Notes on a Problematic Elephant
A different show: #nevermind
Someone came out and said it. Lewis Parker↱ considers the problems of a popular anime—
—but the problem is considerably larger than just one show or studio.
One of the better jokes written in recent years of manga and anime got blown to smithereens before it reached the air. There is an unending temptation within anime, better described according to the principle of "any excuse", and in the case of a show called Witchwatch, the presence of actual improper conduct that wrecked a joke was another creator from a different studio for a different show. The Suzume joke in Witchwatch should have been hilarious, except the creator of Suzume was sentenced for molesting children a couple weeks before Witchwatch debuted in the United States. The English-language punch-line doesn't fall flat, but it helps if you know what Suzume is but not who created the story.
The thing is, there is a delicate balance between the industry and any number of its viewers; as with so much other bawdy and inappropriate humor or story, we'll give it a chance as long as it's a joke, or part of the story, or whatever excuse we can make. And then someone like Koichiro Ito, creator of Your Story and Suzume, makes the point that it's not just a joke or part of a story.
And, like Hollywood¹, sure, it turns out that guy's a bastard over there, and, damn it, this one, too, over here.
Parker, meanwhile, explains:
There is actually a bit of fandom pedantry to note, here: It is absurd to suggest MTJR is a godfather of isekai, but its light-novel form, ca. 2012-2015, might establish the story as an early iteration of the reincarnation isekai subgenre. Other popular examples include Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and, yes, there is a trend of long, explanatory titles titles: I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability.
Magic Knight Rayearth, to the other, is a mother of magical-girl anime, but by no means is it the mother of the genre. These are an entirely separate subgenre, and elements of MKE persist in other stories, including Black Clover and Pretty Cure. And if there is an argument for a twenty-first century "godfather" of isekai, that distinction would go to Reki Kawahara and Sword Art Online, ca. 2002-2008.
One might think the point of naming the protagonist "Rudeus Greyrat" ought to make some sort of point about the character's character, but it's isekai, and it's shonen² anime.
A detail Parker doesn't really address is, indeed, an interpretive matter, but that she was "15" while he was "physically 13" also reflects an anime trope in which older women tempt boys and lead them astray. Greyrat might be a forty-something who spent six years grooming a child, but she's older than his physical body, so not only is it okay, Rudeus is, in his way, the real victim, here.
Or, as Parker does explain:
Two things: Parker reads like he's going through something that eventually happens to reasonably not unintelligent anime viewers; it's not just a question of unoriginality, but something like variations on a theme that amount to any excuse they can find. Also, it's not just one genre. And, technically, it's not just anime. While waifu dovi rape fantasies were popular among American altchans, it's not like focus, fixation, and even obsession with youth, purity, and virginity are unknown outside Japan. Indeed, it's part of American culture, something we get from our Euro-American heritage, embraced by the sons of slaves, and generally preserved as societal virtue, etched in family values.
Try this: 「Any excuse they can find to ___.」
Any excuse they can find to ogle young girls. Any excuse they can find to justify sex assault. And it's not limited to exploiting girls and women; Dakaichi: I'm Being Harassed By the Sexiest Man of the Year is a gay romance (originally published in Be x Boy) that opens, in medias res, with a rape, and then builds a relationship from there. Or, Isekai Office Worker: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter, in which a salaryman falls into some girl's isekai adventure in which his incompatibility with magic means he can only survive if a nobleman has sex with him in order to keep him healthy. By the time you get to wondering about Reincarnated as the 7th Prince and the way they keep posing that pretty little boy in short pants, no, actually, it's not you; there's a reason why you would wonder. To the other, we're supposed to say it's okay because he's not really ten, but actually a self-centered grown-up sorcerer who was forced to reincarnate, and now reestablishes his power as a ten year-old prince.³
To the other, there is discussion to be had. Mushoku Tensei does not seem in its way unusual, but, rather, the one that stood out to Parker, and perhaps there is a particular reason. What happened is that something became a particular symbol of a more general problem that kind of needs to be talked about.
____________________
Notes:
Parker, Lewis. "Please Stop Recommending Mushoku Tensei". Kotaku. 19 July 2026. Kotaku.com. 19 July 2026. https://kotaku.com/mushoku-tensei-anime-groomer-isekai-eris-rudeus-2000717238
A different show: #nevermind
Someone came out and said it. Lewis Parker↱ considers the problems of a popular anime—
I watch too much anime. And because I regularly find myself running out of shows to watch, I often find myself browsing anime recommendation subreddits and reading "best upcoming anime" lists. As a result, I've recently spotted a lot of people (and even a few well-known websites) recommending an anime that I am, unfortunately, already well acquainted with: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.
