Mushoku Tensei is NOT About Redemption 

About the not going outside until he was 5 thing. It's explained in the books that children are usually kept inside until age 5 and no one except family and close family friends are allowed to see the children until then. Just a cultural thing of that world. It's also why you never seen any very young children around. The reasoning is to keep children completely clear of the massive dangers that world has compared to our own.

"Redemption" was what people used when everyone was attacking the show in season one. At the time, it was good enough, but this is not Mushoku Tensei. From volume 1 alone, the purpose has always been stated in the novels in one of the most reoccurring lines in the series (this will be out of context, so no spoilers here), ___ "If I lived in this world, I could do all those things, too. After all, this was a place of high fantasy, one that didn’t obey the same rules of common sense as my past life. I could live as a typical person, doing the typical things for this world. Where I stumbled, I would get back up, dust myself off, and forge onward... I could finally live life right." "I know I have to grow up right away. And in order to do that, I’ll have to make a bunch of mistakes, grieve over them, and change-slowly, gradually. I’m sure that’s how you had to do it too, so I’ll do the best I can.” "Many things had fallen into place, with a great deal of pain and a great deal of joy along the way. I’d repeated horrible mistakes along the way, but it wasn’t over. No matter how much I screwed up or got things wrong, it wasn’t the end. I still had a lot of life to live in this world. And that’s what I was going to do: live to the fullest, so that no matter when I died, I’d have no regrets." “You will…lead a life that’s…different from mine… You’ll succeed…and fail…just like you always have. You’ll reflect…on your mistakes…and regret them too…” ___ Rudeus' arc is a REHABILITATION arc in the first 12 volumes, not a redemption arc that the famous RU-vidrs used to defend this series, which is fine but not accurate. An external plot device isn't going to make him artificially change, the one responsible for that is him and him alone. Rudeus changes because he wants to, not because the plot requires him to. After that, his arc is all about other flaws he has, about responsibility, love, family. He still has remnants of his old self with him, but no longer in a toxic manner, just confined to his thoughts, especially since he really likes making jokes to himself for himself. Season 3 and season 4 Rudeus is such a chad it's not even funny, so different from season 1 or season 2 Rudeus. But does that mean he redeemed himself? Hell, no. He doesn't even think he can be redeemed. He changes because he needed and wanted to. He didn't change because the plot wanted to redeem him. And I honestly prefer that. Mushoku Tensei is an honest series, and it likes to keep itself natural, and that kind of storytelling is GREAT. We need this to exist. The natural and gradual development of characters is what makes this series so damn good.

I've said this before but the fact that Rudy doesn't get punished for his shortcomings most of the time onky makes the fact he changes regardless all the more real. Instead of conforming to ideals placed upon him by the world or it's inhabitants Rudy changes to be who he himself wants to be. Of course the world and his interactions with people still shape his worldview, but it happens naturally instead of forcefully. Of course haters won't be satisfied by that. They'd rather see him get punished than actually grow as a person.

Redemption is not entirely accurate. But this story does have an element of that. However the redemption will not happen like some might think or even it might not be a redemption in the eyes of many. This story is about family, growth and bettering yourself. If someone sees Rudeus as hes redeemed himself then good. But redemption is not the main point.

I think the fact is that despite physically being in his 40's in his previous life the moment he became a shut in he stopped maturing mentally which is obviously why he doesn't come into the new world a changed man.

I saw a comment once and I believe it perfectly describes Mushoku Tensei. I agree this isn't really a story about redemption. Instead, I see it as "the coming-of-age story of 34 year-old man."

I really appreciate how many are starting to recognize that Rudy was completely stunted emotionally and mentally from his PTSD in his previous life. This is something that happens in real life to so many people that suffer from depression, they can easily isolate themselves and cause even more mental/emotional scars because of it. Physically Rudy may have been in his 30's but mentally and emotionally he stopped maturing in his teenage years. This is why when I read the books I don't think of him as a 50 year old person by adding his new age to his old age, I see him as just picking up from his old emotional age and growing from there. Rudy does not want to end up like he did in the previous world, it terrifies him that the possibility exists, which is one reason why he hates his encounters with Hitogami since he appears in his old body. This is why he pushes himself to take his new life seriously. That is literally the name of the full title in Japanese. We see his new attitude in many ways, for example, from this cour you see how he has a physical routine that he keeps consistently every morning. Rudy continues to grow throughout the light novels and although he still has a strong libido, he wants to protect his family and will do anything to do just that. At the second cour of this season, you will see something that forces him to grow and changes his new life forever. This next "turning point", so to speak, cements Rudy's view of the people in this new world and he realizes he loves them; they are his real family. Overall, I really liked your video. I enthusiastically encourage everyone to read the light novels. They are some of the best fiction I have ever read. For anime only people, even these slice of life arcs become so important as the story goes on. Mushoku Tensei's turning points are both dreaded and engrossing, and I am happy to see them being adapted so well. Oh and by the way... Sylphie is best girl! (I've waited all season to see the events of the last two episodes!)

He was watching his niece naked in the manga version on that monitor

He acts like Rudius knew the actual reason why Eris left. Of course his conclusion after he left was “I’m not good enough.” He didn’t know her actual reasoning. He was already somewhat self aware of his flaws. Her leaving was the push he needed to go over the line of actually believing his flaws are what cause his problems. Yeah, that’s not the real reason Eris left, but it would be an equally tangible reason (if not more) than Eris realizing she needs to be away from him to grow.

The key issue I have is assuming Rudy has the mental maturity of a 30-40 year old. This assumes a person shut off from the world keeps mentally maturing when what really happens this they mentally digress becoming less mature. There is also the thought of if you were thrown into an infants body at what point do you identify and behave more like the child you are. You see this with Rudy throughout season one. He has memories, but what are the memories and morality of modern day Japan to Feudal Europe. As the show progresses you get less and less old world Rudy and more and more new world Rudy. You can't even say he picked up maturity from where he was at reincarnation as expectations of him wouldn't have caught up until end of season 1 perhaps even a ways into season 2 when he has spent over a decade as this new person, with new experiences. That is to say they would have matched at all given the mana disaster. Mushoku tensei isn't about redemption as he would not be able to be redeemed in the new world, it is about growth.

I believe that Rudy had wanted to write a letter home, but he made the decision to wait until they were off of the demon continent to do so as it would be more likely to actually reach home. I could be wrong, but I don't think that part was included in the anime.

The world of Mushuko tensei feels so real. One of the main reasons i love mushukot tensei. They potrayed each character with fine details. In the LN not only does rudeus grow as a person but the people around him, the whole world is growing with him. The world building is insane! Possibly one of the best thought out animes in a while. And for the people saying that the ecchi in this show is completely fan service, you do not understand this anime and shouldnt have a opinion.

I disagree with the latter half but thats because I'm not an anime only. The LN and WN makes it very clear towards the end. *sort of spoilers* Rudeus is not a grown man inside of a child. Rudeus is a child with the memories of a man from another world. It takes a lot for him to realize this but the fact that we never learn his original name is a reflection of this. We see him as a typical isekai protag, a grown man living out his fantasies and thats because we're supposed to as this is what he thinks of himself at first as well. He however doesn't learn or see this until he is a proper adult in the LN and its reflected in his final meeting with Hitogami.

