Mushoku Tensei is ART, You Philistines

The problem that I have with anime like that, is that it often uses rationalizations like “character arc” or “oh, it is not shown in a positive light, is it?” as disclaimers, to get away with some pretty explicit stuff. And that makes it completely indistinguishable from dog-whistle material for pedos.

Also, the general sleaziness, that is often so over the top, you basically have to watch porn to see it matched, is often just as lazy as it is weird. And it isn’t exactly creating a backdrop to tackle such subjects in a light, that seems genuine. Not when it blatantly is the most on the nose sex-sells-pitch imaginable – like the bodyguard of the red-haired girl being a buff chick, that is practically naked all the time. It is just so desperately thirsty, that I find it off-putting and completely tone-deaf for an anime, that chooses to go to such places.

A series like Mushoku Tensei being like this hurts the most because it's really good in every other aspect of Rudeus growing into a better person.

But noooo, he has to be a pervert pedo without any repercussions! And it's not even going to be an ignorable quirk, it's going to be one of the main character traits!

I genuinely held hope as Rudeus burns Eris' hair and picks up Roxy's underwear in front of the fire because I thought he finally understood there are far more import - and he's crying into it and making a shrine for the panties.

A bad show being a bad show is understandable. A good show being brought down by such a bad writing choice, which I'm guessing is just wish fulfillment from the author, is an atrocity.

Imagine if Thorfinn was a sex fiend in Vinland Saga during Farmland Arc? Or if Kenzo Tenma lusted over every women he saw while going after Johan in Monster? I honestly believe Mushoku could've hit those highs if it weren't for the pedo shit.

This is pure male gaze, God! More than even other Anime. Did you even TALK to a non-weeb person about this Anime? Especially a non-straight-men non-weeb person???

now i realize i love this cuz there are dark shit

Watching it for the first time. 8 episodes in.

I wish they didn't write those pedo scenes into the show. The excuse people give is "it's part of who he is", but I wonder why those people seem to forget that a writer WROTE him to be like that, and they wrote a scenario where the 30+ year old man in a 7 year old body gropes and tries to pull panties off of a 9 year old...... like none of that was essential to the story

Other than THAT shit.... I am really enjoying the show so far

Edit: I'm fully caught up with the anime and HOLY SHIT THIS SHOW IS A WORK OF ART

When you Reincarnate you no longer are your previous life, memories or not.

Spoiler













The best part about all of this is the world did not choose him. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time to support another hero. So he is not even the main character of this hero transfer

When I was 12 my extended family all had maids and a similar situation to Eris’s family. Lots of Pauls and Grandaddy greyrat types. I had like 6 male cousins around my age a little older up to like 6 or 7 years older. They were like the leaders/big brothers. I spent about a year and a half with them.

Initially watching this anime being pretty turned off I was looking forward to quitting it thinking it everything was just fan service. But looking back to those moments in my childhood in that unique situation I can 100% say that everything in the anime exists and I am surprised that the author was able to even dream that up without having that first hand experience.

I think the anime got me hooked then when I realized it was deliberate. That’s the moment I started to forget I was watching an anime and became absorbed into it. Not that I give those things praise to be clear but I guess I felt relieved it wasn’t just cheap fan service.

I eventually moved on to the WN, then LN after the anime ended.

oh the beginning really wasn't that good the first 5 min of the first episode really just made me thing what????

Just finished the second season and the growth in character development for rudeus is amazing. He isnt perfect and he fuck ups in ways that makes sense. But he trys to be better and it puts the question in my head can we all be better. Can serial killers genocidal maniacs, rapist, murders, can we all be better if given the chance. And should we live in a world where the justice system strays away from revenge and into a better life for all. That is a hard question and i dont think it would be answered this generation or the next but i feel it will be answered one day.

The most fascinating thing about this show is how it deals with Rudeus’s biggest character flaw strictly in nuance, brief dialogue, and brief actions, rather than outright addressing it directly and loudly in bold font. Rudeus is a pedophile, full stop. At least at first. As he actually makes an effort to properly mature in his new life, (something he never did which resulted in his degeneracy in his last life) he outgrows his predatory perviness. He’s still pervy, but not in the same way he was when at the start of the series. He moves in to lusting after actual of age people because he himself is maturing and overcoming his degeneracy. You only ever take note of this development if you actually pay attention. First he was gonna groom sylphie, but never gets the chance to and never tries that on anyone again. He groped and essentially molests eris, but actual respects boundaries and consent by the end of the events of episode 8, and never forces himself on anyone again, and it’s only uphill for him from there.

I’m so fascinated by this series. Its overarching premise is a never ending elephant in the room, at least while the characters are still super young. At no point does the story ever explicitly tell you what’s wrong with Rudy or why it’s bad, leading many people to believe that the show is either indifferent towards or justifying his actions. In reality, the series simply refuses to handle things in any way that ISN’T nuanced, to a fault. Almost to its detriment, but I respect it.

You almost convinced me to watch it. I was turned away automatically by a pervy baby. I'm excited to hear there's a lot of thoughtfulness and nuance behind this show, but I can't do this type of story. I don't have the heart for it.

