This season really exemplifies why me and so many others love Mushoku Tensei. The richness of the world, Rudeus’ character development, and how real all the characters feel is on full display. Thanks to Bind’s beautiful direction, you really get a sense that you’re right there in the world with Rudeus. Growing and learning alongside him.
The main theme of this season is accepting loss and moving forward. Following last season’s finale, Rudeus is a broken husk of himself. Literally at rock bottom and with no one to turn to. In both of his lives, he’s had a massive fear of abandonment, so when the only family he’s got in this new world is taken away from him, he has two options. Give up and fall into despair like his previous life, or move forward. Rudeus, after getting some external help chooses to move forward and not waste the second chance at life he’s been given.
The audience is able to see a character go from his darkest moment to better than ever. This evolution doesn’t feel forced or cheap. It’s not given. It’s earned. Rudeus puts in the hard work, opens his heart up and makes connections with people, realising that while painful, life is still worth living. I can’t emphasise enough how big this is for a guy who spent the better part of 20 years shut-in in his house. The emotional impact of the biggest moments in this season can’t be overstated. Few shows can illicit goosebumps from episodes filled with pure dialogue. Mushoku is one of them.
Many will criticise Rudeus’ behaviour without consideration for the established reasons he acts the way he does. Without going too deep into a character analysis of Rudeus for the sake of this review, suffice to say he is a broken man. Someone who has had horrific experiences in both his original life and reincarnated life. While physically an adult in his past life, he was still a child mentally. That is, until this season. While he’s not a stand up guy yet, he’s made serious strides in this season to improve as a character and it’s a satisfying journey. By the episode finale, I walked away with a feeling that our MC had become a man.
Yes, he’s still got his cringe moments and he’s constantly down bad. But what draws us to this series is how flawed Rudeus is. I don’t want a perfect archetype of a main character. I want someone that I can empathise and relate to. We all have our character traits we’d like to change and seeing someone overcome obstacles and gradually change theirs allows us to strive to be something greater. That’s what fiction should be and that’s what Mushoku Tensei shows.
As with any Light Novel adaptation, there’s some cut and changed content in the anime. Of course, Studio Bind being created purely to make MT mitigates some of that, but you still have the occasional changed or omitted scene. Regardless, I’m very content with the end result we got as a LN reader. The spirit of the story was preserved and even enhanced in some key moments. The fears about the animation and pacing were totally unfounded as it ended up being just as good if not better than the first season.
There’s not as much action in this season as it serves as an emotional and developmental turning point compared to season 1 part 2s physical and combat development theme. But when it’s needed, Bind bring the sakuga like no one else. Episode 1, 3, 8 and a couple others have some Gorgeous animation that will knock your socks off.
There’s no shortage of praise that can be heaped onto Mushoku Tensei season 2, but the crux of it is that it expertly expands upon the previously introduced lore, world and story. Rudeus grows up in front of our very eyes and the emotional beats are excellent. An emotional and profound tale of grief, acceptance and growth. Mushoku Tensei is the gold standard of Fantasy Anime and a must watch for any fan of the medium.
