After the controversial ending of it’s first season, I was expecting the second would somehow address the issues I and many others had with this series. However the second season not only fails to improve any of the shortcomings of Mushoku Tensei, it doubles down on them. Almost every aspect I praised about the earlier parts of this series, has either been watered down or been removed completely. Except for one or two, none of the new characters are at all interesting, worldbuilding has been put to the wayside, production values has had a noticeable downgrade, and this season was just an unbearable booooring slog to sit through. Like an entire span of episodes where almost nothing happens, even the most cliche high school anime would have had me more engaged during it’s runtime.
Characters that I thought were kinda interesting like Rudjerd or Roxy only appear briefly in this season, as the focus is given to Rudeus’ pursuit of finding his mother. This seemed to be the initial goal at first, but that slowly fades into the background, as the actual storyline reveals itself. I was more or less indifferent with this early portion of the show as although the new characters Rudeus encounters like Sarah and her group of cardboard cutouts weren’t that interesting, at least this set of episodes actually felt like it had some sort of momentum going on. However all of that is thrown out the window as after the failed attempt of doing the deed with Sarah (who's another young girl), Rudeus discovers that the actual plot device of this season was hiding in his pants all along.
The whole E.D plotline is a fucking joke. I am aware that this series includes sexual content in it’s story and themes, and I have no problem with what’s included in a piece of media, but execution is what matters. Any attempt at thoughtful introspection felt disingenuous because just like Mushoku Tensei’s flimsy handling of redemption and relationships, I just couldn’t take Rudeus’s struggles with impotence seriously, especially of how they couple it with Rudeus’ supposed struggles with mental health after Eris left him (which was also weird for her character btw). All you need to do is compare Rudeus with other characters in the medium of animanga to see how paper thin and embarrassing the exploration of mental health is. Shinji Ikari, Punpun Onodera, Guts, and etc. all have been way better examples of portraying sexual frustrations in their respective stories. Also, another thing that’s not gonna help me take the impotence plot seriously is unfunny and cringe sex jokes that you would expect from another generic harem anime set in high school, Mushoku Tensei just couldn't resist itself.
Speaking of high school, one of the most baffling story decisions for me is how this season decides to entrap all the characters at this unimaginative school setting, when the saving grace of this show is in its lore and worldbuilding. Other shows have benefited from smaller settings before, but what frustrates me about Mushoku Tensei (in addition to the worldbuilding thing) is that the school is used as such an obvious stage for the characters to exist in rather than a concrete situation that they would have to figure out how to deal with. What’s bad about this is that rather than making the situation or setting itself interesting, the writer would rather insert bullshit drama into it because he doesn't know how to write real people, and this lasts for a large chunk of this season.
Just like with Eris, I wasn’t particularly rooting for Sylphie’s relationship with Rudeus. Largely because it felt one sided and weird how Sylphie would do whatever it took to drive Rudeus’ broken stick shift, while Rudeus suddenly became an even more bone headed doofus who can’t recognize Sylphie for most of the season. Just so this long drawn out game of “will they? won’t they?” reminiscent again from harem anime or your standard isekai show, be played out as the main drama of the school setting. Because beyond that, literally nothing else happens in the school. It genuinely felt like filler. New and recurring side characters get introduced but they contribute absolutely nothing to the plot, as characters like the elf chick who likes to get railed a lot and Rudeus’ otaku minion just further test my patience. There were literally only TWO new characters that I sort of liked. Nanohoshi and Ariel were alright, but even then I question what this series intends for them in the future. Also, there was this little bit about slavery, but isekai shows have always had appalling portrayals of that, so don’t really need to mention that part.
BUT the main thing that broke the camel’s back for me about Mushoku Tensei is that the season more or less confirmed for me that it seems to belong to this subset of anime that I personally despise. There have been worse shows in the past no doubt, but much like my vitriol hatred for Code Geass, this series wants to have it’s cake and eat it too. Mushoku Tensei is about Rudeus’ redemption as much as it’s about being a pensive fantasy epic, which is to say its’ not about either. It drops us into it’s immersive world, chock full of characters and stories, but just like Rudeus, the writer just couldn’t help himself out from including trashy ecchi and seasonal power fantasy self insert elements that belong to this garbage subgenre of anime culture that failed to mesh well. Shocking I know that Lord of the Rings doesn't go well with ugly bastard hentai. But anyway, what you get is a product no different from a lot of those terrible light novel adaptations that try to be something or try to convince people that they were something.
This season was such a disappointment. My expectations were already not that high after how season one ended, but now I don't know if I'll even bother to continue watching this series. If I would, it would probably be more out of morbid curiosity and my love for the fantasy genre. But even then that still ain't gonna be enough to change my overall opinion of Mushoku Tensei. When you strip away all the pretty visuals, cool action scenes, and catchy music, it goes to show how it's no different from the generic blob of isekai shows that gets regurgitated every season.
Pretty fitting when it's called the “Grandfather of Isekai”
