Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu

Mushoku Tensei is a very polarizing anime, with good reason. I believe it to be the best show of its genre this season; however, it was also to me the most disappointing. I understand any 1/10 reviews, but here's mine and I hope it resonates with some of you. Story (8/10) The story starts off like many Isekai: guy dies prematurely, saving people in the process, and gets a second chance at life in this new world. It doesn't get a lot of points in my book due to originality. In spite of this, the world-building, magic system and pacing of the subsequent story are amazing and were enjoyable for essentially the whole season (with a bit of an understandable drop towards the end, because of a plot event). I'm a big fan of magic systems in general, especially when they explain how it works and show you enough to keep you thinking about what they're not showing you. Pacing-wise, I was a bit scared in the beginning, as the MC is reincarnated as a newborn, but they dealt with the growing up exceedingly well. Art (9/10) The art is my favorite aspect of this show. The magic looks amazing, the scenery is beautiful and diverse. The buildings, the different races, the towns/cities are all high-quality and help immerse you in what I consider a very well built world. The quality is pretty consistently good throughout the show, except for a couple of weird fast-paced or zoomed-in scenes, but it's still an easy 9/10 for me. Sound (9/10) I'm not a big fan of OPs and EDs in general, because I like to binge watch. However, in this case, the OP is a beautiful song played in the background as a montage relevant to the plot is happening, which I absolutely loved since it gave me more showtime while letting me enjoy the song. I didn't ever fully listen to the ED so I apologize for not reviewing that. The rest of the OST is very good, non-intrusive and non-repetitive, which is all I look for in an anime. Character (6/10) This is where it goes off the rails. The main character is a 40 year old pedophile. There's really no way around it. You can try to redeem it by explaining how he was bullied so he "never felt love" or doesn't know how to talk to people other than by citing dating sims. I appreciate a lot of the other characters, like the family dynamics in the MC's household; but the MC himself is horrible and, in my case, impossible to relate to and hard to root for. I want to see him succeed for the sake of the plot and to see more of the magic and world, but it's hard when he's feeling up a 10 year old girl or fantasizing about a 7 year old one. Enjoyment (8/10) Despite the MC's personality, the show itself remains enjoyable. Few shows make me want to watch the next episode as much as this one did, but there were several non-enjoyable scenes due to the nature of the MC. I hate to be repetitive on this point, but I also hate pedophiles, so yeah. Overall (8/10) Overall, Mushoku Tensei is a very good show, with a very disappointing MC, which docks the show at least 1 point in my eyes. If you don't care about it or think it's funny, the show will be a 9-10/10. If you think it's so repulsive as to be unwatchable, you'll think it's a 1/10. I think it was still a very good show and I pray that if it continues, the writers don't escalate on the worst parts of the show and try to focus on the magic and world-building.

If you are given a chance to restart your whole life in another world, what would you do? Would you try to become the strongest mage? Strongest knight? Or perhaps you would use your vast knowledge of the modern world and bring it over to this new world? Regardless, the possibilities are infinite. Mushoku Tensei or Jobless Reincarnation is an adaptation of the popular and beloved Light Novel title of the same name, it is centered around a 34 year old man who dies and is reincarnated in a new world where he gets a second shot at life. We've already seen these types of stories before, so is Mushoku Tensei any different? Does it offer something new to the table? If that's what you were expecting, then Mushoku Tensei is not that. It hardly brings anything new, it has all the isekai tropes we've already seen time and time again, but is that really a bad thing? For me, it's a mixed bag, sometimes it works, sometimes it just doesn't. The story doesn't present anything unique, instead it embraces these tropes we've seen again and again, but maybe that's what makes it special. This story is about Rudeus, and his quest for redemption. Mushoku Tensei is one of the most popular and controversial shows of this stacked Winter 2021 season. It shows a lot of potential, it has aspects of a good story, while also aspects of a bad one. Lets start with the positive things, it has fantastic worldbuilding, I would say it's worldbuilding is one of the best in recent times, along with stellar animation quality, with background art and sound design that feels very natural and organic, it gives you the feeling that you are also present in that fantasy world, it's attention to detail is impressive, if you pay close attention you can notice some real life historical references, it's clear that this show has a very dedicated staff working on it to make the show as immersive as possible. Studio Bind is a completely new Studio made for the sole purpose of animating Mushoku Tensei. However, while it has it's ups, it naturally has it's downs too. For instance, the show suffers from too much unnecessary fanservice, Rudeus, the main protagonist can be very uncomfortable to watch most of the time and makes some very questionable actions throughout the show, while it can be a breath of fresh air to have a flawed protagonist as opposed to the perfect and Gary Stu MCs we get nowadays, it needs to be executed well, and Mushoku Tensei lacks that, a lot of these disturbing scenes could be cut out and nothing of importance would be lost, and Rudeus' perverted personality can be toned down a bit. I'm well aware that this is supposed to be a story of redemption but his perversion is exaggerated too much that it makes it unrealistic. It also doesn't help that he keeps getting away with these acts with little to no punishment whatsoever. It feels like Rudeus was reincarnated into this new fantasy world just to give him freedom to do all these things that would otherwise land him in prison here on Earth, and I don't like it, I don't like how the world was purposefully written to adhere to Rudeus' degeneracy. It makes it feel like this show is just some cheap self-insert, you have cute girls everywhere, you're a cute guy, no one would care if you suddenly grope this little girl because she will just forget about it in the same episode, and frankly, nobody cares, actually you can go have sex with her if you want... Isn't the idea of the series about redemption? Change? That anyone can change, even someone who is the lowest of the low, isn't that what the story is about? That's what was established in Episode 1 but right now, the show is doing the exact opposite of that. Rudeus so far isn't trying to change. When will he learn that his actions have consequences? that the world is not a game? and that the people around him are living beings like him too? He needs to face an event that changes his entire character, so the gears of change inside him start moving, he needs to face the reality of the world, it's not all fun and games, it's a world where his actions matter and have consequences. Rudeus isn't the only character with a perverted personality, every single other character as well. Some people might argue it's "realistic" and mirrors the Medieval era but I heavily disagree on that, I feel like the perversion is oversaturated and doesn't have a deeper meaning or hold any significance and is just there just purely for fanservice, and it ruins the atmosphere and the otherwise well-built setting, literally everyone is horny, you even have some random guy selling Aphrodisiac to a kid... I can understand that it's used to show that the characters are flawed, but there are plenty of other ways to make a flawed character, I don't know why they all have to be extremely horny. It can turn off potential viewers, if you can handle all this perversion then good for you, I wish I was the same. Wel that's enough, let's finally leave the topic of perversion since I don't want to be labeled by the fans as "SJW" or "Snowflake". Disregarding the perversion, the characters themselves are interesting, there's nothing unique or special, and right now, most of them are lacking in depth and character development, but I'm expecting this to change in the future as we get to know them more, their backstory/history and their motivations. Overall Mushoku Tensei is good show, even though I didn't enjoy it as much as some people, I still recommend giving a shot, it's just a very divisive show, there are some controversial themes and scenes that may not be for you. It might not be the most unique or innovative but it does the tropes right. The dedication by the staff is commendable, I hope Studio Bind is able to keep up this level of quality in the next seasons too, the animation is just simply breathtaking, the world building is perhaps the best part of the show for me and is my primary reason for watching it. The show offers a wide array of fun and quirky characters, but otherwise lack anything special. Despite my problems with the perversion and fanservice, I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, as I am heavily interested in exploring more of the world, and the good outweighs the bad for me. I just hope the characters, especially Rudeus develops more in the future.

