

Once again, warning : this review was written by a nerd who read both the LN and manga, and as such it was written from that specific perspective, meaning that I appreciated the show more as an adaptation than as a standalone story.
So.... That was a season. I've read a few of the reviews for this one and oh boy, the people who are mad at this one clearly haven't read the LN version of it cause, compared to that version of the story, this is a godsend.
First, let's talk about episode 0, which I'm duck taping to this season's review. It's fine, it starts off kinda weak and gets a bit better as it goes on, though it seems kind of out of place, I really don't get why they didn't just put it in between episode 3 and 4 and I feel it does a poor job at introducing the Princess, Luke and their groups' influence over the academy, but sure, it's fine.
OK, now let's talk about the real season:
I think it's a great adaptation. Let's get this out of the way real quick, I really didn't mind the representation of the "Erectile Dysfunction Arc" (or ERA for short), which is literally the timeframe represented by this entire season. I absolutely despised it in the LN, it lasted way too long and was constantly brought up, but it's massively downplayed alongside pretty much all the sex references (believe me, there were SO MANY that were cut, especially with the princess) in this season which is great, cause underneath all the sex jokes, I feel that Mushoku Tensei offers a really good story.
And, that is pretty much my opinion of this season "thank god they removed all that bullshit". Yes, there is still some really unnecessary stuff left, but as someone who's read the light novel version of the story, my opinion is that it is fine completely fine considering how many of the terrible sex jokes and references they removed, which makes an adaptation of volumes 7 to 9 actually bearable to watch (except maybe episode 3).
This doesn't mean I think it's a perfect adaptation though, I still don't like that the whole story revolves around Rudeus having an Erectile Dysfunction instead of just being unable to get close to a women or (literally) in bed with one because of how he distrusts them after what happened with Eris, especially considering with how much emphasis they put on him using Eris' hair as a calmer. But still, I am perfectly content with what we ended up getting, seeing as they made what is by far the slowest (and least interesting) part of the story (Rudeus' time as a solo adventurer) actually well paced by cutting most of it and not wasting time on all the extra characters it introduces for no reason (with 2(3) exceptions) while also successfully dodging the pitfall of just becoming depression porn (that the LN sadly fell into). The only real problem I had with this whole part of the story was that they cut the ice treant fight which made Sarah's rescue feel kinda nonsensical.
After that we get to see volumes 8 and 9 (Magic Academy) which I have mixed feelings about. The adaptation, again, cuts a lot of the sex jokes, which is great, but they also cut a lot off stuff that really feels like it should've been present, for instance, it doesn't explain why Rudeus is just OK with slavery, it barely give any of the characters time to be developed outside of Elinalise, Sylphiette, Nanahoshi and Zanoba, so it doesn't develop some of the major characters like the princess, Linia and Pursena (who, instead of being gang leaders, are simply boobies on legs) or Cliff (who does nothing), it also completely skips over barrier and divine magics (doesn't even get mentioned once), Badigadi just exists, etc. They cut A LOT of stuff. However, they did do the characters they decided to spend time on really well (including Nanahoshi, who they did absolutely perfectly), all the necessary plot points for the story to keep going and fully make sense were presented and everything that we are shown is done really well, it also looks great (though it is annoying how sometimes small items (and Rudeus' staff) just disappear), the music is a huge step up from S1 (it feels way more distinct and actually helps set the tone quite a few times rather than just being generic fantasy music) and its simply a good story to begin with.
Outside of that, I think it's just a generally good adaptation that has a lot to like for how simple it is :
Nanahoshi's entire episode is amazing, the music, the use of multiple languages (which also really stands out), the art, the voice acting, it all works together to make an incredibly memorable watching experience;
Elinalise is actually somehow fun here (somehow);
The art is great, it's memorable and the characters really POP from the backgrounds (which all contain a great amount of detail);
The voice actors all do a really good job;
Everything related to Sylphiette is done really well and made to be cute instead of awkward and brain-damage inducing like how it was in the LN. Sylphiette's big coming out is also done really well with the focus they put on the relationship aspect of it rather than just the sex;
Julie is very cute, I love how they animated her and how she's always moving around in the background of scenes. 10/10 child;
And the comedy focused episodes are fun.
I can't quite give it an 8 Though. I feel the end result is a bit too shallow, with multiple moments that feel like they wouldn't allow for much more than passive consumption if I wasn't taking notes about it the whole time (I've actually been doing that for every anime and manga I consume for a year now). There's also a few extremely cringe scenes that are left untouched like the Roxy shrine and "piss". Badigadi's also done very poorly, he doesn't look nearly as intimidating or lively as he did in the LN and manga, while his voice actor also sounds extremely amateurish, making the character sound like "generic non-human unnamed side-character #47", which is a shame considering how strong of a personality he has in the LN. Finally, Ariel also feels extremely underdeveloped, she barely even has a presence at all.
High 7.
15 out of 20 users liked this review