Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu

This one is a "Must Read book".
Is well written with a lot of details to help you get immerse in the story and the world of Rudeus.
realistic character development not just the MC but also the other characters, it is a slow change resulting of the different realizations that each character reach as they grow up and not just a twist of personality caused by a major event. Great twists in the story. Well is not finish that's is the only bad point and that the MC is a pervert. I pretty much read every chapter publish so a can assure you the quality doesn't drop.

That's all; i just gonna let that the work speak for itself you just read the first volume my friend and you'll see

I HAVE READ ALL THE LIGHT NOVEL VOLUMES, SO FAR UPTO 24.
WELL, Considering that I've given rating 10 overall, and also generously rated other elements. Ofcourse, I loved the light novel. Mushoku Tensei is about the main character trying to live his life to the fullest, in a simple way. The MC: Rudeus is Humble in both his conduct and dreams as well.
It provides an awesome balance of SLICE of Life, comedy, romace, growth,etc all in all making it a wholesome real life like story. It begins with Rudeus's birth & ends with his death, giving u a chance to evaluate his whole life. For me, It's the best light novel, manga or anime I've read or watched so far. But, those things are personal..

CONS: 1. MC's pervertedness: If u can't put up with it, then I don't recommend reading it.
2. I've found many people saying that "There r girls below age 15 & stuff" ... Well, I don't really get them. The common sense of Mushoku Tensei's world is different than this world. . So, u can't just judge it using this world's common sense. It has been mentioned clearly in the novel so many times. I don't know why people don't get it.

TIPS: Like any others, If u r just going to skim through it, U r gonna miss the essence of the work. So, Take ur time. Don't be a ...due to a lack of better words.. MOron who reads all the 24 volumes in 4-5 days without taking a break & properly thinking about it. All the while, ignoring everything else in his life. Well, I also was guilty of that & to some extent still am. But, try to TAKE BREAKS! It has improved my reading experience a lot.

Despite being a web novel, I have never, until now, experienced a sustained exertion of the act of reading as I have now with this novel. On average, I've found myself reading at least 3 hours every day, focused on this one epic, for at least 3 weeks.

Initially, it was the wonder - like many of the reincarnation genre, it places the perspective of the reader into a fantasy world. Open the wardrobe, and see yourself as the main character. This inviting sensation is difficult to get rid of, but as the books pile on, the effect wears away. As the main character slowly gets accustomed to their new world, so do you.

The sense of wonder then becomes replaced with the traditional elements of fantasy novels - epic battles, tales of love, tragedy, those fantastic elements that are too difficult to express in other genres, but flow so easily in fantasy.

Eventually, even this sense of fantasy wears off, but the author replaces it with a sense of connection. At this point, you've become so endeared with the characters, where their mannerisms become so frequently and well described that they almost feel like old friends. You feel a familial connection with the main character and read on to see what antics these vast and memorable cast of characters are up to today.

<SPOILERS>

And, finally, the author cranks on the tension and sends us off with an epic battle between an omnipresent force - a faceless god, a nameless shadow. The author, knowing that his project is nearing its end, pushes with all his might to give us one final push into the epic, so that he may wrap it up and leave us satisfied. Within this backdrop, Rudeus, with his family and lineage at his side, dies and passes on. His last conversation with his foe feels less like a victor vanquishing evil, and more like a tired yet satisfied author saying farewell to his readers.

THIS IS A COMPLETED REVIEW OF THE MIXTURE OF LIGHT NOVELS, MOVING ONTO WEBNOVELS.

First off, i have read all of it, and will be going into detail on my thoughts regarding the story as a whole with as little spoilers as possible.

STORY: 7/10

Narrative - The story itself isn't bad, the premise of it is actually really good. It's different from other Isekai, especially how it seems he had a shit previous life and uses it to better himself in the new world. The story does have little twists to it, but overall it's fairly predictable. it seems he gets caught up by a 'human god', who gives him advice at the beginning, but overall sends him on the wrong path. He then works alongside someone else (Orsted) who hates the human god and proceeds to build allies up for him. HOWEVER, it's important to note... that's it. He never actually fights the human god, nor is there a grand scale battle, nor do you meet Laplace, whom is mentioned over 100+ times about being this great villian. It felt so inconclusive. Why write so much and spend chapters on a character that's not even going to exist and is instead going to spawn 80+ years later. It felt like the writer just kinda... didnt know what direction he was going in and gave up without the possibility of a sequel.

Pacing - The pacing is my biggest gripe about the story. God damn the pacing is just awful. The best way to put it is that it felt like it was a multitude of small arcs going into a random final arc instantly. It was so random, how does he go trying to figure out how to fit in at the university to seeing himself time travel and fighting the 2nd strongest in the world, Orsted. It felt so rushed. Unlike the other reviewers, I enjoyed the slow small arcs it was going through, building the world slowly and going into indepth explanation about things such as how the currency worked. But why spend all that time on it if you're not going to persue it further? Other things included the adventurers guild, Laplace, Heaven/void/ocean continent, Zenith, Millis politics and so much more when the writer spends hours on it then just kinda... ignores it and leaves it to the generic 'it's going in the right direction, someone else will solve it in the future'..

Humour & Sexualism - As bad as people say the 'sex/ pervert scenes', it really isn't. He mentions thoughts but doesn't actually go through with any of them at all, honestly it's pretty vanilla compared to other isekai animes. He only really does things with a select few girls who are of age, which is consensual. The humour i actually quite enjoyed. It was random and funny, especially seeing the thoughts behind it. I feel like the anime of it can portray it a lot better, making it even more humourous.

ART (writing style): 6/10

Writing style: I can't say much about this due to the possiblity that the translation is so bad, But the writer spend SO MUCH TIME on meaningless things, at the point where you have to literally just scan read it due it to being so dull. An example of this is the 'magic mecha armour'. Holy shit, there was no need for over hours on end of writing just focusing on it, he could've just said something along the lines of Zanoba was working on an armour', instead of going into so much intricate detail about it. That said, the fight scenes, few as they were, especially the sword fight scenes were really fun to read. Speaking of that, the main character uses one spell, and it's so bland (earth cannon). The first few volumes focuses on Rudeus, and his progression, that it just kinda ignores it. literally just ignores the main character.

Character development: 7/10

Have you ever heard of such a thing as spending so much time on other characters, you just end up ignoring the main character? Well this is a prime example of it.
At first the focus is on Rudeus, but as the story goes on, he has everything done for him, and ends up relying on everyone else for things. It's kinda pathetic how someone with as much mana as Laplace, only uses a basic earth spell the majority of the story, gets beaten by everyone stronger than him (unless he's wearing his get out of jail magic armour) and just kinda gives up on his own training half way through the volumes.
That said, the other characters gain so much development it's crazy. Especially Eris , Zanoba and Cliff. Eris going from a crazy girl to a refined sword king, Zanoba a doll addicted miko to a caring miko, Cliff an arrogant millis priest to a humble millis leader with a hot freaky wife. But again, the story should focus on the Rudeus and his strength rather than going off on tangents randomly.

