With the exception of series like Saga of Tanya the Evil and That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation pulls an interesting move that many isekai don’t go into. Our main man Rudy—full name Rudeus Greyrat—has been reborn as a magical prodigy child who has retained all of his past memories/thoughts and his past bad memories. Jobless Reincarnation doesn’t just make Rudy into a super-powered reincarnated warrior/hero but instead into a man who knows he’s been given a second chance and that needs to be utilized!

What surprised us most about the first three episodes of Jobless Reincarnation is the amount of heart unseen by most isekai. Tanya from Saga of Tanya the Evil is rude and arrogant with a focus on how kick-butt she’s become but with Mushoku Tensei, you can almost immediately relate to the young Rudy. Rudy was constantly bullied in his past life by both schoolmates and family and clearly has a scar in his heart from said life. Now in a new world of magic and swordsmanship, Rudy realizes he has a new lease on life, all while trying to adjust to being a kid again.

Three episodes into Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation and we are amazed by the bevy of emotions this series has made us experience. One episode we’re laughing at how Rudeus is acting like a perverted child and then we’re crying when he watches his master leave for their own personal journey. Jobless Reincarnation isn’t just a magical adventure but a magical tale of growth that feels real. As far as isekai go, this is the series to keep paying attention to if the first three episodes could impress us this much!

Many isekai protagonists can be considered clones of each other. Often you’ll find a reincarnated hero who is overly powerful—and knows it—all while trying to be cool about his/her new abilities. Then you have the heroes who are revived in different forms who must learn said new form and try to become the overpowered hero they were destined to be. In the case of Rudy in Jobless Reincarnation, there’s a nice balance of these themes that truly makes his character stand out.

Rudy isn’t born into the world fully aware of his new abilities and said powers. In the first three episodes, Rudy acclimates himself to the world as he grows up and begins to master his magical gifts, all while remembering how flawed his past life was. This, in turn, gives Rudy strength and weakness. Sure, Rudy shows talent in the magic department but due to his past, Rudy’s social skills/life are a bit lacking. Thanks to his neet nature, Rudy makes references learning about girls not by dating them but from playing dating sims. Rudy is a flawed man who in many ways is still growing emotionally despite being a 30+-year-old in a child’s body.

Every episode of Jobless Reincarnation has been fantastic and that has made us want a new episode right away! How many isekai make you really care about next week’s episode? Aside from Re: Zero, Jobless Reincarnation has made us truly beg for the anime gods to make the next episode come as soon as humanely possible! In the end, though, we just love Jobless Reincarnation and find it to be an addicting series.