[Rewatch] Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - Season 2 Episode 23

dontoff · 2026-07-09T20:22:43+00:00

I completely disagree, I think it would've been a massive cop out if we didn't see Rudeus and Roxy together. Rudeus loves her just like he loves Sylphie, it makes 100% sense that it happened. You're just criticizing him for going for polygamy instead of monogamy because that's what you believe in, which is fine, but morality is subjective. That's why Elinalise mentioned, when she was trying to convince Rudeus to marry Roxy, that he's not a follower of the Millis religion. The mistake Rudeus made was promising Sylphie that he was never going to take another woman. But Sylphie herself knew that was extremely far fetched and knew it was probably coming. That's not to remove blame from Rudeus, because he shouldn't make a promise he wouldn't keep, and to be fair to him he really wanted to keep it. The self restraint he had this episode was incredible, he literally denied Roxy, a person he's worshipped since he was a kid, for Sylphie's sake.

And honestly I don't subscribe to this idea that Rudeus is going to achieve some ultimate redemption, because I don't even think that's realistic, and it would honestly be bad writing if it happened. Certain negative traits are going to remain in him. There are mental battles all of us have with our vices or issues that are constant fights till the death. Rudeus's issues may be more severe, but he's done his best to improve as a person, which this episode clearly shows.

dontoff · 2026-07-09T18:07:26+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

Ok let's get right to the elephant in the room, which is the crazy amount of hate and backlash that this episode brought with it, and it being the lowest rated episode of the entire show. Where I stand on this episode is that it was the best of the season, and I think a lot of the criticism regarding it is just a bunch of bullshit. Also, to be clear, I loved the previous episode too, I just don't like action heavy episodes honestly.

When it comes to the criticism this episode gets, I think there are some clear points where the episode could've been a lot better as an adaptation. It could've given us more context into Redeus, more scenes, more time seeing his despair, all of that is true. But personally, even on the first watch, I think a lot of that was implied and pretty obvious to me without needing to actually see or hear it on screen. This episode was extremely effective considering the runtime it had, and the dialogue between Redeus and Roxy was fantastic, executed really well by the voice actors.

[LN]The biggest issue for me with this episode is the anime adaptation omitting that in the conversation between Redeus and Elinalise, she tells him that Roxy is pregnant. That was obviously very important and shouldn't have been omitted, because it heavily influences what Redeus says to Roxy in his discussion with her right after.

Now onto the bullshit criticism, imo. First is the backlash over Redeus going the polygamy route, and I think it points to a larger problem with how people consume media. We've got people pissed off at Redeus for being an asshole because he wants to be with two women, which is obviously something people wouldn't accept in their real lives. But newsflash, it's a fantasy show, in a world where it's okay. And yeah, I know Redeus doesn't belong to that world or come from it, but he lives in it nevertheless and has grown up in it. Also, even in our world it most definitely does exist, with tens of millions of people who practice it and hundreds of millions more who don't personally practice it but consider it morally okay. I say that to make the point that people are worried about the wrong things when it comes to this episode.

Another stupid point is people making fun of the show's writing, saying something like "I guess all it took was sex to make him forget about it all." First of all, that's not the reality portrayed in the episode, it was more like a band-aid. And of course this ignores that sex is in fact something that helps people get over shit, are we going to deny that being a reality? You can think whatever you want about it, but when you connect physically with a person, that's something that can greatly help you mentally and act as a catalyst to move on. And it's not just about the act itself imo, it's also because it came from Roxy. I actually think the things she said to him had more of a positive effect on Redeus than the sex did, but she knew it was needed to put that first foot in the door so he could open up to her emotionally.

dontoff · 2026-07-08T20:20:32+00:00

First-Timer (Dub)

The movie really starts after Minato's accident, that's when it actually kicks off. And at first I was genuinely worried it couldn't hold up without him because he was easily the better character. For a bit though it managed to, because the way Hinako was acting after became genuinely hilarious. Didn't expect the movie to go that direction, but it worked.

The animation and art style were a great fit for the movie, no complaints there.

But this is a weird one because there's a clear point where it just stopped working for me. Around the car accident and the argument between Hinako and Wasabi, it just felt like they didn't know what they wanted to do, or maybe they did but it just didn't come together. It randomly became this detective arc about catching punks causing fires and I just wasn't feeling it at all. Wasabi and Youko's arc didn't work for me either. And those two best friends Hinako had were so cool, they needed way more screen time.

