Forum - View topicINTEREST: Mushoku Tensei Author Comments on Series' Depiction of Slavery
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Thespacemaster
Posts: 1122 |
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Oh boy this is a touchy subject.
The issue is not so much of the slavery issue is more like how the author responded to the outcry vs how Rudy is written as a protagonist. Guys keep in mind Rudy is suppose to be a very flawed person that even when trying to redeem himself he will still have his faults. The Author on the other hand should of taken into account that Rudy is still is from modern Japan so he should of written him to be better even with his faults. like He would find it repulsive but he can't really do anything about it as changing or removing the system would have drastic and dire consequences. Contrary to how most isekai and other fantasy write it. Taking action against slavery and the industry as a whole is not as a simple task as you might think it is. Just look at our own history with slavery and the outcome of it lead to several wars, instability, economic collapse and drastic social changes (im not just talking about american civil war but im talking the whole trade as a whole all over the world). Still The author could of worded it better and made and written it better as this is somewhat of a touchy subject. This reply could of not come at a worser time, especially regarding the kidnapping part of his comment given what is next coming up. [/u] |
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Hal14
 Posts: 675 Location: Heart of africa |
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Oh right. The author said something like "rudy thinks kidnapping is evil" (how brave) despite what happens next Also, being a flawed character is not a shield from criticism. If anything, flawed characters should be more scrutinised than flat ones. Second, a character being flawed doesn't mean they can get worse or double down on their flaws without mention. Thats like saying "well he's an alcoholic but he's trying to be better" in response to any time the character runs over someone while drunk. Lastly, it hurst the characteization of a "flawed character" when audiences (and authors) sanitize/ water down the bad things they do. Calling them morally grey but also arguing why the things they do aren't that bad, actually. Seriously, acknowledging the shitty things you've done are shitty is like step one for self-improvement. Last edited by Hal14 on Thu Aug 17, 2023 12:15 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Vent
 Posts: 319 |
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Okay, but again we're talking about someone who is from our world, not someone from a fantasy world who I could actually somewhat understand feeling this way. If I met someone who had that opinion, I wouldn't think "oh they're deeply flawed" I would think "Wow, I really don't want to interact with this person anymore." We're not talking about a paragon of virtue. Thinking slavery is bad is just like....an extremely basic thought that everyone should probably have a good rhetorical grasp of? |
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Nigel Planter
Posts: 72 Location: London, UK |
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They can, but why should they? That's the wonderful thing about artistic freedom. People can choose to write and depict whatever they want. They don't need your or anyone else's specific approval to do so. And if people don't like it, they don't have to read it or watch it. Not sure why this series existing upsets you or other people so much. Why not just simply choose to not watch it? There's plenty of other media out there. How many of the people complaining in this thread actually read or watch this series to begin with? |
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everydaygamer
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He was a scummy person in his first life. He didn't care, he never really thought about it. It didn't concern him. Why should he suddenly care now? I'm not sure why his entire character should magically be ignored up until this point just because slavery is involved. Heck it's not even about him being okay with slavery. It's more like it's just the way this world works and he sees no reason to object when everybody around him is okay with it. Rudy is the type to avoid trouble not to stand up against the majority. |
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sharkticon
Posts: 30 |
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Yeah, and you conveniently ignored the post a couple down that went into the longer history of slavery in Japan. I'll share it again for you. https://twitter.com/paularcurtis/status/1600311120342167552 |
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GDinn
Posts: 14 |
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I mean, there's nothing about that premise that's inherently about tearing down or disliking the genre. That's all in the execution. GATE explicitly had that as a plot line at one point. Slavery is fought against in One Piece constantly, and it's just "part of the world." Evangelion and TTGL both tear down the common precepts of mech anime at the time of their creation, but that doesn't mean they dislike the tropes. Konosuba is an outright parody that plays in the "aren't the protagonists of these kinds of stories generally awful" space, and it's still going strong. The Saga of Tanya the Evil's main character is objectively a terrible person, who rarely gets an actual comeuppance, and people don't complain about that because it's baked into the premise what to expect. Vinland Saga is explicitly using a modern lens to judge and condemn the acts of vikings as depicted in sagas and historical records. Like, yeah, there's bad versions of those kinds of stories, because there's bad versions of every kind of story. Plus, like, I don't know if you've read into John Brown, but dude was anything but boring. An anime starring a John Brown type could easily be just as entertaining as any story about an overworked coder, or a NEET getting hit by a bus. |
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Iron Maw
Posts: 492 |