one of the best Light novel adaptation in a while. and its title as "god father of isekai" literally meant it as one of the best isekai ever. great visuals(kudos to studio bind), beautiful ost,op and ed and foremost the pacing was almost perfect(-1 for rushing a bit in last 2 episodes) for new comers: mushoku tensei has one of the best world building ever, really fun cast/goddess roxy, and everything you want to enjoy watching it. lil bit of synopisis jic:Despite being bullied, scorned, and oppressed all of his life, a thirty-four-year-old shut-in still found the resolve to attempt something heroic—only for it to end in a tragic accident. But in a twist of fate, he awakens in another world as Rudeus Greyrat, starting life again as a baby born to two loving parents. Preserving his memories and knowledge from his previous life, Rudeus quickly adapts to his new environment. With the mind of a grown adult, he starts to display magical talent that exceeds all expectations, honing his skill with the help of a mage named Roxy Migurdia. Rudeus learns swordplay from his father, Paul, and meets Sylphiette, a girl his age who quickly becomes his closest friend. As Rudeus' second chance at life begins, he tries to make the most of his new opportunity while conquering his traumatic past. And perhaps, one day, he may find the one thing he could not find in his old world—love. mushoku gets a 9 out of 10 my favorite isekai.

Bumped this up 1 point from the 9 I was going to give it to counteract idiots who rated this 1 star. The story is pretty generic, well in modern day terms at least. From what I understand this is a series that started a lot of tropes you see in modern day Isekai, so I can understand why some people would say the story is overly generic. However, this show definitely gets points up for world building. The art and sound design of this anime is top-notch. I don't think you need to look further than the trailers for it to tell that. The main character is where you start to get into some controversy over things. I personally don't mind Rudeus being an unlikable asshole at all. I don't understand why people see shows with characters that have flaws in them (flaws that are there to eventually be overcome, by the way) and immediately think "oh this show sucks because unlikable character bad". Seriously, the vocal minority that shits on this show is the most brain-dead holier then thou bunch of idiots I've ever seen. Go die in a fire if you gave this a 1 for that reason. I, for one, think that this show tackles medieval societal issues in a relatively tasteful manner. It's a medieval setting, did you expect them to put trigger warnings up for you? This story acts on medieval logic and ideals, powerful people suck and exploit their workers, the age at which people get married and have children is lower, and life is what you would expect to see within this setting. Sorry they didn't water down the whole show and wrap it with a little safe space ribbon for you, after you yourself decided to watch an R - 17+ anime. None of what this show has covered has been done in a distasteful manner nor has it "glorified" abuse of power or any other theme. I loved this whole thing. The show felt comfy and gave a good story with amazing art and world building. I've read the manga so I know the story is good. Can't wait for next season. 10/10

The best debut anime of the 2021 winter season. Yes, I am aware of how controversial that claim is, but I am willing to back it up by taking all aspects into consideration. But before I go any further, I have to state that even though I believe this anime to be great, it is not for everyone. This anime has a main character that could reasonably be argued as a pedophile. He was a 30 year old that was reincarnated as a baby in a fantasy world. This season follows the main character as he is a child and he does some extremely deplorable actions to other young girls. This includes (but is not limited to) touching a young girl’s privateparts without her concent and attempting to remove a young girl’s underwear while she is sleeping. Main character aside, there are norms across the fantasy world for men to abuse their power to take advantage of women, with it often being ambiguous whether these women truly give their concent. I would not blame anyone that reads this and decides not to watch this anime. The controversy around it is justified and the perversion of the main character is the main thing that hurts this anime. That being said, despite these glaring flaws, I still believe that this is a great anime. That is how fantastic everything else about it is. The art style is very detailed and unique, which separates it from the cascade of generic looking anime saturating the market. The animation is extremely fluid, with the movement of characters feeling very natural while giving them a distinct personality. The fight scenes are dynamic, beautiful, and often brutal in how they depict death. The fantasy world is so well-written and creative. Are you tired of seeing the same “Medieval Europe” architecture in every fantasy and isekai anime? Well this anime actually has some architecture that you would expect to find in a fantasy world, with different villiages and cities having different styles. The characters are all very well-written too. They are not all black-and-white cardboard cutouts that have no depth or agency. The characters actually have their own motives for the ways the act. Both good and bad. I know I wrote extensively about the abhorent perversion of main character, but aside from that large flaw, he is a respectable person that does good deeds and actually tries to help others. He was a complete loser in his past life and was ruthlessly bullied for it, so he sees this chance at reincarnation as his second chance to redeem himself for the person he was. There are many characters that exhibit this realistic depiction of trying to be good people, but failing due to some fatal faults. These faults often revolve around the abuse of power to achieve sexual desires and it can depicted in more graphic detail than I would have liked (don’t worry, it never goes into Redo of the Healer territory). However, despite all of this the anime never feels like it is condoning this kind of behavior. Whever the main character does some awful shit he gets punished for it. When he gropes a girl he gets the shit kicked out of him, so it isn’t like he is walking around doing what he wants without punishment. There are even times when the main character is uncomfortable with the norms of this backward fantasy world. And when the same main character that groped a young girl has a problem with it, then you know that this world has some deep rooted problems. This is what ended up being the anime’s saving grace. If all of the sexually deplorable actions by the main character and others occurred and the writer was just giving a thumbs-up to it I likely would have dropped it. But it is not something that we are supposed to think is OK and it does serve a purpose in the story. The main character’s disgusting perversion serves as a point of growth for him as he matures throughout the story. The problematic norms of the fantasy world serve as a sense of realism because of course a medieval fantasy world will not be a perfect society that is seen so often in modern isekai and fantasy anime. I do believe that this anime goes overboard with the degeneracy of the main character and the unnecessary graphic depiction of females, even though it may serve a purpose. This is the biggest flaw of the series and is the main reason why I did not think about giving this anime a 10. The rest of the anime is so well done and had so much effort put into it that is very rare to see in TV anime. The problematic stuff does become less prominent as you get closer to the end of the season. So if you are still on the fence after reading all of this, just know that there is hope that it will not be as bad in the future. This is definitely the longest review I have ever written, but it needed to be done given my stance that this is the best debut anime of the season. If you are still willing to give it a shot after reading all of this, I do not think you will regret it. It is a solid 8/10

