Rudy... NOOOO!!! Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Episode 23 Reaction | AVR2

[@meliotablet]

A lot of cut content on this episode, really messes up the characterizations, most important ones are these two imo:
-They skipped Roxy learning about Rudy being married. In the same conversation Geese was trying to convince Elinalize to seduce Rudeus so he gets over his depression, this is where Roxy decided to "visit" rudy in his room. Rudy also was a lot more depressed than what was shown in the anime, he stayed in his room for days without doing anything. He compares it to when he was depressed over Eris leaving, he was literally on the brink.
-They skipped Elinalise lying to Rudeus about Roxy being pregnant in order to convince him to take Roxy as his second wife. Rudy knew he fucked up big time and was trying to do his best to do better, without Elinalise lying he'd have stayed away from Roxy. Elinalise was a friend of Roxy's before she met with her granddaugher Sylphie so she was unhappy seeing Roxy so depressed so she lied, she knew Rudy would take responsibility if there was a child involved.
There was a lot more but for such a controvertial episode knowing these makes a difference in my opinion.

[@dbuy3]

Rifujin tweeted that he worked really hard to change the script in order for more people to accept this plot.
As an LN reader myself I know there was a lot condensed/skipped/rearranged, but I thought they did it very tastefully. I'm the biggest Sylphie fan there is, but I didn't have a big problem with this. Sylphie expected it was going to happen and was just waiting for it. As you pointed out, he was literally on death's door so she's grateful that it was to save the man she loves.

[@sirmcdust5572]

I've said it before and will again. Them cutting out the lie actually makes this better. This way Rudy isn't "baby trapped" into accepting Roxy and telling Sylphie but does it fully out of own volition, it also never sat right with me that he tells Sylphie by "lying" (he doesn't know it's a lie) but it felt wrong.

[@shadowx8145]

They skipped that because it would make it even more controversial lol. Also they used more show don't tell approach. For example looking at Rudy's appearance u can tell he hasn't been taking care of himself due to being depressed, just like how u can tell Lilia has been crying alot cuz her eyes are swollen red. They didn't spoon feed but uses little details like this to paint the picture.

[@dbuy3]

@@sirmcdust5572 I do like the point that Elinalise convinces Rudy based on how she knows that Rudy actually does love Roxy and she just nudged gently in that direction. People have to remember that Roxy is basically Elinalise's best friend or was for a quite some time, and it's killing her to listen to her friend cry herself to sleep at night.

[@dbuy3]

@@shadowx8145 Yeah just as you can see Roxy's eyes filled with tears when she's in the tent trying to sleep.

[@BuddyChy]

One line that was also cut was Rudy giving Roxy a disclaimer that if Sylphie says no, then he’s sorry, but she can’t be with him because he’s going to respect his wife’s decision. So don’t think that Rudy isn’t thinking ahead or thinking about Sylphie or considering keeping it a secret or getting his hopes up. He knows he messed up, but Sylphie comes first and he’s going to try his best to make up for this mistake and come out the other end in the best possible scenario for all of them in the relationship.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Good to know!

[@BuddyChy]

Roxy feel in love with the man that saved her from the labyrinth. She didn’t realize it was Rudy. She had no interest in that way with Rudy when he was a kid. They last saw each other when he was 5. Now he’s 17. Technically he’s lived longer than that with his past life too.

[@TheGenreVerse]

She's a Padmè and you can't convince me otherwise! 😆

[@cottonmather1969]

Good point. Also seems weird to be applying human values to someone who's literally not a human.
I wonder if they think Frieren is a creep, since she's thousands of years old and met Himmel when he was a kid too 😂

[@BuddyChy]

@@TheGenreVerse lol funny, but no

[@BuddyChy]

It might not be clear at the beginning of this episode, but Rudy hasn’t left his room or eaten for days. You can kinda tell because of his sunken in face. Also, Roxy new he was married with a kid on the way before she went in his room. Prior to that scene, the whole group talked about what they should do about Rudy because nothing was helping him get back on his feet and they all sorta agreed that he needed to get laid. Roxy didn’t like the idea of someone else doing it, so she took it upon herself to try talking to him first with sleeping with him being the last resort.

[@ethanjohn2428]

Yes, the anime cut a lot from the light novel that I think improves understanding on both characters actions. There was also an important element that wasn't included in this episode, but I won't say because spoilers.

[@LucasFerreira-fp4nj]

@@ethanjohn2428 This important element is never used in all the web novel, basically dont matters if its added or not (and I am grateful they did not add)

[@ethanjohn2428]

It is used. It was the final thing that caused Rudy to accept Roxy as his wife.

[@BuddyChy]

@@ethanjohn2428 what is used?

[@ethanjohn2428]

@@BuddyChy Are you a mushoku novel reader? If not I can't say

[@syedshakaibanwar2698]

Bro got Bulbasaur, he now captured Squirtle, he already has charmander but charmander's currently training in the charizard valley.

[@TheGenreVerse]

😆

[@joddelrealingo7737]

Are we also gonna get a Pikachu?

[@abin93]

@@joddelrealingo7737 well he made some stupid comments and pikachu got mad lol

[@Aldinew354]

BRO WTF WWWWWWWW

[@harknights3299]

​@@joddelrealingo7737sadly no, somebody else already took it 😅

[@Ezrosh]

In LN he was almost on brink of death, he couldn’t even eat, and he really could die if no one was rescuing him. And Elinalise told her how someone can help him, and almost pushed her to do it.

[@shadowx8145]

There are more success rates in mono relationships cuz there's more mono relationships. That doesn't mean a poly relationship can't be be successful as they do exist. Also poly relationships aren't really the norm more so due to religious reasons than anything. And I'm not religious so never had a problem with it. Poly relationships are different than open relationships. Poly relationships are more so a system, one that requires understanding, respect, honesty and trust. Its no different than a mono relationship. Just has extra people. All the negatives u can get in a poly relationship is the same in a mono relationship so no big differences there. And just one correction practices that resembles polygamous relationships were common in ancient societies and different cultures. They just didn't always match up the modern understanding of those relationships that we know. So yes pairings were never the only relationship humanity took part in. Religion was on of the main factors on why u rarely heard about polygamy

[@TheGenreVerse]

Trends and patterns form along the path of least resistance. Even in non-religous places you find more monogamy than not. And there are some VERY religious groups that embrace polyamory and polygamy.
Consenting adults can and should be free to do as they please, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea... In a risk analysis kind of way.

[@shadowx8145]

​​@@TheGenreVerse as I've said that is mostly due to religion that pushed that narrative. Polygamous relationships were once common. And they most likely will become common again. Also there are no studies that suggest polygamy is a bad thing compared to a mono relationship. They amount to the same "risks" as any relationship. So how is it on a logical stand does consenting adults doing what they want in terms of a polygamous relationship(which is no different than a mono relationship except there's more partners involved) a "bad idea"?

[@TheGenreVerse]

Less moving parts means less points of failure. What isn't logical about that?

[@theflamingeagle572]

​@@TheGenreVerse In ancient times polygamy was normal. Mono relationships just seem easier because everyone does it and it's widely accepted. In an ancient setting polygamy would be way more normal and easier to achieve because everyone does it and it's widely accepted. Mono relationships didn't come around until the rise of Christianity and even then it wasn't very well carried out. So true Mono relationships have only been around for the last few hundred years. Also, your talk about a peasant not being able to do polygamy is kinda useless for Rudy because Greyrats are royalty. We should be more angry at Genghis Khan, he had around 100 wives.

[@brtt150]

Real polygamous relationships aren't the norm because most of them are one man with multiple women. Religious reasons for it not being the norm are not very relevant anymore. The issue with it in modern times is they are seen as something only desired by the patriarchy where men are the primary beneficiaries of polygamy. Sure, a woman could theoretically have multiple husbands but that is rarely a dynamic a man would put up with as there is not a good enough incentive for it 99% of the time.

[@uihirasawa843]

This was more of a "Rudy no!" in the LN. Roxy doesn't end up on top, more like in his lap, and she didn't pull him back, either. She goes off on a 2 paragraph tangent talking him into doing it, and he caves. When Rudeus wakes up the morning after, he thinks to himself that he fucked up, and then also about how he was way too rough with Roxy the night before. They probably changed it in the anime since Rudeus' character can be uh, controversial, so they probably wanted a bit less fuel for that fire, and wanted to make it more clear that Roxy was also in the wrong. Also, the morning after, Rudeus actually tells Roxy about a "fictional/made up" story that's actually about his past life and how he skipped out on his parents' funeral, and asked her what "this man" who had been reborn in a different world who couldn't go back and make up for what he did should do - and that's where the bit of dialogue from Roxy about being there for his remaining family comes up.
14:35 "I like the giant armadillo" that is Jirou/Dillo, my dude. We've been waiting to see him finally get a design.

[@jebes909090]

for me its always been roxy in the wrong . the guys parents are basically dead and hes in the depths of depression and roxy was like 'ya nows my chance'

[@tinyblackmage]

@@jebes909090 exactly ✅

[@mr.protagonist5639]

​@@jebes909090except that's not how it's framed at all at least in the wn/ln.

[@deadline6149]

Doesn't matter if Rudy was on top, Roxy seduced him at his lowest point in life knowing full well that he was married.
It was necessary ofc since at that point Rudy might just die off if left alone.