In the LN Eris is pushed by her mother to Rudy's room, because he was the only man who had patience to stay with Eris, without him she would have always been alone

I honestly feel that even with rudeus being in his 30s in his previous life the fact that he is reborn even with him having his memories he could have somewhat be considered a manchild back in Japan and having to re live through the first 15 years of his life again he somewhat went through infintile regression with the fact that he thought he fell in love with eris when in fact his adult side actually fell for Roxy very early on she’s the one that began his healing from his own fears I feel like if you are reincarnated with your memories you shouldn’t see it as a grown person in the body of a child it’s more of a child with the mental capacity of an adult while still having the emotional capacity of a child exactly like how I mentioned calling him a man child but when you look at everything that happened in rudeus’s life you realize he truly is thinking like a teenager by the time season 2 part 1 came to an end and I think the reunion scene between Paul and rudy showed two sides of the same coin he did and didn’t see his time on the demon continent as a “game” he was taken away from his known life and forced to take care of not only himself but because he has spent a couple years with the boreas household and it is his duty to take care of eris and still teach her about the ways of the world it amazes me that he actually survived everything he nearly died multiple times and yet he was the rock that helped eris get through things even with ruigerd being their protector viewing them as children instead of warriors for a majority of their time spent together just think about the interaction between the team and or stead while eris had no clue who he was she was terrified ruigerd knows who this is and is terrified but Rudy is completely oblivious and ignorant so he has questions he doesn’t understand that he should be frozen with fear and nearly dies because he accidentally reveals that he knows too much (even if he still knows practically nothing about any of it) when orstead nearly kills Rudy he starts talking to man god who refused to tell him why orstead tried to kill him the moment he mention that he knew man god. Rudy was happy to finally find someone he could get info from only for that person to have a grudge against man god and tried to kill him thinking he was an apostle the pure joy you see in Rudy’s face that quickly turns to confusion then absolute fear and anguish. Rudy had a hard time in the three years it took for them to get back home and Paul was too hard on him rudy didn’t want to worry his father even more than he was so he told him about his time in a happy go lucky tone he was trying to keep his father from breaking down even more and because he did this Paul misread it and got angry when they started fighting rudy was saying “why can’t you be happy that your son is alive?” And this proves my point it’s not that he wasn’t worried about everything but if you drop two children in the middle of a wasteland filled with ferocious monsters in a country that has a different language and cultures that is a recipe for disaster but because Rudy took the time to learn multiple languages while tutoring eris it truly saved them Rudy knew not to teach eris too much of the demongod tongue because of how volatile her personality

8:54 Whilst this scene could have been presented in a more positive light for Rudy from a third person's perspective, it is presented to the audience from Rudy's perspective. Given how much he has suffered from being mocked, tormented and ostracized in his previous life, Rudy has very low self-esteem. His deepest desire is for others to accept him. It's why at times you him speak super-politely to others. Deep down, he has a fear of being ostracized. This scene isn't about how Rudy has developed into a considerate lover and helping her find relief, it's about how apprehensive he is about making this milestone in that journey of finding acceptance. Should he do it or will he be hated for it? Which is also why he becomes depressed with ED with what happened afterwards where he mistakenly believes that, through his self-serving thoughts and actions, he has now pushed her away and that she now hates him for it.

As much as people want to justify this show by making it sound beautiful and meaningful, I find it impossible to find any good feelings from these relationships because no matter what, Rudy is an adult. I just can’t get behind a show like that, it’s delusional to think that someone like that deserves redemption

Rudeus says to Paul he didn't think of contacting family or if anyone else was teleported. He was in the epicentre of the event so he can't know the scale, he's thrown to extremally dangerous place with a person he needs to take care of. He gets a quest from Man-god and focuses on that and survival. Rudeus is shown to have tunnel vision in this and previous life. I buy that "he didn't think of it". As to his first time with Eris, do not take away her agency. She was vunerable yes, but if Rudy rejected her there it would mess her up completly. Her low self esteem would get even lower and she would believe Rudy hates her. If anything she took advantage of him not otherway around. Only after she slept with him she realized how young and small Rudy actually is and how she relied on 2 years younger child for past 3 years.

6:48 This is not accurate. Eris went there to sleep with Rudeus. This is why she's there in nothing but a negligee, and no underwear. Girls don't show up without any bottoms on when they're there just to talk. This can actually be seen in the anime if you pay attention (when Eris spin kicks Rudeus). In the book you get an Eris chapter which explains the situation, and the reality is that Eris's mother had talked to Eris, and told her to give Rudeus everything, to lock him in, as if she lost him, she would end up alone. Eris was completely on board with this, until Rudeus's behavior left her questioning whether he loved her back, or if he just saw her as a reward her father was giving him. This caused her to pull back, in a rather violent manner, as is her way. She returned to his room, because she was afraid that by spurning him she may have done something she couldn't take back, and even then she was willing to follow through, but before she could do anything Rudeus started apologizing. 7:18 This isn't accurate either. Eris doesn't go to Rudeus for "emotional support." She goes there to finish executing the plan she started back on Rudeus's tenth birthday. Eris talks about how she wants Rudeus to be her family, as she had lost all of hers. Eris was afraid that now that Rudeus had completed his mission to bring her back home, that she would lose him. So she decided to claim him for herself. Again, this is more clear in the book. Eris ends up leaving, as while she is with him, she can't help but notice how slight his build is compared to her, and she feels ashamed for relying so heavily on someone who is younger than she is, who is still growing into his maturity. So she decides she has to leave, both to not hold Rudeus back, as she feels she would if she was dependent on him, but also to grow enough to be his equal, to stand by his side.

Some say this is a redemption novel, some think it's a harem novel. It's a romance novel. The main character may have been physically in his 30s but mentally he peaked in 9th grade. Because in his 1st year of high school he began to be bullied to a point he was chained naked to the school fence. Maybe he's a pervert or maybe him being I'm Rudeus body and actually getting to have a normal childhood including finally losing his virginity. Is a good thing for him. Some of us suffer from so much trauma from our youth that our mental growth gets stunted.

Mushoku Tensei is NOT a redemption story. This is a false assumption and its used to make the series look bad by haters. "When will Rudeus get better?" "When will Rudy stop being perverted?" Fans are defending a losing argument they dont even realize is lost. (and before you judge, if you find out Rudy does [redacted/spoilers] in the future, you would NOT call it a redemption story either). Gigguk popularized the series by calling it a "redemption story" which sounds all well and good, but its surprisingly not actually accurate. No one was calling it a redemption story before Gigguk (because its not one). He misunderstood and I dont blame him because its very easy to believe its a redemption story from the first few episodes. This is coming from someone who loves Mushoku Tensei. Saying its "not a redemption story" is not a bad thing!

It's actually about learning how to get out of your own toxic headspace, to be more empathic to people you view as assholes. The ED arc demonstrated this with how the elf reacted to Rudy's dysfunction. The gut reaction for most people is to hate her for not understanding - but think from her perspective. She opened up to what was probably her first guy ever or in a long time.. and now she believes that he thinks she's so ugly that he can't get it up for her. Also, remember: she wasn't meeting Rudy on the road with her friend by coincidence. I would wager she was on her way to apologize for not understanding.. and then hearing Rudy say the things he did, drunkenly, to his friend? It confirmed all her own fears.

