Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

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Disclaimer: Before I start with the review, I would like to assure the readers that I am not another reviewer who would judge a story’s worth based on how comfortable I am with its content or voice out hate if such content does not align with my views. Reviews for this story tend to be dichotomous: it either goes along the lines of “MUSHOKU TENSEI IS DISGUSTING AND ANYONE WHO ENJOYS IT IS WORSE THAN SCUM,” or the contrary that goes along the lines of “MUSHOKU TENSEI IS A DEEP AND MEANINGFUL NARRATIVE AND ALL OF YOU HATE IT BECAUSE YA’LL ARE SENSITIVE SNOWFLAKES.” I’d ... like to deviate from that pattern. I have two goals for this review: One, objective analysis and criticism; and two, to address the controversy behind this infamous title. I’d like to be of help to readers and those eyeing to give Mushoku Tensei a try, so please bear with me and read what I have to say.

Mushoku Tensei is derivative. It exhibits themes, formulas, and patterns seen in other successful series. The use of such suggests that the series aims to attract an audience rather than to create a story of good quality–however, Rufujin na Magonote, the author, created a main character with a believable background that aligns with his goals and personality. He creates this world, though derivative and generic, with history and diverse cultures, religions, and politics. The world and characters have a strong foundation, and how they are written allows the story for different possibilities. Mushoku Tensei is arguably the best Isekai to be written. However, looking at the quality of stories of the same genre, being the best isn’t really much of an accomplishment, is it?

Isekai as a genre has established a reputation in the anime and light novel community for being trite and formulaic in nature. The premise was limited to ideas such as the main character being transported or reincarnated in another world to fulfill a particular purpose: slaying the demon lord, trying to go back to their original world, or simply fuck around with the story having no conceivable plot. Mushoku Tensei could have easily fit into these descriptions, but it did something different. It used the idea of reincarnation to create something meaningful: redemption. However, it ultimately fails to do so through reckless writing decisions.

Mushoku Tensei is, first and foremost, a redemption story. It doesn’t try to hide that–It even markets itself as such. The story depicts our main character as this unforgivable bastard in his previous life and shows his regret in life living as a neet. He decided to do one last act of good before Truck-kun claimed his newest victim, and lo and behold, he reincarnated in a new world where he could start anew. Some may argue that it's a fantasy, romance, or comedy-based narrative, and while the descriptions fit, it doesn't outweigh the prominence of the redemption premise Mushoku Tensei portrays–or tries to. This leads us to the controversy this story holds.


Rudeus as a Character: Addressing the Controversy

As mentioned, Mushoku Tensei is a controversial title. First, I would like to discuss the controversy before dealing with the story itself. If you’d like to skip this part, do go ahead to the next section of the review. I believe that the reason behind the title’s backlash is due to two things: the main character being portrayed as a pedophile and the author’s objectifying portrayal of women–more so for children. For avid consumers of Japanese media, these aspects may not mean much, considering how prevalent this trend is in the industry. However, Mushoku Tensei is prominently about redemption, and these writing decisions make the audience question the point of the story.

Pedophilia is evil. I think everyone can agree on that. I won't be deconstructing pedophilia as something to be taken personally nor provide thought-provoking commentaries about its evil. It is a sensitive subject, and whether or not it deserves credence in Mushoku Tensei's narrative is still debated. Yes, discomforting scenes are common in the light novel, but that doesn't decide its overall worth. If uncomfortableness equals a poorly-written story, then literary pieces such as Nabokov's Lolita wouldn't get the praise they deserve. It all depends on how an author handles the characterization and the intent behind that. I will only criticize pedophilia as a plot device and its relevance to the narrative. In Lolita, for example, the author uses pedophilia as a genuine depiction of a pedophile's rotten heart through a satirical narrative. The Monogatari Series mocks common tropes in modern anime through exaggerated depictions. Both of these tales handle pedophilia with satire as it coincides with a deeper topic. In Mushoku Tensei, Rudeus’ damning flaws were intended to be a character foundation to create a redemption story. However, the intent behind that characterization was never addressed. It does not do anything special with its portrayal of pedophilia or general indecency that would justify its use - it merely provides fan service.