[@jebes909090]

@@mr.protagonist5639 oh it was framed the same way. Roxy was always an opportunist in this

[@hhjan594]

15:50 The timing when Roxy knew Rudy was married was before she seduced him. She was fully aware she's doing something wrong but still went with it.
I think other comments may have brought this up but I'll repeat regardless, comments are good for CZcams algorithm.
Basically there was a cut scene in the LN where Elinalise, Geese, Talhand and Roxy were drinking in a bar in Rapan.
At that point Rudy wasn't eating for more than a week, and he totally shut himself inside the bedroom he stays.
Geese mentioned that Elinalise always said in order to make a man get their shit together, the best way is to let him sleep with women, and Elinalise would always be the first person to offer this kind of service as long as doing this will actually make them feel better enough to move on.
Elinalise said she can't do it with Rudy, since it's a different situation now. Geese and Talhand understands the full picture, but Roxy was unaware so she asked why couldn't she? It was only until this time that Elinalise dropped the bomb that Rudeus married her granddaughter, so they agreed to not cross that line.
In the end of this scene, the other three agreed that Rudy will eventually move on by himself and won't starve to death, but Roxy, knowing how fragile Rudy's mental state was, decided if nobody was going to do it, she have to do it herself. Hence why in this episode she just came to Rudy's bedroom with the full intention of seducing him. She indeed took advantage on Rudy's bad mental state for her own reasons, just as she claimed. This episode indeed draws a very complicated and fucked up relationship between the main cast, and I know it totally doesn't look good, but that's the story this author wants to tell. If any, I fully agree this part of the story wasn't written well, but it's not like the first time MT had this kind of controversial plot points... and you guys already made it this far.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Always thankful for engagement and different takes! Thanks for sharing!

[@BuddyChy]

“You did have a choice” well no, not really. The other choice would have been to let Rudy keep sinking into depression and die of malnutrition because he hadn’t left his room or eaten in days. Nothing the group tried was helping him. Sex was a last resort and Roxy didn’t want it to be anyone else, but she also knew Sylphie couldn’t do it because she was too far away. Despite all of that, Rudy did consent.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Again, CZcams bring weird or possible double comment...

[@pleaugue4096]

The fact that you're defending this makes me want to throw up if he got out of that state himself that's good charachter development instead it went this disgusting way look I have a gf and I just can't imagine coming home with another lover and telling her I banged her just cuz I was in a bad state

[@BuddyChy]

@@TheGenreVerse oh sorry. I edited a typo so it showed up twice as a brand new comment.

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

Seems like it was as handled in an emotionally mature way.
I don’t have to think I’d do everything a character would do to like them
People loved Obeyrn Martell in game of thrones and dude had like seven children with five women all at the same time keeping them all as lovers
People have such weird hang ups at random times

[@TheGenreVerse]

What hangup? Did we not qualify everything we said? I'm pretty sure it biggest (and really only) "hangup" was not taking about/with Sylphy.

[@carlod8005]

Roxy fully expected to be discarded when they got home so hearing Rudy say he loves her was shocking and unbelievable to her. Elinalise was the one pulling the strings in the back to try to find a happy resolution; everyone involved is lucky she is around. It is not certain but highly likely based on past knowledge that Rudy would not have recovered on his own if left alone, if Roxy did not go as far as she did, Rudy may have just straight up died of malnutrition and depression.

[@TheGenreVerse]

People try to solve problems with sex in the real world too... That rarely ends up well... But, this is fiction, and they get to do things differently if they want. We're still gonna comment on them from our perspective, but that doesn't mean we want the story changed or anything. We're just providing our thoughts on the situations.

[@1mikeap4]

Yeah, it's a recurring issue Rudy has that when something devastating happens he shuts down and can't pick himself back up on his own. It happened in his past life, it happened when Eris left, and now it's happening again.

[@thespianmask8451]

Roxy knew from Elinalise about Rudy's marital status before sleeping with Rudy.
In her mind, Roxy knows what a sensitive, pained kid Rudy can be. She specifically remembers the time that Rudy was a mess and couldnt go out his own home without trembling.
In the LN, Roxy had a non-spoiler line about the way women see men in their world later on in the books. She says "men do have great lusts" and goes on a tangent about how sex men calms them down before or after a major life altering event in general.
Pair thay knowledge with the fact that Rudy was her knight in shining armor saving her in the labyrinth thag she always romanticized having, you get this messy anime-perspective omelette of:
"I KNOW how hurt this kid is. I KNOW he's married. I also like him in a more intimate way. I can't have his own grandma in law sleep with him, so I'll do it, both because I like him as man, and as a he's still that sensitive, troubled kid I helped get past his own fears. I can help him. I want to help him."
This whole thing actually got me to think about the Magic Race and Elves in general. Their age dynamics with humans has got to be weird because no way in hell is it going to seem comfortable for us real-world humans to ever comprehend a long-lived race getting it on with a human adult because our lifespans str a fraction of Magic Race and Elves'.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@Tounushi]

35:00 the house has like a dozen rooms. Rudeus' bedroom is the love nest, while the other rooms can easily serve as Sylphie's and Roxy's own rooms with their own smaller beds. And Rudeus got to have Sylphie only every third night because of her job anyway.

[@TheGenreVerse]

🧐

[@ItzSath]

fun fact: Rudeus current age + his pass life = the same age as Roxy. was from a side note from the author and was never mentioned in the story

[@TheGenreVerse]

Still a Padme... she don't know his "total age" LMAO!

[@doodlegame8704]

@@TheGenreVerse well...

[@MaidenLoaf]

​@@TheGenreVerse not really. She's known him since he was a boy, sure, but it's kinda like this: if you're going to say that about Roxy and Rudy, you'd have to say the same about Elinalise and Cliff. It's an age difference, not cradle snatching. Roxy didn't see Rudy romantically until he rescued her.

[@ItzSath]

yep. elinalise is an elf and they are known to live long.

[@Darkdoom999]

I will say even if you hate polygamy, which is what should be the norm in our time. This show knows that it's not our world at least gives Rudy a actual dilemma, and he knows that there are going to be consequences. Edit: Also Star Wars is gross.

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

Yeah I don’t get the issue with how the shows handling it at all
It’s not like other shows (tho I love any harem anime that goes somewhere right the girls) but in this one it feels like real people with real connections
I’ve found Americans, probably due to the religious nature of the founding of their country, are just very oddly squishmish about anything outside their moral alignment, even in fiction

[@TheGenreVerse]

No one said anything about hating polygamy. I'm certainly a selfish person though. I'm not sharing and I don't want to be shared. Consenting adults should be free to be consenting adults though.
That being said, a huge chunk of humanity seems to prefer pairing off... And dudes seem to not want to share more than women... Not exactly equality 😆

[@Darkdoom999]

@@TheGenreVerse I have no issue with you calling it "not wanting to share" or "selfish", again I won't defend the act but just like that this show is at least trying to say that Rudy will have more issues in the future. That's for the reply regardless!. 👍

[@thorstenkurafeiski1845]

@@TheGenreVerse Polygamy was standard for the most part of human history. It changed with the christian relegion in the western world. Before that it was the position and the resource you have. Having multiply wifes was more a status thing and not necessary a love thing. Nobles for example marriaged mostly for political reason and did so for a long time. It was often the mistress that was the one who was loved, not the wife.
Well, we live now and things have changed and will continue to do so. 😀

[@ankoo10]

Polygamy is still ok in current times in certain peace loving religion

[@fva1835]

Notice that rudeus indirectly blurts out that he is a reincarnate .

[@TheGenreVerse]

He did... But it's glossed over... 🤔

[@user-ei8sy1jx1z]

Unacceptable, really unacceptable. The important psychological portrayal, the discussion between Gress and Elaine was lost, which is too essential for the depth of this plot. Rudy's sadness and his regret for not properly honoring his parents in this life and past lives were not expressed. Elaine's inner conflict (her love for her granddaughter and her friendship with Roxy) was also not expressed. Now it seems that Roxy is just an opportunistic third wheel, and Elaine is inexplicably sabotaging her own granddaughter, which is very different from the novel. I strongly suggest that this part must be supplemented by reading the novel.
At most, I would rate this episode 5/10.

[@TheGenreVerse]

😢 I'm sorry it wasn't what it could have been.

[@user-ei8sy1jx1z]

Originally, Geese asked Elinalise to have sex with Rudy because he thought that this 'activity' was how a man got comfort. And Elinalise did that in the past. (She was the one who told Geese that was how a man got comfort.)
However, Elinalise was not into that this time because she didn't want to betray her granddaughter and Cliff.
"After" hearing this, Roxy decided to help Rudy herself. She didn't come up with the idea to have sex with Rudy. Geese did. However, in this version Roxy became the one who immediately thought of having sex with Rudy. Who the fk would instantly think of using vagina to heal a man?
After, Elinalise found out Roxy and Rudy were having sex. She thought a lot and came up with the idea that "I met Roxy first. Then, I reunited with my granddaughter. I love them both so I have to be that guy to suggest Rudy to marry Roxy." However, in this version, Elinalise ran straight to the conclusion that Rudy could fairly love Sylvie and Roxy at the same time because he was Paul's son.

