Anime 39535 Mushoku Tensei Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu Reviews Filter Check 3

A child molestation fantasy story decorated with some generic isekai elements.

The story begins portraying a horrible middle-aged pedophile with the main flaws being a recluse (hikikomori) + leech living off his parents (neet) + literal pedophile. After reincarnating in a fantasy world and getting a second chance at life the MC says he will take life seriously now (it's literally the title of the show), so there was a reasonable expectation from the audience that it would be an interesting redemption story, only to utterly fail at that: the first 2 issues are quickly and magically fixed in the first few episodes while his lust ... for children never gets fixed and instead is written off as cheap comedy gags throughout the show.

The MC received for free all kind of benefits just by reincarnating: good looks (from the character's point of view), family with good social status, big magical power, secretly having an adult mind to take advantage of others, etc. He got for free things that a stereotypical loser character think they need for being a "better person", hence, it comes across as a shallow wish fulfillment story where the MC's creep behavior is rewarded with typical things that a lolicon otaku would want (loli harem, little sisters, etc).

The convenient plot writing is all over the place making sure the MC is involved in all kinds of ecchi situations because "he can't help it" (e.g. convenient misunderstandings, "it's legal/not big deal in this world" stuff, most males portrayed as worst than him so he "is not that bad" compared to them, etc), and the inner monologues reveal that this is how the MC fulfills the disgusting dreams he couldn't realize in the past life.

Besides that, the story is the typical generic isekai having the MC going on quests as an adventurer with the purpose of making him seem like a cool hero.

In terms of production value, the animation is good and the art style is attractive, although the quality went downhill in some episodes towards the end.

Male characters are unlikeable as most of them are portrayed as perverts or cheaters, which I guess is convenient for the underlying ecchi theme going on. Female characters seem to mostly exist for fanservice and to fall for the MC.

Overall, this looks like an ecchi anime that pretended to be a redemption story but ultimately failed at that.

This show was one of my more anticipated of the season going into it. Isekai stories are a fair bit played out at this point, but I really liked the nuance it seemed to be giving as to what made this rebirth a second chance. delving into topics such as mental trauma and overcoming obstacles of a more personal nature then your typical fantasy wish filament story. The only problem is those topics, as well as others of a more serious nature, are handled with the delicacy of drop kicking a baby down a flight of stairs.

The most recent episode, episode 4, has dispelled ... any lingering notion that it would be anything other then a disappointment. The main character's father is reviled first to be an adulterer, and latter a rapist, and while he is verbally rebuked, there is no change in how he is portrayed by the narrative. He is still shown to be a figure to be admired. It is even pointe out in monolog that he shares the trait of "womanizer" with his son, who latter monologs about desiring to cultivate a young "friend".

This has been a bit disjointed, but honestly I'm a bit pissed off. This show had every opportunity to be a good show that actually meant something, but instead it has fallen every hurdle set in it's way. I don't expect to be proven wrong by the rest of it's run.

First of all, and the worst: this anime has child sexual abuse by a 40-year-old man in a child's body. This is just despicable and horrible.

"Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu" could have been a very good series. But it was totally destroyed by whoever decided to put a totally perverted main character who palpates children's breasts, tries to strip their underwear when they are unconscious, and dreams of "molding" children to his sexual desires.

It's disgusting.

The animation can be good, as well as the art style... and it had so much potential... but the main character and other details of characters characterization screwed up everything.

I've been thinking about getting into review writing for some time now, and I think Jobless Reincarnation (the Japanese name is a mouthful, sorry) is a good place to start because oh boy, I have things to say about this show. I know that a lot of you might be thinking why review a show with only four episodes out. Well, I wouldn't really call this a review to be honest. Think of this as me documenting my thoughts on the show so far, and speculating where it will go from here - because I think I have a fairly good idea judging from the ... quality of the content so far. So without further ado, let's begin.
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I first heard of this series late last year when the PV dropped, and saw some big words thrown around it. "Peak isekai!" O-kaay. I'm usually wary when source readers hype a franchise with such extravagance, but this time the PV seemed to corroborate these claims. The breath-taking visuals, the promise of a grand setting, of worthwhile characters and adventure potential. I was mesmerized! I am a sucker for fantasy epics, and this looked as close to one as I have seen in anime.

If only I had known what I was in store for.

The show opens with us inserted into the protagonist by default. He seems to have gotten into a fatal accident, but that has no bearing on his attitude as he keeps up with the degenerate quips even as he breathes his last. Tactless but fine. Surely, he'll act more normal once we get into the isekai. Wrong! The first thing he does when he comes out of the womb is leer at the woman who just birthed him in her dishevelled, vulnerable state. Oblivious to the fact that her new-born son is in reality a 34-year-old degenerate, she proceeds to wean him just as he makes a sexual remark about her oppais. Yikes!

