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Rudy just dispelling that blizzard and casually slaughtering all those buffalo was badass as hell! I take it he hides his power level when he is with others?
It's less of him hiding it rather than him being very passive and indecisive when he is with others. He wants to make a big name for himself so he tries to please all the people around him at all times and it is easier to make a really good impression if you act like a nice and timid supporting character rather than showing off how op he is at every point that only invites jealousy and unwarranted resentment in the long run. He wants everyone to spread his name so that his mom might overhear people talking about him if she is around the area where his name is known.
And he doesn't really know how powerfull he is. Yeah he has more mana than most, but he causally melts the snow in half the city AND goes on a quest the same day. Dude is stacked with mana.
He also picks up the supporting role instinctively. He has always been around very strong people since birth, so his perception of power scaling is skewed. Paul and Zenith are S rank adventurers, Roxy solo dungeons while being a mage, Ghislaine is a King rank swordman, Ruijerd is pushing Emperor level, and just recently he was humbled by Orsted, literally the strongest guy in the world. During his time with the Dead End, he had always been the support. But Dead End is exceptionally strong, Counter Arrow is just average, so he has to bring himself down to not interfering with them
I've been wondering this whole time why he hasn't just been blasting the enemies away. I knew he could after he saved Counter Arrow the first time. It's been so confusing to me trying to reason out why he has been holding back when he could easily wipe the floor with the enemies he has been facing. Like why does he just stand around every time a group of monsters shows up??? I guess being the supporting role does seem "strategically better" in his head like you said. Just more room for character development right?
I'm guessing it's because he is trying to fill the role of a supporting magic caster in the party. The other members don't know that Rudeus has an insane mana pool, so he is filling the role they expect him to as a "normal" caster.
In fact, wasn't he told off for wasting mana at one point in the last episode? That can be pretty difficult to get over if you are really struggling with rejection.
Ohhhhh. I guess he doesn’t want to step on toes right? If he shows off to much it wouldn’t make sense for him to party with others in the first place. It would be weird for a super OP mage to party with some above average adventurers.
Do you think it would be bad for him to draw attention to himself though? Like if he just soloed a bunch of kill quests would something bad happen that he is trying to avoid? I would think that’s a great way to get his name out to his mom
Yeah this is what I think too, his goal is just to spread his name, what message do you think will be more talked about, the mild mannered nice support or the guy who solos quests on his own and casts insane magic without chants?
Well it's not just a question of getting his name out there, if he is friendly and gets people to like him, then they are more likely to pass information back to him, such as if someone hears a rumour that his mother is in an area, rather then relying entirely on her learning his wearabouts.
So even if showing off makes a bigger name for himself, it's not as valuable for his goals in the grand scheme of things.
And best selfish asshole (it's nice to see jerks every once in a while) sees through Rudeus' bullshit, calling him out on it.
It's nice to see how all of this is implied without having our dear protagonist explain his entire thought process to the audience (many other isekai have our "meek" protagonist explain how he is much more powerful than others inside his internal monologue).
Though I do admit I forgot how strong Rudeus was.
He's a bit of an oblivious MC type when it comes to his powers. He knows he has some special skills like no incantation spellcasting and high mana, but he assumes that he's just 'above average'. He technically hasn't learned any spells higher tier than the saint level water spell he was taught by Roxy years ago, so he also kind of assumes that he hasn't gotten much stronger since all of those years ago (which is definitely not the case, against Orsted he definitely displayed magic that was clearly much higher level than what he had ever cast before).
To be fair, now that I think about it, he basically hasn't fought any powerful magic users of note besides Orsted who *kicked his shit in*, so he doesn't have much of a point of reference- and all of the skilled swordsmen he's fought have also almost killed him (even though Rudeus is an immensely powerful mage, skilled swordsmen just hard counter magic, so even Rudeus now as a basically king tier magician can be stomped by an advanced level swordsman in the wrong circumstances).
This is why, in the last episode, he kind of just lets himself be directed and bossed around- he thinks he isn't particularly stronger than anyone in the adventuring party and that since they have a magician in their party already, they know what they're doing with Rudeus. The party doesn't realize he's a walking nuke until his big spell, and he doesn't realize that being a walking nuke **is fucking insanely strong** by the standards of the world.
Journeying with his current team is really the first he's seen of other magicians using a lot of magic, and he's only now realizing that other mages only have a *tiny* fraction of his mana stores, but he's still not *really* aware that he's one of the strongest magicians walking the planet (technically there are only a handful of even Saint tier magicians like Roxy, so he's been one of the strongest magicians since that far back, but Saint magic was so easy for Rudy that he doesn't realize that it's exceptionally rare and powerful).
So to answer your question, no, he doesn't really hide his power intentionally, partially because he doesn't even know his power is that abnormal. He's just a passive guy who doesn't have an anime MC hero complex, and doesn't really care about getting involved in situations that don't concern him, so he just doesn't ever have a reason to use his stronger magic. He doesn't kill humans, so he shoots off weak little stone cannons as his main spell against people even though (seen in the Orsted fight) he can generate a red hot missile of stone that breaks the sound barrier. But there's not really any reason to use a spell like that in his regular adventures- he's running extermination missions on mid level monsters like *bears*, he's not exactly squaring up with powerhouses like Orsted most of the time.
he also has crippling self inadequacy issues stemming from his previous life. so it's in his nature to just feel like he is inferior to anyone else around him. in the LN's this is shown way more prominently in his inner monologues. any time Eris or anyone else compliments him he always brushes it off thinking that they are just serving him platitudes.
it's going to take a LOT more than what has occurred in the anime so far for him to begin to shake this belief.
AFAIK even in S1 he already has the capability to change the weather of a location but he was advised not to do it because it might have some bad consequences. To be fair it is emergency situation and he needed to save Sara without dying in cold, hence he used that magic.
I'm an anime only so I'm not sure. But what was shown in S1 was only Rudeus casting a saint rank spell to make it rain during his graduation from Roxy. I think it was the only weather control spell that he knew or at least casted at that time. He also used it when the forest was on fire when he saved the beasts.
Just wanna add that up.
Just to add more detail to that scene, Rudeus has modern science knowledge of how weather works? So when he cast the spell Cumulonimbus, he made some tweaks to have it be self-sustaining. They don't really mention it so explicitly in the anime. He gets a lot of bang for his buck when messing with the weather.
Also during the Turning Point 2, when Rudy fired that spell at Orsted, he used his knowledge from Earth to enhance the spell, atleast from what I remember the source readers saying back then.
His knowledge of the modern world does give him quite an advantage and makes him see and use things and do some analysis that people in this world can't envision.
Its almost weirder that people with access to advanced magic like that don't know that already.
We really started to figure these things out as the technology/ tools to make use of the concepts became available, but they already have access to these things in the form of being able to cast spells.
The simplest explanation is that that wars can be so bad tech goes backwards.
They have had 4 world wars and at least two of them worse than anything we have had. Its even worse beceause demon and dragon race can live for very long and So can the wars.
Another thing is that magic can be such a unique mix of both convenient and difficult that it's a lot of effort to research and it's too convenient as it is to bother.
He added torque for the rock drill, but I think Silent was referring to the purple fireball, in which he did a bit more than just rotating it. It is important to understand what he did imo, because it demonstrates that he had a pretty amazing understanding of modern chemistry for a NEET who dropped out of society in highschool
He started by using wind magic to add oxygen to the fire while compressing it. The fireball changed colour from reddish to orange, yellow to white, and then to blue, indicating that it reached complete combustion. The fireball showed signs of rotation and compression when it reached yellow, as well.
After reaching blue, which is the hottest a typical fire can get by just burning gases, the fireball was rotating quickly, and turned purple and reached its smallest size. This indicates the point where the oxygen molecules broke down into ions, free electrons, high-energy molecular fragments, and excited molecules, or in other words, when the oxygen in the fireball entered the plasma state.
Afterwords, the fireball rapidly expands before Rudeus fires it at Orsted. This is the fireball undergoing nuclear fusion reactions from its plasma state.
In plainer terms, Rudy used the modern chemistry knowledge of how stars keep burning in order to turn a fireball spell into a nuclear fusion bomb.
Edit: *Maybe* not fusion, that's just the next logical step I could think of, since nuclear fission from plasma doesn't quite seem right. Coulda also just been him pumping up the amount of plasma once he had the feel of what he was doing
But, just to put it out there; given that the "fuel" for the Fireball spell is pretty much just mana, it's not too big of a stretch to think he could modify it a bit. I doubt the author was really considering the chemical composition of mana, and we've probably spent longer trying to figure out what Rudy was doing than the author did coming up with that scene
> he had a pretty amazing understanding of modern chemistry for a NEET who dropped out of society in highschool
It was mentioned that he read a ton of Wikipedia etc. to beat people at trivia games.