Isekai genre was never my favorite type of genre (tried to watch a few shows, but didn't finish), but I decided to give this anime a try and I enjoyed it very much. Maybe it's not the most isekai ish anime out there, the first half of the show is more slice of life kind of thing and the second half is where the adventure starts. I very much enjoyed the both parts of the show. The plot wasn't something special, but it didn't need to be, because either way it was a fun watch. The best thing in this anime was the way how it was animated: action scenes were very smooth, backgrounds were very beautifully drawn and the whole anime was very pleasing to the eye. I reccomend this anime to people, who want to watch something slice of life filled with action and funny humor.

This isn’t just a bad isekai story — it’s an embarrassment. The entire narrative is built around one of the most disgusting protagonists ever written. Instead of giving us a journey of growth, the story wallows in his depravity and then pretends we should cheer for him because “he’s trying.” No. He’s not redeemable, and the writing makes zero effort to truly hold him accountable. The central plot is paper-thin: “pervert gets reincarnated, still acts like a pervert, but now the world bends around him so he gets rewarded anyway.” That’s not depth, that’s self-insert garbage dressed up as a grand fantasy. Worse, the story repeatedly crosses moral lines. The so-called “romantic” developments are laced with grooming undertones and exploitative setups. The relationships don’t grow naturally — they’re manipulated, forced, and written for cheap shock value. Instead of an authentic emotional core, what we get is harem bait. It’s the same soulless routine: every girl is drawn to him, despite him being fundamentally vile. And let’s not forget the most sickening part — the narrative actively normalizes and excuses behavior that should be utterly condemnable. He lusts after children, creeps on his own family, and violates basic decency again and again. Yet the story never treats these as unforgivable. It shrugs them off as “comedy” or “character quirks,” and then has the audacity to tell us he’s “redeeming himself.” That’s not redemption, that’s narrative gaslighting. At its core, Mushoku Tensei isn’t a tale of rebirth, hope, or growth — it’s a glorified diary of a predator wrapped in a fantasy setting. It spits in the face of what a true redemption story should look like. If this is supposed to be the “pioneer of isekai,” then the genre was built on rotten wood. This isn’t just bad storytelling — it’s dangerous storytelling. It rewards the irredeemable, excuses the inexcusable, and dresses exploitation as romance. Strip away the worldbuilding, and you’re left with nothing but a harem fantasy for the lowest common denominator. Mushoku Tensei doesn’t deserve praise. It deserves to be remembered as a stain on isekai storytelling

Personally, I didn't relate at all to any of the characters... Some of them were okay, but some were outright annoying. The plotlines for a lot of the subplots were undeveloped at best and the story itself though everyone claims it's "unique" really isn't. The PTSD thing is pretty cool, haven't seen a lot of that in isekai. The character interactions for some characters were pretty funny I have to admit, though I will say no spoilers or anything but after picking up the light novel because of the anime, I'm looking forward to the second season. Uh big mommy milkers? But ya' gotta know those doujins gonna be good tho.

The characters and story are very good. A lot of social justice warriors complaining about the repulsive behavior of the main character. The author doesn't pretend he isn't a bad person in his other life. The main character is scum of the earth and that is made clear. Get over it and enjoy the show for what it is which is amazing. The story is unique. The plot and behavior of the characters goes against what you typically see in anime. Much like Konosuba. It's very good and pretty different from other anime. I wouldn't dismiss this anime because of dumb complaints that don't show realization that the author doesn't think the main character is a good person.

It's weird seeing so many reviews criticizing the main character and missing the mark on what you should really take away from this. The main characters story very much has a simple theme, it poses a question asking this: You are the product of your environment so how do those external factors shape you? I don't really want to spoil stories or anything and but I'll go through the controversial part of this one. The main character is disgusting in every single way, after being bullied growing up, he secluded himself, his mind and body began to degenerate as he tried to hide himself away in safety. He was freely able to explore his strangest feelings, thoughts, and fantasies without intervention in this secluded place, and those feelings grew into that disturbing person we see being the product of his isolation. I don't think what happened to him, from the small amount that has been shown is all that far off from what happens in real life. Despite this, he's not beyond redemption. He sacrificed himself saving two teenagers he didn't know at one of the lowest moments in his previous life. Through all his selfish, creepy, tendencies we get a glimmer of his humanity. This story is showing his change away from that awful person he was in his previous life. There is a lot of depth to this show, it's world is so dense and carefully interlaced into the story that each episode feels long and I still wish there was more. I understand that some people will pass on this because they are offended by the content, but I will never consider that a valid reason to brush a series off as a whole. The animation quality is pretty high and they really flash their technical skills in that first episode. For obvious reasons the whole show can't be like that, but it's not lacking and delivers that quality at regular intervals throughout the series. TLDR: This might be the best show from this season. People may be offended by aspects of this show that are intentionally there to offend them, it does push boundaries but it isn't so excessive that it's worth dropping.

