Drama Digest
A thirty-four-year-old recluse decides to attempt one heroic action in his life after being bullied, disrespected and subjugated his whole life and that attempt, too, goes down the drain as his life meets a tragic end. However, as fate would have it (and quite bizarrely), the protagonist wakes up in another world as Rudeus Greyrat and gets to restart his life.
Rudeus has retained all the memories and knowledge from his past life and he uses his adult mind to navigate through his life and showcase magical capabilities. A mage, Roxy Migurdia, helps him hone himself, and he learns sword-wielding from his father, Paul. There is also Sylphiette, the girl who becomes his closest friend.
Rudeus does his best to make the most of this life while fighting the demons of his traumatising past life, and this time, there is the promise of love.
The Feel-Good Part
Mushoku Tensei uses the familiar isekai tropes and weaponizes them to create something not generic and clichéd. The show features stunning animation, which is historically accurate, and the swordfights are choreographed by professionals. The sound design does justice to the story and fits the plot. The show handles PTSD better than many animes do. The flashbacks and Rudeus’ reaction to those, and the triggering of memories all combine to form an elaborate and primarily accurate depiction of someone coping with a traumatising past. The author also creates a second dialect, and it is impressive that it does not sound like a bunch of garbled noises.
The Disappointing Factor
The entire problem with this anime is Rudeus himself. He is a perverted protagonist, who is a paedophile, through and through. As the show progresses, you are just left gaping at his actions. Rudeus is a man in his late thirties in the body of a child, and he sexualizes the woman who is his mother in this world as soon as he is born. He seduces a 12-year old child. He might be in a 10-year old’s body, he still has the mentality of a grown man, and he fantasizes about and seduces children. Rudeus even openly admits that he intends to groom Sylphie to marry him. The entire show reduces women to submissive archetypes and all the men are powerful and the picture of toxic masculinity.
In-Depth Analysis
This anime has a protagonist who is a pervert and a paedophile. The show recognises his paedophilia and perversion and ends up playing it off as a joke. Rudeus is also incredibly misogynistic, and it can be seen in the way he views his father in this life. While he acknowledges that his father is a terrible person and a cheater and treats his mother poorly, he thinks that he is “cool” because he sleeps around and is a womanizer. Every female character present is for the sexual gratification of men, and at one point you look at the anime and think if it is some sort of self-insert fanfiction, where Rudeus is this incredibly charming protagonist who gets away with everything, even being a paedophile.
Star Power
Yumi Uchimaya voices Rudeus quite well, despite being terrible in general.
Overall Opinion
If you are comfortable watching the tropes and plotlines mentioned, you can watch this anime. However, the sinister nature of the protagonist being played off as a joke makes it incredibly difficult to like.
