Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

[Buffalobiian]

I suppose Hitogami's advice was to ensure that he wouldn't miss out on a potential reunion with his childhood love (also the implication of how he will get over his ED). Even with divine advice against doing the "right" thing to reunite the family, it's feels like hamfisted writing and not what the character would actually do. Rudeus barley trusts Hitogami as it stands.

I feel that he trusts him enough to follow his advice though.

As for his magic, he probably hasn't studied it much since then. He can cast spells quickly, without enchantment and he doesn't seem to be bothered by mana limits during routine use - but I can believe that he hasn't learned anything more groundbreaking since then. His application in battle is still top notch.

I share the kicker about Zenith though. At the end of last season, it seemed like she was trapped underwater in the Labyrinth country.

I'm glad we're finally at the academy. I'm hungry for more info on the world/plot.

[MFauli]

Finally, season 2 starts for real next week. At least no time is wasted on the journey which was done nicely as an ending sequence.

Can someone tell Rudeus that you don't NEED a dick to enjoy a hot woman's body btw?! Omg, use your fucking mouth and hands and enjoy Enalisa at least a little bit, you dumbass!!1 >_>

I swear, if he doesn't "enjoy" one of those catgirls I'm gonna cry.

Magic University looks fun, although my mind is still caught up in shitty "Mashle", so it will take 1-2 episodes for me to realize that this is a GOOD magic university.

Although I wonder what crazy magic he's supposed to learn there, because let's be real: Despite Kami telling Rudeus "you've only improved a little", Rudeus absolutely decimated a red dragon with giant, sharp rock shards that he fired like bullets. There can't be many monsters that require more than that to be dealt with. AndI'd assume even if the university does have crazier spells, it wouldn't just tell Rudeus like that.

His mom being a labyrinth adventurer is weird. Kinda feels like there's no need to search anymore.

[Buffalobiian]

Although I wonder what crazy magic he's supposed to learn there, because let's be real: Despite Kami telling Rudeus "you've only improved a little", Rudeus absolutely decimated a red dragon with giant, sharp rock shards that he fired like bullets. There can't be many monsters that require more than that to be dealt with. AndI'd assume even if the university does have crazier spells, it wouldn't just tell Rudeus like that.


If I were him, I'd work on how I can counter someone dispelling my magic. That's how the dragon god nearly killed him.

Erinalise did make a good point about not wanting to be Paul's daughter-in-law or lose Roxy as a friend. Things could get really weird if they banged.

[MFauli]

Erinalise did make a good point about not wanting to be Paul's daughter-in-law or lose Roxy as a friend. Things could get really weird if they banged.

The real reason seemed to be related to Sylphie's pendant, though. My guess was that it's some elven vow between lovers and that's why Elinalia gave up that easily.

[Buffalobiian]

I went back to rewatch the episode where Orsted fought the trio.

1) Man, that was so cool. Orsted just decked Ruijerd.
2) Orsted used "Magic Dispel" which disrupted Rudy's casting, but then Rudy backed off, and Orsted had summoned a shield instead of using Disrupt, so I wonder if Disrupt has a physical range.
3) The ep reminded me that Rudy can't cast healing magic without enchantment (and he couldn't enchant because his lungs were destroyed) - so he can start with learning how to enchant without words I guess.
4) That blue fireball he threw had plenty of destructive power behind it, so I guess the fact that he's not "much more advanced" is also true.

As for this episode, Rudy kept saying that the red dragon was half dead already, but I saw no signs of that.

He also aimed his staff like a rifle, which was interesting.

https://i.imgur.com/cCDt7Ti.jpg

[Kraco]

I can't help but feel the deal about Zenith being just fine and working as a dungeon crawling adventurer is a lie, or at least a half-truth, to make Rudeus feel better and keep him away from the place. Hitogami told him he would regret going there. Paul might also know more about it, and doesn't want to potentially lose his son. Perhaps the place is such that you can't get out of the labyrinth before conquering it, and few have ever done it. That could be the whole truth and why Zenith hasn't left the place to be reunited with her little daughter (and husband, I guess, as an afterthought). I trust this story enough for there to be some reason, as otherwise it does feel kind of dodgy that Rudeus would go to school instead of helping her mom, considering that for 2+ years, even since breaking up with Eris, his main priority has been to look for Zenith, even if his method might not have been as smart as he thought.

Regardless, I did like this episode. It's remarkable how little actually happened, yet it was interesting and entertaining, nonetheless.

[MFauli]

Seems to me Rudy should learn permanent spells, aka buffs, shields and auto-regen. Stuff that stays with you even when you're not doing anything.


As for this episode, Rudy kept saying that the red dragon was half dead already, but I saw no signs of that.[/img]

He clearly said that to downplay his own power in fron of the party members.

Edit:

Agree with Kraco about Zenith being well being a half-truth. Maybe she's a labyrinth explorer, alright, but she's being forced to it or has some other stressing reason for it. And we don't know anything about the condition she's in.

[DarthEnderX]

Yeah, if Zenith really were fine, you'd think she'd have returned home to look for her family by now.

[MFauli]

Yeah, if Zenith really were fine, you'd think she'd have returned home to look for her family by now.

"Screw cooking, washing and handling the children, FEMINISM, bitches!" - Zenith, Labyrinth Adventurer

[Buffalobiian]

S2E5

-----------------------










Wait.

So he's got Disturb Magic down, and also healing without incantations?! Good shit.

But... just tell him who you are Sylphy! That's partially why you're doing this (besides "repaying" the princess), and he's already told you he's looking for friends - he just didn't mention your name. And your response was "Oh, go read this book"?

Luke Greyrat called Rudy "forgetful", and I doubt he means he forgot to return the favour for that duel. I'm guessing Sylphy confided in him that Rudy is who she was looking for but somehow she thinks he forgot her?. Really?

I'm surprised Rudy didn't press Cliff more for Eris's whereabouts etc. It'd seem like the natural thing to do. I honestly expected to see a spar between those two this episode.

Now, I don't know if it's a slip-up in the script of not, but Zanoba clearly referred to Fitz as a girl during his classroom introduction (13:06 - "Kanojo")

[Kraco]

Wait.

So he's got Disturb Magic down, and also healing without incantations?! Good shit.

It's kind of disappointing we got exactly zero seconds shown of Rudeus developing it. But I guess it's not the focus of the story, in the end, even if it supposedly is quite a big deal, after his fatal encounter with Orsted.


I'm surprised Rudy didn't press Cliff more for Eris's whereabouts etc. It'd seem like the natural thing to do. I honestly expected to see a spar between those two this episode.

Cliff didn't seem like a super social person, plus Rudeus might not really want to know too much. He's trying to get over that relationship, after Eris left him behind. The most important thing was that Eris isn't actually attending the same academy. That would be awkward, from Rudeus's point of view, for sure.


Now, I don't know if it's a slip-up in the script of not, but Zanoba clearly referred to Fitz as a girl during his classroom introduction (13:06 - "Kanojo")

You are, kind of, jumping to conclusions here.

[David75]

I thought while watching the Silent one was another person. Fitz wasn't mentionned, although Silent Fitz also is one of her nicknames.
We've not seen Fitz in a laboratory and her mission to protect the princess doesn't match with working in a laboratory for long hours/days.

I'm with Kraco regarding Eris, she is the cause of his disorder and his depression. In that state you try to avoid thinking about that person.

[MFauli]

I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hated how Silphy kept her secret identity. Girl, just TEll hm already, ffs. This is just wasted time. And Rudeus is dumb beyond belief, how can he think Fitz is a guy, especially when she's living in the girls' dormitory.

Nah, that was dumb.

My hopes for the future:

- Rudeus obliterates some strong students in any competiton, be it magic or sword fightng
- has sex with one of the cat girls (or at least uses the rest of his body that isn't a limp dick)
- attains Silphy's panties and adds them to his panty shrine, lol
- tells the other students about the guy that almost killed him (i forgot his name) and they're shocked that Rudy met such a person of legends

Other than that, Pls for the love of god have Silphy reveal herself asap. There is zero satisfaction in a delayed reveal.

[Ryllharu]

I'm surprised Rudy didn't mention to the beastgirl that he met her parents and sister(s).


It's kind of disappointing we got exactly zero seconds shown of Rudeus developing it. But I guess it's not the focus of the story, in the end, even if it supposedly is quite a big deal, after his fatal encounter with Orsted.
This whole season has felt off. We got 3 plus episodes of depression and regression. Then they decide to not explain things that made the series appealing and methodical before. Skip development of magic. No mention of Slyvie being able to silently cast healing magic. No explanation of what Slut Elf's curse is (this is the first mention of her lust being due to a curse that will kill her, wtf!) and no attempts to explain it to the audience. Just mentioned and moved on after an entire episode of her sleeping around.

No, we got a dragged out depression arc. Yay...:mad:

I'm getting quite exasperated with the fucked up and inconsistent pace of this season.


I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hated how Silphy kept her secret identity. Girl, just TEll hm already, ffs. This is just wasted time. And Rudeus is dumb beyond belief, how can he think Fitz is a guy, especially when she's living in the girls' dormitory.

Nah, that was dumb.
In Rudy's defense, literally everyone around him refers to Fitz as a dude. She wears men's clothes, has her hair cut short in contrast to most of the girls, and as the guardian of an actual princess, it does make sense that the princess is allowed to violate the rule of women-only dorms for her bodyguards. Slyvie has had three years to practice her Sheik game.

[Buffalobiian]

I thought while watching the Silent one was another person. Fitz wasn't mentionned, although Silent Fitz also is one of her nicknames.

Oooh, Silent One might not be Silent Fitz. That didn't occur to me.


I'm surprised Rudy didn't mention to the beastgirl that he met her parents and sister(s).

Yeah, he's keeping to himself a lot here, which I didn't expect. The eating girl going "something stinks" was a little unexpected.

The dorm being okay with an apparent dude (even if it's her guard) dropping the princess's underwear felt off. You'd expect her to have a female maid to do all that.

[MFauli]

I'm getting quite exasperated with the fucked up and inconsistent pace of this season.


Vinland S2 started a trend ...

[DarthEnderX]

So he's got Disturb Magic down, and also healing without incantations?!The instructor is the one that healed.


Now, I don't know if it's a slip-up in the script of not, but Zanoba clearly referred to Fitz as a girl during his classroom introduction (13:06 - "Kanojo")He said "the silent one" but wasn't talking about Fitz.


how can he think Fitz is a guy, especially when she's living in the girls' dormitory.The other students also think she's a guy. Because he's the Princess's servant, he probably gets to live with her.


No explanation of what Slut Elf's curse is (this is the first mention of her lust being due to a curse that will kill her, wtf!) and no attempts to explain it to the audience. Just mentioned and moved on after an entire episode of her sleeping around.Because he said "curse" in quotes, I read that as "this is a lie she tells to cover for her nymphomania".

[Buffalobiian]

The instructor is the one that healed.


Hmm... no one chanted though.
He did gesture, but I get the feeling that enchantless magic is supposed to be so rare that even teachers probably can't do it. The only other thing I can think of is that that's a big healing crest that's drawn on the ground for duels, since I don't see it serving any other purpose.

[DarthEnderX]

Hmm... no one chanted though.I think the animators were just being lazy. But you could see the instructor gesturing when she was being healed.


The only other thing I can think of is that that's a big healing crest that's drawn on the ground for duels, since I don't see it serving any other purpose.Maybe the gesturing was how he activates the crest, and the crest doesn't need incatations.

[Ryllharu]

S2 Eps 06

-------



Well, that was kinda a shit episode. Discouraging to see the floofy-haired slave girl child-rearing isekai cliche back again.

The decent stuff was Sylvie playing with Rudeus about her former master right to his face. She's really trying to see if he figures it out so she doesn't have to break her contract with the Princess I suppose. Laying it on real thick, but he's done and seen too much to realize. Also, she's changed a lot since they were both 10 years old.

[DarthEnderX]

Discouraging to see the floofy-haired slave girl child-rearing isekai cliche back again.Keep in mind though that this series is considered one of the progenitors of the modern isekai genre. It's been around as long as Re:Zero has.

It's been interesting watching this series, seeing how many things this story does for a single arc, that multiple other series then base their entire series around.

[MFauli]

slow mode :/

also fking TELL HIM, Silphie ...

[Ryllharu]

Keep in mind though that this series is considered one of the progenitors of the modern isekai genre. It's been around as long as Re:Zero has.

That's not an excuse, and it is also a completely invalid explanation. Shield Hero started at nearly the exact same time. Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World predates Mushoku Tensei by years.

They're all Shōsetsuka ni Narō series. Plenty of other "Imma Raise a Slave" manga started at similar timelines. Himekishi ga Classmate also started around the same time. By the time Mushoku Tensei got around to using this crap in its own novels (these arcs are from 2015 and on), plenty of other series had it as their central theme.

edit: Sugar Apple Fairytale is from 2010.

[Kraco]

At least it's not Rudeus who got the slave. The slave is still there, yes, but not for the MC. Not that I wouldn't have preferred the slave not to exist at all. It's one of the most annoying tropes plaguing isekai series.

[MFauli]

At least it's not Rudeus who got the slave. The slave is still there, yes, but not for the MC. Not that I wouldn't have preferred the slave not to exist at all. It's one of the most annoying tropes plaguing isekai series.

what. Slaves existed in medieval times and isekai often take place in fantasy medieval settings, so that's why there's slaves. It's no more a trope than swords being a weapon of choice.

[Ryllharu]

The issue isn't that slavery exists in the setting.

It's the plot device of, "I'll buy a slave, raise them in a very modern Earth method like I would my child, give them a great life, and help develop unique skills for them to use. I've raised this diamond in the rough that would have died in misery if not for me buying them."
Romance and\or Sex with them optional.

[MFauli]

The issue isn't that slavery exists in the setting.

It's the plot device of, "I'll buy a slave, raise them in a very modern Earth method like I would my child, give them a great life, and help develop unique skills for them to use. I've raised this diamond in the rough that would have died in misery if not for me buying them."
Romance and\or Sex with them optional.

Now that's criticism I agree with. I'm currently playing Assassins Creed Valhalla and you'd think vikings were feminists, women as equals everyhwere and gay romancing. It's something I've come to hate in pretty much all modern video games: They're super woke, applying modern values to historic time periods ... at least for the "good guys", lol. It's why I have no interest in Baldur's Gate 3 right now, so much choice the game promises, but I'm sure I cannot be a transphobic, racist asshole that has 3 wives who don't know about each other (to use an extreme example of what I'd like to see in games).

Makes me remember the fake-controversary about Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Final Fantasy 16, for lacking black people. Yeah, duh, it's supposed to a pseudo-version of the middle age.

Ah, you made me rant, gotta stop :>

[Ryllharu]

It's why I have no interest in Baldur's Gate 3 right now, so much choice the game promises, but I'm sure I cannot be a transphobic, racist asshole that has 3 wives who don't know about each other (to use an extreme example of what I'd like to see in games).
Sidebar rant going to The Other Thread (https://forums.gotwoot.org/showthread.php/10345-Game-What-game-are-you-currently-playing?p=577978&viewfull=1#post577978)!

[Buffalobiian]

I'm just enjoying Rudy's dick being confused and he can't figure out why.

