Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II

Episode 20

It's stating the obvious, but Rudeus has grown a lot since the last time he reunited with Paul—both physically and mentally. He's had to deal with the loss of his first love and the abandonment issues that stemmed from it. However, in doing so, he's found a group of supportive friends and a woman he can safely give his heart to—not to mention that he's started to build a life with his previously estranged family. However, while it may be easy to forget, Rudeus isn't the only one whose grown.

When you're separated from someone for a lengthy time, your image of them stays static in your memory. The last time we spent time with Paul, he was at his lowest point (though climbing out of his depression). So seeing him in a similar situation seemingly set things up for a repeat of his and Rudeus' last emotional confrontation.

However, that's not what happens at all. While Rudeus and Elinalise are clearly on their best behavior, it's Paul who reaches out first. Paul's down on himself for not being able to rescue his wife despite being so close—and for losing Roxy in the dungeon—but he doesn't lash out. Instead, he takes the chance to apologize to both Rudeus and Elinalise—and to thank them for coming.

This is fantastic character growth—something that this series tends to do very well. It's not that he has completely changed—Paul is still the somewhat annoying guy he was before—it's just that he has learned how to deal with his feelings in a better way. He's still not perfect (his self-deprecation gets real old really fast) but he's clearly in a much better headspace despite the overall issue he's facing being a little different than the last time he saw Rudeus.

Moreover, this time, he makes an active attempt to get to know Rudeus as a man. This leads to some awkward conversations and foolish showboating but it's plain to see how earnest he is in trying to build a connection with his son. I wouldn't go so far as to call Paul “likable” (he did cheat on his wife by seducing their maid/friend, after all) but he's more complex and nuanced than the sum of his flaws.

The only complaint I have about this episode is its ending. There were several possible places to end the episode. One was the reveal that Roxy is alive. Another was the cliffhanger when she found herself completely overrun. However, the option that was chosen was Rudeus' “big damn hero moment” where he comes from nowhere to save her.

The problem is not what happened but rather that there didn't seem to be enough runtime in the episode to reach that point without significant abridgment. In just two minutes, we go from Rudeus touching a wall on the floor above where Roxy disappeared, to Roxy being alive and overrun, and Rudeus showing up to save her. It's a lot and feels quite rushed. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the next episode will jump back in time to fill in all the blanks about how Rudeus found Roxy, but I feel what we got here undercut what could have been with just a bit more breathing room.

All that said, this is a rather solid episode of Mushoku Tensei, and I'm excited to see where Rudeus' reunion with his “goddess” goes next week.

Rating:

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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