Rudeus’ character has a solid foundation. While he excels at magic competency, it isn’t his entire identity. He is still a very much flawed and vulnerable character. He still has room for growth which is integral for redemption. Rudeus' introduction in his previous life heavily emphasized his flaws as a person, socially and especially morally. He's a shut-in, a free-loader, a drop-out - he even refused to attend his parent's funeral so he could beat his meat to child porn. However, the story failed at creating a redemption story the moment he exhibited no guilt and regrets in his previous life after being reincarnated. Many of the mentioned flaws were resolved, but others were prolonged for later use, and another was never addressed at all. Among all his flaws, pedophilia stands out the most, depicted through numerous scenes and monologues. Normally, emphasizing the character's flaw that much means only one thing, right? That it would be the story's primary conflict in which the character would enter a stage of development that would allow him to change, allowing those flaws to stay relevant to the narrative. Wrong. Chekhov's gun remained unused. Rudeus is still the same person who entertains himself with the fantasies of fucking children. It rendered the pedophilic aspect of his character useless. It is nothing more than a portrayal of lechery, ultimately having no relevance to the story. Its redemption story was the primary conflict but already failed to create a deeper narrative the moment he objectified every woman before seeing his new life as a second chance (Feminist literary criticism is real criticism, btw). Like literally every woman is sexualized, not by Rudeus but by the author–except the grannies for some reason, although I'm sure it has nothing to do with the author's preferences for women.

Pedophilia is akin to mental illness, where treatment isn't guaranteed, even with the technology and techniques gained through medical and technological innovation. And even with technology, medication, or psychiatric treatment, it would undermine the concept of redemption if it were to be used in the story since it wouldn't even be an authentic change. That's why I didn't understand the decision to make Rudeus a pedophile in the first place. The story didn’t need that–rather–the story would have thrived in its absence. His terrible qualities as a family member in his previous life would have been the perfect conflict he needed to resolve, but it was overshadowed by the emphasis the author placed on Rudeus’ interest in children. It's a thoughtless decision made by an amateur author who didn't understand the intricacies of what he was writing nor realize how hard it would be to create a string of developments that would allow Rudeus to deviate from the aforementioned problem. Either that or he made that decision to gratify those desperate for fanservice - you choose.

There are many arguments that defend the author’s writing and characterization though, and go as far as to defend Rudeus himself. I’d like to refute some of these common arguments so I could cohesively state my perceptions pertaining to the controversy later on. The first argument states: While Rudeus has immoral preferences for women, the whole point of the light novel is that he would redeem himself in his new life, and that won’t happen overnight. Having read all the volumes and even the redundancy chapters of Mushoku Tensei, not once does he even tries to change or feel regret towards that part of him. While he redeemed other parts of his character, the single most condemning flaw of the character remained unresolved. Second argument: Mushoku Tensei is a piece of fiction, furthermore, it is set in a medieval European setting where the standards of morality are much lower compared to modern society Rudeus previously lived in. My refutation is that the new rules instilled in this new world do not absolve Rudeus of any ethical concerns because he still upholds the knowledge of moral notions in his previous life, therefore, said notions should be the base of his redemption. If the protagonist was originally from this fantasy world, then that would be excusable due to the ethnocentric notions he will pick up growing up in the said world (Although that’s a whole new topic). The final argument states: Rudeus is reborn into a new body, therefore having an underdeveloped brain. This underdeveloped brain is at fault for his interest in children. That would be a good argument if his backstory didn’t mention him beating his meat to fucking child porn (Let’s call it Loli porn to sound tame – the author, probably). In spite of that, the argument that his physiologically underdeveloped brain is at fault for his interest in children is inherently dumb. If his brain really was underdeveloped, then that would negate any sexual desire – why is he horny 24/7 after being birthed? Like damn, after reincarnating, this bitch retained his memories AAANNDD his testosterone level?

Although many of the changes were actually just him acting his physical age, Rudeus did undergo development. He overcame his social trauma the moment he first set foot outside, he found profound purpose in life through his competency in magic and the company of family and friends, and he acknowledged his unacceptable behavior as a family member in his previous life after an important event in the story. However, he never underwent any significant development when it came to his sexual desires. While Rudeus exhibits proper manners, kindness, and sympathy, people need to understand; propriety does not equal a moral person.