Enjoyment: 7/10

It was different compared to isekai, and the fact i finished it should definately say something. I wouldn't go as low as saying it's a 4, nor would i say it's a 10/10. It really does have some extremely enjoyable characters and a story with some nice twists to it albeit it doesn't really feel like a proper ending. Orsted and Peregius sama in particular were extremely fun to read about.


Overall 7/10.

Pros

- Story
- Characters
- Solid concept
- Some amusing moments
- Detailed swordfights

Cons

- Rock bullet
- Things leading to nowhere ( this shit was so annowing, you have no idea what it's like to read about the romance between two character to just forgotten about, about Zenith's memory not even having a cure even though there was progression to it etc)
- No real ending
- Bad writing
- Pacing... (like 15 volumes on him being 8-15, then maybe 5 when he's 20, and 3 when he's 22... it's so bad)

As someone else mentioned, it felt I was reading a fanfic of somesorts rather than a full story. The first few volumes started off so freaking good, with the world building going fine, focusing on the main character, little romance developing before suddenly delving into random stuff. It felt like the writer didn't even know where the story was going so he just wrote as he went along.

Any questions or thoughts on the story, feel free to message me! i'd love to hear your thoughts on it and if you agree or not. =)

Should you read this? That's sorta the big question here and for those of you who only want to know that it should be covered in the first part very rapidly. If you want more in depth this will be getting rather long as I explain each point a little more. For a story such as this I don’t think a number scale really shows a good representation of whether or not to read the series, this story is incredibly long and a wish fulfillment to the extreme, as such I would say it is more important to be the target audience than an objective critic. So, here we go.

Should I read this? This is a list of the most important to least important aspects to who you are as a reader.
Most Important – Least Important
1. Are you between the ages of 12-17?
2. Can you stop reading stories halfway through?
3. Do you read very little or have little familiarity with Japanese story tropes?

At this point if you have answered “yes” to 2/3 of these first questions I would highly suggest you go read this, don’t even bother reading the more in depth reasoning’s given later until you’ve finished the first few volumes of the story.

4. I love the “trapped in a video game” genre. (Or I have no idea what this point means)
5. Do you enjoy turning your brain off to read?
6. I rarely analyse stories.
7. I don’t mind characters acting strange for the sake of the plot.

I could go on with this list but you get the point, I will speak about each of these points more in depth below but if you haven’t started reading yet then I would suggest starting right after this paragraph and ignoring everything else I say. The only point that needs some light explanation before you go is number 2. I read up to volume 13 and I can say that the story goes from amazing to steadily worse, so don’t hold on if you feel yourself getting bored, at that point come back here to complain / praise the story and see if it matches up with the rest of this review.

1. Are you between the ages of 12-17?
Now there are a few generic reasons I think this is important, first off you are closer to the protagonist for the parts of the story that are the most entertaining. Being closer to the main characters age is always nice in a wish fulfillment since you relate so much better to them, also, as far as I can tell that age is the target demographic as the Main Character (I’ll be calling him Rudi) seems to have the disposition of a teenage boy the entire story. Another rather generic one is that you have less life experience to compare to an actual story, for instance the younger you are the more you’ll enjoy your first stories, and the older you get it seems you become more critical comparing the story to other stories as well as your own life. Since this story relies quite a bit on suspension of disbelief (more so than a normal wish fulfillment) the less you think the better it seems to be. Now generic stuff out of the way the story just seems less weird if you’re younger. When I was reading I was generally able to look over lots of the perverted stuff, since I’m more or less used to the fan servicy stuff (nudity) and a rather quick reader I just skimmed over it. However the sheer amount of incredibly detailed perversion in this story is rather absurd, so much so I would say it’s impossible to avoid. A lot of it is generic panties, boobs, and buts sort of stuff and some of it is done in an ok manner, so while not being a strong point of the story it doesn’t really drag it down. The problem comes up when you get back to the perspective of the story. Two characters banging for no real reason without any romantic buildup? Well I guess that’s ok. Oh it happens fairly often you say? Well still ok. Oh, they’re younger than 14? Well sorta weird but not a deal breaker. And one of those “kids” is actually a 40 year old in a kid’s body? Well, fuck, that’s really messed up then isn’t it? So you sorta see what I’m getting at, it’s weird, and more than that it’s unavoidably in your face about it as well, it’s not something that is addressed as being weird either, it’s more just “perverted people gonna do perverted things” and everyone’s sorta ok with it. But back to how this relates to being a teenager who’s reading this. If you’re 14 say, you get to avoid all the weird stuff about the random sex scenes being between kids, cuz hey, that’s your age! Lucky you! All you have to get over is the fact that one of them is actually 40 but hey, that’s way less of a barrier than someone over 18 will have. In all seriousness this is a large factor in me dropping the books, the ridiculous perversion is just too over the top, I don’t know if it’s a culture thing with the younger characters banging or what but it got to a point that I became aware of it too much, and then it bothered me forever.

