 1st season in particular though, the change doesn't happen instantly, the story takes its time to set everything into place focusing on worldbuilding elements, characters and everything else relevant to start this supposed journey for the better. It is a slow story, but slow stories tend to be very good at blooming into levels of masterpiece or 10/10s if you so wish to call them. It is also slow stories that tend to play with the patience of the audience. Not everything is thrown at face value, so if the execution of the start doesn't do well, it is very easy to get very bored or have low hopes for the anime. I will admittedly tell you now that the start isn't all that great, but it should be noted that it feels very promising. As of what you will watch for this season of the anime is literally exposition, well down the line and you get some more interesting information as if it were some kind of Re:Zero set up. I say Re:Zero because Jobless Reincarnation ties well into worldbuilding, it is not something that is left out for the sake of the shitty RPG setting we always get, it truly feels like there is more to this world than meets the eye. Something I really look forward to seeing how well it expands.

Characters. Now there is no way I can not talk about Rudeus in this review. I think Rudeus is quite a slow-developing character, pretty much everything is, but that's the great thing, with the whole change for the better overarching this entire story, it would make sense that he is a slow-developing character, change does not simply happen instantly. However, it should be noted that long yearly periods of time do take place, it is up for debate how fast one can change with time, but I will give Rudeus the benefit of the doubt as he has had a rough past for 20 damn years. There is a whole Vsauce video ("Illusions of Time") that backs my point when I say, 20 years is no joke. Later on in the story, he does begin to develop for the better too. So there is something to look forward to instead of worrying about a static character. He helps out characters who later appear and teach them some basic life values as one should not kill. With that staff of his, I wouldn't be surprised if he whipped out the Ten Commandments too lol. Now I have said all of these positive notes about Rudeus, but I will address that his character does feel a little off at times. I have talked to members of the community asking for an explanation and it basically links back to his old life saying he has a few tricks up his sleeves that he can use to his will, it's just that those tricks don't always seem fitting for someone who was a shut-in, for 20 years at that. Basically, he still has qualities of an average "weasel your way around" of a human whilst concurrently suffering from issues shut-ins and NEETs face. I gave the benefit of the doubt because if he had those qualities for the prior 14 years before his neet phase then it doesn't feel too wrong that it is still a light that burns a little somewhere in him, but I would imagine no one knows truly how the process of change in one works to its full extent. To be fair it adds to his character too making him slightly more original and interesting.

Other characters I really cannot talk too much about. They are stepping stones for Rudeus, I cannot wholeheartedly say they have any self-importance other than some significant relationship to Rudeus, Roxy is the tutor, Sylphy is the friend, Eris is the bitch ass motherfucker no one likes. You can see that there isn't anything else to these characters other than being there for just Rudeus for his own development, it is a waste of characters really but I wouldn't worry too much because they may be bettered in the future, as of current time, they serve not a lot of major relevance and become very uninteresting quite quickly.


Audiovisuals:
The visuals are great, fluid animation pretty much around every corner. The newly found Studio Bind has already made a great image for themselves, though I suppose White Fox drew people in with just their name anyways though. Nevertheless, I will be quite happy to watch any other works they will get to animating. The character design is spot on too, very polished and refined. It is slightly better than what we get nowadays.

With audio, I came out of the anime not remembering a single OST, it implies that it is mostly made up of "in the moment" soundtracks you will most likely never remember. OP is very good though, that alone holds quite a bit of the audio element, I even find myself playing that over in my head because it fits so well with the theme and it is just a nice vibe truly. ED is alright I think. Was there even an ED? On a serious note, the ED was pretty good, it didn't seem too fitting but it was really nice to listen to nonetheless, that guitar slaps for real. Seiyuu did a good job at playing the characters, but there was no moment that shined well in my eyes. I have to give big ups to Sugita Tomokazu with voicing previous life Rudy though, he nailed it and conveyed that life of Rudy very well. Nothing else to comment on here.


