This review contains spoilers for cours one of the show.
Rudeus is not a good person Yes, I know. This is one of the coldest takes you can make in all of anime. But at the same time, it's most people's main criticism of the show. And well, it's true. Rudeus starts out as a terrible person. But that's the whole point of the show. Mushoku Tensei is all about Redemption. It takes us on a journey, allowing us to watch a bad person trying to be better. And I really want to emphasize the trying part. Because even after being reborn, Rudeus is not perfect. He's not a generic isekai protagonist, who we're told was a loser in their previous life, but when they're sent to another world, they suddenly turn into a flawless hero who can do no wrong and selflessly saves the world entirely on his own.

Rudy is still deeply flawed, even after being reborn into this world. He can't even leave his parents' home at first, only being able to be convinced by a person he deeply admires and who has earned his trust over a long time. And even after all that, he still stole Roxy's panties. But story-wise, I loved the fact he did that. Don't get me wrong, I think stealing your teachers' panties is absolutely disgusting, but it's entirely in character for Rudy. He was a pervert in his previous life, and it would be unrealistic for him to lose that flaw so fast. He literally skipped his parents' funeral to stay at home and watch what is heavily implied to be explicit videos involving minors.

Rudy does some seriously fucked up shit; I'm not defending that. I get that some of his actions are absolutely disgusting and will make you uncomfortable. I can't deny that. I won't judge anyone uncomfortable with some of the subject matter in the show. But it's not fair to rate a show based on whether the main character is a good person. When watching a show like this, you have to disassociate from the main character and his actions. And if you can't do this, that's okay too; you just can't blame the show for that. Connecting this to my earlier point, Rudy is different from the self-insert protagonist commonly found in Isekai. You're not supposed to be able to project yourself onto him and get some satisfaction out of him doing some cool stuff thinking, "If I was sent to another world, I could be a cool hero just like him!" that's not the point of this story.

This is a character-driven drama at its core To me, the thing that makes Mushoku Tensei so great is the fact that Rudy grows. This makes Mushoku Tensei one of the most satisfying stories to follow. It's just very inspiring seeing someone acknowledge their mistakes and try to do better. This goes for all the main characters. One of the most obvious ways this is shown is in his relationship with Eris. An early example of this is in episode 6, where he gropes Eris' breasts while she's asleep and gets beaten up for it. But just in the next episode, he resists the temptation when he gets the chance to do it again. He can't bring himself to do it when he sees her cherishing the staff he gifted her. Even if it's not because he realizes it's wrong, but just because he doesn't want to hurt someone that cares about him, that's still a step in the right direction.

The same can be said for Eris, who at first was a cookie-cutter tsundere but became more open about caring about Rudy. More examples are Ruijerd, who, through traveling with Rudy and Eris, learned to open up to people and that it's often better to resolve conflicts by talking it out instead of resorting to violence, and Paul, who learned that tough love is not the only way to raise your kids and that sometimes you just need to show your honest emotions instead of playing the role of a stoic man whose only purpose is to provide for his family. Overall, the amazing writing in Mushoku Tensei leads to you getting super invested in this world. The characters feel like real people. Even with all their flaws and bad things they've done, you still want to see them be better and achieve their goals.

And it's also just a damn good time Mushoku Tensei is an incredibly fun show to watch. It gives you a sense of adventure that few shows manage to convey. From the start, you're shown a fascinating world full of magic and other things waiting to be explored. Although many common Isekai tropes like demihumans, a setting inspired by medieval Europe, and a protagonist who was a loser in his world are present in the show, they aren't really an issue here. With the web novel starting in 2012, Mushoku Tensei was one of the early Isekai, along with Re:Zero and KonoSuba. Because of this, the show is not affected by the problems that modern "post-Sword Art Online" Isekai struggle with. Mushoku Tensei actually popularized a lot of the tropes.

But that wouldn't matter if the story itself didn't age well. Even if it popularized many of the tropes in modern Isekai, they could still feel overdone, hindering your enjoyment of the show. But that's not the case here. In Mushoku Tensei, those things are here for a reason. Demihumans exist in their own societies with their own cultures and languages (which you can actually hear in the show!) instead of being just there to add variety to the main character's harem. Speaking of that, while you could call Mushoku Tensei a harem since Rudy has multiple love interests, it doesn't feel overwhelming. Rudy doesn't have a dozen girls chasing him everywhere. Instead, he just has actual chemistry with a few girls that aren't fighting over him. It just feels like the romance is developing naturally instead of being forced. Rudeus being "overpowered", as well as him having been a shut-in nerd in his previous life, are all essential elements of the story since the first comes naturally from him starting off as a child with an adult mind, while the second part is needed for the redemption story that Mushoku Tensei is.

Overall, Mushoku Tensei is an amazing show. And to me, it gets as close to being a perfect show as possible. It is incredibly well-written, has great world-building, and takes you on an exciting adventure that will make you both laugh and cry. If you can look past the problematic bits of it, the show is well worth a watch for every anime fan.

Thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoyed my review of Mushoku Tensei. Consider following me if you want to see more of my reviews in the future, and be sure to leave a comment if you disagree with me. I'm more than happy to have a discussion with you :)