For the next ten minutes as waves of cringe wash over me seeing the adventures of the pervert baby unfold - complete with running commentary in MC's ugly bastard voice - one thing was clear: I had been bamboozled. For all its production value, this was as trash as the isekai before it. Maybe even more. What's even more appalling is that all of this is presented as fanservice. A dream come true for anyone who fantasizes about impostering as an innocent child to peep on people's intimate moments. Oh, and by the way, this show is not tagged ecchi so go ahead and recommend it to family and friends. That'll make for some fun reactions.

But enough about the fanservice, what about the plot? Well, if it is possible, that's actually even worse. The characterization is bad; seems like the author's idea of writing an interesting character is to just make them a pervert. In terms of plot-progression and worldbuilding, the first episode doesn't give us anything. They spend half the episode on what looks like an exposition but is essentially just main character droning about how he assumes (wrongly, as we later learn) magic works. If you weren't already repulsed by the fanservice, the tedious start might drive you away.

The story finally starts progressing in the second episode but its badly executed. Main character is given the standard "bullied in the past" sob story to justify him being a shut-in, as well as garner some sympathy from the audience. But all it takes is the waifu character to accompany him outside and, just like that, years’ worth of trauma goes away in a poof! For being a failure in his past life, this was the only baggage our main character brought along (him being a pervert is never acknowledged as a flaw). And now that it’s gone, the show is free to exalt his standing to the ultimate wish fulfilment protagonist. Every plot development from here on out has just one purpose: to make the main character look good.

Within the next two episodes, Rudy literally goes from a shut-in loser with zero social skills to someone who makes people swoon just by existing. When he gets scolded by a parent, they end up getting schooled by him. When he coerces a child to undress, she ends up falling for him. When his family seems on the verge of falling apart from a drama forced upon them, he simply utters the magic words and it's all forgotten like it never happened. His maid who thought he was a devil now worships him, even going as far as to pledge her unborn child's future to serving him.

This is fanfiction level of writing. It's hard to take this shit seriously.

So, what next? I know we're only 4 episodes in but those are more than enough to deduce that this show isn't getting any better (after all, what are the chances the author will become competent overnight?). If anything, things will only get worse from here as more drama is contrived and characters are created solely to idolize the main character without justification.

I want to end this by saying that I may have been bamboozled at the start but now I am fully invested in this with a new objective: witness the heights of trashiness isekai can achieve.

Cheers!

At first the story seems to be another isekai ecchi with a better production and animation than normal. The plot is about a man with agoraphobia who was mistreated in his previous life, when he dies he is presented with a new opportunity to live a fulfilling life in a fantastic world with powers. However from the beginning we see situations in which the protagonist, in the body of a minor but with the mentality of a thirty-something years old man, has perverted thoughts sexualizing other very young characters. Even though I was already grossed out by these scenes, I kept watching as I was ... really expecting a change of mind or a plot twist in which he begins to grow or he gets punished in any way because of his rotten mind, at chapter 6 which you can see is the chapter where I dropped the anime, the MC (mentally grown up) sees his female cousin sleeping (9 years oldish) and decides its a good opportunity to touch her boobs and tries to steal her underwear, as he is doing it she wakes up and punches him, makes a tsundere squeak and leaves him slammed on the floor. This anime just showed how the MC is a pedophile and sexual abuser, normalizes it and makes it pass like just another funny scene. This anime should be cancelled and its quite disturbing that its getting an 8+ at MAL.

Having heard so many singing praises for this show, I had high expectations going in to this. And I was blown away! I loved the intricate design and setting and the animation is absolutely amazing and fluid. I really wanted to love this show.

Having watched anime for over 10 years now, I am no stranger towards the level of perversion and sexualising that is common in anime. No longer do I bat an eye towards the massive, gravity-defying "oppais" and the hilariously inhuman proportions of anime girls. In most anime, such tropes are usually used in passing and not the main focus of the show. ... If I had to give an example, "That time I was reincarnated as a slime" is one.

However for Mushoku Tensei, the perversion is a main character trait for the protagonist and it is displayed prominently with no shame. Like I mentioned, being a seasoned female anime watcher, I am not new to this at all. But the level displayed in this show makes me feel uncomfortable and physically sick. Stripping a female child even after she had repeatedly voiced her refusal? Stealing your master's underwear? In what universe is this acceptable? I get that this show is about the protagonist overcoming his past demons and shortcomings, but it is fanservice moments like this which just show zero character progression at all and it feels like it is pandering to male fans while repelling female ones.

"Why am I watching this then?" / "Shouldn't you already know this?"
The thing is that Mushoku Tensei is marketed as a "drama, magic and fantasy" anime, not an ecchi anime. I came into this expected a fantasy show, not one which focuses on perversion. There are plenty of other shows that do just that.

