Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 episode 6 was the slowest one of the season so far. Yet, despite being slow it was also over in a flash. The interactions between Sylphy and Rudeus were subtle at best with some peculiar shots that didn’t do much for the imagination. Up until the end, this episode was definitely one you could just sit back and not think too much of it all.
Rudeus and Sylphy
It felt like half of their interactions in this episode was Rudeus questioning his own sexuality every time “Fitz” smiled at him. The other half was filled with Sylphy talking about her “master” the entire time with us knowing she was talking about Rudeus. I think the dramatic irony in their conversations last episode came across a lot better than it did this week. They didn’t have any particular conversation that kept me dialed into what may happen next or if Rudeus will finally wake up to reality.
That being said, I think the good thing about their interactions is that the possibility of Rudeus figuring out Fitz is actually Sylphy will creep closer to the surface the more they’re together. On the other side, it’s good to see Rudeus around someone he can trust with his life even if he doesn’t know it yet. Anything drastic that may happen to her, or Rudeus himself, will hold more weight when the time comes for an emotional moment. So as fans, simply knowing he’s around Sylphy makes us all happy for one reason or another.
I wouldn’t look too much into a lot of the symbolism in certain shots from this episode. There’s not really much to draw from when we combine the dialogue at the time and the shots that were taken. Usually, symbolism gives a lot of possible meanings that are simply left up to our own interpretation, which creates entertaining discussions among fans. But in this episode, I didn’t understand the meaning of most of them, or perhaps they just didn’t hold enough weight for me to really think hard about in the first place.
What I’m thinking here is that Sylphy is basically Ariel’s guard who hangs around her all the time, well, for the most part. So is Ariel just letting her do her own thing at this point? Every time we’ve seen Ariel, Sylphy is by her side. But in this episode, she spent most of the day with Rudeus after saying she had a lot of free time. Did she tell Ariel about this too? As someone that’s trying to lay low, helping to buy a six-year-old girl doesn’t seem “low-key.”
A Giant Facepalm Moment
Showcasing a slave market is something recent anime haven’t shied away from. It’s relevant in The Rising of the Shield Hero and more recently in Vinland Saga Season 2. But what those series properly portray is the inhumaneness of the trade itself and how the main characters find it to be as cruel as it is. In this episode, we have Sylphy blushing at the thought of naked warrior slaves and what they’re “capable” of physically, showing not a single trace of disgust in their party…until they come across Juliette. Even when he first walked in, Rudeus had a smile on his face while saying, “I’ve never bought a slave before.”
I understand the argument “That’s just how it was back then,” but Rudeus is someone from the modern age. Not once did he even have a look of disgust seeing all of these kids chained up in cages and others hanging on for their next meal. It wasn’t until he realized Juliette was like him in a way that he had some sort of revelation. Still, to compare his depression caused by a girl leaving and being away from his family, which he knows is alive and well, to a six-year-old girl who entered slavery due to her family’s debt is a new low that just hit me in all of the wrong ways.
I know Rudeus has a good heart and he even protected Juliette from being hit by the slave trader, but when Juliette told him that she didn’t want to die after Rudeus had an entire inner monologue claiming he knows her feelings definitely put a smile on my face. He wanted to end his life as a teenager after what he said about Sara, his constant thoughts of Eris, and his erectile dysfunction. This girl still had the will to live enduring god-knows-what after being sold into slavery. Maybe I’m just taking this all the wrong way, but that entire scene just left a bad taste in my mouth.
I guess this is where my back-and-forth disdain and respect for Rudeus begins to surface. Sometimes he shows his growth as a person and other times he takes five steps back, at least that’s how I’ve seen him since the beginning. Rudeus seems to be rekindling that happiness he once had before Eris took off but other times he, like in this episode, proves that he’s nowhere near the person I hoped he would become by now. Going into a slave market as someone from modern times and not feeling the least bit disgruntled until he saw Juliette was off-putting, to say the least.
Juliette’s Introduction
I actually enjoyed Juliette’s introduction for the most part. She’s a six-year-old girl who decided for herself that she wants to live. We see her eating after nearly starving to death, so right away she’s already an easy character to love and root for. Seeing her smile after receiving her name was something that was just impossible not to smile back at. The downside is they literally bought her to help Zanoba with figure-making. Unless Rudeus has some sort of long-term plan and Juliette will become a recurring character from here on out, that seems like the utmost random thing to have a new character serve their purpose for.
Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 6 Wrap Up
Zanoba just casually admitting that he killed his baby brother, which got zero reaction from everyone around him, was a very awkward thing to say as part of the final conversation in this episode. Overall, episode 6 of Mushoku Tensei Season 2 was very slow, and not much happened. We were introduced to an adorable new character. Rudeus showed us, yet again, he needs way more character development than originally thought. And some suggestive humor was thrown in as always with Mushoku Tensei. I guess, all in all, for a school arc, there were bound to be slower moments.
Episode rating: 6.5/10
If you enjoyed this week’s episode of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 then make sure to vote for the series in our weekly poll! The next episode will air on Sunday, August 20. The series is streaming on Crunchyroll with English subtitles.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©Rifujin na Magonote/MF Books/”Mushoku Tensei” Production Committee