The slave thing was a weird turn of events. "I can't learn to create figures so I'll get a slave to do it for me" wasn't what I was expecting. But I suppose if Zanoba just wants figures (without wanting to make them), and Rudy isn't interested in selling figures then that's his only bet.

Given that strength was an issue for Zanoba (only later did they mention clumsiness), the immediate solution I thought of was to have him sculpt large, durable materials like giant statues instead of soft clay.

Addit: Fitz was actually staring at the male slave's crotch the entire time she commented on how big they got. Rudy missed that detail too.

[MFauli]

Given that strength was an issue for Zanoba (only later did they mention clumsiness), the immediate solution I thought of was to have him sculpt large, durable materials like giant statues instead of soft clay..


That was actually what I thought, too! I imagined how Zanoba would start creating giant sculptures, like larger than life-sized, of pervy posed women he "admires", lol.

[DarthEnderX]

Shield Hero started at nearly the exact same time.Oh, so it did. I actually checked that first, but I guess I was looking at the manga date.


what. Slaves existed in medieval times and isekai often take place in fantasy medieval settings, so that's why there's slaves. It's no more a trope than swords being a weapon of choice.Just because it existed, doesn't mean I want to watch a show about it. People used to shit themselves to death a lot in medieval times too.

[David75]

IRL, PTSD and depression need lots of time to partially heal. Partially because it can come back with a vengeance anytime.
So yes, we're in a pretty boring and long process.
I too felt the ep was full of nothing or interrest, but that's how that story goes.

Maybe the only thing that was fun was the figurine making.
It shoes Rudeus isn't as sharp as he once was. And my take on this is not his magical skills, nor his mana fine controls. He's in both categories close to monster/god levels.
So my take is that his depression also explains his figuring making skills as it does his ED.
When he made Roxy's, he had the full sex drive of a teenager body and libido intricacies of a 40+ virgin.
Which fueled his imagination and planing, but also his willingness to try as much as it takes to create the multiple layer Roxy figurine.
Even Rudy states he was like Zano, very different from what he is now.

So I guess being able to make another figurine equaling or even bettering Roxy's level will be a clear sign he's healed enough to function properly in all matters of life.

[DarthEnderX]

"I really need to make a sexy Fitz fig..."

[MFauli]

Oh, so it did. I actually checked that first, but I guess I was looking at the manga date.

Just because it existed, doesn't mean I want to watch a show about it. People used to shit themselves to death a lot in medieval times too.

But the pedo-rape attempts were fine. SaitamaOK.gif

Tbh I'd love to see an anime and a hero for once that portrays slavery realistically. like, here's a hot slave girl, now the hero's gonna bang her and she does NOT enjoy it. Ofc, writing is boring and doesn't dare stuff like that in the year 2023, so we're stuck with "there's slavery in this world, but the hero and his friends are THE ONlY ONES who treat them nicealy", sigh.

[DarthEnderX]

But the pedo-rape attempts were fine.Yeah, cause I DEFINITELY said that.

Fucking dipshit...

[David75]

I don't think slaves were treated well enough to be hot.

[Kraco]

Episode 7


- - -- - -



One excellent detail about this incident is how horrifying things must have turned for the beast girls when Rudeus started to talk about his "religion" and revealed that the holy relic is a pair of panties. That's basically the point where the captured girls would realise they aren't merely dealing with someone angry about a broken figurine and thus could expect to get away with it with some minor punishment. In the end it's not like one student would normally do that much to another student, even if they were angry. Instead they found out they are dealing with someone quite possibly afflicted by insanity. So, all bets are off considering the retribution. I reckon they didn't yet expect to be killed, but it could have still been anything. I suppose Fitz appearing there assuaged them somewhat due to "his" immaculate reputation.

[DarthEnderX]

Oh Rudeus...you never change...

[MFauli]

Rofl, it went from "ok, these girls do deserve some punishment" to "kidnapped them and had them pee themselves, right after sexually abusing them" quickly. And they're both hilariously submissive with the "boss" adressing lol.

Sylphie keeping her identiy a secret is still fuck annoying and I hate that it's probably continuing until episode 12 at least, sigh.

The dwarf slave is adorable, but I'm not yet convinced that Zanoba won't do terrible shit if he ever gets angry.

[Buffalobiian]

"Maybe Paul and Eris were stronger than I thought"

Yep. Yep they were. I see mud-debuff works like a treat whenever it happens.

Sylphie not taking her glasses off is at the very least inconsistent with how she goes running without her glasses. That's actually what pissed me off.

[DarthEnderX]

Sylphie not taking her glasses off is at the very least inconsistent with how she goes running without her glasses. That's actually what pissed me off.Maybe the point is to not be recognized as Fitz while out running.

[Kraco]

Isn't the whole point of the sunglasses to cover a good portion of her face, to increase the chance of people believing she's a male bodyguard? Nothing more than that. As long as her cover isn't blown, it doesn't really matter what she does. Having a run so early that only a few people, most of all very few students, are awake, probably has proven to be safe without the sunglasses. Showing the elf ears would still be a huge risk, so she covers them with the massive hat. Since those ears would absolutely be one of the most distinctive features of hers, when they can't be seen, few would actually connect the dots, especially if she's not walking next to the princess.

[DarthEnderX]

I did think it was a cute scene when she was like "It's what I think Rudeus would do." and then you see him jogging by in the background.

[Ryllharu]

S2 Eps 08

----




This whole season is going nowhere, huh?

The entire episode was basically two gags. They were decent ones, but I can now fully comprehend why this part of the series is not that well received.

[MFauli]

Season 2 - Episode 8:

It wasn't a boring episode, but I really wonder if we have the time to waste away entire episodes on school life like this.

Also, that being Rudeus' most powerful attack was kinda underwhelming. He has spells that can terraform entire landscapes, and this little drill is it? I expected more. "But it was a really concentrated attack!!1", sure, still, I expected something stronger, something that's guaranteed to hit the enemy, too.

Kinda like that it's established that the two cat girls are Rudeus' pack now, lol. Cannot wait for the h-doujins <3

[Buffalobiian]

I mean, something hard and solid would have a pretty good chance of wounding, so it's not a bad PvP attack, especially when the other party told you they'll take the hit.

Admittedly, I too felt that this was a more technical spell than anything else. It felt like the fireball that cracked Orsted's shield drained more of Rudy's mana. Compared to Excalibur, this felt more like Archer's Caladbolg II.

The change of season also meant that slut-elf stuck with Chris for a whole 3 months without a breakup. It did feel a little cheap to see him get over Eris instantly.

[Kraco]

I reckon this was Rudeus's best spell vs a single target he judged the correct against a demon king. Rudeus is from Earth, even if from Japan with a non-Western culture, yet that world they are living is more Western than Oriental, so maybe he thought fire might not be the best element against one from Badigadi's species. He would thus go for earth. In any case, I do think it's a formidable single target spell.

It's kind of gruesome, but I found the scene right after Rudeus shot the spell at Badigadi to be the funniest in the episode. There was so much setup, with the demon king being such a Hulk, having beaten all of those folks, being Kishirika's partner, and specifically asking Rudeus for his best spell. The expectation would be that Badigadi could take it, yet he seemed to have been obliterated. Rudeus is very subdued and polite with everyone, despite being famous, so suddenly brutally killing someone in front of the student body would have been quite a constrast to his previous behavior.

[David75]

Kinetic weapon was a good choice.
Also, Rudeus has God level magic, he had to choose something that would not level the school grounds.
So going for a very concentrated energy projectile was the right move.
He was lucky Badigadi was actually strong enough to dissipate most of the energy from the hit and not letting it destroy buildings behind.

[DarthEnderX]

Rudeus: *Fires magic railgun*
Forums: "...meh."

[Ryllharu]

Rudeus: *Fires magic railgun*
Forums: "...meh."

Oh, I'm sorry.

"Godfather of Isekai" means it was done the best here even though it wasn't remotely original by the time this was written.

[DarthEnderX]

Oh, I'm sorry.

"Godfather of Isekai" means it was done the best here even though it wasn't remotely original by the time this was written.Everything you like is going to be cancelled to pay for this show and the whole internet approves. Die mad about it.

[shinta|hikari]

Also wasn't a railgun since it didn't use electromagnetic force.

That was a boring filler episode. The whole thing could've been 5 minutes.

[DarthEnderX]

Also wasn't a railgun since it didn't use electromagnetic force.Yes...that's why it's "magic".

[Buffalobiian]

The reason I didn't consider it a railgun is because he spent so much time/words on rotating and condensing the projectile that there ended up being much less emphasis on accelerating the projectile.

It looked faster than his previous drill bits, but there was barely any explanation for that, and spinning it certainly doesn't actually make it quicker. His focus was on making in an AP round.

The interesting and jarring thing about this scene was what happened after the shot. When it looked like Rudy might have killed the Demon King, his immediate reaction was to check the crowd to see if they'll reject him for this.

[Kraco]

Also wasn't a railgun since it didn't use electromagnetic force.

That was a boring filler episode. The whole thing could've been 5 minutes.

Filler? That's interesting. This was present in the manga as well. Are you saying both the manga and anime inserted the same thing as filler? When this arc began in the manga, novel prophets were warning readers that the academy arc will last for a long time. This has been made plentifully evident now in the anime as well. I don't believe these are filler episodes at all, based on that warning and the fact everything we have seen now in the anime has been present in the manga as well, if memory servers.

[DarthEnderX]

Seems like a Demon King becoming Rudeus' teacher is probably not a non-significant plot development.

[MFauli]

Filler? That's interesting. This was present in the manga as well. Are you saying both the manga and anime inserted the same thing as filler? When this arc began in the manga, novel prophets were warning readers that the academy arc will last for a long time. This has been made plentifully evident now in the anime as well. I don't believe these are filler episodes at all, based on that warning and the fact everything we have seen now in the anime has been present in the manga as well, if memory servers.

I don't know what was in the manga and the novel, but just for your information: people call something "filler" even if it's canon, when it's insignificant. For me, this episode was more of the latter. Although Darth is rigtht about the demon king's introduction being of significance. (btw. wtf, THE demon king just casually showing up at school, what's with that).

And ofc Rudy being established as the cat girls' master is important!!1 (btw did he grab Linia's boobs or did she hit him before he got to it? :P)

[MFauli]

Bonus-question:
To those who know the entire source material of the anime, pls send me an answer via private message: Will Rudy have sex with other girls again or is he waiting until he finds THE girl? Basically, will he eventually fuck around some more or is he waiting for Eris/Sylphie? thx

[Kraco]

I don't know what was in the manga and the novel, but just for your information: people call something "filler" even if it's canon, when it's insignificant. For me, this episode was more of the latter. Although Darth is rigtht about the demon king's introduction being of significance. (btw. wtf, THE demon king just casually showing up at school, what's with that).


Haa... Back in the good old days filler meant the material anime kept adding to the source (be it manga or novel), to be able to keep running infinitely, when the anime was nearing the current latest chapters of the source material. Like the infamous Naruto or One Piece filler arcs. If you say filler is anything any individual watcher feels doesn't contribute enough to the main story, then pretty much anything can be filler and the word loses all meaning.

[MFauli]

Haa... Back in the good old days filler meant the material anime kept adding to the source (be it manga or novel), to be able to keep running infinitely, when the anime was nearing the current latest chapters of the source material. Like the infamous Naruto or One Piece filler arcs. If you say filler is anything any individual watcher feels doesn't contribute enough to the main story, then pretty much anything can be filler and the word loses all meaning.

Are you serious? You've never seen people use "filler" that way?

[Buffalobiian]

Are you serious? You've never seen people use "filler" that way?

That's like... the actual meaning and use of the word filler.

DBZ made fillers "popular" because stretching out a Namek fight for years was deemed worse off, so other stories did filler arcs instead when they ran out of material.

edit: wait, misread that as ""I've never seen people use filler that way"

[Kraco]

Are you serious? You've never seen people use "filler" that way?

I have. I have also tried to correct their use of the word before.

While I also do think this academy season could have used a little bit of compression, and the whole depression arc could have been dealt with in a single episode, this is still how the author intended to build the characters and the world. Adaptation authors/directors face an incredibly tough decision in trying to figure out how much to keep, how much to cut. Anime might be an especially tough field because the rabid otaku are big BD and merchandise buyers, but they typically worship their favourite series and wouldn't want to see anything cut. However, the large audience would rather see things move forward. I like this series and the characters enough not to mind the slow parts, but I still think the manga did some things better, such as throwing the whole depression arc into a spinoff. So, if you wanted to see what happened to Rudeus before this academy arc, you needed to read it from a totally different, short manga. I reckon the manga author could see the depression arc would rub more casual readers the wrong way. The anime director decided to do the opposite.

[DarthEnderX]

I don't know what was in the manga and the novel, but just for your information: people call something "filler" even if it's canon, when it's insignificant.Since "filler" has such a specific meaning when it comes to anime. I prefer to refer to insignificant stuff that was also in the manga as "padding".


Haa... Back in the good old days filler meant the material anime kept adding to the source (be it manga or novel), to be able to keep running infinitely, when the anime was nearing the current latest chapters of the source material. Like the infamous Naruto or One Piece filler arcs.That's still how MOST people in the anime community use "filler". That's why the website people go to to find out what episodes are anime-only is called "Anime Filler List".

https://www.animefillerlist.com/shows/naruto


Are you serious? You've never seen people use "filler" that way?In non-anime communities, absolutely. In shows where you aren't adapting a source material, people use filler to just mean "anything that was just there to kill time".

[Ryllharu]

Since "filler" has such a specific meaning when it comes to anime. I prefer to refer to insignificant stuff that was also in the manga as "padding".

That's still how MOST people in the anime community use "filler". That's why the website people go to to find out what episodes are anime-only is called "Anime Filler List".
Yes. This was certainly padding or the author stalling for time while they frantically outline or rework the upcoming arcs.

It could get cut and not impact the story at all, because on the large, it provides nothing to the plot or character development.

And I don't mean the demon king appearing, I mean literally everything else in the episode.

Cliff and Elinalise getting together was at max, five minutes of content. It's 10 minutes. The tell is that there's zero issues or crisis when they get together even though there should be. Much of the rest is Slyphie "awawawawa"-ing over misunderstanding Rudy or going back to cold.

The lead-up to the fight is a full 7 minutes of stalling.

[neflight86]

This is around where I dropped the manga. Hoped they might streamline some of this arc, but if it was adapted that faithfully, I'm good jumping off the train here (again).

[Kraco]

Episode 9


- - - --



Sylphie certainly flew off the handle spectacularly. Now that I think about it, we don't have many scenes of her in grief due to what happened. I reckon she has been too busy, and it has been a number of years already. Unlike Rudeus, she also hasn't had much freedom in her movements, so perhaps it has been more difficult for her to process it, in the way of trying to make sense of it, let alone look for the culprit. So, when someone says she was responsible for it (or something close enough), Sylphie just cracked. Not that her outburst would have been anything much compared to Rudeus's when he recognised Nanahoshi as Orsted's companion.

Nanahoshi chose quite an unfortunate explanation by telling Sylphie that she's from the same place as Rudeus.

[DarthEnderX]

Lotta weird twists here. She's also from Japan, but got here a totally different way. And is probably the girl he died saving? But she doesn't remember that part?


