English Dub Review: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation: “No Such Thing As a Free Lunch”

Overview: Rudeus (Madeleine Morris, Ben Phillips) and his new cellmate, Geese, escape only for the Beast Tribe’s village to be under attack from a group of smugglers. 

Our Take: “No Such Thing As a Free Lunch” also reiterates the Mushoku Tensei lesson of “No Such Thing As Unused Screen Time” with how it shows the nature and lifestyle of the Beast Tribe within the show’s opening titles, utilizing every precious minute. Similarly with how the extra time was used to show the huge depth and scale of Rikarisu City, the woodland area features a completely new and unique side of the world that differs greatly from the harsh desert. This time in sweeping homebrewed tree housing that are interconnecting and cascade high atop over the grassy grounds, not to mention home to many brightly colored and colorfully shaped birds. 

Rudeus is still feeling the consequences of the missed connections on the part of the Doldia warriors and a village of beast people with his imprisonment starting to drive up his restlessness and boredom in some amusing ways. From the dignified narration, akin to that of describing a luxury hotel or resort, of his crude living conditions to his new cellmate by the name of Geese. They have such an energetically goofy and eccentric chemistry that it is easy to see them being best friends in the not-too-distant future. 

When they are finally set free, Rudeus is once again a victim to the internal struggle of whether or not he should fully commit to helping someone. But nonetheless his growth is still present with how leans towards helping rather than not at the end of the day with him and Geese taking on the smugglers and that of the notorious Gallus Cleaner with the North God sword style. It makes for an incredibly fast paced fight that flows beautifully as Gallus transitions from taking on Rudeus to Geese and vice versa, what’s more is how deadly he is with him being Rudeus toughest opponent thus far, so much so that he needed the help of Geese and the Sacred Beast. It’s what comes after the fight that continues to forge Rudeus as he momentarily wrestles as when push comes to shove regarding the safety of the Beast children he was more reactionary as opposed to proactive, repeating his problem. Although at the end of the day, Rudeus made the decision to have Dead End be that of a heroic savoir and it’s nice to see him enjoy that during his reunion with Eris, Ruijerd as well as that of the Beast People’s apology and praise, even if it’s short lived with Rudeus potentially grappling with his hesitation later on.