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I mean ok, but don't try tell others this series is about your protagonist becoming a good person. Because buying a slave (among) other things is objectively not act of good person. Tbh, I honestly thought Rudeus was getting better until that moment and author's comment pretty cements that I will never be able to get behind him. There is a clear line between a flawed character and actively heinous one. Ultimately MT's side cast is what I follow this show for. |
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Marzan
 Posts: 515 |
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I think most of them know that there is no such depth to Rudeus at all. It’s at its core still an otaku wish fulfilment story. It’s just better written and with a lot more interesting world building than almost all other of the Isekai genre. The tourist filtering comments are plain embarrassing. One can read or watch a work of fiction and still be critical of some aspects of it . |
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Juno016
 Posts: 2395 |
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This comment is severely underrated. Mushoku Tensei isn't a masterpiece, but it does feel like a fully realized world with a lot of high-quality character writing, worldbuilding, and a very deliberate, investing plot as it moves forward. I'd place it among the better-written isekai fantasy series out there, even without taking into account season 1's stellar visuals and animation that elevated it to even higher levels. And yet. It is moments like this (and next episode... ahahaha) that take me aback and make me wonder if the author actually knows what he's doing or if he just happened to land on a good writing formula without being as thoughtful about his writing as I penned him out to be. Even this explanation he gave feels more like an afterthought response, like, "Oh, huh, well, I guess it's like this" instead of "This sensitive topic was written specifically with this character flaw of Rudeus' in mind". If so, then I do wish he was just more honest about it. Now, it feels like he's just digging his grave by responding on Twitter. Again, thanks for your comment. I'm only almost halfway through the novels and I think it might be best to stop treating them like a redemption story. I still don't know what to expect, but I've heard volume 8 (which this episode and next cover) is the worst of the controversial story beats in all 26 volumes. I certainly hope so. I like the story a lot, but I don't know how much more I can handle of the author's insensitivity to the very sensitive topics he's writing about. |
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Sakagami Tomoyo
 Posts: 940 Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia |
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He has been becoming a better person the whole time. It's just that given the point he started at and the rate of change, he's still pretty solidly in scum territory. "Becoming a better person" isn't the same thing as "instantly becomes an actually good person". |
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Dissident_Ranger
Posts: 12 |
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Haha, I am glad I am not watching this series reek of garbage which think paedophile and slavery is OK. Worst is their fandom who justify the action and now comes the author defending his action. It can't get more worse then this, can it?. Also this weird obsession of most Isekai author with Slavery is truly appalling.
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onpufan
 Posts: 130 |
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Is it really an isekai thing or just a general fantasy thing? Slavery was a common thing in the time period a lot of fantasy based series are based on so it makes sense to include it in a series just as much as anything else. You see it in plenty of non-isekai fantasy series like Berserk, One Piece, Magi, and Fairy Tail, I'd argue isekai just gets a bad reputation for it since 1) it's a very popular and plentiful genre, and 2) most isekai are fantasy based and therefore use fantasy tropes and themes. I've never really had an issue with the concept in fiction. A lot of stuff pops up in fiction that you can argue is immoral or illegal. At some point you just have to step back and suspend your disbelief and roll with things and accept it's fiction. And that's not getting into the weird think pieces like if capturing and making Pokemon fight is some kind of slavery even if they enjoy being ripped from their homes and made to fight according to the in-universe lore. It's probably best to not think too hard about things. |
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danpmss
 Posts: 769 |
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The difference is that none of the aforementioned try to paint it in any regard as something that can be positive. Sheer contrast with most isekai including this one, in which slavery is a plot point that is used for companionship and alike.
It's rather maddening that you genuinely used these as an example to compare to them at all. One Piece in particular is brutally against slavery and demonizes it like a plague that has to be stopped at all costs. |
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Juno016
Posts: 2395 |
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I'm not sure how familiar you are with Mushoku Tensei itself, but there are a few early arcs that engage with the institution of slavery and explicitely paint it in a bad light. Rudy himself does seem a bit apathetic to it, but he ends up fighting slave poachers and kidnappers anyway because he has a companion who he respects who is avidly disgusted with slavery, and Rudy himself understands the moral issue at hand. There is even a scene cut from the anime in season 1 where he witnesses a slave auction and his main thought is "I'm better off not touching that." Slavery as a concept in fantasy is nothing new, but how it's framed is still important. Apathy is at least understandable if the characters have other priorities, and I can even understand Sheild Hero's reliance on slavery when he was ostracized and left to the dogs. But in this case, it just feels inconsistent with the character's previous stance on slavery, and the author does not seem to grasp why. As though there's a disconnect between the institution that collects slaves to sell and the institute that sells the slaves themselves. |
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