Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 2nd Part

Episode 22

Welcome to Turning Point, part 2. If last week was about a harrowing encounter with an impossible foe, then this week was about the ripple effects of witnessing death in the face. As the journey draws to its melancholy close, Rudeus comes to terms not just with his own mortality but with the deaths of his acquaintances and the fate of the Fittoa region. It's fitting that this episode also symbolizes the messy transition into young adulthood, as Rudeus and Eris lose their virginities together in a scene that feels both inevitable but also much too soon for either of them.

The wine chalice is a consistent motif throughout the episode, symbolizing spilt blood and the loss of innocence. When it first appears during Rudeus's dream, the red wine on the floor is made to resemble a pool of blood, instantly giving the cheerful party scene a morbid overtone. Later, Rudeus is shown toying with a chalice when Eris makes her advances on him, which on the immediate surface level establishes that he has been drinking despite his tender age. As Eris climbs on top of him, the blood red wine spills on the floor—a wound, death. Rudeus picks up the chalice, trying to salvage what's left at the bottom. But he fails. The chalice itself is swallowed in the pool of red as Rudeus lets go of his inhibitions and makes a decision that cannot be undone. What is lost can never be retrieved.

Rudeus's perspective is easy enough to follow, but piecing together Eris's motivations requires a bit of reading between the lines. What's clear is that between the battle with Orsted and discovering that her immediate family is dead, Eris has realized that she has reached a point of no return. For one brief night with Rudeus, she can pretend she has a family, but she's aware now that she isn't strong enough to protect what is precious to her. She can't continue the way she has been, so she ultimately sets out on a journey with Ghislaine. As for why she didn't choose to become stronger side-by-side with Rudeus, that's harder to figure out, at least just from watching her actions. But her ambivalent expression in the opening as she leans on Rudeus indicates that she doesn't feel content just relying on him. She could have communicated that better in her letter at the end, but, well, that's Eris for you.

The character acting here isn't quite as strong as it has been in some of the previous big emotional moments in this series, but the solid direction and shot composition still makes this a standout episode. It was gut-wrenching watching Rudeus walk through his destroyed hometown and seeing the ghosts of happier days. I also liked how Rudeus's old body is used in the opening dream sequence because it reinforces just how much he has changed as a person without being self-congratulatory about it. The previous him would probably have watched over it all with an air of detachment, but now he doesn't think twice about throwing open his bedroom window and crying out for what he has lost and what he fears to lose. After 22 episodes of antics and adventures, Rudeus's road to becoming a better person is demonstrated not through valorous deeds but through allowing himself to grieve.

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