I was so disappointed because I really adored the setting and animation of the show and the truth is, this show can carry its own weight even without the perversion of the main character. On top of this all, the show doesn't treat his perversion as a flaw and instead throws us his tragic past as a pathetic excuse for what he is.

I feel horribly bamboozled. I was promised a beautiful fantasy isekai anime that has been lauded as the godfather of isekais. Instead, I was given a trashy isekai anime with a perverted pedophile protagonist.

*Mild spoilers for the first 4 episodes*

This show doesn't suck, but its messages sure do. Here's a quick example of what kind of awful things happen in this story:

1. Long before the story starts, Paul rapes a woman, taking her virginity, but never faces any repercussions for it

2. The woman is not traumatized and actually later decides to take a job as Paul's maid

3. Paul is happily married and very loudly has sex with his wife to the point where his 7 year old son, maid, and any guests can easily hear it every night

4. The woman, driven so mad with sexual frustration, seduces the ... man who raped her, and gets pregnant

5. The wife who was cheated on is manipulated into accepting the maid-now-mistress into her home permanently.

6. The wife is never shown going through the grieving process of coming to terms with her husband's infidelity, it skips to a year later, with no signs of any lingering ill will whatsoever

7. Paul implies to his 7 year old son that he continued having sex with his mistress (I don't actually know if this is true, the show leaves it ambiguous, but it's gross he'd even suggest it)

It's a shame, because this anime doesn't suck, it's set in an interesting world and has genuinely good moments, but the message it presents is that women don't have agency for themselves, they're meant to be collected and used, and it's disgusting.

The biggest piece of shit anime in recent years. It's baffling how many people are defending it and considering it a masterpiece. This series really is a magnet for weirdos and borderline pedos. The only thing actually good about this anime is a production quality. And no matter how many good points someone might find about it, the one question still lingers over it... Where do you draw the line?

This anime has a biggest piece of degenerate MC that I've seen. You're literally watching anime about pedo groomer. A 40 year old dude sexually assaulting kids, molesting them, kidnapping and molesting them, grooming his future ... wives, sniffing and squeezing panties of his loli teacher whenever he feels anxious, praying over those panties, constantly perving on women, taking advantage of emotionally vulnerable girl, and all of that masked as jokes or by the facade that he's actually in a body of a 10+ years old kid. He's still a 40 year old pedo groomer who has all of his memories and (in)sanity from previous life and that's a fact.

People talk about how this is supposed to be a redemption story. Redemption how? By marrying all three of his groomed wives and impregnating them when they're still fairly young (like Sylphie, she's 16 at that point)? By succeeding in his pedophilic grooming? No, this story has no redemption. Everything that MC does that's awful is just passed as jokes, he never faces any consequences, the other characters simply react to all of that like it's nothing, but whenever something bas happens to him, he's shown in a way like you're supposed to sympathise with him. And the worst thing is, too many people are doing exactly that.

And let's say it is a redemption story and that Rudeus says to himself that he's a degenerate pedo groomer and that he should stop. Is that supposed to be a compelling character development? A pedo groomer becoming a bit less of a sicko? This anime is a wish fulfilment story for perverted weird degenerates.

So I ask again, where do you draw the line?

The only reason he was reincarnated into a kid was so the author could have a way to make the pedophilic shit he does in the show not weird!.The main character is a pedophile!. I really can't continue watching when the main character is a pedophile. For example he gropes a 9 year old girl on episode 6!. the MC (mentally grown up) sees his female cousin sleeping (9 years oldish) and decides its a good opportunity to touch her boobs and tries to steal her underwear, as he is doing it she wakes up and punches him, makes a tsundere squeak and leaves him ... slammed on the floor. This anime just showed how the MC is a pedophile and sexual abuser, normalizes it and makes it pass like just another funny scene.

I see a lot of "ehehe MC perverted, if you can't handle it don't watch it >.<" but this is f*ing disgusting, approving or justifying the action of a 40y old pedophile it's gross and makes me realize how wrong it is to continue feeding the so-called "cultured anime fans" when this kind of media has so much demand. It is not a coincidence that another sexually edgy show this season is getting so much attention (redo of healer). I really hope that people who defend this kind of culture realize that maybe someone who doesn't see the wrong in groping underage girls or ... in rape might become the teacher of your daughter one day, let' see if you're okay with it then.
Art direction and sound are both outstanding, still it doesn't mean anything.

Cheers

I don't understand whats supposed to be funny about a 40 year old man in a 7 year old kids body holding a literal 8 year old girls private part with that shitty disgusting face of his. This sht too overrated for some reason, i dont care if its the first isekai, its too bad."MC has no choice but to be sexually attracted to little girls because he got the body of a child".