Enjoyment:
I quite liked Jobless Reincarnation. It is a little over baseline but it was quite a good watch for the most part. Universal enjoyment wise, you could probably find a good few points to seek pleasure from, but it is no different from those anime that are in the same genre, MAL has this listed as Drama but it is more Comedy really. If you really want you could find enjoyment out of some of the ridiculous scenarios which I can't go too much into because of spoilers. All you need to know is that very horny people are very horny.


Overall - 7.2 (7)
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TLDR Review:
Story - 7: Slow start, but can stand well on its own, it is just a matter of putting everything into place.
Visuals - 8: Studio Bind did a good job handling this. Fluid animation and polished characters.
Audio - 7: Good OP and ED. Sugita Tomokazu is a win. Everything else was the very baseline.
Characters - 7: Rudeus is a good character. Cannot be said for everyone else as they exist just for Rudeus.
Enjoyment - 7: Pretty baseline enjoyment factor, something you may have seen in other anime too. There is nothing of unique quality here.
Overall - 7.2 (7)
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I have to say that Jobless Reincarnation feels a little overrated, at this point in time. That doesn't mean it is bad, more so that is just a solitary opinion some odd few people might share.

I, who tends to stay away from Isekai anime, know that the Isekai genre has been plagued with absolute garbage shows. Even the ones that people claim to be exceptional and outstanding such as Re: Zero and Log Horizon didn’t manage to draw me in. The usage of tropes and concepts was unoriginal and uninspiring.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation still does use those tropes. However, it captivated me with the sheer amount of entertainment and a simple, slice of life story. And I believe that the show’s slice of life aspect is what made it stand out, and ultimately, made it propel itself to the ... top of my Isekai list.

For people that watch Isekai casually--people that aren’t adept in the field of Isekai--I believe this, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is one the best Isekai out there.

Unlike other popular isekai shows such as Sword Art Online or Re: Zero, the main protagonist isn’t destined for greatness. He isn’t given overpowered abilities that helped him to propel to the top with ease. He isn’t the stereotypical Isekai protagonist with no other personality besides being a walking, talking, omnipotent being that nobody can touch on a physical and emotional level. He isn’t this pure good person who desires to help others no matter their circumstances. He, Rudeus, the protagonist of this show, is a 34-year-old loser and a pedophile who was emotionally distraught from his previous life, got reincarnated into the body of a child, and was given a second chance.

Yes, the pedophile side of his character is disgusting, and I would be lying if this side of his character didn’t initially turn me off. Given the context of the sins he committed in his previous life, it just added more fuel to the fire. Thus, I understand some people’s discontent towards his character.

But, Rudeus’s desire to change and the changes that he made are what made him likable. Throughout the show, we see him grow out of his emotional pain in his previous life. Through this, he became more open to others, which came to the likable side of him. He started to give life advice to people around him. One of them being Eris, who’s a child with anger issues. She’s violent, impatient, and emotional. More often than not, she’s physically abusive towards Rudeus. But, Rudeus, who has already experienced this treatment in his previous life, treats her back with patience and care. He slowly wears down her usual tendencies before starting to change her. He supported her during tough and emotionally high times.

That’s what made him likable. That’s what made him stand out among other Isekai shows. It’s by far the most refreshing take on an Isekai protagonist. Rudeus’s pedophile instinct shouldn’t be dismissed. It needs to be addressed. But that shouldn’t dismiss the characterization he got, either.

Mushoku Tensei doesn’t follow the conventional Isekai plot elements and outline. Instead, it’s a well-paced, methodically put-together, and brilliantly executed slice of life. The show takes its time to build its world and its rules. Once it’s established, it sticks to it and never abuses it. The show takes its time to develop characters’ relationships, which are beneficial in the long run once it shifts its main focus to more of a conflict-heavy route. And as I mentioned, Mushoku Tensei does a great job balancing the slice of life elements with its pacing. Never once in an episode has it lost my attention or interest; that’s because it presented its information in a consumable way. Thus, it never felt too overwhelming or too fast-paced. It does enough to leave viewers wanting more.

