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

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Mushoku Tensei: A Fulfilling Journey about a Broken Person’s Second Chance at Living.

Seeing that the light novels are officially done in Japan, I wanted to ramble a bit here and give my thoughts on a series that was initially one I dropped, to end up being one of the best series I have read of all time and one that played a big part in impacting my life forever.

STORY

This series is not a straight-up ‘redemption’ journey, it is about Rudeus living a life with no regrets and trying to live in a satisfactory way by the end without wasting his chances. It is not about ... him being whitewashed to being a perfect human being with zero flaws but growing amidst them and learning from his mistakes to do better and find a real purpose in his life, and stick to it as much as possible.

Knowing that, Mushoku Tensei is an exceptional story that serves as not just a character journey for Rudeus Greyrat’s life in his second chance in this new world, but as a prequel to something even potentially greater down the line. It is a series that explores Rudeus’ character in tons of depth, and progresses well over time with him constantly aging and growing – which prevents the series from ever feeling stagnant for me, as there was always a sense of direction with what the story wanted to accomplish. But it is also a series that fleshed out its worldbuilding and lore so immensely that the world felt alive when reading through the books and I was immersed in the little details of each continent and the cultural differences between all of them, and a series that also features plot elements and twists that are phenomenally executed and written in a way that Rudeus is only a part of the world and what is happening, not being the main guy the world is revolving around.

This is a series that excels too in being many different things. It can be a great adventure story like how the Dead End crew were traveling from the Demon Continent all the way back home, or a great slice-of-life story exploring Rudeus living his daily life and getting to actually spend time with people outside and bonding with them naturally, or even his chapters as a parent. It can be a dramatic, action-heavy story, or a purely emotionally complex one like with the whole Paul-Rudeus reunion in Volume 5. The series tackles many themes, and many different tones at different times and pulls them all off really well. Nothing feels forced, there’s genuine nuance and thought-provoking elements to them that made the story feel even more hearty and polished than what I was expecting early on.

The magic techniques, the hearty character interactions and moments, the excellent fights that were well-paced too alongside the detail, the great sense of progression and development for characters and the storytelling, and great payoffs too for character and narrative arcs too throughout this series as a whole. Mushoku Tensei always offered something different with each volume and excelled for the most part in whatever it was trying to accomplish narratively and emotionally.

Rifujin na Magonote’s writing shined immensely here overall, and by the end, I was left satisfied with his work and the journey of this series completely. There are just too many elements to this story besides just Rudeus’ development that shines here, so I can only praise how good the writing and storytelling were from start to finish. Everything felt so well thought out that a part of me felt like he crafted the world and many plot points before he even began writing about the main character and his story to come. It’s not something I can compliment often for any series, let alone an isekai-based series (which I normally hate in general). Even the 26-volume length it had felt just about right, the series never felt rushed, nor did it feel stagnant, just exceptionally paced and, consistently fun and engaging throughout.

CHARACTERS

Mushoku Tensei is superbly written from the narrative elements and underlying storytelling and buildup to the future series to come, to the well-thought-out, detailed and immersive world-building that makes the series and world feel real and alive. But what shines for me more than anything are the characters in Mushoku Tensei, especially one very controversial and complex protagonist in Rudeus Greyrat.

Rudeus Greyrat in his previous life was a broken human being. An overweight, demotivated, and depressed person who was locked in his room for decades after facing intensive bullying and trauma, to the point of being a reject in society in his eyes, and relying mainly on games, eroges, and anime to help him just live through. A guy that was living but felt dead on the inside and lost his ability to communicate and bond with anyone properly, and a guy who was terrified of the outside world too. He was a person with a ton of regrets about how he wasted decades of his life from being spineless to turning to help and finding the strength to give his life a second chance right there.

It's easy to understand why a lot of people hate Rudeus, especially for his perverse tendencies (early on in particular). Since he was drowned in many eroges, hentai, and anime for decades, his social skills and treatment of women were really poor early on and he thought of his second chance as a way to do whatever he wants with no genuine consequences, like a video game.