You might ask why one single aspect of one character's personality is so important for the story. It's only one thing, so it shouldn't be that important, correct? Unfortunately, that is not the case. Rudeus being a pedophile and making no effort to change defeats the whole purpose of redemption, regardless of his development in other aspects.


Other Characters: Dependency as a Flaw

However, Rudeus isn't the only literarily flawed character in the story. The three heroines are an integral part of the stor - excuse me - of Rudeus' harem. Sylphiette, Roxy, and Eris are the three main candidates to be Rudeus' love interests. However, unlike any other light novel, they're not just there to fit into the "dere" types, and while they can be categorized as such, each of them exhibits depth that gives their character individuality and receives development - at first.

Motive tells a lot about a character in more ways than one, and it's integral in creating a compelling character. It's a step to let a character be their own without being relevant due to codependency. However, the flaw with two-thirds of the mentioned girls is that they exhibited no conceivable motive, and later on, the best conclusion the author could formulate is that these two, Sylphy and Roxy, are motivated by the notion of being by Rudeus' side. Eris, on the other hand, exhibits her own goals. While Rudeus was still in mind when Eris made her decision on whom she wanted to be, it's not solely for Rudeus, but the predominant nature of that decision is that it's her genuine goal. Her resolve was influenced by the people around her and her experiences before the decision. Contrary to the other two heroines who wanted to live for Rudeus, Eris wanted to stand by Rudeus, not as a love interest, but as an equal. However, by the end of the light novel, Sylphy, and Roxy are reduced to damsels in distress in need of protection. Eris proved to be useful on many occasions, but no scene portrayed the development she went through, mentally and as a swordswoman, that would show the fruits of her efforts. Any depth and the potential they exhibited were ultimately ruined, again by reckless writing decisions.

In the later volumes, especially the final battle, these girls along with the other side characters are placed into battle suggesting that they are indeed useful. However, these were after several volumes where said characters were essentially forgotten. How convenient how these characters, after having no appearances for many volumes, suddenly appeared for the climax. The writing felt rushed and forced. The author bit off more than he can chew by having too many characters intended to hold relevance when he can't even create a coherent plot direction.


Worldbuilding: A Strong Foundation

As previously mentioned, Mushoku Tensei follows a formulaic plot and generic structure to create its world. Don't confuse the light novel with the anime in how the world was handled. Studio Bind's prudent planning and research allowed Mushoku Tensei's world to gain more depth with their attention to detail, even creating languages with their own writing. On the other hand, the light novel doesn't show any effort with these aspects of the world, with the exemption of its magic system.

For a very long time, Mushoku Tensei was one of the most exciting LN series I’ve gotten into when it came out. It has a very interesting case where it takes some very basic ideas from your typical Isekai and how it uses them in a compelling way. It creates a story that shows how you can learn from your mistakes and how your journey goes despite your mixed vision. This would make for a very good series… Or in this respect, you SHOULD have one. While I’ve been very curious every time a chapter has been released, as time goes on, this has turned ... out to be one of the most disappointing series ever. I don’t even mean that in a sense that makes it horrible but in the end, this falls under a definition of “wasted potential”. It has interesting elements, sure, but it doesn’t utilize them quite well.

Before I get into my problems, I should first explain what the plot is about. Mushoku Tensei starts with a 34-year-old fat bastard who has been kicked out of his family and wandering around the streets. Eventually, he would get killed by a truck and teleported to another world. And in that world, he is first reincarnated as a child named “Rudeus”. With this, he sets his goal on when to redeem himself after knowing what he was in the past. Now looking at this, it would make for a compelling story. A guy who got his ass kicked so many times to the point where he got reincarnated and starts everything from scratch is something I truly admire a lot. I really like how even for a power fantasy, it sets up a presentation where it shows you how you could challenge yourself. It may be hard to understand, sure, but I’d say it’s a great plot to look at.

However, that’s where my possible praise towards the series ends here. Look further at the series and you’ll notice something off. Now what Mushoku has to offer seems great. But I find that the amount of fanservice involved felt either grating or unnecessary. I must admit that Rudeus being a weirdo isn’t a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s part of his character as it adds more challenge to his progression. The problem is with how it’s handled. The series for the most part uses him as a goofy molester with little insights to place. He gets away with disgusting shit with very little consequences and that’s almost out of character. I’ll explain Rudeus later on. But I feel like Rudeus isn’t the only victim of this. Other characters that act as weirdos also tend to be gross with next to no context. Do you know the scene about the Roxy figurine? That’s my example of how the fanservice went wrong. The series tends to reallocate a lot of its story elements into what feels averagely gross.

