Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S2, Ep 16 Review
It’s been said that one of the hardest jobs in the world is being a parent. Even if they’re good at it, a parent can still make mistakes and do things that will make their kids hate them, sometimes forever. And even though they’re his sisters, not his kids, the fact that Rudeus was tasked by their dad to look after them makes him and Sylphie their guardians. And, as Rudeus realizes, they’ve both come with some emotional baggage.
Rudy and Ruijerd Reunited!
The episode starts off on a rather positive note , with Rudeus more than happy to have reunited with his old friend, Ruijerd. The feeling is mutual as the two spend time talking and reminiscing about their travels well into the night. However, things get awkward when Ruijerd addresses the elephant in the room: where’s Eris? And Rudy simply explains how she ran out on him.
To his credit as a person and a fictional character, and as someone who looked after them for three years, Ruijerd demonstrates how well he knows Rudy and Eris. Even without him going into all the details, Ruijerd deduces that Eris’ departure is a mutual misunderstanding. He knows that Rudy can overthink things, while Eris isn’t good at using her words. Combine the two things, and a disaster was going to happen. Nonetheless, Rudy does take Ruijerd’s advice into account if Eris ever comes back.
That doesn’t change things for Rudeus, though. Intentional or not, Eris broke Rudy’s heart and put him into a depression that lasted years. If Eris comes back, and we know she will, she’s going to have to do a lot of apologizing. The kind that a single night can’t fix.
Rudeus is a Parent Now
After Ruijerd leaves the next morning, Rudy and Sylphie begin their lives as guardians for Norn and Aisha. And as smart as he is, Rudeus isn’t prepared to be a parent.
As Rudeus quickly learns, being a parent to her sisters is hard, especially when said sisters come with emotional baggage.
Aisha Doesn’t Need to Prove Herself to Anyone
First, we have Aisha. On the surface, Aisha seems to have no issues. She’s self-sufficient, extroverted, and rivals her brother in brains. When Rudy tries to enroll her in Ranoa U., she proceeds to get perfect marks. The girl not only proved school was a waste of time, but she got her GED!
It’s when it comes to Norn that her issues come to light. While Rudeus was going on his odyssey, Norn and Aisha stayed at Zenith’s mothers house. And they didn’t take kindly to having a bastard child outshine Norn. That only led Aisha to work even harder to become better than Norn, which only made things worse. Rinse, repeat, family drama ensues.
She doesnt get as much focus this episode as Norn does, but it’s great that the anime didn’t skip out on Aisha’s own problems or how Rudeus tries to address them. He knows how easy it could for her to let her talents go to waste, and that he needs to discourage any notion of her being inferior because of who she is.
Aisha is the easy one, though. It’s Norn that is Rudeus biggest concern.
Norn Still Doesn’t Like Rudeus
Let’s cut to the chase: Norn doesn’t like her big brother. Given how the first time she met her brother, he was beating the daylights out of their Dad, you can’t blame her for having a negative impression. It didn’t matter if Paul told her that he’s the one who started it. Many kids don’t get the nuance to it at that age. And seeing him to a girl she doesn’t know (she doesn’t really remember Sylphie) doesn’t help matters. Coupled with how her sister keeps outshining her, and the first chance Norn gets, she wants to live in the dorms at Ranoa U. She wants her space from her brother and sister. And Rudy gives it to her, thinking respecting her space will help her open up.
It doesn’t.
One month later, Norn’s still distant from Rudeus. Then, Lilna and Pursena make things worse. They steal the panties from every first-year girl at Ranoa U and give them to Rudeus as an offering! And while the anime doesn’t explain further, their troll logic is this:
Boss keeps panties as holy relic and prays to them.
Boss worships panties
Bring boss panties=happy boss!
I know they meant well, and that Rudy should’ve explained that he worships the person those panties belonged to, not the panties themselves, but those two idiots went too far. And, it may not say it out loud, but it’s heavily implied that one of those girls was Norn.
They should count themselves lucky that Rudeus isn’t a violent person and cleared things up with Ariel. Otherwise, they might have had to deal with another inquisition.
For these reasons, and for ones that will come to light next episode, this episode ends with Norn shutting herself off in her room. It’s too much for her!
Parenting 101 is a Hard Class to Pass
Being a parent is never easy, something that Rudeus has had to come to terms with this episode. If he wants to have any chance of repairing the bond with his sister, then he needs to get through to her. Now. That being said, it’s these slower moments that really make Mushoku Tensei a cut above most Isekai. This series takes the time to flesh out its characters, to great success. Now, get ready for the next episode. It’s going to be…emotional.