I had high hopes for this anime and i thought it was about a man changing his life in the new world but instead we got this scenes where the author tried ... too hard for it to be funny

I don't like a lot of Isekais so this missed opportunity makes me want to cry. This such a beautiful anime with awesome animations. The overall story is interesting, the magic system is cool, and the female characters are pretty great too. But the main character RUINS it. This guy isn't just a weird pervert. He's a genuine pedo. Like grooming and touching underage girls below their skirts.

I'm not going to lie, I liked the anime so much I ignored a lot of weird things like stealing panties, groping boobs, and dreaming of molding a girl into the perfect wife. But I have to draw ... a line at the rubbing of a 12 y/o girl's private area. Yea the anime tries to bring in comedic relief when she stomps him out but that doesn't take away from the messed up situation. This Isekai is literally just an excuse for a grown man to have a shield of being a "bio child" while he pursues his pedo tendencies.

This anime is soo bad. ... it had great potential but they made the MC a 40 year old man in a kids body who goes on to sexually abuse children , he kidnaps abuses 2 girls in the show , worships panties , gropes girls breasts , forces them nude .... suffers from ED for a whole season F stupid ... The story had good potential like I said but it quickly goes from oh this is looking good to wth .. MC is a 40 year old pervert he has underage sex with one character who is also underage ... the Japanese are ... just sooo perverted it's unbelievable, his father is a rapist who cheats on his wife but is portrayed as he's a good guy ... his teacher is probably 10 years older than the MC but he hooks up with her they marry oh he has 3 wives .. he buys a child slave and gives her to a pervert , she's only about 5 years old ... the messages this anime sends out are f unbelievable... rape is ok , kidnapping is fine , sexually abusing 2 girls is fine because they broke a figurine, tying them up for a whole day and making them piss themselves is fine because they broke a figure... it spent 8 episodes on him not being able to get a hard on .... season 1 I had my doubts but this anime is Trash made by Perverts for other like minded Perverts

First and foremost before i start this review i wanna touch on the specific thing that makes Mushoku so infamous to say the least, it's very agressive continuous and over the top risque material and themes which if problematic of course i feel at this point are a completely dead horse.

At this point in time i'm sure anyone who's actively looking at reviews of this thing deciding if they want to watch it or not would know about them enough that it doesn't particularly turn them off of this story, so i feel like bringing it up in my review would be utterly pointless and ... as such i will not do so for the entirety of my review instead focusing just on the story itself for what it is and what it presents, nothing less and nothing more.

Kicking things off in terms of setting Mushoku is a fairly classical isekai being both an early adopter and one of the originators of a lot of themes on the genre if it does take a fair amount of time touching on some of the rules of the world and some of it's story at times with varying degrees of success and care, it mostly is just focused in building it's story on the life and adventures of the characters mainly so the main one of the story in Rudeus Greyrat and the world he sees trough his eye.

And here is where the troubles begin in pretty much all aspects of the story, before i touch on the character aspect i want to start with saying that the story completely revolves on Rudy's adventures and outside a couple of short and spread apart backstories the story has both a very short and very disproportionate focus, making it so instead of it being the story of a world or a group of people it's the story of Rudy and only Rudy.

It's a very short scoped story not only looking at the bigger picture but also in the arcs in it, with pretty much every single story told by it being resolved in the same episode or even minutes after being introduced which makes some story arcs feel either entirely pointless, completely takes away all power of meant to be emotional moments or even worse makes them completely self serving. After all Mushoku struggles with the same burden a lot of isekai do run up to. And that is being a power fantasy a story that serves for a person to project into a character and his situation with Rudy's being driven by the fact that he's portrayed as a very deeply hurt man that decided to enclose himself from the real world, a personal struggle that is given all of 10 minutes before it's completely sorted out and never given proper attention afterwards. Passing note for the conclusion since the anime ends in the middle of an arc and on a cliffhanger/our adventure continues, it is a split cour after all.

Taking a break from the story i want to talk about the visual aspect since it's one of the most lauded aspects of this anime and if it does start strong peaking at an absolutely stunningly animated battle dead in the middle of the series if it feels as if the entire budget of the anime was spent on that moment, since aftewards the animation quality plummets so hard it feels like they were running on fumes after that point. From abuse of CGI in every corner and very crude or blurry animation to an absolute truckload of stillshot montages just covering every single episode past the midway point.

And if i do enjoy the decision to leave behind a traditional opening instead opting for including it into the episode itself which is something Whitefox as a studio has been using really well, the rest of the soundtrack feels either terribly repetitive or utterly forgettable and sometimes hilariously cliche if the humour of using didgeridoo music for desert trekking and the straight outta naruto music for a couple of battles isn't lost on me. However the voice acting lineup both reads and feels like an absolute all-star lineup and that does come a long way on giving every character individualism, moreso than the story does at times since...

