Mushoku Tensei
is a Japanese light novel series written by and later illustrated by Shirotaka. The series follows Rudeus Greyrat, a jobless, overweight, and reclusive man who dies and is reincarnated in a fantasy world. Retaining the memories from his previous life, he is determined to enjoy his new life without any regrets.
The series was originally published online at Shōsetsuka Ni Narō in November 2012. The following year, Media Factory's MF Books imprint announced a print edition with illustrations by Pixiv user A manga adaptation by Yuka Fujikawa began serialisation in the June 2014 issue of Monthly Comic Flapper, and three spin-offs were also released. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the volumes of the manga for North America along with the original light novels. Studio Bind produced an anime television series adaptation. The first season aired between January and December 2021. The second season aired from July 2023 to July 2024. The third season is set to premiere in July 2026.
Plot
An unnamed 34-year old NEET is evicted from his home by his four siblings following the death of their parents and his failure to attend the funeral. As he wanders the streets, he laments his life and wishes to start over. Simultaneously, he sees a group of teenagers quarrelling, and is reminded of a childhood friend he had feelings for in middle school. When a speeding truck threatens to hit them, he pushes them out of the way and dies in the process.He awakens in a baby's body and realizes he has been reincarnated into a world of swords and sorcery. Determined to make the most of this second chance, he discards his past identity to embrace a new life as Rudeus Greyrat. Due to inherited affinity and early training, Rudeus becomes highly skilled in magic. During his childhood, he studies under the demon mage Roxy Migurdia, befriends a demi-human named Sylphiette, and becomes a magic tutor to noble heiress Eris Boreas Greyrat.
Just as Rudeus begins to feel like he has found his place in this world, a major magical catastrophe destroys his nation, teleporting and stranding hundreds of thousands of people far from home. Some end up in dangerous places or situations, resulting in their deaths due to murder, war, execution, monster attack, or exposure to the elements. Stranded in a foreign land with Eris, Rudeus begins the journey home with help from a warrior named Ruijerd Superdia. During their travels, Rudeus is approached by a mysterious entity called the Man-God, who offers cryptic advice with unclear motives. After three years, including a defeat by a powerful world-class warrior named Orsted, Rudeus successfully escorts Eris home to their devastated homeland. However, political tensions and a misunderstanding lead to Eris's sudden departure, leaving Rudeus heartbroken.
Two years later, Rudeus, still affected by the fallout of the incident with Eris, suffers from erectile dysfunction. He enrolls in Ranoa Magic University following advice from the Man-God. There, he reunites with Sylphiette, who helps him recover. The two marry shortly thereafter. Rudeus later joins his father's quest to find his missing mother, ignoring the Man-God's advice. During the journey, he develops a romantic relationship with Roxy, who becomes his second wife. A dying future version of himself eventually warns him that the Man-God will be responsible for the deaths of those close to him. To prevent this, Rudeus attempts to kill Orsted, one of Man-God's enemies, but instead offers him his allegiance in exchange for his family's safety. After reconciling with Eris, Rudeus marries her as his third wife. The series continues episodically with a series of story arcs based on Rudeus' daily life and growing family, along with his and Orsted's efforts to ensure the Man-God's precise demise. After an unsuccessful attempt on his life, the Man-God abandons his plans against Rudeus and shifts focus to his descendants. Rudeus eventually dies of natural causes at the age of 74.
Production
After graduating from university in 2007, Rifujin na Magonote began submitting manuscripts to publishers. After receiving no results, he decided to quit. Some years later, he was reading Kanekiru Kogitsune's Re:Monster, where he learned of the web fiction website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. After reading some of the serials on the website and thinking he would not be ridiculed for his writing, he began submitting there. Magonote wanted to depict a student who fails at school, trying to have another chance at life through this series. The setting of the work was created by adding elements of several popular Naro-kei works to the story that he had wanted to write for a long time. From then on, Isekai stories were popular and the approach was "If I were you, I would do this", "If I'm going to be reincarnated, I should write about my childhood properly" or "Is it possible to make use of the settings before reincarnation?" During his youth, Magonote was a fan of fighting games in arcades. He often regretted leaving his hometown and he channeled that sorrow as a driving force when he began writing Mushoku Tensei, aiming to overcome his past difficulties and see the story to its end. Magonote says his influences were Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer and Parasyte, which focused on family and human relationships.Magonote commented that he made Rudeus aware of his controversial personality and intended for Rudeus's actions to become more meaningful in the process. He left it to the readers to judge him. Magonote wanted the audience to pay attention so they could relate to him. He got a great response in episodes 6 and 7 of the web version of the novels when Roxy took Rudeus out. This acceptance made him think, "Let's grow in this direction." The message of the series is that "everybody can make mistakes."
