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(All episodes watched): As I tried to choose one of a host of new Fall 2021 anime (about which I knew little or nothing) to watch, I noticed that episode one of season two of Mushoku Tensei was also available. I still had mostly positive memories of season one, so I selected it. It quickly became clear that I had very vague memories of how season one had ended and where things stood. Ruijerd is the guy who used to have green hair, right? And they got sucked into a sort of magical black hole which transported them to this faraway land, IIRC. What I should have done was to rewatch the final episode of the first season before watching this one, but oh well. Rudy has another encounter with the 'God' he once met, and after following his advice acquires an ability called 'foresight' which enables him to see a second or two into the future. This comes in very handy during fights. Otherwise no new problem emerges, other than the party being short of money. The nicknames that they had earned among the locals were amusing. Ruijerd's remark about 'speaking from the heart' was revealing. A slow start, but S2 is looking like the same show as S1 was six or seven months ago. I think the time spent on the Nonia arc, where, due to a misunderstanding, Rudy winds up imprisoned in a village of tree people who worship a cute white dog, could have been spent better. It doesn't seem to have much to do with the main plot, except that this is where Grislaine from season one grew up. I was impatient for the story to move on. A new arc takes off in episode 16 (I think; it's hard to keep track of second season episodes). Rudy happens upon someone he knows from season one and learns that the magical event that hurled him and Eris to the demon continent was a much bigger deal than he had thought. I forget; was it his fault? In most shows characters don't learn that they may have screwed up and need to fix mistakes they have made, but it happens here. Anyway, the two resolve their differences and part company. In episode 19 Rudy is interviewed by the Man-God again and given some hints about what lies ahead. He makes a breakthrough in terms of finding his missing family members--then winds up imprisoned again. Finding your family would be nice, but it doesn't strike me as a do-or-die, edge of our seats sort of goal. We don't have reason to believe that their lives are in danger, after all. And again I wonder why the 'jobless reincarnation' angle was included in this show. Rudy seems like such a totally different person from his past life--then, lazy and helpless, now able and proactive--that I usually forget that the two are the same. What was it that caused this radical transformation? Anyway, the two-episode arc in which Rudy is once again imprisoned, this time by Prince Dax(?) seemed to have all been intended as a big joke. But it didn't seem terribly funny to me, at least not funny enough to justify devoting two episodes to it. At the rate that things are moving, I bet a third season will be needed to wrap this story up. In episode 21 something shocking happens which jolts us out of the complacency about the plot of this show which we may have settled into. Fortunately, in alternate worlds which are similar to video games things like getting killed aren't all that big a deal. But this show is better than many isekai series and, here at least, manages to keep events startling and fairly powerful. But I kind of bristle at the might-makes-right mentality of these shows, where justice is whatever the toughest fighter says it is. Arguably more shocking is what happens next: the party of Rudy, Eris and Ruijerd breaks up and each goes their own way. Rudy (and us) had come to assume that something like this would never happen, then all of a sudden it does. His past-life experiences play a part as he decides what to do next. This tale is clearly far from complete but for the most part it continues to be among the better isekai series and I will gladly watch season three whenever it arrives. There's an 'extra episode': 'Eris, the Goblin Slayer'. Eris encounters 'Cliff Grimoire', a good but not great magician who is impressed by her and wants to join her adventuring party. I had thought that this would be a self-contained story that would be complete in 23 minutes, but no, there's clearly more to come. There's a power struggle underway between two factions of the church, and Cliff was once associated with one of them but seems to be alienated from it at the moment. The question of 'What's going on?' remains unanswered at the end. This seems to have taken place before Rudeus, Eris and Ruijerd parted ways. Last updated Thursday, March 24 2022. Created Tuesday, October 12 2021. | ||||||||
