Forum - View topicINTEREST: Mushoku Tensei Author Addresses Criticism about Perverted Protagonist
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The Anime Binge-Watcher
 Posts: 94 |
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If nothing else, I at least appreciate the author talking about the issue sincerely and not dismissing it out of hand, even if I think Rudy still sucks shit. Goes to show that even Japanese anime fans and creators are invested in these conversations re:fanservice/pervert characters and it's not just a purely Western concern.
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Punch Drunk Marc
Posts: 1742 |
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Having read two of the novels so far, I can say that while Rudy is still fairly perverted, like the author says he does tone it down as the story progresses. Personally, I dont care much about this controversy its all a but funny to me, but hey at least the author is addressing it.
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Blanchimont
 Posts: 3448 Location: Finland |
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I think at least part of the reason for the disagreements may be that some(like me) view his past old world self as something 'tacked on' to his present incarnation, while those that are more likely to take issue are those inclined to see his old self as the one defining him.
In my view, he's growing up in this new world, learning, interacting with others, experiencing essentially what others in a similar situation there are living through, only difference being he's carrying an extra blessing/burden on himself. |
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ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 647 |
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No, that's not what anyone is saying. They've spelled it out for you repeatedly but instead of engaging with that you're attempting to brush it aside by misrepresenting them and downplaying what they're saying, just like you've done once again in this post.
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AksaraKishou
Posts: 1410 Location: End of the World |
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At the end of the day, as the author says at the end, it's here to stay, so if you don't like it... not much can be done.
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Blanchimont
Posts: 3448 Location: Finland |
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Are you speaking for everyone? At least I used may in the above post... Be that as it may, I'm personally sticking to this, and I really don't see how any arguments could change my view...;
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Brook09
 Posts: 81 |
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Agreeing with Blanchimont here.
As there are different views and different opinions on a medium, one can have different views abt it, and I personally resonate the most with Blanchimont ones. Obviously one can have a different opinion abt this and not like the behavior or find it gross that's also perfectly fine. |
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Gem-Bug
 Posts: 1207 |
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Yeah, but when that difference of opinion is whether you're against pedophilia or making excuses/defending it, then like Octo said before, it starts raising some alarms. 
Last edited by Gem-Bug on Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor
Posts: 647 |
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It's a good thing that context has been brought up a lot in regards to the show, because it also applies here. There is a discussion to be in had in whether the show is effectively using imagery or a sort or not. Blanchimont has not been doing that in this thread. He has been trying to argue that the pedophilic actions presented in the show are not to be concerned about using real life as an example. To then proceed to throw out a hypothetical about why people might be disagreeing with him instead of engaging with the actual responses in the very thread he's still posting in is a deflection. He's pretending to not know why people are saying things that disagree with him in order to frame it as a mystery that he can't really speak against. But, as he's quick to say, it doesn't matter anyways because he wasn't saying those previous things in good faith. His mind has been made up, and he's not seriously engaging with anyone here. So he made up a new argument to avoid that while still painting himself as some sort of neutral voice on the subject that just can't quite figure out why people would be upset. This is the context that matters. It's a clear definition of bad faith. |
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2123 |
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Is it just me, or have the words "perverted" and "pervy" been used to refer to Rudeus more by MT's defenders than its detractors? I think that might be meaningful, given just how broadly those terms are used, especially in anime fandom -- like maybe more specific descriptors make it harder to defend.
Given that this is a fantastical scenario we're talking about, I think maybe you could tastefully pull off an approach built around blurring the lines between "adult in a child's body" and "child with an adult's memories", as long as you're willing to accept that there will be discomfort in navigating things. Arguably that's what Erased did in the 1988 segments -- IIRC, Satoru acts differently as a child beyond just putting on an act, and there are a few points suggesting there may be some part of his younger brain that thinks like a fifth-grade boy with a crush on his classmate. Of course, even taking that approach, there's a big difference between a fifth-grader and a five-year-old. And if I were writing a story like that, I think I might even initially confine the protagonist's sexuality to a passing thought early on that he's better off without it, until he's dismayed to find puberty starting to mess with his brain. Certainly none of the panty thief nonsense. |
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zunderdog24
 Posts: 362 |
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Everyone forgetting that the kid listens to his parents having sex ery night?
