Mushoku Tensei (WN)

Description

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A 34-year-old NEET otaku, chased out from his house by his family, found that his life is reaching a dead end. He then recalled that his life could actually have been much better if he had made better choices in the past.

Just when he was at the point of regret, he saw a truck moving at fast speed, and three high schoolers in its path. Mustering all the strength he had, he tried to save them and ended getting run over by the truck, quickly ending his life.

The next time he opened his eyes, he is reincarnated to a world of sword and magic as Rudeus Greyrat. Born to a new world, a new life, Rudeus decided that, “This time, I’ll really live my life to the fullest with no regret!” Thus starts the journey of a man yearning to restart his life.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Jobless Reincarnation ~ It will be All Out if I Go to Another World ~
無職転生
無職転生 ~異世界行ったら本気だす~
Related Series
Mushoku Tensei Redundancy (Side Story)
Mushoku Tensei (LN) (Light Novel)
Mushoku Tensei – Jobless Oblige (Spin-Off)
Mushoku Tensei – Old Dragon’s Tale (Spin-Off)
Mushoku Tensei: Subjugation of the King Dragon King. (Spin-Off)
Recommendations
Sevens (6)
The Second Coming of Gluttony (5)
Release that Witch (4)
Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (WN) (4)
The Elf Is a Freeloader (3)
Dream Life (3)
Recommendation Lists
  1. An actual attempt at ranking
  2. favourite
  3. Isekai Fantasy | #1
  4. Masterpieces in their own category
  5. My Read

Latest Release

Date Group Release
11/14/21 Mushoku Tensei Discord christmas 2019 ss
12/24/17 Ebisu Translations Christmas 2016 ss
05/16/15 Kaezar Translations v24 epilogue
05/16/15 Kaezar Translations v24 final story
05/16/15 Kaezar Translations v24 side story
05/16/15 Kaezar Translations v24c261
05/16/15 Kaezar Translations v24c260
05/11/15 Kaezar Translations v23c259
05/06/15 Kaezar Translations v23c258
05/02/15 Kaezar Translations v23c257
04/29/15 Kaezar Translations v23c256
04/28/15 Kaezar Translations v23c255
04/27/15 Kaezar Translations v23c254
04/27/15 Kaezar Translations v23c253
04/22/15 Kaezar Translations v23c252
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126 Reviews sorted by


AndyDarren
AndyDarren rated it
February 10, 2018
Status: Completed
Finished reading this story a while back and only now writing a review for reasons. First of all, disregard Poison_Ice_Blade's review. Two chapters in and you're gonna drop with a 1 star rating because you hate the type of person the MC was before he was even reincarnated? Fine then, act the saint as though you've never had a shameful wank at least once in your entire life, but don't go and disregard the entire 24 volumes of important story plot that follow.

Mushoku Tensei was one of my all time... more>> favorite reads, one of the reasons being because of the story's sheer depth as compared to others.
The MC starts a new life reincarnated as a baby and over the course of the story he grows and matures both physically and mentally with a great degree of realism. We even get to "witness" the MC getting married and having kids of his own together with his trials and tribulations of having to safeguard and raise his family in a dangerous fantasy world where his own existence is tightly interwoven in the cogs of fate. This is some stuff that's a dime a dozen among a lot of novels especially JP novels. Harems don''t count as family, especially if the MC too dense for it to matter.

So don't get discouraged like a certain someone who rage-quit at chapter 2 because of icky JP cooties. Mushoku Tensei is a great novel with a proper plot as can be seen from the ratings and if you have the time, I suggest you give it a try. Be forewarned that it's a long read with a fair amount of exposition though so I mean it when I say 'if you have the time'. <<less
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Monokoi
Monokoi rated it
March 3, 2017
Status: --
It's a trap. Don't do it. The MC is littearlly starts off as having a 34 year old mentle age but acts as if he's still in his puberty. It's like he just cant help but le*d everything and everyone he sees. Novel starts off very smooth and was enjoyable. After getting further in, I'd wished I had dropped the novel earlier when I noticed the red flags. At first it seems like the novel was just taking a harem route which I and I'm sure most peoples are fine... more>> with, but, that was not what was happening. In the end the MC will have a polygamy just as in the tag. Honestly, I just felt like I wasted tumorous amount of time expecting good events, but each and every time it just fails to do so after/during the teen/adult ages.