The only time ride is really ever goes back to his old self is when he is in the white space with Man God. All the other times he tends to be Rudeus with the memories and trauma of his earlier life. Think about it like this; you are reincarnated and although your soul have knowledge of your past life you don’t. But, due to your past life your identity is still the same. You have the same fears, same reactions, etc. this only changes over time as you develop in this new life. Now instead of forgetting your past life you still have the memories. That’s what Rudeus is. He is still the boy from the fantasy world; he just has memories and a more defined ego from his past life. And since it was confirmed everyone reincarnates we can assume that he just has a more solid connection to his past life. One thing I want to show is how Rudeus Views himself. He states, “Okay, okay. No getting ahead of myself. I needed to calm down and keep my cool. My past self had gotten all caught up in this feeling, too, and we know how he turned out: someone who puffed himself up because he was better with computers than the average person, then got way too cocky and failed hard at life.”. Rudeus in this instance tends to talk about himself in the third person while also recognizing that he has the traits and memories of that different version of himself.

Last episode of season 1, if you look closely during the Eris departing scene you’ll see her eyes red. Meaning she cried equally or more. On sadist authors part 11:39 . Overlords author is a Sadist. He had a fan poll if this character dies in a very detailed gruesome way, the fans said no, author was sad.

A fascinating look at a defining series! Some thoughts: - I agree that it isn't about redemption. I would say, rather that it is a tale of recovery; a dark, difficult journey about learning to better deal with unhealed hurts, bad habits, and persistent hangups. Those in AA/NA will recognize the terms and should be able to see just how well this viewpoint fits. - At one point, the 34-year-old MC mentions that the trauma occurred almost 20 years before, which means that, by the end of the second season, Rudeus was about at the same age the MC had been at the time of the trauma. - One vital point that none have mentioned so far is that trauma often causes someone to get 'stuck' and stop developing. In the MC's case, Eris accepting him as her mate--or so he thought--happened at a point in Rudeus's life when the MC had had nobody, making his first romantic/sexual experience a new path from what the MC had had before. It wasn't just about finally having sex for the first time in _two_ lifetimes, but Eris fully accepting him as her mate. (Oof.) - Unfortuantely, her terse note at the same point in Rudeus's young life as the trauma in the MC's, reflected the rejection the MC had received by those who had cared about him, greatly amplifying his pain. - A common issue with chronic prawn addiction is that the object of your fantasies *ALWAYS* completely accepts whatever the you can think up; boundaries simply don't exist when you don't want your imaginary 'lover' to have any. Almost twenty _years_ of such activity can lead to very, very, *_VERY_* dark places and mentally destructive habits that, when acted on in reality, lead to... well... the outrageous acts you see the MC/Rudeus doing without hesitation whenever he thinks he can get away with them. (The 'lollipop' fixation can be explained by him getting 'stuck' in his early teens and fantasizing about young women that were his age in school. Oof.) - Another point about prawn: when someone has been as deeply wounded as the MC has been and hides in such isolation, it can often be a desperate attempt to feel *ANYTHING* positive, to pretend to be loved and accepted by someone, etc. In other words, a misguided, unhealthy, ultimately corrosive attempt at mental self-care. Oof. Cheers!

Very nice analysis on a very relevant topic. Thanks for making! I hope your channel grows.

That was beautiful, such a well made analysis.

To be honest what you said is true but thats before volume 12 cuz after volume 12 with the turning point he does realise that he just looked at his second life as a fantasy not reality its hard to explain without spoilers

Bro your analysis style is funny and really well articulated. Subbed

I postulate a Third option. One that exist as a grey point. Going through this would probably rough. Like potential having a breakdown of ones ego or sense of self. Also while his memories may intact from his previous life, the body he is likely still under going physiological and hormonal changes. Not only with a new self, but a new self that is constantly changing. Hell I wouldn't want to relive puberty again. My guess is people that reincarnate probably struggle with even knowing who they are. How should I behave when people expect to behave differently? How well do I even remember how I acted as a five year old?

Great video. Few issues I have. 7:30 Obviously. Thats the case. Eris is there for emotional support. Not Rudeus. Rudeus doesnt have that emotional attachment to Boreas family, so he is in no need for emotional support. On top of that, you could view it as that Rudeus thinking of Eris by thinking it would be taking advantage of her. 17:40 - And arent you expecting too much from an adult? Without information you can do nothing. There was no way for Rudeus to know there were other teleportees. They were teleportedin Demon Continent of all places, anyone who teleported to Demon Continent likely met their death, so he couldnt meet anyone there, in Wind port thanks to Kishirika detour, he didnt meet with Search and Rescue squad (Roxy and team) in Demon continent. In Zant port, thanks to smugglers he didnt get time to visit adventurer's guild to get Paul's message. Without meeting anyone affected by disaster, without seeing any indication of the disaster, why are you assuming Rudeus shouldve known that the teleportation disaster was that massive that it even Buerna village, which was faraway from Eris' hometown? And why would he care about finding random strangers who might be caught in the disaster? Now why does Eris think about it and not Rudeus? Because unlike Rudeus, Eris wasnt captured in Zant port and thus had time to check adventurer's guild to get Paul's message. Eris even decided to go goblin slaying in Millis, where she went to adventurer's guild and got Paul's message there. Now its been a while since Ive seen the anime, so might be mixing LN stuff in next points, but their journey wasnt exactly smooth. They had to worry about earning money (thats why Rudeus didnt send any letters as letters to another side of planet would cost a lot of money). They werent exactly rich, they had to use smugglers to bypass toll fees and such. Rudeus wasnt living like he was in an adventure life, but in a survival life. Yes they didnt have threat from monsters, thanks to Ruijerd, but theres more to surviving than killing monsters. Planning, travelling, buying supplies, ensuring you have enough resources to cover to next city, earning enough money to have a buffer and such was all Rudeus' responsibility. In novel, Eris even complains in her thoughts that she dreamed of going on adventures with Rudeus, with her taking frontline and Rudeus backline, teleportation disaster gave the oppurtunity to fulfil that dream, but Rudeus ended up treating it more like a business for earning money and survival, than fun adventuring lifestyle Eris dreamt of.

"Its character growth!" Proceeds to not grow as a character What u on ppl?

wtf who’s rem?

Nah, do you know what Mushoku Tensei is all about? It's about: GO TOUCH SOME GRASS! Hehe... Nice video though, I honestly don't think it is a redemption story either. Like I have finished reading the web novel, light novel (up to vol 22), manga (up to chp 92), jobless oblige and etc... I think that it's more about Rudy growing up, changing and all that stuffs.

Amazing video man Mushoko tensei is top 5 for me because it presents risky ideas and a really refreshing break from shonen, we grew up but anime is still a big part of our lives and this anime and re zero fits our ideas more in these dark times

