Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 14 Review
That…was the best possible clip I could find that accurately describes how fans reacted to “The Diary.” Hands down, it was one of the darkest episodes in an anime to come out of this decade, and people will likely be talking about it for years. If I had gone into this entire thing completely blind, I have no doubt that I would have been left emotionally scarred by what I witnessed. Heck, I knew about this years in advance, and I still had trouble not crying! HOW THE HECK DID RIFUJIN COME UP WITH SOMETHING THIS MESSED UP!?!? But now that Rudeus knows the nightmare he just avoided, what will his next move be?
HUG YOUR FAMILY, RUDY!!!
The episode opens up with us seeing Rudeus having a very realistic and human reaction to reading his future self’s diary: he is horrified. Every he read in the book, which we were witness to, was so disturbing that he starts vomiting in a panic. And then the look he gets when Sylphie comes to check up on him is superbly haunting. In fact, the anime goes out of its way to continue adding original scenes showing Rudeus being extra nice to his family as he struggles to come to terms with what he came so close to losing. But it’s clear to his wives that, while he’s smiling on the outside, he’s suffering on the inside.
These last few episodes have really made me understand just how hard Rudeus thinks he has it. Despite the vast improvements he’s made to himself since starting his second life, despite learning to rely on others and let his guard down, there is always that final wall he keeps about his darkest secret: the fact that he lived a wholly separate life in another world that he is ashamed about. Part of me wonders if it would be easier for him to just tell them the truth. At the same time, though, I understand that he’s afraid that if he is, Roxy and Sylphie will reject him. But that’s why he didn’t tell them about his future self’s warnings or the Man-God. At least he manages to talk to them about Eris joining their family.
Look, do we want Eris to die or not?
Now, as well-intentioned as Eris’ decision to leave was, it doesn’t change the fact that it led to Rudy going through unnecessary suffering. And while everything worked out in the end, I would prefer that Rudy never had to suffer in the first place; at least not for as long. But at least Rudy is able to Sylphie and Roxy to come around considering letting Eris join their family by explaining how she wasn’t trying to be a b****. She’s just a freaking dumbass who can’t explain things well. And as much as I diss her on here, I also can’t bring myself to hate Eris, either. Not after seeing everything she’s gone through for hers and Rudy’s sake.
That doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep busting her chops, though! I intend to hold her biggest f up over Eris for a long time!
Speaking of which.
Okay, that BSOD face was fun.
By this point, Eris has finished her training at the Sword Sanctum and is saying goodbye to her friends. That is when she gets the fateful letter that will change the course of her life forever. The sad thing is, since the Sword Santcum doesn’t like things like reading and thinking because it distracts from fighting, she can barely read or write anymore. All that effort Rudy put in, wasted!
I have to tell you, though. The look on Eris’ face as Isolte reads Rudy’s letter explaining how he wants to see her again but already has two wives is priceless. Absolutely meme-worthy BSOD moment. Now she’ll have to go for the rest of her life knowing that she blew her chance to become the sole claimant to the land of Rudeus. REAP WHAT YOU SEW, RED! REAP WHAT YOU FREAKING SEW!
If you thought that learning that her man already has already been claimed would deter Eris, though, think again. Because the post-script to the letter is the message that Eris has been waiting five years to hear: Rudeus is going to fight Orsted.
…You Realize that Rudy is gonna die, right?
So, a few nights after Oldeus warned him, the Man-God appeared in Rudy’s dreams and pretty much confirmed that he had been long-conning Rudy this whole time. And it’s not even because he sees Rudy as a threat to him, either; it’s his descendants.
You see, since he comes from another world, Rudeus is immune to the Man-God’s ability to make everyone naturally trust him as well as the curse that makes everyone fear Orsted. That immunity will be passed down to his descendants, and that makes them a potential wildcard in the struggle between the Man-God and Orsted. And when he looked into the future, he saw that if Rudeus and Roxy ever met again, they would fall in love, have a child, and that child would become a threat to the Man-God. Hence why he tried to kill Roxy when she was at her most vulnerable.
In any other story, this would be the part where Rudeus vows to stop the Man-God. But as his future self warned him, he can’t. The only means to reach the Man-God won’t appear for decades. So Rudeus has to make a deal with the devil: kill Orsted to save his family.
2027 is Going to be EPIC
And so, the first half of season comes to an end as we are now into volume 15, easily the most important of the entire series. The events that are to come are going to define how the remainder of the story will progress. More importantly, we’re going to see Rudeus and Orsted have a rematch. It’s too bad that we will have to wait until next year to see it play out in the anime…is what you’d think I’d say!
The fans weren’t willing to wait on the most important fight of Rudeus’ life to make it into the anime. So a YouTube Channel named LanwenTuzi Studio decided to make an amazing fan animation of Turning Point 4 and the fight. The original video was taken down, but plenty of others have reuploaded it, and I highly reccomend you go watch it. Think of it as a preview of what to expect next year.
Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go relax and read some high-quality Mushoku Tensei fanfics. May even recommend some more to you guys if I have the time. Until then, enjoy this gif of Aisha dancing with Byt