If you're unfamiliar with Mushoku Tensei…good. Close this tab and leave things there. But if you have heard of Mushoku Tensei and you're tempted to watch the wildly popular anime which is often called "controversial," I understand. After all, I too felt the call when its first season dropped in 2021.
There's a pedophilic elephant in the room we have to address before we go much further, but I want to preface this by stating that Mushoku Tensei's well-known problematic story elements are not the only issue here. Don't get me wrong, the fact that the protagonist of the story is a 50-year-old groomer in the body of a teenager certainly isn't a positive for me, but there's another, simpler reason I cannot recommend that you waste your time on Mushoku Tensei: it's just poorly written.
If you're unfamiliar with Mushoku Tensei…good. Close this tab and leave things there. But if you have heard of Mushoku Tensei and you're tempted to watch the wildly popular anime which is often called "controversial," I understand. After all, I too felt the call when its first season dropped in 2021.
There's a pedophilic elephant in the room we have to address before we go much further, but I want to preface this by stating that Mushoku Tensei's well-known problematic story elements are not the only issue here. Don't get me wrong, the fact that the protagonist of the story is a 50-year-old groomer in the body of a teenager certainly isn't a positive for me, but there's another, simpler reason I cannot recommend that you waste your time on Mushoku Tensei: it's just poorly written.
—but the problem is considerably larger than just one show or studio.
†
One of the better jokes written in recent years of manga and anime got blown to smithereens before it reached the air. There is an unending temptation within anime, better described according to the principle of "any excuse", and in the case of a show called Witchwatch, the presence of actual improper conduct that wrecked a joke was another creator from a different studio for a different show. The Suzume joke in Witchwatch should have been hilarious, except the creator of Suzume was sentenced for molesting children a couple weeks before Witchwatch debuted in the United States. The English-language punch-line doesn't fall flat, but it helps if you know what Suzume is but not who created the story.
The thing is, there is a delicate balance between the industry and any number of its viewers; as with so much other bawdy and inappropriate humor or story, we'll give it a chance as long as it's a joke, or part of the story, or whatever excuse we can make. And then someone like Koichiro Ito, creator of Your Story and Suzume, makes the point that it's not just a joke or part of a story.
And, like Hollywood¹, sure, it turns out that guy's a bastard over there, and, damn it, this one, too, over here.
Parker, meanwhile, explains:
For the uninitiated, Mushoku Tensei is about a 34-year-old man who dies and gets reincarnated as a baby into a fantasy realm called the Six-Faced World. His new parents name him Rudeus Greyrat, and, as a result of him retaining both his consciousness and his memories, they immediately assume him to be a magical prodigy.
It's a standard setup as far as isekai anime go, and although the fanbase often likes to refer to it as the "godfather" and originator of the genre, several isekai manga, such as Magic Knight Rayearth, predate Mushoku Tensei by several decades. However, being unoriginal isn't a crime, especially where isekais are concerned, so what's the issue?
It's a standard setup as far as isekai anime go, and although the fanbase often likes to refer to it as the "godfather" and originator of the genre, several isekai manga, such as Magic Knight Rayearth, predate Mushoku Tensei by several decades. However, being unoriginal isn't a crime, especially where isekais are concerned, so what's the issue?
There is actually a bit of fandom pedantry to note, here: It is absurd to suggest MTJR is a godfather of isekai, but its light-novel form, ca. 2012-2015, might establish the story as an early iteration of the reincarnation isekai subgenre. Other popular examples include Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and, yes, there is a trend of long, explanatory titles titles: I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability.
Magic Knight Rayearth, to the other, is a mother of magical-girl anime, but by no means is it the mother of the genre. These are an entirely separate subgenre, and elements of MKE persist in other stories, including Black Clover and Pretty Cure. And if there is an argument for a twenty-first century "godfather" of isekai, that distinction would go to Reki Kawahara and Sword Art Online, ca. 2002-2008.
†
One might think the point of naming the protagonist "Rudeus Greyrat" ought to make some sort of point about the character's character, but it's isekai, and it's shonen² anime.
