So, if you’ve been watching the new season ofย Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, you’ll know that Rudeus’ going to school. He’s got a free ride into the best magic school in the world, and he doesn’t have to attend classes if he doesn’t want to. The only mandatory course is homeroom with the other special students, and he’s either met or has indirect connections to them. One classmate, though, makes it clear from the get-go that he doesn’t like him: Cliff Grimoire. And the crazy thing is that Rudeus hasn’t done anything wrong to him; he’s never met the guy. Yet Cliff hates him anyway.
There are several reasons why Cliff’s got an axe to grind with Rudeus. However, All of them stem back to an incident several years ago that I didn’t cover in my first season recap. An incident covered in a 2022 OVA starring the resident tsundere, Eris. Since Cliff will be a VIP in Rudeus’ life from here on out, it seems fitting that I backtrack and recap this in full. Gather around, and you shall hear the tale of “Goblin Slayer Eris Greyrat or: How I Pulled Up on an Arrogant Brat and Gave Him a Reality Check.”
From the Streets Did He Emerge
So, backstory time. Cliff was born to a loving family in Milis, only for them to get murdered by bandits. Thus, he wandered the streets of Millishon as an orphan, alone and sad. Then one day, the Pope of the Millis Church, AKA this world’s version of the Catholic Church, found and adopted him. And before you question how that can happen, there’s no rule about Catholic Priests and Nuns adopting kids. So, that’s good for him.
Now that he’s the grandson of religious royalty, Cliff gets the finest things life offers. He’s got the best clothes, food, tutors, the works. So he starts learning how to magic, and he’s good at it. Everyone’s telling him that he’s a magical genius. It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s the Pope’s grandson and a likely candidate to become Pope in the future!
So, since he’s a kid, Cliff lets this praise go to his head. This becomes a problem when he sets out to try adventuring for the first time.
You Shouldn’t Have Made Eris Mad, Cliff!
So, you might recall when Dead End made it to Millishon. While Rudeus was dealing with all that stuff with his Dad, Eris went on a solo adventure. Ever since she was little, she had this dream of hunting goblins. And now that she was older and more robust, she wanted to scratch this item off her bucket list. So she goes to the local guild and takes up the goblin-slaying quest when she notices Cliff arguing with this adventuring party. He keeps trying to get them to let him join their party, and, remember, he’s got an attitude. He thinks he’s hot stuff, and they should feel honored he’s offering to help them. That only makes them mad, and they’re about to fight when Eris steps in and talks them down.
Does Cliff thank Eris for helping him out? No, the ungrateful kid snaps at her for butting in and tells her not to stick her ugly face in stuff that doesn’t concern her. Big mistake. Eris, being Eris, responds the same way she does to anyone who makes her mad: punching their lights out! Even Rudeus, one of the people she listens to, isn’t safe from this mad dog!
Eris Tells Cliff, “You not that guy, Pal.”
So, for whatever reason, Cliff does a total 180 after getting punched by Eris and starts following her around, saying he’s sorry and how impressed he was with that punch. So he keeps trying to talk her into letting him join her on her mission and bragging about how great he is. Eris, barely pays attention to him, though, since she’s not impressed. She can tell from a glance that Rudeus is more potent than this guy. But since he keeps following her like a stray puppy, she relents.
She soon regrets this because Cliff proves he’s weaker than he thinks. He is strong; it’s just that she knows Rudeus is stronger and wiser, so she’s not impressed. And all his attempts to prove otherwise backfire. He burns the goblins, so they can’t bring back proof. He gets them lost in the woods. He’s not that guy, and Eris lets him know it.
So, eventually, they come across this group in the woods. On one side is this knight of the Millis church and this little shrine girl she’s guarding. On the other side are these Papal assassins. Eris doesn’t know this, but there’s a power struggle in the Millis Church. The side the night and girl are on is anti-Demon and Beastmen, while the Pope’s side promotes co-existence. However, Eris doesn’t know this, so while Cliff watches, she jumps in and wastes the assassins. Who also happen to be some of Cliff’s teachers. Cliff just watched his teachers die!
Again, Cliff is not that guy!
So, after getting punched, talked down to, and watching this girl kill his teachers without realizing it, is Cliff mad? Does he swear revenge for everything that happened? No; as soon as they get back to town with that knight and girl, the first thing that Cliff says is :
“Will you please marry me?”
Yes, that’s right! Despite hitting him in the face with a hard dose of reality, Cliff doesn’t hate Eris. He’s got a crush on her! Eris’ response? “Absolutely not!” And poor Cliff can’t understand why. He doesn’t get why she’d reject a genius like him. She responds that he’s not that guy; Rudeus is that guy.