2. Can you stop reading stories halfway through? (Or, where’d all that cool shit I was promised go!)
This story dives harder than a base jumper. If I were to have stopped reading after volume 2 I’d give the series an 8/10. Actually up till volume 4 it would be an arguable 8/10 still, but it can’t keep it up. This story abandons its good points, and it doesn't really explain why. The 2 big ones are the change in themes / tones, and ideas never really being expanded on despite being really interesting. The main theme in this story is rebirth and new chances, and that’s an awesome theme to have with this type of story. However Rudi doesn’t keep changing, he sorta just ends up as complicated as he’s gonna get around volume 4 and then almost loses development slipping backwards to who he was in his previous life. It’s almost as if Rudi just becomes the same as his past self except with determination, like that’s really it. When I stopped reading Rudi’s past self was basically a generic NEET, and by basically I mean exactly. The problem here is that NEET’s are pretty much people without determination, so just add determination and you’ll get a relatively standard human being. Rudi’s first life had the traits of, shut in, pervert, and selfish. Seeing Rudi overcome his shut in self was great, and to a degree the selfishness is gone as well, but the perversion is almost grandiose, it goes against the message of the story. Rudi is essentially the same person as his past life just with more confidence and power. But this isn’t a bad thing. If you wanted to delve into this it would be amazing to see the contrast of how people treat you based off appearance and success despite still being a normal bordering on lousy human being. This doesn’t happen. Rather everyone just sorta treats Rudi like a god, and well, he pretty much is in terms of power, but he’s not a good guy. He still struggles with his relationships with people as he did in his past life and still has his perversion to a hyperbolic degree, but you’re supposed to believe he’s truly changed. The disconnect between the Rudi the reader sees and how other characters treat Rudi is absurd, and that’s an issue. There’s really no conflict surrounding Rudi’s personality, he’s never forced to change so he never does, and that’s fine, but it’s not fine in a story where the main theme is changing oneself with new opportunities. Another thing that gets thrown away is the whole melding of worlds which would allow Rudi to use magic and science combined to beat up everyone. Sounds awesome. Is awesome. But no, scrap that idea, we need more school life and panty stealing. The ideas just sorta pitter out and it’s rather annoying. Since the story is so long I gave it a ton of leeway in its buildup, I kept reading thinking things would improve, things were looking good as well, and characters were seeing development and it was more a slice of life genre getting to know more about the world. A tad boring but it seemed like a great set up, but no. The shift in tones is almost unavoidable in a series of this length, and since I’d thoroughly enjoyed the start so much I kept on reading. Personally what ended up driving me away was this really weird love / harem / relationship? Stuff that was going on. I really don’t mind the harem genre, it’s sort of always just below average quality but usually entertaining, however this story seemed to do things differently. We had important family values presented early on, we also had a whole subplot about what it means to be faithful. Alright, this is good. I expected standard harem from the cover but this is nice, and for a long time it is. Then we get a random sex scene, well ok, little weird but sure makes enough sense I guess. Wait now we have a misunderstanding between the 2? Well ok, little generic but ok. Now we don’t see that other character at all? WTF, (Like legit when I stopped this character was still off on their own doing random adventure things.) But still it’s largely ok. Wait another random sex scene? Well I guess not that random... But far from logical. And that’s the problem, the relationships surrounding Rudi are pretty good, even the female characters are pretty good on their own, but at some point Rudi just bangs em then they become super generic and boring. It makes no sense. For instance Rudi gets married, really weird tonal shift I thought, we’ve got this pervert getting married? Why? Seems like a bad mix for someone who wants to bang everyone. But it sorta worked, like in a creepy “my wife is a sex doll” sorta way, but it worked, 6/10. Rudi seems hella serious about it and is seeming to be a good guy about the whole thing. O no! A succubus! But wait, that wasn’t the reason for Rudi to break his marriage vows, really impressive honestly that it was written that way, points for not taking the easy way out Mr. Writer. But later Rudi breaks his vows anyways, in a super illogical dumb way, so I had to stop reading because it was getting too dumb and all the female characters I liked became sex objects. The drop in character quality is annoying, the lack of continuation of ideas is annoying, the pacing is annoying, the tonal shifts are annoying, all of these combined resulted in my dropping the series. If you are someone who has to finish a series once started be wary of this one.

3. Do you read very little or have little familiarity with Japanese story tropes?
This story has been done before, and it’s generic to boot. The main appeals that stood out to me was some solid characters and humour. If you’ve never been exposed to these types of characters before you’ll immensely enjoy the story. If you’ve read a lot of these types of stories and enjoyed them then still give it a go, but if you’ve seen it all before maybe let this one slide.

4. I love the “trapped in a video game” genre. (Or I have no idea what this point means)
Like I said earlier, if this is your niche type of story you’ll find everything you’re looking for here.


5. Do you enjoy turning your brain off to read?
This is not an in depth deep thought “I am so edgy kind of story”, it’s largely an upbeat adventure where you go around beating the crap out of everything. It has some good mental parts but if you think about the story too much it becomes worse, this is a pure good time kill the baddies bang the ladies video game type plot.

6. I rarely analyse stories.
So I do this very little, and I try to do it even less, but even I got caught up in the flaws that come up throughout the story. Basically the plot is really bad as the story goes on. If you want to test this ask yourself “Why are the characters acting the way they do,” now that’s the next part of the review, but it also applies here. Rudi is pretty powerful, but he’s no god. Well fuck. Now how will he know everything and anything and decide what to do to save the day? “Why don’t we just have a vague character who calls himself god tell him exactly what to do?” Brilliant! This is a weak point in the plot, it’s the equivalent of “go here” “Do this,” well a little better. At the start it was interesting to know if the advice was malicious or not, and I see this being a major plot point in the story past where I stopped reading, but it’s so slow and not explained. So the result is just super strong Rudi being told to do things by an even stronger character who is apparently on his side for some reason. A second issue is the pure randomness that happens and lack of knowledge the reader gets. Like are we being real when the strongest fighter in the ENTIRE world just sort of shows up, beats the shit out of everyone, and then goes and fucks off having almost no impact on the story? Like that was crazy? Why did that happen? We’ve got OP Rudi being guided by even more OP random character and the hardest fight they have is just randomly wrong place wrong time? Like c’mon. And there’s no answers! It makes no sense, why are we having this random panty bullshit when I still don’t know what’s happening? Like we get Rudi’s perspective, but we also get that Rudi’s a small part in a big world, but we know shit about shit about this world’s politics. Strong enemies show up all but unexplained and Rudi just sort of beats them..? What? Rudi is strong, we get it, but how he gets stronger is really random, like having a power level for the opponents could help a lot. Like Oh, this guy is 5000, Rudi is 5250, that was a close fight. Like I had no idea who was strong or not when I finished, it just seems that Rudi beats everyone except like 4 people, only one of which he’s ever actually fought. Rudi just sorta gets stronger, and it's ok I guess but really poorly represented. Also what the fuck happened to caring about the giant explosion teleportation thing? We just accept it as a natural disaster and that’s it? It was one of the most random plot points I’ve ever seen and it still didn’t make any sense as to who made it happen. This book focuses on the wrong things, ideas that should be flushed out aren’t, why Rudi only uses a rock bullet every fucking fight but still wins is also a mystery, too many inconsistencies and point A to point B plot lines. Its fine for a journey but having what basically amounts to a narrator telling Rudi what to do all the time is ridiculous without any context. Also some of these may seem bordering on spoilers, but fear not, you get about a paragraph of buildup or knowledge that these events could happen, yeah, it’s that sudden.