After publishing the first parts of his work, Magonote wrote that he intended the series to last at least a hundred chapters. Due to criticism of his work, Magonote considered ending the series prematurely but decided to continue when it topped Syosetu's daily rankings. Originally, the story arc, in which Rudeus reunites with Aisha, was supposed to be completely different from the published work. Magonote intended to have Lilia die off-screen, with Aisha hiding under a different identity. He decided against Lilia's death and rewrote the story arc to make sense of her survival and lack of contact. Magonote stated the story arc might be bizarre due to the changes, but expressed no regrets; he noted Lilia's survival made him reconsider Zenith's condition in the story. The climax was influenced by Tappei Nagatsuki's Re:Zero. Regarding the ending of this novel, Magonote was thinking of writing until Rudeus died, and at the same time, writing until Rudeus turned 34 because he died at the age of 34. He has also said that since the prologue is about an unemployed man who is kicked out of his house, he did not want the story to end with someone being beaten up.
Magonote intended to create a sequel to the web novel series based on the Six-Sided Universe. On January 15, 2021, Magonote announced that he plans to finish the Orc Eroica web novel first. Due to his health problems, its completion has been delayed.
Adaptation
Director Manabu Okamoto found the novel both controversial and first-rate. This made him interested in adapting it into an anime. However, the length of the novels made it difficult. The biggest challenge was Rudeus's constant growth from a toddler to a teenager in the first story arcs, which the staff made subtle rather than using time-skips. To characterize Rudeus properly, his character was given the two voice actors of Tomokazu Sugita for his thoughts and Yumi Uchiyama for his dialogue. The composer Yoshiaki Fujisawa wanted modern background themes to fit the classic fantasy world.For the second season, Hiroki Hirano replaced Okamoto as director. He said he aims to develop Rudeus again from a low point, as the first season ends with Rudeus falling into depression after losing all his allies. He hopes he and the development staff will address the character growth. Producer Nobuhiro Osawa expressed uncertainty on whether the team would include more side stories from the original series to help develop Rudeus.
Media
Web novel and light novel
published his work on the online web novel website, Shōsetsuka ni Narō; the chapters were uploaded from November 22, 2012, to April 3, 2015. In November 2013, the author announced his work would be released as a light novel under Media Factory's MF Books imprint. The illustrator for the light novel is a Pixiv user called Shirotaka. The series was published in 26 light novel volumes from January 24, 2014, to November 25, 2022, with the seventh volume completely original.A spin-off after-story series, Mushoku Tensei: Redundant Reincarnation, was published as nine short stories on Shōsetsuka ni Narō from May 19, 2015, to September 9, 2017. Media Factory will publish Redundant Reincarnation from June 23, 2023, with the first two volumes containing three stories each and an additional original short story, and the third volume being rewritten as "Jobless Red Carpet", retaining most elements from "The Moment Aisha Greyrat Stopped Being a Maid."
Two companion volumes were published by Media Factory on March 25 and November 25, 2022, respectively: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – Recollections and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – A Journey of Two Lifetimes .
Seven Seas Entertainment has licensed the light novels for publication in North America and published the series from 2019 to 2024. They made localization changes in their translations of the light novels, such as toning down Rudeus's perverted behavior and removing references to rape. They later decided to "re-evaluate" their localization decisions. An audiobook version of the series narrated by Cliff Kirk was released by Seven Seas Entertainment from September 26, 2023, to October 31, 2024. Seven Seas Entertainment also released Recollections, A Journey of Two Lifetimes and the first volume of Redundant Reincarnation in 2024.