Eris then goes into this whole spiel about how amazing Rudeus is. He might be younger and smaller than her, but he’s smarter, can do magic without incantations, and is just an all-around badass and future CHAD. She probably throws in a remark saying he’s better-looking than Cliff, too, and will likely be a total chick magnet when he’s older.
Hearing all of this, it doesn’t take too long for Cliff to realize that Eris is in love with Rudeus. And compared to someone like him, he’s got no chance in Hell. Thus, Cliff heads home to sulk and think about the heavy dose of reality he just got.
Cliff Grimoire Be Hating Rudeus
So, in a single day, Cliff realized that there was someone better at magic than him, got rejected by his crush, and had three of his teachers die. In other words, he got hit with a heavy dose of reality. But the one thing that Cliff can’t stop thinking about is Rudeus, this guy he’s never even met. He’s jealous of him, not just because of Eris, but because he’s better at magic than him. And that resentment stays with him for years.
Now, the bad news. Thanks to Eris’ meddling and saving that shrine girl, the anti-Demon faction in the Millis Church got stronger. Power struggles ensue, and since he’s the Pope’s grandson, Cliff’s a target. Thus, his grandfather sends him to Ranoa University to train and learn in peace. And that’s when Rudeus shows up in their classroom one day.
And that’s why Cliff hates Rudeus from the get-go. However, that doesn’t mean he’s going to hate him forever. Cliff Grimoire will become one of Rudeus’ most significant allies in life. You’ll just have to wait and see what happens, though.
A Candid Recap of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, Pt. 4
Last time on Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, Rudeus and Eris got sucked into this giant pillar of light that sent them across the world to the deadly Demon Continent. With no other choice but to make the long trip back home, they fall under the care of this super-strong Demon named Ruijerd, the so-called last of the Superd Demons seeking to clear his people’s violent name. As their journey spans across continents, they see untold wonders and experience great joy and hardship. After unexpectedly reuniting with his old man, Rudeus learns that the teleportation incident yeeted their entire home, with many of his and Eris’ family still missing; not to mention his best friend, Sylphie!
Despite this, Rudeus decides he still needs to get himself and Eris home. After that, he’ll help in the search for his missing family. Thus begins the final leg of Rudeus’ globe-trotting journey in the final part of our recap of the first season of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.
Saving His Little Sister
Turns out Rudeus doesn’t need to wait long to start looking for his family. He gets another visit from, you guessed it, the Man-God! That weird guy gives Rudeus some traveling advice, telling him, “Hey, man. You oughta head to the Shirone Kingdom on your way home. That’s where you’ll find Lilia and Aisha.” And last he heard, Roxy was tutoring the Prince of Shirone, so he thinks it’s his chance to reunite with his beloved teacher. However, he is told to use an alias, though.
Things go off the rails pretty quickly, though. He finds Aisha (who is way smarter than I remember 6-year-olds being,) running from the royal guards. Naturally, he performs his big brother duties and saves her, only to discover that Man-God was right with his advice. Aisha’s so smart that she managed to locate his “Holy Relic” from Roxy, and pegged the brother she’s never met as a pervert. Ouch! It’s one thing to hear it from Eris, but from your own sister? That’s sad, Rudeus!
At any rate, Aisha’s been trying to get a message out to Paul for months without success, so Rudeus decides, “Bet. I’mma head in there, find Roxy, and she’ll help clear this up.”
Blatant Advertising
Yeah, it doesn’t work. Turns out the Prince of Shirone, Pax Shirone, is holding Lilia hostage along with the families of his guards. And all of this is part of some convoluted scheme to lure Roxy back. She quit years ago because Pax was pervy as Rudeus is. Unlike him, who worships Roxy as this holy god, Pax just wants her back to make her his unwilling baby mama. And he’s the same age as Rudeus! How messed up is that? And he takes Rudeus prisoner in an anti-magic force field.
Thankfully, this is where Rudeus years of working with earth magic as a side gig comes in handy. A few years ago, Rudeus sold this high-quality figurine of Roxy. And I mean super high-quality. We’re talking collectible-worthy. And to Roxy’s dismay, Pax got his hands on it, but it wound up in the hands of his older half-brother, Zanoba. He’s a Blessed Child, which is a layperson term for someone with extraordinary power; in his case, super strength that would make Sakura Haruno jealous. The downside is that it leaves him unable to experience the sensation of touch, his social skills are nonexistent…and he could kill someone by accident.
No, seriously. He accidentally killed one of his younger brothers, and did the same thing to his wife!