[@GeraldWalls]

33:40 I don't know if they were _quiet_ quiet but they couldn't have been _too_ loud because Elinalise seemed a little surprised when she saw them outside Rudy's room.

[@andrequintela976]

people seen to forget Sylphi already agreed wth more wives

[@TheGenreVerse]

Did she? I thought she was okay with concubine/bang buddy... Asking her to share his heart may be too much.

[@andrequintela976]

@@TheGenreVerse concubine doesn't mean only "bang buddy", it really means another "unofficial" wife. Also, Sylphi knows how much Rudeus likes Roxy from when He used to tell her about Roxy when they were kids, for her, as long as the girl likes Rudeus and He liker her, she's cool

[@Ballard258]

"I didn't have a choice" hope thats a misstranslation becouse in the Novel she said I cudn't help it" thats totally diferent

[@TheGenreVerse]

🤔

[@daud4914]

the padme shot joke always gets me man

[@TheGenreVerse]

She makes it easy... 😆

[@halim997]

It is okay .. he can marry up to 4 wives

[@TheGenreVerse]

Sounds exhausting...

[@halim997]

@@TheGenreVerse Ofc if he's only capable of it lol

[@ohthisguyagain5386]

I'm actually going to say, at least at the beginning, Rudy was the victim. Roxy took advantage of his emotionally vulnerable state, emotionally manipulated him, and essentially coerced/forced herself on him with consent being dubious at best given that Rudy was not of sound mind. There's a certain word for that which rhymes with grape. Roxy's intentions were partially selfless and helpful, I will admit, but it was still a fucked situation. And the argument of "Rudy could/should have said no" doesn't work either: After going through something that traumatic and psychologically damaging (we can see from his face that he clearly hadn't slept well, or at all, or eaten much, if anything, in a while), "no" isn't really an option, especially with how emotionally manipulative Roxy was, regardless of whether it was intentional or not.
After the fact on the way home, yes, Rudy can be held accountable for anything past that night, but that night was just a fucked situation.

[@therandomcorndog6185]

Lets not forget even tho rudeus did say he would stay faithful (and failed) sylphie was the first person to already tell him she was fine with him talking another wife.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Didn't the l think she said "wives" as there a big difference between being asked to share a penis over being asked to share a heart...

[@GeraldWalls]

24:20 Your discussion about monogamy is absolutely applicable. To THIS world. Rudy still has his Earth teachings but he lives in a world where polygamy is an accepted practice except for certain religious groups (assuming you can afford to support a larger household). He's had 17 years of retraining.

[@TheGenreVerse]

They seem to have a lot of the same feelings and issues we do with romance and sex... That means jealousy is still a threat. More moving parts, more potential points if failure. Just sayin... 😆. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@GeraldWalls]

@@TheGenreVerse Even in a polygamous society there is jealousy when someone feels they might lose something they once had. That's one reason open relationship often don't turn out well (along with a lot of the time one of the partners in an previously monogamous relationship being talked into it).
I would expect Sylphie to be hurt by this but will want Rudy to be happy. Ariel and Luke are likely to more _angry_ than Sylphie, I think. I honestly can't recall the exact timeline with the timing of the characters meeting. Roxy was the one who broke Rudy out of the hikikomori curse and took him outside the walls, but I don't remember much about Sylphie/Roxy meeting (if they did). (This show would be completely different on a full rewatch.)

[@sirmcdust5572]

Not sure how to feel about your argument "against" polyamory (putting it in quotes since against might be the wrong word)
"Most people have always done that. The majority does this." Are just really weak arguments to me.
The jealousy I can't argue against, haven't been in a polycule so I can't cast any judgement.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Against it for myself and my wife? Yes. Against free and consenting adults being free and consenting adults? No.
As for our "weak arguments", patterns and trends form along the path of least resistance and most efficiency. That means having a statistical lean towards monogamy (at least romantically if you will) is an argument to avoid the pitfalls (like jealousy) of polyamory/polygamy. But again... To each their own.

[@sirmcdust5572]

@@TheGenreVerse Yeah I definitely get where you're coming from, just worried it teeters a bit close to "we've always done it this way, so we should never change it" which I just don't like in general.
As always great reaction though, I prefer you guys speaking your mind rather than just going with the flow

[@captainvanisher988]

I am not sure what you refer to as "polyamory" but the concept that is portrayed here is polygyny/polygamy. Aka men with multiple women. The idea of multiple men and multiple women in a relationship or a woman with multiple husbands was frowned upon in every single major society in human history. It's one of the most stagnant standards humans have had throughout our existence. And it's because of biological instincts.
I can elaborate on that, if you want since there are plenty of strong arguments against polyandry (woman with many men) and polyamory (many men and many women).
As for polygyny it is true that throughout human history men could have many wives and in societies where they couldn't do it officially, they usually had concubines or mistresses and for the lower class peasants they went to brothels. The idea of strict male monogamy arose when Christianity started spreading. It only became widespread when Christian nations influenced the world. So polygyny can be argued to be bad from a Christian standpoint for sure, but there is no Christianity in Mushoku, only instincts and different societal norms. Hence why you don't see polyandry but you do see both monogamy and polygyny.

[@BrIIghtG]

I didn't expect the Padme edit but that's so on point 😂😂

[@TheGenreVerse]

Nobody expects The GenreVerse!

[@dinliner08]

oh boy, Norn is about to flay this man alive when he's come back home

[@jesucristobostero3287]

hahahha you are going to fall on your asses with Sylphy's response

[@TheGenreVerse]

🤔

[@GinHindew110]

I remember a saying, atributed to the arabs: the perfect number of wives is 4
If you have 1 she will nag at you, if you have 2 they will gang upon you, if you have 3 two will gang upon the other, but if you have 4 they are more likely to split in two teams, and you will get to be the mediator
Also, its nice you guys noticed the armadillo, 'cuz he is here to stay

[@TheGenreVerse]

As one who knows the effort it takes to make a marriage work, polygamy sounds exhausting unless you wanna be like many polygamist men and just treat women as objects... That may not be as tiring. Polygamy just works great for women in the ME... Or Utah... Doesn't it? 😆

[@Tounushi]

5:05 if you go back to S1E13, she had a flashback to her adventuring group when she started out in her teens after running away from home. Blaze and Nokopara were encountered by Rudeus, but the blonde human-passing one was Hawkendale. He was the party leader and a close big brother figure to Roxy. In her manga his death is shown as having happened because of a landslide. He'd protected the party by deflecting a number of rocks, but a piece of a cliff fell on top of him. She pulled out his hand from the rubble. Only his hand. It was an immense shock to her.
5:35 Rudeus knows Roxy could never comprehend what he's going through. He's not only mourning Paul's death and Zenith's condition, he's finally mourning his previous parents.
When trying to figure out how to help Rudeus, the consensus in treating a heartbroken adventurer was booze and a brothel. But Rudeus wouldn't be motivated for either and a random girl wouldn't cut it. Geese suggested Elinalise would do her thing, since she's so adept at that, but she adamantly refused. When Roxy pressed her on that, she was finally told that Rudeus is married to Elinalise's granddaughter.
In the book Roxy chickened out at the last moment, babbling incoherently in his lap that it might serve Rudeus better if he'd go for a brothel or Elinalise after giving him the go-ahead anyway. Rudeus' mind had already entered the track of how Roxy's presence and heartbeat were so soothing and if he'd get even closer, it'd calm him down even more. He ultimately slammed her down on the bed and vented everything on her.
26:45 They've excised the twist from the episode, but Rudeus continued presenting arguments against taking Roxy as his second wife since that'd be giving in to his greed and desire more than being a proper husband. The twist was that Elinalise strongly implied Roxy was pregnant, so how would Rudeus take responsibility? By declaring he'd marry Roxy, and the rest rolled on from there. He admitted that he's always loved Roxy and would want her to be in his life.

[@harknights3299]

19:19 "you did have a choice"
Well, she did have a choice, 2 choice actually. 1 is to leave Rudy who she fell in love with, die from depression and malnutrition cause he couldn't eat anything for a week or 2 is to have sex with him to at least bring him back to reality and survive. So much skipped content in this episode but I don't blame them cause budget won't allow that 😅
Ps: I think you guys forgot what type of person Sylphy is, she even said that if she couldn't bare him a child, he can absolutely go ahead and have a concubine, that just showed how much she love Rudy and want to make all his wish com true, even if it's meant to share her lover with another person. And.... polygamy is a norm in their culture so you should understand why they don't see anything wrong with this 😂

[@TheGenreVerse]

I think maybe people lose what we're saying and others think our thoughts on polygamy mean we want story/character changes... We don't.
There is a difference between a concubine and another wife though.

[@GeraldWalls]

27:00 One difference between the Girlfriend, Girlfriend MC Naoya and Rudy is in the number of brain cells. Naoya ain't got many... And Saki's an idiot for not dumping his ass.

[@Tounushi]

Rudeus' contention during his grief was that he saw himself as a fake son to Paul and Zenith, and that they had two actual children. In his mind he was at the bottom of the totem pole in what Paul should've had as his priorities, to the point of being expendable. Instead Paul threw himself into the jaws of death to save him, "a fake son."

