Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II
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Impermanence
Posts: 16 |
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The animation and editing is off to an exceptionally bumpy start.
Hoping this doesn't become a trend for the rest of the series. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5836 Location: Virginia, United States |
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It didn't bother me or I didn't notice it. Perhaps I need to rewatch season one.
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tintor2
 Posts: 1832 |
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The case of visual downgrade becomes really obvious when Rudeus has a flashback of season 1 in episode 1. It feels like the director doesn't want to come back or something. Kinda like that episode of Dragon Ball Super where Trunks has a flashback of Gohan vs Cell but the quality of Z animation made Super look like they barely had a budget
I'm suprised episode 1 and 2 have less sex jokes than 0. Episode 0 had one of the most awkward r#pe jokes ever while Rudeus ironically seems to be dealing more with emotions than get any sort of sex. Probably the strongest scene testing the protagonist was when the drunk guy started yelling directly at his face about he hates him. At first I didn't pay attention to it until I remembered what was Rudeus previously in his previous life. Maybe the light novel had narration but I gotta praise the detail to Rudeus' face. There are still several movements but it still lives in the shadow of season 1. Still, I appreciate how the new character designer gave us a notable teenager Rudeus when compared with season 1. At least it doesn't feel like the case of One Punch Man season 2 when we realized we pretty much don't care about everybody except Garou's unfinished story. Last edited by tintor2 on Tue Jul 18, 2023 12:18 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Juno016
 Posts: 2388 |
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It is a light novel-only arc, so some fans treat it as filler, but having just read the volume it is based on, I felt like it's been one of the most important (and best-written) volumes to explore Rudeus's character in full so far. We rarely get so much alone time with the guy, and rarely so intimate and honest. The author clearly wrote it to add more substance to this part of the story. It is a full volume long, so it deserves the same 3-5 episode treatment that every other volume got in season 1. Also, episode 0 was based on a series of side stories in novels 1-6 that set the stage for the events of volume 8 and beyond, so I'm glad they adapted them, albeit a season late. It might be fun to note that in the novels, Fitz's identity was quite clearly hidden from the reader until the narrative spells it out quite clearly toward the end. The anime doesn't have the luxury to hide Fitz's looks, though, so they don't even bother trying to hide it. Also, the magician spoiler[who gets offed in the first few moments] is the narrator of the first side story, making his lackluster appearance in the anime a little disappointing. Oh well. And yes, it feels like the studio and animation team wanted to try and match the look of season 1 (the grain filter is still a very much appreciated effect, as is the line quality and lighting mood), but everything from character gesture/posing to face anatomy to movement and frame rate is extremely jarring. Faces in 3/4th profile look flat because the eyes are not indented in where they should be, reminding me more of low-budget isekai harems from seasons past more than your typical series. There are still some decent "budget shots", but the step down in quality makes even those feel off somehow. I didn't watch season 1 until it was already on BD, so I could have some unfair bias that a BD of season 2 might fix, but seeing this low level of quality in the first few episodes does not inspire confidence in what's to come. It could still be so much worse, so I'll take the fact they were able to match the unique, aesthetically pleasing look of season 1 really well as a win. |
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09jcg
Posts: 524 |
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I whole heartedly agree. I also want to add that those who called it filler, probably never read the later volumes of the LN where events in vol 7 are relevent and play into some of the best character moments the series has, with LN 23 being almost entirely different from the web novel and only just being released in English 2 weeks ago. It's always dangerous to dismiss something as filler, you never know when it becomes important. Especially in MT where just about everything gets a call back |
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2308 |
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I haven't noticed a dramatic drop in animation quality, but was pretty disappointed in the pacing of Episode 2 (I think? The latest one); they flew through what was supposed to be some kind of meaningful bonding and emotional revival for Rudeus and it just ended up feeling like I was watching the outline of an episode rather than the episode itself. Also, capping the episode with Rudeus being super creepy again wasn't especially welcome, though at least we're still not at the lows of season 1 in that respect.
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MFrontier
Posts: 11289 |
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I've been enjoying it. It's nice to have Rudy back, find out what happened to Sylphie, the same kind of natural world and character building that made the first season so enjoyable, as well as helping build back Rudy after what happened with Eris. Even if the production values don't feel quite the same as they did in season 1.