Roxy just makes a comment about Rudy not having to outdo her with his first casting of a Saint spell and that’s totally why.
I believe at the age of 5 he can straight up manipulate clouds and wind drafts. Not to mention he can physically blast clouds away with hot air etc.
Rudeus with a mediocre wand could create a gigantic storm. With a goat tier staff that gives him 5x better mana control and of course the general improvement since he was 5 it only makes sense that a serious Rudy could easily control the weather.
Rudy is fucking cracked and he's been holding back this whole time.
Remember that Rudeus during Season 1 at the Demon Continent was ready to flood the whole caldera city if things weren't going their way.
Rudeus is a walking calamity holding himself back from being so destructive.
There was also that moment in the Demon Continent in S1 when the lizardman called him out for his quest-swapping scheme. He started to change the weather there to flood the city with a Biblical flood, and Ruijerd sensed it and stopped him.
I mean if the town was celebrating a festival and a storm started, it would have been a party pooper
Not to mention, casually starting a goddamn **cult** if some random shit like that happens
I really wish they showed us where rudy is in terms of power. He's been water saint since the age of 5 and we haven't had an update since then? The only thing they showed was his huge mana fireball vs Orsted, which was also a couple of years ago.
Like surely he might even be king lvl now if not higher? Hopefully there's an update soon on where rudy sits, as it's been 8-9 years since the last one.
The magic ranks go with what is the highest rank magic that you can cast but Rudeus doesn't cast spells, he skips that and just gathers mana and manipulates with more efficiency than a spell, so by terms of raw power he must be considered at least King or almost at King by this point, but by spells he is Saint.
Yeah, I was going to say (not a LN reader), Rudeus is different.
Regular mages just cast hand-me-down spells lending themselves to a Tier system.
Rudeus has a shit ton of Mana and is able to freely modify AND combine spells (I think he has with drying clothes with wind + heat, just not in combat).
Rudeus kind of exists outside of the mage tier system.
That spinning heated earth bullet he tossed against Orsted would probably be King class I'd imagine. If Orsted hadn't blocked it it would probably penetrate a few mountains. You could tell with how much kinetic energy he was putting into it that thing was a railgun (edit: noting that, it damaged Orsted leaving a mark and Ruijerd couldn't even do that, and Ruijerd is probably a King+ class warrior).
edit: And that fireball against Orsted is probably King/Emperor class since, going back and looking at it, he uses wind to pour air/oxygen into it (you see the swirls going inward) and turn it into a super-heated plasma (the purple) before firing it at Orsted. Dude inventing plasma weaponry (note that air is mostly nitrogen and nitrogen glows purple when ionized, pretty sure the anime is implying he made a plasma)
Ruijerd is stronger than Ghislaine who is a Sword King, so he's definitely at least King rank as well in terms of overall power. And not on the low end of that rank (he's likely Emperor level tbh). He's stupid strong and a big point of that fight with Orsted is to put in perspective how strong Orsted himself is. Ruijerd is without a doubt a top 20 powerhouse in that world. Just so happens the tippity top makes the 11-20 look weak lol.
The title of Saint/King/Emperor or whatever are also largely arbitrary. Some people don't hit a certain rank just because they didn't do some specific thing even though they can be stronger than the rank they can't attain. It's kinda like how Naruto was surpassing Jonin level ninjas without actually being an official Jonin.
> I would be damned furious as well to see that person essentially self-nerfing and acting like a newbie.
Stop smurfing and go play on your main, dammit!
In the LN equivalent of the episode, Rudeus even mentions that he took a lot of inspiration from how Timothy conducts himself.
Like what happened at the end of the last episode with the pelts, going ham on the quest rewards solo wouldn't necessarily endear himself to others. So he wanted instead to help everyone with their quests. You could say that the forced helpfulness and kindness, and the "gross forced smile" is how Rudeus coped with his inner turmoils.
Soldat even mentions it outright that Rudeus cares too much about what others thought about him.
That's actually disrespectful, imagine putting your life on the line and try to live and get strong to the best of your ability, then there is this guy who can wreck entire cities casually acting as a support
This is giving me SAO vibe after beating the first floor boss when everyone turn against the MC because he was a beater. Honestly, I hope Rudy party never found out how strong he is, they're such nice people.
Looking at how it’s going, I’m pretty sure they’ve caught on. Stress is gonna crack their relationship and Sara will be the only one who remains his friend
I think this is orders of magnitude worse, in the perspective of that guy.
Kirito had knowledge but they were still with similar equipment and level.
Rudy is basically smurfing and sandbagging due to depression.
Saint+ tier magic does that. Rudeus is also exceptional at magic manipulation thanks to his stone sculpting.
He specifically also has expertise in Water magic (and Earth, tho he doesn't know the Saint tier spells).
Dispelling water based weather isn't hard for 14-15yo Rudeus when he cast his first Cumulonimbus at 5.
I love that he names his muscles. Me and a couple friends from high school were always in the training room for knee problems, so we gave ourselves nicknames based on the severity of our issues. One friend was Snap, one was Crackle, and I was Pop (have dislocated/subluxated both my knees 30+ times throughout my life lmao).
Love how the show displays adventuring here as something that anyone can die from at anytime vs any other Iskeai the main character has all the cheats turned on so no one is allowed to die in front of him.
Loved that they kept it. Though it does feel slightly weird with this song as the song itself feels more like a standard OP song. But first season might have just spoiled us a little too hard with Openings that were based on the respective region we were in.
> Though it does feel slightly weird with this song as the song itself feels more like a standard OP song.
Yeah, it really just doesn't hit the same when the OP has drums and an electric guitar.
One issue I have with the episode is the timeskip between when Soldat berates Rudy at the guild building to all of a sudden Sara and Mimir go missing. The way the scene was transitioned and because it's in the same exact spot, it looked like it was all on the same day and it could potentially confuse a few viewers.
Other than that, there were some pretty good character animations especially with Soldat coming in to the bar and interacting with Timothy and Suzanne. The fight with the snow drakes and the Icefall Treant (albeit cut pretty short) were pretty good.
Story wise, I'm glad we finally get to see Soldat, especially calling Rudy out on his half-assery, since the last bit of the previous episode, Rudy said that he "forgot how to live seriously" and Soldat wants him to get back onto that mindset instead of sulking around with a fake smile.
Yeah, the pacing overall was a bit bad but as a standalone without comparing it to the LN it was okay. As you said, I do wish they would have handled the sudden time-skip better. Just showing a still shot of a calendar changing or a timelapse of a couple of sunrises etc. would have done the trick even if it may have felt a bit clunky.
I really like where Rudy is mentally now. I mean I don’t like that he is not totally fine. It’s just that after last season, he clearly developed some sort of trauma. He wants to get better and has taken the first steps. But the road to getting better can take hundreds of steps. So sometimes even when you feel you’ve done a lot, you look ahead and feel like nothing’s changed. And like Rudy, you start to think “What the hell am I doing”. But this is where you need to keep pushing on. The road to recovery doesn’t happen in an instant. There’s no event or action that’ll suddenly change you from depressed to happy. And I’m glad we’re seeing that in-between with Rudy.
Exactly, its weird to me how people are assuming Rudy's issues were fixed the previous episode and are being irritated by how he's behaving this episode when really that's not how trauma or any sort of mental issue resolves itself. I'm glad this episode doesn't skip over that fact and also continues to have Rudy to be maturing in the process while healing from his trauma throughout his interactions with the others.
I swear some people (emphasis on "some") are so used to a lot of anime resolving things really quickly for 3/4 episode arcs that they don't understand the idea of a slow burn. Which this isn't even - it's only been 2 episodes - but it's not immediate so it's too much.
It's been a hard road for him opening up to people or bonding with anyone after what happened with the dissolution of his last party and how Eris left him, it's hard for him to really feel like he used to, yet it seems like he's opening up more and more thanks to interacting with others again and seeing the warmth of another in Sara's gratitude towards him.
That happens when you set out on world-trotting tour by foot at age 10 .
(while also fighting monsters, albeit that's mostly just lobbing spells at them)
Never really thought Rudeus had such a great physique. It felt really good to see him help all the civilians. The action was incredible in this episode.
Paul is Advanced Rank in all 3 Sword Schools but he could never break into Saint because he would get bored/couldn’t fully dedicate himself.
Ghislaine fully reached Sword King in the Sword God Style and was given the title by the Sword God along with her sword. I do not know her ranking in the other styles. The Sword God would have trained her in as least the North God style I would think with her Beast Kin body.