Did Rudeus already know Fitz was in the mass teleportation? Or is that new information he should be reacting to right now?

[David75]

Rudeus never told her who he was before he reincarnated.
I like the fact that the same event in spacetime can move things to separate coordinates in time a destination.
Though there's a time loop paradox here.
The mass teleportation event is what triggered Nanahoshi's teleportation and Rudeus' reincarnation several years before the mass teleportation event.
Worldlines I guess ?

[DarthEnderX]

The mass teleportation event is what triggered Nanahoshi's teleportation and Rudeus' reincarnation several years before the mass teleportation event.There's no evidence that the Rudeus' reincarnation has anything to do with the mass teleportation event.

If I had to guess, I would say the Man-God reincarnated Rudeus when he died. And then Orsted or someone else caused the mass teleportation event that brought Nanahoshi over, possibly while trying to thwart the Man-God's activities.

Like: "Oh, I've been able to determine that the Man-God brought somebody here from this other place and time. I hate the Man-God, so I'm going to perform a big magic to try and find out more about that place/time. Oops, I made a big explosion and dragged someone over."

[David75]

You know, I didn't write it but I also thought that someone used a massive magic event to fire their magic on top.
Your idea was Man-God started something and Orsted messed with it resulting in Nanahoshi's teleportation (Also implied by Rudeus)
I also thought that someone (Orsted) summoned/teleported Nanahoshi and Man-God used that massive energy to reincarnate Rudeus.

Why ?
Somehow Man-God can't act too much on the lower world. And somehow reincarnation probably needs a lot less magic, can be overlooked if something massive is happening at the same time and probably creates an hybrid from both worlds that is harder to erase (Nanahoshi's ideas)
Also, reincarnation probably is ok for a God, so less exposure. Even if in that case the reincarnation in another world is a transgression, even more so if the newborn keeps every memories from their past life.
And it was only possible because of the massive magic energy event.

Only my ideas though.

[DarthEnderX]

Yeah, if the world really does erase otherworld influences. Using reincarnation to have Rudeus born into this world might be Man-God's way around that.

[MFauli]

Cool, it's almost like we wouldn't need an entire episode of pure verbal exposition if we hadn't spent 8 hours filled with less important events. /s

Though tbh, time went by fast and I thought only half of the episode had gone by when the title of the next episode appeared.

I don't get it: Nanahoshi has no mana. Then instantly uses powerful magic, enough to defend against Fitz who's probably #2 after Rudy.

And I'm not okay with Rudy accepting her teamship this easily. Orsted could show up any moment and obliterate him (and everyone else). i would have liked to see more talk about that issue, like "But can you keep me save from Orsted for the time being?" or something.

Lastly, Sylphie still hiding her real identity is so fucking dumb, but I guess that will be the "big" episode 12 twist before the season goes into half-time break. sgh

[DarthEnderX]

I don't get it: Nanahoshi has no mana. Then instantly uses powerful magic, enough to defend against Fitz who's probably #2 after Rudy.They were magic items. We saw her put the rings on right before.

[Buffalobiian]

And she mentioned that dead things have mana, so she just needs to extract them and make an item out of it.

One discrepency I haven't made sense of yet is that Nanohoshi says that Orsted will come and kill him depending on his action as if it's one of several predetermined outcomes - but when Orsted met them years ago he had no idea who Rudy was and that Paul should only have two offspring, so Rudy should still be an unknown in this timeline.

[Kraco]

They were magic items. We saw her put the rings on right before.

That was one of the best details in the episode. Nanahoshi expected something to happen once she told she was deeply involved with the mass teleportation incident. So, before saying anything about it, she stealthily put the magic rings on. I guess she pulled that off perfectly since MFauli paid no attention to it.


One discrepency I haven't made sense of yet is that Nanohoshi says that Orsted will come and kill him depending on his action as if it's one of several predetermined outcomes - but when Orsted met them years ago he had no idea who Rudy was and that Paul should only have two offspring, so Rudy should still be an unknown in this timeline.

Orsted only spared Rudeus because Nanahoshi convinced him it would be more useful to let the dude live for the time being. Normally Orsted, apparently, kills everything that has got anything to do with the Man-god. I'd suppose Orsted has encountered before people more deeply involved with the Man-god and he was convinced enough Rudeus isn't actually working for him. However, from that it's pretty easy to see that Orsted would still likely want to kill Rudeus and is most certainly keeping an ear on him to gauge if Rudeus ever crosses some line that would make him the Man-god's servant (believer) for sure.

I don't know what the Paul supposed to have only two children and Rudeus doesn't belong there mumbojumbo was supposed to be. I'd say that even if Orsted is involved in time travelling, he's not too smart, believing everything will be the same every time. It's quite strange Paul and Zenith wouldn't have a lot of children to begin with, considering how much of a stud Paul was and how beautiful Zenith is. Besides, now Orsted does know about Rudeus, so doesn't that mean Rudeus belongs there? If the whole universe made Orsted the ultimate judge of who does and doesn't belong (as if). He's just a homecidal maniac who pretends that's his job, so that he has an excuse to kill people, if you ask me.

[DarthEnderX]

I'd say that even if Orsted is involved in time travelling, he's not too smart, believing everything will be the same every time.Unless some time-traveler was expressly altering events, why wouldn't it be?

The fact that Paul was supposed to have 2 kids, and now has 3, tells him that someone did something to alter the timeline.


He's just a homecidal maniac who pretends that's his job, so that he has an excuse to kill people, if you ask me.My assumption is that he hates the Man-God because he did something to screw him over. So now he's made it his mission to undo all of the Man-God's works.

That would include killing his followers. Thwarting his plans. Searching for a way to kill the god itself. etc.

[MFauli]

They were magic items. We saw her put the rings on right before.

I guess that's it. although imo items shouldn't work either if you have ZERO mana. Like, you'd need at least some to active/connect the items, right? That's my perception of magical items at least, lol.

[Kraco]

My assumption is that he hates the Man-God because he did something to screw him over. So now he's made it his mission to undo all of the Man-God's works.

That would include killing his followers. Thwarting his plans. Searching for a way to kill the god itself. etc.

It was more or less verified here that he has some personal problem with the Man-god. However, he's not only interested in killing the Man-god's followers, it's enough that someone knows such an entity possibly exists. It's like he wants to erase all knowledge of the Man-god in the world. That's pretty difficult if the Man-god can possibly contact people in their minds/dreams. Although if the Man-god can only contact people he brought over from Earth, then it might be a different thing. Nevertheless, if he kills even people who just happened to hear the name and are wondering what the heck it is, aloud, then Orsted is most certainly a homicidal maniac. Even Rudeus is no follower, more like a victim or the target of the Man-god's schemes.

Timelines could to be different simply because of coincidences and randomness of events. Orsted himself could cause great changes. He looks scary and regular people can barely breath in his presence, so if he takes a different route of walking in a different timeline, the events it could trigger could be world-shaking.

[Ryllharu]

There's no evidence that the Rudeus' reincarnation has anything to do with the mass teleportation event.

If I had to guess, I would say the Man-God reincarnated Rudeus when he died. And then Orsted or someone else caused the mass teleportation event that brought Nanahoshi over, possibly while trying to thwart the Man-God's activities.

Like: "Oh, I've been able to determine that the Man-God brought somebody here from this other place and time. I hate the Man-God, so I'm going to perform a big magic to try and find out more about that place/time. Oops, I made a big explosion and dragged someone over."

I feel like this is fairly close to the truth at work here.

Man-God brought Rudy over here for something. We don't know what, Rudeus doesn't know what. Man-God tries to manipulate Rudeus into doing things and altering events for him. We do know that Rudeus doesn't trust him anymore, but since Man-God doesn't try to directly control him, he rolls with most of it.

But Orsted knows what elements are at play here and kept Nanohashi close to him as a countermeasure or as penance for a mistake. Man-God is a threat to Orsted, very clearly.

I'm thinking that Orsted himself kicked off the mass-teleportation in an attempt to counter Man-God's plans that involve transmigrators (i.e. Rudeus or possibly someone else). It just went more wrong than they all thought it could.

Given this is an isekai, transmigrators are undoubtedly keys to breaking some kind of cosmic stalemate. We just don't know what side Rudeus is unwittingly on, or if Nanohashi and her friends are being treated fairly. Quite a few series discussed here at length work the same way in varying degrees.

Manipulating someone like Nanohashi who desperately wants to go home is easy. That's a great use of isekai characters, actually. Manipulating someone like Rudeus who hates his old world and wants to stay is quite a bit harder.

[MFauli]

"If you don't help me, this world will end" - pretty easy to manipulate Rudy.

[Kraco]

"If you don't help me, this world will end" - pretty easy to manipulate Rudy.

Would you actually believe such a thing? It even sounds like blackmailing. It's much easier and effective to manipulate Rudy by promising him that by travelling somewhere, he can get his little brother to wake up from its long sleep, haha. Since it's literally about a big thing but doesn't really require much from Rudeus, he might as well do it. That's how manipulation works. Whether Rudeus being in that academy city actually benefits the Man-god in some way is unknown. Maybe he's still merely trying to make Rudeus believe him so that if one day a critical choice is to be made, Rudeus would listen to the Man-god's opinion.

[David75]

Orsted could be some kind of world moderator, whose job is to erase anything not from that world I'll call isekai.
Rudeus and Nanahoshi coming from earth are foreign entities for isekai.
Now I think I understand better what Nanahoshi was meaning, to keep a natural balance, any influence from outside isekai will be erased.
For some reason Man-God is a huge external influence, so in doubt kill before you are sure of the link to Man-God.
Orsted did not kill Nanahoshi probably because he could not feel any mana from her. Later when she was able to communicate he understood her only wish is to leave, not disturb isekai.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm quite unsure about whether the Dragon God actually has anything to do with the teleportation.

Going back to that actual episode, mana gathered near where Rudy was:

-Dragon God was walking around and getting attacked by dragons, noticed mana gathering, had no idea what was going on and went to investigate.

-Kishirika noticed the mana and spell, but couldn't use her clairvoyance to see the caster so she went to investigate.

-Lord Perugius, sitting in his floating castle, thinks the mana looked like a Light of Summoning and wondered if someone was trying to unseal the Demon-God Laplace, and sent his lackey out.

-Lackey fought Ghislaine, lights happened and Rudy then met with the Man-God for the first time in his dream and told him he got caught up in a mana disaster.


-Fast forward to Rudy x Orsted. Orsted's expression changed when Rudy asked him if he knew anything about the mana disaster. He said he didn't, and then asked Rudy if he knew the Man-God.



Looking at this now, don't think Orsted actually started nor screwed with the mana disaster. I think he might have looked surprised at Rudy's question because the disaster is more commonly known as the Mass Teleportation Disaster. The fact that Rudy called it a Mana Disaster may have lead Orsted to believe that Rudy must be connected to higher powers (rather than the common pleb), and jumped when a Man-God link was confirmed.


The Eris Boboboreas Greyrat scene is always fun to revisit.


edit: hmm, actually the dwarf from Paul's old party did call this a Magical Disaster. Though the terms are still different, the above thought might now hold as much weight anymore.

[MFauli]

I mean, if we're going this deep into all this, then here's what I wanna know:

- if there's a "Hito-Gami", does it mean there are other "Kami"?
- if so, what's their relationship? How do they spend their time? Is there a god-country or can they descend into other worlds?
- are our reality and that isekai the only two worlds? Or are there more?
- which world existed first, the isekai or our reality? Maybe WE are the isekai actually?
- How powerful is the Man-God actually? It feels like he could erase Rudy at any given time, yet apparently he can't with others?
- Is Orsted affiliated with another god?
- How does Orsted know about the Man-God if he isn't affiliated with other gods? Was he a "student" of the Man-God like Rudy is now?
- what is the Man-God's goal?
- Can Orsted be defeated by anyone in the world who isn't "special"? Could Ghislaine put up a fight against him?
- Is Nanoha really not aware of being saved by someone?
- If she found out who Rudy was, how'd she react?


Those come to my mind spontaneously. Feel free to answer if you can :>

[DarthEnderX]

although imo items shouldn't work either if you have ZERO mana. Like, you'd need at least some to active/connect the items, right?*shrug* Doesn't work that way in D&D. People who aren't spellcasters can still activate magic items if they know how. Magic items are often designed specifically so that anyone can use them.

[Buffalobiian]

if there's a "Hito-Gami", does it mean there are other "Kami"?

They told use there's Orsted the Dragon God, Technique God, and a bunch of other gods.

[Kraco]

Yeah, I always thought the Man-god isn't any more special than the other "gods". Maybe he lost his physical body in a fight against some other god, even Orsted (the Dragon god) himself. I recall someone saying these gods aren't really real gods. That would mean the Man-god isn't really a real god either, just someone who's so special he has earned the right to be called a god, just like Orsted and the other gods.

At one point or another, I used to think that maybe all the humans in that world don't actually originally belong there but were transferred from Earth. The Man-god would then be their extreme master, just like Orsted would be the dragon kin's. However, that seems kind of unlikely, considering simply knowing the Man-god's name seems to be extremely rare, so there's no way he was the ultimate human worshipped by all the humans in the world. There would be some knowledge of him left in such a case. Maybe he really is a summoned isekai hero from Earth himself.

In quite a few isekai light novels and manga, a human king will summon one or more humans from Japan and try to use them for human supremacy, against all the other races. That might be the Man-god's origin as well. Only, he would have lost the fight and has been ever since hunted by the other "gods" (ultimate masters).

The manga isn't that much ahead of the anime anymore and has covered nothing of this sort, so I'm only throwing guesses around as much as anyone else, so any anime-only watcher doesn't need to be worried about my ramblings.

[Ryllharu]

Technique God, and a bunch of other gods.

I thought the technique gods were just the swordfighting style top ranks. They're not deities, but I suppose they could probably kill one, considering Ghislaine was a sword King and could effectively stop time.

[MFauli]

Wait, Orsted is supposed to be a "god" on the level of the Man-God? Oh wow, I must have missed that. I thought Orsted was "only" one of the strongest beings in that world, but still much below an actual god like the Man-God. If they're actually on the same level, that changes everything. That makes Man-God much less special.

[David75]

Man-God goal could be to grow Rudeus and steal his body at some point.
MG might have been like Orsted, lost badly in a fight and was only able to save his spiritual body, but needs a strong physical one to come back to the lower realms.

[Kraco]

Wait, Orsted is supposed to be a "god" on the level of the Man-God? Oh wow, I must have missed that. I thought Orsted was "only" one of the strongest beings in that world, but still much below an actual god like the Man-God. If they're actually on the same level, that changes everything. That makes Man-God much less special.

Like I said, I have no idea if that's the case, but for the time being, I'm inclined to think it is. At the end of the day, the only thing the Man-god has been doing is give Rudeus a little bit of information here and there, and maybe summon Rudeus there in the beginning. However, he wasn't able to sense Orsted and thus couldn't forewarn Rudeus. I kind of doubt Rudeus almost dying and getting saved by his "killer", almost on a whim, was the Man-god's plan. So, if the Man-god can't see Orsted, it would mean there's no fundamental difference between those two, in my opinion. Orsted being able to know Rudeus shouldn't be in that world is the same kind of ability as the Man-god's ability to give Rudeus advice considering people and locations.