Really enjoyed the video (and I'm aware i'm a couple months late, but started reading the light novels finally out of anticipation for the coming Turning Point 3 popping up on screen being so hype I needed more content in the week's wait lol) Only thing I wanted to disagree with was the argument between Rudeus and Paul. From the light novel's depiction it's actually seemed quite a lot more like Rudy was struggling in the demon continent (not sure that the anime portrayed this as well, but it's been awhile since I've watched this section). It's the first time in either of his lives that he's having to deal with financial struggles of any kind, and he's not only having to deal with taking care of himself but also Eris. Repeatedly in the light novel right after their teleportation it's citing that despite getting enough sleep (more than Eris, who is doing fine health wise) that Rudy is too exhausted to take part in activities, and he's constantly overanalyzing and thinking about what they should do in every situation in regards to the best financial outcome (which I would argue is what lead to him letting the child die, and wasn't him "Not understanding how quickly people can die" though that is a part of it, but more being pressured into perfectly handling every situation so that his group can benefit and cracking under that pressure some). Now, of course Rudy had plenty of opportunities to contact his family and didn't, and he definitely started having fun on his 'adventure' and you can argue those are bad things but personally I think it leans more just bad writing to assume that he would believe that anyone else was affected. In the mass teleportation event Rudy/Eris and Ghislaine were literally right under it and though there was a large explosion he wouldn't have been able to see how far that extended because he was caught by it before it affected anyone else. He maybe should have assumed that Eris' family was caught in it because they were relatively close to that town but they were a full day's carriage ride from his hometown, so for that to have affected his family it would've been a like country/state sized issue, which we know it was but while in the demon continent it never remotely came up? News travels slower because of no technology of course but no letters from anyone talking about a catastrophe of that size made it to the demon continent in that year+ since? Then comes Paul, I'm definitely biased but this man infuriates me. He's an accomplished adventurer, experienced and has a decently long list of contacts he can call on for help and he gets teleported to the same continent (literally a pretty looking field with no monsters or danger in sight) with one child to take care of and hits his fucking breaking point struggling to handle that? I understand it's mostly emotional stress from losing nearly all of his family and not being able to handle that but at no point does he remotely allow that to weigh into what Rudy went through? As the audience we saw that it didn't bother him (whether because he didn't think about it or because he doesn't consider them 'family' because he's not Rudy he's a 34 year old man reborn into Rudy is a different question) but Paul obviously has zero context of that and just sees his child, who has at every available opportunity since being born, taken it upon himself to be the adult of the situation, talk about things not being that bad on him since the teleportation and just immediately throws out any knowledge of the world that he has or any common sense and immediately decides that Rudy must have been able to easily handle things and every person who he's ever met who talked about the Demon Continent being bad was just lying or stupid or wrong and gets pissed at his son for not doing more after clearly doing fuck all himself (He didn't successfully find a single person, he formed a group and put out a bunch of requests for help and then fell into drinking and gave up). He couldn't have been handed an easier version of the situation than he was and he still didn't accomplish anything (which would be fine, kind of pathetic but acceptable) but then has the fucking gall to get mad at his 12 year old son for not being able to do more than he was capable of after being handed a much much harder situation. Where I land in the argument is that Rudy is definitely in the wrong from our perspective as an audience member because we were able to see that he wasn't struggling as hard as he probably should have, and there were things he could have done better and considered more, but Paul lost all of my respect for this forever (whatever shred was left to begin with) and honestly I feel like the situation resolved too favorably to Paul. He's been a father struggling to do his best (and definitely had a very unique situation with Rudy) but at least where we're at in the anime and where I've gotten to so far in the light novel the only thing he's done positively as a father has been separating Rudy & Sylphie, and trying not to be like the father he grew up hating, which are admirable but also kind of the bare fucking minimum and surrounded by constant mistakes (hitting Rudy for the bullying incident, cheating on his wife, telling/teaching his 7 year old how to seduce girls, accomplishing nothing after the teleportation, giving up and falling into alcoholism, hitting Rudy again after he saved himself, and now in the anime pawning his children off on Rudy to raise so he can (presumably) continue to accomplish nothing)

As much as I wanted to like the writing of this series, a lot of the key moments broke the immersion and had me question the author's rationale. That Paul moment you brought up was one of them, where Rudeus basically belittles his father while instructing him how he should be properly happy to see his son. It just reeked of self-righteousness despite being played out as a touching moment. And season 2 did the same thing that ruined Shield Hero for me: the MC buying a child slave while the story handwaves away all ethical implications. Instead of something like rescuing the slave and returning them to their people, these isekai stories instead presents this weird premise of how the MC is a good slave owner.

I'm clicking the bell icon for your view on Frieren. I haven't watched it, but from what I've heard, it's similar in premise to Mushoku Tensei.

If I recall, Man God didn't say that Orsted did bring him to this world. Just that Orsted is someone who's better at that sort of thing. "Mushoku Tensei is absolutely an escape. But it's one about fixing your mistakes..." That last sentence counters your point. That's literally what redemption is. "Redemption: the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil". Rudy saves himself from making the same mistakes in this new world. And there are those that save him from making the same mistakes. Rudeus doesn't want to be like he was before, so he does things differently so that he doesn't end up like he was.

Very well done. I can tell you put a lot of effort into that video; from thinking through your argument, to the pacing, the editing, and so on. I'm not sure I agree with your conclusion, but nevertheless, I enjoyed hearing a well thought out argument! I think the Redemption story is best seen though Rudeus's lack of understanding of family and relationship (and not about maintaining contemporary Western Judeo-Christian mores). In the collectivistic Asian mind, both of these these are HUGE no-nos. Most of Rudeus's undesirable behaviors stem from these aspects as well. In fact, it was Rudeus's shameless individualism which opened the door for all sorts of evil to come to both himself and his family, and culminated in the ultimate act of shameless-selfish-indifference to his family, which lead to his expulsion (the catalyzing impetus for the entire story). If you look at the story, it's always pressing Rudeus to think less of himself and more about others, and Rudeus's over all character arc is about understanding the value of family, and relationships in general, and what his role is within them. I could write a strong defense of this, but I don't want to spoil things for the anime only crowd. But basically, until Rudeus sees himself within his proper place to all of those around him, his redemption is incomplete.

Before watching the video, I see the story at least thus far(anime only) as one of growth rather than redemption. Growth because Rudeus isn't perfect nor does he seek to be. He is not trying to redeem all his faults, but rather he is trying to live a fulfilling life. Now time to see if I'm a dumb dumb.

Oool video essay. I like your perspective on the fixing your mistakes. It’s basically an adult wishing they were a child or teen again.

About the sex scene with Eris. I think the reason Rudeus wasnt characterized well, and the reason he saw it as "just sex", is because that moment was supposed to focus on Eris. I wont go into too much details, because many have already analyzed that scene over and over again, but in short, it was the lowest she had ever been in her life emotionally. The scene, and what comes after it, is meant to focus on WHY Eris felt the need to have sex with him and what the resulting feelings of that were. If Rifujin (the author) gave Rudeus a really good character moment alongside that, it would have taken away from what is arguably the most important scene for Eris in the show.

7:46 his thoughts and feelings are also better explained in the books. It's clearer that he's very insecure about what he's about to do, feeling he's taking advantage of someone he cares about, but also it's previously implied that he's insecure about being taken advantage of himself, and over the story he's also terrified of driving people away. So basically the next day all his self-loathing comes back and the reader is lead to think that he internalizes all his negative traits again and blames himself for everything: - Taking advantage of the situation and disregarding his concerns. - Being taken pitty of. - Being taken advantage of. - Letting her run away and not being aware of her. - Not beign enough for Eris to support each other in hard times. The guilt, shame, desperation and hopelessness are all better expressed there.

You're forgetting that it's an older men SOUL inside what is basically the MIND and BODY of a younger teen one of the reasons for the existance of the age of consent is that teen tend to take decision in a fairly reckless manner because of the hormones and how their brain works, so their "consent" is often "hasty" and may not take into account all the "thing" and just give in to any (sexual) impulse. As kid he was far more promiscuous then after he grew up and gradually does show much less. So yeah. It may be an adult, but he has the impulse control of a kid/teen

let me tell you all something, what rudeus also got from being reborn is to re-live as a child, and to actually grow from his teenage era, because when he shut himself he never got to live as a teen and as a young adult, he being at 40, just shows that he is still a teenager in his mind, we tend to judge a lot of people by their age, but remenber there is a lot of mentally ill people in wich their mental illness comes from a past were they never grew pass their teenage age, this is why this shows is actually really relatable to a lot of people, in wich most people are like rudeus, not 40 in their mind but still a teen at 25 or 30.

