Rudy's character makes no sense?

NextUniverse said:
I can't quite understand Rudy's character in that he acts like a child whilst acting as his 40 y/o self concurrently.

in previous episodes, it is shown that going outside is a problem mentally for him. So does his social problems conveniently disappear or what?

Am I missing out on something or is this just a plot hole no one is going to talk about?

Kazurfel said:

He's a manchild, far from what one would call a grown ass man, he's shut himself from social interaction ever since he was 14 years old.

Kazurfel said:

I'm not sure what you're not understanding about his character, he's acting like a kid since he is currently a kid? acting like an adult while he's not one would not help him in the slightest so he's adaptating to his current situation, the times he acts "like an adult" are in his internal monologues where he reflects on his past life.
He's not acting like a "mature adult", he's only acting based on his regrets over what he did or didn't do before and how that affected him, also, he was never a "grown ass man" since he never matured past the time he dropped out of school, his body might have reached 34 years old before he died but his mind never got over it.
You said "He's been through a lot it doesn't matter if he was a shut in", the whole point is the contrary, he fell down at the first steps and never got back up, he's not been through a lot he fucked up and never recovered, all of his important social experiences ceased in the middle of his adolescence and for the rest of his life all he did was interact with internet degeneracy and due to that he is completely immature and it took him more than reincarnation to get over his silly fear of going outside. (him being a pervert to that extent is also part of his immaturity)
Before anyone else asks why he's not socially incapable please keep in mind that at this point he's had quite literally eight years of rehabilitation.

Kazurfel said:

Don't worry i'm not picking a fight with you, sorry if i sounded mean.
The reason he "switches" from little boy to man is what i mentioned about him adaptating to his condition, what i mean about him being a recluse isn't to excuse his actions but for you to understand why he turned out like this, he understands that it's a questionable thing to do but he also understands that he will be excused by both being a young boy and being Paul's son, his mind is completely rotten at this point of the story, his first step to being a better person in this regard is next episode btw.
Mental age after puberty is definitely more of a experience thing than an physical age thing though and he was definitely emotionally stunted.

NextUniverse said:
I can't quite understand Rudy's character in that he acts like a child whilst acting as his 40 y/o self concurrently.

What I mean is that the dude has no problem acting all carefree about the people he talks to and what not but in previous episodes, it is shown that going outside is a problem mentally for him. So does his social problems conveniently disappear or what?

Am I missing out on something or is this just a plot hole no one is going to talk about?

Kazurfel said:
the times he acts "like an adult" are in his internal monologues where he reflects on his past life.

StoneFreee said:
I disagree with the notion that just because he’s a shut in he’s some kinda of feeble baby man, just because you’ve been a recluse from society doesn’t mean you don’t age mentally and it’s not like he’s not old enough to know he’s being weird or a morally questionable, if you think that then you are cutting him way too much slack I don’t really care how emotionally sensitive he is, it’s common sense that his actions are questionable and he definitely has common sense

skysurf said:

Sure, if you want to conveniently ignore that he's acting like a pervert adult ever since he was reborn in the new world (thinking his parents are younger than him, making sexual remarks about his mother's breast, sniffing panties, groping little girls, etc), THEN yeah... after you close your eyes and pretend none of that exists in the story, you can safely say "he's just a kid".


Well said. I roll my eyes every time I see an attempt to downplay MC's questionable actions by using words like manchild 🤮

Kazurfel said:
kids can also be as perverted as he is, i knew living examples

Kazurfel said:
Before anyone else asks why he's not socially incapable please keep in mind that at this point he's had quite literally eight years of rehabilitation.

skysurf said:

Btw you also said that I "don't believe that Rudeus "deserves" any chance for redemption", can you quote me on that to back up your claim? In fact, the story gave him a chance at redemption in the new world but in terms of his pedo issues the author had him waste this chance and instead went for wish fulfillment.

NextUniverse said:
I can't quite understand Rudy's character in that he acts like a child whilst acting as his 40 y/o self concurrently.

What I mean is that the dude has no problem acting all carefree about the people he talks to and what not but in previous episodes, it is shown that going outside is a problem mentally for him. So does his social problems conveniently disappear or what?

Am I missing out on something or is this just a plot hole no one is going to talk about?

kuwangpa said:
My understanding is that he is mentally 34-years old which he has retained in the new world, and he applies that prior-world knowledge when it is advantageous to do so (e.g. reasoning with his mom to prevent the pregnant Lilia from getting kicked out). In other situations, he'll act like a kid because he'll get more lenient/forgiving treatment from the adults in the new world.

kuwangpa said:
That problem of going outside is something that carried over from his previous life. I guess it was easy to miss if you weren't paying attention to it, but Roxy actually helped Rudeus overcome that fear in an earlier episode (he even thanks and gives credit to her for helping him on that mental block).

Conceptualhero said:
He has conquered his fear from interacting with Roxy. He finally understands that his life in the new world is a fresh start and that he is never going to meet the people that have wronged him in his past life. It is through this revelation that he is able to converse with people much more casually than before, as it was stated that Rudy never went outside his community before meeting Roxy.

