Mushoku Tensei S2 Eps. 23
I barely missed my February writing. I like to watch anime, at least as much as I like DOTA. I remember that I always try to wake up as early as possible to catch some Kid’s Program, such as Pokemon, Dragon Ball, and Doraemon. I was never considered it as anime tho. I categorize it as the thing I watched from my early days. My actual encounter with anime is with an Anime called “Fate/Stay Night” by Type-Moon. At that time, I was mesmerized by some English Folklore. What was the correlation, you might ask?
To overly summarize, the Fate series is a story about a battle royal of 7 servants in a city called Fuyuki to win “Holy Grail.” The servants are heroic spirits summoned by their master. Coincidentally, The main protagonist of the show, Emiya Shirou, summon the heroic spirit of Arthuria Pendragon. SHE is the gender bender of what we know, or at least what I noticed as King Arthur in real life. I was fascinated that my admired King Arthur is a gender bender intended for something quite crisp story.
However, Fate Stay Night was not the one that lured me into the deep rabbit hole of the anime world. I remember that I eventually found some good anime. I remember watching the original Full Metal Alchemist (FMA) one (not the later brotherhood). Then, the magic started when I accidentally watched a rom-com slice-of-life show called Hayate no Gotokyu (Hayate The Combat Butler/HTCB). I remember watching it only because I wanted to watch FMA-Brotherhood that aired after the HTCB. I believe that the voice of Rie Kugimiya (the VA of Nagi Sanzenin in HTCB) made me feel like there was a butterfly in my stomach. Also, how often HTCB refers to the other title makes me interested in the story. Then I watched several other Rie Kugimiya voiced characters, such as Shakugan no Shana (SnS) and Gintama. The interest in watching anime snowballs from there and gets more significant and more prominent throughout the year.
Phew, for some reason, I thought that talking anime without telling my root was a bit unsatisfactory. So what was my title anyway? It was the anime I watched for winter 2021 titled Mushoku Tensei. It was the second cour of the series. I highly anticipated the third and the next cour. Let me copy from My Anime List (MAL) for the synopsis of its 1st cour:
Despite being bullied, scorned, and oppressed all of his life, a 34-year-old shut-in still found the resolve to attempt something heroic — only for it to end in a tragic accident. But in a twist of fate, he awakens in another world as Rudeus Greyrat, starting life again as a baby born to two loving parents.
Preserving his memories and knowledge from his previous life, Rudeus quickly adapts to his new environment. With the mind of a grown adult, he starts to display magical talent that exceeds all expectations, honing his skill with the help of a mage named Roxy Migurdia. Rudeus learns swordplay from his father, Paul, and meets Sylphiette, a girl his age who quickly becomes his closest friend.
As Rudeus’ second chance at life begins, he tries to make the most of his new opportunity while conquering his traumatic past. And perhaps, one day, he may find the one thing he could not find in his old world — love.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
If you watch anime like me, I am sceptical about these awakens in another world theme (isekai), however, with eye pampering visuals, excellent voice acting, and excellent character design. I could not help that I was in love with the series. For me, successful storytelling is a condition when the story itself can move or affect the spectator. Mushoku Tensei DID IT to me!
But First, I need to disclaim that my writings here and there might have some spoilers. I will try my best not to spoil the fun, but I want to write about my feeling after watching Episode 23.
Our main character feels down because Eris left him after that eventful night. He is sulking. Then the scene takes us back to where it was Rudeus before he was summoned to the current world (in real life) that he was a victim of bullying. He was trying to scold some of his peers to skip the waiting line. He got kicked by the ball and stripped naked instead. Perhaps traumatized, he refused to go to school. Back in the current world, He was asked to leave because there was no more space in the camp. He was told to work on something if he still wanted to stay. The scene reminded us of Eris, Ruijerd, Roxy, and others. The scene tries to imply that everyone believes that Rudy will overcome difficulties and hope to meet again somewhere. Then there was my favourite quote by the previous Rudy,
”No matter how many times someone is given a chance to start over, people can’t change that easily. It’s not like I wanted to be like this. People around me had offered to help me. But I rejected them. All of those people were looking down on me. My Persecution complex went around and around in my head. “I can do it if I try” , so I thought. I wanted to be indulged in such a dream. But then everyone has already left me. So isn’t it enough already?”
Then the final stage is back to Rudy. He has no longer intends to continue the journey. Then some enlighten comes. He realizes that he still need to search for Zenith. The episode ended with Rudy, freed from his past, taking the first step to the outside world.
We, as a human, is so fragile. When something happens outside of what we want, we always reject reality. Then we run as fast as we can from the fact only to find that we are already cornered and at the bottom of the abyss. We started to resist others and isolate ourselves as the self-defence mechanism. Our persecution complex blurred us from the usual way of thought. Unfortunately, not all of us will see the enlightenment. Even some choose the shortest way to close their story in this world. It is weird when Rudeus from past parents cannot spark something in his mind. Perhaps his little sister. Instead, he was awakened by Zenith’s voice.
At this point, we need to find a new destination. We need to focus on what we want to achieve, towards people we love, and towards what we love because the most important thing is to take the first step. We must also dare to leave behind, to continue the journey. I hope that your next time is better than yesterday. This episode was the peak of my devotion to anime. The scene so moved me. I hope that I also can start to feel like to adventure again…
