Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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General Information
This section Includes information about the Director, Writer, and Cast.
| More From The Series | |
| Previous Episode: Season 2/ Episode 0 “Guardian Fitz” | Next Episode: Episode 2, “The Forest in the Dead of Night” |
| Episode Title | The Brokenhearted Mage |
| Release Date (Crunchyroll) | July 9, 2023 |
| Director(s) | Ayumu Uwano |
| Writer(s) | Toshiya Ono |
| Newly Noted Characters and Cast | |
| Suzanne | Kobayashi Yuu |
| Sara | Shiraishi Haruka |
| Timothy | Hatano Wataru |
| Mimir | Sawashiro Chiharu |
| Patrice | Yamamoto Itaru |
| Previously Noted Characters and Cast | |
| Rudy | Yumi Uchiyama, Tomokazu Sugita |
Plot Recap
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The Lonely Boy Heading Up North – Rudy, Suzanne, Sara
Rudy, to find his mother, Zenith, is heading to the Northlands with little idea of where he should go and seemingly the demeanor where he draws pity but also can come off like an ass. Thankfully, while Sara would rather Rudy freeze and die somewhere, Suzanne is different. She is more patient, willing to try to work past Rudy, sometimes being curt or standoffish, and almost gives a maternal vibe. One that helps Rudy warm up to her.
Though what helps is that when it comes to Suzanne, is that she reminds Rudy of Ghislaine, and because Sara reminds him of Eris, Rudy is able to adapt to them during their trip and not take anything Sara says personally. After all, he isn’t expecting to see any of them again. He is just going to disband Dead End and begin adventuring alone to make enough to hopefully gain information on where his mom might be and maybe even save her.
Why Not Join Us For A While? – Rudy, Suzanne, Sara, Timothy, Mimir, Patrice
Despite his attitude, Suzanne presses on, and even after acknowledging Rudy is a kid, she figures there has to be something about him to make it this far, so she invites him to adventure with her group, the Counter Arrow. Sara is by no means fond of this idea, but having an additional mage seems advantageous to everyone else.
As for who everyone else is? There is Timothy, their long-range attack mage; Mimir, their healer; and Patrice, who, like Suzanne, handles front-line, close-quarters combat. Together they make a rather friendly group, except Sara, who continues to make it clear she doesn’t like Rudy. However, after being chastised by Suzanne and reminded it is better to be cordial, network, and prep for a potential life after Counter Arrow, she cools her heels.
In fact, she even becomes friendly with Rudy after the adventure to kill some bills goes awry, and everyone gets overwhelmed. Rudy, who for a second seemed ready to die, snaps out of it and wipes out a slew of bears just when it seems the party would be wiped out. With that, he has everyone’s thanks, and Suzanne ensures he gets individualized credit when they return to the adventurer’s guild.
Coming Out Of His Shell And Letting Go Of What Doesn’t Serve Him – Rudy
With feeling part of something again, Rudy seems willing to enhance the good memories and let go of the bad ones. He holds on tightly to someone’s panties, be it Eris’ or Roxy’s, but throws Eris’ hair into the fire. This isn’t to say he still doesn’t feel something for her or miss the adventures he had with her and Ruijerd, but he’d rather make new memories worth living for than drown to death in his past.
Review
Notable Performances or Moments
A Sense of Emotion
While many anime and live-action shows know how to do drama and trauma dump with a character, giving them a sense of hope and showing ill feelings don’t last forever can be difficult. Oftentimes, the show will employ comic relief to lighten the mood and thus downplay what someone is going through or give a romantic interest who powers through the dark cloud and tries to drag the lead out. I’m not saying “Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation” hasn’t used either method, but it isn’t reliant on it, which is what is important.
As shown with Rudy, they have no issue spending multiple episodes showing him depressed, anti-social, and maybe even willing death to come. Is it overdramatic? Potentially to some, but it makes sense when you consider Rudy’s entire story, both in this life and his last. He finally found love, had sex, and then was abandoned like someone who was holding their virginity for prom night.
Which makes the idea of starting over hard, especially in a world unlike our own. Rudy doesn’t have to, like in his past life, just worry about random people who may bully and embarrass him. Now he has monsters and demons that may kill him, alongside desperate people who see this kid with a lot of money in his pocket. Also, unlike his past life, there is no hiding away. He has to be out in the world to make a living and often has to face what many people fear the most.
Add in “Man-God” and the mass teleportation event, and it makes the pendulum of Rudy’s emotions something we’re thankful for swinging slowly rather than changing his emotions from moment to moment. For even after all the praise and love given, you see Rudy still reflective, having the potential to maybe go back to that dark place, but instead honoring where he is and where he is going thanks to the good times he has had.
Highlights
Truly Thinking Counter Arrow Could Die
It’s hard to say what might get thrown at Rudy since we’ve seen him build up immense bonds, which ended when his allies needed to break away. But, what hasn’t happened so far is Rudy losing anyone notable due to them dying. Yes, he can assume many of the people he loved have died, but we’ve seen him have reason to have faith between reuniting with Paul and his siblings.
With that said, noting how much Suzanne and Sara remind him of Ghislaine and Eris pushed the idea that they could be slain to amplify the darkness already consuming him. Then when you add in all these other people and the bears who survived all of Timothy’s attacks? It allowed for a suspension of disbelief most shows wish they could achieve, especially beyond a first season.
On The Fence
Sara Becoming The New Eris
One of the things we’re worried about, especially since this is likely to be another 20+ episode season, is the series repeating itself. Now, Sara is older than Eris, and Rudy is also more educated and mature, so it isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison when it comes to Sara and Eric. However, I do hope that, while similar, they don’t end up the same or develop a similar relationship to Rudy.
FAQs
For More, Check Out The Character Guide
What Is Rudy Holding In His Bag
A piece of Eris’ hair, and what is either her underwear or someone else’s.
TV Shows We’re Covering This Season
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