u/Harrythehobbit

Full disclosure, I’m coming into this having watched the show weekly during its first and second seasons, and dropping it after S2E7. I know the discussion around this show has kind of passed, and this might not actually be a hot take. Still thinking about it for some reason.

 I really liked Mushoku Tensei for the first season. I liked the animation, world, and characters, I even unironically really liked Rudeus as a character when he wasn't committing sexual assault. I was willing to look past the problematic elements of the protagonist and even (somewhat, only somewhat) defend the problematic elements of his relationship with Eris on the premise that those problematic elements were there for a reason and would eventually be moved past. The narrative being sold to me was that Rudeus was eventually going to become a better, more well adjusted person. 

And I was extremely happy to be proven right when at the start of S2 he had a relatively normal, kindhearted relationship with Sarah, and I was impressed at how maturely it handled the subject of ED. It was about halfway through that season that two plot points soured me on it.

First was the scene where he ties up and assaults the beast girls. In a show that’s trying to seriously examine sexual abuse and trauma, this would be treated with the respect it deserves. Instead it's meant to be a joke. The audience is not meant to take it seriously, even the characters don't take it seriously. He ties them up, gropes them, makes them piss on themselves, and then they let them go and the girls are just like "Okay then, see you later. Just a misunderstanding, no harm no foul." I felt it was being extremely flippant with a serious topic. And more importantly, I really thought we were past this. It completely undermines the lessons Rudeus learned from Eris about kindness and consent.

Second was when Rudeus took Sylphy on what was effectively a date to a slave market, and literally buys a child slave. Regardless of the social customs of this world, that is kind of a step too far for me. Especially when it's framed like a cute date and they make a joke out of one of the slaves having a massive penis.

These two scenes made me start thinking that actually no, this show is not operating from a place of good faith, it is more interested in indulging in gross wish fulfillment than it is in actual narrative growth, and that feels like a genuine betrayal. I stopped watching after that.

One of my biggest issues is the adult voice that continually reminds the audience that he's actually a lot older than he looks. If the audience is meant to take the approach of "well biologically and kind of mentally he's the same age as them", then why keep including his adult voice in monologues, even as he gets older? It’s because the adult male perspective is intentional. The audience is intended to be the voyeuristic adult male and find these situations understandable or aspirational.

Fuck and you know what's actually frustrating? It's a genuinely really cool show when it's not making me want to turn it off. The animation and world and magic system is awesome, the character design and art are great, the characters are all complex and cool, and even Rudeus is a really fun protagonist when he's not busy being the worst person in the world. He's smart, he's hardworking, he's talented. He has unique traumas and hangups.

But he’s not allowed to move on from his worst impulses. He’s not allowed to stop objectifying women, he’s not allowed to stop making gross comments, he’s not allowed to stop sexually assaulting underage girls, because if he did the show would lose its wish fulfillment. His arc is about becoming an adult, but not about becoming good.

All the problematic shit, from Rudeus assaulting Eris, to him assaulting Slyphy, to him buying a cute child slave, isn't there to serve an actual narrative purpose. It's there because either the writers think it's funny, or because it helps serve up a wish fulfillment power fantasy meant to appeal to a specific audience. 

The problematic elements aren't a necessary byproduct. They’re the point.