[David75]

Following my idea Man-God wants to steal Rudeus' body, I can also theorize Orsted was once in a similar position.
Man-God was in his dreams and he tried something dubious on Orsted.
That would explain both why no one knows about Man-God and why Orsted acted so hard just hearing the name

[Kraco]

Following my idea Man-God wants to steal Rudeus' body, I can also theorize Orsted was once in a similar position.
Man-God was in his dreams and he tried something dubious on Orsted.
That would explain both why no one knows about Man-God and why Orsted acted so hard just hearing the name

But Orsted is willing to slay anyone associated with the Man-god in any way, not just those serving the Man-god. That would contradict with your theory. It would mean Orsted would have liked to kill the past Orsted, that is, himself, as he would have been associated with the Man-god. Your theory should, instead, make Orsted sympathetic with those who are being manipulated by the Man-god, but he definitely is not. He spared Rudeus because Nanahoshi convinced him allowing Rudeus to live might allow him to track down the Man-god or learn more about his plans, if memory serves.

I reckon they are simply enemies. Maybe they fought face to face in the past, when the Man-god still had a corporeal body (assuming he once had), or maybe Orsted managed to learn about the Man-god's nefarious plot in the past and is still fighting against it. Or maybe the various "gods" in that world simply don't like the Man-god and want to get rid of him, including removing all knowledge of him. Who knows.

[MFauli]

Am I crazy or wasn't there mention of early on in the anime about some super powerful guy named "Laplace"? Maybe that's who Man-God was, if he stems from that world and isn't a real god.

[Kraco]

Am I crazy or wasn't there mention of early on in the anime about some super powerful guy named "Laplace"? Maybe that's who Man-God was, if he stems from that world and isn't a real god.

Wasn't it Laplace that started the big war and tricked Ruijerd's race, the Superd (I think that was the name), into getting cursed and become senseless murderers? Everybody knows the name Laplace, so it seems unlikely Laplace and the Man-god would be the same person, as Orsted ought to know if that was the case.

[Buffalobiian]

Am I crazy or wasn't there mention of early on in the anime about some super powerful guy named "Laplace"? Maybe that's who Man-God was, if he stems from that world and isn't a real god.

Laplace tricked the Superds.
Laplace is the Demon-God (as mentioned by the Flying Castle guy), and the Demon God is sealed away.
Laplace has an absurd amount of mana, as per Orsted (when he blocked Rudy's purple fireball).

We don't actually know what Man-God looks like. He just appears in a dream every now and again, and said that reincarnation/summoning/teleportation was more the Dragon God's thing when Rudy asked if his reincarnation was the deed of Man-God's.

I mean, for all we know, Man-God could actually be Laplace trying to unseal himself somehow. It's a slightly strange idea since most people who are aware of the Man-God seem to know both names - but that doesn't mean they actually know about the true nature of Man-God. They just all seem to know he exists and aren't too happy about him. Badigadi said he doesn't know much, but he looked like he's holding back.


That would explain both why no one knows about Man-God and why Orsted acted so hard just hearing the name

Badigadi also knows of the Man-God. He seemed to react more to the fact that Rudy had met Orsted though.

[MFauli]

I just threw out the name Laplace because it'd be a name once mentioned, rather than Man-God being some random new character.

I'm really curious, though, if we ever find out about the wider makeup of the universe that holds both our reality and the isekai.

[David75]

But Orsted is willing to slay anyone associated with the Man-god in any way, not just those serving the Man-god. That would contradict with your theory. It would mean Orsted would have liked to kill the past Orsted, that is, himself, as he would have been associated with the Man-god. Your theory should, instead, make Orsted sympathetic with those who are being manipulated by the Man-god, but he definitely is not. He spared Rudeus because Nanahoshi convinced him allowing Rudeus to live might allow him to track down the Man-god or learn more about his plans, if memory serves.

I reckon they are simply enemies. Maybe they fought face to face in the past, when the Man-god still had a corporeal body (assuming he once had), or maybe Orsted managed to learn about the Man-god's nefarious plot in the past and is still fighting against it. Or maybe the various "gods" in that world simply don't like the Man-god and want to get rid of him, including removing all knowledge of him. Who knows.

My guess is that Orsted has a trauma about Man-God and just hearing the name had him snap just in case Rudy brings back something he has trauma with. Again, we don't know much, so the only way to know would be to read the novels.
And the anime might take another decade to get to the end of the novels, of ever funded. I stopped the manga around Ranoa, so it seems it does not go fast either by what you wrote earlier.

[Kraco]

Episode 10


-- - -- -



As slow and stretched as this arc is, the only thing I could say about this episode is: It was about the time he noticed.

Too bad Sylphie chose to run away.

[Buffalobiian]

I was enjoying watching Rudy being confused at being attracted to a guy. If this was going to be slow I'd rather watch that a little more. If we're going to make progress though, I hope it actually does move forward.

Badigadi's role to me is still elusive. He's just chilling there, and Rudy's been at the place for a whole year now.

And I can only presume that Elinalise is banging Cliff heaps.

[DarthEnderX]

Rudy, just trying to crank it at the end there. Real lol.

[MFauli]

Future weebs asking what Season 2 of Mushoku Tensei was about, seasoned weebs answering: "It was about the hero fixing his erectyle dysfunction." - "Lol, no seriously, tell us." - "..."

[Ryllharu]

If it is known that the source work needs editing, do it. A purely faithful adaptation is not always a good thing. This feels like padding in every imaginable way.


Future weebs asking what Season 2 of Mushoku Tensei was about, seasoned weebs answering: "It was about the hero fixing his erectyle dysfunction." - "Lol, no seriously, tell us." - "..."

More like, "Watch episode 1 & 2, then skim eps 5, watch eps 9, skim 10, and finally watch 11 & 12"

[MFauli]

Episode 11:


Imagine what this season could have been, had Fitz told Rudy who she really is at the start of the arc. My god.

This is pacing hell.

And Sylphie's body still makes me sad, no curves at all - perfect for pedo-Rudy :/

[Buffalobiian]

Even the princess wasn't ready for Sylphie to turn her filter off and talk dirty with Rudy xD.

[Kraco]

It's strange to think this whole season was spent on a school arc, which didn't even have any major developments. This is a really faithful adaptation. Of course the manga already made me think it might happen, but I suppose it might also have not happened if the director had so decided. The first season didn't stretch anything, in fact it was the opposite, so it would have been possible to hurry up this stuff as well. I'm actually not that upset because generally speaking I've enjoyed the season, especially after the depression arc ended.

There were a couple of good jokes in the episode, mainly Sylphie starting to explain aloud her sexual fantasy to Ariel and Luke, and Rudeus offering to handle Ariel's mission prompty through a backdoor deal with adventurers. I feel like both illustrated how Sylphie is still naive and innocent.

[Ryllharu]

What frustrates me more than anything is how stupidly passive Slyphie is. Obnoxiously so. I assume it's some type of fetish to like women who act that way, directly opposed to Eris and somehow even worse than Roxy even though she gets shamed for her inaction multiple times.

But the worst sin this entire arc commits is that Rudy has been wearing the amulet Sylphie carved for him still, and even seeing it, she makes no comment about it and still lacks the courage to do anything as part of their relationship.

I cannot stand ultra-passive characters like her. It isn't endearing, it is demeaning.

His realization and reunion is supposed to be a tender moment, and because of how she has been, it isn't at all. They botched the tone with the godawful pacing. There wasn't any catharsis, just annoyance.


There were a couple of good jokes in the episode, mainly Sylphie starting to explain aloud her sexual fantasy to Ariel and Luke, and Rudeus offering to handle Ariel's mission prompty through a backdoor deal with adventurers. I feel like both illustrated how Sylphie is still naive and innocent.
This was the only good thing about this entire episode.

[DarthEnderX]

Sylphie being a perv was a pretty good gag.

[MFauli]

Episode 12:

Nice and all. But now I'm scared for Sylphie's life. A Mc marrying a secondary love interest this early in the overall plot? Reddest flag I've ever witnessed :/

[Ryllharu]

Nice and all. But now I'm scared for Sylphie's life. A Mc marrying a secondary love interest this early in the overall plot? Reddest flag I've ever witnessed :/

Nah. Slyphie isn't a pushover, since she's a silent caster and has been an exiled princess' bodyguard for quite a few years at this point. They've been downplaying it, but the subtext acrosss the school year was that Fitz was one of the better fighters in the school, Rudy is simply that much better due to all the direct experience he's had.

All of Rudeus' potential waifus are no slouches.

She's been using the same original training wand Rudy gave her, but once she was holding his own staff, she had no issue casting strong water magic without him noticing, and very obviously casts silent healing magic, which I believe is a first of what we've seen.

It's just that Eris is way, way better, from all kinds of ways. Roxy is a very seasoned adventurer.

Slyphie might be the weakest of his waifus at this point, but that's literally only from her comparative lesser battle experience.

[DarthEnderX]

And so, Rudy finally found the One Piece and became Hokage!


Seriously though, how, in all this time, did Rudy never try a medicinal solution?


Nah. Slyphie isn't a pushoverBeing strong doesn't protect you from getting fridged.

[Ryllharu]

The more surprising part is that Princess Ariel just let her go. Now she doesn't have a free body-double to illusion herself into.


Being strong doesn't protect you from getting fridged.

But being in an isekai harem series does. Paul has a wife and like...four mistresses at present. The setting is harem through and through.

[DarthEnderX]

The more surprising part is that Princess Ariel just let her go. Now she doesn't have a free body-double to illusion herself into.Probably considers it a worthwhile expenditure to gain the support of potentially one of the strongest future mages in the world.

[MFauli]

Nah. Slyphie isn't a pushover, since she's a silent caster and has been an exiled princess' bodyguard for quite a few years at this point. They've been downplaying it, but the subtext acrosss the school year was that Fitz was one of the better fighters in the school, Rudy is simply that much better due to all the direct experience he's had.

All of Rudeus' potential waifus are no slouches.

She's been using the same original training wand Rudy gave her, but once she was holding his own staff, she had no issue casting strong water magic without him noticing, and very obviously casts silent healing magic, which I believe is a first of what we've seen.

It's just that Eris is way, way better, from all kinds of ways. Roxy is a very seasoned adventurer.

Slyphie might be the weakest of his waifus at this point, but that's literally only from her comparative lesser battle experience.

I'm talking from an emotional pov. Roxy is above Sylphie's here. As much as I like her, she's like a consolation prize for Rudy.

And her being strong and similar to Rudy only increases her red flag: Someone like Orsted might kill her to show Rudy how futile his style is or something.

Unless the story goes for a harem end (well, Sylphie might allow it. Eris and Roxy less so.), I expect the worst for Sylphie.

[Buffalobiian]

Orsted hardly seems to be concerned about "his style". And silent casting has nothing to do with spell potency.

Sylphie, once she opened up, is pretty mature and level headed in her communication with Rudy. She gets embarrased, but Roxy actually gets flustered. Eris shares Rudy's battle experience with him but is also quite different to him in her demeanor. That doesn't make them worse matches, but it does mean that Sylphie's wife status feels apt, with the others aren't quite there yet. Sylphie's also the most openly dirty about sex with Rudy, which helps.

I really disliked pre-teleport Sylphie, and her holding back post-teleport was also annoying. But from this episode onwards her interactions made sense. Her transition is somewhat sudden though. We saw Eris's connection with Rudy over the Demon Continent arc quite gradually and organically. Roxy's been floundering in limbo for a bit. Sylphie just kind of stalled until she revealed herself as Sylphie, then shot right up the ranks. I suppose I'm supposed to see Rudy's time with Fitz as bonding time, and the combination of Fitz and Sylphie was supposed to be greater than the sum of its parts, but I stand by that Eris's progression still felt the best - even if Sylphie as she currently is with Rudy does feel right as first wife. It's just weird that despite all this - Roxy is the one enshrined.

The ending made it seem like Rudy's going to leave to find his mum quite soon, but I can't see him leaving the academy just yet. What even was the point of Badigadi showing back up? And beastgirls+disciples still need to be sorted out.

[Ryllharu]

Unless the story goes for a harem end (well, Sylphie might allow it. Eris and Roxy less so.), I expect the worst for Sylphie.
Eris is a Greyrat. She's absolutely used to this behavior. She's just also the type to declare that she's the "First Wife" despite how much it would or wouldn't be true. Roxy is an innocent relationship prude, remarkably enough, despite season 1 hallway behavior. She would be the hardest one to convince I'd think.


Sylphie, once she opened up, is pretty mature and level headed in her communication with Rudy. She gets embarrased, but Roxy actually gets flustered. Eris shares Rudy's battle experience with him but is also quite different to him in her demeanor. That doesn't make them worse matches, but it does mean that Sylphie's wife status feels apt, with the others aren't quite there yet. Sylphie's also the most openly dirty about sex with Rudy, which helps.

I really disliked pre-teleport Sylphie, and her holding back post-teleport was also annoying. But from this episode onwards her interactions made sense. Her transition is somewhat sudden though. We saw Eris's connection with Rudy over the Demon Continent arc quite gradually and organically. Roxy's been floundering in limbo for a bit. Sylphie just kind of stalled until she revealed herself as Sylphie, then shot right up the ranks. I suppose I'm supposed to see Rudy's time with Fitz as bonding time, and the combination of Fitz and Sylphie was supposed to be greater than the sum of its parts, but I stand by that Eris's progression still felt the best - even if Sylphie as she currently is with Rudy does feel right as first wife. It's just weird that despite all this - Roxy is the one enshrined.
Eris is emphatically in love with Rudues. Literally scream from the mountain tops how much she loves him. She's just tragically stupid to the point of conveying the opposite of what she meant to him.

Even if the intention was to make Sylphie the most emotionally complete relationship...the pace of this season completely ruined it and made what should have been touching into a dull and rote vanilla romance that was more frustrating than it was charming.

[Buffalobiian]

Eris is emphatically in love with Rudues. Literally scream from the mountain tops how much she loves him. She's just tragically stupid to the point of conveying the opposite of what she meant to him.

I do agree with this.

Also, talking about empathy, lol at Luke Greyrat being completely on Rudy's side after hearing his story.

[Kraco]

I'd find it quite surprising if Sylphie, or any of the Rudeus's important people, were destined to die. His whole family is alive after the mass teleportation incident, assuming the mom is alive as well (she's not declared dead, at least). Even the maid is alive. So, Rudeus hasn't actually lost anything, whereas others certainly have. So, I don't think this story is planning to kill any of his waifus. I suppose it could, but I doubt it.

The beginning of the show actually made a point out of polygamy being okay outside of the Milis faith. None of the wife candidates belong to that faith, and neither does Rudeus. If the story has such an early detail, it's probably going to play a role later.

Aside from the depression arc, I'm not that bothered by this season. Of course more progress would have been nice, but since the manga was as slow, I can't say I'd have been surprised. Even if I didn't much like it, the depression arc also did its job of depicting the depth of Rudeus's mental downfall, so it wasn't wasted, per se, it was just annoying.

[DarthEnderX]

Eris is emphatically in love with Rudues. Literally scream from the mountain tops how much she loves him. She's just tragically stupid to the point of conveying the opposite of what she meant to him.If only there was some kind of term for such a character...

[shinta|hikari]

I hate Eris.

The best part of this show was when her face got pulverized by an adult due to her arrogance.