Spoiler

What frustrate me the most is that, in the end, there is no romantic meaningful romance with a heroine. Each heroine had their own events and persoanlities and readers could support many different heroines but in the end, the author just throws it all away. The MC personality is very simple, he basically just want to le*d every heroine. His personality also becomes VERY UGLY simply because he was "heart broken" that literally makes no sense. If you're reading to think that the MC will have a change of character or progression, then the answer is no. From what I've read, the MC is basically stays the same all the way. You can tell that the author visibly also tried to show character change by saying that the MC visually sees himself as his old life, not his new life, but, it just doesn't work out if his personality really doesn't take any change, in fact, I feel like it gotten worst as he grew up. In the end, it seem like the plot was more about conquering each heroine as the world gets in his way. Pretty pathetic. Author was able to magnificently build up good characters for each heroines only to throw them away. Not to mention that the MC becomes pathetic and starts living his life as a failure for no reason, rather than having a brain and trying to understand the situation. I know this was probably a arc and just a down-arc for him but that literally doesn't cover the huge potholes because it doesn't take much to understand those situations he was put in. From a readers/my perspective, it's more like each heroine deserved all the happiness from the MC, but, in the end what happens is that all the heroine are chosen as brides. I really don't mind polygamy but at least make it more legit than a "i choose all of you because I want to le*d all of you." I really just ended up feeling sad for each heroines. It's more like the author choose a safe route because he also didn't know who to pick. Pretty much, it was put in the same scenario as "The World God Only Knows" but the author there knows not to polygamy the heroines and only choose a single heroine.

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Honestly, it started nice but it just got worst and worst. Yellow flags, red flags, white flags, flags everywhere for me. If you have alot of times on your hand, why not. Give it a read. If not, probably not simply because of frustration on how it'll turn out. <<less
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xp32
xp32 rated it
July 10, 2016
Status: v24 epilogue
Every story has its flaw and shine. Nothing perfect. I've found dozens things that I thought it should be better but also found I got immersed hundreds time those things. I could tell that till the end this story was written after the author already set its ending from the beginning. The story itself is a tale of a long journey. The MC is not perfect and everyone isn't in the tale. Antagonist? Villain? Each character has their own tales and they're not born to be villains. Why conflict? Why... more>> fight? Why wage war? Every single of them has "reasons". For lives, glory, family, pride, revenges, even money and more..

Does the MC OP? I don't think so. He got 2 biggest "Blessing" after he reborn.
1st is his previous life memory (along with common knowledge of 20th century)
2nd is his Families and he make sure to treasure them in his 2nd life. Even if "God" tell him to neglect them. <<less
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MaskedRelic
MaskedRelic rated it
October 8, 2020
Status: V20
Rudy (the main character) is the center of the series, and the root of all it's problems.

The background plot of the series is actually interesting, but Rudy only gets involved when he's forced. The core of the series is Rudy wanting to have s*x with a lot of girls, and the villain not wanting him to do that. Rudy will explain over and over how important the girl he likes is, then he'll either bring home a new wife, or constantly be on the verge of cheating. The entire story... more>> is built around excuses for him to get his wives, and it feels gross.

The series has all these different interesting elements that would be great to explore, but Rudy just wants to be in a harem/slice of life series. That attitude means that he's never ready when important conflicts emerge, and he always loses.

The series is about Rudy living a fulfilling life, not about Rudy becoming a good person. He's not really any different from his previous self, just now he has magic power and is successful. When his new body is around eight, but with the mind of a 30+ year old adult, he tries to seduce a 10 year old girl (and eventually succeeds). It is wrong, and at no point does he recognize this or change in any way. The ridiculous "twist diary" thing that happens around vol. 16 further confirms that he a garbage human being.

There are so many problems in this series that it's frustrating to think about. I regret the time I spent reading this. <<less
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Rort
Rort rated it
May 20, 2020
Status: --
To many one of the first novels we have read, the first good material that immersed us in the world of light novels, teaching us that a good ending can be fulfilling and simple without contradicting our expectations.

In my case, I read this novel years and years ago and I still considered one of the best novels I have read, unfortunately, this novel set me with expectations that every novel could be the same, ooh boy how wrong I was.