This is the worst anime I've seen so far. Sad PDF to happy PDF = character development ig This is in no way comparable to Re: Zero or Konosuba, and it was a vile watch. It's clear to the viewer that we are meant to dislike Rudeus just as we were meant to dislike Subaru (at the beginning of season 1). What Mushoku Tensei lacks is the justifications that Subaru has due to the deep-rooted stress of RBD, and instead, Mushoku Tensei justifies Rudeus's actions with his mental state, but in no way does that make it okay for him to miss his parents' funeral to masturbate to videos he secretly recorded of his young niece taking a bath (Season 1 Episode 2). Genuinely confusing because why would I want to see happiness from a "former" predator? Depending on its severity, changing does not forgive past actions, especially if those actions harmed someone vulnerable, without the ability to give consent, unaware of his age being alarmingly higher than those he surrounded himself with, effectively grooming those whom he will call his wives. I think the other elements of the show, like animation and pacing, would make this story an enjoyable isekai since the genre is filled with slop, but Rudeus gotta go sonion

I dragged my way through the entire 11 episodes of this horsesh*t so that the edgelords wouldn’t come after me for not getting the big picture. I really despise how much this show wasted its potential. CW: Pedophilia, sexualization of minors SPOILERS AHEAD Welcome to the “grandfather of anime”. And by that I mean your grandfather watched it because he still thinks it’s 1946. Considered a great manga and light novel by most, I was curious going into Jobless Reincarnation, thinking I would experience something special amongst the wasteland of boring and generic Isekai. How deeply disappointing. The first few episodes set up a fascinating story with great world building and spectacular animation. But as the episodes went on, I found it more and more difficult to stomach the increasingly perverse standard hentai logic that wormed its way into an otherwise solid show. Problem #1: The exploitation of children is played for laughs. Jobless Reincarnation was almost certainly written by a bitter incel with no moral compass. Why did they feel the need to ruin it with all the sex jokes, most of which aren’t funny and directed at underage girls? My breaking point was episode 4, with Rudy’s disgusting comments about grooming Sylphiette and his subsequent masturbation. Just because Rudy is in the body of a child does not mean that the forty-something years of life just vanished. That is a full grown adult fetishizing a child. It is vile. And it gets worse every episode. The show normalizes Rudy’s terrible thoughts towards children and presents them as something funny, like a light-hearted gag. Also, gotta love the contrived way they introduce that Roxy is the same age as Rudy. Classic “she looks young but it’s actually legal”. What a slap in the face to anyone with half a functioning braincell. It was sickening to have to watch close ups of children’s bodies that were obviously meant to be portrayed sexually. I skipped over nearly two minutes straight of episode 8, it was so revolting I didn’t watch the rest of the episode for another five days. I felt the urge to just immediately drop this show, but I wanted to write a holistic review to warn people what this really was. People will argue that this is just standard anime or meant to be humorous, well it shouldn’t. This nonsense is not what drew me to love anime, and it tarnishes any inkling of a good story there might be. Problem #2: Male characters are unapologetic douchebags that never receive karma for their actions This comes up intermittently and it’s difficult to watch. Paul, who has pretty much won the award for “worst father figure”, openly talks to his fresh-out-of-the-womb kid about sexual relationships and encourages terrible behavior towards women, demonstrating that he is a manchild with a tremendous ego and nothing else. He frequently acts entitled to women’s bodies and doesn’t really care about his unwanted adultery, even though his wife is clearly not desiring of an open relationship. The hentai protagonist is the last person you want to include in a show that you want to be taken seriously. Now lets get to the author’s self-insert main character, the shut-in Rudy. We’re supposed to feel bad for him because he’s had a rough life and is “good at heart”. For a moment, you think he might actually be worth something and then he goes back to his disgusting ways. Not because of his inability to cope with his trauma or mental issues, but just because he’s an irredeemable sex offender. They were on to something when they introduced his feelings of body dysmorphia whenever meeting God, but ultimately did nothing of worth with that possibility to grow. Previous life Rudy didn’t attend his parents’ funeral because he was masturbating to hentai and sexualizes the kids around him at least once every episode. It’s very difficult to root for this piece of shit. I can’t view Rudy as a well rounded character because it feels like a decent protagonist (witty, level-headed) was slammed together with a disgusting perv and sometimes one side takes over the other. His character makes absolutely no sense in the grand scheme of things. Wasted potential to grow. Philip, Rudy’s uncle, is also a disgusting predator. He comments about Rudy’s sexual relationships, even going as far as to use his own daughter Eris as a political tool. All the other male characters are bland as hell and pretty much useless overall. The affair storyline was unexpected and interesting, but devolved into a shitstorm that let Paul off the hook somehow and pinned the blame on Lilia (who had been sexually assaulted by Paul during her time in school but now works for him apparently) for seducing Paul? This storyline ultimately served only to introduce two new characters, Rudy’s little sisters. Those poor kids have the worst family situation in all of Isekai. Oh man, I really reveled in the parts when Eris pummeled Rudy, that felt like sweet karma. But it doesn’t work when the prince is groping Roxy and she burns him with fire magic. Why? Because fire magic doesn’t actually exist. And creepers who sexually harass women do. This tired trope is exceedingly irritating, yet it continues to be used. Molestation? The woman punches him really hard haha! Attempted r*pe? That’s fine, the woman will slam him with her magic! Just stop this. With all of the serious subject matter they try to present in this show, why couldn’t this be one of them? JR could very easily have been a critique of Japan’s repulsive loli culture but instead it exacerbates it. Problem #3: The bad cheapens the good So what DOES this show offer? A very baseline Isekai that gets to flesh out the magical world in a careful and beautiful way. But no amount of great worldbuilding or pretty animation can make up for a story that intentionally creates a world in which a pedophile gets to live out his wet dreams. Rudy assaults children while they’re sleeping, makes degrading sexist remarks towards girls who are a fourth of his age, and tries to sleep with them, just to name a few. I really would like to give this anime credit where its worth. But this is the kind of stuff I can’t overlook. It completely ruins the show for me. It breaks the fantasy and lessens the emotional impact of the seriously good aspects of the show. Some degenerate might argue “it’s not even the bulk of the show, just a few jokes”. Who cares? It stripped my enjoyment of the show and I was watching every episode with the dread that a new infuriating event would occur. Music is mediocre. Art is dead average. Almost every other episode has some spectacular animation moments. Actual storyline is decent, albeit generic. I really adore some of the voice actors here, and it’s a shame that their names are now permanently on this flaming pile of garbage until the universe yeets us out of existence. I wanted to believe in this show so much, since the first couple of episodes set up a genuinely fun story about a broken man realizing what he was missing in the world and healing from his past scars without projecting onto the people around him. Rudy going outside for the first time with Roxy and regaining his confidence was a beautiful moment. I wish the show could have been THAT. Instead, it’s a shallow commentary on enjoying life as you live it and not giving a single shit about actually improving yourself. I can’t recall a single other instance where we clearly witness Rudy’s development. With a representation of minors so revolting that it makes last year’s disaster of a movie, Cuties, look like acceptable media (that’s a joke both of these shows can go to hell). TLDR You can’t go one episode without Rudeus being an Isekai Discord mod, so if that’s not your jam, I really recommend looking somewhere else for a good story. There’s a manhwa called ”The Beginning after the End”, which takes pretty much the exact setting of JR and does it eons better. I recommend checking that out instead.