I like the video, and you make some interesting points; however, I might disagree with the title claim. The redemption arc is there, despite Rudeus's shortcoming. Your point is one I somewhat share, but I have faith that things will be good. Even if the ending is too good for Rudeus, then you can always do a spinoff. Who can say for sure?

First off… I generally despise anime critics. I find that they tend to look at surface level analysis and looking for humor. I get it but I generally don’t like it. Therefore, I appreciate your deeper take on this… and definitely subscribed. Secondly, I would like you to consider why when Rudy visits you he astral plain, his form is of his previous life. I tend to think of this as the Man-Child/Man-God scenes. You keep mentioning Rudy’s former age but you don’t consider how much lack of experience is reflected on his former life. I tend to think that, while he might have grown to the age of 30, his isolation kept him at the age of 15… and turned him into a cowardly trauma-inflicted degenerate. You will notice the even the new Rudy doesn’t leave his house (which is indicated by his moms relief when he does). I am of the opinion that it is not age that grows a character but experiences… and I think that is reflected in his persistent reflection of his man-child persona in the astral world.

I dont have a horse in this race mainly because I dropped this series twice. First the manga then giving it a second chance the LN. I never even bothered with the anime. That said one character trait atleast in the LN Rudeus never lost is his creep tendencies. All I found is he gets better at hiding it rather than replacing it with healthier habits. Mans has multiple wives two of which he groomed that isnt okay. Alas dropped and no longer care.just thought id comment

I don't think Rudy really views himself as an adult though? Isn't that his cause of his whole objection to the man god when they first met? Until he was back in his new body, he thought the fact that he was in his old one meant the man god was trying to toy with him.

If yall ain’t read the novels read them these were the first novels ive read and i definitely don’t regret Mushoku tensei is truly beautiful

The point you didn't mentioned is the forgiveness theme. I think it's one of the main themes of the show. Most of the characters have done bad but more importantly is not the past grievances but the ability to understand sinful nature of common people and forgive them for that to move forward. When watching Mushoku Tensei I unironically think it's very christian in it's ethics. Like it's basically saying "sure you have sinned but it's OK because we all are sinners". Paul is a bad father at times but he is forgiven by Rudeus, Rudeus does batshit to Eris but she forgives him. They all are humans with flaws and to move further they must be forgiven. I don't believe this to be just a cheep trick by the author to forgive the MC for his crimes for the wish fulfillment purposes. I think it's like that for reason and it plays into the choice theme you said at the end. Because after all to be a better person Rudeus must choose to do so and only after knowing love from his family/mentor/friends and what unconditional forgiveness is he is able to choose that. In his previous life he had very little of that and that's why he was stuck as NEET. He still had some good in him as evident in his sacrifice but to truly be a good person the good in him must be nurtured by the good shown by others. At least that's the ethical framework I think MT is going for, and I don't think it's necessary to subscribe to it to enjoy the show. I personally don't, I'm moral nihilist/non-cognitivist/fedora tipper but I still find it interesting.

As far as im aware, Rudeus was summoned by a blessed child from the future to save the live of the boy nanahoshi is in love with.

It's also explained that he wanted to send a letter in millishion because it was human territory and chances of arriving said letter went way up from almost zero when letter would be sent from demon continent

Gotta keep in mind that by the time Rudeus died in his old life, even tho physically he was in his 30's, he had the mental maturity of a high schooler at the very most.

Eris best girl indeed

Before watching this anime, I was told that the main character's perversion was a deliberate flaw to be resolved later. But after watching the first season, I don't think that's the case. First, we don't have any extensive flashbacks about how he became like that, or about his relationship with sex and women before. We have to assume he would have act the same perverted way if he has the occasion to interact with a woman before his resurrection, because when he was reborn he attempted to grope Zenith before even knowing he was in another body. We know he watched a lot of porn but that doesn't make you a sexual aggressor as far as I know. Also, one moment where I thought we were about to challenge his perverted vision of sex and women was in the Shirone arc when saving Lilia and Aisha. First his behaviour made him a bad reputation with Aisha, and then the prince that groped Roxy and that she compared to Rudeus was the bad guy. I thought it would lead to a introspection for Rudeus, with him thinking "I'm not as bad as this guy, am I ?" and starting to actively correct his behaviour. Instead we have his perversion rewarded, because the sexy figurine he made of Roxy was the reason he was able to be saved. Truly a disappointing arc. With that and the fact that apparently it's about erectile dysfunction, I don't think I'm going to watch season 2. Feel free to try and change my mind.

Roxie supremacy!

About the Eris stuff, I think they way you worded as how u felt is what the shows was trying to do because that's why rudues isn't growing like how he should and it's him slowly getting there not because he wants to but because that's what this world is crafting him as 9:30

One thing I always find strange in reincarnation stories is the fact they portray them as adults in children's bodies, completely ignoring the effects that biology and undeveloped brain would have on their mind. You would be a child with adult memories, not an adult in a child's body. As for Rudeus he pretty much stopped maturing as a teenager when he became a shut-in and left him an emotionally stunted teenager trapped in an adult body when he died. Then he started over in a child's body with 30+ years of memories from another life.

Bro, I'm not watching the video (since I pretty much already agree with the title alone). But massive compliments on that sick ass thumbail.

I think that there's a fundamental misunderstanding that you have here in the form of what redemption entails, how long redemption takes and the fact that you haven't read the novels. first and foremost, redemption isn't a one-and-done choice, it's something that takes your entire life to figure out. even monastics who make achieving redemption their entire life's purpose regularly make mistakes and have to restart, or overfocus on one thing and neglect something else. Not even the saints were perfect people, and many of their stories highlight this fact. as for what redemption entails; redemption is twofold. Firstly, you try to kill the old you who you no longer wish to be, and you try to cheer on the actions of the new you. what other people in the material world perceive as 'good enough' has absolutely no bearing on what qualifies as redemption, under any circumstance. I could bring up church doctrines and the faith, but it wouldn't even be relevant to this discussion as Rudeus both isn't and was never a Christian. The reason I brought up monastics earlier was more to give a real-world example of the sorts of struggle that people who seek redemption in reality have to go through. As for reading the novel, please go and read the novel.

Assuming you’ve watched the first half of the second season: I love how the ending of “what kind of story is mushoku tensei” ‘s exact plot is exemplified in Julie. He doesn’t sugar coat anything and asks if she is willing to give the world a second chance. She might not want to live but the response of not wanting to die, not completely giving up yet is the perfect exemplification of Rudy’s story. (As an LN reader I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. I loved it all the way though)

we know more than that about Rudeus cousin on the screen, and he was ignoring his parent's funeral to watch his cousin, the parents who were paying for his living, hence why he was thrown out EDIT: I should have waited until i finished the video before commenting, but I didn't so I'm adding more now. In the scene with Rudeus and Eris, the author doesn't view Rudeus and the world as morally right at all, Rudeus is the one trying to better himself while the world is pushing him to fall back into his old ways, the world and circumstances are an obstacle between him and his redemption, they are not the cause of the redemption, which I love about it. Rudeus was always aware what he was doing was unacceptable in his old life, he just didn't care anymore, it wasn't worth trying to be good as far as he could see, but he was given an opportunity to start over, avoid the situation to begin with In my mind, the deepest redemption of a person comes down to a personal effort, being forced to change isn't a deep redemption, that's making them no longer be a problem. A more proper redemption is when you acknowledge things as problems and go out of your way to right your wrongs and attone on your own, and avoid making those same mistakes again. He was shown he was in the wrong in his old life, he doesn't really need this life to show him that, the perverted side, yeah, he needs a correction there, but he kinda does slowly get better in some capacities, dedicating himself to just his wives, and not perving on others, and even initially rejecting opportunities he's being given until being essentially forced to accept, furthering the element of the world being an obstacle in the way of his redemption, not the thing making him redeem himself If anything, I'd argue what you say it is instead, is just describing how a person is redeemed, meaning it is a show about redemption as far as I'm concerned even from that description you gave