[KrayZ33]

I enjoyed watching this.
Waited for all the episodes to release and I believe it really paid off.
Episode 10 was the only episode I found to be lacking, I'm glad that I didn't have to suffer through downtime.

Overall, the first few episodes were rather awesome, the way the depression was handled was nice. The episodes really got the mood across.
I don't even know what to compare it to I somehow felt like... watching a mix between Goblinslayer and Grimgar? I don't freaking know but it was certainly very, very far away from a normal Isekai setting. I liked it very much.
The way the other party of five was used was done very well, they didn't feel like some random characters to me, even though in essence, that's what they were. So I'd say these side characters were used rather well.

And I'll go and say that this is basically the "Pen&Paper" of Isekai to me. (or perhaps, it's more fitting to compare to the "Baldur's Gate of generic RPGs"?)
No other animated isekai made traveling the world feel so real. Rudeus doesn't just go to a town and does 5 things and travels to the next country and now he is known far and wide.
He actually works for his reputation. Traveling takes time to the point where he even thinks about waiting for a whole season, because that's just how traveling can be in these times, it takes time build up his name and the adventuring aspect feels real. There are a lot of monsters out there, like that "Tree" thing, which reminds you how many dangerous encounters you are likely to see when you travel and even the short bits about exploring some forgotten ruins from a previous war are interesting to me. Especially since in a later discussion with the other "isekai"-traveler, you find out that these ruins might host forgotten portals and magic in them.

Still impressed (even though I shouldn't be, because that stuff should just be normal) about how I like the way the world is shown and build up in this show.
I loved how they disbanded the party in Season 1 after accomplishing their goals and it feels really great to see Rudy meeting new people and friends that actually have a real and "realistic" impact in his life.
Even the character Soldat had a nice touch to him. He is a powerful swordsman, probably as strong as Paul was in his youth and it actually feels like there are characters and friends in this world that he could possibly meet again without it being some kind of ex machina moment.

Another example would be the elf-slut. Say what you want, but her showing up alone made the whole "please help me find my friend Rudeus" way more believable. It feels like the characters living in this world have their own agenda and their own goals/quests and their own way of doing things. They don't just gather around MC (just to be overshadowed by him), they show up and disappear and show up again later - or not - who knows.

Remember for example when Eris saved that young girl and the female knight from some assassins? I think it was a special in Season 1.
I still remember them and wonder what role they will play in the future of the story, especially now, since Rudeus allowed himself to enter the field of politics.
It's just "some girl" Eris rescued - but I'm sure fate will line up, no way in hell was that a random NPC encounter.
And there is the whole plotpoint about the XXX-God characters that seem to mess around with everyone as if they are the "Eternals" from Divinity Original Sin.

[Ryllharu]

And I'll go and say that this is basically the "Pen&Paper" of Isekai to me. (or perhaps, it's more fitting to compare to the "Baldur's Gate of generic RPGs"?)
No other animated isekai made traveling the world feel so real. Rudeus doesn't just go to a town and does 5 things and travels to the next country and now he is known far and wide.
He actually works for his reputation. Traveling takes time to the point where he even thinks about waiting for a whole season, because that's just how traveling can be in these times, it takes time build up his name and the adventuring aspect feels real. There are a lot of monsters out there, like that "Tree" thing, which reminds you how many dangerous encounters you are likely to see when you travel and even the short bits about exploring some forgotten ruins from a previous war are interesting to me. Especially since in a later discussion with the other "isekai"-traveler, you find out that these ruins might host forgotten portals and magic in them.


It feels like 90s isekai and fantasy. Fully realized worlds.

That's part of what always pisses me off about the moniker the series seems to get everywhere, "The Grandfather of Modern Isekai"

It was return to DECENT isekai and fantasy, not some revolutionary 2010s shift in the entire genre. It turbocharged the output of shit Shōsetsuka ni Narō series getting picked up by publishers, that's for sure.

But the good stuff has been around for a long time.

It always gave me the same vibe as Tenchi Muyo OVAs, Hyper Police, most of the classic shoujo isekai, and Slayers (the first three series, the films, and the OVAs). Just not as comedic.
Stuff like never seeing Lina's older sister, but we know she's a dragon knight, waitress, and goddamn terrifying. Her presence is felt, but independent of Lina. Ditto with Naga being referenced by her family in the main timeline of the series, but she's only in the OVAs and film which exist as prequels before Lina met Gourry.

[Kraco]

Most isekai, and many fantasy, LN/manga/anime certainly fail at making other important characters have lives and goals of their own. Mostly they just have some pitiful side quest thing the MC can solve, like in an RPG, and that's it then. The side characters merely keep following the MC, never wanting to be separated even for a moment.

[KrayZ33]

Most isekai, and many fantasy, LN/manga/anime certainly fail at making other important characters have lives and goals of their own. Mostly they just have some pitiful side quest thing the MC can solve, like in an RPG, and that's it then. The side characters merely keep following the MC, never wanting to be separated even for a moment.

(btw, before I continue, I don't want to overhype this show, I really like it - yes - but it's not like I'm saying "wow, this has never been done before" - I just appreciate it that this story works and that the author might not think, me, the viewer/reader is a complete retard who only wants to self insert into some "powerful gigachad")

Exactly!

An example: Ruijerd was an amazing character, but I'll remember him as such because he didn't turn into a mere sidekick by following Rudeus around everywhere.
They had a "deal", they became friends, they each had their goals and while I'm sure that Ruijerd would've liked to travel more with them, there was a point where it would no longer help his own goals as efficiently.
In your cookie-cutter garbage Isekai or Fantasyworld (or garbage anime in general) he would've stayed and even went to school with Rudeus, I'm quite sure of that.
And even better, Ruijerd left them amd learned something himself, and it's not something he just blurted out, it's something you could actually WATCH. (THAT'S SO FREAKING RARE IN ANIME - it's always MC learning from others, almost *NEVER* anyone else learning from the encounter in any meaningfull way whatsoever)
He started out seeing everything as black & white (evil and innocent) - now he got to know other colours as well. Just to name one example.

It made the scene where "Dead End" disbanded all the more impactful.

As Ryll pointed out, it's a fully realized world and it has characters moving inside it and doing their things, even when they are not "on camera"... and that's so important because that is what truely gets you thinking about what a country/nation/character does what and "what would happen if X and Y meet" or "A and B declare war on each other".
In Mushoku, it's more on a level of conflict between characters and less about countries, but that kind of worldbuilding helps to make everything work.

Another thing that's quite great in this show/story, is that we learn the world alongside Rudeus. Sure, he knows a little bit more about the world than we (at least in the anime) because Rudeus inner monologe informs us sometimes, why X and Y happened.
But Stuff like the "floating castle" with these "angel like beings" inside them guarding Laplace's seal?
Well, Rudeus doesn't really understand, we don't understand it either, It's out there, it has some meaning, it's not "randomly" put out there, we can think about their role and how important it is and we might even get to know more later, when it's important for the main character's story to know/not know it - but it's properly established already that there is something... and it wasn't just mentioned for the "lulz". At that point, everyone could have imagined that the story will now feature that thing in a more prominent role or in more detail. So it's already much less of an asspull when it actually becomes important and when the story will mention something about "laplace and it's guardians" in the future, we know that there were these people or beings and I'm sure Rudeus will remember something - instead of someone telling him exactly what he has to do.
Right now I'm here thinking. "Okay... quite a bit of time passes, I wonder what this nation/castle is doing right now. They are surely not sitting idle doing nothing. If they weren't destroyed by the incident"

It's the same deal with his research about teleportation.
The Man-God telling him to research it is basically what most modern fantasy anime would tell MC to do, and we'd accept that.
But the way they build him up and the way the story progressed so far made that whole exchange different. Especially researching it might not even be important for Rudeus or the Man-God himself, but now Rudeus knows a thing or two about it, maybe it will come up later? Yet the Man-Gods goal might've been about meeting that other Isekai-girl and not so much about learning teleportation magic... or that tiny bit about Teleportation/Summoning being basically the same thing but reversed? "Now wait a second... what is Man-God trying to do with Rudeus?". But in the story? What happens? Well, he meets this other world-traveler who wants to go back to her world and the focus is completely shifted away from Man-God. Who knows if they are even connected or what Man-Gods deal is. Who knows if anything is even related to him. That too is not a random encounter between two episodes, this feels like something was planned 10-20 episodes ago.

It's just a way better way of setting things up.


There are very few (anime or anime-like/cgi-)shows that make me appreciate them in such a way. The last one I watched was Arcane and Edgerunners. The former more than the latter

[DarthEnderX]

13

It's back!

---

Rudeus got a spring in his step now. :p


I was wondering how he fixed up the house so fast, but then I remembered he's has, like, matter magic.

[MFauli]

Zanoba MVP of this episode, lol, wow. I wonder how resistent his body is to physical attacks.

Rudy and Sylphie still being a couple makes me happy. I've seen too many anime where couple break up immediately in the next episode because "reasons" and it's always dumb and frustrating. That said, I can't imagine Rudy has given up on conquering pussy, I mean he literally insinuates creating sex dolls in this episode, and then there's his purple-haired master. I wonder whether Sylphie allows his stupid dad's Greyrat-blood to run wild sometimes without breaking up with him for cheating on him. If there's any girl in the show that would be accepting of it, it's probably Sylphie. (Fake-Edit: And could Rudy PLS finally fuck the 2 cat girls? I'm getting blue balls just from watching Rudy ignore them, even though they absolutely wouldn't put up any serious resistence to him. Do it, Rudy! Elf girls are nice, but CAT GIRLS, omg!)

In terms of the overall plot, this episode was shit, though. What exactl are we here for again? Watching some guy play family in a fantasy world? Nah, we want to see him reunite his family, see him solve the Man God-Dragon God situation, become strong enough to at least defend himself against Orsted, and then we also need to figure out the whole teleportation event to begin with, including finding a way back for masked girl. Feels like we'll need 10 more seasons at this pacing.

[Kraco]

It's pretty convenient to find an automaton doll when Rudeus and Zanoba are precisely doll enthusiast. But at least the house was abandoned and cheap for a reason, so there had to be a reason. The reason would need remain relevant for many years, couldn't be exorcised by priests, and wouldn't be subject to any inconveniences suffered by living creatures. A moving doll would fulfill those conditions.

Such a huge house, so no wonder Sylphie thought Rudeus wants to have enough children for a football team.

[DarthEnderX]

I've seen too many anime where couple break up immediately in the next episode because "reasons" and it's always dumb and frustrating.Yeah. This one. With Eris. :p


And could Rudy PLS finally fuck the 2 cat girls?One is a dog girl.

[Buffalobiian]

The doll's movement wasn't that of your typical automated doll. It actively hid to find an opportunity to strike instead of just exterminating people on sight and patrolling corridors.

It turning itself off after a while was also weird. Does it run on batteries or mana and ran out? If so, the adventurers that came before Rudy all died promptly if that's all the endurance it has. Zanoba didn't exactly break anything to disable the machine (or, they were somehow lucky enough to meet it at the end of it's battery life after all these years).

The symbol on the book - I'm going to guess it's one of the symbols we've been shown so far of the various 8 strongest beings in the world or something. I'm re-downloading the old episodes now to see if that's the case.

[David75]

The highlight of the episode for me was that masked girl VA actually used a mask or something which was actually very noticeable in the way it changed her voice and sounds.

[Buffalobiian]

The symbol on the book - I'm going to guess it's one of the symbols we've been shown so far of the various 8 strongest beings in the world or something. I'm re-downloading the old episodes now to see if that's the case.

I just had a look and despite the symbol on the book resembling a dragon, it's a different symbol to the one shown in prior episodes.

[Ryllharu]

In terms of the overall plot, this episode was shit, though. What exactl are we here for again? Watching some guy play family in a fantasy world?
It's a "modern" isekai. THE "modern" isekai, according to some.

That's exactly what this is. That's exactly what ALL power fantasy isekai are.

Shut-in (here). Overworked. Wasted their golden years. Wasted their youth. Had a panic attack from sleep deprivation and died from being scared to death from seeing a tractor. Overworked. Regret. Shut-in. Bullied. Overworked. etc.

The other stuff (any kind of politics or plot) is window dressing.

Have sex, make family, appease the restless spirit of Shinzo Abe!

[Kraco]

Episode S2 14


- - - - --



Badigadi is correct: long and too serious speeches are disliked by everyone, except for the kind of people you don't even want to associate with.

I felt like this episode flowed pretty well. It also demonstrated the power of potato chips in a world where potato chips don't exist, by drawing in a person like Nanahoshi who absolutely isn't the type to attend parties, at least in that world.

[MFauli]

I must remind myself that the previous season (or part of it, whatever) started out very slow, too, so I guess these plot-free episodes are to be expected.

That said, I hope we'll return to it, soon, although it's hard to imagine how. With Sylphie already being prepared for getting pregnant, it's hard to imagine that Rudy would leave her alone to go travel the world in search for his mother. Which is why I feel very uneasy about the current situation. I'd hate to see something like the Dragon god appear, crush the house and murder Sylphie for whatever reason.

If I had to list the potential plot-driven elements:
- finding his mom
- finding a way back for Nanahoshi
- becoming strong enough to fend off the Dragon God
- possibly lift the Dragon God's curse
- find out about Man God's motif for helping Rudy
- coming to help the princess and her strife for the throne
- someone needs help (could be his father, could be Eris)

Honestly, I'd kinda of love a repeat of the teleportation event. Except this time Rudy is strong and he'd furiously try to figure out who's behind it.

[Buffalobiian]

A wedding deserves a reception and all, so I can't fault that.

But whenever I remember that Rudy's taking time off finding his mum to go fix his dick for year, I just have to disagree with his priorities.

[Ryllharu]

Deeply boring.

Bring back the more interesting female leads. They had character flaws aside from "being shy." Being demure simply isn't interesting at all. Roxy's confidence issues rooted in her disability and age or Eris in general have the potential to be something other than mind-numbing.

There's a stunning lack of any narrative conflict or remotely interesting character development.

[DarthEnderX]

Deeply boring.Very much this.

[MFauli]

Episode 15:

That was a good episode. One could complain that a whole episode on the magic circle might have been too much, but it is a very important spell. And I love how it came together nicely from the previous episodes with the doll and all.

Rujierd returning is super nice, and Norn and Aisha will make the family life in that house more fun, too.

Sylphie also established that Rudy is free to bang other chicks, lol.

Nah, that was a jolly episode and I'm looking forward to next week.

My biggest fear is that we're approaching some shock-twist, like someone suddenly getting killed. :/

[Buffalobiian]

Oh, so Rudy isn't going to be finding his mum. Between what was revealed this episode and the OP, it looks like Paul's party is going to find mum instead, and then they're going to summon Rudy when they need his firepower or something.

I'm going to have to adjust my expectations because I was so looking forward to adventuring again. Guess I'll have to enjoy Aisha's antics instead. I bet most of the next arc is going to be about getting Norn to warm up to Rudy though.

[DarthEnderX]

I bet most of the next arc is going to be about getting Norn to warm up to Rudy though.Knowing Rudy, this is going to end up leading to some siscon shit.

[Ryllharu]

Episode 15:
Nah, that was a jolly episode and I'm looking forward to next week.

