Okay… I’m rather pleased with this first episode. Yes, it is edgy. Yes, it makes you feel like singing “CRAAAAWLING IN MY SKIIIIN…”. But you know what? It’s fun.

The higher the number of people summoned from Earth, the higher the chances that the summoner is scum, and someone is trashed away. (Relevant detail: I can’t help but associate the goddess’ name “Vicius” with “vice”.)

She doesn’t get Touka’s ability right, does she? She was talking about low accuracy, but apparently at least Paralyse hits true all/most of the time.

I said metaphorically. But… well :D

Fuck. This season ending was well made. It’s clear that they tried their hardest to make it bittersweet, and they got it.

Rudeus lost a father, but got a daughter; he lost an arm, but he has Roxy to support him. Norn might have bawled and created drama, but she’s learning how to defend herself. Zenith is disabled, but she has Lilia to back her up. There’s a “but” for every down that they got.

That scene with the grave was specially beautiful IMO. I feel like drinking booze with your parents is special, for both sides - they’re acknowledging that you’re an adult without losing that parent-child link. (Fuck, now I feel the urge to buy a bottle of liqueur and drink with my mum.)

I feel like this is something that Mushoku Tensei does amazingly well, in comparison with a lot of series made for masculine demographics: the main character is powerful, but not invincible. He has to sacrifice things to get other things. And it plays really well with the theme, that it’s worth to go further and chase what you want, that you won’t get things without effort.

I’ll provide some LN spoilers simply because I can’t help but talk about this. I’m excited for season three, after all.

Urrrrgh, the urge to talk about it! I can’t though - as I’m re-reading the LN right now. At least, until the next episode.

It was an OK episode, I guess. A bit unfulfilling as a season ending episode, but I’m glad to see Mireille joining the ranks after showing her value, without lowering the value of the other vassals.

The whole thing feels so awkward, but I’m glad that it does. It would feel really off if either knew exactly what to say, and how to say it.

Keep in mind that the series are only similar when it comes to the protag hating the goddess, but past that they’re really different. Like, Makoto is by no means as sly and deceitful as Touka, while Seras (the deuteragonist elf in the PV) is there for the drama (unlike Tomoe and Mio).

Still, I think that it’s worth checking out.

It was overall a good episode. A nice mix of action, romance, and the marriage to kick in. I guess that the next episode will be their early life as a married couple?

I wasn’t expecting Lavinia to show up though. My sides went into orbit!

Aah, I really need to read this LN…

Exactly my thought!

It was a decent ride, I guess. Not overly exciting; but I like how ending the season with Gobjii’s death gives it a “book endings” feel, at the start we see a bunch of goblins being born and then one dying, while the others move on with their lives.

And goddammit Aporou, let a dying person talk.

Depending on how they do it, the animation might be really fun. The story has the same “driving force” as Tsukimichi, of a character wanting revenge on the goddess that dumped him in a world; but it’s far more serious, the overpowered skills aren’t as flashy, there’s no “city building” aspect but a lot of “my strategy beats yours”.

Pfffffft. Furio and Lys can’t get some privacy, can they? GODDAMMIT AND OF COURSE THE MAOU WOULD FUCK THINGS UP.

(I really liked this episode.)

Sofia’s face when Makoto correctly understood how the Prison of Swords worked, and proceeded to destroy the swords, was amazing!

As well as Makoto’s “sorcerer? close combat fighter? nah, I’m an archer!”. Sofia was having such a hard time with Makoto, only to discover that he wasn’t even playing his strongest cards yet.

If not for Rudeus’ monstruous mana pool they would be all dead. He kept a water wall against three heads dragonbreathing the group.

…hard to talk about this episode without giving spoilers on what comes next. (The LN equivalent is vol12 ch9, by the way.) The fight was exciting, and it ended in such a sorrowful note (Paul is dead, Rudeus lost an arm, there’s something wrong with Zenith). A rollercoaster of emotions, really - and it shows how much Rudeus evolved, from the distance towards his Earth parents to the concern about his new ones.

Poor Rudeus, not being recognised by his shishou. …but on her defence would you? He was a kid back then.

It’s a great way to reset the relationship though - now she doesn’t see him as a brat, but as a man. And she’s clearly into him. (And “curiously” in no moment he mentioned to be married to white mama, at most that he is not married to black mama.)

Telling his own son that it’s totally OK to get a second wife, because they’re different, and that once you get used to this life you won’t be able to go back. With a swords analogy. Got to respect Paul for being scum even inside a labyrinth.

It’s really cute to see how much Lys improved in the kitchen, from “raw meat = ITADAKIMASU!” to fun and delicious dishes with decent plating. And the animation did a good job keeping her consistent between lupine and humanoid forms - you see that big wolf, but you know that it’s Lys, simply by her behaviour towards Flio.

Hibiki has no standing ground to call Makoto’s super awesome armour “weird cosplay”. Just saying~

The episode felt like a warm-up for the next one, I’m mildly excited to see Makoto vs Sofia.

I’ve been watching Shinigami Bocchan s3, and kind of surprised that people aren’t too much into the series. It’s fun, and I’m fairly certain that the story is reaching its conclusion.

Glad to see that the issue was solved in a bloodless way. It might be naive, but it fits rather well the idealism of the series.

So many great things about this episode.

Paul and Rudeus’ mended relationship. He’s certainly better than he was before, as a human being, but still being recognisably Paul - a pervert who tries to brag about stuff and look cool in front of his son. Also mending his relationship with Elinalise, with Rudeus’ internal voice mocking Paul for not knowing that they’re “family” now, mwahaha.

Geese still calling Rudeus senpai, after all those years. That TP book happening to be just perfect to brave that labyrinth would, most of the time, feel like a deus ex machina; but here it felt incredibly natural.

But the cherry on the cake was the end of the episode. It was just… right, you know? Roxy being surrounded by monsters, losing all hope, only to see the threat suddenly gone and some young man - her saviour - walking in, with a smile on his face. They could’ve animated Rudeus reaching her (how did he know that she was there?) but I guess that they’ll do it for the next episode?

Like that other user often says… peak fiction.