First off why are people review bombing this show you all are a bunch of snowflakes. Second people saying this show is generic while I don't really like a lot of Isekai and im in love with it. ok enough of a rant. This show surprised me in many ways I did not expect an Isekai to go back and forth through his previous life and his new life, which I thought was an interesting spin on the basic born in another world formula. The story is interesting and the world is fascinating with different languages and races of creatures. The monsters are animated great and are all unique and cool. All the characters are solid and you actually feel and care for them, and when you don't see a character for a while you get pumped to just see them develop and progress the later you see them. A lot of people are criticizing the ecchi aspects and while I agree they use them alot it almost brings a little more charm and comedy to the show, and I wont lie this show is actually funny. The Art and Sound of the show are both impressive I didn't expect it to look so good, but in some places the audio did sound a little jank but overall it is beautiful and has a great soundtrack. I feel your enjoyment of this show will differ from some people but if your tired of the same old Isekais not changing the formula I really feel you will enjoy this. Overall 9/10 Spoiler section I feel like they might drop his past life in the sequel but I hope they don't seeing him regret and change his thinking while talking to this supposed god was one of my favorite moments. Closer to the end they reveal some new characters which I think to possibly be villain's but im not totally sure yet, and I cant wait to see how they will affect the narrative.

Why this series is GREAT but those who score it LOW are also CORRECT? New comers will read reviews and find themselves confused on the division. Is this anime great? Is this anime great but with caveats such as "only degenerates can like it"? What is the actual score here, what is happening? Well here's what's happening, most people who say that this anime is great is actually coming from the Light Novels or Web Novels. I'm one of those people and let me paint the whole picture for you. Rudy is flawed, the dude is a normal teenager who failed at life so miserably that his only redeeming action was saving someone before dying at the age of 30 when earlier he was masturbating and couldn't be bothered to dress up and go to his parents' funeral. So let's start with that, the MC is morally lacking (among other things). Does acknowledging that mean that he should be excused for the bad things that he did and do? NOPE! BUT, does that also mean we should stop everything because the MC is NOT good? Well, no, that wouldn't be fair not because of Rudy but because character development is part of every good story. Thing is, while Rudy does change, he also backslides. This is why so many people LOVE this series, because Rudy's life was such a journey and the way his character arc closed in the web novel hit so many people simply because he "encompassed" a good isekai journey, that journey of self-improvement, that journey of second chance and that journey of finding yourself. Rudy never becomes a truly moral person, and even though I loved his journey, I never loved Rudy, I even hate him at times. But we can all appreciate a redemption story, and this is what Mushuko Tensei is. And that is why people vehemently defend this title, because his journey makes a LOT of the bad things worth it because these things were never really defended as "good" in the first place, rather, part of a journey of a flawed human being that eventually finds himself and to remove these bad things DOES take away from the self-fulfillment he eventually achieves. BUT, those things belong in the future. So the people who think a LOT of shady things are going on in this show are ALSO CORRECT. They are part of Rudy's demons. Some of them gets addressed eventually as Rudy overcoming these issues and he becomes a better human, some of them gets addressed in ways that aren't satisfactory and we look at Rudy as that dude we know who tried but failed. And some of them doesn't get addressed as an issue at all and even to me, as a fan, finds that inappropriate. But this is not MY story, it is unashamedly Rudy's, flaws and all. So I suggest you try this show but instead of seeing the bad things as being "just part of it", the bad things are part of him, which makes sense since he is a 30 year old loser who died accomplishing nothing and even being an absolute bother to everyone around him. But does he stay a 30 year old loser? Well turns out, that can't be answered in a few episodes similar to how someone can't change in just a few days. (In his case, a few decades)

This is a spoiler free review. I've watched a lot of isekai anime. Some are great and extremely entertaining, Most others are trash that don't deserve to be looked at by the human eyes. Mushoku has given us the former. No wonder why people call it the grandfather of modern isekai because it is the DADDY. Storywise, I have no qualms with. It's pacing to me, is just right to allow a person to get fully immersed in it without it getting to slow and boring. It feels somewhat like The Lord of The Rings where it's the start of a grand journey to a fun and mysterious world that awaits. The world itself is built different, It isn't just a singular kingdom where the characters will stay in for a lot of fantasy anime. It's a large and expansive place, and they (the studio and creators) manage to make us feel that. And it isn't just a large and empty land, It feels like it is filled with life where life should be. Next, art. It is just stunning, no Isekai can compete with it, and i'm talking isekai like Re:Zero which are still beautiful in their own style. But objectively, The vibrance and feel of Mushoku feels more like a painting than an animation. Really, no isekai anime should be this beautiful, yet Mushoku is and it is amazing. Sound just hits different. That amazing moment at the very first episode shows us that they aren't half-assing it with subpar sounds or music, they were bringing out the big guns and they were going to shoot. Characters are actually amazing. Why? because as an isekai, they manage to immerse you in it, you actually see the characters grow and developed and they don't even tell you, one day you'll just see and wonder "when did they change?" but you won't know because they didn't just change one time but are continuously changing and developing. Granted they aren't perfect, but that's the great thing, they were never meant to be perfect like the one-dimensional self inserts where overpowered characters barely have a personality. They have flaws and these flaws make them more human. Overall, If you haven't watched it yet, please do so cause it isn't going to waste your time and I feel too many people are sleeping on it.