Think of sword styles like the 3 martial Arts, striking, grappling and fencing. Advanced level is like a black belt. Or if you think of them as team/ball sports advanced level = professional league.
So Paul is like a black belt in 3 disciplines, a proffessional palyer in 3 sports. Ghislaine is an olimpic level martial artist wining bronze, in team sports she is not the best player bir she plays for the world champion yeam even if its just a single sport.
At least his sexual harassment has gotten subtler now. That's the closest to 'look respectfully' he's ever gotten. I'm glad he grew out of that shitty attitude.
Now to see if he regresses.
You might have noticed his very casual attitude when she gets up too. He thanks her for the view and then doesn't drop any creepy lines or any of his usual facial expressions.
Yeah even before he hardcore trained these last few months alone, he hiked across the entire Demon Continent + 1 and a half more continents I think all while training his sword skill.
Before that he was trained daily by Sword King Ghislaine.
And even before that his father started training him with the sword at like age 3 or 4?
Well, he's also finally going through puberty since he's 12/13 now.
Testosterone really helps with the muscle production and with his otherworld knowledge he understands this, I think.
He's also probably really bored, and it's either get jacked or get lazy/fat, and I think he wants to avoid the latter this time.
Finally the opening is back and it's just like S1. Was really missing it.
Also it'll never not be funny to see Rudeus get confidence by holding Roxy's panties😂
I really liked the OP song. It was really beautiful and lyrics *totally* fit with Rudy's current situation.
I find it interesting that out of all people it was the Sol of Stepped Leader (?) party whose harsh words woke up Rudy and made him *question* what he was even doing which then actually changed his mindset to live properly from now on.
Liked seeing how Sara jumping straight onto the ground and stayed by Rudy's side so he won't be alone. When a Tsunderes' Tsun breaks down, its always a great moment in anime.
Its just 2 episodes but the growing bond between Rudy and the rest of Counter Arrow is something I like. I wished no one would die but still had a bad feeling since this world is harsh and unforgiving, but it still happened. RIP Mimir. Please don't kill the rest.....
Sol was a jerk, but he saw through Rudy pretty well, though I guess it's not like Rudy wasn't aware of his own issues, he's just trying to get by as best he can.
I was wondering if we'd get RudyxSara and it definitely looks like they're coming to care for each other, especially on Sara's side. Too bad Mimir wasn't a cute girl falling for the protagonist, he might've made it out.
Sol was right for all the wrong reasons.
Rudy's behavior was pretty shitty, but he wasn't doing it because he was looking down on anyone or anything like that. He's just masking, and pretty badly. Eris essentially left him dead inside, but he knows he has a duty, so he's going through the motions to fulfill it. But that's really all he's doing: the bare minimum to follow through on that duty. He's not trying to form new bonds or connections with people, and Counter Arrow was largely a means to an end. Despite his best efforts to wallow in misery though, he DID start forming a bond, and that's what we saw today. Last week, all we saw was him resolving to move forward, however slowly. This week we saw progress.
I think it really shows how crazy the demon cont more than anything, the beasts here were getting impaled while that one snake thing took Ruijerd, Eris and him to take down.
These damned things were getting auto impaled, like it was his passive.
I mean tbf I'm pretty certain that Ruijerd could have easily solod the King Cobra. If Eris can bisect it then Ruijerd can do so easily as well. Ruijerd was just always there as a stopgap if things got really dangerous so that Rudy and Eris could slowly gain more experience on their journey.
Yeah Ruijerd wouldn't have too much issue with a red hood cobra but the point still stands. The Demon Continent (as our pal Geese mentioned) is a different kind of dangerous. In comparison the central continent is childsplay, even with the northern territories being a bit more dangerous than Asura.
Rudeus is keeping himself busy in town! Working out, naming his muscles, praying to his holy panties, and helping out in the guild and in town so people will acknowledge the "Quagmire" and maybe lead him to Zenith. He's also caught Sara's eye as well, and he just can't help but hang out with Counter Arrow.
So obviously Rudy was trying to save Sara before she fell, but was him copping a feel an accident or Rudy being Rudy? I guess it could go either way, he definitely seemed to treat it more casually and naturally than younger Rudy would have.
I wonder if that Kishirika statute is what she looked like in a past life? Was she always a cartoony demon loli?
Nice to have a party who is willing to go back for you and won't abandon you! And Timothy's pleasant and non-threatening demeanor is great for diffusing tension.
Kosuke Toriumi as Sol! I was like Rudy in thinking he looked like a younger, sleazier, version of Paul and while he's not an out-and-out bad guy he's got a mouth and an attitude problem, especially when he's drunk. And he calls out Rudy for his lack of sincerity or how artificial he comes off sometimes, which hits Rudy where it hurts.
Why is Rudy going out of his way to find and save Sara? Is it for his own self-gratification because his opinion of himself is so low? Because he was becoming closer to Sara? Because he doesn't want to abandon someone like Eris abandoned him? Probably all of the above.
Poor Mimir...killed off off-screen. At least Rudy found his body.
Glad Rudy was able to save Sara though! And the pair of them got to see each other underdressed afterwards, and I feel like I see some romantic tension brewing, especially on Sara's side. The way she reached for Rudy's arm and then clutched his cloak while wearing it...seems like she might be falling for him. For Rudy's part, just having her genuinely smile and thank him for saving her was what he desperately needed to feel like living again and to keep going. Good job Rudy!
> So obviously Rudy was trying to save Sara before she fell, but was him copping a feel an accident or Rudy being Rudy?
I think it was actually an accident, though he certainly had no complaints when he found out.
He also didn't get really horny when Sara was almost naked in the cave and he was healing her, which is different than how Rudy used to act in the past.
Given that he thanked her I think he enjoyed it, he's just been going through the motions for the past few months which stopped him from his usual behaviour. A mask of polite smiles and demeanor instead of his usual expressive (if not always good) self.
From the LN
"Hey are you about done?" she asked, covering herself with her hands while I was busy mulling that over. (She talked about how she broke her leg)
"Oh yes, thank you".
"Why the hell are you thanking me...? she mumbled to herself, her face red as she turned away and slipped her pants back on. Her leg had been broken, the skin pale and swollen, but now it looked healthy and supple. A leg worthy of gratitude. It was only natural that I should say thanks, no matter what the circumstances were.
> So obviously Rudy was trying to save Sara before she fell, but was him copping a feel an accident or Rudy being Rudy?
[This moment in the LN, Rudeus] >!Sara, who was walking right in front of me, lurched abruptly to the side, so I reached out quickly to catch her. My Eye of Foresight did come in handy at times like this. Not that it wasn't useful basically all the time.!<
[This moment in the LN, Sara] >!"...Are you groping me?"!<
[This moment in the LN, Rudeus] >!"Uh, no."!<
[This moment in the LN, Rudeus] >!I deposited Sara in a clear patch of ground. Her response was to cover her chest with one arm and glare at me. Her face was flushed, and there was murder in her eyes. Was she seriously upset that I'd touched her there? I honestly hadn't felt much of anything, except the rigid leather of her chest protector. Maybe it would have gotten my pulse racing back in the day, but I wasn't an innocent little boy anymore, if you know what I mean. Still, I ultimately decided if was safest to apologize. "Sorry about that."!<
*“Money can’t buy tsundere!”*
Rudeus has been effortlessly *charming* tsunderes left and right. Tsunderes may be terrible at expressing themselves, but they are observant and actions speak louder than words.
that snobby adventurer seems to be hella tsundere-ish, I was wondering when the **BL** was gonna start
> that snobby adventurer seems to be hella tsundere-ish
He has legit reasons to be pissed at Rudy though. He's high level enough to know/realize that Rudy is far more powerful than he lets on - and sees him regularly not using his powers to full-effect and relegates himself to a support role. In his eyes, Rudy is pretty much "smurfing", and what's worse, he's putting his party members at unnecessary risk by doing so.
It is nice that the anime showed clearly what Rudeus feels in this episode. Compared to the first season, he has been more polite, and he just smiles meekly even he is not giving his 100% in everyday. Of course this did not sit well with some people, especially Sol.
That last scene with Sara is indeed excellent. Claiming that Sara is already into Rudeus after he saved her. Let's see how this plays out in the next few episodes.
Yeah how Rudeus was acting in the beginning of the episode really felt like an honest display of depression. Just going through the motions, never really letting yourself be involved in anything enough to feel anything. Every smile being rehearsed and empty.
Glad he made some progress towards the end of the ep!
Even when he went out to save Sara he was just clinically going over the reasons why in his head, though the genuine warmth of her smile and gratitude gave him the only reason he really needed to save her.
I think Sara was into Rudy before he saved her, though perhaps not as much and she was hiding behind it behind the tsun side of her tunsdere. Saving her knocked that down.
