REVIEW: ‘Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation’ Season 2 Episode 7 — “The Kidnapping and Confinement of Beast Girls”

After the last episode‘s trip to the slave market where Rudeus (Yumi Uchiyama) and Zanoba (Satoshi Tsuruoka) acquired Juliette (Sumire Morohoshi) to apprentice in the magic of sculpting, a month has passed and the young girl seems to be adapting well to her new life as a freed apprentice. But during one of her lessons, Rudeus makes a discovery that sets him on a path of vengeance in Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 7.

So far this season, we have seen the show steering clear of most of Rudeus’ less flattering traits from season one. The more pervy elements of the show have been primarily suspended, vastly helping its lead be a likable character. I had hoped that it was a sign that Rudeus had grown after his earlier adventures. Sadly, Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 7 goes out of its way to prove this theory wrong as he goes overboard due to a slight committed against an inanimate object.

After catching the viewer up on how Juliette is adapting to her new environment, Rudeus is reminded of the Roxy statue he made that Zanoba had last season. When he asks to see it again, it is revealed that it was destroyed when Zanoba lost a duel with two of their classmates. Enraged that anyone would damage a figure of his “goddess,” Rudeus becomes determined to teach the offending duo a lesson.

Before we get to the genuinely bad of Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 7, we must wade through the outright obnoxious. Zanoba has always been a character that has grated on my every nerve and this opening scene has him at his most annoying. His panicked, overwrought sobs at the loss of the statue, complete with exaggerated snot bubbles for extra effect, left me wincing. Not helping the scene, Rudeus follows up by one-upping his apprentice in the irritating spectrum as he acts like the destruction of the statue is some form of a state crime that cannot be tolerated. Though the fact that Zanoba was the one that put the statue up as part of the bet is never acknowledged.

When the two confront their fellow students over the incident, it initially plays out how I expected. A small clash involving a few light magic spells and a couple of physical blows gets thrown around. While this in and of itself would be going overboard, for an anime, this sort of clash is to be expected. Sadly, Rudeus’ sense of outrage takes things far beyond the simple slapping down of a couple of students.

Once both are rendered unconscious, Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 7 sees them bound, gagged, and dragged back to Rudeus’ dorm room. After feeling one of the two girls up against her will simply to see if the contact would have any effect on his ongoing erectile dysfunction, he leaves the girls trapped and terrified in his room while he ponders what to do with them.

Now, an out-of-line, small-scale fight is one thing; molestation and kidnapping is another. Rudeus’ behavior can be described as nothing short of heinous and is only made worse when he returns to his room with Fitz, as the show reveals that he left them bound there so long that the duo are begging for food and have soiled themselves. All over a statue. One he could even easily recreate should he choose to.

One might think that this sort of behavior would upset Fitz. But no, it is quickly written off, and Fitz even gets in on the punishment as threats are made if the pair of already tortured students misbehave again. That the events of the day seem to have no impact on how the character perceives Rudeus feels as bizarre as the rest of the story.

Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 7 tries hard to deliver the less-than-stellar moments of its narrative in as humorous a way as possible. While it nails all of the exaggerated facial expressions and over-the-top reactions the medium uses to deliver comedic elements with skill, the moments they are attached to keep any of it from landing. Instead, they simply add to the tone deafness that the episode display towards the terrible decisions its characters make.

Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 7 delivers another dud of an episode. Rudeus is completely unlikable here, as he does terrible things that no one seems to care about and that nothing will ever come of. Playing such events for laughs feels like the poorest of choices as the season continues to spiral down the drain.

Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 7 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.