Gaining a Fanboy
Now, Zanoba describes the Roxy doll that Rudeus made down to the most minute detail. And this is one of the funniest scenes in the series, because this man is talking it up like it’s the dang Venus de Milo or David of Michaelangelo. The whole thing sounds like a promotion for an actual figurine the studio’s putting out (and it is!) Seeing this grown man gush over something reminds Rudeus of being an artist or celebrity at a fan convention getting to see their fans drool over them. And once Zanoba confirms that Rudy made the doll, he decides he’s gonna call him his master. Except…the barrier. So Zanoba goes, “Bet. I’m gonna go sort this out. Be back in five minutes.”
Spongebob Narrator: A Few Minutes Later…
So, Zanoba just wastes Pax’s guards like they’re ragdolls, grabs the guy out of his bed, and drags his butt down to where he’s holding Rudeus and demands he let the boy go! Otherwise, he will crush his skull! Zero hesitation here, people!!
It works, though. Between that and Eris and Rujerd breaking in and resolving things with the guards, who, I might add, have their families held hostage by Pax, the whole thing comes to an end. Pax and Zanoba, though, are exiled.
So, after this, Rudeus has found two of his missing family members, and both are grateful to him for it. Lilia even gives him some belated 10th birthday presents: the box with Roxy’s “Holy Relic” in it, and a necklace that sweet Sylphie made for him. With the two now safe, they head off to reunite with Paul and Norn, and Aisha tells Rudeus “Sorry I called you a pervert, big brother!”
…Yeah, she knew who he was the whole time. Dang, that kid’s smart!
Rudeus got Sephiroth’d…
Now, by this point, Rudeus, Eris, and Ruijerd have been traveling for about two, two-and-a-half years, and they’re finally reaching the end of their journey. They’ve had their ups and downs, and fair share of hardships and fun, but they’ve come out of it on top. So, by now, they’re feeling pretty confident in themselves. Heck, Eris even gets Ruijerd to acknowledge her as a warrior. That’s when the story takes another 180 and reminds everyone, viewers included, that things can change in a fraction of a second. In this case, the party of Dead End…gets Sephiropth’d.
They’re traveling on this mountain pass when Eris and Ruijerd suddenly freeze up in complete terror at this man coming their way. This man, this white-haired, sword-wielding man accompanied by a teenage girl in a mask, walks right past them, and the two look ready to wet themselves! Rudeus, though, just gets confused and wondering why they’re freaked out by this edgelord; or why he seems to know who Eris and Ruijerd are. He doesn’t know it, but he’s just met Orsted, the strongestbeingin the world. The man’s so terrifying, he’s literally cursed to make everyone who meets him want to wet themselves in terror!
And what happens next…can barely be described in words. When Rudeus brings up the name “Man-God,” Orsted goes full-blown Sephiroth. He proceeds to fold Ruijerd in seconds, slaps Eris into the mountainside, and proceeds to royally cook Rudeus. And then Orsted says, “Give the Man-God a message from me when you die. Tell him Orsted’s coming for him.” And then…Rudeus dies. He actually dies.
And the next thing he knows, he’s back with the Man-God, who says “Oh, yeah, sorry you got caught up in that. Me and old Orsted have beef with each other, I won’t bore you with the details. My bad!” But then, something crazier happens. Rudeus wakes up alive. After he died, Orsted’s friend, Nanahoshi, talked him into saving his life for reasons they couldn’t understand. But all Rudeus knows is how glad he is to be alive, and Eris is just holding him in her lap, bawling her eyes out over the fact that the guy she likes almost died in front of her, and she couldn’t do jack to stop it.
And thus, the second turning point in Rudeus’ second life ends.
…Came Home to Find it Gone…
After all of this, the trio finally makes it home to the Fittoa region, and just like Paul said, the whole place is in ruins. Most of the people are gone or still missing, and Rudeus’ hometown is abandoned. Rudeus finally sees home again, only for it to no longer exist. But now that they’re back and able to fend for themselves, Ruijerd bids them farewell. He has to continue his mission of finding other Superd’s and clearing his people’s good name.
When Rudeus and Eris make it to Eris’ former home, it’s no better. The good news is that Ghislaine and her other servant Alphonse survived, but that’s about it. Tragically, Eris’ parents wound up in a dangerous place, and by the time Ghislaine reached them, they were already dead. Her grandpa survived, but some sleazy politicians used him as a scapegoat for the whole disaster and had him executed for that. In other words, Eris has no family left. Rudeus is all that she has left in the world.
What happens next remains a massive controversy. Later that night, while contemplating what to do next, Rudeus finds Eris showing up in his tent and telling him she turned 15 recently. She’s an adult now, and there’s only one thing she wants: for Rudeus to be her family.
Remember the promise they made on his 10th birthday? Eris doesn’t want to wait another two years. She wants Rudeus now.
…And Then Gets Walked out On.