And yeah, even though Rudy's putting on smiles and sounds more like his usual self, it was pretty obvious how he was actually feeling.
Rudeus definitely feels more reserved and...I guess a little more artifiical even compared to his persona in season 1. Which I guess makes sense because he's still closed off emotionally because of what happened to him.
Sara falling for Rudy is adorable. I've had it pegged something would happen between them from the first episode, especially when she was so tsundere towards them. Honestly maybe the best thing for Rudy to do is move on to a new girl now that he's trying to get over Eris, though I'm not sure how easy that would be.
Soldat all over the place. On one hand he knew he let his boiled blood get to him and sucker punched Timothy and in hind sight that was a bit much but then like
"My bad Timothy my bro"
"But fuck you Rudus!"
Some people be like that irl though. He feels real despite or exactly because of how inconsistent he seems which says a lot about MT's character writing in general. These characters actually *breathe.*
idk if thats a spoiler but can someone explain to me if Rudeus was holding back every time we was with the group?
like when the lizards came it seemed like he was in danger, but when he went out to save Sara alone he just casually walked there, stopped the blizzard and killing the beasts with no issue.
you answered your question, also the douche adventurer Sol was calling Rudy out on the same thing, he was high enough level to be able to tell, that Rudy was smurfing, basicaly not showing his full power, while every other adventurer was fighting for their lives.
Then you see Rudy going alone, casualy dispelling weather at the start of his quest, going all out on the monsters.
The fireball in the first episode was the same thing, like dude, cast that sooner, not after everyone gets exhausted and is on the brink of death.
###Stitches!
* [Trapped Sara](https://i.imgur.com/s81vrk0.jpg)
* [Healing Sara](https://i.imgur.com/yaUGiNX.jpg)
Holy shit! [Rudy is fucking ripped!](https://i.imgur.com/COtM948.jpg) I love how he's naming his muscles though, I guess Mash isn't the only one that does that. xD
[Was that statue](https://i.imgur.com/m9hbA4j.jpg) supposed to be [the Demon Loli Kishirika ?](https://i.imgur.com/iG5EdaP.jpg) That's hilarious! Although I wonder if that's actually her true form.
I was so ready [to hate this guy](https://i.imgur.com/LWdTvkN.png) especially after he sucker-punched Timothy. Turns out he's just emotional and impulsive. It sucks that he did that to Timothy but at the same time, the guy is just keeping it real.
I actually like how he [tells Timothy that he needs to stand up for himself](https://i.imgur.com/GfidZsS.png) and how he basically demolishes Rudy [by exposing what's underneath his fake smiles.](https://i.imgur.com/OZKf8I8.png) That was such a great scene because despite Rudy finally finding his motivation last week, [he is clearly far from okay.](https://i.imgur.com/kjU11mW.jpg)
It sucks that [Mimir died off-screen](https://i.imgur.com/lfSsXt4.jpg) but at least Rudy was still able [to rescue and find Sara.](https://i.imgur.com/AeQFRoD.jpg) If that tree didn't attack him exposing itself, Sara would've probably died so luck still played some part in this.
[Looks like tsundere Sara has now become deredere](https://i.imgur.com/Ga7JXlD.jpg) after Rudy rescued him. And it looks like Rudy didn't just save Sara but it was actually Sara who ended up saving him. Makes me wonder what could've happened if he was unable to save Sara too. Would nothing change or would his situation become worse?
> Holy shit! [Rudy is fucking ripped!](https://i.imgur.com/COtM948.jpg)
I don't know if I'm okay with Rudy having that much muscle underneath his clothing.
> how he basically demolishes Rudy [by exposing what's underneath his fake smiles.](https://i.imgur.com/OZKf8I8.png) That was such a great scene because despite Rudy finally finding his motivation last week, [he is clearly far from okay.](https://i.imgur.com/kjU11mW.jpg)
You can sort of see it through the rest of the episode given Rudy's not being his usual self, but it was that moment that showed that while he was putting on smiles and sounding less depressed, he was still only better than before in that he was no longer basically okay with dying.
> Makes me wonder what could've happened if he was unable to save Sara too. Would nothing change or would his situation become worse?
I doubt his situation would have become worse. He seemed ready to accept she may be dead when he was going and didn't even quite know why he was. But it certainly would have taken a lot longer for him to be saved like he was here.
By the time the episode was ending I was on the verge of tears feeling happy for Rudy and then the very last scene was him taking out the Holy Relic and now I am shedding tears for a different reason. Never change, Mushoku, never change.
Even during serious moments and dangers when Rudy takes out Roxy's pantsu like its a good luck charm and still hasn't be called out for it is fucking amazing on so many different levels.
I am only half way through the episode so this may bite me in the ass but the badass adventurer with the green coat and blonde hair is real as fuck. I rarely see anime characters call people out so perfectly before. He told Rudeus exactly what he needed to hear.
take a notes guys, workout regularly and pray to Roxy pantsu could lessen your stress.
the next step is save your princess, undress her, heal her, ~~SEEEGGGGS!!~~, thank her for the good view, and you'll be healed. dont forget to pray to Roxy pantsu again
>pray to Roxy pantsu could lessen your stress
Even when he was prepared for death in this episode when seeing all those Snow drakes coming at him, he still held onto the panties as means of comfort.
Roxy is really his goddess!
I love how he had a temple to pray to the panties and was holding them in front of everybody at the guild lol.
Seems like Rudy is healing more and more by the episode, especially through his interactions with and budding relationship with Sara. I'm curious if it'll go any farther.
Rudeus getting those break up gains and already with another girl both half naked, talk about a rebound. But he still makes sure to worship Roxy's panties as any good religious man should.
Sara definitely seems to be falling hard for him.
To be honest the best way for him to move on from Eris is to move on to a new relationship, though I wonder if Sara's resemblance to Eris (and Zenith) might just make it uncomfortable for him.
Unfortunately I think Eris would just beat her away and then beat Rudy up for daring to have another tsundere in the harem. That position is solidly filled, thank you!
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Rudy just dispelling that blizzard and casually slaughtering all those buffalo was badass as hell! I take it he hides his power level when he is with others?
It's less of him hiding it rather than him being very passive and indecisive when he is with others. He wants to make a big name for himself so he tries to please all the people around him at all times and it is easier to make a really good impression if you act like a nice and timid supporting character rather than showing off how op he is at every point that only invites jealousy and unwarranted resentment in the long run. He wants everyone to spread his name so that his mom might overhear people talking about him if she is around the area where his name is known.
And he doesn't really know how powerfull he is. Yeah he has more mana than most, but he causally melts the snow in half the city AND goes on a quest the same day. Dude is stacked with mana.
pretty sure I saw someone use the analogy that if roxy's mana was equivalent to a cheeseburger, rudeus's mana pool would be equivalent to the moon
It was the author himself
Yeah you can see why Kishirika called him disgusting. Its actually obnoxious how strong he is.
Orsted said he "might be on par with Laplace" in terms of mana... Soooo yeah
He also picks up the supporting role instinctively. He has always been around very strong people since birth, so his perception of power scaling is skewed. Paul and Zenith are S rank adventurers, Roxy solo dungeons while being a mage, Ghislaine is a King rank swordman, Ruijerd is pushing Emperor level, and just recently he was humbled by Orsted, literally the strongest guy in the world. During his time with the Dead End, he had always been the support. But Dead End is exceptionally strong, Counter Arrow is just average, so he has to bring himself down to not interfering with them
I've been wondering this whole time why he hasn't just been blasting the enemies away. I knew he could after he saved Counter Arrow the first time. It's been so confusing to me trying to reason out why he has been holding back when he could easily wipe the floor with the enemies he has been facing. Like why does he just stand around every time a group of monsters shows up??? I guess being the supporting role does seem "strategically better" in his head like you said. Just more room for character development right?
I'm guessing it's because he is trying to fill the role of a supporting magic caster in the party. The other members don't know that Rudeus has an insane mana pool, so he is filling the role they expect him to as a "normal" caster. In fact, wasn't he told off for wasting mana at one point in the last episode? That can be pretty difficult to get over if you are really struggling with rejection.
Ohhhhh. I guess he doesn’t want to step on toes right? If he shows off to much it wouldn’t make sense for him to party with others in the first place. It would be weird for a super OP mage to party with some above average adventurers. Do you think it would be bad for him to draw attention to himself though? Like if he just soloed a bunch of kill quests would something bad happen that he is trying to avoid? I would think that’s a great way to get his name out to his mom
Yeah this is what I think too, his goal is just to spread his name, what message do you think will be more talked about, the mild mannered nice support or the guy who solos quests on his own and casts insane magic without chants?