[@chobitsotaku5613]

This episode just skipped too much from LN to actually make it make more sense. In here Roxy just looks like an asshole predator and Rudeus like he didn't care enough. They prob did the best they could, but still could definitely have been done better.
"Without the context of "Roxy has already tried to claw Rudeus out of depression every day for over a month," the scene makes zero sense.
Without the scene of Elinelise giving her the idea of sex as a last resort to jumpstart any kind of emotional response from Rudeus, the scene makes even less sense.
By not showing Roxy understands his current family situation, the context of sacrificing herself and her virginity just as a desperate prayer to help him is criminal. From her perspective, she had no hope of reciprocation and was willing to put how this might hurt her aside; without showing this she comes off as painfully tactless and boneheadedly selfish.
She put her needs aside to save the person who saved her. Instead? It looks like she's taking advantage of someone vulnerable to help herself."
- Taken from another comment

[@noctislucis4380]

First of all, Bro this is not our modern world, polygamy is allowed in this world except Milis, not to mention that even in the modern world there are still many places that polygamy works.
Secondly, this is fantasy, instead of seeing the characters you like regret each other, why not just be happy to see them be together? This does not conflict with the main theme of the story.
Finally, not to mention that Sylphy had actually been mentally prepared. Before officially dating Rudy, she had already considered whether Rudy would be like Paul.
In the end here's my personal thoughts on people's reaction to this episode :"YOU GUY already know polygamy in this world is not unacceptable except Milis, So just do not pretend to be like "OH I AM absolutely loyal to my lover" then repeat "ask Sylphy", "Rudy's cheating" or "Roxy is wrong", OR keep yelling and acting mad again and again....😂
This is just a fantasy, you don't need to show your loyalty! There's no need to keep repeating these words 😅 Try to be a bit open to FANTASY doesn't mean you will do it in real life.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Go back and relisten to our comments, no one wants the story or characters changed, and no one is denying what is "normal" in there world or out own history.
We're pretty good at qualifying and acknowledging things, but many people didn't actually get everything because they didn't watch all of the reaction, including the stuff during/after credits.
Not saying you didn't watch everything, but maybe you focused too much on hearing one thing and missed the other.

[@noctislucis4380]

​@@TheGenreVerse Well,I'll re-arrange my meaning, you don't have to follow, it's just my opinion, no matter to happened with the story. I said "YOU GUYS already know", the main point I want to say were sentences after that.
Try to avoid repeating reactions, watch the whole episode before discussing, less pausing and sometimes the discusses you had would be clear after you watch the episode.
Whether you love to accept fantasy or not is not the biggest deal to me, after all, this is not the first day this anime has been controversial since it was broadcast.
I just don't like you guys keep pausing and repeating "oh my" to almost samething that I just really cannot stop focusing on your guys acting, that's the main thing anoyying me. (Say again, this is my personal opinion just to your reaction part. your can ignored me if you do not want to accept and have a good day.

[@TheGenreVerse]

I don't know what you mean by "repeating reactions"... We're just reacting. How you hear us talking, is how we talk and react to stuff off camera. There is no acting or putting on a show on AVR2. I may play up the humor with the others sometimes, but our reactions to the anime are legitimate.
We pause and discuss as we go along to accommodate my issues with memory/recall due to brain injuries. I won't remember all of the points I want to make at the end. It is also, again, how Christine and I are in real life, sitting on the couch downstairs. We pause and talk to each other about what we're watching whenever we have strong thoughts on it.
We're probably the most authentic reaction channel on CZcams... which is why we're not that big I think lol.

[@Bionic9998]

This post is not about agreeing with the choices made by characters this episode for those who jump to this conclusion. Studio Bind changed a couple of details around what influenced characters thoughts and their reasons for making the decisions they did. The outcomes were the same, but the journey there differed.
Roxy was coerced into it by the group, mostly Elinalise.
The adjustments to Roxy's scene changed it from Roxy being coerced into it by the group, to being 100% Roxy's determination to help Rudy whilst the others thought leaving him alone would be better. This change made it clear that Roxy is the one who took the initiative to be intimate and to help Rudy recover. Rudy was in a death spiral, he hadn’t eaten in a week and barely drank enough to stay alive. Sex is commonly used to handle grief. Still wasn’t morally correct.
Rudy was the one to push Roxy over, then they did the deed.
If Rudy had been the one to push Roxy down, I’d have been disappointed. Accepting her advances vs taking the action himself sends a very different message given his headspace, even if she wanted it.
Elinalise lied to Rudy about Roxy being pregnant to get him to ask Roxy to marry.
Lying about a pregnancy would have been shallow and unnecessary. If Rudy had been convinced by her lies, I wouldn’t have appreciated Rudy’s inner struggle nearly as much. With what was said instead, she convinced him in a much better way than lying to his face and forcing him to take responsibility for a fake child.
Excellent episode and I believe what details they changed made the story better despite what people think about supposed character assassination.

[@sankro]

A lot of people talking about skipped content, but didn't see anyone talking about what I think are the most important skipped things
-A lot of skipped inner dialogue from Rudy at the start of the episode and after doing the deed that would really help out the episode imo. Getting his regrets about his parents, him cheating on Sylphy and his survivor guilt more clearly across.
-The entire conversation where Rudy pretty much straight up tells Roxy hes from another world and the follow up dialogue, which lifts a lot of weight off his shoulders which is quite important for explaining part of his recovery.
People mentioned this, but would've been nice to also have the entire bar scene with Elinalise, Geese etc, to get more of Roxy's thought process, get across how important Rudy is for them getting back to Ranoa and how bad of a shape he was in.
Other changes like how Elinalise manipulates Rudy to marry Roxy by bringing up a fake pregnancy and how Rudy is not as aggressive (pulls Roxy to himself, instead of Roxy getting on top of him) is in my opinion probably for the better.
This show has done a lot of "show don't tell", therefore skipping a lot of inner dialogue and thought process for characters. Like in S2E6 when Rudy goes to the slave market. Many people got the wrong impression on that episode and I think this episode will do the same. I like when stories don't try to handhold the viewers but in these cases I think more inner dialogue would be better. Though it was probably cut because of time constraints and the anime obviously not being able to adapt everything.
Overall I think it's a good episode, but definitely could have been done a little better.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Thanks for sharing the additional context! Much appreciated.

[@theindoorboys977]

People who react to anime have to understand, it's in entirely different world then we live in.

[@TheGenreVerse]

I'm pretty sure we qualified that in the reaction. Stating we're commenting on humans in general and understand things are different for him in that world... In some ways. Jealousy still exists and is a possible landmine.

[@mekksviews9843]

@@TheGenreVerse As an anime only yeah I think jealoousy will be an issue but with a proper communication it will be fine.

[@memesenpai6321]

NON-SPOILER CUT CONTENT!!!
The situation was far more desperate than they portrayed it here, Rudy had not eaten for 2 weeks at this point, the group was busy scavenging the remains of the Hydra, they did talk about what to do to help Rudy, they dropped the info about him being married which discouraged Roxy since she's now in love with him, but Ennalise nudged her forward to go ahead and well "support" him. Roxy truly loved everyone in Rudy's family, remember her relationship with her own parents was strained because she can't communicate telepathically like they and the rest of her race can, her time with Rudy's family was the first feeling of familyhood she ever truly experienced and made her genuinely happy. When she comforts Rudy he is actually the one to get on top but hesitates till Roxy says "we can do it", they do the deed and Rudy feels like crap the next morning, he has an interval conflict inside about his love for Roxy and Sylphie, Ennalise is the one who proposed the idea of marrying Roxy by making it sound like Rudy needed to take responsibility since she was "late", which was lie but ultimately it was to push for the three of them to have the best outcome in Ennalise's eyes and who could really argue that.
They make Roxy look really bad this episode, they've messed up both with Eris and Roxy, it's like Rudy just gets pushed into unwittingly being used for sex by 2 of his 3 love interests, I feel really bad for anime onlys who don't have the complete picture for major events like this one, which warps anime onlys perspective of the characters without the context from the skipped content. I hope you have read this so you can get the proper context of this significantly important event
Edit: also he asked Roxy first since well she was there already, sure it looks like he only gets her hopes up but at least they were on the same page before heading towards Sylphie, and Rudy knows that she's at least willing before just dropping it on her as they meet up with Sylphie

[@DaimonAnimations]

I think in this case we have to take a few considerations, Sylphie is an Elf and she will live a very long time just like Elinalise, meaning she will have more than Rudeus as a Partner, right? So maybe as an Elf their perspective of loyalty might be different.
We as regular humans we get to cherish the very little time we have in this world. Another is, just as Elinalise mentioned, they are in another world with different values where only the followers of millies stay loyal to one partner, so this implies there's people that don't believe one partner is enough.
Rudeus on the other side he is coming from Earth with knowledge of our culture and entering in conflict in his new life in a new world with different systems of belief and ideas of how society is or should be.
Roxy and Sylphie are not regular humans and both have most likely different perspectives of life since they are aware they are gonna out live Rudeus for a long time.

[@moalboris239]

I kind of wish the anime actually kept the scene where Roxy finds out Rudeus is married. It's hilarious because of how hard she panics at realizing how hard she's been flirting this entire time without realizing it.

[@aqrxv]

I'd say that if you marry someone while continuing to keep a secret shrine to another woman, complete with their underwear, in your house, who you refer to as "my goddess," than it's kind of obvious that you had already committed adultery in your heart... I would say that since Sylphie continued to regularly visit and be friends with both Zenith and Lilia after Rudy went off with Ghilsaine that she will personally have a very good idea whether or not she wants that sort of relationship and be able to make an informed choice.