This is the starter pack of novels in my opinion, it... more>> can be perfect or bad to other people but I still recommend it. Everyone is entitled to an opinion by far I'm not saying that is perfect and it is not, so try it maybe you would like it. Who knows? <<less
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elricboy
elricboy rated it
March 29, 2018
Status: Completed
The magnum opus of the isekai genre. Isekai is this genre that has blown up this decade with SAO starting it off, with the sheer magnitude of stories coming out in this genre it is no surprise that the more popular stories are the ones which have an interesting "spin" to it. (Overlord, Re:zero, kingdom etc) But Mushoku tensei doesnt have any such "spin" to it, it is extremely barebones when it comes to its plot, it is proof that to write a good book you do not NEED to... more>> have an interesting and original premise.

If you go down and read some of the other reviews, you'll see that the people rating this story low, will say one thing "The MC is disgusting" -This is true. He is not a generic nice guy, he has very shaky morals and all of this is never portrayed in a "cool" way like it does in overlord and other stories. But if you can look beyond his "hentai" behaviour you will be treated to a story with amazingly deep characters and heartwrenching developments.

It is a commonly accepted fact that the middle of this novel is extremely slow (volume 10ish), what you have to understand is that unlike other novels this isnt a pure "shonen" or "action" novel. The first third of the novel is exactly that, but the 2nd third is sth you get out of a slice of life, highschool comedy novel like Haruhi or K-On. So I wouldnt say that the middle is slow and boring but just rather... written for a different kind of audience which from a writing standpoint is... not the best decision to make. <<less
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Authn
Authn rated it
March 22, 2017
Status: Completed
I can't really recommend this... The story progression is fine, the battles are great, there are some good moments – overall everything's nice – except for the characters!..

Let's start with the main character: Rudeus isn't a bad guy and his "pe*vertness" looks funny at first – but then you grow tired of him. His way of thinking is strange, he's really irrational and furthermore he doesn't seem to mature at all (!) – Rudeus keeps being mostly the same (pathetic) person from his previous life (for better of worse) –... more>> you just can't bring yourself to like him!

Not only that, the other characters are empty (it felt like some of them didn't have any reason to be in the story at all, they're here just for the sake of fanservice or making Rudeus look better or for whatever other cheap reason), the interactions between them are unrealistic and unnatural, their motives and dialogues are childish – to the point, that you start to question the author's rationality and well-being.

Spoiler

Just remember the School Arc – ugh, it's literally the worst arc of the novel and it shows all its main flaws clearly... Useless (bland) characters, Rudeus' way of thinking, childish interactions, unnecessary fanservice – you name it!

P.S. My review ended up being small, since I had been reading this novel a while ago, but hopefully I've managed to describe my overall impression of it. I felt like this novel deserved more negative reviews...

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TheOceanSings
TheOceanSings rated it
June 29, 2021
Status: --
Mushoku Tensei is a novel that shows that if an MC is a useless loser in their previous life, they will still be a useless loser no matter how much power they obtain; no matter how many girls they take advantage of.

The writing is bad, the MC's thought patterns made me feel like he was ret*rded; I hope this is not how the average person thinks, but judging on how many positive reviews are on this novel, I must be wrong :/.

If I had the same resources as him, I... more>> could become more powerful and be able to achieve more things. All the resources he has are wasted on him. The shame...

If you want smart mcs, you should look for different novels. Novels where the MC AND the enemies are heckin smart, and you actually feel worried for the MC. <<less
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the_TRASH
the_TRASH rated it
July 17, 2020
Status: v3c1
I tried reading this novel since I saw a few recommendations but I've only read until the end of Volume 2. I like that the start since it makes sense in some way since the MC actually worked hard before being good with the language, with magic and with the sword. I like that he's not totally OP character right from the start and overpowering his father with a child's body. Although I find the story and especially the theme interesting, I really hated the MC's character. He's disgusting.