Now, this is where Rudeus shows just how far he’s come since he started his second life. Because, at one point, he would’ve jumped at this opportunity with no hesitation. But now he’s gotten the chance to emotionally mature enough to appreciate what Eris is offering him. And he’s smart enough to recognize that Eris is likely jumping the gun on this as a means to A.) cope with the fact that her family’s gone and he’s all she has left. And Rudeus says, “Eris, look. As much as I would love to take you up on that, we can’t. It’s not how our first time should go!” But Eris managed to roll a Nat 20 on feminine charm for that night, and despite Rudeus’ brain saying this is a bad idea…his heart won’t listen. And on that night, Rudeus and Eris both became adults.
When Rudeus wakes up the following day, he’s on cloud nine. Even with how his home’s in ruins, he’s got himself a girlfriend that he loves and thinks they will be together forever! But then, when Rudeus is at his happiest, he experiences one of the absolute worst things that he could ever experience. As he goes back inside the tent, thinking about important stuff, like all the dates they’ll go on, their wedding, what to name their kids. Except…Eris is not there. All he finds is a pile of her hair and a short letter saying they’re not compatible right now and she’s leaving on a journey.
…
…
…
…
…Did Rudeus just get dumped?
Eris Fs Up. BIG TIME
Now, before we start hating on Eris, let me explain.
So, Eris did mean every word she said about wanting Rudeus to be her family. She had fallen for him a long time ago, and if he had told her that they should elope, she would’ve without a second thought. But after Rudeus fell asleep beside her after sharing their first times, she realized that what happened…wasn’t healthy. Learning her family was dead, coupled with the chance that he might leave her to find his Mom and Sylphie, and multiplied by watching him almost die in front of her…she panicked. She didn’t want to lose Rudeus, so she did all this to keep that from happening. But then she realized, “Oh my God, what did I just do? I just tried to baby-trap my man to keep him from walking out on me. That is so messed up. WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME?!?!” It was that same co-dependency thing that made Paul split Rudeus and Sylphie up for a few years. It’s not healthy, and would hold them both back.
So, Eris came to a decision. She was going to go with Ghislaine and have an anime training arc for the next few years to get stronger. Strong enough not to have to rely on Rudeus to protect her anymore and stand by his side as his equal in life.
Now, nobody can fault Eris for doing all of this. She’s doing it to protect her man, which is understandable. But here’s the thing: firstly, she doesn’t tell Rudeus this face-to-face. She knows if she does, he’ll talk her out of it, so she writes a letter to him, hence the letter. Also understandable. However, instead of explaining all these complicated thoughts and emotions like she should, her bright idea is to write a letter that says “Right now, we’re not compatible, so I’m leaving on a journey.” That’s all she wrote. Like an idiot. Like a 15-year-old idiot who thinks that Rudeus would be smart enough to figure that stuff out on his own.
Morgan Freeman: Eris didn’t know it, but it was at this point…she f*cked up.
Not only does Rudeus not understand it, he thinks he just got dumped. Anyone would come to that conclusion after reading a letter like that. What were you thinking, Eris!?!?
Picking Himself Up and Starting Over Again
So, Rudeus has spent the entirety of his second life trying to better himself. He started off as a scumbag, but he learned from his first life and actually grew to be a better person. He even faced his fears of the outside world, met all sorts of new people, and thought he got a girlfriend. And where has that left him? His home’s gone, his mom and childhood friend are missing, and the girl he gave his first time to seemingly walked out on him.
So, just like that, Rudeus finds himself falling into the same trap that ruined him in his first life. He shuts himself off from the world, doing nothing but eating and sleeping as he wallows in self-pity. For real, what the heck was Eris thinking? She just broke his heart and left him when he needed people the most!
But this time, things are different. Even though he just wants to shut himself off from the world right now, Rudy remembers his family from both his lives. He shut himself off from his parents and siblings, and he let every chance to make things better slip by until it was too late. So, even though he got his heart broken, he’s not making the same mistake twice. Not while his mom and Sylphie are still out there waiting to be found! So what does he do? He picks himself back up, grabs his staff and his stuff, and leaves what’s left of Fittoa to find his mom, and hopefully, Sylphie.
And that is where the first season of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation ends.
Mushoku Tensei is Isekai at its Finest
Now, say what you want about the Isekai genre and how it is everywhere these days. The medium of Japanese Cartoons are dealing with an overpopulation problem. It’s gotten to the point where Western Audiences are either sick of watching it, or hate-watch to call it trash. With that in mind, those not in the know would write Mushoku Tensei off as yet another piece of Isekai garbage. The thing is, it’s not.
