The Problem of Rudeus Greyrat
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Mushoku Tensei.
I didn’t want to bog down my review of the anime adaptation of Mushoku Tensei, so I’m going to weigh in on the debate surrounding the series, and specifically its protagonist, here. I don’t remember feeling this conflicted over a work of fiction before and I’m hoping that getting my thoughts down on the (digital) page will clear my head a bit.
The big bone of contention is Rudy’s perversion, but perverted characters are a dime a dozen, so what makes Rudy different? Usually the perverted male slots in with ecchi comedy or outright hentai, but the story of Mushoku Tensei is largely serious and the major theme is Rudy using his second lease on life as a chance for reformation. The ways he applies himself and more actively engages with the world around him are indeed praiseworthy, but his perversion remains and while it’s mostly played for comedy and fanservice to keep the mood from getting too heavy, there’s a darker side to it that can’t be denied.
In the original web novel, Rudy in his previous incarnation was a pedophile. Not your run-of-the-mill lolicon who sticks to fiction but the real deal. When he was skipping out on his parents’ funeral, he was busy masturbating to a video of his young niece in the bath that he took via a hidden camera. It’s little wonder his brother (the girl’s father) smashed his stuff and threw him out in the streets. Personally, if it were me, I would’ve killed him. Anyway, you then have him reincarnate and fall in love with two girls who don’t age at the same rate as humans and a third (a human) who he began sexually harassing from a young age. It’s going to take some work to talk your way out of this one.
First, the whole business with the niece gets omitted from the light novel reworking of the story and its subsequent manga and anime adaptations. Maybe the author was just being edgy to get attention in his web novelist days and thought better of the worst aspects of his main character, or maybe it was changed due to editorial pressure. However, once you know the author’s original vision, it’s hard to look at the character any other way, especially with all the other bait still intact. I don’t want to cast any aspersions on the author himself. The least charitable reading is that the story is a self-insert wish fulfillment fantasy. Another reading that isn’t much kinder is that it was a cynical play to profit off of degenerates looking for a self-insert wish fulfillment fantasy. Then there’s the most charitable view that the author was simply trying to take on challenging subject matter and ended up walking into a minefield. Admittedly, I think the overwhelmingly majority of the pushback comes from overseas and given that Mushoku Tensei even in its web novel form is fairly tame compared to some of the other content that gets by in the Japanese mainstream (to say nothing about what lurks behind the 18+ curtains of some stores), we have to chalk it up to values dissonance. As I’m no moral relativist, I have no compunction about criticizing something I object to in another culture and I welcome anyone from the other side of the fence to do the same.
Now, should a story (even in its original form) like this be allowed? As a free speech advocate, I must say yes. Should such a story be made? If it’s simply done for the sake of prurient interests, I must object and I would discourage its promotion, especially around minors. However, as an author, I find a lot of appeal in plumbing the depths of humanity and testing my audience. In this respect, I would see Mushoku Tensei much as I would Lolita. Whether Rudy was struggling with his impulses or not, it could be an interesting character study. However, the fact that Rudy’s perversion plays out with no reflection indicates that it’s apparently seen as so normal as to not warrant comment. From what little I’ve seen of interviews with the author, the focus is entirely on setting his life in order as a productive and self-actualized member of society. Him reforming his sex pest ways doesn’t factor into the equation.
Why does this matter? If Rudy was an ordinary pubescent boy, you could argue that he’s just hashing out his sexuality as many pubescent boys do. (You may wish he was smacked into line a little more, but given the example set by his father, there’s not a whole lot of hope for that.) However, inside Rudy’s head is the mind of an adult man. Some of his defenders argue that his reincarnation counts as a reset button and that we shouldn’t judge him as an adult. That doesn’t wash with me as he still clearly retains his original identity. His voiceover is done by his previous incarnation and that’s the form he takes when communicating with the Man-God. “What then?” the defenders say. “Is he supposed to get with a 40-year-old?” He could try holding off until he’s a grown man in body as in mind and not be creeping on children. It’s not like he was getting any action in his previous life, so we know he can wait. Now, a problem from the other side is that modern-day First World values get applied to a medieval-type setting. My values may not align with those of the culture being depicted, but I can at least acknowledge the validity in context. So what would I do if child marriages (not just betrothals) were part of the culture depicted, basically serving our protagonist his desires on a silver platter? I wouldn’t like it and I’d have my suspicions about the author for making the conscious choice of setting things up like that, but there could be something compelling done with the material. There are few concepts I’m prepared to reject out of hand. What gets done and why it gets done are important.
Let’s play armchair psychologist for a moment and try to crack open the nut that is Rudy’s brain. I would imagine that he had always been something of a pervert, but during his time as a shut-in, he had little else to do but indulge in his pleasures. Due to his insecurity, he was probably too threatened by girls his age and trended downward to what he would see as safer and more innocent. Because he didn’t have any other outlet for his energies, he had to seek out increasingly extreme stimulation, leading to the exploitation of his niece (in the web novel at least). I’m inclined to think that his extreme aversion to other people would prevent him from doing anything physical, but who can say? Thank God for Truck-kun is all I can say.
I could probably go on, but I think I’ll close here. If the author said he wanted to trigger debate among the audience, good job. I don’t think that was the intent, though. Anyway, gallons of virtual ink have been spilled on the subject and now that I’ve said my piece, I think I can put it behind me.
Tags: Ramblings