It’s realistic in ways people are afraid to talk about these days all the characters are imperfect but endearing and if you think 15 year olds having sex and guys naturally being horny pigs is too much you live in a bubble or on a high horse 😂

🙇🏿‍♂️ thank you for this godly vid

Even as a MT fanboys, I have to admit, that author overshoot with presenting protagonist as flawed, early on.
But when someone says, that whole series and everyone who enjoys it is disgusting because of that is a bad actor.
I'm not going to omit overall greatness of the series because of it's one aspect.
Just because someone tripped, it doesn't mean they can't walk.

Made in abyss deals with the fucked up stuff better then mushitko midsei

Jobless reincarnation is the most realistic Isekai anime in terms of story telling

I especially like how the show deals with those dark topics but it doesnt shove it in our face and force us to watch vile shit for 4 minutes straight

Comedy, romance, horror, and action put together pretty well

I'd say the world building of Mushoku Tensei was great, the trauma of people and the mana disaster was clearly shown and the voice acting was good, it gets into meta outer dimensional subjects like the reality of there being multiple isekai'd people, people inside of the world knowing about man god and generally things like the MC's trauma coming back, it doesn't show he just gets plopped into a world with powers and instantly chases after 12 (coal) miners

The weirdness of its fandom, as well as the pedophile vibes with Rudeus and the slavery stuff make me unable to like or keep watching the anime. It's just.... not great.

I think that I can see where you're coming from but the issue for me is there is no need to go along with Rudeus as he preys on young women, kidnaps them, molests them, and hurts them. The novel Lolita deals with a pedophile as the main character, and you're stuck in his head too, but we don't have to experience them repeatedly preying upon underage girls in detail. I can appreciate seeing this growth everyone talks about, but I am personally not sure I can deal with watching 12 hours of molesting children to see it.

You hate Rudy, but as a character you love him. He's a pervert who at the start treats every interaction as if he's in an H-game. But you see his backstory and can understand (some even being able to relate) why he shut himself down. You see his willingness to sacrifice at the beginning and understand that he wants to be a good person. And you slowly see his growth and start to root for him to become the person worthy of all the love and praise he receives.

Plus, the entire "Can't get it up" arc has so many heroic quotes. It is a serious issue some men, especially older men are forced to deal with. And this show does it justice by showing that women are wrong in how they approach it.

You hate Paul, but as a character you love him. He cheated on his wife, he's a womanizer. It's all plain and simple. But he was a great hero in his time, many women were throwing themselves at him so his arrogance stuck with him. He's a great father who cares and respects his children, teaching them how to be better than him.

You hit the head on the nail. Every character is heavily flawed. But you can't help but to root for them. They are understandable and believable. And you can tell the writer had great respect for women with how he wrote every mother. They're all strong, capable, and dependable. They're strong mentors who are aware of their own flaws and work quickly to remedy or alleviate them unlike the men. None of it is grounded in modern truth, but it shows an appreciation for the strong mentors of the writers life.

Thank you for this video; it says a lot I wasn't able to really articulate to a friend I recommended the show to. He quit a few episodes in, not being able to get past what a sex offender Rudy is. And I respect that, as you said a few times on here. But I'm going to suggest watching this video to get some greater context for the show and see if he can come to some appreciation of it.

ghislaine ass = goals honestly fact if I could have a steel ass I'd be pumped lol

Hey I was curious to know if you had a video about season 2 in the works? If not totally fine, thanks for all of the content though!

Honestly I like series. It’s basically about a anime pervert with a somewhat mess up past.
Being reincarnated into another world so he improve himself as the story progresses.

MC and the series itself shows the good, bad and ugly with each individuals. As change within each phase in there lifetime.

I, too, wish I could be Abraham Lincoln and instead of freeing slaves, just tell people to be "nice owners" instead. Rudeus is definitely someone everyone can relate with. Stockholm syndrome, relationship hierarchies, gaslightling and misdirection in relationships. Except, you know, they're used for "good" now.

Mushoku tensei is my religion and I will defend it with my life

When you look up emotional rollercoaster this show comes up. I have never been actually invested in a show before this one, and I don’t know how to feel about that.

AINT NO WAY YOU JUST SAID THAT ABOUT PAUL INCASE YOU COULDN’T SEE SHE LITERALLY SEDUCED HIM INTO SLEEPING WITH HER NOT ONLY THAT BUT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE POINTING TO HIM BEING A RAPIST LIKE WTF

I’m pretty sure it can’t just be me but I love pointing out how if you really think about it Rudeus is still a teenager mentally so although he may have grown up physically all those years trapped in that room probably prevented his mind from ever developing into that of a grown adult meaning that he is technically not as bad as everyone assumes him to be plus I’ve read the books and I can say personally that he becomes a much more respectable man down the road. Although as a man we have sexual thoughts just like his the only difference is one we don’t act on most of them like he does and two we don’t show it on our faces

the only reason i don't like it is because rudeus is a pedo and a groomer

Where is the part two to this video? At least do one on the 2nd part of the first season.