[@pond9875]

I'm afraid for the future adaptation of MT, this episode was changed quite a lot to fit the "Wider Audience". Even the author (Rifujin) is concerned about it with his recent post on X.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Saw the X posts. It's a weird place to be when you're anime only but have been given the context. I only hope it ends well and satisfying for us all!

[@lKupo]

Well knowing Sylphie and knowing that she knows hes a Greyrat. It’s kind of obvious what she’s gonna say.

[@TheGenreVerse]

You can feel it in the show... It just... seems things will go "his way" in this lol

[@pleaugue4096]

​@TheGenreVerse for you're own sanity sake please stop watching this brain rot

[@MaidenLoaf]

​@@pleaugue4096for your own sanity you don't have to watch what other people like if you don't like it.

[@Tounushi]

Funny enough she's met more of the Notos house than Rudeus. Rudeus only knew Paul and is acquainted with Luke. Sylphie knew Paul, is friends with Luke, and has met Pilemon. And all three are womanizers to the bone.

[@pleaugue4096]

@MaidenLoaf the fact that you like this tells me alot about you

[@mrfalzar9]

Tbh i am suprised how they were able to re arrange whole LN into anime just to make it all fit.
Lets understand that if anime studio would have to make anime 1:1 with LN then we would still be at teleportation arc, maybe even next season.
For sure if you wanna get more details etc go ahead and read LN because they had way more time and space to write whole scenario about certain stuff where anime had to make script more thight.

[@kumashibi6706]

I don't know what was going through Bind's head in this episode.
- Rush was depressed, they didn't even mention that Rudeus spent weeks depressed without eating.
- They skipped the whole interaction between Elinalise, Geese, Talhand and Roxy and how Elinalise "gave her the idea" and also how Elinalise still hesitated to let Roxy know that Rudeus was married.
- In one fell swoop we enter "THAT MOMENT"
-When Elinalize was trying to convince Rudeus, they skipped the moment where he flatly refused to accept Roxy and she tricked him by telling him that Roxy was pregnant.

[@Goudlock]

"When Elinalize was trying to convince Rudeus, they skipped the moment where he flatly refused to accept Roxy and she tricked him by telling him that Roxy was pregnant"
As a light novel reader, I actually prefer that this doesn't exist, since it's force Roxy being the third wheel, and make Rudy being FORCED to accept her, instead of him taking responsability of accepting Roxy.
"- Rush was depressed, they didn't even mention that Rudeus spent weeks depressed without eating." You can see it, because they made the approach "show don't tell", by making his cheek hollow, i actually prefer that, and i have see some people react to this.
"- They skipped the whole interaction between Elinalise, Geese, Talhand and Roxy and how Elinalise "gave her the idea" and also how Elinalise still hesitated to let Roxy know that Rudeus was married."
I agree on this one, but i think it was for the "reveal" she knew from the start later, of why they did this.

[@ASageCalledQ]

Forgot comment editing is a thing. Rudy going to the labyrinth did save Roxy which is great and all. BUT......he might as well have just listened to Man God. 😭😭😭😭😭

[@Dragonero11700]

From a point of view i can "totally" understand why he did it.
He made a mistake that eventually did cost his father s life ,he had to break down all of his bones in his body ,he had to warch the fire and potentially he brought back another person that he loves that is not the same anymore.
I would honestly go insane as well but that doesn't excuse him to the lightest because in the light novel he recognized that he went a little bit far with her.
Just waiting for the next episode for now we will see later.

[@addidaswguy]

"Its the not telling Roxy part" if you just waited you'd have found out in no time lol
LMFAO "Everyone watching the reaction right now"
Man everyone from the US, and from 2024 always tries to put their lenses on whatever they watch, their rules, their "norms". Its clear that people from this world have no problem with lords having more than one wife as long as they don't practice Millis faith, and its Anime! Home of the Harem! Where Male fantasies (and Women's)flourish! lol

[@TheGenreVerse]

Glad you enjoyed the humor!
We qualified our comments are on basic human relationships and not a condemnation of that world's workings. I wouldn't assume that it thoughts are unique to me Americans though. The majority of the world is NOT polygamous or polyamorous. And we're more than fine with anime being anime. We're not dropping this or avoiding harem anime. That doesn't mean we went share our thoughts and feelings in relation to the real world with what we watch.

[@addidaswguy]

@@TheGenreVerse yeah I'm more talking about people in general, not specifically you guys. Obviously people are going to feel the way they feel based on their experiences, but there's a LOT of people, specifically in the US that want to paint our societal brush on everything outside of the US. And a lot of people think Anime should be changed for a "modern Audience" aka, our rules, and I am not a fan of that side of it.
Next week should be good, she may appreciate the comments of someone when they get home lol

[@BuddyChy]

“You did have a choice” well no, not really. The other choice would have been to let Rudy keep sinking into depression and die of malnutrition because he hadn’t left his room or eaten in days. Nothing the group tried was helping him. Sec was a last resort and Roxy didn’t want it to be anyone else, but she also knew Sylphie couldn’t do it because she was too far away. Despite all of that, Rudy did consent.

[@TheGenreVerse]

This is a stretch on the consent, especially with Roxy admitting she took advantage of him.

[@BuddyChy]

@@TheGenreVerse I get what you mean. In reality if Rudy was in a better state, he would’ve been capable of being faithful and declining Roxy’s advances. Although, in the LN Roxy wasn’t this aggressive. She just offered and gave him the opportunity and he gave in and took charge. The anime portrays it as Roxy doing all the work and Rudy just letting it happen which was not how it went down. He even felt bad for being too rough with her.

[@Tounushi]

@@TheGenreVerse Her admitting that is more an off ramp than anything. The act itself served as a reset button for Rudeus' mood, the talk afterward duct-taped him together, but what will heal him is getting home to his family. Roxy was willing to abandon her decade-long lovequest that she'd gotten so close to completing so the love of her life would live on and be happy.

[@hhjan594]

11:40 "Is it common for people who were captured in a crystal being left in a vegetative state"
In the LN around this time Elinalise said yes it is not odd that this happens, as she knows someone who went through this.
(Thought Rudy thought she was just making things up)
Furthermore, according to Elinalise, it is possible for people like this to recover to a normal functional mental state, but loss memories are lost forever. Basically Elinalise suggests that Zenith may recover functional as a human one day, but she won't be the Zenith they know anymore.
But no Paul didn't expect this to happen at all, people getting stuck in crystals are very, very rare to happen.

[@TheGenreVerse]

😢

[@afgnnzw]

I don't think the anime is trying to excuse what Roxy did. She says she wanted him to hear her excuse but she acknowledges she was taking advantage of the situation. We're meant to understand that they both did something bad here, maybe one is more at fault than the other but you're free to have your own thoughts of who that is. It really is pretty nuanced and raw and realistic character writing even if it's uncomfortable to watch sometimes. It's what makes the show interesting to follow and see what path it leads to.

[@whatifmyhero8108]

I don't think its said anytime in the anime but when rudy got married to sylphy she said that she expects rudy to have more wives and she said that when they come she will make sure to be respectful towards them and make them feel welcome as long as rudy doesn't forget her
Fun fact sylphy is very self conscious about her sexual attractiveness as she feels she not big enough
And the same thing can be said for roxy as she feels like she's to small and childlike to be attractive to anybody
But the community would say other wise

[@TheGenreVerse]

Rudy promised her he wouldn't cheat. Also, I don't think she offered more wives, but maybe concubine or just a bang buddy. Asking her to share his heart is a bigger deal than sharing his weiner.

[@gunsmithcat7542]

Side wifes, concubines, mistresses or whatever you want to call them have been pretty common among all major cultures around the globe up until the 13th century, when the crusades happened and even then it remained common for centuries until christian colonialist put an end to it.
Saying that having multiple wifes is bad or uncommon is just an eurocentric pov, which is fine btw.
Even today there are millions of people who are legally allowed to have multiple wives. And if ANYONE is allowed to have multiple wives, it would be someone who lives in a town called effing "Sharia" LOL.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Institutional (religious) polygamy is generally awful for the women... Also, we qualified the historical (and class based) use of polygamy. The trend and pattern of monogamy, specifically romantically and for family raising, has proven so much better than polygamy at moving society forward that humans absolutely ignore "animal instinct".
That being said, we have no issues with consenting adults doing whatever they want as long as it's legal and doesn't violate the rights or sovereignty of others.
We also didn't hate the story or characters for going this route.

[@genjfox5436]

The genres of this anime indicate that it is a harem. The indignation that Rudy sleeps not only with his wife is incomprehensible.

[@TheGenreVerse]

No one here is being indignant. If you think our problem is him having multiple partners, you missed the majority of what we said. Also, our comments on the practice itself are not indicative of a desire for the story or characters to be changed/written differently. We all have plenty of harem anime under our belt.

[@Apon_jr]

@5:50 Your guy’s take on this scene is pretty good. But what Rudeus is trying to say in this scene is he is making the same mistakes right now as he did in his past life. He though that by getting a 2nd chance at life (the current one) he could become a better person compared to his past life but now he feels as if it was all for nothing and that he is doing exactly what he did in his past life, he wasn’t there for his parents in his past life and now he feels that he couldn’t do anything or didn’t do enough for his parents in this life basically thinking that he is repeating his mistakes all over again.