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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I think it's time every took a timeout and went to their respective corners. The personal attacks need to stop as well. Some of you also need to move on from this discussion.
Looking right at you Blanchimont. You routinely go into these sorts of discussions and consistently misrepresent other people's opinions. You have a clear habit of ignoring what people are actually saying and trying to twist their words around and misrepresent them to fit you're own personal narrative. You brush aside people's complaints and thoughts and try and twist things like you're in a courtroom to fit the agenda you want to push. That narrative comes off clearly as excusing pedophilia type behavior as it is the topic you routinely do this in. Your opinions don't hold much weight anymore because they're all made in bad faith by ignorant what others have said, or down right misrepresenting them. Consider this a final warning to stop or you'll wind up on moderation. |
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Ashabel
 Posts: 350 |
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Well yes, because focusing entirely on that helps people not address the actual problem - the fact that Rudy is a pedophile who, in his past life, has only managed to avoid being arrested for owning child pornography because his family kicked him out on the street when they found him masturbating to it and he was killed by a passing truck. Note: this was actually downplayed in comparison to the web novel, where he's kicked out of the house after being caught while trying to set up a spycam in his underage relative's room. What I'm trying to say here is, Rudy is slime. He is an actual sex criminal who only managed to avoid being convicted by dying, and somehow we're supposed to feel sorry for him and believe he deserves to be "healed" by going on this epic fantasy adventure. Keep in mind that the author never actually condemns Rudy's pedophilia. Far from it, he passively rewards him by having it so that the world he's reborn to has an entire race who have a lifespan of around 200 years old, but who stop aging at the age of 10 and only resume aging at the age of 150. He then makes sure that one of Rudy's love interests, Roxy, is a member of that race so that Rudy can safely and legally continue to be a pedophile on account that he's going to be long dead by the time Roxy resumes her aging process. ( What, you really thought Roxy is supposed to appear to be in her teens? Nah, she's supposed to look ten. You know, just so you can be extra happy about this whole thing. ) spoiler[By the way, she and Rudy ultimately have sex while she's still in that tiny ten-year old body and she somehow manages to deliver two children. Don't ask me how, I don't want to know either.] Furthermore, the author eventually tries to portray Rudy as having been the real victim al along. I'm going to put the next part behind the spoiler cut both because it's not going to happen in anime for a long time and because it's tremendously gross, but spoiler[it's eventually revealed that Rudy suffers from erectile dysfunction that makes him incapable of being turned on by adult women. Another woman he's in a relationship with eventually "heals" him by giving her virginity to him, and he repays her by cutting out the part of the bedsheet stained with her virginal blood and enshrining it on an altar in a secret basement under his house, right next to Roxy's worn panties that he stole as a child. None of the other characters ever find out about that altar or that secret basement, it just exists presumably to convince us that he's cool and dedicated to his waifus while instead only reassuring us that the author is just as much of a gigantic creepshow as his character is]. Frankly, I was wondering what kind of discussion Mushoku Tensei would start because it's often advertised as this wholesome, inspirational work despite the fact that huge chunks of its content make Redo of Healer look like The Great Gatsby. I'm very happy that the story is getting exactly the sort of call-outs it deserves. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5828 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Never read the Web Novel and never read that Roxy is somehow supposed to be younger than Rudeus. Sure doesn't appear that way in the Light Novel or the Manga.
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Ashabel
Posts: 350 |
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Roxy is biologically ten years old and will remain stuck at biologically ten years old until she turns one hundred and fifty. There is literally no reason for that particular trait of her species in the narrative other than so Rudy can legally get it on with a ten-year old while the narrative argues that it's perfectly fine because she's psychologically an adult. The author basically assures us that it's okay, Rudy isn't really a dangerous sex criminal, he only acts like one 99% of the time. |
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