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「緊急家族会議」 (Kinkyuu Kazoku Kaigi)
“Emergency Family Meeting”
All hell breaks loose when Lilia announces she is pregnant – with Paul admitting that it’s his child. And on that bomb shell, an idyllic life comes to an end as reality shatters what looked like a picture perfect family. Where does the Greyrat family go from here?
Paul is Unfaithful, Rudeus Saves the Situation
I really enjoy how Mushoku Tensei features realistic conflict within the bounds of a family dynamic. As opposed to the absent parents, or one dimensionally great/awful parents. It’s interesting to explore a truth that lies somewhere in the middle. As the famous football coach Gattuso said: “Maybe sometime good maybe sometime shit”.
To add additional context which was omitted from this anime adaptation, Paul hadn’t been having sex for a while because Zenith was pregnant. Usually, I become displeased when content is removed. But I think this was the right call if Studio Bind’s didn’t want to take any spotlight off just how shitty Paul’s actions were. That nothing can justify or excuse them. Having tempting thoughts might be natural but a decent person would turn away from that situation regardless. However, Paul gives in to his temptations – cheating on his wife despite how much he knows his fidelity means to her.
Did Paul deserve to be thrown under the bus by Rudeus? Absolutely. And while Rudeus lied about the situation, he achieves an outcome that brought about a greater good – preventing Lilia and his unborn younger sibling from being forced to travel away for one month facing against Winter’s wrath, an ordeal that neither were likely to survive. From seeing how conflicted Zenith was, and knowing her kind-hearted nature, I want to believe she would have eventually come around to this conclusion anyway. But Rudeus deserves full credit for facilitating the process and making it play out in a way that resulted in the least amount of damage, by shirking responsibility onto Paul.
Does Paul deserve to be forgiven?
I’m going to go into more context, because I do not think the anime will return to cover this, seeing how they omitted Zenith’s perspective in this episode. Zenith is a believer of the Milis faith. This religion is pretty much this setting’s version of Christianity – with an emphasis on piety and monogamy. During their adventuring days, she knew Paul was a womanizer, but believed she was the one who reached out to his heart and changed him for the better. And although she was in love with Paul, Zenith refused to have sex with him unless he would be faithful to her – and it’s easy to see why she’s so devastated when he ended up breaking this promise.
Worse still, it’s given away in a passing line, but we also discover that Paul and Lilia knew each other when they were younger, and Paul even raped away her virginity before running away to become an adventurer. In a world where there’s the power dynamic is extremely pronounced and even between the strong and the weak, Paul is truly scum.
But while it could be said he’s beyond redemption, I want to bring attention to the fact he takes personal responsibility and puts in sincere efforts to correct his wrongs as much as possible. Point in case, where Paul had raped Lilia in the past, he makes it his priority to teach Rudeus that he should never force a girl to do anything. Hypocritical? Yes. But it shows remorse for what he did in the past, and how he’s trying to make sure Rudeus won’t repeat his past mistakes.
Also, he takes accountability for his mistakes instead of trying to shift away responsibility or blame others. He immediately confesses that the child is his and it seems clear that he wants to keep the family together and cares for the unborn Aisha – even if it may cause strain and difficulties. I do not believe he should be forgiven. But I think it’s clear he does care. And his efforts to learn from his mistakes and raise his son to be better are worth acknowledging.
Concluding Thoughts
I’m not sure what to make of Paul’s sudden as well as forceful move to break Rudeus away from Sylphie. I do agree that Rudeus and Sylphie were developing an unhealthy codependency with each other. Even more revoltingly, Rudeus had plans to groom her into being a perfect wife in the future. So I think this will be beneficial for the development trajectories of both Rudeus and Sylphie. Even if Paul’s methodology of avoiding any kind of logical argument by beating Rudeus unconscious is questionable.
But at this point, you should know that his intentions probably come from the right place – even if they might end up being misguided. Taken away from the comforts of his home under unknown circumstances, but safely kept under the watchful eyes of his parent’s friend from the old days, let’s see how things pan out as the next chapter in the life of Rudeus begins.
Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and see you all next week for more Mushoku Tensei!
Cheating is unforgivable.
Paul extramarital antics aside, who exactly is that Ghislaine person?
some sort of mercenary? bounty hunter?
and I am glad to hear Roxy became one of top elit emages of the world
Rudy better studies hard when he earns his – or rather Sylphie’s – tuition for Ranoa mage academy…
he might become best mage of the world
Previous party member.
She was adventurer too, until she took an arrow to the eye?
Perhaps her big Scar on her Stomach is her “Shoot in the Knee” like some Hero from My Hero Academy
No. The party disbanded naturally after the leader, Paul, decided to marry Zenith and retire from adventurer job. None of the remaining members has enough leadership skill to keep the party running.
Yeah, Paul give some Horney stud vibes or is he more an Stallion here?
Also there is an overlooked little problem here.
