Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (Light Novel) Vol. 1

I found this first book of the series quite entertaining, I look forward to reading the rest of the stories! Thank you 😊

First there is a reason this in considered one of the greats in the genre. I will talk about the entire series up to what has been released in English, I will also try not to spoil anything. First let's talk about the protagonist. At the start of the book, I hated him. In fact I disliked him to the point I stopped reading. Though if you can get over this horrible start, you'll find a character that also hates the way they started or ended. To become a better person he works to grow, his interactions with others do change him, in positive, and negative ways. Next up my favorite thing in this series, the side characters. Yeah they are amazing, and I enjoyed their interactions with the protagonist and how they force a reaction from him. They show the protagonist does not live in a bubble, that he is not some all knowing all powerful character. Lastly the world. This is where the series lacks in my opinion. Even though they describe the world and how people live in it, I just find it meh. There is no one location that stands out as unique. There are other worlds that build themselves as wonders, while in this series, everyone, seams to just be living there. So give it a read I promise it will be a fun journey.

There's morally gray areas, appropriate with the era of the setting the book takes place. But the key takeaways are great, and it's outlined clearly what's good, and what isn't. But that's not what makes it special. The world building, character development, is superb. The author , manages to get you to empathize with each and every one of the characters, and he tackles a hard topic. Mental health, but the author does so brilliantly. I won't go in detail, but the author understands it, and won't offend someone or hurt feelings because of it. The final epilogue left me emotional, it was so beautifully written.

The beginning of peak fiction

Mushoku Tensei is an interesting story about second chances. In his past life Rudy was a 35 year old shut in and basic incel with no social skills that missed his own parents funeral. He dies and is reborn as Rudeus Greyrat. What I like about this story over other isekai is that not only does Rudy have memories of his past life but along with that he has the same mental issues like his fear of going outside. He is still the person he was bur at the same time you can see him make efforts to be better, and even though he fails a lot, you cant help admire the work he puts in. Now as for any negatives, I only have one and thats how the adults don’t treat Rudy like a kid, we all know he is mentally 35 but the characters don’t. So when his father talks about how he chased women, from Rudy’s dad perspective he is telling this stuff to a 6 year old child and thats kind of messed up even if we know mentally Rudy is an adult. Still this was a minor thing. There are more issues specifically with Rudy’s dad that are problematic, but avoiding any spoilers. Thats it, I really recommend this series, my only caveat is I would say this is more a story for 17-23 year old range, there are things in here I wouldn’t want a 15 year old reading.

Several years ago, I read the web novel version of this story to its conclusion. It's been the measure against which every subsequent (and prior) Isekai story has been measured for me ever since. It's a small shame it took so long to be translated to English and published, as some of the mechanics used early in the story and a few places throughout, have become checklist items for stories of lesser caliber. The fact that it's still so good, despite the influx of so many other isekai stories, is a testament to the quality of world and character building done by the author. Rudeus feels like a human being, his family feel like people you might know, and his love interests love him for what he does, rather than because they were cute girls and he's the protagonist. If you're into isekai it's definitely worth a read. If you've read the web novel, the light novel version integrates many of the web novel's side stories into their logical placement, so consider picking this up.

Isekai and slice of life genre are combined very well in this book. You have the main character developing literally from infant in his new life but still with his old memories. There are many signs that he is over-powered, but his past memories really help keep him in check/grounded trying to avoid his mistakes of his past. How the characters around him evolve is also entertaining to watch. I really enjoyed the sections that are written from a different characters point of view. While few, they help develop the other characters mindsets and give perspective on how they interact with the protagonist. Time to grab the second book because this one leaves off setting up the next one very well.

Already quite fond of the animated series, and found the extra material here to add layers onto a familiar story. Getting to jump into the adults point of view on occasion, getting details ledt out of the show was a touching and enlightening experience.

It's worth it

I have read a lot of isekai stories. This story of a man who got reincarnated is funny. I surely shall read the next volumes. I can recommend this novel

This book is a solid translation of a very well written Japanese light novel that follows the plot of the web novel almost on point. Plot wise (spoilers alert even if minors): Jobless person reincarnates in a fantasy world as a child and strives to become a better person. Even if it sounds stupid and basic as a concept, the author writing and plot are amazing in which things that happened in volume 1 will affect volumes 7, 12 and 16; other than that, the plot is rational even if it includes typical anime quirks from time to time (overly sexual content due to MC being an open pervert from minute 1, and staying in character for the duration of the series). Changes from Web novel: The bigger changes were mostly toning down some sexualized content without actually deleting it, just basically trimming around the edges of the most eccentric stuff. Other changes were pacing and some content that was removed due to not being needed and even being boring and moving chapters around to set a better pace. English version: The adaptation includes swapping Japanese wording to a very accurate (even if at times a bit too informal) English market and the content is solid. Biggest sore point was first Lilia's chapter that was written in third person (as it was in the Light novel), while the rest of chapters that follow other people's Point of View are written in the first person (2nd Lilia's chapter, Zenith's and Paul's). It should have been consistent, but at least the redeemed themselves fixing the rest of the chapters (I believe Japanese LN was in third person mostly). Things to be Aware of: This series is a 24 Volume long + Extras one, so depending on Seven Seas, there could be future issues with releases, but at the time, there is a third volume scheduled for July, and this series is one of the best of the genre plot and character-wise so it shouldn't be a problem, just mentioning that it will take a while to finish and it will be a ton of volumes. Sexual themes: There will be some, and even be key points in the story due to relationships affecting the plot so I will say this series is at least PG-15/16 as there is no explicit content to be depicted, but wanted to mention it. Controversy: There are "grey themes" from time to time as this is more of a Seinen than a typical Shounen book, and the author had to even go back in the content of the book at certain points, so I will repeat the PG-15/16 theme for this series and for parents to be careful. I only got the digital copy, so I cannot speak for the printing quality.

If you can avoid any book published by "Seven Seas Entertainment", they love to censor stuff that shouldn't be touched. Novel itself is great(in it original version)

No-spoiler (e a tal proposito, evitate di leggere le sinossi dei volumi dal 2 in su, sono dei parziali spoiler anche quelli a mio avviso) Se vi piacciono i generi: isekai + sword & magic (fantasy) vi stra-consiglio questa light-novel, assolutamente da leggere. Fin'ora sono arrivato a leggere fino al vol.10, è molto interessante e mantiene un buon livello di qualità da un volume all'altro senza 'arenarsi' in situazioni monotone e noiose. È un isekai fantasy con un buon mix di elementi: avventura, ecchi, romance, psicologico, vita quotidiana, esplorazione, ecc... Inoltre il protagonista non è il classico personaggio 'bravo ragazzo' trito e ritrito. Come detto sopra, è una novel che non si fossilizza in una particolare macro-situazione diventando poco a poco monotona ; rimane invece molto dinamica da un volume all'altro. Molto bella, da leggere se interessati al genere.