... more>>
Spoiler

I tried to understand his 'humble beginnings' as a shut-in NEET since it was caused by the trauma of being bullied and it could happen to anyone. I even made excuses for him when he admitted he was jerking-off during his own parents' funeral. I also thought he was forgivable for lusting to his Nanny's breast and being a little bit inappropriate to his own mother while she was breastfeeding. Just by reading I could tell they are very both gifted and he was a baby with a mind of a deprived otaku, so 'forgivable' for now. I also find it understandable when he had a sort of a crush to his first teacher, Roxy, and he started 'coincidentally' witnessing her naked every time it is time for her to take a shower. He even took her panties and treated it like a divine item. I can say "Understandable" since Roxy is aware and an adult who understand things in a certain level.

What really irks me is how a 40+ years old, mentally aged person would try to manipulate little girls to submit to his desires.

First he tried to turn Sylph, who is obviously very vulnerable since she had no one she could consider a friend because of her appearance, into some kind of submissive, obedient doll. Thank all the gods of that human world, his father noticed this and made some repercussions.

I also didn't like how he almost lay his hands on Eris when they were only 10 and 12 years old. Even if she kinda gave him consent, I can't stomach it. I mean he already knew that she was being pimp by her whole family and despite that, he still tried taking advantage of her. Also, I can't overlooked the emotional manipulation he did. He obviously acted like a lonely kid separated from his family while she, in response, just wanted to make her only friend happy letting him do what she knows he wanted the most.

I understand that the genre includes Ecchi and Harem. I don't mind a good Ecchi and I could tolerate Harem, although I don't particularly favor it.

However, emotionally manipulating someone is simply unacceptable. I mean even doing it with anyone either a man or a woman of considerable age is considered malicious. At least, if it is an adult they can somehow see pass through it or understand the consequences but most of his victims are "children".

Not to mention all the aforementioned women, excluding his nanny and his mother, became his wives. I didn't know how since I accidentally found out reading some characters' information. But yeah, after all the harassment, they still married him. And him after promising not to become the same scumbag as his father, he actually surpassed him.

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SisConEcho
SisConEcho rated it
October 16, 2018
Status: Completed
Better than most LN. This is my favorite literature that is family friendly. Some of the bad reviews are on how he was hikikomori scum on earth and never bothered to read further.

It's only if you have a messed up life, that you would truly value a second chance. Plot was well planned and thought out. The world building alone was better than log horizon. All the characters have good development and growth. Side characters are actually meaningful.

They have their own lives, their own story, and are not mere puppets of the MC.

MC is humble, yet not beta; Complacent, yet not OP; logical; yet not genius. A beautiful balance. The ending I really like but might not be suited for everyone's tastes.

Spoiler

The story is about the life of a person, and doesn't solve all problems. It's great that the world does not only revolve around the MC, as I might to get to see more from this world in the future.

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Indivian
Indivian rated it
September 13, 2018
Status: --
A really enjoyable story with lots of characters that grow and change vividly. The ability to show how characters point of views and even misunderstandings change their interactions and work together to create a situation is fascinating and well done, and the extras and side stories give us a very satisfying view of the way the story impacted the world. The only downside is that the ending feels a little unsatisfying due to how it resolves pertaining to the antagonist. It also lacks political intrigue in general, so if you... more>> like that, this might not be as much fun for you. Overall, one of the best I've read.

Characters*****

Romance*****

Setting ****

Tension/Pacing ****

Intrigue*

Concept/Plot *****

Translation ***** <<less
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jiisama
jiisama rated it
September 10, 2018
Status: v24 epilogue
Was pretty good until the school arc. Our MC seems to lose most of his character development by then too. From then on the story wasn't terrible but wasn't good.

Spoiler

It really seems like Rudi never gets any stronger once he entered school. He doesn't learn any of the spells that the alternate Rudi learned. In fact, all his increased power comes from equipment made by his friends.

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FlufflyLittleRabbit
FlufflyLittleRabbit rated it
March 23, 2018
Status: v11
*Sigh* I can only gave this 3 star, as for why, just read those people who give low rate for this novel you'll know the reason.

... more>>
Spoiler

I'll be honest with you guys. If we excluded the MC's character and his pe*vertness towards every girl he see then I would have give this 4 or 5 star, but unfortunately I can't because I am truly disgusted with the MC.

Here are the list of his disgusting behaviour and I know some of the reader here are aware of it.

1. During funeral of his parents, he was in his house masturbating.

2. The MC find out that his father betrayed his mother. And what is his reaction? He's totally (base on my view in this situation) not much care and he even pursaude his mother to forgive his father like it's not even a big deal!

