After almost 3 years of waiting, we finally get to this.
And now we can finally talk freely, Paul is DEAD.
There are a few details to this scene that I hope they explain later, otherwise people really need to be paying attention, to the little change in expression Paul's face had upon seeing that thankfully he was able to save his son, and be do a parent's job at the end.
Easily the most emotional episode of S2, the remaining episodes will only pick apart these scenes further and add ash to the fire, if someone has yet to feel something, watch the next few episodes.
I would say this is PEAK MT from everything we have seen so far, but S1's Orsted was better executed, was more cinematographic, when I feel that staff was MOSTLY needed for this scene.
What we got still does not deliver the impact of the LN (whereas S1 Orsted surpassed the source material IMO), yet I cant sh*t on the studios for giving this with the staff they, this is clearly the best MT episode they have produced.
I like the choice of OST for the scene the final 3 minutes, and the animation was far above anything else this season, but I think that fight needed a better soundtrack, to feel even more intense.
Animation wise I have little complains, I loved it, but I feel it could have been a bit better shooted, to give more impact (Orsted's scene again on S1, blowned my mind away).
The choice to end the episode with Rudeous mother waking up behaving like she had a complete reset and it is a new person was perfect to finish this episode, to up the despair for anime onlies.
YES, all this work, effort and sacrifice, and what Rudeous achieve was losing his father, and in what little happiness he could get from rescuing his mom (which he doesnt care as much as Paul), it end up being futile since she is no longer the Zenith they knew, but a shell truly.
Hyped for the last few episodes, now it truly is worth it to follow weekly.
Did a "bit" of reading what other said (this is definitely one episode to discuss on forums, WORTH IT):
DeRickz said:
RIP Paul
Not to be disrespectful, but he traded his life for a vegetable
Not going to say spoilers, but you are NOT wrong, and that is what hits Rudy all the more at the end, he is truly eating those words the Man-God told him now. (except if he had not came, Roxy would be dead, which outweights all that, but that is a topic for another time)
barmar said:
Anime of the season/10
despite the rough start
The highlight for this season 2, was always gonna be this, and what comes next, otherwise people wouldnt been very hyped for S2.
TriggerTama said:
Still in shock even knowing what's about to happen. I was worried the staff change of season 2 would make this episode hit less hard, but they did a great job animating that epic fight and brutal ending.
They did a great job with the animation but I wanted a bit better for Paul's corpse scene, maybe a better angle to approach it, you see his head first, then slowly to his torso or something, and also for the end, the last 2-3 minutes, ANYTHING from Shiki awesome OST here:
https://youtu.be/dixsFSqdjmU?si=Bsf2oKJ8b1W2Oi7D
Most stuff from that link would have given more IMPACT, specially Echo from minute 22, put that song playing and watch ep22 again! (I might do that that in preparation for the feels of ep23!!)
I honestly feel the worst part of this episode was the soundtrack, which is praise cuz it means they didnt f*ck up and what I expected to be the hardest
MadanielFL said:
RIP Paul, pretty cruel for this episode to air on fathers day...
The photo you attached from the LN IMO had more impact and how I expected them to go in a way.
JurassicOtaku212 said:
used to hate Paul back in season 1. But, after seeing him change and trying his hardest to get his family back. He has earned my respect.
The writter got you good then, Paul's job was exactly that, and his job is NOT over, feels time for the next 2 episodes, it doesnt end with this episode.
karrotStick said:
They made up for the sh*t season with this episode!! But I really wanted a first person perspective when Rudeus turned to look at them 😔, cant have everything i guess.
EXACTLY, when I read it on the LN I saw it like this too, forgotten, would have been even better, cuz first he would look to Paul's head, then see blood coming down and the camera would go UP... FEELS
Autoparts_22 said:
Even with all this, this is why Mushoku Tensei is PEAK FICTION.
It is not because of this, but the consequences that come after and how this topic is handled and the weight it carries moving forward, that I feel this series is peak fiction.
YuushaNi said:
So this is what the god said he'd regret... Also goddamn! Rudy probably should've just stayed and bred Pursena?
He would have regreted either way, Roxy would be dead, and maybe his father too, the point that Rudy made before departing is that in life you cant avoid regrets, you gotta face them and digest what you can, moving on the best you can.
LordDurzo said:
so he can predict movement and from nowhere he lost it? he got so much mana and ability.. why didn't he use it in a fight? if they want to kill him okay but make it right! this is bad and this anime felt down by a few stars because of this!
That scene shows that despite everything, Rudeous is still far from being a veteran, he doesnt have has many years as Paul and his party did adventuring, it was a moment of careless, his defenses slipped, it happens and that is all it took.
MaiqtheCapper said:
I think my main problem is; Rudy stands there for two attacks and does nothing, because "oh this is easy we can win". It's pretty dumb considering he can see into the future, and I think they could have written Pauls death better. Dunno if it's like that in source material or not but that's the only reason I could think of why people don't like this episode.