Firstly, Mushoku Tensei was one of the early pioneers of the wave of Isekai that’s been hitting anime for the last decade. A lot of the tropes, plot devices, and the like that people complain are done to death in Isekai these days? Mushoku Tensei was one of the ones that made all that a thing. And if you look closely, you’ll see that it did this stuff better than a lot of the stuff that’s followed in its wake. All the stuff people call “Isekai Trash” tries to copy the success of Mushoku Tensei, Sword Art Online, Re:Zero, and the like. More importantly, though, Mushoku Tensei avoids the trap that a lot of Isekai fall into: world-building and character development.
Yes, the story starts out slow before getting into the big adventure, but it does this because it takes the time to develop the world and the characters who inhabit it into real people. More importantly, the main protagonist, Rudeus, doesn’t start out as another stock light novel hero who’s an instant ace and whose past life doesn’t matter. What happened in Rudeus’ first life shapes who he starts out as and who he wants to grow beyond, and despite his best efforts, he doesn’t always succeed. It takes him years to grow out of his perverted scumbag mindset, and even then, he’s still got that pervy aspect to him. Plus, he experiences just as much hardship as he does joy. This second life of his isn’t easy, but that’s the whole point. When it comes down to it, Mushoku Tensei is a story about life, and learning to appreciate it for all its worth. Even bad experiences can have value, not just the good.
So, yeah, Mushoku Tensei is what Isekai should aspire to be. This stuff’s good.
Season 2 Drops July 2nd, 2023
Now, the story of Rudeus Greyrat is not over, far from it. The light novel series it’s adapting is 25 volumes long, and so far, it’s only adapted up to the end of Volume 6. So, if each season has a similar amount of episodes and covers the same number of volumes…that’s about 4-5 seasons of this. Be ready for the long haul.
Fortunately, we’re in luck. The trailer for the new season dropped on Crunchyroll’s YouTube channel recently. According to it, the new season starts July 2nd, and it will see Rudeus embark on a new journey, meeting new and familiar faces. And more importantly, trying to get over what happened with Eris. I will review it, so be sure to check back in when the time comes.
A Candid Recap of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, Pt. 3
Last time on Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, that reincarnated NEET Rudeus Greyrat went to be the tutor to his distant relative’s daughter, Eris Greyrat. Otherwise known as the tsundere that makes all the other tsundere’s look mid in comparison. And even though their first meeting ends with her punching his face, Rudeus eventually manages to get through to the girl, and they become friends. But before Rudy can get the chance to take things even further, these two kids are hit by this massive pillar of light that sends them off to who knows where!
So, where have Rudeus and Eris ended up? How are they going to get home alive? Will there even be a home for them to return to? In part three of my recap of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, find out all this and more.
How the Heck Did We Get Here?!?!
First off, Rudeus ain’t dead. He’s alive. But when he comes to, he doesn’t understand that at first. All he knows is that he’s in this white void and back in his old body. He’s not alone, either. He’s greeted by this weird, featureless ghost guy acting like a troll. He says, “What’s up? Call me Man-God, and I’m here to give you a little advice, and you finna pay attention if you want to get your sorry ass home. Now, when you wake up, you’re going to meet someone. And even though they will look scary as Hell, trust them. They are going to keep you and that girl alive. Alright, later!”
So when Rudeus wakes up, it’s safe to say he’s not in Kansas anymore. He’s not even on the same continent anymore. Somehow, that beam of light teleported his and Eris’ sorry butts to the Demon Continent! Not only is that on the other side of the world, but it’s also the most dangerous part of the world. It’s home to all kinds of Demons, Monsters, and other races, and one of those Demons wound up finding him and Eris.
The Superd Boogeyman Stories are Fake
Meet Ruijerd, the Superd, and get ready for some backstory. Five hundred years ago, the Demon God Laplace tried to conquer the world until he got sealed away. However, while much of the world learned to put the past behind them, Ruijerd’s people, the Superd, were hated by everyone, even other Demons. Roxy told Rudeus stories about these green-haired people who killed anything that moved, even their comrades.
Turns out, though, most of that’s cap. While the Superd did fight for the Demon God, the whole “turning on their allies” thing wasn’t of their free will. Laplace gave them these cursed spears that made them go nuts. The only reason Rujierd snapped out of it was his son sacrificed himself to bring him to his senses. Ruijerd, who might be the last of his people, goes around helping people redeem their reputations and look for other survivors. He’s also got a soft spot for kids, so when he finds Rudeus and Eris out cold, he looks after them.
After coming to (and getting Eris to chill out), they realize it’ll take them years to make it back home. And they’re just kids in the middle of the most dangerous part of the world. So, yeah. Ruijerd decides he’ll help them get home. In return, they’ll form an adventuring party to help fix the Superd’s rep. Thus, the unlikely trio begins the long journey back to the Central Continent.