All the same Counter Arrow is growing on me and I'm enjoying Sara's screentime. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2518 |
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Ep3- Seems the anime is intent at adapting at a good pace, just hope some don't feel it's rushed as I suspect could be a reaction from those into the LN. As an anime (mostly) watcher, I appreciate they got through the arc with Counter Arrow and Sara quickly before getting on with Rudeus' journey, which should be one of the focusses IMO. Really appreciate the anime team for giving some elements the time needed to establish them in the overarching story, as they will be important later, but moving on to keep balance while making sure that key character moments aren't cut or mishandled.
@Juno016- Kemono Friends among some others showed that as long as visuals aren't too awful and the rest of the story and direction are handled well, the show is still enjoyable and can be a hit. Heck, there have been a couple of hits where the visuals were sh*tty, so MT isn't really suffering from this minor drop in technical quality and I'm very glad for it. |
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tintor2
Posts: 1832 |
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I noticed we didn't have too many Sugita monologues and Uchiyama in the latest. This really helped to make Rudeus more direct and tone down the sex jokes. Well, the content of this episode involved sex but taken seriously. The only time I got a laugh was when Rudeus gets drunk and beats up the guy who kept bullying him over and over. While it's nice to see they made this sidestory to take Rudeus more seriously, I kinda miss that humangod thing that guided the mc during his journey around the world.
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NeverConvex
Subscriber Posts: 2308 |
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It kind of weirded me out a bit when Rudeus's new crush got into bed with him, immediately said, "Just to be clear, I'm only doing this out of a desire to repay you for saving me, not because I like you or want this," and his immediate response was, "Welp, good enough for me," and just kind of went for it. Some of the later texture clearly indicating that she was trying to maintain an ability to avoid being emotionally vulnerable/admitting she liked him helped a little, and I'm not sure the show was celebrating Rudeus in that moment exactly, but my skin definitely crawled a bit.
Aside from that one moment, thought it was quite a good episode, much better than the preceding one, even if it was also one of the hornier episodes in recent memory. I'm not super invested in Rudeus's erectile dysfunction, but it was actually a reasonable way to show us he's still 100% not emotionally recovered from Eris's apparent abandonment. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23786 |
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I get that isekai is by definition fantasy so I'm totally prepared to go along with monsters, magic and demi-humans. Fine. But when you ask me to contemplate a situation where a young teenage boy can't get it up because he's emotionally verklempt over a different girl, I really have to call absolute b.s.
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Hal14
 Posts: 669 Location: Heart of africa |
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Correct me if i'm wrong but "Isekai" is just means other world and is sometimes referred to as portal fiction. It's not "by definition fantasy", isekai can be sci-fi and there are some just not vey popular. I do agree about the E.D. stuff. Not that it's impossible but it's the part of Rudy's depression that makes me roll my eyes a bit. Especially the theorized solution.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23786 |
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@ Hal14 - you are correct that isekai literally just means "other world." In theory, such another world does not have to be a medieval type fantasy world with monsters, magic and demi-humans, but in practise that is almost always the case with titles that get an anime adaptation.
Furthermore, your pointing out my technical error makes us lifelong and bitter enemies and I shan't rest until I exact a most terrible revenge. 
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ScruffyKiwi
 Posts: 675 Location: New Zealand |
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You are misremembering the episode. Sara only said that to him after everything went pear shaped and he couldn’t perform. It was also a pretty shitty thing to say as well! |
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AQuin1904
Posts: 264 |
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I feel like the direction is stepping up as the season progresses, which is a welcome change from the usual pattern of shows slowly falling apart.
I was definitely thrown for a loop when I first hit this arc in the LNs. Still, in a genre as incestuous as narou-kei isekai fantasy web novels, I have to give it credit for being something different. (Actually, I can't think of any other fantasy hero who spent time dealing with erectile dysfunction.) The drama is definitely undercut by the cause of Rudeus's trauma also being a pretty good joke, though.
Right. This is her first season 2 appearance. She was last seen at a bar on the Demon Continent with Roxy and Kishirika in season 1, episode 23.
She mentions it once when they get into bed, although it's played as a tsundere pretext then (and is one, based on her perspective from the LN). You're right that she only claims it was her only reason when she storms out. |
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