An enthralling fantasy show that manages to be the prime example as to what an isekai can be, albeit with some flaws

Mushoku Tensei simultaneously shows the absolute best isekai has to offer, but it holds itself back from true greatness with some very dumb mistakes. There are many amazing parts to the series, but there a lot of moments that leave a very bad taste in my mouth.

The most consistent aspect of Mushoku Tensei is most definitely its world building. A lot of generic isekai decide to stick with previously established tropes and create a world that most people have seen a million times over. Mushoku Tensei stands in complete contrast to this mantra. While a lot of aspects of its world feel pulled from tropes and cliches, the series manages to put a unique enough spin on these tropes to make it feel fresh. Nearly every aspect of Mushoku Tensei's world manages to feel fleshed out in unique ways. Races, magic, languages, royal hierarchies, and more all just manage to make sense. how the world is gradually expanded manages to feel rewarding due to how they are presented in the story. What makes these details click even more is how they are reintegrated into the actual plot later on. While nearly every element of Mushoku Tensei is at the very least good, no aspect really comes to its level of quality. Ever other aspect of Mushoku Tensei has some type of caveat holding them back.

A commonly praised aspect of Mushoku Tensei is in its production. There are many great moments of sakuga, with great character designs, and a rich sense of atmosphere. However, all of this manages to be bogged down by the fact that way too many of the characters are blurry and pixelated. This aspect of the visuals is so bizarre in the fact that I can't think of any reason as to why they are this pixelated. It isn't due to a lack of resources, since there are so many parts where the sakuga hits very hard. It is really unfortunate, because this pixelation takes a lot away from a great looking series. However, I gradually got used to this aspect as I watched on through the series.

Easily the most contentious aspect of Mushoku Tensei is in its characters. While there are some major flaws in how the show develops its characters, there is a lot of good to appreciate in its character development too. A lot of the character building in Mushoku Tensei is slow and methodical. The main example of this is in Rudy and Eris's relationship. It takes 3 full episodes for the two of them to become true friends, and every moment of their development together is extremely convincing. This level of slow development is a constant throughout the series. The main two exceptions to this is in how Lillia starts to call Rudy her lord out of nowhere and how Eris suddenly gets over her Superd prejudice to warm up to Ruijerd.

However, the biggest problem with Mushoku Tensei is in the ecchi scenes with Rudy. Overall, I think that Rudy is a pretty good protagonist. Seeing him learning to develop in this new world is extremely satsifying, since there is usually a good effort made in detailing his relationships with every character. Despite this effort in making him a good character, there will always be a part of me that hates him just because of his pervy nature. I am not completely opposed to ecchi scenes in anime. I love the Monogatari Series with all of my heart, and that includes some extremely questionable scenes. However, Mushoku Tensei falters in the way that the more sexual scenes contrast so heavily with what normally happens. Going from the level of maturity found in most of the show to the inherently childish nature of most the ecchi scenes is such a stark contrast that it takes most enjoyment I have away from the series. Rudy's pervy nature isn't properly called out by the show, since mostly just rewarded for the most part. It is strange to have such an unlikable aspect of the main character be rewarded in a series, since it can be extremely frustrating to watch. This aspect of Rudy singlehandly takes him from a great protagonist to one that I absolutely can't stand at times.

Mushoku Tensei is the glowing example of what an isekai should be, but it is extremely disheartening seeing it falter in a very key area. Hopefully the issues with this show are ironed out in Season 2, because if those issues are fixed, we can have a truly incredible show on our hands here.