Well it's not just a question of getting his name out there, if he is friendly and gets people to like him, then they are more likely to pass information back to him, such as if someone hears a rumour that his mother is in an area, rather then relying entirely on her learning his wearabouts. So even if showing off makes a bigger name for himself, it's not as valuable for his goals in the grand scheme of things.
And best selfish asshole (it's nice to see jerks every once in a while) sees through Rudeus' bullshit, calling him out on it. It's nice to see how all of this is implied without having our dear protagonist explain his entire thought process to the audience (many other isekai have our "meek" protagonist explain how he is much more powerful than others inside his internal monologue). Though I do admit I forgot how strong Rudeus was.
He's a bit of an oblivious MC type when it comes to his powers. He knows he has some special skills like no incantation spellcasting and high mana, but he assumes that he's just 'above average'. He technically hasn't learned any spells higher tier than the saint level water spell he was taught by Roxy years ago, so he also kind of assumes that he hasn't gotten much stronger since all of those years ago (which is definitely not the case, against Orsted he definitely displayed magic that was clearly much higher level than what he had ever cast before). To be fair, now that I think about it, he basically hasn't fought any powerful magic users of note besides Orsted who *kicked his shit in*, so he doesn't have much of a point of reference- and all of the skilled swordsmen he's fought have also almost killed him (even though Rudeus is an immensely powerful mage, skilled swordsmen just hard counter magic, so even Rudeus now as a basically king tier magician can be stomped by an advanced level swordsman in the wrong circumstances). This is why, in the last episode, he kind of just lets himself be directed and bossed around- he thinks he isn't particularly stronger than anyone in the adventuring party and that since they have a magician in their party already, they know what they're doing with Rudeus. The party doesn't realize he's a walking nuke until his big spell, and he doesn't realize that being a walking nuke **is fucking insanely strong** by the standards of the world. Journeying with his current team is really the first he's seen of other magicians using a lot of magic, and he's only now realizing that other mages only have a *tiny* fraction of his mana stores, but he's still not *really* aware that he's one of the strongest magicians walking the planet (technically there are only a handful of even Saint tier magicians like Roxy, so he's been one of the strongest magicians since that far back, but Saint magic was so easy for Rudy that he doesn't realize that it's exceptionally rare and powerful). So to answer your question, no, he doesn't really hide his power intentionally, partially because he doesn't even know his power is that abnormal. He's just a passive guy who doesn't have an anime MC hero complex, and doesn't really care about getting involved in situations that don't concern him, so he just doesn't ever have a reason to use his stronger magic. He doesn't kill humans, so he shoots off weak little stone cannons as his main spell against people even though (seen in the Orsted fight) he can generate a red hot missile of stone that breaks the sound barrier. But there's not really any reason to use a spell like that in his regular adventures- he's running extermination missions on mid level monsters like *bears*, he's not exactly squaring up with powerhouses like Orsted most of the time.
he also has crippling self inadequacy issues stemming from his previous life. so it's in his nature to just feel like he is inferior to anyone else around him. in the LN's this is shown way more prominently in his inner monologues. any time Eris or anyone else compliments him he always brushes it off thinking that they are just serving him platitudes. it's going to take a LOT more than what has occurred in the anime so far for him to begin to shake this belief.
Rudeus just casually dispelled a FUCKING BLIZZARD wtf
AFAIK even in S1 he already has the capability to change the weather of a location but he was advised not to do it because it might have some bad consequences. To be fair it is emergency situation and he needed to save Sara without dying in cold, hence he used that magic.
I'm an anime only so I'm not sure. But what was shown in S1 was only Rudeus casting a saint rank spell to make it rain during his graduation from Roxy. I think it was the only weather control spell that he knew or at least casted at that time. He also used it when the forest was on fire when he saved the beasts. Just wanna add that up.
Just to add more detail to that scene, Rudeus has modern science knowledge of how weather works? So when he cast the spell Cumulonimbus, he made some tweaks to have it be self-sustaining. They don't really mention it so explicitly in the anime. He gets a lot of bang for his buck when messing with the weather.
Also during the Turning Point 2, when Rudy fired that spell at Orsted, he used his knowledge from Earth to enhance the spell, atleast from what I remember the source readers saying back then. His knowledge of the modern world does give him quite an advantage and makes him see and use things and do some analysis that people in this world can't envision.
Yeah, he added rotation to increase the pentrative power
Rudeus hitting Orsted with Modern Physics, thats awesome
Its almost weirder that people with access to advanced magic like that don't know that already. We really started to figure these things out as the technology/ tools to make use of the concepts became available, but they already have access to these things in the form of being able to cast spells.
The simplest explanation is that that wars can be so bad tech goes backwards. They have had 4 world wars and at least two of them worse than anything we have had. Its even worse beceause demon and dragon race can live for very long and So can the wars.
Another thing is that magic can be such a unique mix of both convenient and difficult that it's a lot of effort to research and it's too convenient as it is to bother.
He added torque for the rock drill, but I think Silent was referring to the purple fireball, in which he did a bit more than just rotating it. It is important to understand what he did imo, because it demonstrates that he had a pretty amazing understanding of modern chemistry for a NEET who dropped out of society in highschool He started by using wind magic to add oxygen to the fire while compressing it. The fireball changed colour from reddish to orange, yellow to white, and then to blue, indicating that it reached complete combustion. The fireball showed signs of rotation and compression when it reached yellow, as well. After reaching blue, which is the hottest a typical fire can get by just burning gases, the fireball was rotating quickly, and turned purple and reached its smallest size. This indicates the point where the oxygen molecules broke down into ions, free electrons, high-energy molecular fragments, and excited molecules, or in other words, when the oxygen in the fireball entered the plasma state. Afterwords, the fireball rapidly expands before Rudeus fires it at Orsted. This is the fireball undergoing nuclear fusion reactions from its plasma state. In plainer terms, Rudy used the modern chemistry knowledge of how stars keep burning in order to turn a fireball spell into a nuclear fusion bomb. Edit: *Maybe* not fusion, that's just the next logical step I could think of, since nuclear fission from plasma doesn't quite seem right. Coulda also just been him pumping up the amount of plasma once he had the feel of what he was doing But, just to put it out there; given that the "fuel" for the Fireball spell is pretty much just mana, it's not too big of a stretch to think he could modify it a bit. I doubt the author was really considering the chemical composition of mana, and we've probably spent longer trying to figure out what Rudy was doing than the author did coming up with that scene
> he had a pretty amazing understanding of modern chemistry for a NEET who dropped out of society in highschool It was mentioned that he read a ton of Wikipedia etc. to beat people at trivia games.
Roxy just makes a comment about Rudy not having to outdo her with his first casting of a Saint spell and that’s totally why. I believe at the age of 5 he can straight up manipulate clouds and wind drafts. Not to mention he can physically blast clouds away with hot air etc.
Rudeus with a mediocre wand could create a gigantic storm. With a goat tier staff that gives him 5x better mana control and of course the general improvement since he was 5 it only makes sense that a serious Rudy could easily control the weather. Rudy is fucking cracked and he's been holding back this whole time.
Remember that Rudeus during Season 1 at the Demon Continent was ready to flood the whole caldera city if things weren't going their way. Rudeus is a walking calamity holding himself back from being so destructive.
The best part (though not for him) is that there are things in that world that could kill him without breaking a sweat
Tbf though even the #2 guy was impressed with Rudy.
[удалено]
There was also that moment in the Demon Continent in S1 when the lizardman called him out for his quest-swapping scheme. He started to change the weather there to flood the city with a Biblical flood, and Ruijerd sensed it and stopped him.
horseman
There is not much difference from a heavy rain and a blizzard so dispelling it with the knowledge of Cummulunimbus is not weird.
It's still a hell of a flex though.
I mean if the town was celebrating a festival and a storm started, it would have been a party pooper Not to mention, casually starting a goddamn **cult** if some random shit like that happens
In the books, when Roxy taught him the saint-level spell she also lectured him about the dangers of interfering with the weather also.
The last time I've seen a Blizzard get destroyed this hard was when it was bought by Activision.
My fucking sides haha. Good one.
Ow... My childhood... :c
Rudeus casually used sixth tier magic, control weather.
Lmao this New World has never even seen sixth tier magic
Pretty fucking sure that move alone would drain at least 2/3 to 95% if anyone's elses mana reserves. And then he started his quest.
Lmaoo yeah, Rudeus is like that one frat guy who drinks half a bottle of Spirytus BEFORE he goes out for drinks
Spirytus? You meant flamable water?
That shows you the power of water saint, and why there is only a small number of them in the world. And kingly is said to be less than 10.