I really don't know how to feel about mushoku, I get that the worldbuilding is good and the characters are more realistic, and that is really cool for anime, but, a lot of books and novel alredy has that... So for me these good aspects are not as amazing to the majority of the people, because I alredy read books with that. I really liked how they introduced rudeos, and that he is a bad person that wants to change, they really do well to show how disgusting he is and how he knows that before getting isekaied. And I really liked that he not changed because of that, like, he has a bad habit of being a child porn addiction for more than 10 years, this level makes porn fells like a drug and I not joking, there are several studys that comproves this. But, the problem to me is the narrative, it's not just rudeus doing disgusting shit, its almost all the male in characters in the show that do that to woman.

I do know that is in a medieval setting, but, its weird, if you study about that, its really disgusting, more like how is showed in GOT, but, here is disgusting, but not as much as GOT. And really feels that there is no consequences, like, the thing that happened with paul, why the wife didn't get sadder or why that was resolved so fast? And the narrative really made some jokes after like "look how cute his wife is being grump that she was cheated". For me the real problem about mushuko is this narrative, that want to show the disgusting things, but still has this anime humor that belittles how heavy harassment is.

If the history was a little more serious about that, with more inner thoughts of the protagonist thinking about his actions, and that he know that isn't right, but because how hard is to change he still commit these things and doing that over and over again makes he hating himself, maybe some show some thoughts about he realizing how hard is to change, or even he losting the hope that he can change, than after that trying to change again and again. And if that would time consuming, danm just cut 2 or 3 scenes about comedy ecchi and that would do.

But in the end, I am glad that finally has an anime with and good long worldbuilding, and more real relatable characters.

(I am not a native english speaker, so sorry if I wrote some things really bad. And if you want to know what I think its a really good story about a guy that is horrible, the narratives always is serious about this, read Shamo, this manga its just amazing. I do warn that this is pretty danm heavy way heavier than mushoku)

Its a good time to put little spoiler here.
As story starts, Rudeus (inside voice) hasnt recognized the Paulo as a father. But the Paulo does consider Rudeus as a son.
Just after of all drama, Rudeus inside is going to recognize that he didnt called a Paulo as a father.

Many people who hate it dont get that its a second chance story of a brutally bullied and harrassed man who succumb to depression finally got at another world by hapenstance. He literally relearned everything from how to walk to how to talk to how do do the basic stuff in the new world, and even in the new world he suffers far worse than he ever did in the real world, he chose to stand up and move forward.

I had been wondering why so many people talk about this show and this video just confirms that I would likely hate it. The hopeless letch archetype is just cancer to my enjoyment of a piece of media. Plus my generic dislike of the isekai subgenre solidifies this view. Nothing about this struck me as art outside how pretty the magic animations are and I can get that same effect from something like Demon Slayer where the dumb letch is not the protag and is balanced out by the much better surrounding characters.

2 years later back here again.

Idk bro I don't wanna watch 13 year olds be sexual in any context even a well written one.

Two years later, Mushoku Tensei and Re:Zero− Starting Life in Another World is still the best of isekais, even able to compete with shonen

If someone had just told me Sugita Tomokazu did the adult voice narration, I would have watched this series years ago.

I think when it comes to hateble content i think that it's Essential, i mean we're talking about a world that deal with sword and magic, no modernity, no ethics it make the world more realistic just like game of thrones it has bad content but still consider as one of the best series of all time

I feel like I should watch this show. Because I find the shitty anime tropes that are subverted and called out in this show to be DEEPLY uncomfortable in every series I've seen them in, so it would be nice to see them actually played for the horor that they are. It might not be perfect, making a person uncomfortable on purpose still makes them uncomfortable, after all, but I need to at least give it a try. I'll probably wait until a few season are out, that way I can see Rudeas's development over a longer period of time at once.

When you described the scene where the queen accepts the protag with a hug it got tears out of me. Absolutly convinced me to give this show a shot.

I see people complaining about similar stuff in other stories like Game Of Thrones, but i dont see people accusing the author for "encouraging" such behavior but in Mushoku Tensei they do, both started as Novels with very serious medieval fantasy themes that dont shy away into some dream land where everything is "politicaly correct" no that is pretty much old medieval europe at its finest, slavery, rape, men being assholes woman being treated as objects blood and carnage, murder for political gains, wars etc, both are similar but the form of media they were brought to us is different, Game Of Thrones is a Live-Action Series with real life people as actors and Mushoku Tensei is a animated 2D japanese anime.

Hello, this is me two and a half years later during the second season's airing, just coming back to thank you because this video convinced me to pick up what would become one of my favorite series of all time.

something i hear a lot is that "you support this mc whos bad which means you support the bad things he does" or something along those lines, and i think that argument is really interesting because everybody who likes this show supports rudeus, but not because we support the things he did; we support his growth as a character. that one small distinction is really important and shows how thin of a line this show dances on

Mother's Basement, do you want to explain how the latest two episodes of Mushoku Tensei (S2 eps 6 & 7) fit into your "redemption story" hypothesis? Because, holy crap, these episodes have gone so far backwards to the worst moments of Season 1!