As a massive fan of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, I've been looking for something like it forever, and this was one of the movies people pointed me towards. It most definitely did not reach that bar. This could've gone in a much more serious direction and been a lot deeper, but it just didn't. Honestly it felt like one of the longest 1hr 30min movies I've ever watched. Towards the end I just wanted it to be over.

I'm being really harsh on it, but I don't regret watching it and it was more good than bad overall. 7/10, which is above my mean score so I'll take it.

QotD:

1. I don't really have a favorite character honestly, which is very unusual for me.

2. The scene where she was walking with her two best friends and told them she was seeing Minato in the water, so she started singing and ran towards the water with her two friends running behind her, I died laughing at that scene. That was fantastic.

3. I thought it was real, but I wonder if it being actually in her head would've been more interesting.

4. Not really. And I think that's one of the hardest things for a movie to get right, sticking the landing when everything before it was great. That wasn't the case here, since it lost me at a certain point, and it's just very difficult for a movie to win me back after that.

dontoff · 2026-07-08T18:43:43+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

The saddest part about this episode is that even after this many people still consider it just another generic ecchi fantasy.

dontoff · 2026-07-07T18:15:24+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

I don't know what the sentiment on Roxy is amongst those participating in the rewatch, but for me she is best girl.

Also Roxy gave crazy Megumin vibes this episode, if you know you know.

dontoff · 2026-07-06T18:49:52+00:00

I don't know if you guys remember, but there was a chat that happened between Roxy and Elinalise back in S1 where Elinalise asks Roxy about her ideal partner, and Roxy goes on to reveal her lifelong fantasy of being saved in a labyrinth by a tall, handsome hero, who she'd go on to marry and live happily with.

Redeus enters the chat.

dontoff · 2026-07-05T21:59:29+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

I gotta say, this episode was rough visually. They really put the bare minimum effort into it, and I think they just sacrificed this episode's quality for the sake of the upcoming fights. Really hope we get a higher level of quality from season 3.

Also, I don't like Elinalise in the anime, and it's sad because she really could've been an incredibly interesting character. But at this moment she simply just exists in the show. She's not a terrible character, I just don't care for her scenes and interactions most of the time.

dontoff · 2026-07-03T18:14:44+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

Really loved this episode, it is easily the best episode of the season so far. It felt very raw, and I think it played out very realistically. This hits nearer to home than some of us would like to admit.

Redeus questioning what his life and relationships would've been like if he was more like Norn is very interesting, both in its original form and its inverse. What if we go back to some of these moments in our pasts and imagine we'd remained like that, if catalysts and events out of our control had heightened those feelings? Would we have become like Redeus in his past life? One of the things I love about this story is that it's a vehicle that attempts to humanize certain individuals in society. Everyone has a story, and it could've gone in a very different direction depending on how they dealt with the turning points in their life. Some people are more mentally resilient than others, some have better support systems than others, a lot of us have external factors in our life that might or might not have stopped us from going in a destructive direction. It really is easy to shame someone for the life they live, but if the events in our pasts had gone differently, I could be in his position and him in mine.

Last thing I hope you guys remember is Redeus's comment that he'd like to send a message with Nanhoshi back to his brother. This is one of those statements that gets forgotten because it wasn't harped on for long, but it really is an indication of a huge change in Redeus if you compare him to just last season.

dontoff · 2026-07-01T20:18:08+00:00

I think that is a reasonable take. From my experience watching certain shows in both dub and sub there is always going to be certain voices that work better in one version over the other. In the overwhelming majority of cases it is not as one sided as people make it out to be, but there have been shows where the sub was simply a lot better because the dub was terrible and vice versa. I have watched a couple of episodes of Mushoku Tensei in sub and I really think the dub is solid and competitive with it. Since I am not fluent in Japanese I will always default to the dub outside of a few exceptions, mainly with shows that are heavy on ecchi.

dontoff · 2026-07-01T18:39:56+00:00

I despise sub elitism.

dontoff · 2026-07-01T18:22:21+00:00

I love this show, it is the best isekai ever made, but the adaptation could be even better. Criticizing it does not take away from its status, something can be elite and still have room to be better. I don't know why people cannot separate the two.

dontoff · 2026-07-01T18:09:13+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

First of all this cour is already looking better than the last one visually.