[@petis1976]

***SPOILER***
They skipped the bar scene where the group basically nonchalantly tells Roxy to sleep with Rudy. They also skipped Rudy telling Roxy about the reincarnated man and her realizing Rudy was telling her his story.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Thanks for marking spoilers...

[@petis1976]

@@TheGenreVerse No problem

[@vzgamer5738]

And its also not made clear in the anime. Roxy saved Rudeus' life here. He was days without eating and its implied in the novels that Rudy wouldn't mind starving to death in that room. He was the lowest he ever been. He was going to die. SHe literally saved his life. This time though it didn't take him 3 years and something to heal. He wouldn't even last that long either way

[@TheGenreVerse]

I always talk about the power of vagina... 😆

[@hhjan594]

Lillia's attitude in this episode is quite complicated to begin with.
She fully took the responsibility of taking care of Zenith for multiple reasons, one reason is they were quite good as a family to begin with, but Lillia still feels guilty for seducing Paul and having Aisha, in a way that she thinks she needs to repay this favor for the rest of her life. I think everyone can agree Zenith was being very, very nice to forgive Lillia after "the incident", and Lillia feels very bad for her that she needs to go through this.

[@fc3sturbogtr]

Let’s goooooo! Proud of Pa/ul for instilling great values in to his son, choosing everyone’s happiness above all else. 🫡

[@TheGenreVerse]

That's a possible take... 😆

[@cliffthiel1666]

tbf when rudy married sylphy she offered concubines since elfs dont get pregnant easily but she is pregnant now so i dont know if thats out of the window now, but she was open to it before.

[@TheGenreVerse]

A concubine is different than an emotional relationship. Have people forgotten there can be/is a difference between romance/love and lust/procreation or for fun sex? Rudy needs to talk to his current wife before all this stuff with Roxy.
Love and jealousy are not compatible.

[@syafiqaszamin6411]

Slyphie already said in the past episode she's okay and expecting a person like Rudy to have multiple partners. So, I'm expecting Slyphie to be okay with what coming in later episode and probably feel thankful to Roxy for helping Rudy out from his depression like how she did for Rudy before.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Yeah, but a side piece or concubine is way different than another romantic partner. While I would never share body or heart, I know some people are relatively okay sharing body, but are selfish with the heart.

[@DBZFANX1000]

@@TheGenreVerse Sylphie has grown up with knowing paul has legally 2 wives she is aware of the idea when rudeus was with eris before the transportation. she spend a lot of ther time visiting rudeus family in buena village and learning things from lillia the maid.. She does mention in one of the episodes that she expects rudeus to have maybe more then one partner. She aware of the idea due to paul's situation and her thinking rudeus is similar to his dad.
Either way rudeus vowed to stay loyal to her so he is still in the wrong regardless. But she is foreign to the idea at least especially not becaue probably well ariel the princess she works for nobles and for nobles this might be probably very common maybe not second wives per say but for nobles more partners is probably a common thing. She things in her mind that a lot of nobles are degenrates. Ariel the princess herself is not a saint either lmao i still remember her giving rudeus and sylphie a dildo for their wedding gift in the light novel.

[@sankta12]

Everyone is talking about the Roxy thing but I want to say I really get the part you talked about the mother being "vegetable" and all. Paul loved her and he was going to save her even if she was dead inside the crystal. Also is a big problem for everyone and a whole mini arc in some future seasons to see! Many people are just spoiling things and all but it's really an interesting theme to see in the story, just have to wait and see how Rudeus and his family have to live with the mom being like that and what they are going to do. Great reaction and discussion in my opinion, the other comments already told you the rest

[@LeoCarmi]

18:05 haha that laugh was too contagious, I couldn't resist laughing as well.

[@abin93]

As others said. There is lot of cut content for this episode, which would give more context for some choices made in this episode. But oh well. We get what we get.

[@cybersoul2809]

I know that the casting doesn't really reflect that, but Padme is only 5 years older than Anakin, she was supposed to be 14 in PM

[@TheGenreVerse]

I'm aware of their ages. She was still eyeballing a kid. Even a 12yo eyeballing a 9yo is not good. Age difference doesn't scale as well as some may like to think lol. Think of an 18yo scoping a 13yo... Not good! Padme a creep! 🤣

[@dbuy3]

The one thing that needs to be stressed is how close Rudy was to dying. They literally thought that he could die from not eating or taking care of himself. While it's not a total excuse, when Roxy heard from Elinalise when they were all talking at the bar that sleeping with someone can help them recover she decided on her own to do something to save his life. They had tried to convince Elinalise to do it but that's when she revealed to everyone about Rudy being married to her granddaughter. Then they suggested Lilia do it, but that was shot down quickly. Hence Roxy made her decision and it worked, it knocked him out of the deadly spiral that he was in.
Also, I'm the biggest Sylphie fan there is, but I'm wasn't upset about this in the LN. If you recall, Sylphie has already expected this, and that is made apparent many times in the LN.

[@TheGenreVerse]

I could have gotten him to eat... I make killer tacos!

[@dbuy3]

@@TheGenreVerse As a nurse, I've taken care of pts that just want to die and will refuse to eat no matter what you do.

[@dbuy3]

oops sorry I used the nurse word for patients (pts)

[@RaithAtsutane]

People being struck in a crystal is not a common thing. Both Roxy and Elinalise refer to a single case in which the person has lost all memories and didnt seem to recover.
The big issue here is how do you treat something that has a singular case? Regardless Rudeus intends to try with different Doctors and Healers.
He intends to take care of her (with Lilia). This is a nice contrast since in his old life he was taken care of.
I get the Star Wars comparison but then people need to be as critical of any fictional story with long life species. Frieren, Lord or the Rings, other Isekai.
Not criticism against you guys but people love to bash against Mushoku for it but not their personal favourite fictional stories for doing the same.
I do think you guys are more open about the discussion in general which is why I dont mind involving myself here in the discussion.
I dont remember where it was said, but there was a nice quote where it was pointed out female humans can only have one child at a time so man are in a power position as they can make many childred while a woman can only carry one at a time, but with demons this power dynamic can be switched as there are races demons that can bear several children at once from different man.
TLDR I just wanna get this out.
I was really unhappy with the adaptation and changes to this part of the story. And I think the changes are not less controversial. Big issue is that missing stuff from previous episodes piles up and create missing context for everything happening now.
Especially in the beginning I was quite unhappy how short the depression was and that they cut out the discussion were Rudy talks about himself in third person about his past life, how he did not go to his parents Funeral and Roxy figures out he is talking about himself. That means they cut both scenes of Sylphy and Roxy realizing that he might be a reincarnated person. With Roxy its even clearer. And peope, vaguely know about reincarnations e.g. Kishirika Kishirisu the loli with the demon eyes. Ruijerd even saying he did not know she resurrected.
It was as bad as S1 EP23 where Rudy stopped eating and doing anything. If you look at the novel art you can see just how much of a husk he is.
At the end of the day Roxy is still the one who instigated this. Talhand and Geese pretty much said that Sex was the only fix and they asked Elinalise. Elinalise was pretty firm on not doing it as he is her granddaughters husband and her husband is his friend.
So Roxy thaught of doing it herself instead of a random woman. This is still more on her, even if Rudy reacted to the provocation. Dude lost his dad, his hand and his moms a vegetable and they all know that he is not the most frugal man when it comes to Sex. You can of course talk about peer pressure but Roxy lived for 50 years, it was still her decision.
("If I found listening to the beat of her heart to be this soothing, then how much more relief might I find if our bodies were pressed together? My mind lingered on that excuse as she babbled.")
Its also undersold that he is regretting his choice but its also clear that this is more on his side. Next to the concubine talk there was a lot more implications about the polygamy thing.
(“Feel free to kick me out of the house for good if I go off and sleep with another woman, all right? I’d deserve it,” I said.
“…Oh, I don’t think I’d be that angry. Maybe a little sad. But I’d understand.”)
This a thing of nature vs nurture. Sylphy growing up had nothing but examples of polygamy and she kind of just expects it? She saw Paul/Zenith and Lilia (who also was the one to train her in a lot of differents fields, etiquette etc.), was then in the castle with Ariel with a LOT of far worse DEBAUCHERY( Episode 0 you saw a bit but there is a lot more) and Luke, Rudys Cousin was even introduced with 2 girls on his side even in the anime and Rudy is technically full noble blood as both Paul and Zenith come form nobility where this is also kind of expected.
So its not that she is not jealous but she was nurtered into believing this was gonna happen eventually. Thats also why im sad that almost all her jealous scenes were cut(like when she was drunk and some of her true feelings slipped out. Its not like she is accepting of everything but she is playing Rudeus "perfect" wife or the wife she is expected to be to him (Nobility, Father with 2 wifes, very much into Sex which he can not do with her for 7 months since this world beliefs that to be a bad thing for the baby).
(“I don’t like it. I only want you to only pay attention to me!” That wasn’t what she’d said when I told her about Ruijerd.
This must be how she really felt. I always thought it was scary how she seemed to accept everything with such perfect equanimity, but maybe it only seemed that way because she worked hard to make it so.)
This is not Rudys fault but in the books you never really belief that polygamy is out of question but she definitly hides a lot of misgivings. So Rudeus regret comes a lot more from him since HE promised her several times that he wouldnt and now he did.
At the end of the day it is still Sylphys decision and Rudeus intends to respect whatever she says. He also never had any intention of hiding it from her.
While I get cutting out Elinalise lying about Roxy being pregnant, I do feel like we lose a lot of nuance for her in this episode. WIth her curse open relations was just normal for her and so she simply just doesnt see an issue with it. Of course with how great a guy CLiff is it will be interesting to see if her perspective changes since he is very understanding but she will of course outlive him and probably have to sleep with other man again (depending on how well his research goes though). But the Milis church is very strict on the one partner thing which is why she thought about leaving him. Him trying to become a high ranked priest would have extreme difficulty with Elinalises past history of "debauchery")
She gave birth to a lot of children to whom she had not much connections to so Roxy was a friend she wanted to see happy (one could argue more so than Sylphy) before she even knew Sylphy. Its a complicated moral complexity of someone that lived long and was forced to live in a certain way because of her condition.
I honestly belief by changing to make it more acceptable to the general audience they made the controvery so much worse.
People who can not fathom the morality of polygamy would not like this either way but they definitly lose out on perspective.
Since Rudeus is not a self insert character I dont really care what he is practicing as long as all parties involved are treated fairly and its not like this is without consequences. As you said yourself Monogamy is the norm and even in this world most humans dont look at it positively and there are plenty of people who will think less of him for it.
Its ironic because I consider this to be the worst adapated episode after 22 which was almost a perfect adaptation^^"

