Thread by @CTurtlev3

After 7+ months, I have finally finished #MushokuTensei.

A farewell and thank you, to a story that means the world to me.

(I finished reading 4ish weeks ago, Mb for the late review, organizing my notes + dealing with irl stuff took longer than I thought 😭)

This will be a long thread, so I don’t expect people to read all the way through. I just really want to put all my thoughts and feelings about this series into words. MT has made me feel every emotion humanly possible, and a shorter thread wouldn't do it justice.

Before expressing my thoughts and feelings about MT as a whole, I wanna talk about my experience with the anime which was my gateway into the series.

Also, obvious MAJOR spoilers for the entire series from here on out ❗❗

Starting the anime was a split-second decision with no prior thought put into it. I only saw some discussions regarding it over the years (mainly negative discourse) but never paid much attention to it since it didn't seem that interesting to me at the time.

One day, not knowing what new series to start I said to myself. “What the heck, this might be a fun watch” fully expecting to be turned off by the weird and degenerate nature of the series.

AND I ended up loving it, sure there are plenty of things that are off-putting or just straight-up disgusting. But I would argue that these scenes are needed to show how messy and depraved the world and characters of Mushoku Tensei are.

I plan on making a thread in the future fully discussing Rudy's character and how his degeneracy is integral to his overall development. So I won't go into very high detail since this is just a review thread.

Back to the anime, I had a great time with it. The characters were well-developed and felt authentic and fresh, they didn't feel like ripoffs or caricatures of other characters commonly found in the Isekai genre or anime as a whole.

The fantasy/isekai genre has always been very hit or miss with me but I adored the world of MT from the start. The sense of maturity, the cast, magic system, lore, scenery, etc. Everything interested me off rip.

The soundtrack and animation were spectacular, fully immersing and dragging me into the world. The insert openings were very unique, and I don't think I've seen another anime do something like this at that level.

After completing the anime and being amazed by the last three episodes, I easily considered the series a favorite. I knew I had to start the Light Novel eventually, and now I'm sitting here, so grateful that I did.

As I stated earlier in this thread, the world of MT is grandiose and scratches that fantasy itch that I've always had since I was a kid. Rifujin truly did an INCREDIBLE job with it. It's easily one of my favorite fantasy worlds.

Rifujin masterfully establishes each region of the world with different cultures, ideologies, and races. The world feels alive, packed with diverse architecture, languages, clothing, and traditions across regions, towns, and continents.

Cool vid here.

The magic system and swordsmanship are also intricate, I respect the amount of detail Rifujin put into them. The lore is very interesting, and very fun to engage + theorize about. It's a huge shame that the anime omitted a lot of it.

The characters and the world itself are inherently flawed. I appreciate how Rifujin doesn’t shy away from displaying the unappealing and repulsive traits that are innate to human nature.

This world's harsh reality profoundly affects the characters, particularly Rudy. Who slowly has to come to terms with the brutal reality of the world he now finds himself in.

Yeah, maybe the aesthetic of MT isn't wholly unique. There are many medieval fantasies out there, especially in the Isekai genre. But, whether it's the anime adaptation’s stellar audiovisuals or Rifujin's special touch. Something about it just clicks for me.

Now onto the real meat of the story.

MT is first and foremost a story about change. Positive, neutral, and negative in some instances. Almost every member of the cast goes through a character arc where they are forced to change and move forward, becoming a better person.

It's the story of a man who was the biggest piece of trash possible. Who climbs up out of his inner abyss and grasps his happiness with his own 2 hands, but not without errors. He falls down a few rungs now and then. But these mistakes are required for further growth.

However, it requires patience. Changing is not a process that can happen right off the bat, instead, it requires years of effort to accomplish. It’s an aspect of the series that is constantly being driven home with so many members of the cast.

For example, Rudy throughout the whole series is fighting his old soul, his old being/essence. The negative thoughts, self sabotage, self hatred. While his new self “Rudeus Greyrat” learns new lessons develops and changes. He takes steps backward and forwards. But doesn't give up

He has to build himself back up from the ground, dampening or getting rid of altogether the negative habits & mental frameworks that ruined his past life, while constructing positive ones now that he has a second chance.

"You have to trust others enough to lay yourself bare in front of them, this is the only way to make meaningful connections that will make life worth living, and will allow you to die without any regrets.

(Check the ALT for why I included the first illustration 👇)

The world and the people you meet will change as you grow. Nothing is static and will always move, forcing you to mature along with the world around you.

It may be a painful experience. It might even be terrifying. But truly living life to its fullest, not having any regrets, and doing all you can so you can die without any is a task hard to accomplish, but always worth striving towards."

This is how I would sum up the thematic core of this story, with almost all character arcs revolving around it in some way.

Now onto the cast as a whole. I didn't think it was possible for a series to do this, but I honestly believe that the entire cast are comfort characters. Yeah, I like some more than others, but the warm familial feeling that I get when reading is unmatched in any other story.

I love this fictional family an unhealthy amount. Each one means so much to me. Eris, Sylphie, and Roxy especially, seeing them all grow and develop over the course of years and years makes every small bump in the road feel very personal to me.

Norn becoming more independent, stepping outside the shadow of her 2 siblings and making a place for herself in the world. Even becoming a novelist, writing books about those same siblings that she once hated.

Paul struggling with being a father due to the gap formed between him and Rudy because of the mana disaster, but doing the most fatherly thing possible in his final moments. Saving his beloved son from certain death, sacrificing himself in the process.

