If you don’t care about the controversy and are only interested in my simple opinion on the second season alone, you can skip all the way down to THE SIMPLE REVIEW. However, if you do that and still feel like attacking me for some reason, please read the following text first, maybe that already answers your question(s).
It is rare that you find a show to be the center of as much debate as Mushoku Tensei. No, that wouldn’t be right, you can hardly call monkeys flinging sh*t at each other a debate. There are negative aspects that I think are well worth being criticized. But for some reason everyone got so stuck on an overall pretty simple to discuss “flaw”, that they either failed to accept that this show is indeed able to tell a compelling story or were so taken over by that single thing that they can’t even begin to see anything but that.
Look, I am going to make this as simple as possible. If you don’t like this show, that is completely normal, it practically tries to make you hate its main character in an openly disgusting way, and if that puts you off, that is okay. It isn’t just me saying this, I have never even once heard a fan of this show claim that you have to like it or anything. What really gets me, though, are those people that think, that because I watch this show, I am a pedophile or whatever. There are so many things that you can watch this show for, but not once have I actually met someone that deliberately decided to watch this show entirely because the Protagonist is a groomer.
With that out of the way, we can firstly get to the necessary stuff before finally getting to the interesting bit of reviewing season two in the context of the overall narrative.
Do you notice how insane that last sentence sounds? You made me do that, so please, just chill the f*ck out when someone just doesn’t like the same things you do.
The necessary stuff: This should be obvious, if you don’t get this, maybe start reading the subtitles. Rudeus is meant to be as disgusting as he is. I have argued with so many people that just didn’t get that this is intentional. And I am not saying that the “fan service” is intentional, that would be the case with pretty much every Ecchi-Anime, what I am saying is, that it is intentional, that the fan service is uncomfortable and that Rudeus is a weirdo. He is not meant to be a good guy. These are not the depraved fantasies of the author. If you think that something that Rudeus does is detestable, then you are right, because it is not meant to be the right thing. Are you going to call out Attack on Titan for “advocating” genocide? If your answer to that question is yes, please seek help, but if your answer is as expected a clear no, then I have to ask you what your problem with Mushoku is? Well….
The Problem with Mushoku: You remember how I said that there are negative aspects that are well worth being criticized? Well, here we go: Mushoku Tensei has fan service… Yes. That is what we are attacking the show for. Fan service isn’t a new thing, the issue is that the characters that are being sexualized are children and yes, that very much is an issue. I don’t really care, because it is filtered through the perspective of Rudeus and really not as bad as what people make it sound like (Have you seen like any trigger show). BUT, and I must say, that’s a pretty big BUT, you can be offended by that, and if you are, I am not going to judge you for walking away from the show. Hell, I would even defend you, if that was your opinion. It only becomes a problem, when you start blaming the show for not being something you like. This is especially an issue for Mushoku, because it already had it hard to even be taken seriously, that is how much the recent history of Isekai has squandered its appeal. I know that I am repeating myself, but I am going to say it once again, if this show isn’t your thing, nobody is going to attack you for that. The problem here is that habit of needing to justify your opinion, no matter how miniscule it is. I am not going to call you a racist if you don’t wanna date a person with a different skin color, this only becomes an issue if you start saying that this is an objective problem, because, listen up buddy, it is not. There are objective flaws that can turn you away from a story, but this is not one of them. You wouldn’t call out Breaking Bad because you find it morally wrong that they are dealing with meth, right?
Okay, I think we are finally done with this. If you felt like all of that was unnecessary, you clearly have never had an argument with a certain clown whose name I am not going to mention, simply because they don’t deserve it. Either way, after all that, I can finally give my simple thoughts on Mushoku Tensei's second season, without having all that on the back of my mind.
THE SIMPLE REVIEW:
New setting, new characters, new everything. Is it all as good as season one? Probably not, but it is really quite impressive how diverse this show is in its setting and tone.
Speaking of tone, we have a small step-down in atmosphere and world building. Season two quits the opening format of the first season after three episodes and replaces it with a simple anime opening. To make this clear, the opening is a banger and is amazing when compared to other anime, but then again, this show was exceptional from the start. In short, I miss the old openings, but the new one slaps. I also feel like there is a small step-down when it comes to the overall production value of the show, but it is more so a step-down from season 1 part 2. If season 2 part 2 is going to be awesome again, is something we will have to see, but this is still on the incredibly high production standard of season 1s first part.
Now, the story, this is going to be a bit difficult. The story is incredibly character rich, but it feels a bit directionless after the first three episodes. A lot of the stuff that seems like filler might just be set up for later seasons, either way, I feel like they could have done a better job moving the overall narrative. As it stands right now, season 2 feels incredibly disconnected from what came before it. There are a lot of plot threads that got picked up again and some were even wrapped together, but the mayor stuff has been entirely sidelined. Primarily, the Dead-End party has been entirely removed from the cast for this season and his been replaced with a similarly colorful but, overall, just shallow cast of students. Look, I like most of these guys, well, I would probably hate them if I ever met them, but they are a lot of fun to watch, a bit like Power really. And with that, we get to the big problem. If you don’t like these characters and especially are not interested in the redemption of Rudeus, this season is not only going to not change that, but it will probably bore you to death. This is why I must emphasize that I like this show, a lot actually, but it only really works if you have been immersed throughout the first season to such a degree that you want to see this tale be told.
A great season, but not one that stands out, that is what I am going to call it. I love it, but I am just some guy on the internet, so if you don’t, I’m okay with that. I have heard some crazy things about part 2 and I hope that I can be back in half a year to take every bit of criticism back, because this show truly deservers all the praise it is getting, even if it is fundamentally flawed.
Edit [15.04.2024]: Hi diddly do fellow neighbor, it appears that this is far and beyond, like completely unlike everything else, totally, without doubt, absolutely the most average thing I ever wrote. I just wanted to apologize for the whole debate part, I was having a lot of discussions with people about this stuff at the time, and while I still have the same position, I can't ignore how poor I argued my position, a few of the things further up are just straight up bullshit, and I am sorry, for underselling an industry-wide problem that we should not just silently accept.