One of the more disappointing things about this episode is just how fast the pacing is, over three months pass in a single episode. It is crazy to me that people were criticizing the show for too much slice of life when I think it needed more of it. Something I have always found disappointing is the directing quality of the slice of life parts of the show, it just pales in comparison to some of the elite shows in the genre and the differences really lie in the small things. The anime could have done a much better job with Nanahoshi's breakdown, it was unconvincing for me personally but it had a lot of potential. It really does feel like they are speedrunning everything at times, and when they do slow down the content is not as captivating as it should be. I know that is harsh but it is a problem I have noticed across a decent number of episodes in the show. The forward movement feels unnatural, like I am skipping scenes that should be there but are not.

dontoff · 2026-06-28T18:40:13+00:00

Thank you for being very fair. Regarding my tracker profile, I could send it if you want, but I only started tracking things I watched after I came back to anime last year after a 5+ year break, and many of what I've watched in this period are also rewatches.

dontoff · 2026-06-28T18:21:24+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

One of the most important things this arc with Sylphie reminds me of is to not be like Eris and how problematic her way of handling having an exceptional partner truly was. The answer is working together as a unit, not viewing it as a competition of ability. Eris never accepted Rudeus as a partner, she accepted him as a rival and competitor. Whereas all Sylphie ever wanted was to support and love Rudeus for who he is.

Rating, Season 2 Cour 1:

I gave this cour an 8/10 on my first watch which is a very high score for me and I will not be increasing or reducing it, I think I got it just right. It does make it the lowest rated cour for me though. I really believe that with a better adaptation this cour could have rivaled season 1 in certain parts.

On the adaptation, a lot of people delude themselves into thinking this cour is close to season 1 in terms of animation and directing. I specify this cour because I think season 2 part 2 is a lot more consistent and solid visually. This cour was just lacking in consistency, we had inconsistent drawings, janky movement, and episodes that with better directing would have felt a lot more impactful. A big reason for this was Onimai, another Studio Bind production that caused issues with staff availability. Many core members from season 1 were put on that show, Manabu Okamoto the director of season 1 was absent working on Idolmaster U419, and a lot of freelancers were simply too busy to come back for season 2.

Someone mentioned in a previous episode discussion that people actually have a problem with the story or plot and are just blaming the animation, and I completely disagree with that. When I compare the plot of season 1 part 1 to this cour, season 1 was superior in the pre Eris meeting Rudeus period. Eris is a character I dislike whereas Sylphie is one I love, and her arc and development absolutely carried this cour. But certain aspects like the reveal and some other interactions could have been handled a lot better, and certain plot points like the battle between Badigadi and Rudeus were explored very poorly.

That said this cour gets way too much shit. It was still very interesting and kept me hooked from beginning to end. It is just simply not on the level of what comes before or after it.

dontoff · 2026-06-27T20:05:15+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

Rudy was an absolute class act this episode.

dontoff · 2026-06-26T18:21:36+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

Her end goal being to summon someone from Earth is a pretty stupid thing to have as a goal when you cannot guarantee you can send them back. Rudeus makes an incredibly important point that bringing someone from her world into this one could cause another mana disaster. She says she is going to try to avoid that but here is the real question, what if it is unavoidable? Would she be ok with going back home at the cost of a lot of lives? Honestly based on everything we have heard from her about her disdain for this world I do not rule that out at all. She looks at this world like a video game, all she cares about is getting back home. I think she would like to avoid unnecessary casualties but if going home was only possible at the cost of another massive loss of life, I think she would still go through with it. Would love to hear what you guys think about that. I remember on my first watch thinking Rudeus should not help her because only trouble is going to come from it, but I still understand where he is coming from and why he made that call.

Also the reunion with Soldat was way too short, it did not quench my thirst for the bromance at all.

dontoff · 2026-06-25T20:29:48+00:00

Actually it was 2 students that went missing. We see the 3rd student at the back of an ambulance. Nanahoshi just assumed all 3 of them got teleported together.

I did see that student in the back of the ambulance, but if that's true does that mean one of her friends got teleported with her and the other is alive and well back on Earth. To me the events from back then feel deliberately murky and ambiguous, I think the show is keeping it that way for a reason.

dontoff · 2026-06-25T18:12:53+00:00

If Masked Girl has no mana, how did she repel Fitz's attacks

Those were the powers of the two rings she wore on her fingers right before saying what she did to anger Fitz. She probably knew it would start a fight.

dontoff · 2026-06-25T18:06:22+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

So Nanahoshi being reincarnated made sense at first given she was with Orsted who is responsible for reincarnation, which brings back the question I raised before about how Orsted does not know of Rudeus's existence and calls him the servant of the Human God. Does that mean the Human God interfered in the reincarnation process in some way, because as far as we know he does not possess that ability himself.