Anime fanservice comes In all shapes and sizes, and to understand this review you should be aware that I am in general opposed to what the anime community universally mean when they utter “fanservice.” In stories intended to arouse things other than what is below your nether region, it serves little to no purpose and more often than not, Is just a manifestation of an author’s fetish. I say this so, reading this review, you’ll have a general idea of what sort I am and because the major flaw that permeates this story is directly related to this. Rudeus is, by all intents and purposes, the self-insert of this anime. In spite of being a lazy-lay about in his previous life, the man possesses latent potential and a heart of gold…supposedly. The narrative of this anime heavily focuses on the journey, hearing the inner thoughts of Rudy contemplating every bit of information. Very often, he is the brains behind an operation and adults will even defer to his actions during his physical childhood. Given his presence in the prior world, the only reason we are given to suspect that he never put this intellect to use was due to him being bullied, which is an arch that’s summarily cut extremely short and he gets over the trauma practically asap. The world has a tendency to give Rudy exactly what he wants and so, the world rains copious amounts of girls on him. You see, Rudy wasn’t just any sort of neet, he was the pedophilic kind that went out of his way to get footage of real-life underaged girls in the prior world and so, not only does his teacher look like a kid but his two other interests are literal children instead of metaphorical ones. This story is, supposedly, meant for Rudy to get another chance at life and do his best in this one, and that much is reflected in all his actions except his tendency to want to have sex with underaged girls. Not only is it not reflected in him, but the story also consistently makes light of his behavior and through the cour, it’s not addressed in any shape or form. The anime will dedicate significant dialogue to the importance of working hard, the value of life and do its best to maintain consistency to drill home its points yet it’ll play whimsical music over Rudy groping underaged girls and zoom in on their most private parts while he squeezes in the most “flattering” light. To put it simply, this is a redemption for his failure to not do his best in his prior life and not a redemption of him overcoming his pedophilic tendencies. The vast majority of the adult women are also sexualized, and we get the opportunity to have the animators give us the detailed sway of breasts. To add insults to all of the above, all “important” women only serve to be eye-candy for Rudy and make no valuable decisions, and they’re effectively just there to be ogled. Now one could retort and say that the women in this series are plenty strong, like Ghislaine. Yet she is dumb as rocks and makes no significant decisions at all; her contribution is to have her ass poked and her tits ogled when she isn’t being used as a shield for the main character. The maturity of this anime begins and ends with sex. A large majority of the male cast is obsessed with sex and will discuss it at length with each other, and it’s not at all afraid to portray an intimate couple. The last part is the only anomaly, yet it’s simply used to further feed the leering nature of the camera and Rudy. You’ll be hearing Rudy’s dirty thoughts a lot, practically non-stop for the vast majority of the season and at no point does it contribute to the plot, or advance his character, it only pads the run-time of the given episode. In the latter part of the anime, it recovers from this tendency a bit, but it’ll make certain to make tsundere jokes about it, further cementing that it does not at all take Rudy’s child molesting tendencies seriously in the least. The story surrounding all this is, thus far, a big nothing. You’ll go through the everyday life of Rudy navigating this setting and inflicting his pedophilia, and sex pest tendencies on all the women, and at some point, it’ll shift to a by the numbers fantasy adventure mode. What little experience he gains in this new world, he remains unchanged from beginning to end. The things I did find to enjoy within the anime were in large parts due to the newly formed Studio bind. They brought a level of medieval detail and animation to even minor actions, and a good amount of the character designs. Rudy’s curiosity toward the world was in many parts a highlight, yet it was always occupied with his lecherous thoughts and constant objectification of the women around him of which the anime always silently condoned. In no way does this aid a story that largely relies in threadbare stereotypes to carry our main character and we barely have any time to truly familiarize with any character before they are shuffled away, with the exception of Eris whose only change being that she becomes an armpiece for Rudy. For all its attempts to give Rudy hardships, it always wipes them away with ease and in the end, the one major character flaw that’s consistent throughout is treated like a joke. The underlying nothing of a story can’t support the burden that is that the show does not at all acknowledge pedophilia as a flaw, the writer's hand goes out of its way to treat Rudy with kiddy gloves and his supposed flaws are brushed past quickly. I can't in good faith recommend this show.

No filler with everything being of interest and having meaning. Not only do they not play the same OP over and over again. Because they fulfill the 1:30 min op with their main op song and some progressive scenes instead of some generic OP like every other anime. This show really captures a reincarnation anime really well compared to many others. I can say for most that this is one of the top shows I’ve seen that really capture a good story of being reincarnated into a magical world. While making this show very enjoyable with stellar eye candy. Every episode had something to look forward too. A real meaning behind each and a nice capture of meaning for each. Not a second wasted on scenes not needed but I could really feel out these characters having a life and not just simple background characters but a real meaning. The show just captures that so uniquely and smoothly. While also keeping such a intuitive story with more interest into what this or that means but not diving too deep where I am confused as to what is happening. Just enough for me to understand and keep curious and not ponder back but to look forward. This is definitely one of those animes where the episodes feel like their 5 mins long because it’s just so good. Def recommended