MegamiRem said:
Yes you are. Watch the first 3 episodes again. Roxy fixed his shut in issues.

NextUniverse said:



Roxy thing was an example, probably not the best one, so I will edit the op after this. If he understood his life is a fresh start that makes it seem even stranger, I thought he acknowledged this was in the first/second episode. That is another thing to get onto to, if he "never went outside his community before meeting Roxy "then how is he so chill with his parents, unless the timeskip business actually worked out, but then wouldn't that mean that something like the can't go outside issue be phased out as he is developing.

NextUniverse said:

Roxy thing was an example. The dude is this neet who clearly had social issues prior to Roxy even being shown up, but can still socialise with people regardless of that.

Conceptualhero said:
He wasn't socially awkward prior to his bullying. He dropped out of high school at the age of 16, so he has already learned a good amount of social skills. If I recalled correctly, he was humiliated throughout the entire school to the point where he had to drop out. Knowing that the MT world is a fresh start means many of his fear would have been alleviated because there would absolutely be no chance that he would run into his old bullies or anyone that knew him at his high school.

He didn't become a NEET until at the age of 16 where he then shut himself inside his room for 14 years. It took some adjustment, but you can bounce back from that if you had some help from some influential figure and start your life in a new world, free from the problems in your past one.

Also, Instead of being a fat and ugly loser, he is now considered attractive. See how that would be a MASSIVE confidence boost?

MegamiRem said:
You didn't get the message there it seems. Also do tell me which people he socilised with before Roxy came? That was only his parents Zenith and Paul and the maid Lilia. Rudy was clearly afraid to go outside the house before Roxy cured his trauma.

deg said:
its still fiction so i do not expect hard realism on this one

Never knew anyone else is capable of doing such a thing.

NextUniverse said:
That is an interesting take on the situation, it seems that I can understand the dude now. I think it was just strangely put together which had left me to make this thread. Thanks for the insight though. I must say though I don't remember anything said about him not being socially awkward prior to his bullying. That's not even me trying to be an ass, I just don't remember that being mentioned.

If it's possible, I want to go back to primary school, my life's highest point, or back to the middle of junior high school.

However, her home was near mine and we frequently shared the same class during primary school, so we went home together more than once. We had plenty of chances to talk together, and also bickered at times. It's a pity. In my current state, just listening to the words "junior high", "childhood friend", and "running club", is enough for me to cum 3 times.

Our relationship wasn't bad. We were able to talk without reservations since we'd known each other from a young age

NextUniverse said:

For the "grandfather of isekai" you would think that there would be some exceptional storytelling tho.

kuwangpa said:


This is still an exceptional show that is worthy of that "grandfather" title because most other isekai shows have the MC warp in with ultimate, god-like powers. In Mushoku, MC warps into the new world as a newborn so he literally has to start over (despite keeping his mind/memories from his previous life). The only thing "overpowered" in Rudeus' case is his potential, which means he still has to train and study to reach that potential.

There's some significant world-building also, and the harem he has so far isn't made up of some random girls that just came out of nowhere and latched onto him ...they each had significant screentime and backstory, i.e. character development. Heck, they even fleshed out the parents (moreso the dad than the mom) and also Lilia the maid.

xorion said:
I'm not saying people can't enjoy the story, but Mushoku is not the grandfather of anything. Everything in it has been done before, and the modern isekai movement had already started before the first chapter of its wn even began. In addition, there are isekais that were popular before it, such as SAO. So really, it is quite silly for anyone to call it the "grandfather of isekai." Other notable isekais that came before Mushoku are Accel World, Twelve Kingdoms, Overlord, and even things like Spirited Away, Inuyasha, and Yu Yu Hakusho. The idea of having "another world" is nothing new, and has been done countless times in literature.

Angry_onion said:

SAO and Accel world isn't an isekai, calling it Isekai is the same as calling Spy Kids 3D an isekai. They're just trapped in video games series, I don't know why people keep insisting that it's an isekai.

Boxin said:
I don’t think anybody has mentioned this yet, but doesn’t it seem like he is both an old man and a child, both literally and technically I mean. He frequently talks about how his current body affects him. I wouldn’t be surprised if it levels his old man knowledge and maturity. Kids are physiologically different, so it can’t *just* be an old man’s mind in a child’s body.

xorion said:
I'm not saying people can't enjoy the story, but Mushoku is not the grandfather of anything. Everything in it has been done before, and the modern isekai movement had already started before the first chapter of its wn even began. In addition, there are isekais that were popular before it, such as SAO. So really, it is quite silly for anyone to call it the "grandfather of isekai." Other notable isekais that came before Mushoku are Accel World, Twelve Kingdoms, Overlord, and even things like Spirited Away, Inuyasha, and Yu Yu Hakusho. The idea of having "another world" is nothing new, and has been done countless times in literature.

Conceptualhero said:


You are right. Mushoku Tensei is the Grandmother of Isekai.