Hell, even ignoring the juvenile fanservice entirely, the series’ very important aspects are pretty mid. It is way too plot-driven for its own good. You know how the story is about a reincarnated being setting his journey to learn from his mistakes? In this respect, that element is barely present in the series. The series doesn’t utilize much on that and instead, relies too much on drama that felt either cheap or filler. That aspect I’m talking about is admittedly present, sure, but the story tries too hard to use it by throwing in elements of surprises that aren’t even terrible but tend to keep the writing quality in check. Another problem I’d like to point out is the exposition. Mushoku takes too long to set up what contributes to the plot and even if we get there, what we want to see is rushed all thanks to the previous problems I just talked about a while ago.

Although these problems do invade the series from left to right, there is one more scene I would like to cover, and that in itself manages to save the series, even though it’s not too big or anything like that. Of course, what I’m referring to is the dance scene. It’s not your average dancing presentation where it is for style, it also adds charm to it that connects with the series’ main objective well. It truly shows the nature of Rudeus’ progression and elevates the amount of characterization he has alongside his chemistry with Eris (and too bad, the potential of both Rudy and especially Eris is thrown away later on).

The characters… Oh boy, now where do I begin with them? Let’s start with the main cast, most notably Rudeus, the key character, and the neet, Roxy, a goddess and mentor of Rudy, Eris, the goblin slayer, and Sylphiette, the childhood friend.

Starting with Rudy, he’s honestly weird. I already mentioned how he has interesting characteristics hindered by a certain gimmick. He’s supposed to be the kind of boy (or man) who sets his goals to achieve what he needs in order to refrain from what he did wrong back then with his obsession being his big obstacle and while that is interesting, in practice, him being a weirdo with little consequences for the most part gets in the way of his development. He pretty much molests girls he sees and yet, almost all of them weren’t addressed. But this doesn’t matter because, after all, it’s “part of his character” from now. Yeah, no. That’s like saying “Oh but mom, that “dildo” you call it is still a toy so it’s still kid-friendly”. It doesn’t work like that. The worst part? Rudy hasn’t changed at all. The first 10 chapters pretty much cemented his intended development. After that, he kinda remains to be the same loser he is. Not a bad character by any means, I’ll admit that he gets some development from the middle portions of the series but still, we could see better.

The female leads, however, are pretty much the worst offenders of the series. But first, let me make an exception. I like Roxy and she’s a decent character overall. Her role as a mentor is solid and her dynamics with Rudy are passable. Not the greatest but they definitely hold value. The other girls… not so much… Eris is stupid for the wrong reasons. In fact, she’s the worst character in the whole story. Her dynamics with Rudy are cliched and make no sense. On one hand, her rudeness is off the charts, and just pushes him. On the other hand, her confessions seem rather silly and rushed. And that’s ignoring how she’s been cockblocking Rudy for half of the series, Hell, Rudy would be a lot better venturing around without her. Sylphy, while not as bad as Eris, is just really boring. Yeah, she’s a big friend (or love interest, if any) of Rudeus but that’s about it. Half of the time, she’s merely a plot device to push Rudy’s character further with no unique substance within herself.

Side characters are ones I either don’t care or get annoyed at. Half of the side cast is just there to keep the story’s pacing in check. They aren’t too bad like heck, I prefer most of them over the main cast, but you know, they’re just walking mannequins with brains and feelings. The other half is what also pisses me off. Remember when I said that Rudy is a weirdo for giggles? Most, if not all of that logic applies to those bastards. Again, they are creeps with nothing else and they become big pushovers at this point. Now, of course, there’s another exception I have in mind and that would be Ruijerd. Ruijerd is interesting because of how he guides half of the main cast and how his development is connected to his backstory. Not much to say here honestly, he’s also a decent character.

I genuinely have very mixed feelings about the series but there’s one last aspect I would like to talk about and that is the batch of volume cover illustrations the light novel contains. While yes, they’re superficial and are not counted, they are the best parts of the series. The art style is very pleasing to look at. The details are excellent and the coloring is both balanced and adequate. The character designs, even for non-isekai standards, have a lot of heart to them and fit well with each character, regardless of simplicity and complexity.