The Party of Dead End! Kicking Ass and Taking Names
Even though they’re still in the most dangerous part of the world, Rudeus and Eris are still kids. And, like many kids, they’re excited to see so many new places and people, which the Demon Continent has in abundance. They’re working as the party of “Dead End,” which is what people call Ruijerd when they’re trying to scare the daylights out of each other. Boogeyman or not, they start getting that sweet street cred and having the time of their lives…mostly.
Now, this isn’t some light-hearted story, and we keep being reminded of that. Like this one job to slay a monster. They compete with some other adventuring parties when they get attacked. And Rudeus thinks it’d be a good idea to wait until the last minute to save their butts. Guess how many adventurers got killed?
Another time when they have to smuggle Rujierd to the next continent over, they wind up relying on a group of slavers who’ve been capturing beast children. And Ghislaine’s people mistake Rudeus for one of them and throw him in a cell for a week! And this whole time, Rudeus’ been getting advice from this Man-God person, who looks sketchy as Hell.
Plus, Eris keeps beating up Rudeus whenever he starts acting pervy. Show a little restraint, man! It’s creepy!
Ups and Downs of Traveling
Despite the many hiccups, many good things happen for Dead End. They do help the Superd’s reputation and earn renown for themselves. Rudeus arrives in the village Roxy came from and meets her parents. And after clearing up the misunderstanding with the Beast People, Eris reaches the holy land of the furries. And she is over the moon. Not only does she get to spend a few months amongst the Beast People that her family loves so much, she even meets Ghislaine’s family.
Plus, in this one port, Rudeus comes across this little Demon girl who acts like she’s this chuunibuyo and calls herself the great Demon Emperor Kishirika (she’s not lying, either. She is a Demon Emperor). When he gives the starving lady some food, she’s so grateful that she gives him a gift. She rips out one of his eyes and gives him a new one. This one lets him see into the future!
The downside to that last part is that he misses his chance of reuniting with Roxy, who’s been helping Rudeus’ Dad look for him.
Most Awkward Family Reunion Ever.
Eventually, the party of Dead End makes it as far as the Continent of Millis. There, Rudeus has a run-in with what looks like this group of slavers trying to nab some kids. So while Eris is out hunting monsters and Rujerd’s doing his own thing, Rudeus decides, “Bet. I’m gonna be a superhero.” So he disguises himself by wearing panties on his head like a pervy luchador and goes to town on them. Until it turns out…it’s all a big misunderstanding. Those “slavers” were trying to help those kids out. And…they work with Paul.
Yep. Rudeus reunites with his Dad after five-something years, and it’s awkward as they come. And it gets even worse from there.
So, Rudeus sits down with his old man and asks him why he’s in Millis, and Paul’s like, “Son, didn’t you get my letters? Those letter’s I left for you at the Guild?” And Rudeus is like, “I never got any letters, Dad. What are you talking about?” At any rate, Rudeus then gives the abridged version of everything that’s happened since they last saw each other. However, since he doesn’t wanna worry his Dad, he downplays how wild things got and makes it seem like some light-hearted romp. Right in the middle of doing this, though, Paul finally tells him, “So this whole time, you’ve been goofing around with your new girlfriend and super-powerful bodyguard? What the Hell is wrong with you?” And Rudeus gets confused because he doesn’t get what’s wrong, but Paul tells him to shut up. Then, Paul drops some big truth bombs on Rudy’s sorry butt. He and Eris weren’t the only ones teleported around the world.
What do You Mean, all of Fittoa’s Gone?
We already know about this from watching the anime, but that incident that sent Rudeus and Eris to the Demon Continent didn’t affect them. It hit the entire Fittoa Region, sending every last man, woman, and child to random locations around the world. Almost everyone that Rudeus knows is scattered to the winds. His Mom? She’s missing. Lilia and Aisha? Also MIA. Everyone that served Eris’ family? Who knows? Her parents and grandpa might not even be alive anymore! And Sylphie? She’s still missing, while both her parents are likely dead. In other words, Rudeus and Eris may not even have a home to return to.
So while Dead End’s been making their way home, Paul’s been running himself into the ground with the other survivors from Fittoa, trying to track down everyone still missing. They’ve had to rescue many people from monsters, slavers, and worse. So he left messages at Guild HQ for his son, thinking, “Hey, my son’s a genius. He probably realized all of this and is working on a way to find our family and friends. We can use his help!” And now Paul realizes that Rudeus never saw any of these messages; he didn’t even know the full extent of what happened, and he’s livid over it.
