Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2 anime series cover art
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2

Cour Overview

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2 (Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu Part 2 / 無職転生 ~異世界行ったら本気だす~) is the second cour — not second season — of the Mushoku Tensei anime series. I believe the two cours were originally meant to air consecutively, but don’t quote me on that.

This cour begins with the members of Dead End reaching a city on the coast of the Demon Continent. From there, they travel to the Millis Continent, where they meet members of the Dedoldia tribe, to which Ghislaine belongs.

Eventually, the party makes its way from the Millis Continent to the Central Continent, and specifically to the Fittoa Region where Rudy and Eris are from. And, lastly, the season ends with the Begaritt Continent set as the next location of interest.

However, Dead End won’t be heading to Begaritt together. After reaching Fittoa, the three members of Dead End split up and went their separate ways. It’s actually unclear if any members of Dead End will make their way to Begaritt, as Roxy and her party are set to go there next.

Anyway, as you can see, this second cour of Mushoku Tensei leans very heavily into the adventure aspect of the series. It spans three continents on which many smaller adventures take place. That’s fairly different from the structure of the first cour.

Of course, the first cour had to include the prologue before Rudy and Eris were caught up in the mana disaster. Still, this second cour proved to me that the fantastic adventuring episodes we got on the Demon Continent at the end of the first cour weren’t just a fluke.

If for some reason, you’re reading this review without having watched Part 2, I highly recommend watching it.

An Overall Improvement

As the title of this section says, I believe Part 2 is an overall improvement compared to Part 1. The battle against the giant snakes on the Demon Continent in Part 1 might still be my favorite thing in all of Mushoku Tensei. But as a whole, Part 2 was better than Part 1.

Aside from the fact that I’m always looking for good adventure anime, and this cour definitely fit that description, there are two major improvements that came from this cour. First, is the character development. And second, is the world-building (more on that in the next section).

Rudy, Eris, and Roxy all get some great character development. For Rudy, the development comes in the form of increased responsibilities. From being reunited with his father, he learns that he’s been treating his whole adventure too lightly. And by running into the Dragon God Orsted, he learns that he needs to get stronger to protect those he cares about.

Eris Boreas Greyrat from the anime series Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2
Eris Boreas Greyrat

Eris’s development mirrors, and follows, Rudy’s in a lot of ways. In the first part of the series, Rudy was Eris’s magic instructor. And in part 2, once Eris arrives at the Dedoldian village, she becomes the swordsmanship instructor for a beastman girl.

Just as is the case there, Eris’s development is always one step behind Rudy’s. Except, that all changes during the final three episodes of the cour. After they’re defeated by Orsted, Eris no longer follows in Rudy’s footsteps. She actively seeks to catch up with him, which results in the disbanding of their party so that she can get strong enough to protect him too.

In Roxy’s case, it primarily came from a single episode that followed her. But that’s fine; I’ll take any character development I can get for her. We learned that unlike the other members of her demon tribe, Roxy can’t communicate via telepathy. And so, she left her village at a young age rather than living in isolation.

Anime of the Year

In my ranking of the top 5 anime of 2021, I placed Mushoku Tensei in the #1 spot. Back then, the second part of the series wasn’t concluded yet. However, with the conclusion we got to this part, I’d say that my rating of the series has only improved.

I just went through some of the character development that led me to name Mushoku Tensei the best anime of the year, but as I also mentioned, world-building was also a major factor.

And I want to discuss world-building in this section, in particular, because I think it’s probably the main thing that cements Mushoku Tensei in the top spot. This series excelled at world-building when compared to the other top anime of the year, Sonny Boy and Dragon Maid S.

Rudeus Greyrat from the anime series Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2
Rudeus Greyrat

Sonny Boy had a more interesting plot, and I’d say Dragon Maid S had equally as good character development. But neither compare to how Mushoku Tensei Part 2 was able to make its world feel real.

It’s not just about all the locations featured in the series, though that is a big part of it. Mushoku Tensei is excellent at tying events and locations together through the interactions of supporting characters. Here are some quick examples.

  1. Nokopara (the horse demon from Part 1) turned out to be a member of Roxy’s original party.
  2. Roxy’s backstory explains why her village was so strange when Dead End visited it.
  3. Geese turned out to be a member of Paul’s and Zenith’s old party.
  4. Ghislaine was originally from the Dedoldian village.
  5. Roxy runs into Kishirika, who previously ran into Rudy.

There are tons of these little connections scattered throughout the series, and I love it.

Conclusion

I’ve been thinking about what to rate Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2 ever since it ended. Mainly, I was thinking about if I believe it’s a 10/10. And, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not. Mushoku Tensei Part 2 is a 9/10 to me, primarily because the start of the cour with the beastmen was a bit weak.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heka tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Season 2 is available now.

Leave a Comment