There's three types of maturity physical, mental, and emotional. He got older but didn't get to grow on the mental or emotional side of things. Being a shut in will do that to you. Being smart logically without life experience doesn't do much for ethical Behavior, nor emotional growth. Depression and suicidal ideation warps your mind in a lot of ways and keeps a negative state of mind, not to mention obvious PTSD on Rudeus's part. He never had a chance to get better before his new life, in a lot of ways he still is a child just now getting the love and support he needed for so long and can develop the proper skills needed to navigate life. Not saying he is right or excusing his behavior, just trying to give perspective.

1:00 i have read ahead and will correct you below *SPOILER* no major details* He wasn’t summoned to the 6-sided world on purpose, nor by a godlike being.

Not rlly how I see it. Redemption in this case is more abt how he himself, hated his past, and tried to move away from it. His wrong doing wasnt abt others, it was abt himself, how he viewed his past and vow to never become that again, thats his redemption. He didnt redeem himself to his family on Earth, he redeemed himself, to himself, he made up for what he did to his past life w this new life. But ofc, alot of ppl thought the redemption was abt him being a pervert n a creep, while in fact, no, that s his character trait, as he grew up, he became more mature abt it, but it was never a point for redemption. His redemption has always been abt living seriously when he got another chance at life, to live a fulfilling life without regret, to become a person he can be proud of, a redemption to himself, to make up for the life he wasted.

One thing thats been on my mind... Its a fictional situation. There hasnt been cases of old people being put into children's bodies that we know of. So who is to say what age Rudeus actually is? Can a child's brain actually comprehend those experiences and past events the way an adult could? Does him being and adult previously change how a he would comprehend things entirely as a kid? Its a weird ass situation that makes no sense in our world.

As someone who has read the LN.. You're VERY accurate with your description of the story. Redemption is still present, but it's a redemption of his mindset (I'll only speak to the end of season 2) redemption of his mentality like you say in the show. His mindset towards the opposite sex and relationships change as the story goes. Eris and Rudy scene is meant to be like that. The sub-focus on redemption isn't from earth alone. It's correct that redemption isn't THE main point, but it is a major aspect, especially now that many of the main players are getting introduced in season 2 and more will come in season 3. His choices and maturity become a huge factor. I strongly recommend that you read the light novel from the point eris leaves him onward. I'd say do the whole thing, but if you want to save time do so after eris leaves. There is many points in both the world system, power system, and many subtle aspects of his development are missed in the anime due to simple lack of time... School ark pre saving his mother could easily cover 24 episodes and still miss things... the depth only grows are the story continues, so I'd recommend grabbing the LN because the anime doesn't get lowered by knowing what happens. But the LN can sometimes get boring if you know the future from the anime. This is a personal top 3 series so please enjoy :)

I was initially very upset by your view on the story as somone who has read all of the books and additins to the narrative. However i think that is rooted in me reading it to the end. I belive the main difference between rezeo and mushoku tensei to be very interesting. Primarily the part where it is very explicitly said or implied that rezero is about redemption and it's not that there cant be two different ideas of redemption but they are different at their core. I think, after watching your video, that while it isn't about redemption in the eyes of the viewer from the viewers perspective but one of his own perspective. I also want to add that i think the author left the vague-ness of Rudy's internal monolog, being his 40 something self and his 12 y/o self, being either an oversight or an intentional driver of the sorry as both are present and neither conflict while both represent them at different times and at different degrees throughout the story. I also like to consider a meta view being that he is still a child mentally and children despite knowing better often will lose to their curiosities. Thank you for the wonderful video and sorry for the formatting as i am on my phone typin this.

It's not about redemption it's about taking what's come you’re way making do with it while always improving yourself because those flaws will never be erased they can be overcome though, I love how the story doesn't say any of of the characters are pure evil and when it did call a group characters evil the Supurd they turn out to be the victims it never takes sides on good and evil, it's just people doing their best and living with the cards their dealt

Great video 👌🏽

Redemption is not entirely accurate but it is the best approximation. Rudeus was not a good person, while the bullying started his downward spiral continuing it until he was 34 is certainly his baby. By the time he was kicked out he was for the first time forced to confront what a terrible person he had allowed himself to become, however he was 34, far too old to start over, his direction in life was set and there was no changing things. However, a miracle happened, he was taken to another world and given the opportunity to begin life anew, taking the knowledge of the mistakes he made in his previous life it allowed him to avoid it and become a better person. The great sin Rudeus committed was becoming a bad person, he had a terrible personality and lacked the maturity to control his baser desires. After starting life over he begins to put more focus on trying to become more responsible and trying to put those he cares about before himself.

I think you contradicted yourself at the end there. Rudeus' story IS about redemption, from Rudeus' own perspective at least. Trying to fix the failures he saw in himself, that is his redemption. Not necessarily redemption from the viewer, beyond acknowledging the personal growth which is obvious. He clearly retains traits that others would condemn (this is true to real life), but he also clearly makes an effort to change himself academically, athletically, and socially. Is he a perfect saintly individual? Certainly not, but he's definitely an improvement over his old self. Which is the point. He did take the chance to make better life choices, even if his morality didn't quite keep up with the progress. Even so he DID grow as a person from where he had been.

As for ending of season 1, I always thought that major factor in why Rudy didn't push back is "family" part of the equation. It was not about sex exclusively, it was about replacing vulnerable lonely state Eris found herself in. And I don't mean "just to feel better this time". We can only speculate but I think Rudy would have more resolve to oppose the idea if he had more solid reason to stick to original agreement. Eris needed family, needed confirmation of belonging to something and moving toward it when previous goal to return home was fulfilled. Needed it then and there, not after three more years when Rudy is finally 15. So in my opinion it was more of a marriage type of event for both of them (since there's no marriage tradition in this world rather than just verbal agreement), confirmation of their union rather than just sex.

I don't see this as a redemption story either. He's not a villain turning hero. However, similar (but different) to a redemption arc, this is a story of Rudy becoming the real Rudy, from what I've seen in seasons 1 & 2. Basically, he has to go on this journey to shed himself of the baggage of his past life to become fully part of his new life, all while his past is affecting his actions. From the beginning of his new life, it has been about changing himself from being a victim of the world and external circumstance to being fully in control of his destiny. When he ran into Paul and was scolded for his apparent indifference, this was a hard lesson for him to not take things for granted and only think of himself. If you have family, call them. Rudy not writing to them was a bad habit from his old life.

Later part of video imo makes no sense. Do bad people get punished in real world? NO, often times they get off with zero consequences. True Paul was right but, Rudeus is a kid in his eyes. Maybe Rudeus would get punished in ideal world but this world isn't ideal.

