Mushoku Tensei S2, Ep 8 Review
Rudeus’ love life has never been the most stable. His first girlfriend left to get stronger without explaining things. Then the next girl he tried to date got mad at him for something that wasn’t his fault and left. However, that hasn’t stopped him from getting involved in the love lives of his classmates, whether he wants to or not. First, he has to deal with Cliff, and then the Doldian Duo’s issues get him in trouble.
This is fun.
Cliff is in Love With the Last Person You’d Expect
Cliff Grimoire is many things. He’s the grandson of a Pope, a gifted mage in his own right, and ever since Rudeus arrived at school, his biggest hater. The main problem is his jealousy over Rudeus being better than him and the object of Eris’ affections. However, all that changes one day when he gazes upon Elinalise.
The next thing Cliff knows, Eris is an afterthought, as he’s head over heels with Elinalise. He sees her as this beautiful, chaste goddess. Those who know her, though, know she’s anything but, thanks to her curse. That becomes an issue when Rudeus witnesses a bunch of guys beating him up after he picked a fight with them for spreading what he thought were lies. Then Cliff swallows his pride and asks Rudeus to introduce him to Elinalise.
Both Rudy and Elinalise are taken aback by this. The latter even shows she has standards by scolding Rudeus for doing this. Despite her interests, she knows how badly this could affect someone like Cliff. Rudy even had to ask “Fitz” for advice before going through with this. But Cliff insisted.
What makes this work so well, though, is that the outcome defies everyone’s expectations. Instead of being upset about the truth, Cliff doesn’t care. He even vows to find a way to lift Elinalise’s curse. The next thing Rudy knows, the two are going steady and making out in the classroom!
Good for Cliff. That man might end up being that guy, after all.
Rudy Runs From a Bunch of Eager Beastmen
Rudeus’ time dealing with his classmate’s love lives doesn’t end with Cliff, though. The Beast people’s mating season begins, and all over Ranoa, Beast People are challenging each other for the right to partner up, except for Lilna and Pursena. Since they’re both Doldian Princesses, whoever wins against them could win the right to lead the Doldia tribe. As a result, they seclude themselves in the dorms, and tell Rudeus to take care of things.
The main issue is this: since Rudeus thoroughly humiliated them and Fitz, who had previously bested them, he became the alpha of their “pack.” Since he’s their alpha, anyone who beats him would win the right to Lilna and Pursena. In other words, poor Rudeus has an army of Beast Men chasing him around campus.
At least he did, until a four-armed Demon showed up wanting to fighting Rudeus for the sake of it. Enter Badigadi, one of the Demon Gods and fiancé to Kishirika. AKA, the woman who gave him his magic eye.
Now he wants to fight Rudeus because Kishirika says he’s got more magical potential than Laplace, the Demon God.
The Rudeus vs. Badi Fight Skipped One Important Piece of Dialogue.
From the moment Badigadi’s introduced, he’s shown to be everything Rudeus isn’t. He’s loud, boisterous, laughs a lot, and would feel right at home in a series like One Piece. In other words, he’s everything that Rudeus isn’t. Yet, like many of the people he meets at Ranoa, Badi will play a role in Rudeus’ life from this moment on. Especially after Rudeus manages to one-hit KO him in their duel.
While getting to see the full extent of Rudeus’ power was impressive, it feels undercut by the anime’s decision regarding something. For whatever reason, they chose to omit a bit of dialogue regarding Rudy’s encounter with Orsted. In the original light novels and manga adaptation, Badigadi dropped the jovial act the second he heard that Rudy fought Orsted and survived. That was meant to convey how dangerous the Dragon God is, and why Rudy’s continual existence is a miracle.
Other than that, though, this did a good job of showing how strong Rudeus is.
The Entire Episode Was Hilarious
I won’t lie: I found this entire episode to be hilarious. From the most unlikely of couples forming with Cliff and Elinalise to the boisterous Badigadi, there were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments found. While his love life remains pitiful, one can’t deny that Rudeus is getting the school life that he never got to enjoy in his first life.
The best part is that Badigadi’s enrolled at Ranoa as one of Rudeus’ classmates.
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