3. He's worshipping his teacher's panty which is really gross me out. If you think this is humorous then I am definitely not. I wager he didn't even wash it.

4. I forgot which arc this is, but this is when the MC and the others went to save the victim people from human traffickers. After he saw those girls bare naked he can't stop thinking of green (pervy thoughts).

5. He lost his v**ginity around 13 with the tsundere red hair girl. And when that girl ran away after they tasted the red fruit, his d*ck became disable. Then, years later he met his childhood sweetheart and guess what? His d*ck ressurected! The two of them got married but if you think the MC will be loyal to his wife then I'll answer you a no.

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If you like this story then go ahead and read it. This novel is not cup of my tea so I'm leaving.

I'm out of here. Bye. <<less
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Horoscope
Horoscope rated it
March 5, 2018
Status: v24 epilogue
[Edit]: Holy crap, so many people are judging WAY too early because of the mild NSFW stuff.

    1. The MC is a sick pe*vert who m*sturbates on the day of his parents funeral. Yes. Yes he is. THAT IS HOW HE STARTS OUT. The people that leave here miss out on the heartbreaking moments when he gets to make it up to his old parents by treating his new parents right. This whole story is about how he gloriously morphs from that lazy and degenerate state into a genuine role model. And it does it relatably, which is why so many who read this story to the end are so satisfied with his character.
    2. The MC continues to be a sick pe*vert for the rest of the series. No. He changes. Then sometimes he acts pe*verted as a joke. "Hey, remember when I was sick and immature and used to do THIS???" kind of humor. He gets hit on the head and everyone laughs. Anyone who doesn't get it as a joke isn't reading it very thoroughly.
    3. The MC m*sturbates when he sees a room full of naked kids in a s*ave smugglers base. .... Are you kidding me??? That is NOT WHAT FREAKING HAPPENED
      Spoiler

      MC goes into the base to free the s*aves. He enters the room and sees the s*aves, who are all kids. His resulting thought process immediately upon entering the room is this. "Holy crap what?! These kids are all beast people?! And they look just how they do in the
      'comics' ?!" *See's brutal maiming and scars on kids* ".... This is f*cked up as all hell" and then he proceeds to decimate the filthy s*ave traders. How would you feel if you walked into a room full of naked people of the opposite sex? His reaction is realistic, and it separates him from a lot of other MC's who are too thick in the head to be anything but a neanderthal. He actually recognizes s*xual stuff for what it is instead of ignoring it. He's the kind of guy who steals panties but then never actually looks at them naked. Not out of cowardice, it's that he has a line he doesn't cross. He's like Sanji from One Piece but he is actually good enough to get laid.

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    4. He has a harem and a pe*verted personality so he is scum. The funny thing is, this story is the only one I have EVER read where the harem isn't forced.
      Spoiler

      He actually never wanted a harem. He was adamantly against it. His 'one wife for life' upbringing was strong, hence why it hit him so hard when the first girl he slept with ran away without explaining. Some people think the fact that the first girl he slept with ran off was unrealistic, but the actions she took lined up pretty well with her established character and the events leading up to that very moment (if people would FREAKING READ THE STORY). Anyway, he gets married to someone else, then the first girl comes back and expects him to be with her. But the MC is mad that she left him without telling him her reasons for doing so and plans to reject her. Why does he accept her in the end?

      Spoiler

      His future self comes back in time to tell him how his wife eventually dies, and the first girl (Eris) endlessly tried to comfort him. He rejects her for 40 years after as respect for his wife. Eventually she dies saving his life, not out of lust, but because she just cares so much about him. He realizes how cruel he was for rejecting someone who would literally follow him for 50 years just to die saving his life. This was, like, one of the 5 good reasons his future self decided to travel back in time with a su*cide spell to warn his past self.

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      . The harem is slow, and the fact that the MC, despite his residual pe*verted personality, did NOT want a harem in the first place really speaks to his true character.

