Mushoku Tensei Jobless Reincarantion

We’re Going back to the Demon Continent With this One

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , ,

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 9 Review

I am sick and tired of the vile accusations that our dear Sylphiette is somehow responsible for Nanahoshi coughing up blood. We knew it wasn’t Sylphie’s fault, so why are we making memes about it?!? Even Rifujin, the author of Mushoku Tensei, is getting in on it!

In all seriousness, though, we know that Sylphie didn’t do this to Nanahoshi; she’s Rudy’s Goddess of Love for a reason, after all. This is just our way of coping with what has happened to her. And, as this episode confirms, this isn’t the kind of problem that can be solved with magic. If Nanahoshi wants to survive, then Rudeus and the others need to find her a cure.

DON’T DIE, NANHOSHI!

Three days after Nanahoshi collapsed in a pool of blood, her condition begins to stabilize a little. Perugius’ familiars are skilled at their work, but there is only so much they can do. At the very least, they confirm what Nanahoshi’s suffering from: Dryne Syndrome. In a nutshell, her body’s unable to neutralize the mana saturating this world, and it’s been slowly killing her. If I had to compare it to a real-life counterpart, it feels a bit like radiation poisoning. Since Nanahoshi has no mana, this means that she’s suspectible to it. And if nothing changes, she’s going to die.

What happens next can only be described as one of the most valid crash outs in the history of crash outs.

I TOTALLY Get why Nanahoshi feels like this!

This moment is one of the reasons why I consider Mushoku Tensei to be one of the best isekai of all time. A lot of isekai treat coming to another world as a form of escapism and act like it’s a good thing. But the truth is, not everyone will see it like that. Nanahoshi was happy with her life back home. She misses her family, her crush, her friends, modern technology, everything. And she was summoned to this world without being asked or even wanting it and has had to work hard to survive.

I think a lot of our hearts went out to Nanahoshi in this moment. A lot of us may see isekai as a means to live the lives we have always wanted, but for every person that would thrive in another world, it feels like there will be plenty who just want to go home. And as harsh as she is to Rudy, she’s also right. He’s had his own share of struggles, but he could’ve gotten it way, way worse. And that’s why Rudy is determined to find her a cure.

How are we going to find he-never mind!

Now, there’s only one person alive who could possibly know a cure for Dryne Syndrome (or is it Drain Syndrome?): Kishirika Kishirisu, the former Demon Empress. AKA that little shrimp that Rudy gave food to one time, and she gave him his magic eye. She wanders around the Demon Continent at her own leisure, doing whatever she wants. Which means that, in order to track her down, Rudy has take himself, Cliff, Zanoba, and Elinalise to the Demon Continent.

Considering how this is the first time in years that Rudy has set foot in the land where he began his great odyssey home, you would think that he would feel a little nostalgic. But the city they end up doesn’t exactly have pleasant memories for him, and he’s too focused on saving his friend.

And then, just when it looks like they’re in for a wild goose chase trying to find Kishirika, this happens.

Un. REAL. The plot must love Rudeus and his friends, because that is the only feasible way that this could happen. The bad news is that they’re not the only ones looking for her: someone has a bounty out for the former Empress. But no spoilers! Let’s just say that we’re about to deal with someone…crazy.

I Give “Lament” a 3.5/5

Welcome to Chaos Breaker, the Castle in the Sky

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , ,

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 8 Review

You know what’s cooler than a floating castle? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING I CAN THINK OF RIGHT NOW! Sorry, I’m just a little excited at the fact that we are starting a new arc for Mushoku Tensei that will take us to some interesting places. To begin with, though, Nanahoshi decides to reward Rudeus and their friends and family with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They’re getting the chance to travel to Chaos Breaker, the floating castle that’s home to the great hero and Nanahoshi’s mentor, Perguius Dola! Several of Rudy’s loved ones have reasons to want to meet him, and we get to see some cool stuff in the process. But then, something bad happens.

It’s Like Magic Uber!

So, in order to travel to the fabled castle in the sky that is Chaos Breaker, Nanahoshi brings them to a secret location marked by this tablet. From there, she can basically summon one of Perugius’ familiars, Almanfi of the Bright. Rudy actually knows this one, though. Right before the Displacement Incident, Perugius sent Almanfi to investigate what was happening, and he tried to kill Rudy and Eris. He might have if Ghislaine hadn’t been there. The good news is that he’s willing to take everyone there…except for Roxy. Thanks to his experience with Laplace, Perugius doesn’t like Demons. So, Roxy has to be left behind, to her and Rudy’s dismay.

Once they get teleported to Chaos Breaker, though, it proves every bit the wonder of the world that books say it is. The castle is gorgeously designed and ornate, there are beauitful gardens with flowers. The whole thing is nothing short of incredible. The fact that Rudy and the others are able to set foot there is incredible. And several of them have things to ask of the Dragon God.