And those are my opinions on Mushoku Tensei’s light novel. The real question is: is it good or bad? To me, that’s a difficult question. On one hand, it has among the most enticing build-ups a series could ever hope for all because of how it creates its intended story. But on the other hand, it’s filled with a handful of decisions and exposition that tend to limit its writing. To me, Mushoku Tensei is alright. It offers what tends to be pleasing and it actually tries. It’s just that how it tackles its plot point as well as the character writing tends to be on the mixed side. Apart from 1 and 2 characters, the cast could have been a lot more logical with their statistics and objectives. While the art covers are amazing and something I can’t forget, overall, this series… exists, and that’s how it is ‘ahem’ at least to me.

Mushoku Tensei is the story of a NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) who is kicked out of his house and then almost immediately dies saving a few kids. He is then reincarnated in another world of sword and sorcery as Rudeus Greyrat. In this new world, Rudi attempts to become a better person and accomplish what he was not able to in his old life. There are some twists that push Rudi along a certain direction in his life.

What Mushoku Tensei does well is that it attempts to cover a large portion of Rudi's life, from childhood to adulthood. During this time, we ... see him grow and change. There are times when Rudi shows his otakuness from his previous life, such as when he attempts a Wife Husbandry with a young girl in his neighborhood. Few other stories attempt this and I really enjoy the stories that place over a long period of time because it gives the opportunity to show proper character development rather than just using implied characteristics. However, what hurts the story in the long run is the overall inconsistencies. The series takes a sharp turn about halfway through and the story changes its focus drastically. Some of the story events are also different from what you think the characters would do in their case and feels inconsistent. On top of that, part of the story is told from different points of view with sudden jumps to another character's point of view at the end of nearly every arc just so they could summarize what happened to another character. This attempt to show everything ruins part of the pacing when Rudi is the focus character. Everyone else is minor and their part tends to interrupt the story rather than build upon it. The only side story that was worth reading in my opinion, was the explanation for why the reincarnation even happened. Events like the training events of one of the characters could have largely been ignored with no real impact on the story.

The artwork that is included in some of novels are pretty good. It does seem to suffer a bit in terms of facial diversity and even though only a handful of characters are depicted, you can tell a lot of them are similar. This is really the only problem with the art. The other artwork that is included are fairly good at depicting various scenes and shows the characters in different situations. Luckily, the manga manages to largely avert this problem. The artwork stops around the time Rudi enters the School so there's nothing to judge after that.

There is a large cast of characters in this series, but at the same time, it feels like a lot of characters do not serve a larger purpose other than to push the plot along. A lot of things we see early on disappear for several volumes at a time and some are never resolved because Rudi ultimately ends up as something small in a much larger world. We do see the impact of Rudi's training later on when it demonstrates the strength of a King class magician against typical ones during a war, but that element at that point had been unmentioned for several volumes. Rudi demonstrates weather manipulation powers early on in the series, but this never really comes back in any way. The only foil character to Rudi is his father and they both turn out similarly. His father gets the family's maid pregnant and adultery treated as a fairly big issue, but when Rudi comes along into a similar situation, everyone just accepts it and it kind of feels like a harem series for a while. There is no serious challenge to it. We sometimes see events happen from another character's point of view, but this does not change much. Instead, it serves to simply interrupt the story.

The best part in the series for me was the developing relationships between Rudi and his friends. The series takes a sudden turn towards the middle in favor of a more action oriented series and each volume begins to end with a massive fight to achieve a goal rather than a focus on how Rudi has developed and changed during this period. I feel that this change resulted in less character development and the impact of the success or the failure of a mission can largely be ignored because everything is small in the grand scheme of things.

Overall, the series starts strong with strong character development and the impact of Rudi's choices pushing the story along. As the story progresses, this begins to diminish and Rudi ultimately loses control. The main character loses his agency and is no longer the driving force in the story, instead he becomes part of something larger that feels like it is ultimately unresolved because Rudi is not meant to be the person who ends the conflict. The first half of the series is great with Rudi developing and learning, but the second half begins to drop off as the larger conflict is now the focus with just a series of escalating fights. Because of this second half, the overall story felt like it was a test for whatever the author was doing next.