But it is when he makes mistakes that hurt others when he experiences pain in this world and realizes and reminds himself constantly how much a second chance is meaningful to him, that kept him pushing forward and enabled him to grow and mature as a character. His development does not turn him into a saint and a guy with no flaws whatsoever, but he does develop into a pretty outstanding and morally complex character as a whole. A guy who knew he was scum in the past but is living a second life to just feel satisfied and gain closure in a way that he never got to do in the past. To stop blaming everything on others and realize how much accountability he needs to take with his own actions, to go from taking advantage of his parents and thinking of them as evil, to being a father himself and understanding what they went through and how he needs to be in the future to avoid situations like that. To use mistakes as stepping stones to becoming a better person in this world and living a life that he can feel satisfied with by the end, regardless of how flawed or bumpy it can be at times. He does not care to be the strongest person ever just for fun, he grows in a way where he wants to protect and cherish his family in this world, the people that help give him happiness, and more reasons to live. Considering how he failed to communicate at all with anyone in his past for a long time, pushed his frustrations to others, and struggled with his treatment of women early on, he really did grow leaps and bounds by the end in a believable manner without just whitewashing every single trait of his in the past.

He was definitely an unlikeable person to me early on, but even before this series, I always believed that unlikeable characters can still be phenomenal characters, and Rudeus is one I could call a phenomenal character by the end. He might not have grown in ways some people might expect with a ‘redemption’ story, but the whole point of this story is to learn from his mistakes and grow from them to live a proud, satisfying life in this new world. Even if some of the morality and relationship elements clash with our world and their standards nowadays.

Beyond him, the other characters feel incredibly fleshed out and are enjoyable to read through, especially given how many of them are as morally complex to read like Rudeus. Eris was a spoiled brat who mistreated everyone when nothing went her way and was abusive, Ruijerd was a person that went to overly extreme lengths to fulfill his promises in a stubborn, clouded fashion, without trying to understand the kids and their strengths himself. Paul was incredibly talented but was lazy to fulfill his potential in the past, and a sleazebag who still was trying to be a good dad despite not being mature enough early on to understand how to tackle that situation (especially with him having a son like Rudeus who was mentally older than he was). So many characters have complex issues or flaws, but despite them, still manage to grow, develop and live in ways that feel satisfying for me to read through. Besides Eris, Roxy and Sylphie are also fantastic heroines, and the other side characters were great too. None of the development elements felt forced too in this story, all were subtly done without having any character feel static whatsoever.

One real aspect I loved, was how fleshed out each character felt and how I can easily imagine the journeys everyone were undergoing even when the series hadn’t focused on them for a long time. The series focuses mainly on Rudeus, but the writing is so strong, that I can imagine many of these characters be protagonists of their own series in this world. There are Eris and Roxy manga spinoffs for example, but those can be applied to Paul and his past journey as an adventurer with his party, Ruijerd and his journey of redeeming the reputation of the Sperds, Norn and her journey to find her worth amidst her two more talented siblings, Orsted and his journey, etc. That is a good indication of how well these characters were written and treated, all having depth, realism, and great development elements to read through. For such a complex and dysfunctional cast on the surface, this series has one of the best groups of characters I have read in light novels for sure.

ART

Like the story and characters, one huge way that the series evolved over time was with Shirotaka's art. The illustrations and volume covers early on were solid for the most part. But the illustrations from Volume 7 I would say onwards, went from solid to amazing and complimented the growth and progress of Rudeus' journey extremely well. Seeing illustrations of Rudeus and his family in the first volume, to how much they grew alongside the quality of their art was outstanding and even made me emotional when reflecting on the illustrations after finishing the series. In general, the art is fantastic, evokes tons of emotions well and captures the storytelling well. The art really benefitted from this series having their characters grow up, that's for sure. There is even a map, which is nice to have for a series that does a great job with its world-building in general. Just comparing the earlier covers with the ones by the end can tell how well the art evolved with time.

FINAL THOUGHTS

"You only realize the real value of something you discarded when you get the chance to pick it up again." - Rudeus Greyrat

That quote summarizes my experience with Mushoku Tensei. I was one of those people that picked up the series without warnings, read the start of it, and felt grossed out to the point of dropping it early. But I gave it a second chance and moved forward through the difficult times and what I got by the end was a personal, gripping, and emotional rollercoaster of a story, filled with tons of adventure, action happiness, heartbreak, complicated moments, and more importantly, tons of heart.