So Paul snaps and starts berating Rudeus for thinking he’s spent the last year or so wasting time and having fun with his maybe-girlfriend and Superd bodyguard. Meanwhile, he’s so stressed out he’s barely eating and sleeping and has to get drunk to keep himself together. And Rudeus is like, “Dad, what do you want from me? Do you have any idea how hard it was to get here? You don’t get to judge me for that shit when you’re running around with some half-naked woman!” He’s referring to one of his comrades dressed like Red Sonja, but that’s to distract guys so they won’t hit on her traumatized sister. But Rudeus doesn’t know that. And then the two start throwing hands, and Rudeus starts beating up his Dad and his face. That’s when the worst thing could happen. His little sister, Norn, who he hasn’t seen since she was a baby, walks in, sees the brother she never met beating up the only family she has, and tells him, “Stop beating up my daddy!”
That’s when Rudeus realizes he took things too far, and all that sense of inferiority and guilt hits him like the second coming of Truck-Kun. And just like that, he goes back to his friends to sulk.
Reconciling With his Dad
Now, let’s back up a little. During his stint in prison with the Beast People, Rudeus got himself a roommate, a man going by the name of Geese. It turns out that Geese is a friend of his Dad, with them and Zenith working at the same adventuring party back in the day. And after getting out, he joined Dead End on the trip to Millishon to meet with Paul. And when he finds out what happened between them, he chews Paul out for being a deadbeat Dad.
Firstly, Geese asks Paul if he could survive the Demon Continent when he was Rudeus’ age. When Paul says, “Probably, if I had a Superd with me.” And Geese says, “Bruh, no, you couldn’t. You’d die in five seconds. It’s the most dangerous place in the world. Everything from the monsters to the land itself wants to kill you. The fact that your boy managed to make it out of there is a miracle! So quit being so hard on him for not helping out! Your boy could’ve died trying to get here! And for that matter, he probably left out the gory details because if he didn’t, you would naturally freak the Hell out.”
And Paul finally realizes that he’s being a terrible excuse for a Dad and goes to reconcile with Rudeus. It works, but not before Eris tries to throttle him, and Rujerd says, “Hey, man. From one Dad to another, get your act together.”
So after all that’s done, Rudeus and Paul go their separate ways, with Rudeus promising to help find the rest of their family once he gets Eris home safe and sound. That, and he needs to ensure Norn doesn’t hate his guts.
Get Ready for the Next Big Moments in Rudeus’ Life
So, there you have it. Rudeus and Eris embark on this harrowing, potentially life-threatening trip to get back home, only to learn that there may not even be a home to return to. Nonetheless, they do not have any other options to work with, so they continue to press on. In the meantime, they’re getting stronger and stronger as they say goodbye to childhood and say hello to being teens and young adults. Tune in next time for the grand finale to this recap of the first season of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.
A Candid Recap of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, Pt. 2
Last time on Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, a fat, miserable shut-in got himself thrown onto the streets by his family. After saving a group of teens from the dreaded Truck-Kun, this bum found himself Isekaied and reborn into a world filled with magic, magical species, and more. Now going by Rudeus Greyrat, this guy’s ready to live life to the fullest and make the most out of this second chance. He starts learning magic, gets himself a waifu teacher that looks like a loli and becomes a certified badass. He even calls himself a best friend in the form of a cute elf-girl named Sylphie. But if he wants to succeed in life, he’s got to enroll in a big magic school.
Since his new Dad will only pay for him to enroll and not Sylphie, Rudeus decides he needs to get a job. So his Dad, Paul, pulls some strings and calls him a job working as a tutor at their distant relative’s home. He also knocks him out, lets their bodyguard/his former adventuring buddy, Ghislaine, take him, and leaves a letter saying, “Hey Rudy, don’t come back home for five years. You and Sylphie need to learn to be self-sufficient and not rely on each other. Otherwise, it isn’t gonna end well. Oh, and no writing letters either.”
So, Rudeus leaves home for the first time. How will he fare with his new job? Will this end up being too much for him? And will we learn how scary a tsundere can be? Find all this and more in part two of my recap of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation!
Eris, the Tsundere to End all Tsundere’s
Now, besides having to teach Ghislaine essential learning, Rudeus’ main job will be to teach the head of the Boreas’ house granddaughter, Eris Boreas Greyrat. Everyone tells her that Eris is “a little willful,” but nothing that Rudeus can’t handle…right?
Now, in anime, there are tsunderes. They’re characters that act harsh and abrasive before warming up to others. Then there’s Eris. She’s not just a tsundere. She’s a tsundere cranked up to eleven. She’s like if you fused Asuka from Evangelion with Jotaro Kujo from JoJo’s. She yells at Rudeus, talks down to him since he’s younger, and when retaliates her response. Beat the ever-loving crap out of him!
