Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Eps 11 & 12 Review
Three years. That’s how long I have been covering Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. I don’t regret spending so much time focusing on this one series. Nor do I regret the fact that I kept my mouth shut about spoilers from the Light Novels all that time. Because while I may not mind spoilers, this was an exception. It’s the moment that light novel readers have been waiting, and also dreading, to see for years: Turning Point 4. I mean, every Turning Point in the series has changed its trajectory, but this? When I say that this moment changes everything about the story, I mean it. It will reframe everything that has happened in Rudeus’ life since the day he turned 10 in a new light. The best arc in the entire series has begun, and once it starts, we can’t stop.
It’s actually funny. I went into this season knowing full well what was going to happen and eagerly awaiting it. Yet when the time came, I waited almost a month before actually watching the episodes. Some might call it procrastination; I might call it cowardice. But, knowing myself, I think it was because I knew that once I started, I had to have the chance to see everything at once. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to function for the rest of the week.
So it Begins
“Turning Point 4” starts off with Rudeus having a nightmare of himself and his friends being tormented by Atofe and her guards. The whole incident seems like a cool story, but Rudeus, perhaps rightfully, is afraid of what almost happened. He almost lost the family that has kept him going in his second life. On the plus side, though, the whole thing managed to get him into Perugius’ good graces.
Quick backstory: back during the Laplace War (TL:DR Demon God tried to conquer the world), Perugius and Atofe were bitter enemies. The Dragon King has been itching to settle the score with her for good, but after his best friend beat her, and then married her, he made them promise not to kill each other. In other words, Rudeus gave him the perfect excuse to get some anger out. More importantly, he was impressed by Rudy’s magical feats and the figurines he and Zanoba make. He even gives them his blessing to start selling those Ruijerd figurines, because while he hates Demons, Ruijerd saved his life in the final battle with Laplace.
But while Zanoba and Rudy become friends with the hero, Ariel is stumbling. She knows that having his support will guarantee her the Asuran throne, but Perugius isn’t interested in the game of thrones. Although, he does at least test her by asking her what makes a true king. She doesn’t get it, but this will be an important plot point in the future.
I should mention this: Cliff now has his own Demon Eye, the Eye of Identification. When he got it from Kishirika, I don’t know.
Nanahoshi is Fine, by the Way
In any case, Nanahoshi is fine. She has to drink that tea from the grass every day from now on, but she is going to live. And thus, Rudy and Sylphie return home to their family with their heads held high. It looks like a happy ending for all involved.
Which only made knowing what happens next all the more heartbreaking.
For the first time in years, the Man-God appears to Rudeus in his dreams, ostensibly to congratulate him on how happy his life is. That, and he dumps exposition about something we already should have known about in the light novel: Touki, or Battle Aura. It’s where people use mana to enhance their bodies to become stronger, and it’s why the swordwielders in the series can do such superhuman feats. Rudy can’t use it, though.
The Man-God also makes it a point to tell Rudy that if he had followed his advice, Paul would have still managed to save his mom and lived. Meanwhile, like I said, Linia and Pursena would have married him come the next mating season. And all that the Man-God wants from Rudy…is to go into the basement and check for something strange.
WARNING! WARNING!
I really like just how subtle the series is at times. Normally, Rudy would be suspicious about such a random request from the Man-God. But the Man-God makes him more receptive to listening to him by saying that his dad might still be alive if he wasn’t with him at the time. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but if it is, that is very devious, using the truth to convince someone to do something sus. And, even if I didn’t know what happens next, which I do, that “slasher smile” that the Man-God has at the end should set off plenty of alarm bells.
And so, we get to the actual moment. The most important moment in either of Rudeus’ lives. The moment where the entire story changes direction. And since I didn’t want to wait any longer to talk about it, I made the decision a month ago to review both of these episodes together. Because once I started, I don’t think I would be able to stop.
YES, THAT IS RUDEUS
To begin with, yes. That old man (the fandom calls him Oldeus) is Rudeus. Yes he is from fifty years in the future. And yes, everything that he tells himself (Rudeus) is true; all of it is true. And I also want to give respect to the studio for this entire episode, because, even though it’s only adapting a single chapter from the light novels, it doesn’t feel stretched out for the sake of runtime or feel slow. Far from it; this episode gives the story the time it needs to breathe as Rudeus, and by extension us, grapple with what we hear.
Second of all, to those of you who never read the light novels or avoided spoilers online and still thought the Man-God was sus, you were right. You were right to think of him as a creep or someone up to no good. Because after hearing what we do from Oldeus, you are going to want nothing more than to punch him into oblivion, revive him, and then punch him again.
Had Rudeus done what the Man-God had said, a rat would have escaped from the Greyrat’s basement. A rat infected with a rare terminal illness that is deadly to one group and one group alone: women who are with child. Should we be surprised, though, that Roxy is already pregnant? How cruel is it, then, that something that should be a cause for celebration becomes the catalyst for a tragedy that rivals Future Trunks’ timeline?
Everything would have fallen apart for Rudeus after that. He pushed his remaining family away, including Sylphie. Luke would be duped by the Man-God into convincing Ariel to return to Asura to stage a coup that gets them and their followers killed (which is why the fandom considers Luke a bitch.) But the real nail in the coffin? It’s hearing Oldeus tell Rudeus that not only do he and Eris fail to reconcile, but the misunderstanding from the way she left turns them into hated enemies. And then…she dies too.
EVERYONE DIES.
Roxy. Sylphie. Eris. The three most important women in Rudeus’ life all die because of the mistakes he makes, and Oldeus is the result. The way he just makes the entire room shake in rage as he curses the Man-God is just heartbreaking to watch. And again, I knew that all of this was going to happen well in advance, and I was still left speechless. I can still feel the tears start to well up as I’m writing about this as I remember when Oldeus passes away in his past self’s arms, thinking about Sylphie and Roxy.
And the scene where Rudeus has to cremate his future self’s remains. It didn’t register with me as I was reading the light novel, but he wasn’t just cremating someone like his father, which was already bad enough. He was cremating his own broken body and watching it turn to bone and ash. That is all kinds of existential horror!
Sure enough, though, Oldeus was right. There was a rat in the basement infected with the virus that would’ve killed Roxy. And that is why everyone in the fandom considers rats abominations to be killed on sight.
Yeah, I made the Right Call
As disappointed as I am with myself for waiting for all the episodes to come out, I think that I did the right thing. It’s given me almost a month to prepare for what we are about to see, and from what I’ve heard, even that might not be enough. Still, like I said, I promised that I wouldn’t stop, no matter how painful what comes next might be. And I doubt that I will get through it with dry eyes. If you haven’t already seen the next episode, then I recommend you do not jump right to it. Take some time to mentally prepare yourself. This is not a joke!