    5. MC worships a pair of panties. Ha ha yes he does. This is another one of those things that needs a lot of context. It might paint a better picture to understand this if you read up to chapter 10 of the manga. It explains it pretty well.
      Spoiler

      The MC is still a little kid after reincarnation. Despite wanting to go outside to explore the fantasy world, he gets serious anxiety from the combination of having experienced death and failure from attempting to be outgoing in his previous life. His parents hire a mage to teach him magic, and with her help he finally overcomes his fears. (I say he overcomes fears, but it's more accurate to say he overcomes the shackles of buried shame he had been carrying all of his past life. It's serious stuff.). She teaches him magic stuff for a couple years, and then when she is leaving she gives him a trinket (which later in the story saves his life).... And also a single pair of panties by accident. Whenever he is anxious, or see's someone who is extremely anxious, he thinks of his teacher and takes action with confidence. His memory of her is like his fallback. Hence why he started idolizing her when it why time for her to leave. Why did he worship the panties instead of the trinket??? Because it's FUNNY. Some people just don't understand the concept of a running gag. And yes, he DOES pray to BOTH the panties and the trinket.

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    [Original review]:

    This story was enjoyable even though it dabbled in a ton of cliches. Here are the key points that make this story great where other reincarnation novel fail:

      1. The Main Character's history and overaching character.
      1. The magic system and world building, along with the 'edge' the MC gets.
      1. The Harem.
    1. It starts off with a neet who dies by getting hit by a truck. This overused cliche is forgiven because this is the story that started it (or so I believe).
      Most stories mess up the initial image of the 'tr*sh neet'. In this story, the MC is a (literally) nameless nobody who continues to live off of his parent's money even though they are already dead. He is so numb he didn't even go to their funerals. While in the past he had always had the potential to be a superior version of himself, his fear of the unknown and the natural desire to separate oneself from others out of guilt and self loathing cause him to become a wasted recluse. He drowned himself in the internet and 'stuff' to numb the pain.

    The KEY part of this setting is that the MC has no 'real name'.

    Spoiler

    This is something DELIBERATELY done for effect. In the future in the magic world, an old battered future version of himself comes back to past in order to warn himself and uses his real name as proof, a name that has never ever been spoken in the magic world.

    "I am from the future. My name is _________." The MC recognizes it as his own name from the 'real world'

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    I can't even remember a single of the japanese names of countless other reincarnation stories of the same genre. This is done so that YOU the reader can insert YOURSELF into the story indirectly. While you have no control over the plot or some of the dumb things the MC does, his flaws being resolved are ones that all people can relate to one way or another. You can sense that the MC is REALLY trying to turn his life around, so much that he has to continuously challenge himself in order to not allow himself to be satisfied with 'just enough' because being 'just enough' is what lead him to this position in the first place (The MC has a legitimate and justified fear of becoming complacent). Like this, you end up legitimately cheering him on from the sidelines, because his thought process, history, and overall character is centered on relatability.

    1. Most stories of this style botch the fantasy element by focusing WAY too much on the 'cheat' the MC is 'supposed' to get. A 'wish fulfillment story' stems from the author's desire to envision themselves in the fantasy world. This is ALWAYS a bad idea, mostly because it is hard as a writer to highlight your own flaws in a way that is relatable. Why?
      Because it's embarrassing. You don't like to see YOUR character lose at all. It just feels bad, right? Anyone who has an Original Character of their own know about this. They end up giving their character no flaws, and typically, a fantasy power that has limitless potential. It makes for a boring story.

    Here, the MC's 'edge' is having being born an infant with the mind of a 40 year old millennial. Once he gets the chance, he trains himself to grow in magic. The 'cheat' is that in this world, long ardurous (and cheesy) chants must be used to utilize magic, but the MC can ignore it. This isn't exactly an exclusive cheat, as he easily teaches it to a friend of his. He simply discovered that magic growth scales much greater at a child's infancy stage. As a result, the MC has about 5 times more magic than the average mage at around 6 years old and needs no chants. While his growth is good at first, his magic growth stagnates at a certain point. He got to where he was using basic science, and molecular theory.

    While this seems like an absolute cheat, he has defined weaknesses he must overcome.

    Basically, the MC is not the strongest. At his peak at the end of the series, he is placed 7th in the world ranking of power. This is a generous assessment, as ANY of the higher rankers can most certainly kill him. Even after aquiring an ability to see 2 seconds into the future, in his hands it's about as useful as observation haki in One Piece.