The best part of Mushoku is its degeneracy. Let’s atleast be honest with ourselves here. Mushoku wouldn’t be this popular if it wasn’t as shamelessly self-indulgent as it is. Even I, a deviant of the highest caliber, one who can almost call Rudeus my equal, felt inspired. I revere Mushoku for its honesty. Its disregard for vain and illusory confines is key to its ascendency. It’s one man’s vision reigning supreme; his perverse fantasy stands alone. Let the moralists sneer! Or as I delineate them: Liars. Oh those self-deceivers! – those tartuffes, who masquerade as moral. Don’t let their vanity fool you, dear reader; to delight in Mushoku’s deviancy is a marker of good taste and of an impeccable conscience. Anyway, apart from its titillating comedy and the occasional decent action scene, Mushoku is quite mediocre. There isn’t much to say; it executes the isekai genre completely straight and does all the trite tropes to an acceptable level of quality. It’s fine. But there is a but. My problem is that Mushoku is too honest, even for me. And I’m not talking about lusting after lolis, or – for those of finer taste – all the gropey, rapey stuff. When I say honesty, I think of Mushoku’s appeal as akin to a VN/eroge: You know very well that you’re going to die alone, so you boot up that 2000’s bishōjo game for the 10th time and replay your beloved waifu’s route to pacify yourself – it’s this level of honesty is what I’m talking about. It’s precisely what Mushoku is but for isekai. The entire show is a revenge power fantasy that’s been turned up to 11. It's genuinely sad to watch. With no tongue in cheek, it's unironically going "if only I was born in a different world... then everything would've gone my way!" Full blast on its cope. The main character gets fellated by everything and everyone all the time. It never stops. The author expects me to believe that suddenly this 30 year old hikikomori can now navigate the world and is superior to all the other characters, all because he was born with better circumstances. It has this nasty undercurrent of spiteful arrogance for the world. There was a scene where Rudeus condescendingly lectured his new father on being better. It was here where I initially dropped it. The author seems oblivious to the fact that the protagonist is supposed to be a complete failure at life, and not suddenly a person who’s in a position above others. There’s no room for actual character development in a way that’s believable. It’s screaming “If I was born better… If my circumstances were better! It’s all the world's fault… I’m going to have it my way…” It’s taking this sad, juvenile, and resentful view of the world and affirming it. It’s disconcerting to say the least. Compare this to Konosuba: NEET hikikomori gets isekai’d, but he’s still a complete shitter in the next world. It’s hilarious and it does isekai correctly – if there was a way to do it correctly. There’s a distinct difference in attitude between the two: Konosuba has a lack of hatred for life. It doesn’t cry about unfair circumstances or blames the world; one never gets the sense that it's shaking its fist at God for all its problems. But Mushoku? Rudeus quite literally sneers at God and holds him in disdain for the problems in his previous life. (Note: I’m not talking about God in a religious sense; I do not care for that. I’m talking about a life-affirming/denying – hatred for existence sort of sense.) This would be fine IF it was just Rudeus’ specific character flaws, and many will proclaim that it is; however, I argue that Mushoku does a piss-poor attempt at exploring that, and really is just the author’s whiney diatribe about existence. I can’t help but feel that I’m watching a toddler throw a temper tantrum because reality slighted his fragile ego. The author ended up writing the most self-gratifying and self-aggrandizing fanfiction to date. Weirdly enough, I don’t recommend against Mushoku. The ecchi-comedy is fun, to those with taste, of course, and it has some good action too. It’s just the cope though; it needs to lighten up. Take notes from Konosuba or that slime isekai. Bye bye!

A valiant take on an oversaturated genre. I’ll give my thoughts about animation, characters, OST and story but in my opinion there has to be given priority to a whole other topic first and that is sexuality. Mushoku Tensei accomplishes the rare feat of portraying human sexuality in a realistic way despite it not being the shows main focus and for that it deserves praise. Why is that? Media such as shows have the tendency to oversimplify a given subject. Furthermore, to implement a monochromatic point of view. Obviously, there are reasons for this, but the fact still stands. There are also topics which are more frowned upon which inclines producers (and studios) to act in either of two ways: avoid it to avoid (negative) scrutiny OR press the issue in a more extreme way to generate attention. All those aforementioned reasons, especially the last one imo, define how sensible subjects such as sexuality are portrayed in modern media. Let’s dissect what this means specifically for Anime: On one side of the spectrum, you will find Harem and “extreme Ecchi”. The (sometimes sole) focus of shows from this genre is sexuality. However, how realistic do they portray it? Well, that obviously depends on the show itself but to make a generalized statement here: usually not very realistic. I think we can all agree that a deathmatch between x number of cute girls fawning over generic and blunt/dull protagonist is not necessarily the peak of realism portrayed in fiction. On the other side of the spectrum, there is not one or two genres but rather an entire catalogue of shows from all genres. Let’s go through some examples to paint a picture here: ERASED is a show rated R17+ and spans over the genres of mystery, psychological, supernatural and even Seinen. In the entirety of the show did any character ever portray any behavior that would be considered a sexual action or motivated by a sexual desire? Did they ever talk about anything even resembling it? Ever thought about it? What about (the first season) of Demon Slayer? Also, an R17+ rated mystery title with a huge cast of characters. Or maybe we look at some long running Shounen: Naruto, One Piece, maybe even Black Clover. Attack on Titan maybe? Or some slice of life like After the rain? I think my points becomes painfully obvious by now and I don’t want to sound too redundant (let’s be honest I probably already do). There is no sexuality, it simply doesn’t exit. When people/characters are in love or even when new children are born, there is never any sign of sexuality in no shape whatsoever. It’s not the focus of the show so it just gets swept under a rock and we pretend it doesn’t exist. Again, not a very realistic portray of human nature of which sexuality is a (big) part. Therefore, the point I’m trying to make advocates for a more moderate (as in: adequate) and especially more variable display. Sexuality is a part of ourselves, it is part of being human. For some of us it might be the most important thing in life and for some others it might just be a minor aspect of life. A realistic approach in media should strive to capture this and characterize a character’s sexuality in a more adequate and distinct way. Now this obviously only applies to shows which want to go down this road and they naturally should be aimed at a more mature audience. I believe Mushoku Tensei fits those criteria as it is currently listed as R17+. I want to discuss one brief example of what I have described so far. Let’s look at the character of “Paul” aka our protagonist’s father. I think it is fair to say, that he enjoys sexual acts a lot and doesn’t see coition solely as an act of producing offspring. It’s pretty much a daily act for him and his wife and we also know that he and Ghislaine had sexual relations. He also cheated on his wife with his maid Lilia that he later takes as his second wife. Now, this is interesting because, Lilia is different from Paul in that regard, but we do gain insight on why this occurred, and it is a good example for the more realistic approach on human sexuality I described earlier: Lilia does not value sexual intercourse as highly as Paul does, but she is still human and therefore possesses a natural sexual desire. Yes, it is to a much lesser degree than Paul’s, but it still exists. She explicitly states that “Hearing them moaning every single night gives even a maid pent-up urges, I’m honestly amazed I held out this long”, so she is basically saying that being in this environment and situation gave her all this pent up sexual frustration which lead to said development. An accurate display of human desire which can lead to unforeseen and often unfortunate circumstances. One last aspect I’d like to mention about this: So far nothing of this is directly plot relevant. It is hinted at being relevant later on, but it might as well not have happened in season one and the general “plot” wouldn’t have changed. I really like this since it gives this feeling of characters being actual real human beings and therefore immersing you to such a high degree. We follow along Rudeus on his adventure and all these things are happening around him, not because they are some plot device but rather because other characters also matter and are portrayed as sentient beings with thoughts, emotions and desires. As for the overall story so far, I’d say it’s quite good but also not great (yet?). Pretty much what can be said about a lot of elements for season one of Mushoku Tensei. Before the mana catastrophe (the first eight episodes) it kind of didn’t really have a story and it also lacked a bit of seriousness imo. The viewer just gets to experience experiencing the world along with our MC and there are a lot of time skips. I like the directional approach they went with here and I enjoyed those first eight episodes though it is good that they turned the seriousness up a notch and gave Rudeus a more feasible “short-term” goal of getting back to his household and protecting/safely escorting Eris. Sadly, this went along with the implantation of some sort of godly being that occasionally visits Rudeus when he sleeps and tells him what to do and I mean that in a literal way btw. This “god” reveals to him the most optimal path of progression and all he has to do is follow this approach. Is there maybe some kind of ruse behind this? Why is this “god” even doing that? We don’t know and I suspect (and hope) that there is indeed some sort of unwanted string attached to this but as it stands this is just poor writing imo. Rudeus is in a dangerous situation but instead of allowing him to think for himself there is someone who tells him what to do and by doing that he apparently makes a “good decision” and gets a desirable result. I dislike this a lot but it’s only a very minor part (so far), so it didn’t bother me much when watching. The characters can be described the same way as good but not great. I’ll admit it’s pretty hard to design really great characters in just eleven episodes, especially side characters, but this is really all I can say for now. There is good potential for the future and since this is supposed to be a longer running show, I can definitely see this changing but as it stands right now there wasn’t a single character in the entire cast that I’d describe as extraordinary great. My favorite so far is Roxy and the one that developed the best is Eris. I didn’t like Eris at first but by the end of season one she was one of my most liked characters due to that good character development of hers. Animation is another strong point for the show. Not the best I’ve ever seen but certainly impressive. Would I call it aesthetically pleasing in an exceptional way? No, but watching this on a good screen will still give you a high-quality cinematic experience in terms of animation. OST and voice acting was alright. Maybe slightly above average but nothing to write home about. This can be improved upon imo, but it wasn’t …