In the LN you can understand Rudy's mental state better, so when this sh*t happens, you get HIT HARD.
Deshuro said:
@LordDurzo Arcording to the author's tweet, the weakness of his demonic eye is that it can't predict things that out of its sight or too large to fit in the field of vision.
https://x.com/Magote_rihujin/status/1802360559163363640
God point on this, it definitly gives credit to Rudeous not being able to see it, but also I feel it was a combination of that and his inexperience to see such extreme situation, yes demon country, but it is not like he survived there 10-15 years. And the last few years also got him softer.
Marinate1016 said:
And then to top it off Zenith’s brain has been turned to mush. So you save her and what did it cost? Everything.
spoiler button due to gore
Pillsbury_Uchiha said:
ngl it really pisses me off that zenith is braindead
Next couple of episodes will be hell then, that will be picked appart like crazy.
Aleksu said:
Rudeus realizing he lost both his parents (Zenith in another way), I just cant stop crying....
It is precisely due to that, that the episode title is in the plural.
CorayyAnime said:
Very good episode, no plot armor for Paul. GJ studio bind!
No plot armor for Rudeous either, he lost his hand. It has consequences.
Zwilicht said:
Maybe it was just poorly executed, but it seemed more like he didn't even use half of his strength in the fight.
Who? Rudy? The problem was the Hydra's scales absorbed the mana, his actions were limited and in close quarters he had to use flame to f*ck them wounds.
Hekigyoku04 said:
@KelvinNazrey Better than the LN is still a stretch.
Agreed, maybe if we had staff from S1 for Orsted's it would have been possible, but what we got still has me happy they at least did not f*cked it up, but it is too soon to say anything because the next two episodes have to be properly delivered too!
Akaseaka said:
For whatever reason, this episode failed to trigger me. Maybe I should, really, abandon the anime and read the novel instead.
It is okay, next two episodes might f*ck you good, so wait for them, and after that TBH, at least go check this section on the LN, and decide if you want to read the LN or not, the full worldbuilding aspect you can only get on the LN, with all the details, if anything reading both the manga, the LN and seeing the anime complements one another crazy for this series.
Gimboy said:
He did use magic though only after his hands entered the body. Watch the scene again.
Yes he did, and a detail not explained, the Hydra's eyelashes had sharp scales to them, and when the Hydra closed its eye, that helped server a lot of Rudeous bone, it is a very nasty detail in the LN.
lessfull said:
.. Oh my god
I can't stop shaking. f*cking Orsted with his Dragon gaze. If not for him, Rudy wouldn't freak out and gauge the eye
You might actually be on something here, lol
karrotStick said:
@Akaseaka Here's what happens in the novel,
Good job, I was too lazy myself to do that.
SentiOnikawa said:
@Akaseaka First and foremost, we know that canonically the demon eye only gives Rudeus a few seconds of foresight, and it isn't effective against anything substantially stronger or significantly less predictable. The hydra was on its last two heads and clearly desperate, which if you know anything about injured animals, is the most dangerous point for them to be at. A wounded bear isn't going to curl into a ball like in the movies. It is going to do everything to protect its injury and ward off potential threats, even if it ends up hurting itself more. Now, you have 9 giant whips, 2 of which have brains attached to them.
The second thing is, this is Rudy's second dungeon, at best? He's been on adventures, sure. Most of those were in settings with controlled elements such as difficulty ratings and the presence of other groups. He's only been in one other situation where, again, another adventuring group was present. His reaction speeds, ability to predict boss actions, etc isn't as refined as everyone else's.
The group was struggling against the hydra. I know for what we got it didn't seem that way, but it's true. You have at least 4 S-rank adventurers, one of the strongest mages in the world, and Rudy, whose contributions while significant, aren't exactly winning the fight on their own. Paul was the only one who could do any real damage. Everyone else was either a support role or running interference where possible. That Paul saved Rudeus twice is indicative of how dire the situation was. No amount of situational awareness was going to keep Rudeus out of harm's way long enough to prevent Paul's death.
Finally, yes, it was unexpected. The hydra going berserk out of desperation isn't rational. It's not a rational being, clearly. It thought of the idea to try and open a new wound to grow a new head when it was already fighting at a disadvantage. Using its necks as whips wasn't something expected, even for experienced fighters. Especially for Rudeus who can disassociate and evaluate as well as he can, there isn't any reasonable explanation for such behavior. Him having decision paralysis isn't unreasonable. It's that his inexperience trumped his ability to evaluate a situation and devise a strategy. It cost him significantly in the end.
YES, you summed very well what I wanted to convey, Rudeous has talent, but he still has many years of experience to live and learnt from.
Like Paul was all dandy on 1st stratum and maybe second, but then knew when to focus on and stop playing around, Paul had more experience than Rudeous agaisnt such situations and especially in a labyrinth.