7. I don’t mind characters acting strange for the sake of the plot.
These characters do the dumbest things for the sake of entertainment. Overall it’s pretty straightforward characters act how they are represented throughout the story, but you need a little better than “most of the time act reasonably” to convince me these are real people. While a lot of this can be attributed to forcing the plot along and characters we don’t know just sorta doing their own things that we may or may not find out about later on, some of the things just get ridiculous. There’s 2 main parts to this that I really noticed, first off is that everyone’s relationships are bullshit. Like bring sex into the equation and it’s used almost as a magical tool to fix things. Characters never build into liking each other, well maybe they sorta do if you wanna argue it, but relationships go from friends to sex in a paragraph. And some of the characters make a lot of sense when this happens, it suits them to go have random sex and fall in love, but that’s not how relationships work as a rule, that’s more the exception. For instance characters it makes no sense for them to seek out sex, like it’s been built up that they’re innocent and the like, then they just go for it no holds barred style. And the issue with this is Rudi. Female characters act so dumb around him it’s unbelievable at times. But that’s spoiler talk so let’s stop that. An easy spoiler free example is Rudi’s reaction, have sex = marriage. What? Well I guess a plot twist on his personality..? Have sex = ignore the person and leave them alone. But last time you didn’t do that… Have sex = yeah that was great, (O that’s normal, you can fit that in anywhere), but my wife is gonna be pissed. GOD DAMMIT. The inconsistency is so bad it hurts. Another part of Rudi is that he’s portrayed as super rational and not emotional, then like 10 pages later he’s all depressed. Well ok I guess that makes sense, big events, character development, a weird tonal shift but we’ll bounce back. O, what? We’re not bouncing back? Well shit, this is not really in line with the rest of your character, let’s see this new and developed Rudi. O you had sex and now you feel better and are back to the exact way you were before? O right, this is the second time this has happened now that I think about it. You have to suspend a lot of belief to grow attached to some of these characters, almost all of the complicated characters seem to fall apart somewhere in the story whether it be for the sake of the plot or the sake of sexy times.
My Enjoyment
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Enjoyment: 5
Overall 4
I had so much fun with this at the start, but the drag on and on just killed it for me. I would highly recommend the first 2 volumes and say if you liked them continue reading until your interest fades out. I’m not sure why this work is as popular as it is but to hazard a guess since the intro was so good people stayed with it as it came out and kept it in high regard, overall a slightly below average story for me. But it is rather niche so even as I say it’s a 4/10 it can easily be your 9/10.
Random Thoughts
Why is any of this happening? Why are characters acting this way? Why is rock bullet the most overpowered spell in the universe? Is this the plot of an MMO? How is “pervert” a character trait?

Mushoku Tensei is the kind of story you read when you want to escape from reality for a bit. It's a wish fulfillment fantasy in the ultimate sense.

Story 9/10
The story is well-written with good pacing and interesting twists and turns. Some parts of the story drag on a bit with very obvious foreshadowing with a "reveal" at the end, but these parts aren't long compared to the rest of the story.

Art 8/10
Not really relevant seeing how it's a novel, but the cover pages looked nice I suppose?

Character 8/10
The characters are an interesting bunch, at some times being well-written and well-developed, and other times being a bit crude. The main character in particular has some pretty nasty habits that really detracted from the story, but when he's not engaging in his "activities" he manages to stay an interesting character. There's a large cast of characters that are, for the most part, interesting and well-developed, although at times they have some weakly written aspects that are obviously written for wish-fulfillment which can get really annoying.

Enjoyment 8/10
Although the weirdness of some of the aspects of this series turned me off a bit, overall the story is a good read that kept me hooked.

Overall 8/10
Decent, solid read as long as you can get past or enjoy some of the more perverted things the main character does. Some of it drags on, but it's not really an issue.

If you are a tl;dr person, just scroll down to the very bottom where I have included a summary. This is a review of the web light novel.

I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for giving such a low score, but I'd greatly appreciate it if you commented to me why you disagree with my points and you could convince me of my errors. There are no spoilers in this review, I am writing this mostly for the sake of those who are considering reading this.

First thing you should know is that Mushoku Tensei is escapist literature - wish fulfilment - a story for one to find escape and live out one's fantasies. If you enjoyed SAO, chances are that you will at least somewhat enjoy this. If you are primarily looking for a deep story, compelling characters, and/or beautiful worldbuilding, look somewhere else. The base concept is certainly alluring and full of potential, however it never aspires to do anything else but shallow wish fulfilment. And then, my main gripe with this story is that even as a power fantasy, it is severely lacking.

Let's start out with the main good point. I'm sure many of us would like to live in another world more beautiful than ours, or go back and undo our regrets in life. The premise of Mushoku Tensei is especially powerful - a man who has hit rock-bottom in life dies and is given a second chance at living a fulfilled life... in a sword and sorcery world. He gets reincarnated with all his memories as Rudeus Greyrat, the child of two former adventurers, and he decides that he will make use of his life to the fullest. He trains in magic and the way of the sword from a very young age, reaching incredible heights using the learning ability of a toddler with the wisdom of an adult. I personally love this concept and greatly looked forwards to how far he would get in life. The idea, at first glance, was handled decently well. They even dealt seriously with the issues of his young parents being unsure how to raise a prodigal child that, from birth, had no life lessons left to learn from them.

The story, content-wise, goes well up into the second volume. We see Rudeus step out into the great big world, and grow and develop. Even a prodigy like him has ways to go. There is also a certain pleasure as we see how his knowledge and experience from our world helps him in this life.

In volume three, things start going downhill. An incident happens, and Rudeus and a girl go off on an adventure through dangerous lands. Those of you who purely enjoy power fantasy will still enjoy this part, but the fact is that Rudeus is close to fully developed at this point and there is quite little else to do with him. He is quite powerful and extremely reliable, however he still manages to be humble and he knows how to socially interact with others despite being a hikikomori (shut-in) in his previous life. At this point, the story becomes a typical fantasy, and falls short of anything particularly entertaining. It becomes just about a Gary Stu genius magician and his companions rather than whatever the original premise was.

A simple fantasy would have still been decent, however we come to the weakness Mushoku Tensei has as a fantasy. Quite simply, the world is really, really bland. It’s an ill-disguised attempt to make a generic MMORPG world make sense as an actual other dimension, and it comes complete with dungeons, organized adventuring, and a combat system with named and ranked techniques. I don’t have a problem with an MMORPG-esque world, but the author put no effort into making a world that is actually interesting. There are no fascinating new things to learn and discover about this world, because it’s exactly like every other Japan-made Western fantasy out there. I feel the author actually finds his worldbuilding satisfactory, because he spent the majority of the first chapters on a huge infodump about how his magic system worked, when it’s actually so bland and intuitive that I would have immediately assumed it more or less worked that way just seeing it in action once. There are numerous other occasions where a great deal of time is spent on the generic history of the world. I actually first came to read this light novel after stumbling upon the manga adaptation and I applaud the mangaka for the sense to skip this useless exposition.

Of course, that is mostly my own opinion on how fantasy worlds should be, I know many people find comfort and joy in having a familiar fantasy world with no uncomfortable new elements. However, we come next to the author’s technical ability to write.

Whether it is the translator’s fault (I used Bakabt) or the author’s, I can’t say I’m 100% clear, but I feel like it’s a combination of both. The narration is really dry and straightforward, there is no emotion or intensity put into it. We don’t feel how the main character feels, except in moments of great conflict which still wasn’t conveyed very well likely more due to the translator’s lack of talent in prose. The author also puts in a bunch of unnecessary and boring detail. For example, at one point there is a day by day account of which monsters they fought that day, how many there were and etc.,and that goes on for over a week. I understand the appeal of reading the daily life of someone living in an exciting fantasy world, but that’s only if the daily events that transpire are actually exciting. I don’t want to hear how you crushed the same weak creatures over and over.