For a show with a fairly large cast of characters, Mushoku Tensei does a good job keeping the characters relevant and fun to watch. Each of the secondary casts of characters has their purpose in the story--whether be a plot point or have a significant influence on Rudeus--but they never overstay their welcome. One such example being Rudeus’ parents and their influence on him. They taught him the importance of being a good, open-minded person. And I know this sounds cliche, trite, and cringe, but these moments’ execution and presentation were genuinely heartwarming. After they’ve served their purpose, the show moves on while still keeping their importance in the narrative. To me, at least, this is a very well handling of its casts because they aren’t being sidelined completely.

The production studio for Mushoku Tensei did an amazing job of bringing the world and its characters to life. For a new studio that’s join ventured from White Fox, the animation and art quality is breathtaking. In the show, the scenery and composition shots were put together in a way that flows and pleases to viewers’ eyes. The great sense of directing of its action and non-action scenes adds more enjoyment to its narrative. Mushoku Tensei’s unique and authentic character designs made each of the characters stand out--even the secondary and nonessential characters. With its medieval-fantasy setting, the world is also thoroughly explored.

Looking at Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation as a whole, the series is a very enjoyable, captivating, and beautifully crafted simple story. It has its flaws. But the great things contained within the series outweigh the bad. With its great voice acting, sound, and presentation, the series is nothing short of being amazing.

I wish I could say this season would bring us some unique isekai in some way or form. In these recent years, it’s been a copy-paste formula that has exploded into the anime industry. Every season, there’s at least a few to watch. I really wish Mushokou Tensei somehow found a way to break the mold. Here’s a reality check. It didn’t.

There are several things I’d like to talk about whenever Mushoku Tensei is even mentioned in a conversation. First is the fact that after so many years, we finally got an anime adaptation. Trust me, it’s no easy task to translate this into the ... anime form given some of its controversial content. I’ll get to that later but for now, just know that this isn’t a short series. The light novel series has 24 volumes under its umbrella and the obvious question to ask is how could this cover the material in just 11 episodes? Even with a split cour being announced, there’s no doubt this franchise needs a lot more episodes. There has been rumors that the staff wants to expand this animated franchise into a long-term animated franchise. But for now, this review covers the first season.

We can skip talking about the part truck-kun and the whole protagonist dying after getting hit in an accident. It’s a meme at this point. No, we need to look outside the box and at the protagonist we are stuck with in this anime. Meet Rudeus, the protagonist who is reborn into a fantasy world to Paul Greyrat and his wife. He’s an ordinary kid and retains his memories from his past life. What does that mean? It basically means he gets the chance at a second life but in a different world, one that is significantly different than the one he knew before. It doesn’t take long for Rudy to develop his magical skills thanks to the introduction of Roxy, a magical instructor. What we learn through her tutorage is that Rudy has potential to be a powerful adventurer. But how much can he develop as a person? The real answer is that he grows up with the same mindset as his past life. He retained his memories so many of the natural world logic in their world doesn’t surprise him. Furthermore, he understands family values and even grows to love his new life.

Throughout this season, Rudeus meets other noticeable characters such as Selphiette and the hotheaded, Eris. The more complicated relationship he shares with is with Eris, due to her unpredictable nature and tsundere personality. Their first interaction starts off rocky as she literally punches him the face. After understanding each other better, the two develops a deeper relationship and with time, she even comes to love him as a person. It falls short of any concrete character development as the anime condenses her character story. Let’s face it, this season’s duration doesn’t have the necessary time but does a bold attempt at fleshing out the cast. We have several characters that gets highlights from their introductions but the one that has our eyes on most is Rudeus. There’s really not much difference between his character than from your typical isekai related anime in past few years. Or perhaps the anime doesn’t have enough time to explore that territory? You can be the judge but for this season, it’s safe to say that Rudeus isn’t a protagonist that has us mesmerized.