Like, for real, no cap; she’s so scary that even the adults are afraid of her. Despite the beatdown he’ll get, though, Rudeus refuses to go crawling back to his Dad and be like, “Wah, Dad! I couldn’t handle that demon spawn from the depths of Hell!” Nah, he’s got a better idea to get her to respect him: he pretends to get them both kidnapped.
No, I’m being serious. He talks to Eris’ parents, and they decide to hire some actors to pretend to kidnap them. Then Rudeus can save them both and show her the importance of knowledge. Except it goes haywire. One of their servants decides to kidnap them for real and sell Eris off to some pervert. Luckily, Rudeus still manages to bust them out, and then Ghislaine comes in clutch and wastes one of the kidnappers. She blows his head off, and there’s blood all over the ground in front of Rudeus. It’s traumatizing for him!
So, after his brilliant plan goes haywire, Rudeus decides to dip out, thinking he failed. But then Eris dials the tsundere back enough to admit that he’s not as worthless as she thought and that she’ll allow him to tutor her. Bet.
Being a Professional Tutor Comes With Perks
So after this rough start, Rudeus settles into the Boreas household, serving as a tutor to Eris and Ghislaine. He’s teaching them how to read, write and Eris how to use magic. And despite being utterly terrifying and using him as a punching bag when he’s being a pervert, the two become friends.
Eventually, the time comes for Eris’ tenth birthday. Now, in this world, birthdays aren’t celebrated yearly. The big ones are at 5, 10, and 15 when you’re considered an adult. So her Grandpa, Sauros, who Eris gets a lot of her personality from, throws this big bash to show Eris off to everyone…except Eris sucks at dancing. But Rudeus steps in and somehow teaches her how to dance and sweep her off her feet at her party.
Happy Birthday, Rudy!
Two more years pass, and it’s Rudeus’ 10th birthday. So Eris gets everyone to throw this big surprise party for him that he totally knows about. But he still acts like he’s moved to tears by the whole thing. He does get sad for real, though, when he finds out his parents couldn’t visit due to monsters acting up. But then, out of nowhere, Eris’ mom glomps on him and is like, “Forget about them, sweetie! We’ll be your family now, and you can marry my daughter to make it official!” And Eris and Rudeus are both like, “WHAT!?!?” Other than that (and Sauros saying he’ll kill Rudeus’ uncle and make him the head of his family branch), the parties are great. Eris even gets Rudeus this cool new staff called Aqua Heartia.
But then her Dad pulls Rudeus aside and says, “Hey, man. We were being serious about all that stuff before. Join our team, and we’ll help you become the head of your family’s branch. Heck, I’ll even let you have my daughter.”
Remember that Rudeus’ is only ten, and Eris is twelve. But this is a medieval world with Game of Thrones vibes, so they don’t bat an eye at this. Heck, Mr. Greyrat even tries to have Eris seduce Rudeus that night. Thankfully, since Rudeus pushes her too far, Eris acts like Eris and slaps him to his senses. They both apologize, and Eris says, “Look, Rudeus. Let’s put a rain check on this for now. We’ll return when we’re both adults in five years and see what happens.”
And Rudeus is like, “AWWW, YEAH!!! EVERYTHING’S COMING UP, RUDEUS!! MIGHT HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN ERIS AND SYLPHIE, BUT WHO CARES?!”
Too bad for him; his whole life changes the next day.
The First Turning Point
Now, I know what you’re all thinking: what’s so special about this Isekai? What sets it apart from the other light-hearted ones we’ve seen? While the show hasn’t had the highest stakes for the first seven episodes, that’s just to lull us into a false sense of security. Because, at this point, the story takes a complete 180.
So, for months now, this weird, magical sphere thing’s been hovering above the capital of the Fittoa region. And no one knows what it’s doing there. It just keeps sitting there, all mysterious, while these weird storm clouds gather around it. So, the day after Rudeus’ birthday, he, Eris, and Ghislaine head off to test out his new staff, and it hits the fan. First, this weird guy shows up and tries to kill Rudeus. Then, that sphere explodes into this column of light! Before anyone can figure out what’s happening, they’re all engulfed in this thing, with Rudeus barely managing to grab onto Eris before they get hit!
And this ends the first turning point in Rudeus Greyrat’s life.
Oh, You Thought this was a light-hearted Isekai?
So, if you thought this would be some light-hearted Isekai, think again. Everything that you just read or watched was setting up everything for what’s to come. From here on out, expect Rudeus’ life to become a lot more dangerous and filled with a lot more trials and tribulations. That’s part of what sets Mushoku Tensei apart from a lot of other Isekai. It’s a slow burn at first, but the story gets a lot more interesting once it takes off.
Please tune in for the next part as we cover what happened to Rudeus and Eris as they get thrust into an adventure neither of them expected as their lives are changed forever.
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