Jobless Reincarnation is guilty pleasure at its core.

The premise is just bad, senseless, and edgy just for the sake of it. The story as a whole shows a dull fantasy setting that doesn't really add anything to it, the characters are okay for the most part, and the pacing is on the slow side, but that's to be expected when we're dealing with a quite literal coming-of-age story, even with its fair share of time skips. Descriptions are usually bland or outright bad because our protagonist can only reference dating sims, light novels, and the like.
The worst offender is the amount of perverted and ... sexual references scattered throughout the volume. It still doesn't reach a critical mass of disgustingness, but even one stupid panty reference is one too many. From what I gathered, it'll get worse from now on.

Even then, it's still a somewhat pleasurable read. It isn't good by any means, but it isn't particularly bad per se. It's just... mediocre. If I wasn't already overall fed up with this isekai bullshit I'd probably enjoy it quite a bit more.

After all, this is apparently one of the first of its kind, not the creator of the genre (or rather, the trope), but one of the most popular isekai LNs in Japan nevertheless. Goes to show how mediocrity is usually aptly enjoyed by the masses.

Truth be told, I started reading it because a friend of mine highly suggested I check out the anime. And the anime adaptation blows this thing out of the water.

Jobless Reincarnation Vol. 1 is akin to a deconsecrated host. It's okay, it doesn't excel in any direction, it doesn't have a distinctive flavor, and doesn't even stand its own as a meal. You might eat it, but in the end, you could even forget you ate anything at all.
It's pleasurable in its simplicity, and because of that, entirely forgettable.

2 stars is a bit on the low side, but I can't give half stars, which means I'd rather round it down than up. 5/10, as balanced as it'd be.

I've decided to read Mushoku Tensei after I've watched few episodes of anime. 24 volumes in 5-6 days. And this is the hardest thing that I had to evaluate. Some things are just bad. Some are just good or more. Some you just enjoy for what it is. However, that can't be said about Mushoku Tensei.
The First big arc is the pure isekai adventure. And it's done well. One of the best, to be honest. Characters getting stronger, smarter, they develope bonds, suffer losses. There's a mystery present that feeds your curiousity. You want to explore the world with MC. But most importantly, there is ... conflict. MC is trying to achieve a certain goal. However, after his goal is achieved, he stagnates for like 10 volumes or something.
Let me tell you about the second big arc. Should I call it HAREM arc? Because that's what MC is doing in about 10+ volumes. He's gathering harem. It takes about half of the series, just plain boring unimaginative ecchi slice of life in the ISEKAI setting. There's no conflict, no development, the single worst wish fullfilment that I've ever seen. As the 1st arc was one of the best, the 2nd is the polar opposite. Sure, someone might argue, that there was a purpose in him having a family, but this should have been cut down.
The 3rd and conlcuding big arc is again pretty intresting and enjoyable, but it's short and you have to suffer through previous one.
Overall, first 6 volumes are the best, the quality drops significantly after, and honestly, you can skip half of it, and you wouldn't lose anything.
TL;DR Just read up to volume 6 (including). It's pretty good and worth your time. Then just drop Mushoku Tensei, because it ends there at the start of volume 7.

This review intends to help people figure out if this story is for them or give people who finished the series a new angle to view the story. All I can offer is my opinion, but I will try my best to back up what is said in this review. My claim regarding this series is as follows: Mushoku Tensei is a wonderfully humanistic story that somewhat falls apart past a certain point due to the scale of the story, and while it is broadly worthwhile to read, it is reasonable to hold the position that it is also immature with certain themes.

Note: *No plot ... or specific character specific spoilers, but there will be spoilers for the structure of the story. Basically where the plot goes in general without giving away any story specific details.