Perugius is Chill

For such an intimidating-looking figure, Perugius is actually a pretty chill guy as long as you don’t offend him. He’s very friendly with Nanahoshi, having agreed to help her with her efforts to get home by telling him everything he knows. Plus his familiars are nice enough to go out and get food for them, allowing Nanahoshi to have something close to a Japanese meal for the first time in forever. He is, however, a little weary of Rudy, saying how his mana levels remind him of Laplace. If he had resisted getting teleported, he could have stopped himself from going.

To business. Rudy asks Perugius if he can help restore his mother. Alas, he doesn’t know what’s happened to her. The most he can say is that her time in crystal made her some sort of Blessed Child, like Zanoba. He does, however, reveal that that’s how Elinalise was found almost two centuries ago by one of his friends. She kept it secret because a.) she never regained her memories from before she was in crystal, and b.) that was how she was cursed to have s** or die. It also indirectly led to the death of her first husband and her being exiled from the village she made her home.

Ariel’s request is much more overt: she wants his backing to become the next Queen of Asura. But Perugius isn’t going to just give it to her like that. She’s going to have to work to secure his support, and it’s going to be a slow-going process.

Sylphie tries asking Perugius if he knows what caused the Mass Teleportation incident, but not even he knows why or how it happened. All he knows is that it wasn’t man-made. Almost like there was some sort of error in the universe.

Oddly enough, it’s Zanoba who hits it off the best with the Dragon Hero. All he wanted to know was if Perugius knew anything about the automaton they found in Rudeus’ house. It was made by the Mad Dragon King Chaos, a long-dead artisan and craftsman. But Zanoba and Perugius have a mutual love of arts and craftsmanship, so the Dragon God agrees.

I Wish I could Find that Mural to show you!

Everything seems to be going well for the group as they explore the legendary castle, but there was one moment that stood out to me. Nanahoshi shows Rudy, Zanoba, and Cliff this secret room that’s filled with this old mural that came with the place. Not even Perugius knows what it’s for, but…it feels familiar. A little bit like what we see at the end of every episode as we get the title of the next one. That can’t be a coincidence.

Whatever this mural is supposed to be about, though, it winds up getting a backseat, as the episode ends with an emergency. Nanahoshi is in worse shape than we thought.

Nanahoshi doesn’t feel so good!

The anime has done a good job of dropping hints that whatever Nanahoshi has been suffering from isn’t normal, but it really starts to gain attention in this episode. She’s coughing a lot more and she looks notably weaker than normal. But it’s the final moments of the episode that make us realize just how dangerous things are.

I knew that this moment was coming, but that didn’t stop me from being just as horrified as Rudy and Sylphie were. That was a lot of blood that Nanahoshi just coughed up. And the look of horror on her face right before she passed out! She was probably thinking that she was going to die. Death can be scary at any age, but she’s still a teenager. A scared teenager who came to this world against her will and just wants to go home. We can’t let her die here!

I Give “The Flying Fortress” a 4/5

Did you know that Norn Greyrat has a fan club?

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , , ,

Something that the Mushoku Tensei Might End up Skipping

Well, I didn’t want to have to go over this. I really didn’t. But given how Mushoku Tensei is trying to make it to a certain point in the story before the first half of the season ends, I don’t blame the anime for skipping over some things from the light novels. Heck, I already have plans to tell you about a few certain events if the anime decides to either gloss over them or save them for an OVA. But for this event in particular, I’m not going to keep quiet. It’s not that important to the overarching story, but it’s a fun little anecdote to Rudy’s life. I call it “That time Rudy wrangled a fan club for his sister Norn.”

Norn takes so much after her Mom

So, at this point, I’m going to assume that we are all familiar with what Rudy and Norn’s mother, Zenith, was like before she ended up the way she is. She was everything you could want in a mother: naturally nurturing and fiercely protective of her family, as well as headstrong and willing to stand up for herself. I’m pretty sure that smirk Rudeus gets when he’s thinking something dirty is the same look his mom gets when she’s smug about something. Not to mention that she is incredibly beautiful, easily one of the most attractive women in the series.

And whether she has realized it or not, Norn has inherited several of these traits from her mother. Which is how this story begins.

So, it all starts after Rudy comes back with news of Paul’s death. After grieving the loss of her beloved dad, Norn asks Rudy for his sword and for him to train her. Now, he’s not that great as a swordsman, no matter how much Paul wanted him to be, but he decides he should help Norn in their dad’s stead. So the two begin training together, with Rudy teaching her the basics while also trying to get her body strong enough to handle the rigors of sword fighting. And that is when the trouble started.

SIMP ALERT!

It happened when they were out training on the grounds of Ranoa University. Norn had just run off to get changed into her regular clothes when Rudy noticed that they were being watched by a decently-sized group of people. All of them young students at Ranoa University.