Zenith tragically being stripped of her ability to communicate with her loved ones because of an incident completely outside of her control. But is still there for her family in her mind, speaking to them as happily as could be.

Even the characters apart from the Greyrats are full of nuance, charm, and are just as likable.

Whether it's Zanoba with his doll antics, living with Ginger and Julie. Or Cliff struggling with his sense of responsibility at being the future Millis Pope with Elinalise by his side. Or even Orsted hanging out in his office, slowly but surely becoming more approachable and kind

I can gush about any of these characters for so long, they're all so close to my heart. Rifujin is fantastic at writing troubled but compelling characters and the complexity often found in relationships between them.

They all push the thematic construction/foundation of the story (personal growth/change) Even Orsted himself who has lived for tens of thousands of years, changes due to Rudy and his family + friends. If someone like that can change, what does that say about the average person?

People through their connections change for the better. Without opening your guard and allowing people "in" you will never be able to live to the fullest. You will always fall flat before grasping what you wanted so much your entire life, Just like Hitogami and Geese.

They were unable to truly connect with anyone around them and instead fell victim to their insecurities and fears. They gained "pawns" whereas Rudy and Co gained "allies."

Geese and Hitogami hid in the shadows while Rudy confronted those he wanted aid from, face to face.

Rudy and Orsted stopped isolating themselves and instead opened themselves up to others and ended up victorious in the end because of it. (Biheiril Kingdom War)

Now finally let's tackle the highlight of this series, Mushoku Tensei's Protagonist, author, and hero.

Rudeus Greyrat.

In short though, because this thread is already long as fuck, and I plan on going into full detail about Rudeus in another thread. So I will try to speed run his character arc right here.

Rudy at the beginning of the series is, well, an asshole—a piece of shit, complete utter garbage. No one will deny that, not even Rudy himself.

His development (imo) is not a simple redemption story, but rather a tale of rehabilitation and personal growth. He reflects on his past life, how he failed back then, and what he can do NOW.

Redemption is based on forgiveness and he isn't in the same world as the people that CAN forgive him. But he can still forgive himself for how he treated his past self. Which is personal redemption in a way, and this comes to fruition in the final moments of his existence.

He learns from his past mistakes, respects boundaries, stops dehumanizing others and himself, and grows more comfortable expressing his true thoughts and feelings. He even helps those who harbor similar faults to his previous self. Like Nanahoshi, Norn, and Orsted.

The end of vol 12 is when Rudy fully commits to his new self and puts his old self to rest metaphorically. With it being literally put to rest when he dies and his old body is no longer taking the form of his soul.

By the end of the story, he has finally defeated his old loathsome self.

Rudy's hate for the Hitogami in a way is an extension of his hatred for his old self. Both are isolated and blame others for everything negative that happens to them.

So when Rudy admits that he no longer hates Hitogami during their final meeting in the afterlife, he also doesn't hate his old self any longer, freeing him mentally and on the soul level.

Making him appear as his TRUE self, “Rudeus Greyrat” whom he spent his entire second chance at life striving towards.

Now finally in his TRUE body, signaling his complete acceptance and forgiveness of himself. He looms large over Hitogami, dwarfing him. Someone who has lived many hundreds of thousands of years longer than Rudeus. But is still a victim of the hubris found in any human.

Rudeus notices for the first time that even though Hitogami is a god, he is much smaller than he originally looked. In both literal size and demeanor.

Rudy smiles wholeheartedly at him, the one who he should hate most in this world, and wishes him good luck. Then without hesitation, he simply heads forward without turning back. Embracing the hands of death that Hitogami has spent his whole life running from in fear.

I hope this does his character even a little bit of justice. I’m so impressed with it that I probably won't be able to do him justice even with a full thread dedicated to him.

He has been rent free in my head every day since I started the LN, no, even before that when I started watching the anime three months prior.

I knew he would be a special character even then. Just a fleeting thought of his character makes me feel pressured to become better than my current self. Only a handful of characters spark such feelings in me.

Yeah, there might be characters out there that are more impressively constructed or have more interesting themes. But, I genuinely feel that Rudy is still the most important character to me.

He is a beacon of change, an example that anyone can completely turn their life around given effort. That opening yourself up to others might be scary but is always worth it. And, that you should always live your life to the fullest because now might be all that you have left.

Because of all of that and more, now that I'm finished with the main story I can confidently say that Rudy is my favorite character ever and Mushoku Tensei is my number 1 favorite story of all time.

My tier lists for all the volumes and characters.

Other thread ideas I have.

A complete Rudy analysis
Common MT criticisms and my take on them
Rudy, Orsted, and Hitogami 3-way dynamic
Eris's, Roxy's, and Sylphie's importance to Rudy Importance of Sara
Rudy and Kalman 3rd/Aleksander dynamic
Rudy and Geese's dynamic

Not 100% sure what order I'll write these in or how long it'll take to write them. I'll try my best to get them done tho 👊

The opening tweet is a bit dramatic. “Farewell” isn’t accurate because I still have the anime adaptation and side stories to look forward to (ill peep them once they’re put into LN format and get official translations.)

This review took longer to release since I haven't had time to write without Interruptions. It's lengthier than it should be as well, so I understand if some people just skim through.

Regardless, thanks to everyone who made this journey more enjoyable. I really appreciate it.

Thanks for reading. ❤️