Agreed. This is the kind of slow progress I can get behind, instead of the issues last season that felt like they never integrated with anything outside of the same episode in which they appeared. Big improvement over previous week and huge improvement from last season overall.

Nanahoshi had her isolated little setback and crisis, but learning through the assistance of the others that she was severely limiting herself allowed her to make a huge breakthrough in the biggest mystery the series currently has going.

It also resulted in her dropping her reserved and secretive attitude. She still wants to go home, but she's taken a big step in accepting help from others and the corresponding results were very significant. She's no longer actively disengaged from the world she's found herself in. Which was a nice parallel to young Rudeus in season 1 who didn't want to leave the property. He's correctly situated to know how to support Nanahoshi in her own struggle, which is an actually good application of character development and callbacks.

[Kraco]

If Nanahoshi had been a PC nerd before getting summoned, she would have automatically known about layering. Most PC components need to use multi-layer PCBs, after all.

But yes, the doll playing a significant role in this was quality writing, since at a first glance the two things had nothing to do with each other. But if you think about it, the doll would definitely require complicated magic circuits since its operations are not based on a soul being bound to a doll body, to power and control it. Naturally it all required Zanoba being adamant about saving it from destruction, due to his love for figures/dolls.

Rudeus's little sisters are necessary for the story, as long as Rudeus doesn't hit the road. He actually had absolutely nothing going on anymore, for himself personally, if you think about it. With Norn and Aisha there, Rudeus actually has something to do. Of course he could have kept helping others, but that would be pretty stale before long, as he already has helped them plenty, as it is. If they continuously kept relying on him, it would render them inept. Fortunately as it is, they aren't. In fact all of his friends have specific fields where they are worlds above Rudeus. That makes a good story.

[Buffalobiian]

Knowing Rudy, this is going to end up leading to some siscon shit.

This arc will end when Norn comes to accept Rudy's pansu shrine I reckon.

[Kraco]

This arc will end when Norn comes to accept Rudy's pansu shrine I reckon.

Even Sylphie doesn't know about it, I believe. I suppose it wouldn't be overly charming in the new wife's eyes to learn the husband worships another woman's underwear.

[DarthEnderX]

Even Sylphie doesn't know about it, I believe. I suppose it wouldn't be overly charming in the new wife's eyes to learn the husband worships another woman's underwear.I imagine if he explained it as "it's the only physical momento I have of the person that taught me magic as a child", she'd probably wave it off as one of his quirks.

[Kraco]

Episode 16:


- - - - -



Norn certainly knows how to hold a grudge. How many years has it been? Though that being said, it's probably the least of her worries.

Rudeus has such thoughtful underlings. Or maybe not.

[DarthEnderX]

Rudeus has such thoughtful underlings. Or maybe not.Thoughtful of his feelings, but nobody else's. :p

[Ryllharu]

Can't say I'm really a fan of Norn.

I'm honestly astonished that she uses Rudy switching girlfriends as something against him, considering she spent the most time with Paul while he was banging a bikini-wearing fighter while looking for his wife. You can't say she didn't know her father was a horndog, considering her half-sister was born the same year.

She was very enthusiastic about continuing to journey with Rujierd, but refuses to make any new friends at school. That whole contrast is moderately alarming. I get not getting along with your half-sister, still thinking your brother is a pervert and not warming back up to his wife, but that girl needs an attitude adjustment. She calls Aisha selfish, but Aisha's extroversion was mostly used to get her to her own goal of being a live-in maid. Norn definitely comes off as the selfish one.

All that criticism of Norn aside, Rudeus is actually the perfect person to guide Norn out of her self-imposed isolation and funk, since she appears to be starting the same route he did back in Japan.

I'm glad someone finally told Rudeus that he probably misunderstood Eris' intentions.

[Buffalobiian]

She calls Aisha selfish Did she? I didn't hear her say much, let alone that part.

As for Rudy switching girlfriends, I put it up to her faith. She was the only one who gave blessings before eating. I do agree that that's in direct contrast with how she feels about her dad. Not remembering Sylphie also doesn't help I suppose.

Aisha's already a complete Bro-con at this stage, and if that bag of underwear made its way home she'd be completely fine.

[DarthEnderX]

Aisha is depressing. Talented enough to perfect score the mage exam, and all she wants to do with her life is housekeeping.

Takes too much after her mother.

[MFauli]

Aisha is depressing. Talented enough to perfect score the mage exam, and all she wants to do with her life is housekeeping.

Takes too much after her mother.

Agreed. I found that super frustrating. There's an entire world full of magical ... magic and she gives it up for a maid-job. Rudy should have told her "if you manage to become a powerful sorceress and still want to work as a maid, it'll be okay." Basically, make sure she at least tried something else first. And Paul paid for the expensive school fees ...

[Ryllharu]

Aisha is depressing. Talented enough to perfect score the mage exam, and all she wants to do with her life is housekeeping.

Takes too much after her mother.


Agreed. I found that super frustrating. There's an entire world full of magical ... magic and she gives it up for a maid-job. Rudy should have told her "if you manage to become a powerful sorceress and still want to work as a maid, it'll be okay." Basically, make sure she at least tried something else first. And Paul paid for the expensive school fees ...

I think you both missed the point of that scene. She made a deal that if she aced the exam, she wouldn't have to go to school, because it basically had nothing to teach her. She succeeded and she doesn't have to go.

Talent or no, people are able to choose their profession and specialization. Paul wanted Rudeus to follow in his footsteps, but he didn't, he went down the mage route instead. Eris was supposed to learn magic and basic education to become more civilized and not a misbehaved brat, but she never got good at math or magic, and became far more interested in sword fighting techniques. Zanoba has no talent in earth magic but wants to learn anyway, and then ultimately study the doll mechanisms and notices enough that he can clue the others in to help Nanahoshi make her breakthrough.

Aisha is free to not focus on any specialization and just become a housekeeper.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm not sure that Paul did pay for the school fees. Paul needed a baby sitter and Rudy was around. Rudy was the one who mentioned that as long as you pay, they'll accept. During this episode, it didn't even sound like taking the exam was something the girls even considered.

As for Aisha's lack of drive towards being anything better than a maid, I think she's actually mature and worldly enough to have come to that decision herself. She's not your typical kid. It's like saying that someone has to finish their university degree before being the barber they've always dreamed to be, just because you're good enough to ace the exam.

In a way, Rudy has ensured that she studied and immersed herself into the material enough to get a perfect score. Even then all she wants to do is stay at home, so he didn't just fold and say "oh okay, no school for you" without doing anything. I was actually expecting Sylphie to offer home schooling for Aisha's magic training and was surprised that it didn't come up.

[DarthEnderX]

I think you both missed the point of that scene. She made a deal that if she aced the exam, she wouldn't have to go to school, because it basically had nothing to teach her.That's a dumb conclusion for them to come to.

Why would everything that a school can teach you be on it's entrance exam? It's an entrance exam, not a testing out for credit exam.

Especially a school like that, where students are actively researching new magics.

She could be inventing the magical cure for cancer, and instead she just wants to mop.


I mean, she can follow her bliss if she want, but it's still a tragic waste of talent.


As for Aisha's lack of drive towards being anything better than a maid, I think she's actually mature and worldly enough to have come to that decision herself.I'm not. I think her mom conditioned her to want this for her whole life. She literally pledged her to the Greyrat's service as a newborn.

[Kraco]

I'm not. I think her mom conditioned her to want this for her whole life. She literally pledged her to the Greyrat's service as a newborn.

Rudeus specifically, by the looks of it. Rudeus saved her and Lilia from the mad royals of Zanoba's home country (with Zanoba himself being pretty crazy). He also always treated her fairly. Before the mass teleportation incident, I reckon she only kept hearing good things about Rudeus, including how it was thanks to Rudeus that Lilia and her could stay at Paul+Zenith's household. It's unfortunate, considering her talents, but this seems to be her personality. She's a genius, so she couldn't be brainwashed so thoroughly if her basic character didn't desire for it at some level. Whether she still desires it 10 years later is a different thing, naturally. She's still young, so she can change her mind and do all kinds of things in her life.

[Buffalobiian]

Before the mass teleportation incident, I reckon she only kept hearing good things about Rudeus, including how it was thanks to Rudeus that Lilia and her could stay at Paul+Zenith's household..

I see you forgot the whole "My brother is a pervert who kept his master's underwear" part xD

[Kraco]

I see you forgot the whole "My brother is a pervert who kept his master's underwear" part xD

Lilia is also a pervert, who seduced her employer, even at the risk of getting banished. Perhaps I forgot it, but it was okay to forget it. Who knows, Aisha might also turn into a pervert once she has more summers under her belt.

[DarthEnderX]

Who knows, Aisha might also turn into a pervert once she has more summers under her belt.She's had nothing but negative role models so far...

[MFauli]

I think you both missed the point of that scene. She made a deal that if she aced the exam, she wouldn't have to go to school, because it basically had nothing to teach her. She succeeded and she doesn't have to go.

Talent or no, people are able to choose their profession and specialization. Paul wanted Rudeus to follow in his footsteps, but he didn't, he went down the mage route instead. Eris was supposed to learn magic and basic education to become more civilized and not a misbehaved brat, but she never got good at math or magic, and became far more interested in sword fighting techniques. Zanoba has no talent in earth magic but wants to learn anyway, and then ultimately study the doll mechanisms and notices enough that he can clue the others in to help Nanahoshi make her breakthrough.

Aisha is free to not focus on any specialization and just become a housekeeper.

"Age is just a number"-vibes.

Aisha is a little child, and no matter upbringing or the world she lives in, that doesn't change AND Rudy knows better.

It's literally dumb. Being a maid is an entry-level, dead-end job. Even worse when it's for your fucking brother. It just feels like she's in deep depression and has no drive and motivation for something else, something better. She doesn't need an understanding brother, she needs therapy.

[Ryllharu]

"Age is just a number"-vibes.

Aisha is a little child, and no matter upbringing or the world she lives in, that doesn't change AND Rudy knows better.

It's literally dumb. Being a maid is an entry-level, dead-end job. Even worse when it's for your fucking brother. It just feels like she's in deep depression and has no drive and motivation for something else, something better. She doesn't need an understanding brother, she needs therapy.

Only one making this creepy is you. Not sure where you even decided to make that connection from after rereading my own post.

Norn is obviously the one with separation-anxiety depression, not Aisha. Aisha has an inferiority complex when she's compared to Norn, not depression.

But since you started this angle of discussion, you should stop reinterpreting the setting based on Earth's modern customs; the world clearly operates on medieval or at best Renaissance era customs regarding age. Rudeus was sent off to work as a tutor for Eris at age 7 (season 1, cour 1). A human's 10th birthday is a major cultural milestone (season 1, cour 1). He's never been questioned regarding age when registering as an adventurer on any continent (season 1, cour 2).

They very clearly put children to work at a similar timeline to the medieval/Renaissance eras.

[Kraco]

Norn is obviously the one with separation-anxiety depression, not Aisha. Aisha has an inferiority complex when she's compared to Norn, not depression.

Unlike a genius like Aisha, Norn is just a normal kid. She definitely should have had a normal household to grow up decently. Instead the teleportation disaster took it from her. It also took her mother from her, leaving her only with the dad, who doesn't behave that well with children and who fell for the booze. Once things stabilised, Aisha appeared and immediately beats Norn in everything, apart from being the legitimate child. However, it's actually a worse situation to be considered the legitimate child and then end up significantly less skilled than the illegitimate one at pretty much everything. Aisha even had her mother around, plus her encounter with Rudeus, their big brother, was benevolent, whereas he looked terrifying for Norn. There's only a single thing in which Aisha loses to Norn, yet now that they are at Rudeus's place, even that thing doesn't matter anymore, like Rudeus just stated. So, it's quite funny to say that Aisha would have an inferiority complex. Norn is a walking inferiority complex.

[Ryllharu]

I think that's what makes the two sisters' relationship interesting.

They're both fiercely jealous of each other just like normal sisters get, and it doesn't feel like forced narrative.

[Buffalobiian]

E17

-----------------------





I liked this episode a lot. I'm all for Norn wondering why his brother was chilling when Paul is out looking for the mum.

The whole "living at the dorms" thing turned out to be just Norn betting and losing.

But anyway. Turning Point 3!

[Ryllharu]

Meh. It was a well-composed episode, but I'm sorry author and director, I still dislike Norn strongly.

I get the sense of rejection she had brewing concerning her own capabilities compared to her two siblings, but I can't accept it because she let it fester despite everyone in her life telling her otherwise for years. Her confirmation bias is infuriating in light of how many times she was told that she just got a bad first impression of him.

[DarthEnderX]

I get the sense of rejection she had brewing concerning her own capabilities compared to her two siblings, but I can't accept it because she let it fester despite everyone in her life telling her otherwise for years. Her confirmation bias is infuriating in light of how many times she was told that she just got a bad first impression of him.100% this. Her being like "I don't understand my brother", but then every single time someone is like "Let me tell you about your brother", her internal monologue is just "I don't want to hear it!" is insufferable.

[Kraco]

If amazing, talented people tell her that Rudeus is not like what she believes him to be, it doesn't necessarily matter. She did see Rudeus being violent with Paul, who was anything but amazing when it happened. He was a failure and Rudeus was beating him up. Norn feels like a failure herself, all the time. Paul got better later, but that would have made Norn feel like she was left behind by him as well. Thus she feels like she has no allies, being the only untalented person in the family. Besides, since she hated Rudeus, it would make sense for her to believe Rudeus would dislike her as well. It's not like they would have ever had a good relationship. They relationship started with the fight and there it ended as well. Why would she expect Rudeus to welcome her with open arms when she openly showed her dislike back when they met in the southern country? Norn basically built a pit for herself and fell into it.

[David75]

How old is she already? 10? she's still a child, she needs time and experience, even in their medieval setting pushing hard truth way too soon on children.

[Buffalobiian]

I pretty much didn't care so much about Norn's motives, but I did find it a little interesting that she was still seeking attachment from Rudy even though she didn't like him much.

I was mostly impressed with Rudy trying to figure out how best to talk to Norn and the choice of words he'd use based on his past experiences. The icing on the cake is how the helper doesn't even know how they've helped sometimes, but the very act of being there and talking can be all that needs to happen. Sometimes I can forget that since I'm very "So what am I accomplishing by simply being here?"

[shinta|hikari]

Fuck Norn.

[MFauli]

Fuck Norn.

And Rudy took that literally.

[shinta|hikari]

Same here.

[Buffalobiian]

S2E18

-----------------------------------------







So apparently the Man God advised against Rudy going to rescue his mum. I had totally forgotten about this if true, and just assumed Rudy chose to cure his ED.

Given that the journey was going to take a year, I was expecting Rudy to yolo and ask Nanahoshi to send him over there.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm glad the plot is going to start moving again.

Seems like Rudeus is going to miss out on having a cat/dog kid though.


Given that the journey was going to take a year, I was expecting Rudy to yolo and ask Nanahoshi to send him over there.Right? Or at least go visit her "teleportation expert".

[Buffalobiian]

I thought her Teleportation Expert was going to be the Dragon God.

[KrayZ33]

Btw, has there been any information about their goals on how far they want to adapt the series?

