Forum - View topicINTEREST: Mushoku Tensei Author Comments on Series' Depiction of Slavery
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Sakagami Tomoyo
 Posts: 947 Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia |
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I mean yes it's something that did exist throughout history and it makes some level of sense to include it in a story, but on the other hand that's not the same thing as it being required to be included.
The issue a lot of us have isn't so much that it is being depicted, but that in a lot of cases it's being depicted as morally neutral, acceptable, or even a good thing. Other negative things, even if they're being done by the protagonists and don't totally condemn their character, are still usually presented as being f***ed up things for the protagonist to do/think/say... but a lot of depictions of slavery are given some kind of justification for why it's okay for the protagonist to engage in it. |
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Hal14
 Posts: 728 Location: Heart of africa |
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It is very disingenuous, or perhaps just ignorant, to list shows where slavery is depicted as bad and the main characters do something or try to do something about it, without ever compromising on their opinions on it and then wonder why people have an issue with a genre that regullarly depicts it neutrally and have MCs that engage in it. Like are you really so desensitised or ignorant that you can't understand the difference between how One piece or Magi depict slavery vs isekai like Mushoku tensei, shield hero, slave harem, etc. And if you're response is "that's what the authors want to write" then fine. But people are allowed to criticise how tropes are executed differently |
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Glordit
 Posts: 692 |
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This is only going to make more people want to watch it. Controversy of any kind only serves to create more interest. Specifically, when it's from an already somewhat controversial series.
It's just a story and I'm not going to look into it too much. There more important things to worry about in life. |
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BluesPro
Posts: 99 |
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Sounds like a great way to live life horribly ignorant and significantly more likely to fall for dangerous grifters because you don't feel the need to critically analyze anything around you. |
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taster of pork
 Posts: 596 Location: My House |
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I find it bizarre that Rudeus and Sylphy went shopping for a Slave while they're basically on a date. It really felt out of place, to me.
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Stelman257
Posts: 315 |
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Absolutely not. |
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theilikepie
Posts: 60 |
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"Uh if he ended slavery it would make there whole society collapse"
Lmfao let it collapse. I love how ffxvi did it. A character mentioned there society would get fucked up and clive was all "bet". And if your society depends on slaves to survive well it was gonna fall sooner or larer. Just ripping the bandaid off |
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Kirki
Posts: 296 |
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This is simply not flying anymore.
I'm all about flawed characters. I really enjoy reading their POVs and seeing how they develop and if and how they get better. It is one of the reasons I started this series for. But at some point that becomes one too many, and that point is when narration itself wants to drive the impression that no, that character is not that bad, when in reality he's worse. And it's obvious when the story tries to justify its protagonist's actions, here we just had it printed out from the creator himself. For example, Death Note and AoT don't congratulate or support their protagonist's wicked actions. They make it very clear that their actions are non salvageable. On the other hand, Mushoku Tensei and Tokyo Ghoul are all like: "Oh he's flawed, but deep down he's not that bad, he's a real "nice guy!" Give him some love and he'll be fine!" Meanwhile, aforementioned nice guy kills a bunch of innocent people or buys little girls as slaves. But he's depressed because a woman treated him bad once so that makes it passable somehow. And if the narrative itself doesn't recognize how awful the things its protagonist does really are, it's not going to try to get him to a better place. What really blows my mind in this particular case though is how ridiculously easy it would have been to show disapproval. Nobody asked of Rudeus to abolish the system. We all know he doesn't have the power to do that. Maybe a comment on how horrible it is? Maybe, don't buy a slave and participate in it? And don't treat buying a slave as buying a pair of shoes? Don't have a date in the slave market? It's really, really hard to root for a guy that doesn't think much of such a horrid practice as slavery, especially when he comes from a background where he should know better. But Rudy doesn't care about this stuff. He doesn't "impose" his values. Well yes, he'd need to have values in the first place. All that Rudy ever cares about is his d*. That's all he cared about in his previous life and ended up as rotten and that's all he cared about in his new life as well. His ED is well earned karma and I sadly see that he does not deserve an ounce of the things he's going to get later, because he's still operating on the same selfish grounds he did back then. The only difference is that this world forced him to muster up a bit more courage in order to survive. All in all, Mushoku Tensei sadly is your average isekai fantasy harem story, just written and structured better. The point of the story is the women he'll bag. Maybe also make a name of himself and succeed in his 'career' too. But there is nothing else here. |
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theilikepie
Posts: 60 |
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Thats true. Alof of isekai do have slavery but the authors keep there mouth shut and don't try to justify it. Just take the money from the weird porm addicted fanabse and don't try to justify your main character
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Mami-kouga
Posts: 218 |
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To all the people who are trying to hide behind the same "Well he's meant to suck so that the redemption can work" excuse that they used to defend Rudeus constantly being gross towards women here too, I've gotta ask- does the story ever actually confront this wishy washy opinion? Does he ever grow his own opinions and reject this status quo? Or are we just meant to take "Oh, yeah maybe slavery can be good sometimes actually, who am I to judge" as just a random flavouring for our "lovely" protagonist?
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Tithain
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What makes this series interesting is how it portrays deeply flawed characters in an unjust world with no filters or censorships. Every character (except the Roxy-obsessed prince, I guess) has negative and positive traits that make them neither cartoonishly evil villains nor pure, perfect heroes, just like the world is filled with despicable institutions and systems while also allowing for a life that our "evolved" world couldn't grant to the protagonist.
All of this is to say that this Rudeus's feelings about slavery are roughly what I expect from him: he's always been indifferent to most things in life, as a result of his previous one, and he's lived 15 years in this world where he's trying to finally enjoy himself. He accepted the realities of that society, and he's not there to "save the world": he's there to make up for its previous wasted life. The series title means something like "when I move to another world, I'll get serious". I'm an anime only, so I can't speak for what happens next, but my feeling is that Mushoku Tensei is not really a redemption story, but rather the story of a broken man getting a second chance at life. You can call it wish-fullfillment, and I personally don't see that as an insult: a story can be about anything, that's not what makes it good or bad. There are a lot of wish-fullfillment stories out there, some aimed at men, other at women, and, like every story, they can be good or bad. Mushoku Tensei in my opinion is a very good one, and its grey and flawed characters are (at least so far) its biggest strength. |
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Glordit
Posts: 692 |
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You choose to be offended at absolutely everything and everyone. It's an anime, not real life. I know the difference; I simply just don't care. |
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jimmyzinny
Posts: 22 |
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"He doesn't want to impose his own sense of justice upon a culture he is unfamiliar with"
Lmao yeah bro let's say there's a culture where having sex with 10 year olds is normal, would anyone who's normal enough say it's OK because it's their culture? The author of this must get locked up, too many weird things in it. |
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Erufailon4
Posts: 202 Location: Finland |
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I can't say I liked the episode anywhere near as much as many other episodes of MT, but at this point I'm used to the show doing annoying things every once in a while. It is what it is. Had a great episode of Zom 100 to watch immediately afterwards so at least it didn't sour my entire day.
What I do think is deeply embarrassing is how enthusiastically some of the core fanbase jumps to dismiss any criticism as "wokeism" or whatever. Slavery is still a touchy subject for Americans in particular, and it wouldn't hurt to be a little more understanding of why many people would find this depiction of it uncomfortable. |
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Tithain
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This happens because part of this "criticism" is done in a way that paints the author and his supporters as some kind of human scum that should be silenced. See the post above yours for reference. It goes without saying that when you take a stance this hostile, you'll get more hostility in return and no discussions will take place. |
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