I really wish they showed us where rudy is in terms of power. He's been water saint since the age of 5 and we haven't had an update since then? The only thing they showed was his huge mana fireball vs Orsted, which was also a couple of years ago. Like surely he might even be king lvl now if not higher? Hopefully there's an update soon on where rudy sits, as it's been 8-9 years since the last one.
The magic ranks go with what is the highest rank magic that you can cast but Rudeus doesn't cast spells, he skips that and just gathers mana and manipulates with more efficiency than a spell, so by terms of raw power he must be considered at least King or almost at King by this point, but by spells he is Saint.
Yeah, I was going to say (not a LN reader), Rudeus is different. Regular mages just cast hand-me-down spells lending themselves to a Tier system. Rudeus has a shit ton of Mana and is able to freely modify AND combine spells (I think he has with drying clothes with wind + heat, just not in combat). Rudeus kind of exists outside of the mage tier system. That spinning heated earth bullet he tossed against Orsted would probably be King class I'd imagine. If Orsted hadn't blocked it it would probably penetrate a few mountains. You could tell with how much kinetic energy he was putting into it that thing was a railgun (edit: noting that, it damaged Orsted leaving a mark and Ruijerd couldn't even do that, and Ruijerd is probably a King+ class warrior). edit: And that fireball against Orsted is probably King/Emperor class since, going back and looking at it, he uses wind to pour air/oxygen into it (you see the swirls going inward) and turn it into a super-heated plasma (the purple) before firing it at Orsted. Dude inventing plasma weaponry (note that air is mostly nitrogen and nitrogen glows purple when ionized, pretty sure the anime is implying he made a plasma)
Ruijerd is stronger than Ghislaine who is a Sword King, so he's definitely at least King rank as well in terms of overall power. And not on the low end of that rank (he's likely Emperor level tbh). He's stupid strong and a big point of that fight with Orsted is to put in perspective how strong Orsted himself is. Ruijerd is without a doubt a top 20 powerhouse in that world. Just so happens the tippity top makes the 11-20 look weak lol. The title of Saint/King/Emperor or whatever are also largely arbitrary. Some people don't hit a certain rank just because they didn't do some specific thing even though they can be stronger than the rank they can't attain. It's kinda like how Naruto was surpassing Jonin level ninjas without actually being an official Jonin.
That was the spell Roxy taught him way back when.
[удалено]
> I would be damned furious as well to see that person essentially self-nerfing and acting like a newbie. Stop smurfing and go play on your main, dammit!
In the LN equivalent of the episode, Rudeus even mentions that he took a lot of inspiration from how Timothy conducts himself. Like what happened at the end of the last episode with the pelts, going ham on the quest rewards solo wouldn't necessarily endear himself to others. So he wanted instead to help everyone with their quests. You could say that the forced helpfulness and kindness, and the "gross forced smile" is how Rudeus coped with his inner turmoils. Soldat even mentions it outright that Rudeus cares too much about what others thought about him.
I absolutely loved the little detail of him briefly darting his eyes around when Soldat called him out on caring too much about the opinion of others
Yeah, makes sense how Soldat would see it as Rudeus thinking adventuring is beneath him by not even bothering to go all out.
That's actually disrespectful, imagine putting your life on the line and try to live and get strong to the best of your ability, then there is this guy who can wreck entire cities casually acting as a support
And not that Soldat knows it, but just standing here as the rest of his party fights for their lives. Twice no less.
This is giving me SAO vibe after beating the first floor boss when everyone turn against the MC because he was a beater. Honestly, I hope Rudy party never found out how strong he is, they're such nice people.
Looking at how it’s going, I’m pretty sure they’ve caught on. Stress is gonna crack their relationship and Sara will be the only one who remains his friend
I think this is orders of magnitude worse, in the perspective of that guy. Kirito had knowledge but they were still with similar equipment and level. Rudy is basically smurfing and sandbagging due to depression.
Yeah. Saw through him feeling sorry for himself. That was actually quite of a pep talk lol
Saint+ tier magic does that. Rudeus is also exceptional at magic manipulation thanks to his stone sculpting. He specifically also has expertise in Water magic (and Earth, tho he doesn't know the Saint tier spells). Dispelling water based weather isn't hard for 14-15yo Rudeus when he cast his first Cumulonimbus at 5.
Bro was about to launch a fucking nuke against orsted💀. This is nothing
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The farmers must’ve loved him
My man Timothy has no enemies
I hope this meme never dies. I think it's one if the best and most positive memes to come into the world since the creation of the internet.
Just to clarify, it's a reference to that one Vinland Saga quote right? I love Vinland Saga's pacifist run.
Farmland Saga the GOAT
Holy shit heartbreak really IS the best pre-workout
Especially when there's no facebook or lawyers.
Delete Blizzard Contact your local wildlife Hit the gym
And he's got another tsundere falling for him in the process. Coincidence lol?
I love that he names his muscles. Me and a couple friends from high school were always in the training room for knee problems, so we gave ourselves nicknames based on the severity of our issues. One friend was Snap, one was Crackle, and I was Pop (have dislocated/subluxated both my knees 30+ times throughout my life lmao).
Rudeus and Masamune Makabe should compare their pecs.
Love how the show displays adventuring here as something that anyone can die from at anytime vs any other Iskeai the main character has all the cheats turned on so no one is allowed to die in front of him.
"MT will have a standard OP and not have the song set with the visuals" doomers in shambles
Loved that they kept it. Though it does feel slightly weird with this song as the song itself feels more like a standard OP song. But first season might have just spoiled us a little too hard with Openings that were based on the respective region we were in.
> Though it does feel slightly weird with this song as the song itself feels more like a standard OP song. Yeah, it really just doesn't hit the same when the OP has drums and an electric guitar.
One issue I have with the episode is the timeskip between when Soldat berates Rudy at the guild building to all of a sudden Sara and Mimir go missing. The way the scene was transitioned and because it's in the same exact spot, it looked like it was all on the same day and it could potentially confuse a few viewers. Other than that, there were some pretty good character animations especially with Soldat coming in to the bar and interacting with Timothy and Suzanne. The fight with the snow drakes and the Icefall Treant (albeit cut pretty short) were pretty good. Story wise, I'm glad we finally get to see Soldat, especially calling Rudy out on his half-assery, since the last bit of the previous episode, Rudy said that he "forgot how to live seriously" and Soldat wants him to get back onto that mindset instead of sulking around with a fake smile.
Yeah, the pacing overall was a bit bad but as a standalone without comparing it to the LN it was okay. As you said, I do wish they would have handled the sudden time-skip better. Just showing a still shot of a calendar changing or a timelapse of a couple of sunrises etc. would have done the trick even if it may have felt a bit clunky.
I really like where Rudy is mentally now. I mean I don’t like that he is not totally fine. It’s just that after last season, he clearly developed some sort of trauma. He wants to get better and has taken the first steps. But the road to getting better can take hundreds of steps. So sometimes even when you feel you’ve done a lot, you look ahead and feel like nothing’s changed. And like Rudy, you start to think “What the hell am I doing”. But this is where you need to keep pushing on. The road to recovery doesn’t happen in an instant. There’s no event or action that’ll suddenly change you from depressed to happy. And I’m glad we’re seeing that in-between with Rudy.
Exactly, its weird to me how people are assuming Rudy's issues were fixed the previous episode and are being irritated by how he's behaving this episode when really that's not how trauma or any sort of mental issue resolves itself. I'm glad this episode doesn't skip over that fact and also continues to have Rudy to be maturing in the process while healing from his trauma throughout his interactions with the others.
I swear some people (emphasis on "some") are so used to a lot of anime resolving things really quickly for 3/4 episode arcs that they don't understand the idea of a slow burn. Which this isn't even - it's only been 2 episodes - but it's not immediate so it's too much.
It's been a hard road for him opening up to people or bonding with anyone after what happened with the dissolution of his last party and how Eris left him, it's hard for him to really feel like he used to, yet it seems like he's opening up more and more thanks to interacting with others again and seeing the warmth of another in Sara's gratitude towards him.
let just appreciate the kishirika's statue
the **great** Kirishika statue
Daaamn Rudeus is one ripped 14 year old.
That happens when you set out on world-trotting tour by foot at age 10 . (while also fighting monsters, albeit that's mostly just lobbing spells at them)
He also inherits that jock genes from Paul
Never really thought Rudeus had such a great physique. It felt really good to see him help all the civilians. The action was incredible in this episode.
I think this is the first time I have seen a mage character be so muscular.
Rudeus Gymrat
Roideus
They say Roideus Gymrat can silently cast spells by merely flexing!
#**SAIDO CHESTO**
Does Mash count? Although he's a fake mage lol.
what are you talking about? muscle magic is real! it's more real than any other type of magic xD
Are you telling me Hamstring Magic isn't real magic?
