#無職転生 #MushokuTensei

Episode 1
A review-thread where I offer my genuine thoughts on this episode and expectations for the future

“The pioneer of modern isekai”
If you’ve been part of the otaku novel community I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of these words at least once when someone brings up Mushoku. Words that capture the attention of many and words that the fans abide by as a gospel.

Not familiar with it? Let me do the honour of offering you a short history on what it is:

Mushoku is a web novel series that started on the popular free-publishing site - Shosetsuka ni Naro, in November 2012. In a meagre amount of time, the series exploded in popularity propelling all the way up to the #1 spot in the ranking.

The web-novel was quickly licensed and published officially in light novel format in just 14 months of its inception, subsequently springing up three manga series based on it. Staying popular ever since, the light novel has compiled a staggering 24 volumes in 6 years.

Now, this famous novel is finally entering the video animation realm where it can further consolidate itself as to why it is exceedingly praised. And I’m here to talk about the first taste we’ve had after years of waiting.

Do not worry about spoilers, but I highly suggest that you finish the episode before reading this; this is not a thread where I'm encouraging anyone to watch.

This will be a review based on a novel reader’s perspective so I beg that you know where I’m coming from.

To summarise: Regardless of the amount of content left out, this is a fascinating first episode that does so well to capture its viewers by the sheer stunning animation and enjoyable pace of the plot progression.

Now, I'll get into it:

The episode kicks off with the aftermath of the accident that kills our MC. Now this is an interesting scenario. The studio has taken the liberty to shorten and alter the prologue chapter with a new script.

I have heard that the original scenario will be shown in the later episodes, so it's all good. Even so, I don't particularly dislike this approach. Through the speeches in this short sequence we are all able to decipher what led to this disaster

Another interesting thing is that we are able to hear Paul and Zenith’s voice while he is still half-conscious. I believe this is an indication of his soul being transferred to Rudeus’ body; only momentary sounds because his soul is breaking through the distorted space-time.

After he’s reincarnated as Rudeus, the one thing that made me happy is the monologue. Sugita Tomokazu is a perfect fit for Rudeus’ perverted personality and most importantly his humorous narration on various things he experiences, makes it exponentially enjoyable to listen to.

Honestly, I’m not actually a fan of Paul’s design, he looks way older than he’s supposed to and his face has been simplified too much. That being said, it is still not horrible. It will grow on me.

While on the other hand, I absolutely adore Zenith and Lilia’s designs. They stay very true to Shirotaka’s original and combined with the more simplified style is quite charming. Good designs by Kazutaka Sugiyama, I am curious as to how the other characters would look like.

Magic, one of the power systems. Even with a lot of expository content cut, the mechanism was explained in a clear-cut manner which in itself is more important, followed by a practical showcase by Rudeus to help the viewer understand the working of Mana and invocation of spells

I have to applaud on how the writer, instead of giving us all information directly, opted to give it out through small cuts instead during Rudeus’ monologues. Let us take a deeper look at some:

(1) The scene Rudeus is practicing Water Balls. The vessels increase around him with the passage of different seasons - indicating how much Water Balls he has managed to produce in a year compared to only two he managed the first time. A long growth

(2) Information regarding the world’s religion is shown through Zenith praying to the Holy Millis before dinner. Zenith apparently is the only devout follower since the other three are just getting ready to dig in, indicating the view on religion is possibly quite liberal

(3) Paul reading a story to Rudeus - the legend of Perugius and his 12 followers and the name drop Devil Laplace. An exposition to the lore, a reference point for future plot/s

These small scenes all happen in an average of 5 seconds and they speak a lot on their own. Not to mention, it is very easy to go over one’s head. The writer, Manabu Okamoto, is paying attention to details; subtleties make it so sweet.

We then get into a very strong implication of Zenith and Paul having sex. Studio Bind is bold and isn’t afraid to censor adult content just because it’s an anime, and truth be told I like it.

This story contains a lot of adult content and I wouldn’t have liked it as much if it was totally cut due to being scared of criticism. Bind staff knows they’re working on an 18+ novel and was able to deliver its content cleverly. We have “spicy” things to expect in the future.

