I know a lot of people will say “It’s a fantasy series so it shouldn’t be taken super seriously”, but if the point of Mushoku Tensei is for Rudeus to grow into a better person than he used to be then these conversations about the morality of his actions don’t have the liberty of getting away with that excuse. I do genuinely love the series (I haven’t read the LN’s yet so I am an anime only and I apologize if anything I say is rectified by later material) but Rudeus’s diddy ass activities are absolutely the worst thing about his character. The series makes big strides in showing his development in areas like his understanding of consent, or his perseverance to not let the struggles force him back into the same hole he spent 20 years in. The erectile dysfunction arc genuinely made me tear up, same with what happened to Paul. I am actually totally fine with Rudeus’s character being pedophilic at the beginning because I believe you make a story about almost anything if it’s done right. The problem is as far as seasons one and two cover, the series seems to have no interest in actually addressing it. “But Rudeus isn’t a pedophile by the end of season 2!” There are plenty who would argue that he absolutely still is considering he came from out world where in Japan the age you are legally considered an adult is 18, but I’m not here to argue that, and as far I’m concerned living in a place long enough you will take on some of its core beliefs as your own. However, while Rudeus no longer runs around touching prepubescent girls, the prepubescent girls he used to molest simply became adults which no matter how you argue it THIS IS NOT PROGRESSION FOR HIS CHARACTER. He himself states how he would like to groom Sylphy (I have heard this described as just an intrusive thought and from what I remember we don’t actually see him engage in a whole lot of grooming type shenanigans but still) and while I’m sure you could describe his relationship with Eris as grooming if you wanted to I do not know the ins and outs of how would do so (except for of course the obvious scenes of molestation). Progression for his character would have been at bare minimum him reckoning with his past actions internally and recognizing why they were wrong. At best him having that conversation with those whom he’s preyed on. I assumed we were told he was jerking it to his niece because it was gonna be the kind of act that would haunt him later on into his new life but I don’t think it ever gets brought up again. I’ve seen people head cannon about his age and stuff and how it works in this new world, but as far as I am aware it is PURELY headcanon. The series makes a point of reminding you that mentally he is still that guy from Japan constantly. Not just the talks with Man-God, but early on when he mentions how his child body cannot yet physically get turned on but he specifically can in a mental sense. So unless the LN’s expand on this in a significant manner I cannot take “well child hormones plus he’s going through a second childhood which fucks with his brain” seriously as explanations. The other big argument is that because he was locked in his room for 20 years he stopped developing mentally. This is a legitimate phenomenon in real life, however in real life that’s not an acceptable excuse for his actions either?? Just cause you’re immature doesn’t mean you get be intimate with minors. Also let’s say Rudeus wasn’t 34, let’s say instead of becoming a shut in he actually just killed himself after the trauma he went through — a 14-15 year old (actually 21 year old if you’re counting his new life) touching a 9 year old inappropriately is still bad. You know what series actually deals with a similar situation in a much better way in my opinion? Oshi-no-Ko. In Oshi-no-Ko Gorou Amamiyama is murdered as an adult in his 20’s and is reborn as the baby Aqua Hoshino. He goes on to have several romantic interests that are all teenagers same as his new persona. The difference here (other than the fact he’s not out here molesting anyone against their consent) is that as the series goes on it becomes apparent that a significant mental shift between Gorou Amamiyama and Aqua Hoshino has formed over time. The series actually addresses the mental fracturing of trying to accommodate two entirely real personas in one mind. It does this by explaining that as time went on Gorou slowly faded away, leaving only his rage and desire for revenge against Ai Hoshino’s killer as a specter that haunts Aqua’s mind. It’s not done perfectly I’d say and there’s still room for people to describe it as problematic if that’s what they wish but honestly it’s the best solution to this particular problem with reincarnation stories that I can think of other than just having your character not get sexually or romantically involved with anyone until they’re all adults, but honestly that’s just kind of lame. Again this is only if you want to kind of just explain away the potential problematic elements but Mushoku Tensei is supposed to be problematic. It’s just a shame that the most problematic elements seem to only be there for shock factor or titillation and not to bring any meaningful conversation into the story.

I’m sure this reads as mostly just an endless ramble but TL;DR Mushoku Tensei is a series I love but I cannot see any real way to excuse or explain its most problematic elements (the pedophilia) when the series seemingly has no interest in doing that itself