In the beginning, Mushoku Tensei was predicated on this premise that the characters are awash in the story. Certain plot events just sorta happen without any build up. In the story, these are called “turning points,” and usually don’t have any pretense. They reflect the uncertainty of life and give the author the flexibility to move plot how he sees fit. However, in this sense, the broader narrative is just sorta arbitrary. There really can’t be any grand moralistic message or philosophical logic in a story that is defined by random events, other than the aforementioned uncertainty of life. And as a result, the through line for the story is just the relationship between the characters and what they perceive as the best course of action at any given moment. Therefore, the meaning of Mushoku Tensei, its value, its structure, and its narrative exists within the characters, their relationships, and the little adventures they have in this wider fantasy world. And that is given flexibility by the turning points. To further this point, one should acknowledge all of the low-stake arcs that are strewn across the series. For example, the first volume takes place entirely within the confines of the main character's house. Alternatively, the main character’s goal for a long time is just to get a little girl home on the other side of the world, which is relatively humble in comparison to other Isekais. This commitment to characters is a great fit for a story about a man’s life in a fantasy world. Forget “killing the demon king” and “saving the world” or some big pretentious monologue that sets the characters straight. I just want to see her get back home. And that makes sense because most people aren’t going to have to kill the “demon king,” thereby making Rifujin’s writing more relatable. With this foundation, everything from loneliness, insecurity, societal worth, family obligations, disabilities, and more are covered. Ultimately, Mushoku Tensei is a humanistic story that enjoys a magical fantasy world.

The short and sweet stories are on the way out past volume 15. Indeed, the story takes a more dramatic “end of the world” approach. There is a big bad guy that needs to be defeated. While the main character's story is still more humble than “kill the demon king,” it still distracts from what this story did well. And so, these bigger stakes dilute the story. In other words, this very unique and humanistic plot is exchanged for a generic one about saving the world. What really synthesizes this argument is the fact that a lot of characters are written out of the story if they do not fit into this narrative, which is such a disappointment. Perhaps the main character got too powerful or too many things went well for him, and, as a result, the stakes needed to get bigger. Or maybe it can be assumed that the author wanted to finish the story with a bang. Regardless, this change feels unnecessary. Why couldn’t the story be scaled back to a certain extent? Imagine Joel, from the Last of Us, drops his quest to get Ellie across the country and instead dedicates himself to “killing all the zombies.” While extreme, that is how this shift feels. In a sentence, this humble story becomes a bigger one and loses most of its value for me in the process. And put another way, the story cannibalizes itself, in my experience. If Mushoku Tensei was defined by short stories and people in the first half of the series, then Mushoku Tensei is defined by grand stakes and villains in the second half. There are some good volumes past volume 15, but that doesn’t mean one has to agree with this change in approach. The story does not need to be a slice of life (the Ronoa arc was pretty bland), but when the story can balance these things is when it is also at its very best, which means volumes 1 through 7 and 12 through 15. The finale to the story is at least decent, and some people really like the change in pace, but I can’t help but disagree with this change, even if the story remains a decent power fantasy and adventure show.

It would not be a Mushoku Tensei review without acknowledging some of the themes of sex in this franchise. There is no shortage of opinion’s regarding the issue, and so the encouragement is just for the reader to think about it for themselves and try not to get caught up into the hype and anger on either side. My personal take is that while the sexual themes are ultimately inconsequential to the real world, I don’t believe it is handled well. It is understandable that a story like this should have some sexual themes. After all, it is a fantasy epic that spans a man’s life. Further, I think the main character being immature so he can grow makes sense. However, Rifujin’s sexual content is at least handled poorly. In all sincerity, how can one preach that this story is maturely handling themes of sex, while the main character kidnaps some people, sexually assaults them, and then gets away with it without any consequences. At the same time, some sexual issues are handled well. For example, the whole situation with Paul was really interesting, and the main character does grow throughout the series. Make no mistake however, both examples just make this all the more controversial and confusing. It’s like the author understood what was right and wrong, and more specifically what the consequences of a sexually immoral person looked like, but didn’t always approach these mature issues with seriousness and or didn’t follow through, which is really the wrong way to go about these sorts of themes. Consequently, many will be left with a taste of bitterness in their mouths. There is so clearly an attempt at having a discussion regarding sex in the franchise, but it is handled poorly enough that people notice and get upset, and I can’t say I blame them. This show tries and often fails at having a real conversation in regards to sex. With that said, it is time to move onto the conclusion.

For these reasons it is so difficult to recommend. Even though I personally liked it to the extent that I would give it an 8, and the series contains 9 out of 10 arcs (in my opinion), there are just some asterisks I have to attach to that 8 out of 10 score that make it difficult to sell to people in general. The sexual themes are bad enough that they will reasonably be a deal breaker for some people. All said, I can easily conceive why this series would be so polarizing for people.