However, what may grab our attention in this show is the controversy. I hate to say it but this show has some adult elements and even sexual assault themes. Thanks to Paul Greyrat and his temptations, we quickly learn the show isn’t family friendly. From the eyes of Rudeus, even he is somewhat bothered by his actions as it’s a sign of family betrayal. Wait and till you learn who Paul had an affair with because that would really open up some eyes. Rudeus himself also seems to inherit some of Paul’s characteristics as he is tempted to have his “birthday present” with Eris. Yeah, you know it. Rudeus is a man trapped in the body of a young boy. That is to say, this can be disturbing for new fans unfamiliar with isekai tropes or the franchise as a whole.

As a fantasy show, I will give credit where credit is due. Thanks to its fictional story and adventurous content, Mushou Tensei does manage to hit the nerves with the standard of an isekai. It’s truthful to its premise and in later episodes, we do get a glimpse of some deeper behind the scenes events. Plus, following Rudeus’ life story feels like we are dropped into the story ourselves. His narration every episode get us to understand him about his personal thoughts. The character interactions in this show also inherit a gleeful and entertaining way of selling emotions. And finally, Mushkou Tensei is bold enough to take risks. That is, the show wants us to get invested into this franchise because there’s a lot more storytelling to be told than what’s shown this season.

Bear in mind that without looking up the studio, I couldn’t guess who was in charge of this project. It’s produced by Studio Bend and is their first work. When I saw the previews and promotional materials months ago, there weren’t signs of red flags. In fact, I’d say that Mushou Tensei’s animation quality is above average from its character designs, expressions, action sequences, and overall world fiction. It retains the faithful designs from the novels and fans shouldn’t be worried about quality drop, at least this season. The theme songs also demonstrates a mix of serene energy and atmospheric feeling, something that can be pleasantly surprising for viewers.

If you’re sitting there asking yourself if Mushoku Tensei is worth watching, then it’s best to make that decisions here and now. Chances are, this franchise will expand beyond much more than the number of animated seasons or episodes announced. When that happens, you have to ask yourself how much time to spend and devote yourself into this franchise. From this season, let’s just say that it hasn’t convinced me to be on the recommended list just yet.

At first the story seems to be another isekai ecchi with a better production and animation than normal. The plot is about a man with agoraphobia who was mistreated in his previous life, when he dies he is presented with a new opportunity to live a fulfilling life in a fantastic world with powers. However from the beginning we see situations in which the protagonist, in the body of a minor but with the mentality of a thirty-something years old man, has perverted thoughts sexualizing other very young characters. Even though I was already grossed out by these scenes, I kept watching as I was ... really expecting a change of mind or a plot twist in which he begins to grow or he gets punished in any way because of his rotten mind, at chapter 6 which you can see is the chapter where I dropped the anime, the MC (mentally grown up) sees his female cousin sleeping (9 years oldish) and decides its a good opportunity to touch her boobs and tries to steal her underwear, as he is doing it she wakes up and punches him, makes a tsundere squeak and leaves him slammed on the floor. This anime just showed how the MC is a pedophile and sexual abuser, normalizes it and makes it pass like just another funny scene. This anime should be cancelled and its quite disturbing that its getting an 8+ at MAL.

Having heard so many singing praises for this show, I had high expectations going in to this. And I was blown away! I loved the intricate design and setting and the animation is absolutely amazing and fluid. I really wanted to love this show.

Having watched anime for over 10 years now, I am no stranger towards the level of perversion and sexualising that is common in anime. No longer do I bat an eye towards the massive, gravity-defying "oppais" and the hilariously inhuman proportions of anime girls. In most anime, such tropes are usually used in passing and not the main focus of the show. ... If I had to give an example, "That time I was reincarnated as a slime" is one.

