English Dub Review: Mushoku Tensei “Burn Bright, Mad Dog” ;”Howl, Mad Dog”
Overview:
Ghislaine takes Eris to train under the Sword God, but Eris’s brash attitude angers the other disciples.
Nina continues to eye Eris as a rival, but training with masters of other styles sparks discoveries.
Our Take(Spoilers):
Why is it that whenever we need a visual representation of a female character’s growth and change, they have the character cut her hair? It’s not just anime, either; I see it in Western media as well. I know that it’s hard to portray something as internal as determination or something, but it’s something that’s always been funny to me.
That was probably the only negative thing I have to say about this two-episode premiere we got. I’m so excited this show is back because it is one of the best modern-day anime out there. I know a lot of people have problems with it. I understand that Rudeus is a problematic protagonist, but you have to admit that he grows as a character. He’s not perfect by any means and was a piece of shit in his past life, but I think we can all agree that if we got a second life, we would (hopefully) try to be better.
As someone who has read most of the light novels, I’ve been chomping at the bit to get to this season. Eris is my favorite character, and when she left, I was disappointed. I think the way she left Rudeus was awful because it left him feeling like she disliked him or something when that couldn’t have been further from the truth. She wants to become strong enough to be worthy of him.
As always with Studio Bind and their work on Mushoku Tensei, it’s animated amazingly well. The fight scenes are fantastic, and even in the downtime, I love the shading that’s done for the characters and their faces.
I thought that as Rudeus got older, we might get a different VA for him. It’s been Madeline Morris since season one, but if they were going to change, I would assume this would be the time. I think that Madeline is here to stay, and honestly, I think she does a great job. We didn’t get much of Rudeus in these episodes, but she did a good job of sounding like a boy turning into a man.
Lindsay Seidel returns as Eris, and I had to make sure that it was still her because she also added some more gruff to her voice. This gave us an audio cue that Eris is no longer the same person she was.
What I love most about this show is that it mixes the action and visual spectacle of a shonen show with the chilled vibes of a slice of life. Unlike a lot of shows that try to do this, Mushoku Tensei excels at both. The action scenes are the best I’ve seen in almost any other anime. But during the downtime, it manages to make you feel things like a show that focuses less on action. If these two episodes are a sign of things to come, then we’re in for a treat.