[@TheGenreVerse]

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. The Padme thing is very light hearted. There is a legit issue with the trope, but it's fiction and it's less problematic than some other things. All three of us are HUGE Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans... We have all sorts of issues with Angel tagging Buffy... Like, all of the issues!
I like to think we're fair with commenting, but also don't get bent out of shape easily.

[@TrdLore]

to me the regret is the death of his father and seeing his mother like she is. cuz even then he would've had regret either way if they come back and he never went because they would've told him roxy died bc if he never went she would've died. and that they never could get her mother so. both ways he would've regretted it to be fair.

[@PizzaPizzaRR]

It's probably useful to point out that only Roman-influenced countries and cultures were historically monogamous. And under the Romans, it was adopted and codified by early Christians.
Islamic, Confucian, Judaic, and most of the world had historically polygynous cultures - mostly with the well-off and wealthy stratas of society. Polygamy was only banned in China for the first time in its history under the Communist party in the 20th century, and it is a pretty uniquely Christian cultural convention.
It was only banned in Japan under its new constitution imposed after the end of World War II - which is relatively recent, all things considered.

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

Japan only banned it cause puritanical Americans wrote their constitution

[@TheGenreVerse]

We qualified the difference between those that had actual multiple wives be those with multiple partners. We also mentioned how certain practices were more common amongst the elite/rich over the common people.
Romantic pairs seem to work more and better than polyamory.... There's also a HUGE discrepancy between men with multiple wives and women with multiple husbands.
It isn't as easy to say it's a net positive as people marry want it to be.
That being said, consenting adults are/should be free to be consenting adults.

[@budthecyborg4575]

16:17 Nothing makes a woman feel more powerful than taking a man away from another woman.
The story doesn't talk about it but "home-wrecking" is the ultimate power trip for women.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Jealousy... Even if it's just over a woman having something (a happy relationship, for example) the other doesn't. She may not even want the man, just doesn't want that other woman to have him either.

[@GeraldWalls]

Rudy is amazing if he can Dual Wield with one hand...

[@TheGenreVerse]

👀

[@ghoulknight1526]

You guys should read the LN. It goes into much greater details about pretty mucn any moment from the past 2 seasons. The amount of cut content is A LOT to say the least.
Now, the way the series is going I'm fairly certain we can all guess how things will turn out (unless the episode has Turning Point in it's name lol)
Also, the word "harem" doesn't exactly fit here as much as "polygamy", which mind you was fairly normal for noble families during the middle ages.
But again, if you really like the story you should definitely read the LN!

[@nathanielwilliams1815]

Why are you blaming Rubeus he was vulnerable and this was her decision he was literally going to walk away you can say that he's into this stuff but that's not an standard explanation or excuse Roxy what the heck

[@TheGenreVerse]

I don't think anyone blamed Rudy for anything he wasn't responsible for. We also commented on what we felt Roxy did wrong. In the end, they all handle their business and some to agreement. Good for them.

[@asahelpillado2676]

you guys really make my day HAHAHA this hole video was so funny

[@TheGenreVerse]

So happy to make your day! Comments like that make the pain and effort worth it! 😆

[@98sucoo]

I've never been this stressed watching a romance plot since the time I watched ecchi anime made for children (I always hated those protagonists who never confessed, but mangakas love to do that so the series never ends)...

[@Tounushi]

Do you guys think Sylphie already knows of Roxy? Not the current situation, but about the person and how important she is to Rudeus? Rudeus has never in his life been able to STFU about his master.

[@TheGenreVerse]

🤔

[@thatguy3362]

Lol, loved your reaction 😂❤ a lot of people had their thoughts and debated who was in the wrong here but realistically their both guilty and the reason o say this is because i see alotta people attacking roxy as if rudy didn't have a choice.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Glad our thoughts were appreciated.

[@SmediumL]

Like father like son indeed 😂

[@oxjmanxo]

Definitely a much better situation than it was than in the light novel. Roxy isn’t pressured by others into sleeping with Rudy. Rudy didn’t lose control and be the one to initiate intimacy, he simply didn’t say no when it happened. They also didn’t pull the fake pregnancy bullshit to get him to think about marriage.

[@TheGenreVerse]

👀

[@DBZFANX1000]

Roxy isn't preassured regardless sure in the LN she gets the idea from elinalise but she herself decides act upon in it. Nobody forced her to put on a nightgown walk in to the room and offer herself to rudeus. its not preassure. Roxy took an idea herself nobody forced her to do it. its just nobody else was gonna do it but her.
I feel like its disingenious to act like roxy doens't know wtf she is doing she is like 50 years old lol. Like i get people but people need to be genuine about what it is roxy likes rudeus and she doesn't deny this she did it because she loves him anything else is just an excuse which even roxy would not deny.

[@bondsie2]

That gif at 9:55 stopped me from commenting prematurely, but I will say that I feel like you guys put so much blame on Rudy. He is to blame for the action, for sure, but I don't think him not mentioning his family is something that really comes across as bad or malicious. From his standpoint (and it'd be mine as well, maybe I'm just dense) but I wouldn't just be saying like "Oh by the way, I'm married" out of the blue. Rudy hasn't picked up the signs previously about Roxy's interest and no one has told him about it, so there isn't really any point that I've seen where it wouldn't come off as like "keep your distance from me" in a very asinine way.
I know that you guys haven't said anything about it being malicious, but when you say things like "you've forced her to be a mistress." It just feels like you're automatically not placing any blame on the other party. She says it herself, she took advantage of him, I feel like that should've been acknowledged while it was going on. You mention that later after she says it but I feel like you guy's a bias there.
Also, regarding the Open/Poly relationship thing, I don't think human history really supports your statements. I personally agree that monogamy appears to be better, it's certainly the best way for humanity to strive and I personally am very against poly relationships. But Rudy is technically nobility so to say that serfs didn't have harems is a little bit of a different situation. Also, I don't think this can come down to a "human level" either. I think that the primary reason for the monogamous pillar of today's society is Christian values that western society was based off of. Even in Japan nowadays cheating is looked on as very different than it is to the US - what constitutes cheating in the minds of most Japanese women (based on the things I've seen) has more to do with emotional dependence than it has to do with physical intimacy. Sylphie literally told him he could have another woman.. Granted that was based around the thought that she might have trouble having kids, but the precedence is there for her to generally be more open about it. Rudy was the one who made the promise to her, so it makes sense that he would probably be the one more broken up about his own failures to stick to his promise. Though, we've yet to see how Slyphie will respond so that next episode should be interesting.
Finally, some additional skipped content:
The whole part of him being a scumbag and asking Roxy before he said anything to Sylphie is more because he was worried Roxy would leave suddenly after the job was done... She did that in Buena and she seems like the type. She was also already suffering thinking things with him wouldn't work out so there's extra reason to think that she'd slip away asap to get away from the pain.. He definitely should've said that he wanted to get Sylphie's approval first though which they skipped unfortunately..
I'm team Eris ;)

[@TheGenreVerse]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! One of our discord members told me about the missing context while I was editing, so I put something in to let you all know that we said these things without full context. It seems to have done it's job! 😆

[@nehuengonzalez2381]

you need to have guts in a show to do things like this, mostly in anime. this anime can have things that everyone dont like but have other that would make you love it.

[@kristoffer2250]

Honestly... I'd be more engaged with the heated Mushoku Tensei discussions if they actually adapted the episode properly and put more focus to Paul instead of Roxy, JUST AS IT DID IN THE LN

[@deadline6149]

Not to defend Rudy, but the guy had been depressed and not eating for days/weeks. He was really not in the right state of mind to think.
Roxy also was supposed to know about him being married, guess they cut it to make her less dislikeable by the masses.
All things aside Rudy was going to die if left alone so they were desperate.

