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At the beginning of season 2, I was beginning to wonder if this story needed to be told in the Isekai format. Neither of the characters decisions/actions or personalities relied upon their previous lives, and so was it necessary? Aqua could have been a genius child instead and it would have had little impact on the plot. However, I internalised this problem as I watched the season and came to a conclusion that it was essential for telling the emotional story needed.

Ruby reflects everything positive about the concept of Isekai. Failed in her past life by her parents and her body, she is given the ... chance to live again in her dream life and truly makes the most of it. Meanwhile, aqua is traumatised by the end of his last life and the beginning of his new. The difference in trauma and recovery experienced by the sibling is so well tied to their ages and experience in their past lives, Ruby is able to recover being only a child and not witnessing the murder, while being an adult watching the woman who he adored and became his mother died was too much to recover from. In addition, it ties well between the death of Sarina in that he tried and could not prevent either.

The time spent on Akane this season will make it feel all the more bitter when Aqua inevitably chooses Kana in the end (personal preferences obviously coming through here). I am choosing to bury my head in the sand and ignore the post-credits scene in favour of keeping my Akane best girl hopes alive.

Great second season, I particularly loved the artistic imagery used during the acting scenes to express their "flow states".

Where to start.

I came across this show late. For the first time in a long time, I was also able to go into an anime with no prior knowledge outside of my awareness of the opening theme and that it somehow related to idols. This is 100% how I would recommend any potential viewer go into the show.

The feature length pilot episode is the best and the worst of the show for me. The worst is that it led to me putting off starting the show for as long as I have, but the best is that it skips the three episode rule needed for ... anime. As suggested by the shows motif, this pilot lies to you, across the 90 minute run-time I had at least three different ideas of where I thought the show would go, and that was a great experience. The end also came as a massive shock and left me misty eyed.

I am also glad to say that the show in no way falls off after this exceptional pilot, the remaining 10 episodes blend the best of what the Isekai, mystery, romance and slice-of-life genres have to offer.

Do not let the pilot episode prevent you from consuming this masterpiece!

Absolutely amazing series. Combines all of the best qualities of Haikyu, while appealing to an older audience with its more mature characters and setting. Being set in university was a breath of fresh air, and (unlike with many high school shows) the characters suited their age and were going through the struggles that are relevant and familiar for that time in my life.

To have a sports anime with ten characters on the team, all of which (except potentially the twins) to be characterised and given the appropriate amount of attention with such limited screentime likely took a monumental effort and the writers should be highly ... commended for it.

I didn't want it to end, but to have the story wrapped up in 23 episodes with great pacing was perfect.

Loved the show, I wish I had seen it sooner and it could receive the hype that it deserves.

I adored the first season because of its fresh change of pace and alternative take on the power fantasy "genre". I continued to enjoy this season. However, for me it peaked in the first arc, which I think did well in peeling off some of the side characters so that we were able to focus on and highlight the strengths of a select few (namely Claire). But, and this may be a me issue, going forward I found it a bit harder to keep track of the various characters and the different plot threads going on.

Still a great watch and I am looking forward to ... see what they do with season 3.

This season was hard to rate. After the first season changed my perspective on the isekai genre, there was a lot that this season had to do to match those expectations. But looking back at the beginning of the season, I realise how far we have come and how rich this story has been. Although it was missing some of the highs of season one, and Sylphie isn't as compelling of a love interest for me personally, we still saw some major character development this season.
I think where Mushoku Tensei shines is in its gut-punching realistic character interactions; Rudy spiralling into depression after what happened ... between him and Eris is perfectly reflected in the crushing (short-lived) relationship between him and Sara. I know this season will be remembered for the slice-of-life antics at the university and the blossoming relationship with Sylphie, but the series of events between his failing to "perform" for Sara through to him accidentally ruining any chance of a future relationship with her in his callous, unthinking rant, which he never thought would be heard, is what I will remember from this season. This scene is so heart-wrenching and realistic that it rivals the revelation of Paul's infidelity in season one as the top character-driven scene in the series to me.

Beautiful season, I will think of it frequently while we wait for part II.

I think this season was Kengan Ashura at its best. I understand those who dislike the CGI as it does take some time to get used to. However, the ability of the anime to constantly have me second-guessing the outcome of each fight is unparalleled.
For every fight this season, I went into it thinking I knew who would win, but I was never certain during the fight, and I would repeatedly switch sides as the fight turned.
I thought Ohma being unconscious for this half of the season might have made it seem like the fights didn't have consequences and were filler, but the heart ... and soul of the animators, voice actors and producers made every fight seem important to the plot.

Baki is always such a wild ride. Despite the plot and the animation being objectively terrible, I still had a great time and watched it through to the end. Even when most of the animation is sliding still images across the screen with voice-over, it manages to cultivate hype second to none.

This season does not quite beat the previous two seasons, my favourite is still the Raitai saga, followed by the prison season. However, this season is still a great instalment.

My rating it a 7 is not based on my enjoyment, but as a critic, I can't give it any higher based on enjoyment alone.

I came to this show seven years late as I started my journey deeper into isekai following my highly enjoyable viewing of Mushoku Tensei. To be honest, I had previously started and dropped this series after understanding its premise. The returning to life on-death shtick can be frustrating and overdone; watching the mc make the same mistakes and relive situations can be boring. However, in the case of Re:Zero I was mistaken. Each time Subaru is revived, we rarely watch him experience the same circumstances. In the cases where he repeatedly experiences death and loss, we see the impact that it has on his sanity. ... It never strays away from highlighting the terrifying and traumatising nature of his death, making it more understandable that he only once intentionally kills himself following errors.

Subaru is a great mc, for the most part, the only thing lacking is his taste in women. Having him imprint on Emilia from the beginning serves to drive much of the plot, but when the plot is set in motion, we get so much more time to grow to love Rem, and it hurts as a viewer that he doesn't see her that way. Beautiful scene of her confessing her love to him, definitely my favourite of the show this far, and how she turns him down because he doesn't look at that potential future with true joy and would instead accept it as a consolation prise by giving up on his true wants.

Great show!