On 4:30 something, you say that rudy is 46 or smth like that in maturity, but that is quite debatable. He clearly hasn't matured compared to what a teenager would be since he became a hikikomori in his teenage years. Not that this excuses him, but I think it makes more sense to view this way. (I haven't finished the video, but I like it so far)

I have to disagree with the Rudeus vs Paul thing for a few reasons. 1. Rudeus may be 40+ years old mentally, but he has the mental development of a person about his age, so there isnt reallt a case of "he should have known better". 2. Rudeus was at ground 0 of the mana calamaty, so him not thinking it would factory the data reset the entire gotdamm country isnt really as bad of an oversight as people made it out to be. 3. The entire trip rudeus was focused on protecting Eris and Rujerd (From himself mostly). He also had to come to terms with the fact that his actions got another person killed (When i decided to bide his time while another party was being attacked). He also was wrongfully improsoned for a good bit of it. Rudeus very much was not in a great state of mind. 4. Its not so much that rudeus didnt think about his family, its more so the fact that he didnt register that they could have been affected (and how could he? He was at ground 0 of the blast and no way of knowing the scale). I will give you that he should have wrote them at least, but i understand how that could have slipped his mind considering all he was dealing with. Paul was morally wrong in the context of the world 100% and in context with Rudy their fight led to internal development for Rudy so regardless of how the world treated pauls words, rudeus Heard them and internalized them.

the Furi music, The Toxic Avenger has great tracks

your right. its not about redemption, its about CHANGING. thorough the whole story we see Rudy taking steps forward and back, the world around him is changing and he is failing to keep up, he is in a world of swords and magic, and he works hardest in the one that changes him the least, magic, his family and body was changed, the languages changed, the people around him change. and as we see with sylphie and eris, rudy just isnt quite keeping up, he wasnt ready for eris to change after hearing about her parent's and leave him, so he shuts down, and he didnt notice that sylphie had changed till the end of s2.

Great video and analysis. With Paul vs. Rudy, they both have their faults, but I think Rudy is less at fault than you think he did. I might sound like a typical Rudy defender, but there are a few points that even an grown man Rudeus wouldnt be responsible for. Rudy and Eris ws at the epicenter of the blast, he didnt know how big its effect was, he just assume they were fine. Paul forbid Rudy to write home while tutor Eris, so even the family connection is very thin and there is no habit of sending letter. Also , the act of sending message when something happened is a learned behaviors. I learned that when my parent yell at me when I got home unexpectedly late. I know many people that dont do that shit well into adulthood. The man that was a shutin for 20 years and got told to not contact with anyone even in second life. There is no way he even known that we are supposed to do that. Also he never think about the letter is because sending letter is both expensive and slow. Roxy is literally the first group to bring Displacement news to the Demon Continent. And Rudeus can possibly only see Paul letter at Zant port, but got abducted by the beast folks. So I dont think Rudy is objectively wrong in that situation. Oblivious? Sure, but it's forgivable to not be 100% Einstein play every single day. Which part of the LN are you on? Are you reading the LN? Its wholesome that his Master, Roxy, travel through the demon continent , fixing his mistake and rescue people in the demon continent. Elinalise is funding most thing though, the woman is filthy rich.😂

I think the ending of the video was really accurate, as much as I’m conflicted about the fact that he remembers everything about his life and considers and sees himself as a 40 year old. I think anyone being in that situation is possible. I do like some of the character development such as Paul and eris. Maybe the controversial aspect of this show gives it some value compared to the generic isekai goyslop. I do like how he ends up with the elf chick at least

I think people just say it's a "redemption story" because it's the easiest and simplest way to describe the story. Really, Mushoku Tensei is a personal journey of Rudeus and how his start shapes his journey. Will Rudeus improve, and if so by how much? Will Rudeus even _realize_ that he needs improvement and if so in what areas? That's really what Mushoku Tensei is about. And it's also about how Rudeus needs to figure that all out internally because society won't show him. I think this is the biggest difference between Mushoku Tensei and Re:Zero's journeys: Subaru is shown in every area of his life how bad he was acting and thus is directly shown that and thinks that he needs to improve in order to improve his relations with these characters, whereas Rudeus needs to think he needs to improve himself without outside evidence because he isn't punished for his thoughts/actions anywhere close to how much as he should be. Edit: Damn, wrote this as I was watching and as soon as I post this you say exactly this, lol.

About paul, morally, he's correct, if we take rudeus as a 40 whatever year old man and that maturity that comes with it, paul is telling the truth. Rudeus spent his years messing around. But in the show, paul isn't speaking to a 40 year old man, he is speaking to his 11 year old son, in that way he's too harsh. The thing about rudeus though is he is intellectually like a 40 year old man but still, has excuses and is wrongly given consequences as if he were an 11 year old so stuff like "he's the son of paul of course he's pervy" and "don't be hard on him he's only an 11 year old" just seems like rudeus is fucking around. He basically just will not own up to his standing as a 40 year old.

I think the show has a very simple approach turned epic. Rudeus isn't the hero of the story, but that's okay because he's a broken man learning that the world has so much to offer. Hiding from the world only led him down a path that any of us could fall into. It can be hard to tell how far Rudeus has come because most of us haven't fallen that far, but we can relate. Anyone can be given a second chance, but your sins will still haunt you. Every choice you make in life matters, but if you allow your mistakes or misfortune to hold you down, only a dark dark path awaits you. People hate Rudeus because he's not some outstanding protagonist, but we're given Rudeus' perspective. Rudeus hates himself. If we were given Rudeus from others' perspectives, he's a genius who looks out for those he cares for. His father never looked for him because he KNEW Rudeus would be okay. His expectations for him are astronomical. The Man-God views him as a THREAT. I think Rudeus is an insanely human approach on life's ups & downs & how meaningful challenging yourself to be better than you were really is

Redemption may be the wrong word, but certainly it's a story about growth and self improvement, as well as learning to get over his previous creepy side. At the point of reincarnation, all he knows for ways to enjoy himself are being horny and creepy, this isn't challenged until he pushes it too far with Eris, and from there he gets it constantly challenged, the prince who had captured Aisha and Lilia serves as a dark reflection of what he would have been like had this notion not been challenged. Additionally, redemption may be the wrong word, but there is an element of redeeming himself in his own eyes, of his self loathing. Additionally, as someone who has finished the web novel, without spoilers, it's about maturing and learning the lessons he never got to learn during his life as a shut-in. It's about making connections and how that brings you far in life, about loyalty and love, about leaning on others, and sanding down Rudeus' flaws without erasing them. Redemption is the wrong word, but rehabilitation is a pretty accurate one, he needs to unlearn many harmful views before being able to make the connections that are so important as the story progresses

Beautiful video essay. Your analysis completely changed how I viewed Paul vs Rudeus in Millis. I genuinely believed Rudeus was in the correct and Paul was being an asshole, and genuinely didn't understand why Rudeus said Paul was correct and apologized.

Still haven’t seen anyone mention the fact that Rudy could also be suffering memory regression the longer he’s alive in the other world, or at least that’s how I interpreted it

I’m happy to hear someone else share the “Paul was right” argument. I thinks it’s actually kinda crazy how many people try to give Rudeus an escape goat when even he at the end of the fight with his dad agreed that he should have done more. The only reason that narrative changes is bc Paul treats Rudeus like a kid again instead of the 40 year old he actually is.