Like a third and fouth season for example - up to the last novel?
Would love it if they go all the way and if I'm not mistaken the author plans a sequel as well, but only after this animation adaptation is "finished" and his other "orc-wants-to get his d*ck wet" LN series is done. (so like a decade from now).

What could "finished" mean here.
The whole thing? Or just the current season? Because that kinda gave me hope that even more is already planned and not just a "maybe" as of now.

[shinta|hikari]

Pretty sure with its success it will get fully adapted.

[MFauli]

With magic being normal, this world really ought to work on better long-range communication.

Also: Linia would be the correct choice.

[DarthEnderX]

Aisha: "I want some of that Sylphie love too!"
Rudy: "Dad would kill me."

Not, "I don't want to". "I don't want to get in trouble".

Never change Rudeus.

[KrayZ33]

With magic being normal, this world really ought to work on better long-range communication.

Hmm, I didn't watch the episode but I'm currently rewatching everything and in season 1 it was stated that 1 out of 20 even have mana and only 1 out of 20 of those is able to learn magic at all.
And 1 out of 100 from them is actually capable of reaching "advanced" rank in at least one element.

Thats 25 people out of 1.000.000 that can use magic "somewhat" (still worse) as well as Rudy could when he was 4-5 years old.
And that doesn't even include the amount of children who never actually learn magic.

Considering that long range communication and thus mana manipulation over long distances shouldn't be easy, I think it would have way fewer uses than you think in this world, especially as it would be unreasonable to use these very few assets that are mostly specialized in combat magic for "daily use". (they only know combat, summoning and healing magic anyway)


Overall the access to magic and apparently also their uses for them is not as big as Frieren's.
Now if you consider the fact that Human-god is saying stuff like "I'm not good with summoning magic, that sounds more like something the Dragon-God would do" (or something like that) you could imagine that magic is not normal at all in this world and even godlike beings are having trouble with stuff that is not their forte.

[Kraco]

A difficult choice. Rudeus's primary family is now the one he established, not anymore the one he was born in. While one might say Sylphie and the yet-to-be-born child ought to be safe in that academy city, who can really say? The larger story began with with an entire important city getting wiped off from the world. Assuming he made the trip the normal way, his kid could already be over two years old by the time he's back, assuming everything went smoothly. That would be rather cruel considering Rudeus never even got the chance two witness his sisters grow up. But then again, it's a cruel world. If Zenith could be saved with his help, and he didn't go, things would never be the same ever again.

All in all, Norn better look after Sylphie and not bother her by arguing with Aisha, no matter how much Aisha provoked her.

[Ryllharu]

Hitogami saying some honestly suspect shit all of a sudden.

He generally hasn't steered Rudeus wrong to date, but this time felt different. Like overtly lying by omission. He was encouraging him to stay and impregnate Pursena and/or Linia, which both seem like a horrible idea given their behavior in the last year. It was almost like he wanted Rudeus to settle down and live out his life doing nothing. Like Hitogami already got what he wanted out of Rudeus (whatever that is) and was just kinda...done with him.

Maybe the new attitude is because Rudeus befriended Nanahoshi? She's a big aberration in the world, and she's making headway on breaking dimensional barriers.

The hint was that Rudeus would regret leaving, while absolutely refusing to reply what or with what magnitude is very suspect. The obvious regret in going to save Zenith before would be failing to reconnect with Sylphie and resolve his ED funk about Eris. Even further, Rujierd telling Rudeus he probably got Eris' intent wrong. So that part was right. But his alternate advice wasn't very compelling this time.

So what's the regret now? Miss the birth of his first born? Sure, that's a medium-big regret, but maybe a pretty small regret in the grand scheme of things.

As much as I kind of disliked Norn, I think she served her purpose here very well. If Rudeus doesn't go, an accomplished mage with some real skill, he'll certainly regret staying behind and making all the others do what he swore to do long ago. Because there really aren't that many people out there as accomplished or versatile as he is now.

[DarthEnderX]

So what's the regret now? Miss the birth of his first born? Sure, that's a medium-big regret, but maybe a pretty small regret in the grand scheme of things.He already told him. Stay and have a kid with one of the beastmen, and that'll be another joy in his life.

Since he's leaving, the beastman child he could have had won't exist now. A child not being born is a significant regret.

[MFauli]

A difficult choice. Rudeus's primary family is now the one he established, not anymore the one he was born in. While one might say Sylphie and the yet-to-be-born child ought to be safe in that academy city, who can really say? The larger story began with with an entire important city getting wiped off from the world. Assuming he made the trip the normal way, his kid could already be over two years old by the time he's back, assuming everything went smoothly. That would be rather cruel considering Rudeus never even got the chance two witness his sisters grow up. But then again, it's a cruel world. If Zenith could be saved with his help, and he didn't go, things would never be the same ever again.

All in all, Norn better look after Sylphie and not bother her by arguing with Aisha, no matter how much Aisha provoked her.

I found it a rather easy, if uncomfortable, choice: my mom is in grave danger, I go. Missing the first 2 years of your child is near meaningless for the child, it's more about Sylphie being without Rudy. And between my wife feeling lonely or my mom dying, I know which one to prioritize.

[Kraco]

I found it a rather easy, if uncomfortable, choice: my mom is in grave danger, I go. Missing the first 2 years of your child is near meaningless for the child, it's more about Sylphie being without Rudy. And between my wife feeling lonely or my mom dying, I know which one to prioritize.

What guarantees does he have the trip will have any meaning? The letter didn't even come from Paul himself. He could be making a totally useless trip that will end up taking years with no results, yet he would miss the first years of his first child. Worst of all, maybe the game of thrones back in princess Ariel's home country will start to have a heavier effect and Sylphie will get embroiled in it. After all, she's a famous silent magician and princess Ariel's staunch ally. So, it's not altogether impossible Rudeus would make a useless trip, not rescue Zenith, and simply decide to head back in bitterness to cut his losses. Yet when he returns home, he will find Norn and Aisha tending his wife's gravestone. Sure, we, as readers, can probably guess this isn't the kind of story where Rudeus would lose his wife, but Rudeus himself wouldn't know that.

All that being said, I also think it's the right choice to go, but the more he thought about it, the more factors he would need to worry about there are.

[Buffalobiian]

We knew that not-going wasn't going to be an option when Elinalise said she'd go on his behalf. She's already doing the bodyguard duty on behalf of Sylphie, so that contradiction wasn't going to solve itself.

Norn also moved back into the home without much fuss being made about it.

[Ryllharu]

He already told him. Stay and have a kid with one of the beastmen, and that'll be another joy in his life.

Since he's leaving, the beastman child he could have had won't exist now. A child not being born is a significant regret.

Rudeus doesn't see those two in that way at all, so it wouldn't have happened on its own if he had stayed either. So no, the 'regret' cannot be that.

He's loyal to Sylphiette and thought Paul was trash for cheating on Zenith. He's consistently refused any hints toward that effect from the two beastgirls. Really wasn't an option that Rudeus would ever consider outside of Hitogami bringing it up, quite obviously so as he immediately refused in the dreamspace.

It's super suspicious that Hitogami wants Rudeus rooted here in the Academy city and not out adventuring.

[KrayZ33]

Since I'm rewatching right now.

Hitogami said the same thing before Rudeus went to the Academy.
Although back then he lured him with the cure to his ED.

But here is the thing:

Rudeus: "I will regret going to Belgaritt (Zenith)? Why?"
Hitogami: I can't tell you
but then Hitogami proceeds to tell him that he can cure his ED if he goes to the academy. That was already fishy back then.
He can't explain it to him... but then it seems like he actually gives him a reason.
That's probably not the reason he was actually refering to when he first said that he couldn't provide that information.

Another thing is that he only showed up after he was about to ignore the Academy invitation to go seek out his mom.
When he wasn't about to move, he wouldn't show up.
Even after he got the info from Dragonroad, he didn't show up because Rudeus couldn't start his journey due to the harsh winter.
Only after he could finally keep traveling is when he showed up. And he showed up to direct him towards the academy.

[DarthEnderX]

Sure, we, as readers, can probably guess this isn't the kind of story where Rudeus would lose his wifeI wouldn't guess that AT ALL. This show goes hard at times and doesn't avoid injecting some tragedy from time to time.

[shinta|hikari]

Has anyone in the main cast died?

[DarthEnderX]

Has anyone in the main cast died?Besides Rudy? :p

[MFauli]

Something I'm wondering: Is the hitogami only part of that magic world where Rudy mow lives, or is our real world supposed to be part of a universe that is governed by gods, unbeknownst to us?

Do we have any clues here? Basically: Did Rudy get summoned to a world where gods exist or were gods always around and oversee all sorts of different worlds?

[DarthEnderX]

Something I'm wondering: Is the hitogami only part of that magic world where Rudy mow lives, or is our real world supposed to be part of a universe that is governed by gods, unbeknownst to us?

Do we have any clues here? Basically: Did Rudy get summoned to a world where gods exist or were gods always around and oversee all sorts of different worlds?Pretty sure that's not been revealed one way or the other.

Though the fact that the god seems to know and understand Rudy's old life would suggest that the latter is at least possible.

[Buffalobiian]

I'd say they can interfere in this world, but at best can only observe the other world to some degree (if even that), summoning aside. My basis for this is that magic is non-existent in our world.

That said though, they don't seem to do much. Hitogami appears in Rudy's dreams and gives him advice and apparent predictions. Dragon god walks around, fucks people up, appears to have foreknowledge of the world and may be involved in summoning people. The various demon gods just visit people for fun, and one of the dudes sit in their floating castle.

That's the extent of current gods that we've seen. Laplace and other people were featured in legends.

[Kraco]

I could easily imagine Zenith dying, instead of getting rescued despite Rudeus's best efforts. I very much don't expect Sylphie, Eris, or Roxy to die. That is, the three women Rudeus loves romantically. That being said, I wouldn't go as far as to say it's totally unimaginable, but it would be unexpected, if you ask me.

[MFauli]

I can absolutely see one of them die. I can also see Rudy trying to learn a revive-spell ... or a zombifying-spell. Or simply begging hitogami to revive her, which will make force Rudy to officially become hitogami's servant, maybe a way to pitch someone against the dragon god.

[KrayZ33]

A reason I see as to why they can't die right now is because it would re-trigger Rudy-depression mode.
And that would just be no fun to watch. (Season 2 part 1 concluded that part of his character development)

Zenith, perhaps, that will hit him (and me), but not destroy him , but it can't be Sylphie - no freaking way.
Roxy most likely neither.
Worst thing that could happen would be some time-travel fiasko "to get her back" and that never ends well in terms of storytelling.

[shinta|hikari]

Besides Rudy? :p

Wait, Rudy died? I thought he almost died and got healed in the Orsted encounter.

[Buffalobiian]

Wait, Rudy died? I thought he almost died and got healed in the Orsted encounter.

Yep. Besides dying in our world, that's as close to death as Rudy has been to date.

[shinta|hikari]

Then he didn't die, right? He was almost dead and then healed.

[DarthEnderX]

Wait, Rudy died?Yeah. Episode 1.

[shinta|hikari]

That wasn't Rudy. He only got that name after he reincarnated.

[DarthEnderX]

That wasn't Rudy. He only got that name after he reincarnated....touché.

[MFauli]

Was there no episode last week?

[DarthEnderX]

Was there no episode last week?No episode last week.

[Buffalobiian]

S2E19

----------------








I'm all for shortcuts as well. Thank fuck for teleportation circles.

The symbol on the circles correspond to the one on the puppet manual book from Rudy's house, but again is different from the one described as the Dragon God's when they first introduced them. But the spell definitely suggests that it's related to dragons, and it looks like one anyway.

Rudy actually considered fucking Elinalise momentarily prior to the trip lol. I mean, she's hot as fuck.

That said, I almost cringed at him not even making one night before trying. I knew there was some scent that was funny but didn't figure it was a Succubus until it showed up.

And talking about night.. not that I've ever done any desert-trekking, but all the Hollywood shows I've seen say that it should be done at night rather than during the day.

[DarthEnderX]

Right? Or at least go visit her "teleportation expert".Well, I'm glad that paid off. :p

[Ryllharu]

Holy shit the animation quality dropped hard. Even when it didn't look half-bad, the quality in the next segment or even next shots in the same scene could be slightly better or very noticeably worse.

[Kraco]

That said, I almost cringed at him not even making one night before trying. I knew there was some scent that was funny but didn't figure it was a Succubus until it showed up.

I began to wonder if Elinalise actually emits some aphrodisiac when she's in heat, as a part of the curse, even though I didn't remember such a detail from any previous episodes with her. The succubus certainly explained it. It wasn't actually a bad scene, I'd say, since it certainly fits this series and introduced a new, potentially dangerous monster. Rudeus would have liked been finished without Elinalise.


And talking about night.. not that I've ever done any desert-trekking, but all the Hollywood shows I've seen say that it should be done at night rather than during the day.

I reckon it would depend on a number of things. For example in Sahara, the temperature apparently drops below zero Celsius at night. So, if you aren't equipped for that, it's bad. Also, you can't necessarily see that much, so navigation might depend on stars alone, if you are capable. In a fantasy world, who knows what kind of horrors lurk in the darkness of the night.

Other than that, it was nice to see Rudeus display his power in a normal fight. He's relatively famous for a reason, but the long school arches didn't really have that many scenes showing it.

[Ryllharu]

I was just happy to see Elinalise's fighting style. Her use of a buckler really differs from the three main sword styles we've seen fights for in detail.

I'm pretty sure she actually doesn't use any of the three styles, none of which use a shield.

[MFauli]

Really disappointed Rudy didn't get to bang Elinalise :( Would have lead to more interesting consequences. And I don't see how her going 'man-hunting' is preferable. Do it with a friend instead of random guys :/

[shinta|hikari]

But he would be cheating on the elf.

[Kraco]

In addition to Shinta's point, I reckon Cliff would also accept Elinalise sleeping once with nameless guys of no consequence better than with Rudeus. Otherwise he would always be reminded of it when he meets Rudeus. I'm not sure that's the kind of favour one would expect or want from a friend.

[DarthEnderX]

And I don't see how her going 'man-hunting' is preferable.You don't see how that's preferable to fucking your granddaughter's husband?

[MFauli]

Yoy guys are booooring 🤷*♀️

[shinta|hikari]

I'm about to be 38. I should be boring by now.

[MFauli]

I'm about to be 38. I should be boring by now.
Awful mindset

[shinta|hikari]

I mean, the line I drew was NOT choosing to fuck your granddaughter's husband. I'd be that boring any day.

[DarthEnderX]

I mean, the line I drew was NOT choosing to fuck your granddaughter's husband.Hey, that's what I said.


Oh god...my line is at the same place as the armpit guy...

[shinta|hikari]

Yes, it is.

[Buffalobiian]

S2E20

----------------------------








Teleportation Labyrinth's guidebook and Rudy's hunch seemed awfully coincidental. At least they should explain Rudy's hunch next episode I'd imagine, or else it'd feel like lazy writing.

[Kraco]

I have to confess Rudeus and Roxy finally meeting made me smile. It was such a fairy tale reunion as well, with Rudeus saving her.

