English Dub Review: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation: “A Chance Encounter”

Overview: Rudeus (Madeleine Morris, Ben Phillips) and Eris (Lindsay Seidel) end up on the Demon continent and meet Ruijerd (Christopher Wehkamp), a member of the notorious race, the Superd Tribe. 

Our Take: Jobless Reincarnation has been steadily progressing the lore and mythology of the fantasy world Rudeus finds himself in. There’s legendary heroes, mythical beasts, various races of fantastical creatures, and a vast world with varying geographical landscapes that give the world amazing scope. Another stepping stone in that grand direction comes in the undefined bright white omnipotent being, Man God. Every universe will have their own unique take on all these types of deities with infinite power or near it. Marvel’s got One-Above-All. DC has the Presence. Not to mention countless anime like most recently I’m Standing on a Million Lives. Man God has been framed, potentially, as an antagonist by Rudeus but it doesn’t necessarily seem that way. While definitely suspicious, he (he?) (it?) never does anything to genuinely antagonize and gives him genuinely helpful advice in breaking the ice with Ruijerd. The question becomes: how will his role define Rudeus and/or the world itself? However, for now the air of mystery surrounding Man God is intriguing indeed. Also his name dropping revealing that the Dragon God is the one who reincarnated Rudeus offers a nice looming tease that will undoubtedly become a vocal point later so kudos for that as well.  

The not-so-deadly introduction of Ruijerd is an amazingly well executed start to the character for various reasons. For one, it effectively demonstrates his character with strong defining characteristics like his reserved body language. And another is how Rudeus was able to deduce that he’s not as bad as he was made to believe, on his own. That’s especially key, as he seemingly forgot the crucial advice Man God gave him and freaked the hell out initially, making his realization that much more satisfying. But most notable is how Ruijerd reacted to Eris’s first sight of him. This not only paints an upsetting picture of the torment he must feel but also how the entire race of the Superd is looked upon by most people and what they’re subjected to on a daily basis. It’s a thing of beauty how Mushoku Tensei uses natural tendencies and realistic reactions rather than forced exposition. It may sound simple but it’s something that many anime, no matter the genre, flounder or simply don’t care enough about to change.  

By most people, it sure doesn’t include Roxy’s family as he seems to live with them in their village. Unfortunately, this is pretty much the extent of the familial connection. Other than Rudeus’ eye roll inducing drooling of the Roxy lookalikes and the fact that the Migurdia tribe can use telepathy, it’s a bit of a missed opportunity in that not much is learned about them. It’s not that we don’t get anything worth mentioning. In fact, it’s just the opposite with the physical characteristics of the Migurdia clan and how they miss Roxy on account of that they haven’t seen her in years. However, we don’t get any added backstory on Roxy, the relationship she had with her parents and village or anything else. So hopefully we’ll get to revisit them again in the future whether that be through Roxy or other means through the story. 

Rudeus has slowly but surely been cultivating himself to being better than he once was. Every episode, more or less, has presented a new trial that has taught him a new lesson and taken him one step closer towards that goal. That’s why based on his past experience, it was especially touching that he’s able to sympathize with Ruijerd and find common ground with him. Not to mention we can gauge how he would have treated him back in his old world further showing his development as a whole. 

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation introduces intriguing new characters that further the dynamic world along with pushing the amazing writing and great storytelling.