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    While he places pretty high, he still runs into believable challenges. Challenges that shape his character. There are MANY things outside of his control. And the execution does not blatantly expose the author for pulling strings in order to make things happen. I won't spoil to many, as these are pretty key to the story. Some will be covered in this next point.

    1. The three female characters that the MC eventually falls in love with get introduced early on. Now, I honestly hate harem stories. It is the red flag that turns me away from a story. One thing that makes harems disgusting is the fact that the girls unconditionally throw themselves on the MC and fail to develop any sort of interesting character traits that differ from 'being with the MC'. And honestly? This story is no different.
    What this story DID

    do differently was space things out. At the start of the story, the plot set one girl to be his main love interest where two others would become side accompaniments. But then bam, the main love interest and the MC get separated for years. MC gets paired up with one of the accompaniment girls and both get thrown into the wild, on a separate continent. After getting a guide, and taking years to get back to their home, the girl finds out her family was wiped out. In despair, the two hook up, but the girl finds she is lacking so leaves to go train. However, the MC gets no warning, so his heart is legitimately broken in the face of being dumped HARD.

    After wandering for years in the mountains (so depressed he is impotent) in search of his mother who went missing, he goes to a magic school to find how to cure his annoying and depressing impotence. There he meets girl number 1 finally after years. After ALOT of drama, they finally get together and get married.

    He gets word of where is mother is being held, so drops everything to join his dad in rescuing her. This is where they meet up with accompaniment girl #2. His dad dies saving his mom, who has become a vegetable. While the MC is depressed, girl 2 sneaks into his life by essentially taking advantage of his depressed state away from his wife.

    Feeling he must take responsibility, he accepts her as his second wife. And then the first girl her hooked up with comes crashing into his life after finishing her training.

    Which is why he has a harem.

    And honestly, it is pushing it with the harem. However, the plot is so integrated and layed out I can't deny it is the best setup for a harem I have read.

    To me this is one of the best web novels ever and certainly one of the best 'in another world' stories.
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ReanuKeeves
ReanuKeeves rated it
June 2, 2021
Status: --
I remember reading while back and dropped it.

Main problem with this is the MC is basically a pedo.

I don't remember if it was this WN or the LN (or both) but basically the opening before the incident of his transportation brought things to question.

... more>> Then the stuff that happened to the redhead girl early on.

Yea.

MC is a pedo and I don't even know how it got an anime. I am guessing they cutting all that pedo stuff out as they kinda censored some stuff from first episodes before his transportation.

If you have shota or loli fantasies then I guess this is the right novel for you otherwise.

By the way, I am unsure how it picks up. I dropped it around the point of the third party member (the dude that joins em, not to spoil heavy) after certain events. But all the sexualizing of minors in this series early on left a bad taste for me to see if it even improves a little later. (Which I doubt, since the first girl is basically a perma loli mage at this point and even if he ages up, there will still be that material judging by harem tag so yea, I will pass.) <<less
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Master10K
Master10K rated it
June 14, 2020
Status: Completed
One of the best character redemption stories I've ever come across. Especially after introducing such a vile MC, within this stale genre. Going from birth, to childhood adventures, school life, family life and ultimately passing the torch to the next generation. This being a chronicle of Rudeus' life, there are extended periods of exciting adventure and extending periods of dull slice of life, but that's life.

Though super strong, Rudeus does not feel all that OP, since he is lacking in areas that other characters excel in. There's great depth in... more>> both the characters and the world they inhabit, with no black or white but a good deal of moral grey. The extreme perversion of Rudeus (especially in the early volumes) does make it difficult to recommend, to less "cultured" individuals, but said perversion is necessary for the character's progression.[/ <<less
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aquaphorus
aquaphorus rated it
May 21, 2019
Status: Completed
If the entire novel would have been designed similarly to volumes 1-6 it would have been perfect.

Unfortunately the story gets completely derailed by a redundant school life arc (volumes 7-11) immediately following this amazing section. The amount of relevant information that these four volumes have for the overarching plot can be condensed down to a single volume. They are absolutely stuffed to the brim with pointless filler fluff. To further explain how badly this arc is constructed, here is a brief description of the plot shift: ... more>>
Spoiler

After volume 6, the story moves from being about the struggles of being teleported into a hostile environment and then traveling across several continents in order to return to the main character's homeland to the main character going to a magic school to fix his erectile dysfunction. Seriously?