Rudeus Greyrat is the issue. He is selfish, cringe-inducing, and spends the entirety of the story perving on girls in their teens. Yet the problem here isn't just that he's an immoral loser; it's that Mushoku Tensei's story implies that Rudeus is on a journey of self-realization and redemption. He was a piece of shit when he died in our world, but this is his second chance, and he regularly proclaims that he wants to change and evolve into a better, more righteous version of himself.
But does he? Spoilers inbound, but no. He actually gets worse as the story progresses. The finale of the first season culminates in Rudeus and his companion Eris having sex. Really, though, considering Eris was 9 when she met Rudeus, who was mentally 41 years old but physically 7 years old, and Eris is 15 years old (making Rudeus mentally 47 years old and physically 13 years old) when the season finale occurs… let's just call a spade a spade. They didn't sleep together; Rudeus groomed a child.
But does he? Spoilers inbound, but no. He actually gets worse as the story progresses. The finale of the first season culminates in Rudeus and his companion Eris having sex. Really, though, considering Eris was 9 when she met Rudeus, who was mentally 41 years old but physically 7 years old, and Eris is 15 years old (making Rudeus mentally 47 years old and physically 13 years old) when the season finale occurs… let's just call a spade a spade. They didn't sleep together; Rudeus groomed a child.
A detail Parker doesn't really address is, indeed, an interpretive matter, but that she was "15" while he was "physically 13" also reflects an anime trope in which older women tempt boys and lead them astray. Greyrat might be a forty-something who spent six years grooming a child, but she's older than his physical body, so not only is it okay, Rudeus is, in his way, the real victim, here.
Or, as Parker does explain:
In fact, season two actually attempts to make you feel sorry for Rudeus, because the 47-year-old man becomes so sad that the 15-year-old Eris leaves him that he—I shit you not—spends the entirety of the 24-episode-long season attempting to combat depression-induced erectile dysfunction. And how does he get over it? By forming a harem, which consists of a 16-year-old that Rudeus met when she was 5 and a 50-year-old who met Rudeus when he was 3. Christ, even typing this just makes me feel like I've been put on some kind of list.
Two things: Parker reads like he's going through something that eventually happens to reasonably not unintelligent anime viewers; it's not just a question of unoriginality, but something like variations on a theme that amount to any excuse they can find. Also, it's not just one genre. And, technically, it's not just anime. While waifu dovi rape fantasies were popular among American altchans, it's not like focus, fixation, and even obsession with youth, purity, and virginity are unknown outside Japan. Indeed, it's part of American culture, something we get from our Euro-American heritage, embraced by the sons of slaves, and generally preserved as societal virtue, etched in family values.
Try this: 「Any excuse they can find to ___.」
Any excuse they can find to ogle young girls. Any excuse they can find to justify sex assault. And it's not limited to exploiting girls and women; Dakaichi: I'm Being Harassed By the Sexiest Man of the Year is a gay romance (originally published in Be x Boy) that opens, in medias res, with a rape, and then builds a relationship from there. Or, Isekai Office Worker: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter, in which a salaryman falls into some girl's isekai adventure in which his incompatibility with magic means he can only survive if a nobleman has sex with him in order to keep him healthy. By the time you get to wondering about Reincarnated as the 7th Prince and the way they keep posing that pretty little boy in short pants, no, actually, it's not you; there's a reason why you would wonder. To the other, we're supposed to say it's okay because he's not really ten, but actually a self-centered grown-up sorcerer who was forced to reincarnate, and now reestablishes his power as a ten year-old prince.³
†
To the other, there is discussion to be had. Mushoku Tensei does not seem in its way unusual, but, rather, the one that stood out to Parker, and perhaps there is a particular reason. What happened is that something became a particular symbol of a more general problem that kind of needs to be talked about.
____________________
Notes:
¹ Flashback, 2015↗: "Nobody ever protests the idea of Hollywood culture by saying, 'America isn't a Hollywood culture', or, 'we don't live in a Hollywood culture'."
² Target audience, males approximately twelve to forty.
³ The flip-side, that you're actually looking at an old dude, does not seem to undo the eros sublimated in kawaii, i.e., the moe of a ten year-old boy.
² Target audience, males approximately twelve to forty.
³ The flip-side, that you're actually looking at an old dude, does not seem to undo the eros sublimated in kawaii, i.e., the moe of a ten year-old boy.
Parker, Lewis. "Please Stop Recommending Mushoku Tensei". Kotaku. 19 July 2026. Kotaku.com. 19 July 2026. https://kotaku.com/mushoku-tensei-anime-groomer-isekai-eris-rudeus-2000717238