Now, let us not forget that a lot of the aforementioned things all happened between Rudeus conjecturing about magic and putting out his own theories on it. Multiple things are happening at a time; a genius way to conjoin various scenes while not making the monologue boring.

Roxy, the master, appears. As lovable as always, Kazutaka nailed it again. Konomi Kohara’s voice fits her so much, it’s unbelievable; her voice has truly personified Roxy’s character. Animations on her expressions and gestures are on-point doubled with the perfect voice.

I am not able to add much to Roxy except to say, fantastic portrayal by the animators and brilliant performance by Kohara. I am excited to see how the rest of the girls would do.

Let us look at the small scene of Rudeus being uneasy in the garden. This is a scene that requires context. Rudeus in the previous life was a hikikomori who hadn’t left his house for over a decade --

-- So, that instinctual fear still resides inside him and holds him back from going outside. It also partly makes sense why he practiced magic only inside the house. Hints dropped for the witty eyes

The episode ends at a beautiful note with Rudeus vowing to live a life not like before but one where he can go all out with no regrets and try his hardest at everything.

Now, before the conclusion, I want to talk about a few things:

(1) Animation:

The animation lived up to my expectations and even went farther in a couple of scenes. First of all, the backgrounds: absolutely gorgeous and they paid so much attention to details. The vibrant and atmospheric artwork is breathtaking.

Makiko Doi and Masakazu Miyake and especially Hmaguchi Hirano outdid themselves. Reminds me of ReZero season 1 when White Fox was so strong.

And second, the animation itself is so fluid. Apparently, the staff working on this have a lot of experience on their backs and are very talented. Especially the scenes of Rudeus casting Water Splash and Roxy casting Water Ball got my mouth hanging.

Even for the normal movements the animation stays consistent throughout the episode. Kazutaka and Yochiko Saitou have done well to guide the animators. I can’t wait to find out what they have in store for the action scenes.

(2)Sounds:

Sounds are fantastic, as expected. If you’re not familiar with the composer, Yoshiaki Fujisawa, he is the one who worked on Houseki no Kuni. An anime with one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard.

The moment I heard Yoshiaki joined team Mushoku, I was in ecstasy and had my expectations off the roof. Even though we couldn’t hear much of his music here, of the few we could hear, it was wonderful. I especially loved what played when Zenith casted Healing.

If I had to say, music is one element I have the highest expectation of from this series. What can Yoshiaki and Jin Aketagawa do with Mushoku? Can they make this truly magical like Houseki? I am ever so hyped.

(3) Script / Cinematography / Director:

The writer has done a fantastic job with the screenplay/script in this episode. Every action and dialogues have been expressed in such a clear and humorous manner that even me ---

who has read the first volume at least three times, had a fresh experience. The characters in focus feel alive and their movements and actions immediately absorb the viewer into them.

A shout out to the Chief Cinematographer Shinji Tonsho and Editor Akinori Mishima for the cuts and camera dynamics that was able to entertain the viewers a lot. Their part was so important to not letting the viewers get bored by the monologues by using various camera methods

The episode director, Hiroaki Hirano, though I haven’t seen any of his previously directed shows he surely has experience. He was able to pick all the different awesome elements of the production and put inside an episode, like opening a lunchbox full of all my favourite foods

Hirano is incredibly good in this episode. His participation was what made this magical episode work beautifully with properly overseeing all the production aspects.
And I want to see more of what he can do in the future of this series

CONCLUSION:

All in all, this was a phenomenal episode. It was truly, truly worth waiting almost 3 years for this adaptation. I do hope they can maintain the same quality for the next episode and for the entirety of the season. Thank you, Studio Bind for this remarkable episode

I wish to see more of Bind's true talents from here on out.

Rating: 10/10.

// thread end

Thank you so much for reading. This is the first ever review I have ever done so I know it must sound a bit amateur-ish.
Nonetheless, if you took the time to read it, I really appreciate it.

Feel free to give me constructive criticism for better future reviews

inspired and encouraged by @Namaryuu one of the best online buddies I've interacted with

done writing for the week. now lemme go play tsukihime in peace