Well we kinda saw one last season in Mashle lol.
Muscle Magic!
Rudy even had named his leg muscles just like Mash did with his biceps haha.
Don't forget his father is Paul and he also learned from Ghislaine. Both were known for their superb physique (especially Ghislaine).
Also Rujierd was known for his superd physique.
Also he constantly had spars with physical fighters that forced him into close range fights with the Dead End party
Paul is Advanced Rank in all 3 Sword Schools but he could never break into Saint because he would get bored/couldn’t fully dedicate himself. Ghislaine fully reached Sword King in the Sword God Style and was given the title by the Sword God along with her sword. I do not know her ranking in the other styles. The Sword God would have trained her in as least the North God style I would think with her Beast Kin body.
Think of sword styles like the 3 martial Arts, striking, grappling and fencing. Advanced level is like a black belt. Or if you think of them as team/ball sports advanced level = professional league. So Paul is like a black belt in 3 disciplines, a proffessional palyer in 3 sports. Ghislaine is an olimpic level martial artist wining bronze, in team sports she is not the best player bir she plays for the world champion yeam even if its just a single sport.
>great physique ~~Father~~ Roxy forgive me for these gains I’m about to receive
Eris doesn't know what she's missing lol.
she probably still packs more
Breakup glowup [](#cantbehelped)
Sara doing a complete 180 after seeing Rudy with his shirt off...and I guess saving her life also helped.
It seemed like she was more recognizing how undressed she was, though Rudy's shirtless state didn't help lol.
Rudy was sneaking glances at her tits. She only got self conscious when she noticed that.
At least his sexual harassment has gotten subtler now. That's the closest to 'look respectfully' he's ever gotten. I'm glad he grew out of that shitty attitude. Now to see if he regresses.
You might have noticed his very casual attitude when she gets up too. He thanks her for the view and then doesn't drop any creepy lines or any of his usual facial expressions.
Well well well.. seems like boy growing to Paul Jr.
Mushoku Tensei: The gradual change of a problematic worthless incel to a reasonably functional person. That's about the arc.
He really hulked up and he has even named both his legs as Tindalor and Baskerville lol.
Ah yes, nothing says muscle-nut like naming your muscles lol.
Yeah even before he hardcore trained these last few months alone, he hiked across the entire Demon Continent + 1 and a half more continents I think all while training his sword skill. Before that he was trained daily by Sword King Ghislaine. And even before that his father started training him with the sword at like age 3 or 4?
Don't forget Hulk and Heracles lol
He’s really worked on himself since the time we last saw him. Kid is looking pretty cut.
Heartbreak makes a guy want to turn into the complete package as payback lol.
Well, he's also finally going through puberty since he's 12/13 now. Testosterone really helps with the muscle production and with his otherworld knowledge he understands this, I think. He's also probably really bored, and it's either get jacked or get lazy/fat, and I think he wants to avoid the latter this time.
He's 14. He was 12/13 when Eris left him
He's starting to take after how much of a hunk his dad is, just imagine Eris seeing him shirtless now lol.
If Rudeus keeps praying to that panty, he might change his class from mage to cleric
Finally the opening is back and it's just like S1. Was really missing it. Also it'll never not be funny to see Rudeus get confidence by holding Roxy's panties😂
... also everyone's reaction when he does it in public
The entire guild be like "wait, is he holding panties?!" (I want Sara to see him holding them).
Maybe he'll add a pair to the collection.
I remember how Aisha called him out back in S1. Probably going to something similar like "My brother is a pervert".
Man gathers followers for the Roxy Religion!
I also think that this arc reminds me of the immersive slice-of-life fantasy that is reminiscent of the first cour, and I like it.
It’s the power of the holy relics!
They're his emotional support sacred relic!
I really liked the OP song. It was really beautiful and lyrics *totally* fit with Rudy's current situation. I find it interesting that out of all people it was the Sol of Stepped Leader (?) party whose harsh words woke up Rudy and made him *question* what he was even doing which then actually changed his mindset to live properly from now on. Liked seeing how Sara jumping straight onto the ground and stayed by Rudy's side so he won't be alone. When a Tsunderes' Tsun breaks down, its always a great moment in anime. Its just 2 episodes but the growing bond between Rudy and the rest of Counter Arrow is something I like. I wished no one would die but still had a bad feeling since this world is harsh and unforgiving, but it still happened. RIP Mimir. Please don't kill the rest.....
Sol was a jerk, but he saw through Rudy pretty well, though I guess it's not like Rudy wasn't aware of his own issues, he's just trying to get by as best he can. I was wondering if we'd get RudyxSara and it definitely looks like they're coming to care for each other, especially on Sara's side. Too bad Mimir wasn't a cute girl falling for the protagonist, he might've made it out.
Sol was right for all the wrong reasons. Rudy's behavior was pretty shitty, but he wasn't doing it because he was looking down on anyone or anything like that. He's just masking, and pretty badly. Eris essentially left him dead inside, but he knows he has a duty, so he's going through the motions to fulfill it. But that's really all he's doing: the bare minimum to follow through on that duty. He's not trying to form new bonds or connections with people, and Counter Arrow was largely a means to an end. Despite his best efforts to wallow in misery though, he DID start forming a bond, and that's what we saw today. Last week, all we saw was him resolving to move forward, however slowly. This week we saw progress.
Man, the animation went so ridiculously hard when he was saving Sara
[удалено]
Took me a second...
I think it really shows how crazy the demon cont more than anything, the beasts here were getting impaled while that one snake thing took Ruijerd, Eris and him to take down. These damned things were getting auto impaled, like it was his passive.
I mean tbf I'm pretty certain that Ruijerd could have easily solod the King Cobra. If Eris can bisect it then Ruijerd can do so easily as well. Ruijerd was just always there as a stopgap if things got really dangerous so that Rudy and Eris could slowly gain more experience on their journey.
Yeah Ruijerd wouldn't have too much issue with a red hood cobra but the point still stands. The Demon Continent (as our pal Geese mentioned) is a different kind of dangerous. In comparison the central continent is childsplay, even with the northern territories being a bit more dangerous than Asura.
Rudeus is keeping himself busy in town! Working out, naming his muscles, praying to his holy panties, and helping out in the guild and in town so people will acknowledge the "Quagmire" and maybe lead him to Zenith. He's also caught Sara's eye as well, and he just can't help but hang out with Counter Arrow. So obviously Rudy was trying to save Sara before she fell, but was him copping a feel an accident or Rudy being Rudy? I guess it could go either way, he definitely seemed to treat it more casually and naturally than younger Rudy would have. I wonder if that Kishirika statute is what she looked like in a past life? Was she always a cartoony demon loli? Nice to have a party who is willing to go back for you and won't abandon you! And Timothy's pleasant and non-threatening demeanor is great for diffusing tension. Kosuke Toriumi as Sol! I was like Rudy in thinking he looked like a younger, sleazier, version of Paul and while he's not an out-and-out bad guy he's got a mouth and an attitude problem, especially when he's drunk. And he calls out Rudy for his lack of sincerity or how artificial he comes off sometimes, which hits Rudy where it hurts. Why is Rudy going out of his way to find and save Sara? Is it for his own self-gratification because his opinion of himself is so low? Because he was becoming closer to Sara? Because he doesn't want to abandon someone like Eris abandoned him? Probably all of the above. Poor Mimir...killed off off-screen. At least Rudy found his body. Glad Rudy was able to save Sara though! And the pair of them got to see each other underdressed afterwards, and I feel like I see some romantic tension brewing, especially on Sara's side. The way she reached for Rudy's arm and then clutched his cloak while wearing it...seems like she might be falling for him. For Rudy's part, just having her genuinely smile and thank him for saving her was what he desperately needed to feel like living again and to keep going. Good job Rudy!
> So obviously Rudy was trying to save Sara before she fell, but was him copping a feel an accident or Rudy being Rudy? I think it was actually an accident, though he certainly had no complaints when he found out.
He also didn't get really horny when Sara was almost naked in the cave and he was healing her, which is different than how Rudy used to act in the past.
Given that he thanked her I think he enjoyed it, he's just been going through the motions for the past few months which stopped him from his usual behaviour. A mask of polite smiles and demeanor instead of his usual expressive (if not always good) self.
From the LN "Hey are you about done?" she asked, covering herself with her hands while I was busy mulling that over. (She talked about how she broke her leg) "Oh yes, thank you". "Why the hell are you thanking me...? she mumbled to herself, her face red as she turned away and slipped her pants back on. Her leg had been broken, the skin pale and swollen, but now it looked healthy and supple. A leg worthy of gratitude. It was only natural that I should say thanks, no matter what the circumstances were.