As a guy who was a shut-in for a couple of years and felt like there was no hope for me to recover the rest of my life and even had no willpower to brush my embarrassment aside and communicate with my loved ones about the depression and anxiety-riddled years I went through, this series opened my eyes and gave me that strength I needed to let go of my pride and open up to everyone. And to find the motivation to not give up while I still have the chance to live and push forward. To wake up and take a step. Even if the road down the line continues to be extremely bumpy and motivations might lose a bit of strength from time to time because of that, it is still important to never give up and still find a way to enjoy life. Don't aim for a perfect life with no mistakes, but a life where I can feel satisfied by the very end. Because of this series, I finally gained the confidence to abandon being a perfectionist, speak to my family after ignoring them for years, and not wallow in my self-pity anymore and grow up.

To that, I'm grateful that I got to read this series and glad to have experienced the complex, bizarre yet touching, endearing, empowering, and genuinely life-changing journey that is Mushoku Tensei. It makes me happy that I gave it a second chance, to see what value this series offered underneath all the layers of controversial elements that people criticize deeply on the surface (sometimes even superficially or untruthfully, without adequately exploring what the series was trying to portray and using stuff out of context to make the series’ image look even worse in the process). It’s definitely not for everyone, and I would not recommend it casually for anyone to read, but it is still one I would proudly call my favorite series.

A massive thanks to Rifujin na Magonote-sensei and Shirotaka-sensei for their wonderful series here, can’t wait to see the Redundancy portion be adapted and see where the franchise as a whole goes from here.

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.

Moderator Edit: This review may contain spoilers.

Hi there, you want to know if this novel is worth it? Then let me tell you the reasons why this novel is overrated and why the MC is one of the worst that exist.

First of all, i read many volumes, at least 200+ chapters. I thought that i should give it a chance, maybe the story and the MC will improve. But that was unfortunately not the case.

The MC: Rudeus Greyart - A NEET, who masturbates on the funeral of his parents. Ok. This is how the novel starts. I think, wait what??!?! Why?! Did his parents do ... something? Maybe he isn't a bad person, just a wrong education, bad influence etc. But this was not the case.
He spent his life lying, leeching, doing nothing. Just watching loli-porn all day and masturbating.
His siblings see him and throw him out of the flat, which he really deserved.

After he gets a new life granted, he decides to do everything better. To become a better person. To respect his family, which he did not in his previous life. I believed in him, i thought he seriously tried to change and become a better person.

So i continued to read, until chapter 200. And NOPE, he is still the same person he was before. Still a coward, still having malicious thoughts, why did the author invent such a bad person?

One example, his parents get abducted. What does he do? He does nothing, he totally forgets the people that gave him as much love as possible. The people that tried to raise him to a good, honorable man. The people that would die for him. He travels for some years, makes some wives, goes to school, enjoys his daily life not thinking one moment if his parents are fine. Not a single second he thinks of his parents, just leaving them. He KNEW that his mother was kidnapped, that she might be a slave by now. But he does not care a single bit.

After his father asks him why he did not search for his mother he gets angry and beats him up. Ok?! Not even feeling shame for what he did, he gets aggressive. He beats him up in front of his 4 year old sister that gets traumalized after that. Good job mate

Another example, he sees slaves, naked, in a prison cell. They were previously raped and tortured. What does Rudues Greyart, the MC, think? Of course how nice it would be to have one of them in his bed. SERIOUSLY?! They were fucking raped and he thinks with his ****.

A third reason: He is a pedophile. Thats not my conclusion, he himself says and knows it. He, a 50 year old guy lusts after 7 year old girls. So lets sum it up.

A MC, that does not give a single shit about his family. Someone who constantly thinks bad about people, having one of the worst personalities ever. Lusting after little girls. Has 3 wives but earns 0 money, still leeching off other people.

Fucking Japan, producing this shit and still getting good sales.