However for Mushoku Tensei, the perversion is a main character trait for the protagonist and it is displayed prominently with no shame. Like I mentioned, being a seasoned female anime watcher, I am not new to this at all. But the level displayed in this show makes me feel uncomfortable and physically sick. Stripping a female child even after she had repeatedly voiced her refusal? Stealing your master's underwear? In what universe is this acceptable? I get that this show is about the protagonist overcoming his past demons and shortcomings, but it is fanservice moments like this which just show zero character progression at all and it feels like it is pandering to male fans while repelling female ones.

"Why am I watching this then?" / "Shouldn't you already know this?"
The thing is that Mushoku Tensei is marketed as a "drama, magic and fantasy" anime, not an ecchi anime. I came into this expected a fantasy show, not one which focuses on perversion. There are plenty of other shows that do just that.

I was so disappointed because I really adored the setting and animation of the show and the truth is, this show can carry its own weight even without the perversion of the main character. On top of this all, the show doesn't treat his perversion as a flaw and instead throws us his tragic past as a pathetic excuse for what he is.

I feel horribly bamboozled. I was promised a beautiful fantasy isekai anime that has been lauded as the godfather of isekais. Instead, I was given a trashy isekai anime with a perverted pedophile protagonist.

The review below contains some spoilers. Tread with caution if you don’t want to get spoiled of the interactions of the characters within the series or the basic story layout.

Mushoku Tensei. Most would say the controversial anime of the season. Whether you are a fan of the series or not, one thing is for sure when it comes to Mushoku; its world building is unique and not something you see everyday in anime. Shall we analyse part by part though why I think Mushoku Tensei is a great anime with unique storytelling?

Story

Let’s start with the story first. Mushoku Tensei revolves around a boy named ... Rudeus who reincarnated to a different world after dying in his original one from a car accident when he tried to save a random trio of high school students from being hit by a truck. Nothing peculiar to this point, a typical isekai introduction, but here is the trick; Rudeus is reincarnated as a baby in his next life, starting it from scratch. Using the knowledge from his previous life and without knowing his reasons behind that reincarnation, he tries to start his life anew in order to compensate for his problematic lifestyle in his previous one by making as much earnest effort as he can in this new world to become a better human being.

Beginning the analysis from an adaptation’s viewpoint, as a web novel reader, I can say that Mushoku Tensei’s anime has done a very good job with these first 3 volumes of the novels. Going with a 3 to 4 episodes per volume pace, it manages to show the events of the WN without rushing or delaying them. As for more specific aspects of the story now, a very innovative thing that Mushoku Tensei does and is not often seen is the fact that for the voice of the protagonist (Rudeus) there are 2 voice actors. One, the voice of a young boy fitting of its age and the other an adult like voice who explains the inner thoughts of Rudeus (coming from his previous world) thus breaking one of the most difficult barriers of a novel adaptation; the depiction of the feelings of the protagonist at each given state of time. This together with the build up of the world from scratch (since as mentioned before Rudeus is a baby) helps to captivate the watcher’s interest from the starting moments of the first episode. As a matter of fact, this helps a lot to slowly create its world, learning things from the interactions of his parents or from his domestic environment, since he can’t get away from home in such an age. By no means is this a typical story treatment and it can be seen clearly now, in the end of the first season, where we barely know anything about the world.

Characters

Moving on to the characters, we can say that the first season uses a lot of its time (most to be exact) in introducing some of the main characters of the series. Rudeu’s interactions with them vary, depending mostly under the circumstances he met them. For example, at the early points of the story he saves a girl named Sylphy who is very shy making the perfect type of character for a first friend for Rudeus, a guy who didn’t have a single friend before that in his previous life. This isn’t the case with Eris though, who is a pampered girl from a royal family and Rudeu’s pupil, learning magic from him among other stuff. In its entirety, you see Rudeus changing his way of speaking and his manners depending on who is around him. What I am trying to say is that Mushoku Tensei doesn’t have patterned conversations as well as stereotypical reactions as most anime do. Moreover, the reaction of the characters are normal and the way Rudeus is manipulating the topics being discussed at hand and his actions are realistic (he fails a lot of times) and interesting. The main selling point of the characters though, which I believe is seen from this season already, is that they have proper development. One good example of this is the relationship between Eris and Rudeus that started from a painful first impression for both sides to a very good understanding of each other as time went by and certain events occurred.