Both Woman gave birth nearly the same time right?
https://randomc.net/image/Mushoku%20Tensei/Mushoku%20Tensei%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
So Paul did make the 2nd Child nearly the same time as the main one. So, it is not only the Pregnancy of his Woman. It must be something other
they skipped the birthing process, but Norn had a breech delivery (legs first, rather than head first) and Aisha was premature
…further complicated by the Anime’s depiction of both babies
being about the same size. Preemies are much smaller than term.
Ah thanks. Okay. Lets see in how time from now on flow in this. Perhaps we will see the Adult versions of Rudy and Slyphie here
I saw some News that affect my Time problem here. Looks like this Anime is planed to have enough Time they need…
i am curious, lets hope the pacing is okay
Was annoyed at how the whole fight deviated from the LNs. No teary goodbye in the LN. Paul just attacks Rudy, wins, and gives him over to Ghislaine. Much more impactful to not see it coming at all.
(Un?)fortunately, someone had already spoiled me on the father being a despicable cheating human being which also why I have yet to watch this show while still following the blog posts.
Though someone explain to me why Lilia ended up being a maid in his house after he had already forced himself on her when they were younger. Codependency?
Anyways, absolutey unforgivable and Zenith should NOT forgive him, but this is anime world…
Of course it looks like Rubeus will do as his father and also follow the “harem route”…
Disgusting.
People forgive cheating all the time, even in this world.
Lilia was a maid at Paul’s place after she ended up injured on her previous job, she couldn’t continue and may have ended up dead if she stayed, so she applied for a job in another kingdom not knowing who the person who posted it was. This was not long before Rudeus was born. Paul and Zenith offered a good wage so despite Paul having done things to her in the past she stayed, and despite everything she still liked Paul from the time when they trained together.
Why is the harem disgusting? Wasn’t even a couple hundred years ago where it could be considered normal for some people, especially those in power(the practice of having concubines existed into the well into the 19th century and into 20th century)? While it is in part the authors wish fulfillment it is also a fact that both Zenith, Lilia and Paul love each other, is there a reason now that things have played out like they have to deny them apart from modern values?
Thanks for the Lilia back ground information, though it sounds to me like you consider forgiving cheating something that is a given which I can’t agree with.
Apart from the fact that this is a fantasy world where the girls wear modern underwear (to excite the readers) and probably a lot more stuff that belongs in our modern times, to me it doesn’t look like Zenith, having a certain faith as explained by Zaiden, married Paul with the knowledge that “of course” he would cheat on her as soon as she got pregnant and couldn’t fulfill her “nightly duty” anymore.
btw. what purpose to the story does Rudeus having a shitty isekai father serve anyways? That he should treat harem fantasy women with more respect, something that he still has yet to do if you consider his “grooming” thoughts?
The way this story is written, every named character has a deep and significant flaw they strive to overcome. It’s not so black and white, or cut and dry with clearly framed dichotomies between good or bad. It’s just part of the characterisation process and overarching journey.
Everyone has their flaws. My dad cheat on my mother and had another family and my mother still took him back. I didn’t agree with her doing that but she rather forgive him than live alone, so what’s wrong with that?
Everyone can make their own choices you can make yours when it’s your time.
This is an isekai anyway, so none of that matters. It was destructive but an anime with imperfect characters feels much more alive than something like Kirito and his peanut gallery in my opinion.
TBH if someone forgives someone for cheating it is not my place to say if it is right or wrong. I won’t force my opinion on them. I will give them my opinion, but if that is what they want it is not my place to question it, even if it ends up hurting the person in question.
It is a decision reached between Paul, Zenith, Rudeus and Lilia therefore it is a decision that is fine with me. It makes sense story wise and while Paul isn’t an amazing person, i am not going to hold it against him. Everyone has flaws, the story (like so many others) would be terribly boring if everyone was perfect.
I had to laugh when Lilia and Paul were reenacting the scene from Witness where Harrison Ford watches Kelly McGillis wash.
But seriously, although I’ve been impressed with the animation so far, they really could have done with someone who’s actually touched naked breasts doing that scene because it looked seriously wrong when Lilia was washing hers.
“Rudeus and Sylphie were developing an unhealthy codependency with each other. Even more revoltingly, Rudeus had plans to groom her into being a perfect wife in the future. So I think this will be beneficial for the development trajectories of both Rudeus and Sylphie. ”
Kinda not a fan of PC BS, sure for some it may look like some 40 old years dude who plan to have some pedophille’s fantasy or whatsoever, but the reality is that he’s now a kid under the same age, like it or not.
The codependency thingy might’ve been bad but to “groom” Sylphie?
Not that much if the feeling are mutual, by the time she will be “groomed” she will also be on the right age for these kind of things and again if all of it is *mutual* (and it looks to me it hell is) it’s alright imo
I think that is the fault of the adaptation, Sylphie was showing unnatural signs of devotion to Rudeus, and while it may have looked mutual, it wasn’t for Rudeus.
Sylphie had no friends, she barely interacted with anyone other than her family and Rudeus family. If Rudeus where to groom her, then leave her for someone else what would ultimately happen to Slyphie? Also i believe Paul sees himself in Rudeus, so he is trying to help his son expand his horizon.
Yeah, if there’s one redeeming element in Paul, it’s that he takes his role as a father to heart.