Remember what I said about Norn naturally inheriting her mom’s looks? She was still in the cute phase of her life, but she would eventually grow to be just as beautiful as Zenith. Between that, her attempts to do her best, and her tendency to be clumsy and trip over herself, she had managed to win over a lot of the boys at school. And they got it into their heads that Rudy was bullying her, not realizing that she was his little sister or that she had asked for this training. And, at first, Rudy thought that they were just worried for her sake.

But then Norn came back, and the boys couldn’t help but reveal their true colors, complimenting her and saying how cute she was. And Rudy realized what he was dealing with. It was something that he knew all too well from his first life:

Putting the Foot Down

When he heard one of them mentioning how they would buy Norn in a heartbeat if she somehow ended up a slave (no joke), Rudy knew he had to put his foot down.

So, in the interest of protecting his little sister from a potential threat in the future, he organized them all into a group. Thus, the Norn Greyrat Official Fan Club was born, with Rudeus as its leader. All so that people could respectfully admire his sister without causing any trouble.

By the way, when the other members found out that Rudeus was taking baths with his sisters, they kicked him out for breaking the rules.

So that’s basically the story of how Norn got her own fan club at Ranoa U. I doubt it will end up being adapted into the anime, so I thought it would be fun to bring up here. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

New Members Join the Greyrat Family as ‘Mushoku Tensei’ Ends S2

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , , , , , ,

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S2 Ep 24 Review

It’s almost hard to believe, but by the time this goes up, it will have been a year since Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation returned for its second season. Yet here we are, at the end of the road for now. Rudeus, Roxy, and his father’s friends have made it back to Sharia with Zenith in tow, but their toughest fight is still to come. Rudeus not only has to explain to his wife and sisters how their father’s dead and his mother basically has a disability. More importantly, how Rudy intends to marry Roxy and have her move in with them.

…The awkward levels are off the charts.

Love Sylphie’s New Hairdo

Much like in the first season, the episode eschews an OP to get right into the story, highlighting just how important this moment is. Once he’s within sight of his house, Rudeus starts panicking and runs inside, remembering the Man-God’s words about him regretting leaving. Oddly, Rudeus doesn’t consider losing his Dad to be what he’d regret. I’m unsure if this point covers it, but in the light novels, the Man-God tells Rudy that had he stayed behind, Paul wouldn’t have died while Zenith would still be saved. The entity is merely messing with Rudy, though. Also, while Paul might not have died, Roxy might have been lost.

Thankfully, though, nothing’s wrong with Rudy’s family, Sylphie’s now sporting longer hair. I will miss the short-haired Sylphie, but longer hair makes her look cuter.

The Painful Part

Then comes the tearjerker moment where they tell everyone about Paul’s fate. I already read the light novels, but I still felt my heart breaking for Norn, who took the news the hardest out of anyone. Out of everyone in the family, Norn had been with Paul the longest, and thus was the one closest to him. As she starts bawling her eyes out, I can only imagine how much she must regret not staying with him. At the same time, I like how the story subtly shows off her desire to become stronger by asking for her father’s sword and for Rudy to train her. She’s probably thinking that if she had been stronger, Paul wouldn’t have sent her away. I don’t know if that’s the case, but if that’s what helps her grieve her loss, then good.

As a quick sidebar, it was equally heartbreaking to see Zenith cling to Paul’s armor like she did. She’s likely going to have lucid moments like this for the rest of her life, and while it might be painful, Rudy and his family have no intention of abandoning her. They will be a family and live together, even if its not the way Rudeus envisioned.

Speaking of which, time for the awkward part.

Norn, You Protest Too Much

So, after everyone else leaves, Rudeus tells everyone the news: he cheated on Sylphie with Roxy and wants to take her in as his second wife. And like before, Norn is the one with the strongest reaction. Or overreaction, and it’s pretty faithful to the light novels. It’s also going to be the scene that will make many people hate Norn for a while.

Seeing Norn tear into her brother for how selfish he’s being and how unfaithful he was to Sylphie was hard to watch, even if she did break up some good points. Rudy broke his promise to be faithful to Sylphie, and Roxy understands that, even if desperate times called for desperate measures, she slept with Rudy because part of her was selfish. However, at the same time, Norn is also being inconsiderate. She lets it slip how Millis (the god of the Millis religion) wouldn’t forgive Rudy for doing this. Good intentions or not, she’s projecting her beliefs onto the situation without thinking about the context or how others feel. Thank heavens that Sylphie stops her before Roxy leaves.

Sylphie Truly is the Goddess of Love

I knew this moment had been coming for a long time, but this marks the first time that Sylphie and Roxy have ever met, and it was worth the wait. And not only is Sylphie not mad at Rudy or Roxy, but she says she’s cool with it! And the anime doesn’t skimp on some of the reasons why she is, too!

