Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is an anime based upon the light novel series. The first season was split into two parts, totalling 23 episodes, and an OVA that was released afterwards. It follows a jobless and reclusive mid-thirties man who dies in a traffic accident but is reincarnated into a fantasy world. He reincarnates starting from a baby (similar to The Saga of Tanya the Evil), retaining his memories and after discovering his magical gifts, he resolves to actually put in the effort in this life instead of wasting it.
As Rudeus, as he is named in this life, retains his memories even as a baby, it can be kind of creepy and weird since he has the thoughts and experience of an adult… but in the form of a young kid. The anime does address this and makes some humor out of it. It isn’t afraid to reference this whether it is explicitly or implicitly. An interesting take on the premise is that given that Rudeus was such a recluse in his original life, he’s still wearing the scars and trauma from it, so it continues to affect him now. Once his backstory is revealed and how he became such a person back then, you do feel pity for him, until he reverts to his “perverse middle aged guy” schtick, which just does not sit well when he has the appearance of a five year old.
It spends some time to build the premise, given that it doesn’t time-skip his toddler and youth stages, but already we are shown that he has an unusually significant gift, which is good and bad. Bad in that he struck lucky and being overpowered is an isekai protagonist trope, but good in that it’s always fun to see the protagonist overpowered. It takes a while to get going, as the early episodes slowly chronicles his early life, slowly building up his confidence to go outside, meeting new friends, and growing as a person.
The other unique aspect of the anime is its plot threads. Sure, it has the usual lines of the protagonist getting strong, adjusting to the world, and in general getting better at what they do. But on the other hand, it has some more down to earth events, things that you would not expect it to cover, from his parental relationships to family issues that feels downright too realistic for the fantasy genre. It seems no matter which world you’re in, there are some issues that will always exist.
Since Rudeus retained his memories, he has constant inner monologues, spoken in his adult voice, so there’s some dissonance. His dirty thoughts and consequential actions are the main source of fan service. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, given he’s younger than ten years old, it’s a bit disturbing. It’s not helped that later on, he ends up pairing with others around his age, and considering that the anime goes further in its depictions than normal, this can lead to unsettling scenes that detracts from the better and more intriguing aspects.
The slice-of-life events continue on, and Rudeus, as well as the viewers, learn piecemeal some of the facts about this world that he is in. Just when you thought the whole season might be this meandering pace, it suddenly throws in a big curveball event out of nowhere, instantly upping the ante. The tone and content then shifts towards something more typical of the isekai genre. All of a sudden, Rudeus’s life is turned upside down, and instead of the relatively peaceful life that he has had thus far, he’s in constant danger in an unfamiliar surrounding, but at the same time, doing stuff that adventurers do.
The second half of the season feels completely different, and less serious at first. Rudeus forms an adventuring group, does a lot of what you would consider fun adventuring stuff, and even he admits he is enjoying it. This is despite the terrible things that he sees and experiences, as well as trudging through an unfamiliar land. Even so, when he finally reaches the end of that journey, it can be unfair that he is forced to bear a lot of blame and guilt. Yes, it can seem bad of him to seemingly have fun without a care in the world while others he knew were in trouble, but at the same time, he was also put into a precarious situation.
Throughout Rudeus’s journey though, despite having over 40 years of experience given his past life, he can still act like a child. Perhaps it is a result of him wasting his initial 30 years of life, but Rudeus can make some idiotic situations, or unable to fully grasp his current situation. He acts like a childish teenager without nothing in his mind but lust. So while he is technically mature for his physical age, he’s very immature for his mental age, and this has significant ramifications in his life. Several times, a situation could have been easily defused or resolved if not for his terrible plans that go awry or his indecisions that allow the situation to become worse.
The most unique thing about the anime is while it does have the big scale world ending stuff that happens to Rudeus, a lot of the problems that he faces is much more personal. Some of the best scenes this season are the very real feelings that one would face when dealing with their own family, fighting them, being angry at them, and reconciling with them. The way that this anime deals and resolves those issues is more mature than you would expect and evokes very real feelings from the viewer. That’s not to say that Rudeus doesn’t have the same kind of epic experience that a typical isekai protagonist would, because the final episodes of the season has a hefty amount of worldbuilding.
One of the best things about the anime is also how you get to watch the characters develop, grow up, and mature. Given that we literally watch Rudeus grow up, and with the second half of the season eventually focusing on Eris (pretty much confirmed to be his love interest), and Ruijerd, the trio forms a formidable party. Yet there is the constant theme of goodbyes to characters and having to move on just as you’re getting used to them, the anime manages to capture this very well.
The season also ends on a good, but not perfect, stopping point, as you can feel it reaches near the end of its arc but is not quite there. There was a significant development in the final episode, and it doesn’t help that it buckles the trend of having only good things happen in anime, with Rudeus discovering some sad news. The OVA is also nice in that it is an extra episode that slots in during an earlier arc, where it was significant enough that you’d feel that something happened, but not so much to derail the current arc.
Overall, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is surprisingly good. While it can be weird at first, especially when you consider the premise of an adult shut-in suddenly reborn with all his memories intact as a baby in another world, it manages to blend adult and adolescent themes quite well. The story can be aimless at first, but after the sudden shift in tone and content from the middle of the season, it slowly builds from before in a good pay-off, going in a different direction than expected, especially when you get to see the characters growing up and maturing. The anime also buckles the trend of only having good things happen, as Rudeus and everyone else experiences their fair share of tragedies. The fact that the anime manages to resist making Rudeus overpowered to the point of curbstomping everyone is icing on the cake, making him much more likeable and relatable.
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