Art & Voice Acting

The anime is being made by Studio Bind. Studio Bind may seem like a novice in the industry but this is far from the reality. The studio is actually a joint venture of White Fox and Egg Firm for the specific reason of making Mushoku Tensei, hinting at a long running adaptation as it is expected (Mushoku as a whole has 25 volumes). Pacing aside which was discussed above, Studio Bind does a great job at animating the series. From its full of vividness backgrounds to its great animation sequences on fight scenes, using a colour palette very fitting to its world, it has managed to depict the atmosphere and the nature of the world in great detail One unique element I never expected to see and was actually done in the anime was the change of the standard Japanese language when our protagonists went to the Demon continent. When interacting with the inhabitants there, the protagonists use a peculiar tongue that adds a lot to the immersion as we watch it. Aside from that, the voice acting is of course great as expected from the big names that are voicing the cast like Kayano Ai, Sugita, Tsuda, Daisuke and others.

Final comments and overall conclusion

Something I want to address before closing this review, which I find important since it is the main reason why Mushoku as an anime has such polarity in opinions among watchers is the topic of paedophilia that is brought up by a lot of people. First of all, it is advisable to see a work of art through its setting and not the setting you have in mind for it (e.g. 2021). Mushoku is set in a world where royal families marry their offsprings from a young age (as it was done here not so many centuries ago in the developed countries) and it has a lot of races whose lifespan is double ours if not more, making the age morals of its world much different from ours.

Leaving that aside though, it doesn’t do what lots of people accuse it for to begin with. As of the end of the 1st season, what watchers have seen is a kiss on the cheek from the 10 year old Rudeus to the 12 year old Eris as well as pervy pranks he did to some of the girls of the series, which is part of his character from the previous lifestyle he had (him being a NEET). It would be unrealistic for him to drop it off as a characteristic, as it is part of his previous self which may or may not change as he grows up to be a man in this new world.

Overall, Mushoku Tensei is a unique story that deserves to be given a chance if you are immune to some pervy behaviour and you look at it for what it really is; an adventure story full of surprises, twists, great world building and interesting character interactions.

I hope this review was helpful and thanks for the time you spent to read it.

If something has called me to rate this anime with a perfect rating, is its flawless execution.
I do not qualify the story as such, because for that I would have to weigh the light novel, which in my opinion is an excellent story as well as many others.
What remains is to rate the animated execution, and the only thing I can say is that the gamble to create a single exclusive studio for this anime paid off. It is already known that the story has some parts that are a bit controversial, but I do not see any problem with that. When you understand that ... there is a shameless adult inside a child's body, you begin to understand the reason for Rudeus' uninhibited intention towards other characters. I have also heard some parts that do not fit with the LN, but I do not see any problem with that too, especially when the result is much better than what was written. Something that I love is the effort to draw the anime, you hardly see any CGI. For the rest, the animated performance represents very well the adventurous spirit of this story, especially with the music that is adapted according to the stages and the mood of the story.
This is one of those isekais where the characters have a humanly realistic touch. Maybe that's why this anime is a bit controversial because we are used to seeing other isekais where characters with fantastic behaviors reign more than characters with realistic behaviors. Here the characters abound in realistic behaviors and with a high degree of independence and self-will in their actions. Big plus.
I love the openings of this anime, very original and creative. If there is no other, then it is the first anime with that style of opening. They even got creative and took the effort to adapt the other languages that are represented in this anime. (That's Star Trek move here).
I hope we are watching the birth of a new masterpiece.
In short, please enjoy this.
Overall: 10/10