Isekai is cool now

~Spoilers~

~The story~

Mushoku Tensei/Jobless Reincarnation follows the story of Rudeus Greyrat - A middle aged NEET who gets hit by a truck and is reincarnated to another world in a baby's body. Through early training, Rudeus becomes highly skilled at magic and tries to live his life without any regrets. The first few episodes are almost like a slice of life where Rudeus grows up and learns more about this world.

~The Characters~

The characters in this series are relatable and interesting, they all have some flaw about them and are unable to change because of it. They're all burdened by some sort of trauma or are struggling through life, but by helping each other they end up changing for the better.

~Za World~

A strong point of Mushoku Tensei is the worldbuilding with a believeable medieval setting an Isekai is supposed to have. There's different languages in this world and you see Rudeus learning them rather than inserting some Isekai auto-translator shit, you have a different style of greeting people and a different birthday system.

One particular detail I liked was during Episode 5 when Eris and Rudeus get kidnapped, Ghislaine saves the two of them (like a Badass) and we see how Rudeus witnesses a freshly shredded corpse laying in front of him, but instead of trying to come up with witty line like he usually does or shrug it off, he instead just sits there in shock having a panic attack while Eris in the background isn't even phased by it. This is the point in the series where we all understand the stakes at hand, a fantasy Isekai is a real and dangerous world where you can get decapitated by a sword or get turned to ash through a fireball, something a lot of fantasy anime take for granted and meme about. As for Eris' reaction, something like that is a perfectly normal sight for someone like her, living in a world similar to the Middle ages makes them think different from modern day citizens like Rudeus, they kill at a young age, are sent away from their families as kids or ask eight year olds to wear Protection (maybe that last part was a bit strange), everything in this just feels real and makes sense.

~Animation and Music~

Nothing much for me to say, the animation and the opening song are just beautiful. Studio Bind did a fantastic job, they were literally made for this series. Easily one of the best looking animated series of 2021.

~Fanservice ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)~

Now I like a good plot, but I like a good plot with lots of Lewd stuff even better. Although not everyone is going to like the excessive amount of ecchi and it might drive away a lot of people, this is probably the biggest downside of this show. It's best to watch this show if you're open to that sort of stuff.

~A Second chance~

In a lot of the current Isekai we see how a loser incel gets reincarnated and suddenly becomes this OP Harem God, but Rudeus is different. Rudeus was scarred from his highschool days and shut himself off from everybody, he never had the proper support to make it through this. Even after being reborn he still gets PTSD, but only by the help of his new friends and family that he is able to open up to people. Sure, he's still a scumbag who makes mistakes and will keep making more in the future, he might get backed into a corner and feel desperate enough to murder an entire town using his Cumulonimbus spell, but that just makes him more of a realistic and relatable human being. He has flaws like every other person but he chooses to be better and help his friends and family to grow as well, and that is what makes his journey so interesting.