I don't really consider the teleportation book to even be a coicidence. Apparently that's a famous teleportation dungeon of the highest difficulty, so it makes sense it would have been studied by someone credible. Teleportation itself is the core element of the bigger story of this whole series. The actual story began with the mass teleportation incident. One might even say the whole series began with it, since Nanahoshi's case suggests teleportation and summoning are tightly linked in that universe. Rudeus was born when a soul from Earth was teleported/summoned and used to create a human that shouldn't have been there, according to Orsted. Furthermore, Rudeus made his business to study teleportation in the academy city and helped Nanahoshi with it. So, of course he would have a book.

I took the scene of Rudeus's hunch to have been born from hearing the drop of water. Roxy is a water mage, so perhaps that just made Rudeus imagine he might be able to track her down by looking for signs of water magic.

Paul is as pitiful as ever, though fortunately he didn't begin to drink again and seems able to listen to advice from others. But starting to badmouth Elinalise/her husband immediately after hearing she got married, that's a bit much.

[Ryllharu]

The lazy writing I have an issue with is "Roxy has been missing for a month," yet she's actively fighting in the Labyrinth.

Given her circumstances when she's being saved, she should have already long starved to death or died from sleep deprivation. Dehydration not an issue for a water mage. Unless Roxy is regularly farming monsters for food and just happened to accidentally overstep and draw an entire nest to her secret hiding room, she should have been dead.

If they had said a couple of days or a week at most, it might have been more believable.

There's obviously something deeper (read: magical bullshit) going on with Zenith since she's been in the dungeon for six years with occasional sightings, so I can give that one a pass.

[DarthEnderX]

Teleportation Labyrinth's guidebook and Rudy's hunch seemed awfully coincidental. At least they should explain Rudy's hunch next episode I'd imagine, or else it'd feel like lazy writing.I thought maybe he was just sensing her magic. Is that a thing mages can do? Sensing magic?


The lazy writing I have an issue with is "Roxy has been missing for a month," yet she's actively fighting in the Labyrinth.

Given her circumstances when she's being saved, she should have already long starved to death or died from sleep deprivation.I assume she didn't spend the entire month under constant attack.

[MFauli]

The lazy writing I have an issue with is "Roxy has been missing for a month," yet she's actively fighting in the Labyrinth.

Given her circumstances when she's being saved, she should have already long starved to death or died from sleep deprivation. Dehydration not an issue for a water mage. Unless Roxy is regularly farming monsters for food and just happened to accidentally overstep and draw an entire nest to her secret hiding room, she should have been dead.

If they had said a couple of days or a week at most, it might have been more believable.

There's obviously something deeper (read: magical bullshit) going on with Zenith since she's been in the dungeon for six years with occasional sightings, so I can give that one a pass.


Dito.

Not an enjoyable episodes. Feels like the last 2 episodes were transitional episodes, give me actually meaty episodes where meaningful stuff happens.

I also don't understand why Roxy was there. Gill said the 3rd stratum comes next, which is where Roxy got lost, and trap teleporter only send you within the same stratum, so she should have been on the 3rd stratum. But Rudy was on the 2nd stratum at that point. Wat


PS: Also Rudy must bang Roxy. Shit anime otherwise.

[Kraco]

Given her circumstances when she's being saved, she should have already long starved to death or died from sleep deprivation. Dehydration not an issue for a water mage. Unless Roxy is regularly farming monsters for food and just happened to accidentally overstep and draw an entire nest to her secret hiding room, she should have been dead.


Come on. Rudeus survived for what, three years, as a teenage guy who couldn't get it up at all. What's Roxy surviving in some dungeon for a mere month compared to that?

[Ryllharu]

I assume she didn't spend the entire month under constant attack.

Agreed, but irrelevant. She's been down there for a month. She has to have fought to some degree or she would have run out of food in days, but looking how lightly outfitted the party is inside the labyrinth (there's presumably food and water on the pack animals outside the entrance), it is unlikely Roxy had more than a single meal's worth of provisions.

It would be a different thing if she was in stasis, or the plot utilized the time dilation we saw when Elinalise went back through the gate they took from the north and it took longer than she believed.

That works for a scenario where Roxy has been fighting for at most hours and didn't know she was gone for a month, but if they go that route, they need to explain how Rudy got there without taking the same route to the dead end room she's in.

[DarthEnderX]

they need to explain how Rudy got there without taking the same route to the dead end room she's in.I assumed he just went through the wall with his earthshaping magic...

"I sense Master's magic through this wall...

Outta the way you wall!" *drill blast*

[Buffalobiian]

S2E21


---------------------------------------







Paul and his harem lesson lol.

I guess not recognising Rudy and seeing him as the prince who rescues her at a time of need really set off Roxy's love fantasy. It wouldn't have worked any other way.

[DarthEnderX]

Paul:

https://i.imgur.com/FD5q9P1.jpg

[MFauli]

IT'S OKAY TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE GIRL!X1

Paul continues to be the true hero of this anime.

[Kraco]

It's a little bit sad to see Roxy try to so hard to hit on Rudeus, yet forget about Rudeus noticing it, he hasn't even told Roxy he's already married and expecting his first child to be born soon enough. Even if polygamy is normal in that world, aside from the religion Zenith and Cliff belong to, it would still be something he would need to mention, considering Roxy's feelings. She would need to decide whether she accepts it or not. I reckon Rudeus himself wouldn't hesitate for a moment (assuming it wouldn't insult Sylphie), but it's not his call, as nothing will change the fact he's already married.

Regardless, I enjoyed every scene of those two interacting. I doubt Roxy really understands just how much she means to Rudeus. Perhaps it's a good thing she doesn't, considering Rudy's panties religion.

[shinta|hikari]

Polygamy is fine since he is a noble. Remember Eris's gramps?

[Kraco]

Polygamy is fine since he is a noble. Remember Eris's gramps?

That specifically was not my point. My point was that is it fine for Roxy. As I recall, her parents were just a father and a mother. I don't think the story revealed if the other folks of her kind were also monogamous, though I might have forgotten the details. What you said makes it okay for Rudeus, so it's all up to Roxy, which was my point. Even in a generally polygamous culture, not all men or women might want to accept more partners in the marriage. In a fantasy setting with more than a single species/race, it could potentially be even more complicated. Roxy has lived among humans for years, which could make her more accepting even if her village wasn't practicing it. However, one negative detail is that Roxy and Sylphie don't know each other, I believe. Didn't Rudeus meet Sylphie only after Roxy left?

[shinta|hikari]

If she wants the D, she must approve the P.

[Kraco]

If she wants the D, she must approve the P.

I suppose Sylphie would know, to a certain degree, what kind of folks Grayrats are, even if she's not one herself, unlike Eris. Sylphie did keep visiting Paul's house before the disaster, after Rudeus left, so she ought to understand what Rudeus's family used to be like. Didn't she even ask Rudeus if he needs a mistress due to her pregnancy or am I getting my series mixed up? So, Sylphie should be okay, which also should make things easier for Roxy. If Sylphie says fine, why not, Roxy might even feel pressure to accept the idea.

[DarthEnderX]

It's funny nobody cares that Roxxy is crushing on someone she's known since he was, like, 5. Talk about your groomin'.

Sure, we know he's actually in his 40s. But they don't know that.

[Kraco]

It's funny nobody cares that Roxxy is crushing on someone she's known since he was, like, 5. Talk about your groomin'.

Sure, we know he's actually in his 40s. But they don't know that.

She's not a human. Isn't she something like 50+ years old? Her sense of time and lifespans would be different. Nevertheless, their time together was relatively brief when he was young. Nothing happened during that time, aside from Rudeus starting to worship her, but she wouldn't even know it. Back then Roxy was interested in spying Paul having fun with Zenith, which is the opposite of being interested in little kids. Then we skipped 10+ years forward to now. During that decade they exchanged a letter or a few, mostly concerning neutral or business matters (like Rudeus wanting to learn the demon continent language).

I don't honestly understand this whole "grooming" thing when I don't see anything of that sort happening, unlike net predators gradually trying to get kids to send more and more risky photos and finally meeting in RL.

In the end if we consider a not so extraordinary human couple where the man would be 10 years older, it would mean the man was 18 when the woman was still an eight years old brat. Back in historical times the husband being 10 years older would have been exceedingly common because then the man would have then had a decade of time to get a job and accumulate a bit of wealth to provide for the family. Not every man was an heir waiting for an automatic financial security for life.

But, sure, if you consider Roxy unintentionally making Rudeus fall in love with her as grooming, then so be it.

[DarthEnderX]

Back in historical timesWhoa there buddy. Only pedophiles try to use that argument.


But, sure, if you consider Roxy unintentionally making Rudeus fall in love with her as grooming, then so be it.Doesn't really matter if it's intentional or not. Romantically pursuing someone you knew when they were a child has bad optics to it.

[Kraco]

Whoa there buddy. Only pedophiles try to use that argument.

Not at all. If a man meets the woman when he's 30 and the woman 20, how is that pedophilic at all? It doesn't change the fact she was 8 when he was 18.


Romantically pursuing someone you knew when they were a child has bad optics to it.

That would include all childhood friends getting together later.

[MFauli]

Let's just say: If sexes were opposite, Twitter would be outraged.

[shinta|hikari]

Grooming, as a term, is misunderstood and misused often, like gaslighting or cognitive dissonance.

Roxy didn't raise or teach or even interact with Rudy for a long time as a child. She never did anything to shape him into her ideal partner, nor had the thoughts of doing so.

Sure falling in love with someone you knew as a child when you were an adult definitely has bad optics and can also be predatory due to the age-gap, but the age-gap thing is usually an issue due to maturity and power imbalances. Even if we ignore his total mental age, Rudy is far stronger than Roxy, so she can't really control him. So it may be weird and potentially risky as a relationship, but it is not grooming.





















BTW, I just bought this:
https://cdn.suruga-ya.com/pics_light/boxart_a/864026551_1.jpg?v=8f707ea5bdf4fd7505cf

[MFauli]

BTW, I just bought this:
https://cdn.suruga-ya.com/pics_light/boxart_a/864026551_1.jpg?v=8f707ea5bdf4fd7505cf

Twitter-mode on: And now it makes sense that you'd defend grooming. Twitter-mode off.


Sorry, jk :P

[DarthEnderX]

Roxy didn't raise or teach or even interact with Rudy for a long time as a child. She never did anything to shape him into her ideal partner, nor had the thoughts of doing so.Even if it wasn't her intention, it still happened. The guy literally worships her panties.

You can have an enormous impact on someone without meaning to, especially when they're extremely young and still developing. And that creates the kind of power imbalance you were talking about. Not physical, but emotional. Even much later in life they could still have an attachment to you that isn't completely rational.

That's why, if you've known someone as a child you should probably just...not. In general. Like, go find someone else. There's a whole world full of people out there. You don't gotta fuck family members, friends' partners, people you knew as kids, etc.

Again though, this doesn't doesn't actually apply to Rudy. Because he's actually in his 40s. But, again, they don't know that.

[MFauli]

.

That's why, if you've known someone as a child you should probably just...not. In general. Like, go find someone else. There's a whole world full of people out there. You don't gotta fuck family members, friends' partners, people you knew as kids, etc..

Man, gotta disagree here from principle. Love is love, you don't give up on someone just because society put a taboo on it.

[Kraco]

Even much later in life they could still have an attachment to you that isn't completely rational.

That's called love. It's not completely rational, but it certainly helps a couple to stay together.


That's why, if you've known someone as a child you should probably just...not. In general. Like, go find someone else. There's a whole world full of people out there. You don't gotta fuck family members, friends' partners, people you knew as kids, etc.

Again though, this doesn't doesn't actually apply to Rudy. Because he's actually in his 40s. But, again, they don't know that.

It's certainly sound advice in our world because if one is already an adult when the other is still a small kid, the age difference is pretty huge. That being said, Roxy didn't even recognise Rudeus initially, so you can hardly say she would have fallen for the child Rudeus and then only kept waiting for him to reach the marriageable age. Furthermore, it's not our world. I don't remember if it has been mentioned, but isn't it possible Roxy will still live much longer than Rudeus, not being a human, despite already being a lot older in absolute numbers? If I had to guess, she's still probably a young adult, just like Rudeus.

Since this series takes place in a fantasy world, you need to keep it in mind. If some non-human lives for 200-300 years, it's better not to limit them so strictly to what would be the common sense for humans, who might last 70 years in that world. Among Roxy's own people, a couple with 30 years of age difference might still live 200 years together, married. Though like I said, I don't remember if her kind's life expectancy has been mentioned.

Lastly, it would be pretty sad and even insulting for Rudeus if Roxy told him that since she knew him for a little while back when he was a child, she won't ever date him. Even though she didn't even recognise him as an adult, initially, and clearly saw him as an attractive stranger appearing to rescue her. It would be a clearly dishonest rejection.

[shinta|hikari]

Even if it wasn't her intention, it still happened. The guy literally worships her panties.

You can have an enormous impact on someone without meaning to, especially when they're extremely young and still developing. And that creates the kind of power imbalance you were talking about. Not physical, but emotional. Even much later in life they could still have an attachment to you that isn't completely rational.

Yes, but that is not grooming, which is why I started my reply the way I did.

[DarthEnderX]

Since this series takes place in a fantasy world, you need to keep it in mind.I really don't. Because it's a fantasy world created by a writer, and that writer is from our world.

"I wrote a story about fucking kids, but it's okay, because it's about fantasy world where it's okay to fuck kids." wouldn't fly.


Lastly, it would be pretty sad and even insulting for Rudeus if Roxy told him that since she knew him for a little while back when he was a child, she won't ever date him."I know it was inappropriate, but I didn't want them to be sad" doesn't seem like it'd hold up either. It's not telling them they can't have a cookie before dinner.

[Kraco]

I really don't. Because it's a fantasy world created by a writer, and that writer is from our world.

"I wrote a story about fucking kids, but it's okay, because it's about fantasy world where it's okay to fuck kids." wouldn't fly.


What kids? Rudeus is already a married adult as it is. All I said is that the age gap is not an issue because it's a fantasy world. If Roxy was a human, she would be a middle-aged person already, while Rudeus is a very young adult.

[MFauli]

I really don't. Because it's a fantasy world created by a writer, and that writer is from our world.

"I wrote a story about fucking kids, but it's okay, because it's about fantasy world where it's okay to fuck kids." wouldn't fly..

So does this apply to ALL things that would be illegal in our world or do you just want to forbid this specific thing?

[DarthEnderX]

What kids?That's just an example. I mean the excuse of "it's a fictional world where they say that horrible thing is okay, so it makes that horrible thing okay" doesn't magically give it a pass, regardless of what travesty you want to plug in there.

For example, all the isekai that are like "We have slavery, and slavery is good and the slaves love being your slaves!" You don't just have to shrug and go "Oh well! That's that world!". Like, no! That's not just a reality that happened and you just have to accept it! Somebody WROTE that world to be that way! Someone sat down and created a world where people just love being slaves. And you don't have to give that writer a pass for that. Because it's fucking weird!


So does this apply to ALL things that would be illegal in our world or do you just want to forbid this specific thing?I'm not looking to "forbid" anything. I'm just not willing to cut a character slack just because an awful thing is a normal part of their world.

For example, Game of Thrones world has a lot of slavery. But GoT doesn't ever try and pretend that slavery is good. It's a bad thing that bad people profit from. It's a part of that world, but the stories don't pretend it's okay just because it's a part of that world.