After watching to the end I feel you are too focused on redemtion as an outside force. It isnt redemption *only* if the world conspires to make you change. Redemption can also be achived with internal change. Paul and Rudy's reunion being a prime example of you holding that belief to your own detriment. Becaise even though the world doesn't hold Rudy to that standard he still changes after that. And mild spoiler for a future arc but he was very much in the wrong and the consequences of his actions during this arc are long reaching woth his own sister being terrified of him. My point being that he changes even when the auther doesnt contrivedly make him pay for being older on the inside. Day by day, he grows into someone better. Thats all redemption amounts to in the end. I would also argue your version of redemption often isnt redemption at all. If your change only occurs becaise someone or something forces you to make it then did you really mature? Or did you just do what needed to be done to resolve an issue in front of you. I see forced redemption through conflict as talking a test. Once it is over it is easy enough to forget all you studied to get it right in the first place. Even if you don't forget that doesn't take away from a scenario where someone learned the answer to the question without being tested.

The only thing I think you missed is his development in the old world. You a couple of times mention how rude us still sees himself as a 40 year old man and how he has lived for 30+12 years, however I don’t think that’s fair. In his old life he bwithdrea from the world when he was 14-16. After that his whole life was in his room. He had no friends after his brother and best friend stopped visiting him, he had no relationships romantic or platonic or professional after that point. All development be it emotional romantic professional or interpersonal ceased shortly after he isolated himself. He’s not a 42 year old man who has grown up And had relationships of any kind, he’s a scared traumatised isolated immature child who spent 15 years wasting time and doing nothing productive. That’s why when eris is Coming onto him and everything up till then he’s so focused on sex. He was stunted from the age of his trauma and as such still had the mid of a horny child who is obsessed with sex as he’s never had it. I honestly belive that’s why he goes through the ED arc. He finally achieves all that he’s desired for all that time and then looses all of the emotional relationships that he has built up across his whole life. His immature teenage mind associates sex with loss and masturbation with misery and isolation, so it stops him from having access to either. (Spoiler alert from here on for S2) and that can oly be fixed at the magic university after he spent years building new friendships and relationships (not romantic) and is only cured once he once again has a person from before his new trauma come back into his life. Once he relaises who silfe is his brain realises that no all his past relationships (of all kind not just romantic) aren’t gone forever and that he can open himself up. That’s why Sara couldn’t help him; because as far as his subconscious knew it he crossed that bridge that relationship would be gone forever. Point being redudeus may visually see himself as a 42 year old man, but that because his inner view of himself (in the man gods realm) is one of hate. He hates who he was and how he lived and as soon as he remembers that this life is not all that he has had, he remembers how he hates his past. And I’m doing so sees himself as his worst version of himself. I feel like I’m season 2 I don’t recall much of Rudeus rember his old life. Yes he’s searching for a cure for his ED but he’s not remembering his old life he renting his life in his new world. The only times he even thinks about the old world is with nanahoshi. Even then though, with exception of the first time he meets her, he he’s to king about her and sending her back. The only times he thinks about himself other than this is to feel remorse (not hate) for how he treated his brother. He’s living his new life, he’s relying on his experience of his new life, and he is more moulded by his new life had his relationships than he ever was in season 1. I was really disappointed in turning point 3 as I had noticed this and was really hoping that he would view himself differently in the man gods realm. Point being hue emotionally stunted himself at 15 by the time hes 12 in the new world he has lived ages 1-12 twice. You don’t develop emotionally and mentally baisied on how long you’ve been alive, the mud doesn’t work like XP points. It works of moment in time that shape you forever. It works off turning points. All those big. Said Paul’s reaction is 100% right. No one else has seen redeus’s true maturity and nature, but Paul has. Paul saw himself scolded by his child acting like his peer after he knocked Lilia up. He saw rudeus leave all he had behind to go earn money for his future and the future of the ones he loved. He knows Rudy is mature and more than intelligent, and in that way he probably sees Rudy as a peer if not a superior. He saw Rudy was u harmed (body still intent) he has eaten and slept well visably, and was angered by the fact that one he looked up to in a way didn’t live up to his potential. Rudy was capable of so much more and that’s why Paul was right. But treating him like he’s a 40 year old man wasn’t. No matter what Trudy can’t be emotionally and mentally more mature than he was when he was 16. And mind you that’s 16 In our world, where people develop much slower. We do t age to fight monsters or start working at 10. We aren’t considers adults till 18 not 15 and I think most people don’t consider us full adults till we are closer to 21-25. Rudy is immature but Paul has known his potential since he was 8 and now that he’s 12 he expects more of him. More that Rudy should’ve lived up to

This hits deep

Man really went on a tangent on age of consent laws in the 1200s

The sad part about the Eris thing: the author actually threw people a bone and tried to be tactful by waiting until she was firmly of legal age - it just happens that the legal age in Japan is 14... Edit: Apparantly, the national minimum was recently raised to 16, and prefectures usually set their own standards which may be higher.

it is not a redemption story, it is a healing story

An excellent character analysis! My only gripe with this one would be how you, like many others, continue to view Rudeus as possessing far more maturity than he actually does by hyper fixating on his supposed age. Compared to what we would expect from the average 30+ year old, Rudeus’ mentality is almost still stuck at the level of a child. He’s quite intelligent, but he’s severely lacking in wisdom. And it makes perfect sense for someone who squandered half of his first life isolated from the world. His actual level of maturity is not much different from that of a teen. With that in mind, his blunders, disconnect and lack of confidence when it comes to some of his social interactions become much more believable. In that sense, I completely agree that MT is not about redemption. I’d argue there’s nothing to redeem because Rudeus was essentially denied the opportunity to continue growing in the first place due to circumstances outside of his control as a young adult. Additionally, it appears that his previous life’s circle was lacking in terms of support and guidance in order to extricate him from his ordeal. I highly doubt he would’ve had an easy time adjusting so well in his new life if his new circle were neglectful or abusive. It’s worth keeping in mind that, while Rudeus possesses a degree of agency, his lack of maturity still leaves him vulnerable and impressionable enough to easily be influenced by those around him. He owes his successes to his family and friends as much as his personal endeavors.

There's much I think you miss about this story. For starters, you're analyzing this as a "Hero's Journey" story. However, Mushoku Tensei isn't that kind of story. You also ignore the biological mental limitations of an 11 year old. You ignore the fact that, even though the world backs down after his argument with Paul, Rudy admits being wrong. That was such a powerful moment, did you actually miss that entire thing? Also, considering what we know about Rudy, isn't it obvious why he would follow that world's moral compass instead of ours? I really like how, in The Ascendance of a Bookworm, no one other than our main character actually pays attention to any of the awful things that happen in that world, unless they're directly affected. That's how humans work, that's just the world they grew up in. Also, I agree that Mushoku Tensei isn't a story about redemption. I don't understand why you think it has to be. Like yes, Rudy becomes a much better person as time goes on, but that's clearly not the intention of the story. The intention of the story is to tell the story of the life of Rudy, a flawed human being from start to finish. In that story, he's surrounded by a rich world and amazingly crafted characters. He is given a head start and utilizes it well, albeit in a very grounded way. Most characters in Mushoku Tensei who have close experiences with Rudy see him as an amazing person. I think that's very believable. Some don't. That's also very believable. Btw, while I think the writing in your video is lacking, I think the way you crafted it is great.

SPOILERS for the Light Novel It was pure chance that Rudeus was reincarnated, in the LN, several decades or even hundreds of years later after he dies (I forget, its been a bit) A blessed girl is able to do time shenanigans and one day she does something time related (again, its been a bit since I read the LN) to save a boy that was transported to this world after he died because she fell in love with him and cause the mana disaster. Rudeus just so happens to be caught in this as he dies.

There is a point that from the trailers is another turning point and due to the events it shifts his view from a dude who got reincarnated to a new human being