Paul didn’t seem keen on the idea of Rudy going to school, and even suggested that he already had a good partner in Sylphie (like son, like father, I guess). But once Rudeus expressed his sincere desire to study magic abroad, he offered serious insight and sound arguments.
Like a more extreme version of Roxy (who, even outside of the picture, continues being a positive influence on Rudy), I think Paul probably came to the conclusion that fostering contentment and self-satisfaction wasn’t good for any of them, so the hard lesson it is (up to a point; Rudy will be with a family friend, and I doubt he’ll be sent to a battleground).
Not surprisingly, after seeing Sylphiette naked last episode, Rudeus has horny thoughts about her in bed as he pretends he is making love to her. He also says he will raise Sylphiette to be his ideal woman, which basically means he is grooming her to be the perfect wife. Yes, it is inappropriate that a guy whose mental age is 41 is having these kinds of thoughts about a 7-year-old girl. Rudeus also got super excited and blushed when he saw Ghislaine, a beast woman who barely covers her breasts up with that outfit of hers that she wears, and seeing her every day will probably make up for him not being able to see Syphiette. This guy is unabashedly a lolicon if episode 1 didn’t make this clear enough even though he said Roxy being a loli is basically perfection. He’s also very clearly a degenerate, and Rudeus not having horny thoughts about Sylphiette the first time he saw her naked doesn’t excuse his actions this episode. Can’t say I was surprised by this development given that Rudeus threw some eroge lines at Sylphie at the end of the previous episode.
Paul last episode: “Flawed, but ultimately good natured man that tries to do his best as the father of a child genius.”
Paul this episode: “Scum.”
I confess: I’m digging the soap opera tropes. I agree, it’s refreshing to see a family in anime that is neither absent nor purely good/bad. It makes me feel they’re human, for all the positive and negative things that entails. I can see these people with these same flaws happening in real life, either in this era or in the past, and perhaps that’s why it can be so controversial.
Pretty much. Let’s see what comes next!
So far is the anime following the LN or the manga? I heard the LN version is better.
name one series that adapts an adaptation rather than the source Lol
A lot of shows are adapted mostly from the manga version if there is one instead of light novels just because it is easier and often comes pre-censored . I think Gate was based on the manga as much as they could.
Nope. The manga includes side stories from the extra volume of the novel, but the anime adapted only the story from the main volumes. The characters design also follows the novel illustrations instead of the great artstyle of the manga. GATE manga is not censored either.
No considering this does not take place in modern society, I can understand the other characters forgiving him, however, he MC is from modern society and his reaction should have been more extreme. Yes, as the child of the family there wasn’t much he could do, but damn, at least he could have been more pissed off and start seeing his father a bad person. Instead he was like: “He’s scum, but whatever, he’s a fun dad, so it’s cool.” WTF.
I think it’s more that he also considers himself scum, so it’s not his place to judge.
Rudeus specifically said that in spite of Paul being scum, he still respects him for his strength. Considering that physical strength is vital to his job, it’s the equivalent of appreciating the work of an author while disapproving of them being say, a horrible racist.
I do not care how fucking strong he is. The man raped a woman and created on his wife with the same woman he raped! The nsn is a prick and nothing will make him redeemed in my fucking eyes. Fuck Paul
He might consider himself a scum for being a failure in his previous life, but I’m sure not in the same level as a rapist.
Respecting someone for his “strength” also sounds like a very nonsensical lame excuse for me. That’s the kind of cliche you would see a child’s shounen. This show is about a MC with an adult’s mind, capable of more complex thoughts.
The writting in this show is pretty lazy and childish. =/
The statement was originally said during a fight with a pack of magical beasts. Paul felt the need to regain his dignity as a father by showing his cool side to Rudy. Thus, he brought the boy to see him doing his job as a knight who protects the village. He convinced his son by saying that Rudy needed some real combat experience to make progress in swordsmanship.
Rudy was surprised to see Paul’s real strength and said that line. So, it’s just his spontant expression of surprise and admiration. “Despite being a scum, he is actually this strong!” That’s the feeling that I got from both the LN and manga when he said, “Paul is a scum, but his strength is worthy of respect.”
Paul pretty much is a textbook example of “Do as I say, not as I do”.
And that’s fatherhood.
I think Rudeus basically realized that, while Paul is scum, punishing him by kicking him would ruin EVERYONE’s lives, (It’s not like child support exists)
Basicly, Zenith now has the power in the relationship and will (hopefuly) keep him in line. No way he gets a second chance though. Paul’s future actions will determine how he is viewed.
The overall pacing in this is pretty fast though. .
It might feel fast, but it matches the pace of the early novels.
I’m still loving how this was adopted.
Still getting the same vibes as how I imagine it would be.
https://randomc.net/image/Mushoku%20Tensei/Mushoku%20Tensei%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Mushoku%20Tensei/Mushoku%20Tensei%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2041.jpg
embrace mormonism.
Isekai was a mistake.
This Show is really for Adults, no not only because of Stallion Paul and his Sex drive. No if you watch Episode 05 you will understand it
Glad i got hooked with this Anime