Warning: this review was written by a nerd who read both the LN and manga, and as such, comes from that perspective specifically, grading it as an adaptation.
So, if you want the TLDR (otherwise, just skip this paragraph) : It's a very good adaptation, it's very well paced, it looks good, the characters are all done perfectly, it's a good story, HOWEVER, if you are a fucking nerd (like myself) and read all the light novels (or the Web novel I guess), be prepared for a TON of world building stuff to just be completely cut, it's not even comparable to first part in that regards, it goes from adapting 2 volumes into 11 episodes to 4 volumes in 12 episodes, so it is insanely easy to notice how much they cut (like almost any Geese scene and all the rice stuff (including the entire Death God chapter, yeah, we don't even acknowledge his existence outside a mention when they pass by the monument to the great powers). It cut a lot of long term world building and character building stuff to focus on more immediately important story aspects and characters.
So, what do I really think of this?
Well let's start with the animation, once again, it's a treat for the eyes. I still love how the intros are used to give us shots of the locations each episode take place in. All the background work really shines too, it makes every location feel just so lively. The designs are still really great for the most part, though, again, there are a few characters that feel a bit off to me, not because they're bad, but, it's just that among all the other characters which I feel are just done to a tee (especially Kishirika and Orsted), they feel somewhat odd, again, Man god, but also Nokopara (but that might have more to do with his basic design) and Geese (who just looks like a dude, for how much the LN puts emphasis on the fact he looks like a Monkey, I feel it really downplays that here).
The writing and vocal performance for each of the characters don't suffer from such an issue though, I love all of them. It's Mushoku Tensei, so of course I am biased towards the writing, as someone who's read 23 volumes of this shit, but I still feel confident in saying that it's a lot better than most shows, especially Isekais, amongst which it stands out as a "great". From the goblin-like energy that comes from Kishirika's voice to the grim reaper's call that is Orsted deep voice, the performances just stay with you. All the characters feel so distinct, lively and believable thanks to the amazing work from animators and voiceactors alike. The music here was a lot better than season 1 in my opinion, there were more moments that, in my opinion, were able to shine thanks to the music (or lack of) like Orsted's introduction, Paul's scenes and Roxy's passage in her hometown, but those are exceptions, it still didn't have anything that really stuck with me like Made in Abyss' or Jujutsu Kaisen's OSTs did.
The story is where I think this anime kinda gets a bit iffy. It's not a bad story, like I wrote earlier, I read 23 volumes of this, so of course, I really loved it, and once again, the studio did an absolutely amazing job adapting the base material for it to feel at home in this new format, even more so now that I've realized that the studio made essentially nothing else. The problem is that it is SO INSANELY CONDENSED, 4 volumes for 12 (13) episodes (part 1 was 2 volumes for 11) and I get it, when I was reading the LN, the whole part with Rudeus trying to get back to Fiotta, I felt some parts could've easily been shortened, however, the anime here cuts just an absolutely insane amount of stuff that doesn't have a payoff for a while. It's a fine tradeoff, I get why they did it, but for me, what makes Mushoku Tensei so special is all the super long term character and world building stuff and that's exactly what been cut here. We can think of how little Paul's party (including geese) or the great powers are developed or about how we don't get to see the progress Rudeus makes towards not being as much of a pervert, which I feel conflicted about. On one hand, YAY NO SEX JOKES EXCEPT THE BOAT ONE! On the other, we don't get this very striking representation of Rudeus' growth as he moves away from his old coomer self. Another good example of this is Rudeus' fighting abilities. In the LN, we are presented with how dangerous the demon continent is in very tangible ways (for instance, the omnipresence of monsters and the fact you need to kill treants to get wood) and we see Rudeus slowly get better at fighting through experience and knowledge such as how he shapes his stone cannons and the extent of his mana capacity (in a relative sense), while here, he simple just gets stronger every now and then (except for the demon eye, that's done fine, though it's cut a little short) (also Eris doesn't have this problem), but this means that later moments such as
Last few specific notes that I felt wouldn't have fit in smoothly with the rest of the review :
I adored Roxy's episode (7), I criticized its presence earlier (honestly, it should've been a special like Cliff's introduction), but its audio and visuals make it so much better than the LN, it feels like a proper village that people live in and conveys Roxy's troubles in a way that is simply perfect, it couldn't have been done any better in my opinion.
I fell in love with Zanoba's complete and utter autism, OH MY GOD, I didn't like his voice at first, but the opposition between his serious and real self is so damn good, the way he's animated and his farewell are also just top tier stuff.
Milis looks absolutely stunning, I'm very happy we get to see so much of it.
Orsted's scene. Need I say more? Seriously, it sent shivers down my spine, it's so tense, especially compared to the rest of the show, it builds up so well into Nanahoshi and it's simply such a standout scene in every way, I don't know what I can even say about it, even if you don't watch the anime, go look up that scene online right now, I'm dead serious, it's that good...
Very low 7, it's good, though, not as good as the first part, it would've also probably been a high 6 (mostly cause I'm not the biggest fan of the part of the story it adapted), but the last episode was simply too good for me to give it that grade. It's good, but not amazing at anything (though it does have amazing moments), voice acting's great, but it can't carry the story by itself, which, in my opinion, isn't the greatest (though it's good), until you get to the future diary.
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