[@TheGenreVerse]

I eat my emotions... Damn Oreos...

[@epic598]

LOL THE AMOUNT OF PADME EDITS ARE HILARIOUS KEEP IT UP GUYS!

[@dohalimilqarasdeldemenanci8483]

15:57 I should be mad at her, but the fact that she is keeping it 100% just stops me from hating her lol.

[@TheGenreVerse]

😆

[@iceninja9x425]

Gotta love how there are 2 sides of the Fandom
The Anime onlys with the "Rudeus is a Terrible person for cheating"
While the other references the starter pokemons.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Yeah... Christine and I are not newbies to harem anime. We weren't expecting this one to go that route, but it's not a turn off. Comments on character actions are not comments on story. Meaning, just because we may not be pro thruple/quadruple or whatever, doesn't mean we the want story changed.

[@doodlegame8704]

@@TheGenreVerse Glad you can make that distinction. Many people can't or won't.

[@Killjoy1204]

@@TheGenreVerseif you really thought that MT with Rudy as a protagonist and world with polygamy norms and 3 fully fleshed out female characters and there won’t be harem is just your wishful thinking, it was always going to be harem

[@mac23806]

Bro SMASHED his goddess with one hand (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵)
Roxy spent much more time looking for Zenith and almost got killed while doing it, I know you are upset but she khows how you feel.
After all she's a goddess you pray every day so have faith

[@TheGenreVerse]

Lol

[@RajioOn]

To add someone else's comment about cut content,
one of the important part, the whole reasoning why elinalise wants to help roxy
Elinalise was extremely worried about roxy, because she strongly believes/thinks if rudeus leaves her like that she's scared roxy will live a miserable life.
Her reasoning was because she knows someone like that (LN readers knows who)

[@dohalimilqarasdeldemenanci8483]

It's kinda messed up she tried to make her grand daughter life miserable instead. We know Sylphie is kinda ok with polygamy but Elinalise trying to sabotage her marriage is something else lol.

[@johnnycruzified661]

@@dohalimilqarasdeldemenanci8483 did you not see the episode where Sylphie literally told Rudeus that she'll be fine with him having polygamous relationships?

[@RajioOn]

​@@dohalimilqarasdeldemenanci8483 She wants rudy to give both the same amount of love, not more or less than the other. She (basically) said if that isn't the case, then it's a different story. It's a medieval fantasy world, it make sense why they would think like that.
Edit: And I'm sure elinalise would forget about the idea if sylphie rejected the idea
And honestly if you know the full story behind her reasoning, it make sense why she would do what she did

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

@@dohalimilqarasdeldemenanci8483sabotage? You mean follow the customs and norms for the the entire world they’re in?
They’re not on earth

[@nathankeel6667]

​@johnnycruzified661 that was the context if they couldn't have a kid she was clearly bothered by the underware incident.

[@peteramaranth85]

9;05 i do love peoples reaction to this series when they no nothing about rudys 3 wives lol

[@TheGenreVerse]

Please mark spoilers and give space between the warning and spoiler. Seriously.... Please don't ruin things for us or our audience.

[@Animewatcher352]

See the thing with girlfriend x girlfriend is that by the end of that series hell even a few episodes in saki doesn't really love naoya as an acutal girlfriend shes been shown to be more into other women especially shion. Btw you guys notice elise being pulling strings in this relationship? Id love to see how she would deal with norn who you know is gonna lose it being like her mom a follower of millis

[@TheGenreVerse]

🤔

[@iceboysunestilodevida1394]

great reaction guys as always. I hope if ever a S3 gets animated, you all are on board no matter what.
One point i want to comment is that you keep asking "doesnt sylphie have to agree?" but didnt sylphie herself told rudy in one episode of this season "if you want to have more women, i am all right with it"?
anyway, so looks like rudy already got bulbasaur, now squirtle... so charmander is next?

[@TheGenreVerse]

She offered him a concubine for procreation... maybe fun... That's different than asking to share LOVE. Plus, she got pregnant, so maybe that offer expired? Credit to Meliotablet on our discord for that,

[@floxer]

Yeah she has to approve it. The episode doesn't really touch on that (except one mention), I guess because it is implicit in the discussion and obvious to everyone.
And the agreement also shouldn't be on a general "I'm ok with you bringing home another woman", but to a specific context and person.
Meaning Rudeus and Roxy talking it out first is probably the correct order, and then he can introduce her to Sylphie and ask. (Well actually first probably tell her you already did something and ask for forgiveness).
I'm saying this because I've seen the general statement/question of "shouldn't you ask Sylphie first?!". If he doesn't want to be a scumbag and walk all over Sylphie he definitely needs her approval, but asking her first doesn't really make sense in my mind.
Edit:
Just to clarify I was talking about the end of the episode where it's about how to handle it going forward. And not the cheating that already occurred.
That is a different discussion.
Not getting into how shitty the anime portrayed it, but it can be summarized as:
- They had sex (is a fact no matter the reasons or excuses, although they can maybe help with whether Sylphie will be angry/disappointed, but that again is another future discussion)
- Rudeus was like the fuck did I just do. "Great this will for sure help with the worries I already have /s" - paraphrased.
- Roxy was clinging to him on the journey home, so he wanted to clarify so she doesn't get the wrong idea, they can't get further romantically involved, he is married and can't break his promise more than he already has.

[@mistermystery5197]

I think the argument about polyamorous being less successful is misleading. For starters, The percantages of couples in Poly relationships in america is 4-5 percent. So pretty uncommon. Now lets look at it as whole. Most relationships in general doesn't last. Speaking about my own experience, I've been in about 5 different relationship over the years, and I'm currently in my 6th relationship. All with girlfriends, none married.
I say all this to say, that of course you'll see WAYYY more success with monogomous relationships, simply because 95% of couples are monogomous. But that in of itself doesnt mean polyamourous relationships doesn't work. If anything, Polyamory works just as well as monogomy; that is, people break up in Poly relationships just as much as in monogomy. Maybe even less so. So making a statement like poly relationships doesn't work because you haven't seen it be successful isn't really accourate, because there are so few Poly relationships in general. Just because you've seen relationships that's failed and was Poly, it doesn't necasarily mean that Poly relationship is worse. Because with that logic, I'm sure we've all seen WAYYYYY more monogomous relationship NOTwork out compared to Polyamory. But it wouldn't be fair to then say that Monogomy doesn't work because it's a fallacy thought process.

[@TheGenreVerse]

Trends and patterns follow the path of least resistance. The commonality of monogamy itself is a statistic towards which one provides a better system for individual and societal progress.
Logically, more moving pieces means more points of failure. Exceptions to a rule do not make their own rule. Of course there are times and people where this can work for them, but there's a lot of institutional (religious) polygamy that is AWFUL for the women. So... Not a lot of positives in it, historically or through risk analysis. But... Consenting adults didn't be hindered in their non-violent and legal endeavors.

[@moalboris239]

I'd actually make an argument that the big advantage to monogamy over polygamy is less successfulness and more resource centralization. With polygamy there tends to be more children that all want their cut of their parents wealth and property and a whole lot more half siblings that may not feel as connected. So over time you'll tend to see more murders and other extreme events as everyone wants a cut of the pie and feels like they need more extreme options to get it. Which monogamy solves in most cases.
Polygamy on the other hand tends to be better in situations where you need a extended family network and to pool the productive capacities of multiple people at once to deal with the environment. Because multiple people can drop more resources on a problem in the short term then just two. But also long term will end up dividing the parents resources and make the time division more of a headache.

[@igrico6356]

Man don't like how they handle this episode... there was a conversation about how to "fix" rudy (also this is were roxy finds out he is married and gonna have a kid) in the end they were gonna take him to a brothel but roxy took it upon herself without anybody know all

[@TheGenreVerse]

Hi Rico! Sorry it didn't hit as well as other episodes.

[@igrico6356]

@@TheGenreVerse you know I'm always here........ sorry if I miss live stream, summer is hell of a busy at work

[@vzgamer5738]

Bro, "The Current Wife" is NOT HERE!! You think he can just pull up a phone and give Sylphy a call on facetime in the middle of the woods? Jesus Christ i get it it, you hate poligamy. I get it but geez.

[@TheGenreVerse]

I don't think you did get "it" because "it" most certainly isn't a "hate" of polygamy. Not wanting to partake in something doesn't mean we hate it. Christine and I have no issue with harem anime and have watched many and will watch many more.

[@meliotablet]

So since he can't call his wife he is allowed to cheat? nice logic you got there buddy.

[@danchiziofficial2159]

@@meliotablet technically he didn't cheat tho he was giving the pas

[@mrharvy100]

Luckily Slph is probably the biggest doormat of an anime waifu and is OK with a harem family because anything Rudy likes she likes.

[@TheGenreVerse]

👀

[@jerseyjackrabbit2829]

.. alot context is missing but i like this man strategy.... seriously ask any man how would they feel if you told them but telling a girl your depressed so they sleep with you to make you happy. his first wife literally drugged him, his second said " hold on, forget jesus, let me take the wheel"

[@TheGenreVerse]

😆

[@MintPicker09]

I get why the reaction is like this, I too was like that but after reading more in the LN it makes sense why and I kinda see it in a different way, they did skipped a lot of context and content.