And indeed, CRUSH his enemies. Rudeus eventually becomes one of the strongest magicians around and all day, everyone praises him for being such a prodigy and having immense ability to take down enemies that usually require 20 powerful people to safely subdue. They also note how much of a mature person he is, and how humble. (This is an almost irrelevant point I want to say, but for some stupid reason, even after a really powerful person noted that his magical reservoirs were even greater than that of an ancient Demon God who once almost took over the world, he still doesn’t get how amazing he is until a few volumes later. As a former otaku hikikomori, he should have realized immediately.) Regardless, he is the walking dictionary definition of a Gary Stu. It seems like the author remotely understands this, and made him unable to cast healing magic without an incantation, but that literally has no point considering he almost always manages to cast it fine using the incantation. While having a Gary Stu main character is somewhat excusable in a power fantasy, and still remotely salvageable in terms of storytelling, it can only be done with a strong enough story and villains.

However, at a certain point after the decent first few volumes, the author seems to just start having random shit happen. No offense to all the actually good fanfic writers out there, but this is exactly like the quality, writing-wise, of your average fanfic (there are loads worse, but being better than a bad fanfic is nothing to be proud of). The writing is really weak, story proceeds without a really strong direction to push it along. It ends up that it is completely lacking in flow or tension. Speaking of tension, never was there any amazing enemy out there for Rudeus to really show the extent of his abilities, except during certain really short encounters that still lack tension because of either lack of proper build-up or, in one case, how the enemy just randomly appeared - he literally happened to be passing by on the road, meeting the main cast by chance, and then he proceeded to attack them before leaving soon after.

You’ll notice I gave character a slightly higher score than all the rest. It may well have been even higher if Rudeus hadn’t stolen the spotlight. The characters are, how should I say... quite typical. Not terrible, but nothing outstanding either. There were a few that had some good development, namely Rudeus’s father. However, I won’t go into detail so I don’t spoil it for those who might read this.

Now, lastly, I’ll get to what was really the last straw for me here. I didn’t mention it at all previously because I wanted to put it all down here. It can be seen more of a personal preference that really made me uncomfortable, but I’m sure it is something that will turn many others away as well. Mushoku Tensei is really, really perverted. The main character is a massive pervert who gets aroused the moment he sees a little skin, and he’s always trying to peek on girls, or steal their unwashed panties. While I’m fine with this when played for gags like in Bakemonogatari, there are a number of times when Rudeus can barely hold back from actually raping a helpless girl. It doesn’t help that almost all the girls in this series are physically under the age of 15 (in a few cases under 10), and Rudeus is actually over 40 years old. He’s constantly thinking about perverted things, quite a few times when it’s supposed to be serious or he’s suppose to be thinking about serious things, it diverts to him catching a glance at some pretty girl. The perversion is such that one massive arc is about him going somewhere seeking a cure for his erectile dysfunction.

There’s also a case with the portrayal of women in this story, basically all of them really don’t mind him doing all these perverted things such as stealing their underwear, eyeing them, groping them, while you can say that it just happens all these girls just really like Rudeus that much or are understanding of his urges, it still leaves a bad impression and a bad aftertaste. Rudeus passionately describes how his one wife, who is particularly shy, submissively allowed him to try out all the sexual practices he dreamed about. And then there’s the case of polygamy. In this world, polygamy is allowed except under the bad Christianity-ripoff in this world. It happens that most characters are not religious. While I say polygamy, you only ever see polygyny ever happening (one man, multiple wives). While the polygamy debate is something you could legitimately tackle, the way this novel goes about it, it really just is pure wish fulfilment and acceptance of being a pervert. Rudeus ends up unable to contain himself, cheats and ends up with multiple wives (two at the time which I am writing this). At the end of the day, they just sit down and happily say “I wonder what perverted things Rudeus will do to us”. I mean, this might be a little extreme, but what. the. fuck.

There is a lot I missed. I could go on and on, but I’m sure you don’t want to read on and one, so it’s time for my summary.
--------------------------
~SUMMARY~
--------------------------

Pros:
+Good premise
+Good start
+Some good characters
+Some good development

Cons:
-Uninteresting, unimaginative world
-Bad writing after volume 2 (this is a really big point)
-Lacking in tension or good antagonists
-Gary Stu protagonist
-Really, really perverted and can be uncomfortable (I’d suggest reading my last two paragraphs)

Mushoku Tensei is the story of a NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) who is kicked out of his house and then almost immediately dies saving a few kids. He is then reincarnated in another world of sword and sorcery as Rudeus Greyrat. In this new world, Rudi attempts to become a better person and accomplish what he was not able to in his old life. There are some twists that push Rudi along a certain direction in his life.

What Mushoku Tensei does well is that it attempts to cover a large portion of Rudi's life, from childhood to adulthood. During this time, we see him grow and change. There are times when Rudi shows his otakuness from his previous life, such as when he attempts a Wife Husbandry with a young girl in his neighborhood. Few other stories attempt this and I really enjoy the stories that place over a long period of time because it gives the opportunity to show proper character development rather than just using implied characteristics. However, what hurts the story in the long run is the overall inconsistencies. The series takes a sharp turn about halfway through and the story changes its focus drastically. Some of the story events are also different from what you think the characters would do in their case and feels inconsistent. On top of that, part of the story is told from different points of view with sudden jumps to another character's point of view at the end of nearly every arc just so they could summarize what happened to another character. This attempt to show everything ruins part of the pacing when Rudi is the focus character. Everyone else is minor and their part tends to interrupt the story rather than build upon it. The only side story that was worth reading in my opinion, was the explanation for why the reincarnation even happened. Events like the training events of one of the characters could have largely been ignored with no real impact on the story.

The artwork that is included in some of novels are pretty good. It does seem to suffer a bit in terms of facial diversity and even though only a handful of characters are depicted, you can tell a lot of them are similar. This is really the only problem with the art. The other artwork that is included are fairly good at depicting various scenes and shows the characters in different situations. Luckily, the manga manages to largely avert this problem. The artwork stops around the time Rudi enters the School so there's nothing to judge after that.