Firstly, Sylphie knows that her husband is super horny. She openly admits that she expected Rudy to bring another girl back home. At the same time, she also recognizes that he’s loyal, so if he brought home any other woman, it would be because they’re special to him. It’s a paradox, but that’s just how Rudeus is, and she’s fine with it.

Sylphie’s tolerance for it also stems from her memories of Rudy’s family in Buena Village. She remembers how Paul married Zenith and Lilia and kept them both happy. It may not have been his intention, but Paul’s actions influenced Sylphie to be open-minded about polygamy. If Paul can do that with Zenith and Lillia, so can Rudy.

Secondly, Sylphie already knows all about Roxy. From the day she met Rudeus, he’s gone on and on about how much he respects Roxy. And that did make Sylphie a little jealous at times. But seeing her in person and how much she loved Rudy greatly humanized her in Sylphie’s eyes. She was just as capable of making mistakes as the rest, and seeing how upset Norn’s yelling made Roxy caused Sylphie’s empathy to go into overdrive. Plus, Sylphie has Roxy to thank for meeting Rudy. If she hadn’t taught Rudy, Rudy never would’ve left home and met Sylphie. And if that never happened, Sylphie wouldn’t have survived the Mana Incident! Sylphie and Rudy are both alive, thanks to Roxy’s teachings!

Lastly, as Sylphie points out, Rudy isn’t a follower of Millis, so Norn doesn’t have the right to judge him by her own religious beliefs. Also, what she says is very insensitive towards Aisha and her situation. So Norn backs down.

And with this, Sylphie truly cements herself as Rudeus’ Goddess of Love. She already became that when she healed his impotence with her kindness, but her empathy towards Roxy kept their family from falling apart. Best girl for Mushoku Tensei!

And with that, Roxy joins the Greyrat family. Oh, and that part from the light novels about Elinalise telling Rudy he got her pregnant? That was a big, fat lie Lise told him.

I Don’t Have a Problem With the Two Wives Thing

So, I’m well aware of how controversial it is for Rudy to take more than one wife, even among the fans. Some object on moral grounds. Others object because they only want their girl to be with Rudy. My opinion, though: I don’t mind it.

Maybe it’s because I’ve seen a lot of harem anime over the years, but I doubt that’s the case since most of them have me preferring one waifu over everyone else. The reason why I don’t object to Rudy having more than one wife is simpler. Rudy loves them both equally and will do everything he can to make them happy. So long as he does that and does sleep with some random women he meets at a bar, then I think any god wouldn’t hold it against him or consider him unfaithful. Although that’s just how I see things.

Also, let’s face it: when Eris returns, and we know she will, she will join him as wife #3 once they work things out. So, we should start preparing ourselves.

Rudy Joins the Anime Dad Club

There’s one last part to the season: the birth of Sylphie and Rudeus’ child. And it was one of the sweetest moments in the entire series. It does cut out most of the birth itself, but thankfully, we do end up seeing the birth of their child, a beautiful baby girl. And you know that people will tear up at this alongside Rudy.

Of all the moments a person can experience in their lives, one of the most surreal might be holding your child for the first time. That goes double for Rudeus. Never, in either of his lives, did he ever think he would become a father, but here he is! He’s joined the club of anime protagonists that get to say they’re parents! He’s father to a little girl named Lucie Greryat.

Rudeus Continues to Grow and Be a Better Person

The final shots of the season are of Rudeus celebrating at Paul’s gravesite in Sharia. He pours drinks for both of them and starts pouring his heart out about how sorry he is for not being a better son. He never truly considered himself Paul and Zenith’s son until now, and it’s something he’ll always regret. That being said, he’s being too hard on himself. If you got reincarnated into another world and still had all your old memories, wouldn’t you have a hard time considering your new birth parents your parents?

Regardless, though, Rudy isn’t going to let this stop him. As we get a few scenes showing what everyone else has been up to (including Eris), Rudeus reaffirms his resolve to keep living his new life to the fullest. And with that, the second season of Mushoku Tensei ends…or is it?

This entire season, one character has been missing the entire time. Someone very important to Rudeus, whether he likes it or not. Someone that we just got a quick look at in the final moments of the episode: Eris. While Rudeus has been off trying to live his life, Eris has been having her adventures. A few key parts of them get covered in some interludes at the end of a few light novels, and there’s even a spin-off manga focused on her training. Oddly, the anime will adapt at least part of them into another OVA. Which will help to tide us over until Season Three.

And yes, Mushoku Tensei is going to get a third season. And I won’t spoil anything! All you need to know is that there will be plenty of slice-of-life, but once it gets going, things will start hitting the fan.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to indulge in all the fanfics and extra material.

I Give “Succession” a 5/5