Well now i want to talk about the part of the story that to me takes the cake, the thing that makes Mushoku more unique and special than any aspect that's given it both it's fame and infamy the characters because as i mentioned Mushoku Tensei is the story of one person and only one person, that being the main character that means that every single other character can only have two roles, either foils that victimize poor rudy and must be deal with or his devotees, which i'm not even joking is an actual word actually used at some point in the novel.

As a devotee you enter what's both the most interesting and most hilarious aspect of mushoku since these characters exist with the porpouse of being tools to make Rudy be the absolute coolest person imaginable, even as the story keeps bringing out extra gross to the point of it being a gag aspects of him they can never help but adore the little guy and his charms, the characters themselves other than very simplistic tropey traits have very little to offer and very rarely show any hints of growth other than their devotion to Rudy increasing and that's when not they're not just being straight up clones of other characters Ex: Paul and Phil which just hop on the same role the previous character occupied before them.

Then of course touching on Rudy himself he is possibly the worst main character there can be, being both a complete blank check who is able to obtain all he so desires and is beloved by all for he can do no wrong even when actively wronging the people involved, of course his acts of uuuh let's say terrorism make his reputation precede him as much as his age does but i feel like that takes away from just how bleak and boring the man would be without them in a way it's the sins that spice what otherwise would be just another Gary Stu isekai protagonist with no noteworthy trait, it is his perversion that becomes his only element that actually has any lasting effect and as the story goes and he grows as a person his personality does not, even as much as the story tries to play around with adding aspects to his character and give him things to think about none of them stick or are given a second tought some of them even being repeated or straight up contradicted with no mention of that fact in the short 11 episodes.

And that i feel is pretty much what my overall toughts on Mushoku are, i went trough this thing in a watchalong with friends and our conclusion ended up being that, as terrible as the more infamous moments of this series are all they do is hide a bleak and uninspired power fantasy. If the grossout moments were indeed gross at least they're something to discuss which can't be said about all the rest of a story that being completely focused on a character feels just rambly and aimless, it lacks a sense of direction and it doesn't particularly try to attain one and as a novel reader myself i know this aspect only ever gets worse.

So the tl;dr is if the gross and out there aspects of Mushoku aren't enough to turn you off it, realistically all you'll find behind the curtain is another power fantasy isekai, which is perfectly fine if you're into that, but in the absolute ocean of options the setting provides all mushoku has to set it apart is when it got there, and the things that made it famously infamous and if you're into that then power to you, if you're not then it's a wonderful thing to force friends to watch to laugh at the reactions and nothing more. Just watch the door when you do is all...

Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu is in essence an unispired take on the isekai genre that adds nothing new or exciting.

Instead of writing an interesting story with well written characters, the authors decided that their show needs a mc that constantly swaps between sexualising every women (and child) he meets and a protagonist that sees his reincarnation as 2nd chance to make up for his failiures in his previous life. So in one scene the mc reflects on his past life, with the intention to make up for it by becoming a better man, shortly followed by him sniffing his maids panties (keep in ... mind, he is in the body of a 3-7 year old). He also spends basically every day with his friend - who is a 6 years old girl - which I find really weird for someone who has the mind of a 40 year old man.

The fallbacks into his creepy self happen far to often to be ignored, and neither the overarching story, nor other characters can compensate for this issue, because they are just as uninspired and generic.

For all the talk of this series being the greatest, the original Isekai and such that been spoken by a lot; honestly it's pretty bore, pathetic and degraded. Well, comparing it to NGNL, Overlord, Konosuba, Tensura, Isekai Smartphone, Isekai Cheat Magician or Hamefura is a massive stretch for this one. I don't understand what's the big hype about this is? The pacing is very slow, the characters are pathetic, the story lacks emotions that i would have expected from an Isekai story. Maybe it has a lot of points that have been used in other Isekai stories, but it seems that this story lacks ... an identity and is just a slap-dash attempt of putting in all Isekai features.

I'm writing this review while watching this show and after having just finished Kami-tachi ni Hirowareta Otoko. If you didn't watch the latter, please do yourself a favor and drop mushoko tensei for it.

Mushoku Tensei is about an hikikomori old guy with lolicon tendencies (the sweet term for pedophile). So far, no issue for me, those persons exist and suffer. Isekai is about having a second chance.

But while this anime could have been the touching story of a man reconstructing himself as a functional and grounded being, it ends up just being one of his wet dreams. Every episode is filled with trashy lewd humor ... / fan service which flirts with lolicon and isn't even funny.

The few attempts to create empathy towards the main character are sketchy at best and simply fail. Let's not mention the bath scene which is honestly hard to watch...