There is a large cast of characters in this series, but at the same time, it feels like a lot of characters do not serve a larger purpose other than to push the plot along. A lot of things we see early on disappear for several volumes at a time and some are never resolved because Rudi ultimately ends up as something small in a much larger world. We do see the impact of Rudi's training later on when it demonstrates the strength of a King class magician against typical ones during a war, but that element at that point had been unmentioned for several volumes. Rudi demonstrates weather manipulation powers early on in the series, but this never really comes back in any way. The only foil character to Rudi is his father and they both turn out similarly. His father gets the family's maid pregnant and adultery treated as a fairly big issue, but when Rudi comes along into a similar situation, everyone just accepts it and it kind of feels like a harem series for a while. There is no serious challenge to it. We sometimes see events happen from another character's point of view, but this does not change much. Instead, it serves to simply interrupt the story.

The best part in the series for me was the developing relationships between Rudi and his friends. The series takes a sudden turn towards the middle in favor of a more action oriented series and each volume begins to end with a massive fight to achieve a goal rather than a focus on how Rudi has developed and changed during this period. I feel that this change resulted in less character development and the impact of the success or the failure of a mission can largely be ignored because everything is small in the grand scheme of things.

Overall, the series starts strong with strong character development and the impact of Rudi's choices pushing the story along. As the story progresses, this begins to diminish and Rudi ultimately loses control. The main character loses his agency and is no longer the driving force in the story, instead he becomes part of something larger that feels like it is ultimately unresolved because Rudi is not meant to be the person who ends the conflict. The first half of the series is great with Rudi developing and learning, but the second half begins to drop off as the larger conflict is now the focus with just a series of escalating fights. Because of this second half, the overall story felt like it was a test for whatever the author was doing next.

Moderator Edit: This review may contain spoilers.

Hi there, you want to know if this novel is worth it? Then let me tell you the reasons why this novel is overrated and why the MC is one of the worst that exist.

First of all, i read many volumes, at least 200+ chapters. I thought that i should give it a chance, maybe the story and the MC will improve. But that was unfortunately not the case.

The MC: Rudeus Greyart - A NEET, who masturbates on the funeral of his parents. Ok. This is how the novel starts. I think, wait what??!?! Why?! Did his parents do something? Maybe he isn't a bad person, just a wrong education, bad influence etc. But this was not the case.
He spent his life lying, leeching, doing nothing. Just watching loli-porn all day and masturbating.
His siblings see him and throw him out of the flat, which he really deserved.

After he gets a new life granted, he decides to do everything better. To become a better person. To respect his family, which he did not in his previous life. I believed in him, i thought he seriously tried to change and become a better person.

So i continued to read, until chapter 200. And NOPE, he is still the same person he was before. Still a coward, still having malicious thoughts, why did the author invent such a bad person?

One example, his parents get abducted. What does he do? He does nothing, he totally forgets the people that gave him as much love as possible. The people that tried to raise him to a good, honorable man. The people that would die for him. He travels for some years, makes some wives, goes to school, enjoys his daily life not thinking one moment if his parents are fine. Not a single second he thinks of his parents, just leaving them. He KNEW that his mother was kidnapped, that she might be a slave by now. But he does not care a single bit.

After his father asks him why he did not search for his mother he gets angry and beats him up. Ok?! Not even feeling shame for what he did, he gets aggressive. He beats him up in front of his 4 year old sister that gets traumalized after that. Good job mate

Another example, he sees slaves, naked, in a prison cell. They were previously raped and tortured. What does Rudues Greyart, the MC, think? Of course how nice it would be to have one of them in his bed. SERIOUSLY?! They were fucking raped and he thinks with his ****.

A third reason: He is a pedophile. Thats not my conclusion, he himself says and knows it. He, a 50 year old guy lusts after 7 year old girls. So lets sum it up.

A MC, that does not give a single shit about his family. Someone who constantly thinks bad about people, having one of the worst personalities ever. Lusting after little girls. Has 3 wives but earns 0 money, still leeching off other people.

Fucking Japan, producing this shit and still getting good sales.

I will write a short review since most of what I want to say, the user "JoeMacedon" wrote. So I thought it would be redundant to essentially rephrase most of what has been already said.

I found Mushoku Tensei to be excellent COMPARED TO OTHER LIGHT NOVELS!
don't let the negativity around this work discourage you...those too harsh or too critical opinions don't take the medium into consideration IMO...compared to Don Quixote or Lord of the Rings naturally Moshuku Tensei lacks in quality.

Although even if compared to mediocre fantasy novels you find on kindle, MT will probably stand out and be way more interesting. even compared to the relatively popular ones like "Eragon" or "a Court of Thorns and Roses" that everyone seems to like so much.

*BUT* compared to its medium MT is at least above average and you will definitely enjoy it no matter what your taste is. if you can tolerate reading Manga and Light Novels (Shonen, Seinen, and Slice of Life) you will find something to like here.

Personally, I like to listen to Web Novels while driving or exercising cuz they normally don't require a lot of attention from the reader and are very easy to digest. that was not the case with MT though. MT was the first LN I bought and read and was so compelled that I continued reading the fan translation of the Web Novel and was very satisfied with the ending.

So in short and bluntly I wrote all the above just on the very unlikely chance that I encourage who reads this to give MT a chance and ignore the contrarians on the internet. they probably don't know what they are talking about or are just kids who couldn't comprehend an MC having flaws or not being the generic bland good guy with no personality where they could insert themselves in.

Story 9, Art 8, Character 10, Enjoyment 10 = Overall 10*


*compared to its medium and considering it was completed (with approximately 2.5 Million Japanese characters) in LESS THAN 2 YEARS

|| Novel Recommendation And Review ||

Novel - Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu
Authors - Rifujin na Magonote (Story), Sirotaka (Art)
Genres - Action, Adventure, Fantasy, War, Tragedy etc.

(Note - this review is made till i read till volume 9)

Introduction :-
The Moment when you get the chance to relive your life, What will you do? Not only that, you are reincarnated in the world of fantasy, will you try to get back? will you become the strongest in the universe? will you enjoy life like a normal? there are countless possibilities you could choose from. But, Not for the main protagonist, his life sucked in his previous life so he decided to never make mistake like he did in his previous world. The story follows the adventure of the lesser noble called Rudeus Greyrat who seemed to be reincarnated from real world to the world of dungeons and dragons.

Views :-
To be honest, this is my first LN and i am really proud i choose this. i read its manga but it wasn't detailed as the novel. This novel makes you jump into that world and it feels like you are experiencing it there-in. The story was well paced and in flow. That author has written the story to the point of reality, no what i meant is that if the possibility of fantasy world, how would it feel, the emotions, the adventures etc. It shows the point of reality in that made up world, thinking yes that could happen. Story takes great leap to the Epic tales, with how he was born, he grows, takes step to the world of adventure and reaching to the point of Greatness.Everything is divided into phase of his life, certainly making you feel that we are growing with him. This is one great Novel that i would give 10/10 any day.