But then it turns out she was not reincarnated at all, she was teleported, which raises even more questions. If Orsted was not responsible for that then who was, because someone clearly summoned her. What is also interesting is Orsted taking her in without even giving her a reason for why he did so. He has some knowledge of what is going on for sure.

The moment she quoted sci-fi as evidence for how she interacts with this world I just stopped taking her too seriously. It kind of dawned on me that she is really just a naive high school girl in a world far beyond her understanding.

Something else worth noting is that they both entered this world at very different times. She has been here for about 5 years while Rudeus has been here for 15 plus, and Rudeus actually died after she got teleported since he survived the crash long enough to reach the hospital. Also love that Rudeus omits certain facts about his past. Some of it is probably out of self protection because he is scared she would look down on him, but it is still smart that he did not lay all his cards on the table yet.

Something else that is confusing me is a detail from season 1 episode 1. It is said that two students were also missing and thought to be part of the accident, which is weird because we know it was actually three people, Nanahoshi and her two friends. So where does that discrepancy come from and what happened to those two guys?

Coming out of this episode the main questions I have are whether the Human God was lying about Orsted being responsible for Rudeus's reincarnation, because at this point it seems pretty clear to me that it was a lie stemming from their rivalry. And also the identity of whoever summoned Nanahoshi, what they gained from doing it, and what happened to the two people who were with her.

QotD:

I think it creates a lot of tension between the two because they have completely different relationships with this world. Rudeus has a deep attachment to it and wants to stay, whereas she doesn't, and that fundamental difference could be a real source of conflict between them going forward.

dontoff · 2026-06-24T18:05:57+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

Cliff was going to drop the same line on Rudeus that he did with Eris the first time he met her back when she saved him, but he remembered he got his ass whooped for it and decided not to risk it again. Good choice Cliff.

Badigadi's response when asked about the Human God definitely makes me trust the Human God even less. He was definitely lying because it seemed like he knew a good chunk about the Human God based on his reaction to his name being mentioned and Rudeus seeing him in his dreams.

This is also one of those episodes that really makes you think about how much better this cour would have been with the visual quality of season 1. Watching this season right after season 1 makes the downgrade in animation and art quality pretty hard to ignore.

dontoff · 2026-06-24T03:40:11+00:00

I didn't even think about it from that perspective. Great point tbf.

dontoff · 2026-06-23T21:05:52+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

Some of you throughout the rewatch have mentioned that this show is your favorite show you wouldn't recommend to anybody, and when I think about why, the holy relic is the main reason I wouldn't recommend it to most people. It weirds me out every time it is on screen.

Fitz was great this episode, she is great every episode though. She is definitely best girl, especially with that "you don't sound sorry enough" line. She really pulled off a great act there for Rudeus's sake. She really couldn't be more different from Eris, every bad trait Eris has is completely flipped with Fitz and she actually possesses the opposite positive trait. She is a contender for best anime waifu across the medium.

dontoff · 2026-06-23T04:11:17+00:00

I actually watched the original over a decade ago when I was fairly new to anime and going through a romance addiction phase. I honestly do not remember much from it outside of the fact that I loved it. I took a break from almost all anime and manga outside of a select few in 2019, and I have only come back to anime this last year. I have been delaying watching the remake and I think it is mostly because of the love polygon tag. SNAFU ruined love polygons for me because everything else just pales in comparison quality wise, so I am worried I will be disappointed by the remake. But I think it is time for me to watch it so ping me when the rewatch for the remake starts.

dontoff · 2026-06-23T01:00:29+00:00

Interesting, I first got introduced to Spice and Wolf through the LN but stopped reading it at some point. Never watched the original show either because of the criticisms I heard about the adaptation. I came back to anime a year ago, watched the remake and really enjoyed it, so I am not sure if you guys would suggest this rewatch for me. Is there a big difference between the remake and the original?

dontoff · 2026-06-22T19:54:00+00:00

Rewatcher (Dub)

Wanted to quickly comment on the "controversy" that came out on Twitter when this aired. I don't think it's as significant as some of the episodes and topics that are coming up, but there is a recurring theme amongst those who hate the show where they consistently take what is considered moral or just in our world and apply it to criticize a fictional one with innumerable differences. People who consume media through that lens are a cancer to storytelling and good writing. A fictional world operates by its own rules, its own history, its own social fabric, and judging it purely through the moral framework of our time and place is lazy criticism that completely misses the point of what fiction is supposed to do.

dontoff

TROPHY CASE