Just forget about it, and if you want a joyful isekai with a fun fantasy rpg vibe to it watch kami-tachi instead.

I have a lot of problems with this show, and 99% of them just go back to the MC so I'll go into that. On a technical level, Mushoku Tensei is fantastic. The art direction is beautiful, the OST is your pretty standard if a little above average fantasy themes, the animation is super fluid and I love the style that studio Bind has chosen to adapt. The worldbuilding is solid and the story has potential. Some of the side characters are entertaining, if one dimensional. That ends my praise for this show. The excessive and at times extremely off putting fan service really takes ... this show from an 8 to a 4 for me. It's like everything for a great show was set up, and then thrown out in favor of appealing to bad tropes. Rudeus (main character) starts out as a shallow pervert and is now a shallow traumatized pervert. Even if the show continues to build and become more story focused if these annoying and outdated story telling bits aren't either reduced or eliminated I'll drop the show. Isekai especially is a genre where good story is important to me over any type of fanservice or a show that can't take itself seriously without feeling jarring.

I'll keep it short and save you time: a technically impressive anime that ticks all the right boxes but it is horribly bogged down by trying to turn pedophilia and sexual assault into a fantasy.

This anime has an identity crisis, at some times the anime is incredibly progressive and forward thinking, only to, moments later, indulge in truly disgusting shit. It is anime like this that give the entire subculture a bad name and why people use 'weeb' as a prerogative, and you know what? They're right, considering the massive praise this anime has overall.

Mushoku Tensei (Jobless Reincarnation) is like travelling back in time to ... the early 2000s and in many ways is a homage to all of its best and worst qualities. On the one hand, the art direction is phenomenal and clearly oozes the hand drawn, cel animation style of yesteryear. 3D CGI is used incredibly sparingly, and only in places where drawing by hand would be wasteful.

On the other hand, Mushoku Tensei is everything the medium has started to move away from: the weird sexualization of underage characters, playing off sexual assault as comedy, and characters that not only try to justify but glorify grooming. Gratuitous shots of breasts and butts are the least offensive part of this anime, but feel so horribly dated by today's modern standards.

Regrettable, because underneath all of this schlock hides a really good anime dying to get out: when Mushoku Tensei tries, it can be phenomenal. Fantastic visual effects, an interesting world, humor that mostly lands (with the above exceptions noted) and a good amount of mystery all set up for something that feels like it could be a classic.

Just like Rudeus is a man reborn into an archaic fantasy setting, Mushoku Tensei feels like an archaic anime reborn into a modern setting.

*RebelPanda sits down to write a review of Mushoku Tensei with the help of his friend, Al*

Al: I loved Mushoku Tensei. I understand why they call it the pioneer of the isekai genre. Nowadays, every isekai anime uses the same tropes, but this show did them purposefully, complimenting the story in the process. It boasted stunning animation, a great soundtrack, and a sprawling fantasy setting rich with lore. What’d you think, Panda?

Panda: I agree the production values are top-notch. In my opinion, Mushoku Tensei has all of the trappings of a typical JRPG inspired fantasy, except with a repulsive, openly pedophilic main character. A random ... loser died and got reincarnated as a child, except his old consciousness is always present—it’s a seemingly ordinary show until an adult child predator’s voice starts narrating. On top of that, it’s another wish-fulfillment isekai, even though it’s not as apparent as most modern power fantasy anime. It seems different because it was written before all these tropes were done to death. Every season for the last six years, there have been dozens of ‘ironic’ and ‘satirical’ power fantasies. They don’t bother pretending like they’re not harems with overpowered protagonists. This story is different because it does the tropes, but without a veil of irony.

Al: Rudeus works for his powers, unlike most isekai heroes. He reads books, practices his spell casting, and works on his sword-fighting technique. It’s not like he was reborn as a god. There are plenty of times he is too weak to win a fight. Of course, he is an imperfect main character; this is a redemption story. Including pedophilia is the author’s way of saying, if you can’t handle this kind of content, don’t continue.

Panda: This is the kind of show that makes anime fans look bad. It is riddled with degenerate fan service, unnecessary sexualization, and the pedophile main character spoils all the enjoyment. The excessive use of sex and nudity is meant for titillation. I only saw a generic isekai with the same as any ecchi anime—which is an excellent indicator of the target audience. None of this comes as a surprise, though. Apparently, the author was inspired by porn games, like Rance.

Al: To you, all nudity is excessive. If you weren’t so sensitive, you’d realize the anime has a nuanced portrayal of lust. Usually, anime don’t realistically express sexuality—panty shots, giant jiggly boobs. You know what I mean. But Mushoku Tensei realistically showcases genuine human desire, such as sex, longing, and masturbation. It’s honestly refreshing. There’s so much sex because of the time-period—people didn’t have phones or computers, sex was a way of occupying time. Members of royalty will boink maids in front of children because that’s how the culture was. It’s an essential part of every character’s life. The story is historically accurate with added fantasy components.

