English Dub Review: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation: “Jobless Reincarantion”

Overview: A 34 year old reclusive man dies and is reincarnated as a young infant, Rudeus Greyrat (Ben Phillips & Madeleine Morris), in a fantasy world that is very different from Earth, the place he once called home. 

Our Take: If the name of the show didn’t already tip you off to what kind of anime series this is then welcome to the world of Isekai. The acclaimed, or in some cases, notorious, genre in which, people are transported to new worlds through various means. In this case, it’s through good old-fashioned reincarnation. And it’s usually to some unknown fantasy world that’s akin to an RPG. And quite honestly that’s really what Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation focuses on in “Jobless Reincarnation.” To its benefit though, there are some variations I’ve noticed that make an jaded Isekai veteran like myself a bit more intrigued. One of those being the fact the 34 year old recluse comes back to life as an infant. Now there is undoubtedly other series that have already used this idea but it’s new to me so that aspect is pretty intriguing. 

Although with that being said, I can’t say the same just yet for the main lead, Rudeus Greyrat. He is your average everyday lecherous creep who can’t take his eyes off of a woman’s chest. Because of the lude and conventional nature of his character, as of now at least, I can’t say he is winning a lot of points with me in the likability test. However, there is one glimmer of hope that could be promising in regards is how he seeks to take advantage of his restarted life so to speak and make a better one for himself than he had previously. This shines through ever so slightly with his new ‘loli’ instructor, Roxy Migurdia. Despite her disparaging of herself and feeling like she failed to be a good instructor to Rudeus (even though she did nothing wrong), it seems like he genuinely wants to help and make her feel better (as he should because he’s the one who technically screwed up). That has potential in making for a good character arc but obviously it’s much too early in the series to tell and remains to be seen. Although, this was a good first step in earning redemption points with me though! 

Also, as for the supporting cast I feel they’ve established themselves well enough that I feel they’ll be good companions for Rudeus throughout. Rudeus’s mother, Zenith, is a caring, considerate mother with some charm. His dad, Paul, is a friendly face along with being strong and capable. The family’s maid, Lilia, is quite intelligent. There’s a great scene that defines her role clearly and beautifully as she cleverly puts out the marital fires as quickly as they ignite. And she even notices Rudeus’s lustfulness despite his outward appearance. Then finally there’s Roxy. Her short and irritable nature makes her very charming and funny. I look forward to more scenes with her and Rudeus, considering their debut episode together. 

There are also other cool aspects this series has working in its favor. Swift  establishment of the fantasy world the magic rules that define it. It’s much appreciated that the show wastes no time in laying out the basics. It also leaves the door open for more to be learned later on. It works so exceptionally well  because Rudeus is so young and makes learning the rules of this universe feel more organic as we, the audience, learn right along with him. Mushoku Tensei also features a beautiful warm color palette and heavy black linework that make it look like something straight out of a fantasy novel (kinda like how it’s based off of one). The animation is just as quality. There are some very bubbly swishy water effects when Rudeus shoots water balls or one scene where a broken tree reattaches itself like magical possessed spaghetti to name just a few. 

 Overall, even though it suffers from some tropes we have all seen a million times by now in this genre, the debut episode of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation sets itself up to be a decent watch with it’s pretty art direction, smooth animation and enjoyable cast of characters.