This weekend a new episode of the second season of “Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnationwhere we finally witnessed the “domestication” of linia dedoldia and Pursena Adoldia at the hands of Rudeus Greyrat, the protagonist. Linia and Pursena are two delinquents who terrorized the students of the College of Magic before the arrival of Rudeus, who He decided to “teach them a lesson” by kidnapping them and, keeping them tied up, doing “little things” with them..
This experience was traumatizing enough for the two of them that they finally decided to leave the bullying path and join Rudeus’s entourage, applauding him for everything and eventually calling him “leader”. However, the way in which Rudeus took it upon himself to correct these two bullying girls was perhaps not the best, and that was evidenced by the amount of negative comments that surfaced in the comment forums:
- «Now that I think about it, it’s strange that Rudy, who was sexually harassed and abused in his past life, is treated as a sympathetic explanation for all his sexual problems. However, when he intimidates and sexually abuses the cat and the dog, it is something that “they deserve” and that “has served them as a lesson.” It’s curious».
- «And not only that, but it is curious that his child predator antics (masturbating to child pornography, and in the web novel version it was hidden camera recordings of his niece taking a bath) were considered disgusting, abhorrent and , in general, simply incorrect in his past life. But now that we’re in the land of isekai, it’s okay in the neighborhood to indulge in being a child predator, especially with family members. It’s curious».
- «Oh, his obsession with Roxy is definitely unhealthy. Just look at how elaborate the Holy Relic shrine has become throughout the series. If they didn’t add the comic trappings around it, it would be uncomfortably sectarian. For me there is a difference between “relating” and “sympathizing”. I don’t identify with him too much either, but I can understand his actions and why he feels the way he does. He often crosses the line, but lately it’s been so over the top that he’s more funny than awkward.».
- «I don’t hate Rudy, but I don’t identify with him. I think his obsession with Roxy is starting to seem unhealthy and weird and his attempts to cure her ED were a bit tacky (I think you can get away with a certain level of perversion, but Rudy is kind of of effort)».
- «The criticism has nothing to do with Rudeus being a bad person. They have to do with the story not recognizing that he is a bad person and making light of the horrible things he does.».
- «In fact, it is a quality considering the original target audience. The series is not an educational program aimed at children or a fantasy story about good and evil. It’s a late anime adaptation of a light novel whose main target audience was probably men looking for escapism with a power fantasy featuring waifus and ecchi. They don’t want to be lectured in their entertainment. The society from which they want to escape has already taught it to them since kindergarten. In my opinion, it’s a bit weird to want all entertainment to hammer on the same morals/ethics as if the audience needs to be constantly educated.».
- «It is curious that after the controversy of the last episode, in this one we have redoubled the controversial things. For example, now instead of buying female slaves, our protagonist kidnaps animal girls, takes them hostage, sexually assaults them, and keeps them to the point where they starve or urinate on themselves, and all Sylphie can say is “ Well, at least you didn’t do it for sexual reasons.” And all of this for an easily fixable figurine that basically represents her obsessive adoration for Roxy, along with her panties.».
- «I guess we have to think that Linia and Pursena deserved it for how arrogant and aggressive they are? Or that they simply throw ethics or morality out the window. He definitely didn’t seem like he was going to take himself seriously with the amount of humor being thrown at him or how he was directed. I guess on a tastier note, I never knew he needed the utter cuteness that Julie is in this series. Upgrade every scene she appears in».
- «There is no reason to think that the author or the narrative agrees with Rudeus. We have no reason to think that this is what the author really believes to be correct (and every reason to think that he doesn’t because he seems like a good and honest person). He, too, is not sexualizing children — he even said that he doesn’t want a woman who is “like a child” and is treating Julie like a student. As for not taking slavery seriously, the author even explained that he is a cultural relativist which explains his indifference, but at least he took this opportunity to free a slave girl (Julie) and raise her as an apprentice without any legal reason for her to be. considered a slave».
- «I’ll speak only for myself, but the problem for me is not that Rudy is a bad person, but that he is becoming less likeable and less interesting. The show has always been shaky in this regard, of course, but usually when he did something horrible, he’d counter it by doing something better, ideally something that showed he was getting better. I didn’t hold his outburst with Sara up in his face because he was still sympathetic to her problems, and because there were understandable consequences for his behavior. But he has crossed the line and hasn’t been challenged by either the narrative or any other character for the better part of two episodes in a row. And it’s not even interesting: this banal evil (and it is, no matter what nonsense we try to disguise it with) looks neither revealing nor dynamic. He doesn’t break down or change. “Rudy is like that, so he just shrugs and moves on” is the feeling I get. This statue idiocy isn’t even a plot thread I care about in the first place. The fact that we spend entire episodes on this nonsense is… less mind-blowing than I’d like, given the show’s leanings. But if the protagonist isn’t going to get better at these things—and pattern recognition paints that as unlikely—then he has to be more interesting. If both fail… well, I can only hope that the series does the highly unlikely thing and leaves our leading villain stuck face down at the bottom of a ditch, and transfers the leading role to a better character. It must be recognized that it is unlikely».
But what is interesting, however, is that the author himself Rifujin na Magonotethe mind behind the story of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnationshared an update on social media revealing that he did, in fact, warn the production team that there would be “sensitive topics” in this second season, and to prepare for possible barrages of criticism on the Internet:
- «On the first day of the meeting with the writers, I said, “There are many parts that are sure to draw criticism in the second season, so we must be prepared.” However, I’m seeing controversy in parts where I honestly didn’t expect it. Did this spill over into the rest of the story?».
In his message, he mentioned that during the first meeting with the writers, he expressed his awareness about possible criticism that could arise in the second season. It seems that he had identified certain parts of the story that could generate controversy and prepared to address them. However, what surprised the author is that, despite his initial anticipation, he has noticed that controversies have manifested themselves in areas that he had not previously considered.
This situation raises questions about how viewers and fans are interpreting and reacting to different aspects of the story. The author’s concern about whether these controversies will spill over into the rest of the plot suggests that there could be a broader impact on the overall perception of the series’ story.
However, this also makes it clear that the author is attentive to the opinions and comments of the audience and is willing to offer his feedback so that fans have more clarity on the topics touched on in the anime adaptation. Sadly, it seems that as much as the author of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation may have anticipated, he really wasn’t prepared to take on the internet’s social vigilantes.