Panda: First of all, no. I like ecchi anime, one of my favorites is Interspecies Reviewers. Suppose Mushoku Tensei is “accurate” to the Middle Ages: Fantasy settings do not need to replicate every shitty aspect of the past. The author selected “perversion” as the thing he wanted to replicate. The only excuse is that he wished to keep it realistic? That’s lazy writing at best. The story doesn’t comment on why there is a constant perversion. It just is. The obvious answer is, men had more power than women, and consent was irrelevant to them. We see this with the strong male characters who lead the households, such as the fathers in the Greyrat family. They wield swords, sit at the end of the table, and have sex with whoever they want. Aside from that, there is nothing else historically accurate about it.

Al: You’re mistaken. When animating Mushoku Tensei, Studio Bind referenced art, technology, furniture, and decorations from the Middle Ages. The characters live in finely ornamented rooms. Households are accurately decorated depending on the family’s social status. Not only is this historically accurate, but it adds depth to the world-building.

Panda: All of these are great additions to the show—but that’s all they are. Extra coatings of paint to cover up the sleazy writing. There is a fine line between “How things used to be” and “How I wish things would be.” More often than not, Mushoku chooses the latter. Its lewd and lascivious portrayal of sexuality is in service of the male audience’s fantasies: A girl masturbating outside of the bedroom, the maid is horny for the father, the parents loudly bang every night, and chances to have sex constantly land in the main character’s lap. This world is a horny teenage boy’s wet dream. Rudeus is the audience’s proxy, and he comes close to being another badly written self-insert isekai protagonist.

Al: Rudeus isn’t a self-insert. He is a believable and relatable character. His portrayal of PTSD is exceptionally realistic. During the show, he gets nightmares and flashbacks to getting bullied in high school. The flashbacks are well-directed, too: the music becomes foreboding, and the scene becomes saturated with a blood-red filter. It’s not like they happen at random times either. Whenever Rudeus reaches a turning point, such as leaving home and adjusting to his life as a teacher and setting out on a journey, his trauma resurfaces. If he’s under severe stress, mainly in the final arc, he’ll suddenly get thrown back to high school. Even though years have passed, he still experiences trauma because that’s how it works in reality. Society conditioned him to become a pervert by bulling him into becoming a shut-in.

Panda: I’ll admit I loved how well Mushoku Tensei portrayed trauma… in theory. Without a doubt, it is the most emotionally resonant aspect of the show. I could empathize with his severe anxiety, but he pre because he was a pedophile. It may have been society’s fault that he wasn’t offered therapy. However, I cannot sympathize with a pedophile. He is not a good guy. He will never be a good guy. Saying it’s “society’s fault” isn’t an excuse. Perversion is a behavior he can control with restraint.

Al: The show is about his redemption. The title is literally “Jobless Reincarnation” because he is redeeming himself in a second chance at life. He begins as a loser, who couldn’t care less about people. Then he becomes a more caring person—helping to keep his family together and even risking his life to save people. That’s why he makes nice friends like Sylphie. And he got a job to pay for both of them to go to magic school. He might be a pervert, but that’s the point. Plus, Rudeus is a lolicon, not a pedophile.

Panda: You’re somewhat correct, there is a difference, but within the story, Rudeus is attracted to actual children. Writing an inhuman piece of garbage like Rudy, developing him into a half-decent person, then expecting us to praise him for doing the bare minimum is shoddy writing. And he can’t even do that much! He preyed on family members in both his first and second life. Rudeus has the mind of a 40-year-old man, who 100% jacked off to child porn right before he died. Just because he threw himself in front of a truck to save a couple of kids doesn’t make him a better person. He needs to do work towards becoming a better person—and so far, it has been one step forward two steps back. Your description of his connections with family and friends are on point, except you’re missing parts. Rudeus admits that he wants to ‘groom’ Sylphie to be his wife, which involves taking her to school with him. On the outside, it seems like an act of kindness, but in reality, he has sinister motivations.

Al: Rudeus has the body of a child. How could a child be a pedophile?

Panda: Hold the phone. Aren’t you always the one who argues that lolis are legal as long as they’re old enough? I could point to Rudeus’s teacher, Roxy, and say she looks like a child, and the show has its own built-in fantasy logic to make her older than she looks. By your reasoning, both of them are adults. What’s the difference?

Al: Rudeus didn’t have sex with her when she offered! She consented, and she’s older than him. He didn’t do anything illegal. You can’t say he’s a pedophile if he hasn’t done anything.