I was never really interested in "modern isekai" (or naro-kei, as it is called in Japan, apparently), but a friend of mine recommended it to me. I believe it had 7 or episodes out. I watched the first 9, and, by the time 10 came out, I was already reading volume 4. What caught my eye in this story was that this wasn't the story of a hero, but it wasn't the story of a villain either. It's the story of a broken man who gets a new chance at life, by reincarnating in another world, apparently a common theme in isekai. However, I need to clarify what I mean by "broken". I don't mean he's depressed because life is hard or he just experienced a personal tragedy. I mean this guy is more messed up than the entire cast of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and he knows it. He isn't a bad person, he's a good person. But, his trauma turned him into a horrible, disgusting human being. This might seem contradictory to some, so let me explain. I consider a bad person to be someone who does not care if they harm others, but this dude cares, a lot, and this destroyed him from the inside. He suffered some bullying when he was 14 and locked himself in his bedroom. Days became weeks, weeks became months, months became years, years became decades. With each passing day, his pain and shame increase, he knows he is nothing but a disgusting parasite mooching off his parents while his siblings and former friends move on with their lives. The only thing left for him is his addiction to video-games, manga, weird Japanese pornography, and any mix thereof. It fills all of his life, it is disgusting, and he knows it, which only increases his pain. However, the story doesn't use his pain to justify the shitty things he does. You can't really justify skipping on your parents' funeral to jack off to loli porn. This is something many people misunderstand about this series, it doesn't take any moral stance in regards to the actions of the characters, be it negative or positive. However, many people see the lack of condemnation and understand it as defense or support. What this story does is portray every single one of its chracters as complex human beings, with good and bad characteristics. There are no heroes, no villains, just very flawed people living their lives, worrying about money, about friendship, about love, about the infidelity of their spouse... in a high-fantasy setting. Another controversial aspect of this show is how it chose to portray his reincarnation, using the voice of an adult male for his internal dialogue. This makes many people see him as a 40-year old man perving over young girls, which is indeed disturbing. However, this story has an unreliable narrator, and just because the character views himself as the 34-year-old parasite, it doesn't mean that's who he actually is. In the first episode we see the protagonist moving like a child and sometimes even behaving like one. He also remarks that his child brain is super efficient at learning. These are indicators that his new body does affect his emotions, thoughts, and behaviours, even if he doesn't acknowledge it. This tells me that he is neither just an adult in a child's body nor just a child with memories of his previous life, but both at the same time, or a weird mix of both. This doesn't justify his wrong deeds, but puts his character into perspective to better understand the story that is being told. As I mentioned above, we aren't the only ones confused by it, the protagonist is confused too, which leads to his worst crime: not seeing those around him as people. The last 20 years of his previous life were spent playing videogames, so he sees everybody around him as NPC's in either an ero-game or a JRPG. He doesn't even see his parents as his parents. Because he doesn't see them as people, he doesn't really take their feelings into account, which ends up hurting others. Realising that he is hurting them is the trigger to start the change, but change takes time. Many people complain a lot his sexual perversion and about how he doesn't seem to improve. The problem is that the character himself has no problem with his sexual perversion beyond how it can affect his relationships. The thing he actually cares about, the thing that traumatised him was being a good-for-nothing parasite, that's what pushed him to try his best in his new life, to live it to the fullest. If you expect this to be the kind of progress he makes, might want to re-evaluate your expectations or simply drop the show, it's up to you. Mushoku Tensei awakens very deep emotions in people, be it love or hate. This is an indicator of great art, so you might as well give it a try a see if it is for you.