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Unfortunately the story never recovers from this terrible section. The character development on the main heroines is never the same again.

Spoiler

While Sylphy is definitely grown a bit immediately after volumes 1-6 ends, not much else happens after she gets pregnant.

In volumes 1-6 Eris is developed a ton, and this period of time happens to be one of the best developmental phases for a side character that I have ever encountered in a light novel. We see her transform from a bratty noble princess into a warrior who has to overcome her inner emotional struggles as they travel the world. Then she is almost entirely forgotten for ten volumes till the author decided to bring back her and Roxy as yes-men (or I guess women in this case) wives who are completely shallow with almost no function other than to have s*x with Rudeus as a plot device. Their personalities have been reduced to nothing but the most prominent behaviors that they exhibited in the developmental volumes.

In short, his wives are transformed from unique characters to generic female archetypes commonly found in other novels of the same genre.

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The score that I gave this novel can be described like this:

  • Volumes 1-6: 5/5
  • Volumes 7-11: 1/5
  • Volumes 12+: 3/5
Volumes 1-6 are what I compare every other swords and magic light novel to when searching for decent reading material. The only gripe that I have with this section is that it is too short. In my opinion, the author should have extended the traveling arc through volume 11. This easily could have been accomplished by making a simple yet major change to what a character does at the beginning of volumes 7:
Spoiler

Eris doesn't go away for 10 volumes.

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The way that the author paces himself with the story honestly worked best with the dynamics of adventuring. It does not work with the school arc. All of the critical characters could have been encountered without the school arc, and the character development for the main side characters would not have gone as far downhill.

Spoiler

To further expand on this: Rudeus should not have married Sylphy and Roxy. And he wouldn't have if the traveling arc was continued. They were past characters that he only somewhat interacted with for an entire volume each. He grew up with Eris and encountered many hardships with her for four lengthy volumes. The entire situation where Eris just gets up and leaves under the premise of "needing to get stronger" seems completely forced and unnecessary for the progression of the story.

[collapse]

In case it isn't obvious yet, I am very salty that Eris, objectively the most developed side character in the entire series, was thrown into the tr*sh for ten volumes. When she returns her previous depth never comes close to being realized again.

The first 6 volumes are so well written that if you're interested you can just read them exclusively. There is even somewhat of a conclusion. <<less
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Aketzuki
Aketzuki rated it
December 11, 2017
Status: v7
This is a really good WN with great 3D Charakters and also humorous situation. The reason why I gave 1 Star is easily explained. The MC is a wuss and doesn’t even have the pride of a decent human being. I hate and detest him quite deeply. I almost are wishing that he dies instead of rooting for him. He got no backbone and is destroying this great WN. The thought, that he is till the end of this WN make me cries in despair and finally broke my soul.... more>> I had to drop this WN or I would drop my iPad at Mach 2 at the wall. I even just registered for just 5his review and to warn you all, before you start. If you like an OP Charakter with not even any kind of pride in the bones and a weak an detestable Charakter, then you found your story. <<less
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remps
remps rated it
October 18, 2017
Status: v24 epilogue
I reckon that this is the OG of its genre, and the Web Novel version is finished in 2012.
    • The story and characters are way deeper than other summoned/reincarnation stories around.
    • Everyone has their own reasons for their action.
    • Rudeus is not flawless, he has his bad side, as in he cannot stand on a moral high ground. He does things that make sense, though sometimes can be quite questionable.
    • The world is huge and quite explored for a Web Novel. Hell, I think that Mushoku Tensei has the biggest world in its genre.
    • The antagonist/main enemy does not fall into a "demon king" trope.
Mushoku Tensei is the best in its genre. This story is about the life of Rudeus Greyrat.
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H4cko
H4cko rated it
August 5, 2016
Status: v24 epilogue
Honestly, this is the Cream of The Top, one of the best wb out there. I just loved it and even shed a tear in the end! After all it is impossible not to get attached to the MC and others characters, by the way what and amazing harem he has! The MC is OP but the way authors makes his growth along the series is amazing, all interactions seems to contribute to the plot, there are no random encounters just to fill a few pages. And the battles, ohhh... more>> the battles how trilling they are. You must read this one! (Or rather pick the novel that is out already which I'm going to start soon). <<less
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