Panda: Even if what you said was true—which it isn’t—doing the bare minimum isn’t redemption. He is expected to save an innocent person’s life and does not have sex with a kid. It’s basic human decency! That’s not something to applaud! That aside, he didn’t even do the bare minimum. You twisted the truth. Rudeus groped Eris, a twelve-year-old girl, and tried to take off her panties while sleeping. He imagined having sex with her, and the only reason he didn’t is that she got away before he could go all the way. He was fully willing to molest her!

Al: Again, the story takes place in a fantasy realm during the Middle Ages; couples are encouraged to get married younger. Most fiction depicts morals based on the modern era, but that doesn’t mean EVERY story must ignore the realities of the past.

Panda: OK, you know why that’s a bullshit excuse, right? Rudeus came from our world, where we have a moral framework that says “Respect people’s bodily autonomy” and “Don’t be a fucking child predator.”

Al: You’re projecting your own morals onto a story that takes place in a different time and place. The only reason why you preach your moral purity like a saint is that you’re too narrow-minded to divide fiction from reality. As someone who has been consuming anime for years now, I am capable of keeping reality and fiction far apart.

Panda: Are all anime simply meaningless cartoons that can’t comment on real-world issues? I reject that. Fiction is a means of communicating thoughts, emotions, stories. Even if a work of fiction makes me feel ashamed or guilty, like Mushoku Tensei obviously makes you feel, I will never undermine an entire art form by saying, “It’s just fiction.” Have some balls, for God’s sake. If we generously assume the show is depicting real-world problems, it’s doing it poorly. Such as Rudeus’s pedophilia; the show endorses his actions. Even though he calls himself disgusting, there is no self-awareness. I doubt he will come to realize what he is and stop. Calling yourself ‘scum’ isn’t enough. He is like a fan of degenerate anime, such as Eromanga sensei, who says, “Anime is trash, and so am I.” There’s no nuance, it’s just presenting repulsive aspects for either shock or fetishization.

Al: Eventually, he will have consequences for his actions. This is part 1 of a 23 episode show. You’re judging it too hastily.

Panda: When? The only so-called “consequence” was him getting punched and kicked. The anime acknowledges Rudeus is a sick pedophile, then plays it off as a joke. In fact, it normalizes the pedophilic aspects. He refers to his cousin Eris as a little girl in most contexts because that’s what she is. But when he gets a chance to make a move in the bedroom, he creepily calls her ‘his’ loli. The term ‘loli’ usually refers to a specific type of anime girl character design. In the real world, you don’t call a little girl a loli. She is just a little girl. By calling her, a ‘loli’ separates Rudeus, and the audience, from any blame. This is the author’s way of saying is that you don’t need to feel shame for indulging in some sexual fantasies about prepubescent girls.

Al: You fundamentally misunderstand the point of the show. We’re not supposed to like Rudeus! Even in the synopsis, it says, “He’s a pervert.” What did you expect? Just because he’s an immoral person doesn’t make him a bad character.

Panda: You’re right, he is a pervert, and bad people aren’t necessarily severely written characters. Whether or not I like Rudeus is irrelevant to whether or not he’s a well-written character. What matters is: How does the story depict the ramifications of his negative choices? Does it condemn his actions or condone them? Does it focus on him or the person he hurt? In this case, he is always the focus. The other characters are unimportant—and even when they do have a chance to voice their discomfort, the scenes are full of low camera angles, leering shots, and dehumanizing close-ups on breasts, thighs. It boils down to “Haha, sexual assault,” rather than painting him in a negative light. Even the decent female characters, like Roxy, are treated as objects. After the first two episodes, she only appeared in brief clips where she was constantly getting molested.

Al: Have you ever thought you’re taking anime too seriously?

Panda: Have you ever thought that maybe you only defend Mushoku Tensei because you like Rudeus?

Al: Come on man, really? You’re just going to ignore all my arguments?

Panda: Yeah, sorry that was uncalled for.

Al: We at least agree the show has amazing production values, right?

Panda: Absolutely. I loved seeing Rudeus and other mages cast their magic. I was shocked the author created a second language, and it didn’t sound like gibberish. The voice actors did their job well, and the music fits without issues. I didn’t like much about the characters, but there were some cool designs. It’s commendable that they never simplified the designs. When the production cut corners, towards the end, it still looked far better than most TV anime. The hand-to-hand combat and sword fights are choreographed professionally. Alright, 8 for animation, 8 for sound, and 3 for the story and characters. Overall score: 3/10

Al: Whoa, don’t you think that’s a little unfair? It deserves at least a 7.

Panda: Nope. This is my review, and I say it deserves a 3/10.

Al: Fine, whatever. Let’s just watch some more anime.

Panda: Let’s. As long as it’s not Mushoku Tensei.