Synopsis
A 34-year-old NEET gets killed in a traffic accident and finds himself in a world of magic. Rather than waking up as a full-grown mage, he gets reincarnated as a newborn baby, retaining the memories of his past life. Before he can even properly move his body, he resolves to never make the same mistakes he made in his first life ever again and instead live a life with no regrets with the new one that was given to him. Because he has the knowledge of a middle-aged man, by the age of two, he has already become a magical prodigy and possesses power unthinkable for anyone his age and even older. Thus begins the chronicles of Rudeus Greyrat, son of swordsman Paul and healer Zenith, as he enters a new world to become the strongest mage known to man, with powers rivaling even the gods themselves.

Story(10/10) - Yes, the story is really beautiful, it gives us the vibe of reliving our own past like a present. Better yet, the story doesn't get sidetracked but continues like a flow in a timely manner. Being it in the fantasy world, it doesn't lack any of the action and adventure that we crave for, it takes simply perfect and meticulous time for him to venture the world. Unlike other stories which directly shows people traveling to adventure without characterization, this story starts from the beginning giving him, the main character a sort of personality and how that psychology that he developed from the start pays off in the future.

Illustrations (8/10) - I don't know how to base the artworks since i have always reviewed the manga, certainly the illustrations that are provided do give a basic idea of the world. It certainly helps you to imagine the world, the surroundings, the people, the culture etc. Though it seemed that it lacked with the illustrations since i couldn't see much or none illustrations from volume 4-5 till volume 9. Since i am newbie in Light Novels, i can't base the illustrations for it but they are indeed drawn beautifully.

Enjoyment (10/10) - I have very well enjoyed it and since the time i started it, it took me around 6 days to complete around till volume 7-8. I couldn't stop it, it was very entertaining and i was craving for more, i wasn't not able to satisfy myself with just 1 chapter per day(originally what i thought cause i never intended to read LN) but the story was so beautiful, in Rudeus language i could say i was seduced by the story and my Little boy(not that tongue emoticon just my brain. little cause i am not that smart) could not stop my craving or addiction. With this, I conclude that i Enjoyed it a lot, and i will continue to do so.

Overall (10/10) I loved this a lot and this is just my opinion though cause it may differ from person to person, but i would say it is certainly this is a gem that i would recommend all to read it.

WARNING: This novel contains mature content and many plot twists!

"This time I'll really live my life to the fullest with no regrets!" -Rudeus Greyrat

Normally, a review that is written before the manga/novel is finished should be considered incomplete. Having a review written when it lack of information lacks credibility and is unable to judge the worth of the entire story. I wrote this review because the current reviews do not give the novel justice as they're all reviews with a similar point of view. Noticing the lack of variety I decided to post my own review which will side with the other half of the readers (and hopefully future readers). I also would like to note that Mushoku Tensei isn't one that needs to be complete to be able to understand how amazing the novel is.

Story: 10
Upon the first volume you will immediately realize this novel is a 10. Mushoku tensei is a very entertaining and extremely detailed novel. I felt as if I was immersed in to the world that Rudeus was experiencing, whether it be the hardships he may be facing or his interaction with the other characters. Often times Rudeus is forced to make difficult decisions, which always leaves you wondering what happens next? After reading the first novel you can tell immediately the amount of effort the writer used to allow the readers to understand visually how amazing and captivating this world truly is. There are also many plot twist which are extremely surprising (BEWARE MANY ATTEMPT TO SPOIL THIS STORY FOR OTHERS!), without a doubt the story is extremely detailed and has many different stand points from multiple events which allows you to understand how each character feels during the events because the author takes the time to write in different perspectives.

Art: 8
The novel didn't come with many images (I believe there is none after volume 6) this is quite disappointing but it's not a big deal (you can check the manga for reference images). The art I've seen so far seems to really suit the novel and it really brings the environment and the characters to life. The one thing that I really loved about this novel is how the author provided a map. Yes a map of the entire world which is extremely helpful and interesting to look at especially for reference during Rudeus' adventure.

Characters: 9
The author allows you to see how the main characters grow and change. Although the protagonist Rudeus has lived about 30 years in his previous life there are MANY times he is still learning and changing, this allows for interesting plot points where his knowledge in his past is both useful and at the same time useless. The characters you meet in the novel seem really static, but without realizing I noticed the characters really changed. The changes are really subtle that they feel as if they happen immediately, but you have to think back to the previous chapters to notice the gradual change. There are minor and or major events that occur, where each event that happens reveals a little more about a certain character. NOTE: This is because the author writes the story from 1-3 peoples perspective, which allows us to be able to understand the characters thought process through each event. Keep in mind although he writes it in a different perspective it isn't as if it's a complete repeat of what happened, he usually gives a 1-3 summary, then quick thoughts about what happened and then moves on with the story, sometimes continuing from the prospective or changing to another.

Enjoyment: 10
Without a doubt this has to be a 10. I love this novel. A good phrase for this would be "never a dull moment" because that’s how i felt when I was reading this. This novel is really entertaining and I highly recommend it to those who have the spare time whether it is before sleeping or while taking public transportation.

Overall: 10
Here is the part where I persuade you in to reading the novel. I found the novel an easy read something that anyone can pick up. The content is mature and isn't intended for younger readers. There are many points that happen to leave the reader thinking WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THIS OR THAT, but it all happens for a reason. Thanks to the great details provided by the author, I was never left in a situation where I had to wonder why a situation occurred. Everything that was shown was thoroughly explained which I loved since often times in many novels I'm left with why, what or how...? I rarely read novels because I normally prefer manga's but if you're like me and you want something that is amazingly detailed with how the characters are and how their thought process is this novel is meant for you. The novel sells through its characters, meaning that if you don't like the characters then you're likely to dislike the novel.

Final thoughts:
Although it would be extreme to say this manga is the best, but it isn't one that you will regret reading. I'm often in a situation where I have to choose between finding out the rest of the novel or just do some plain ol' studying (easy choice novel of course). I highly recommend this novel to everyone to at least give it a chance, there are MANY volumes out already so there is more then enough plot to go around.

This is both my review and the answer to some other reviews, so here it goes;

1. The world in these novels shares a lot of common things with other fantasy stories, yet has enough unique features to make it interesting to read. It’s very fun to learn and experience it together with the main character.

2. This story is certainly wish fulfillment; just like almost every fantasy story. Most blatant ones being something like Harry Potter. And that’s perfectly fine, because we read these stories to experience wish fulfillment. MC in this story is not Gary Stu; just having powerful magic power does to make you one. He has few advantages; he uses them fully, and works very hard for his power. MC makes mistakes, and does not succeed in everything. He is not a noble hero, and never becomes one. And most importantly, he understands that just having a great power does not solve all of your problems, or makes you invulnerable.

3. MC actually uses his brain, thinks ahead, and avoids any unnecessary danger. He does not seek conflict or attempt to solve everything with force, and this is why he mostly fights with opponents he can handle. It’s really refreshing compared to usual shounen protagonist not caring their lives; and that’s one the reasons this is seinen.

