Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 2nd Part

Episode 17

I'm in awe, frankly. Mushoku Tensei could not have delivered a more perfect follow-up to its previous episode. This episode beautifully resolves the father-son conflict while tying the overall themes of the story together.

First, the anime puts in the necessary legwork to make Paul's perspective more understandable without excusing his previous actions. The initial 360° shot of a disoriented Paul and Norn in the middle of nowhere effectively sets the scene for his dilemma: Paul is lost and helpless, and yet he must be responsible not just for his own life, but also for the child in his arms. The following montage shows enough snippets of his harrowing journey to make it easy for the audience to piece together the reasons behind his descent into alcoholism: Faced with the undeniable reality of what he had lost, he threw himself into his rescue work. Norn was all he had left, and yet he struggled to even protect her.

All of the frustrating miscommunications of the previous episode are addressed succinctly in the subsequent conversation between Paul and Geese. Why did Paul have unreasonable expectations for Rudeus? Why did Rudeus try to make out that he had it easy on the Demon Continent? Geese's advice to Paul cuts to the heart of the issue—no matter how talented Rudeus is, he is still just a kid who was just anxious not to make his father worry. Instead of rebuking him, Paul's first reaction should have been to rejoice in seeing his son safe and sound.

For his part, Rudeus has the realization that Paul is just like how he was in his past life, regretting his mistakes but not knowing how to make up for them. I don't really see Mushoku Tensei as a redemption story because it's not about Rudeus making amends with the people he hurt directly; nevertheless, by using his own regrets as a springboard, he is able to move forward—to truly take things more seriously in the next life. It was cathartic to see Paul and Rudeus finally reach the point where they could revel in their reunion; the fact that the tension could be so easily resolved with a genuine heart-to-heart conversation makes sense when many of the problems were being amplified inside their heads. After overcoming the harsh limitations of one's own self-loathing, a problem once thought to be insurmountable can suddenly seem ridiculous.

Looking ahead, Rudeus's goals are now rather fatalistic. Despite knowing full well that the chances are slim that Eris's family is even still alive, he intends to take her home. That's all part of taking his life seriously instead of as a New Game+ to minmax his way through—it means opening himself up emotionally to potential hurt and making new mistakes. But as the common wisdom goes, it's better to regret what you have done than what you haven't. For all its high fantasy trappings and low-brow elements, Mushoku Tensei is excellent at capturing a very ordinary kind of human experience.

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Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 2nd Part is currently streaming on Funimation.