English Dub Review: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation: “Turning Point 1”

Overview: Eris (Lindsay Seidel) helps throw a birthday party in honor of Rudeus (Madeleine Morris, Ben Phillips) turning 10 years old, while a great magic swells up causing quite the stir across various parts of the world. 

Our Take: With the arrival of Rudeus’s 10th birthday, a party is thrown for him by Phillip, Eris and the rest of the Greyrat household. And, of course, with Rudeus and his promiscuous ways, hijinks ensue. After copping a feel on Ghislaine and an awkward, chuckle-inducing intrusion from a maid thereafter, the celebration shows just how much of a Rudeus stan everyone is. If it’s not Sauros wanting to make him the house head, it’s Hilda smothering him and demanding he and Eris get married, their overzealousness makes for some great laughs. Another new trait that didn’t go unnoticed is his newfound consideration of others feelings. Rudeus trying to please everyone with his “emotional” reactions is heartwarming and nicely shows how he’s slowly but surely becoming a more caring individual. 

After the festivities, Rudeus has a nightcap with his uncle, Phillip. The man hasn’t been painted in the best of lights up until this point. Yeah, that doesn’t change. His willingness to objectify Eris or any of his maids against their will demonstrates just how slimy he is, not to mention how power hungry trying to get Rudeus in his corner for political gain. Which, deplorable as it is, showcases yet another archaic facet of the culture Rudeus now lives in. Especially when Eris waits for Rudeus on his bed, more than likely at the behest of Phillip. What transpired was an awkward and uncomfortable scene with Rudeus misreading the room, advancing and quickly being sexually deflated by a roundhouse kick to the head. It can be a bit jarring to see 10 year olds so sexually impassioned but at the same time fully appreciative of the rawness that Mushoku Tensei doesn’t hold back from. The scene also serves as a good reminder that he’s a work in progress and signifies how he’s still developing for the better with how instantly he regrets his actions, only to be forgiven on account of it being his birthday.

The other last bit of this episode shows the magical unrest centralized on one location through various perspectives, with increased monster activity acting as the precursor and even attracting Paul and the village’s attention. These scenes have such a grand sense of scale and scope to them due to the brief glimpse at various differing geographical locations visited from Rudeus’s village to volcanic landscapes to deserts and skybound fortresses. This is only furthered with the introduction of so many new characters such as a demon lord, a legendary hero and a seemingly powerful mage who has the balls (and similar reptilian peepers) to stare down a dragon. All of whom will undoubtedly make a return and be developed more thoroughly later down the line. This is all capped off with the arrival of a strange masked figure that serves the great hero. His impudent attitude backed up by the fact that he can hold his own against Ghislaine makes him an imposing figure and, like the others, will most assuredly come back into play later on in the series. Lastly, it is brought to an abrupt end with Ghislaine, Rudeus and Eris getting blasted to kingdom come that will continue to turn the page on and kick off Rudeus and Eris’s independence, respectively. 

Jobless Reincarnation offers a turning point, indeed, with true to life trial and error character progression and an exciting end that kickstarts a new chapter in Rudeus and Eris’s journey.