4. There is a lack of usual shounen clichés. There is no sudden powerups, and fights are fast and deadly. Nobody reveals the secret of their techniques in the midst of fighting. Everyone has to train years to gain any skills; there are no shortcuts for heroes or villains. While this is technically harem, there is no usual harem clichés either.

5. Characters grow emotionally, especially MC. There is no magical transformation, it takes a long time and feels natural. MC grows from a human trash into a decent human being who cherishes his family. Side characters like Chris, Luke and Zanoba can start with very bad first impressions, yet they can show unexpected depth, and slowly and subtly grow up.

6. The story takes totally unexpected shifts and yet it makes sense when you think about it. The plot does not always progress the way you expect, which keeps you interested. This is mature story; it takes risks and deals with some things other LNs usually avoid. Like MC actually getting some, getting married, and even having a child. Yet the story keeps going.

7. MC is certainly a pervert, but that’s problem only if you are a prude. The world in this series has some different moral values, yet not everyone accepts everything. MC is actually quite morally upright compared to values of others around him, and for what he could do. He does not abuse his powers, and does his best to remain faithful.

I recommend this story to anyone who wants to read mature fantasy story with interesting adventure and unexpected plot twists.

Edit (11/18/2016): This review has been edited to reflect on the series as a whole after the latest arcs that have not been included in this review during the time it was written (the arcs being Overthrow the King Dragon King, Jobless Oblige, The Ancient Dragon's Old Tale and a bunch of Redundancy Chapters.)

If you have stumbled upon this review, you are probably having trouble deciding whether or not to read this novel. This is where I come in and let you know why I believe this novel is one of the best Web Novel/Light Novel the medium has to offer.

-THE FOLLOWING IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW-

Mushoku Tensei is a 24 volume completed Web Novel that is currently being published into a Light Novel series. The author is currently writing Redundancy Chapters on the internet and is planning on writing a sequel to the series that will serve as the main plot to the story meaning that Mushoku Tensei was intended to be a prequel all along.

Do not let this fool you though, it is by far the best fantasy Web Novel/Light Novel in the market right now.

It is the highest rated Web Novel on syosetu.com and is ranked higher than series such as Overlord, Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari, RE:Monster and etc...

Now with the introductions out of the way, let us get on with the review:

Story: 9

Mushoku Tensei is a story about Rudeus Greyrat, a NEET who was reborn into a realm of fantasy and given a second chance at his life. This book is the journey of Rudeus from his baby years all the way into his adult years. As you go through this journey with Rudeus as a reader, you will see how he gradually improves and redeems himself for his past life. There are also quite a few plot twists and developments along the way to make sure the ride never gets too stale.

However, one of the cons to the story is that it does feel quite a bit cliche at times and the overarching plot isn't as mind boggling or grand as other works. There also may be a story arc or two that you may find boring because of the lack of action that goes on.

The world building on the other hand, is incredible. Each area that the novel introduces has its own culture, history and religion that they follow which are important as it impacts how some characters react to certain situations. The author did a fine job of making each city/country feel unique enough without making the world too bland/repetitive. Each country also has their own unique history which is told not through bland dialogue of explanations, but actually through arcs Rifujin wrote such as The Ancient Dragon's Old Tale and such. It really is a show and not tell kind of worldbuilding that Rifujin excels at and really makes the reader feel engaged to the MT-verse.


Art: 9

With the series being originally a Web Novel, it did not have any art at all. However, after being published into a Light Novel series, readers were finally able to get a visual image of the characters. Needless to say, the art in my opinion is really well done and Sirotaka Sensei has done great work for the series.


Character: 10

This is the department that Mushoku Tensei really shines like no other. The cast of this series is diverse and full of unique personalities, motives and quirks. Each character develops in one way or another, certain events changing their view on life and motives.

In Mushoku Tensei, almost no character is left behind to serve as fodder material for Rudeus. Even the main female cast serve as strong entities that can fight side by side or even overpower the Main Character. Not all characters may have a strong fighting ability, but these characters are definitely not useless and play a key part in the overall story. Each character has their own unique perspective on a given situation, and the author does a splendid job of detailing each thought out. It is hard not to get attached to the cast as the story moves along, as certain events pertaining to certain members of the cast will make you feel devastated and joyful at times.

Rudeus is a fascinating Main Character. However, if you are looking for a Gary Stu protagonist, you will not find it here. He is both intelligent but at the same time realistic and relatable. He cowers when he knows a certain situation is hopeless and panics sometimes as well. Some people may say this is what makes Rudeus a frustrating main character. However, it is exactly because of these traits that Rudeus comes off as a much more realistic character than other fantasy Web Novel/Light Novel MCs. Also, he is most of the time quite intelligent and uses his experiences from his previous life as well as strategies to deal with hardships that overpower him.

Not only this, but Rudeus' character development is amazing. To go from a NEET to a respectable man in the future is quite a feat, but what really matters is the process. The author does an amazing job of showing the reader the process of how Rudeus' overcomes his past, fears and insecurities to quite literally grow as a new man.

After catching up to the latest arcs, most of the cons regarding the lack of
well written motivations regarding certain antagonists as well as some unexplained plot points have been fixed by Rifujin. Literally every character we've seen has an arc (in the Redundancy Chapters or other arcs such as Jobless Oblige) written about them regarding their history and the reason why they do the things they do throughout the series.

The story may be a focus on Rudeus' journey to becoming a changed man, but every side character and antagonist is fleshed out to the tiniest detail and this alone really differentiates the series from any other fantasy or Isekai WN/LN in the industry.


Enjoyment: 10

I absolutely loved this series. From an enjoyment standpoint, there is almost none if at all any anime/manga/Light Novel/Visual Novel I have watched and read that gives me the joy that this series does. With a cast of characters that I love/care for, the jaw dropping plot twists and the incredible world with infinite possibilities to be expanded on in the sequel and Redundancy chapters, Mushoku Tensei is everything I could have asked for and more in the anime/manga/Light Novel/Visual Novel medium.

Overall: 10

Despite some of it's flaws, Mushoku Tensei is still a masterpiece of a Light Novel. Sure there are some cliche tropes played here and there with some inconsistent plot points, but that does not deter the series from it's incredible cast of characters, story and world.

Overall, it is a series I would recommend to anyone that is a reader or simply a fan of fantasy. Mushoku Tensei is a top quality fantasy novel that other Web Novel/Light Novel can only hope to be. If you are looking for a series to read that will stay with you for quite a long time, this is the series you should be investing into.

However, I would not recommend this series to anyone that does not like sexually explicit material or mature themes such as gore/violence. This is a novel targeted at young adults rather than young teenagers.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions or responses you want to make about this review. If you want to debate about the series with me but haven't even finished the series, I will not bother.