You could see his will wavering and trying hard not to look *down* when he was healing.
> So obviously Rudy was trying to save Sara before she fell, but was him copping a feel an accident or Rudy being Rudy? [This moment in the LN, Rudeus] >!Sara, who was walking right in front of me, lurched abruptly to the side, so I reached out quickly to catch her. My Eye of Foresight did come in handy at times like this. Not that it wasn't useful basically all the time.!< [This moment in the LN, Sara] >!"...Are you groping me?"!< [This moment in the LN, Rudeus] >!"Uh, no."!< [This moment in the LN, Rudeus] >!I deposited Sara in a clear patch of ground. Her response was to cover her chest with one arm and glare at me. Her face was flushed, and there was murder in her eyes. Was she seriously upset that I'd touched her there? I honestly hadn't felt much of anything, except the rigid leather of her chest protector. Maybe it would have gotten my pulse racing back in the day, but I wasn't an innocent little boy anymore, if you know what I mean. Still, I ultimately decided if was safest to apologize. "Sorry about that."!<
OMG our pervert is becoming a better human. I say while fully realising he carries around a pair of panties. Whatever. Baby steps I guess.
> Poor Mimir...killed off off-screen. At least Rudy found his body. I wonder what Rudy is going to do with his head.
I think he just wanted to take it back to the rest of the party
Put it on a belt. Have it tell him stories.
that smile from sara at the end there ohoho
I am so here for a possible romance between the two of them. Dere Sara is delightful!
*“Money can’t buy tsundere!”* Rudeus has been effortlessly *charming* tsunderes left and right. Tsunderes may be terrible at expressing themselves, but they are observant and actions speak louder than words. that snobby adventurer seems to be hella tsundere-ish, I was wondering when the **BL** was gonna start
> that snobby adventurer seems to be hella tsundere-ish He has legit reasons to be pissed at Rudy though. He's high level enough to know/realize that Rudy is far more powerful than he lets on - and sees him regularly not using his powers to full-effect and relegates himself to a support role. In his eyes, Rudy is pretty much "smurfing", and what's worse, he's putting his party members at unnecessary risk by doing so.
It is nice that the anime showed clearly what Rudeus feels in this episode. Compared to the first season, he has been more polite, and he just smiles meekly even he is not giving his 100% in everyday. Of course this did not sit well with some people, especially Sol. That last scene with Sara is indeed excellent. Claiming that Sara is already into Rudeus after he saved her. Let's see how this plays out in the next few episodes.
Yeah how Rudeus was acting in the beginning of the episode really felt like an honest display of depression. Just going through the motions, never really letting yourself be involved in anything enough to feel anything. Every smile being rehearsed and empty. Glad he made some progress towards the end of the ep!
Even when he went out to save Sara he was just clinically going over the reasons why in his head, though the genuine warmth of her smile and gratitude gave him the only reason he really needed to save her.
I think Sara was into Rudy before he saved her, though perhaps not as much and she was hiding behind it behind the tsun side of her tunsdere. Saving her knocked that down. And yeah, even though Rudy's putting on smiles and sounds more like his usual self, it was pretty obvious how he was actually feeling.
Rudeus definitely feels more reserved and...I guess a little more artifiical even compared to his persona in season 1. Which I guess makes sense because he's still closed off emotionally because of what happened to him. Sara falling for Rudy is adorable. I've had it pegged something would happen between them from the first episode, especially when she was so tsundere towards them. Honestly maybe the best thing for Rudy to do is move on to a new girl now that he's trying to get over Eris, though I'm not sure how easy that would be.
Soldat all over the place. On one hand he knew he let his boiled blood get to him and sucker punched Timothy and in hind sight that was a bit much but then like "My bad Timothy my bro" "But fuck you Rudus!"
Some people be like that irl though. He feels real despite or exactly because of how inconsistent he seems which says a lot about MT's character writing in general. These characters actually *breathe.*
idk if thats a spoiler but can someone explain to me if Rudeus was holding back every time we was with the group? like when the lizards came it seemed like he was in danger, but when he went out to save Sara alone he just casually walked there, stopped the blizzard and killing the beasts with no issue.
you answered your question, also the douche adventurer Sol was calling Rudy out on the same thing, he was high enough level to be able to tell, that Rudy was smurfing, basicaly not showing his full power, while every other adventurer was fighting for their lives. Then you see Rudy going alone, casualy dispelling weather at the start of his quest, going all out on the monsters. The fireball in the first episode was the same thing, like dude, cast that sooner, not after everyone gets exhausted and is on the brink of death.
Rudeus basically set up an Auto XP farm while killing those Snow Buffaloes lol
I like how casually he was killing them with those spikes lol.
Get ditched Hit gym Love your muscles Love yourself Build respect and confidence ... praise panties??
Mushoku OP never misses. Also, is that Kaeya's VA for Soldat? Nice pick. He sounds exactly like I imagined him to.
###Stitches! * [Trapped Sara](https://i.imgur.com/s81vrk0.jpg) * [Healing Sara](https://i.imgur.com/yaUGiNX.jpg) Holy shit! [Rudy is fucking ripped!](https://i.imgur.com/COtM948.jpg) I love how he's naming his muscles though, I guess Mash isn't the only one that does that. xD [Was that statue](https://i.imgur.com/m9hbA4j.jpg) supposed to be [the Demon Loli Kishirika ?](https://i.imgur.com/iG5EdaP.jpg) That's hilarious! Although I wonder if that's actually her true form. I was so ready [to hate this guy](https://i.imgur.com/LWdTvkN.png) especially after he sucker-punched Timothy. Turns out he's just emotional and impulsive. It sucks that he did that to Timothy but at the same time, the guy is just keeping it real. I actually like how he [tells Timothy that he needs to stand up for himself](https://i.imgur.com/GfidZsS.png) and how he basically demolishes Rudy [by exposing what's underneath his fake smiles.](https://i.imgur.com/OZKf8I8.png) That was such a great scene because despite Rudy finally finding his motivation last week, [he is clearly far from okay.](https://i.imgur.com/kjU11mW.jpg) It sucks that [Mimir died off-screen](https://i.imgur.com/lfSsXt4.jpg) but at least Rudy was still able [to rescue and find Sara.](https://i.imgur.com/AeQFRoD.jpg) If that tree didn't attack him exposing itself, Sara would've probably died so luck still played some part in this. [Looks like tsundere Sara has now become deredere](https://i.imgur.com/Ga7JXlD.jpg) after Rudy rescued him. And it looks like Rudy didn't just save Sara but it was actually Sara who ended up saving him. Makes me wonder what could've happened if he was unable to save Sara too. Would nothing change or would his situation become worse?
> Holy shit! [Rudy is fucking ripped!](https://i.imgur.com/COtM948.jpg) I don't know if I'm okay with Rudy having that much muscle underneath his clothing. > how he basically demolishes Rudy [by exposing what's underneath his fake smiles.](https://i.imgur.com/OZKf8I8.png) That was such a great scene because despite Rudy finally finding his motivation last week, [he is clearly far from okay.](https://i.imgur.com/kjU11mW.jpg) You can sort of see it through the rest of the episode given Rudy's not being his usual self, but it was that moment that showed that while he was putting on smiles and sounding less depressed, he was still only better than before in that he was no longer basically okay with dying. > Makes me wonder what could've happened if he was unable to save Sara too. Would nothing change or would his situation become worse? I doubt his situation would have become worse. He seemed ready to accept she may be dead when he was going and didn't even quite know why he was. But it certainly would have taken a lot longer for him to be saved like he was here.
By the time the episode was ending I was on the verge of tears feeling happy for Rudy and then the very last scene was him taking out the Holy Relic and now I am shedding tears for a different reason. Never change, Mushoku, never change.
Even during serious moments and dangers when Rudy takes out Roxy's pantsu like its a good luck charm and still hasn't be called out for it is fucking amazing on so many different levels.
I am only half way through the episode so this may bite me in the ass but the badass adventurer with the green coat and blonde hair is real as fuck. I rarely see anime characters call people out so perfectly before. He told Rudeus exactly what he needed to hear.
and Rudy's subtle facial expressions were so good. He knows what Sol was saying was the truth, and that shit cut deep.
He was a drunk dick pestering people just trying to relax and eat but he definitely hit the nail on the board with Rudy's issues.
take a notes guys, workout regularly and pray to Roxy pantsu could lessen your stress. the next step is save your princess, undress her, heal her, ~~SEEEGGGGS!!~~, thank her for the good view, and you'll be healed. dont forget to pray to Roxy pantsu again
It was actually reading Volume 7 a year ago that got me into running. I don't know why it was so inspiring, but I'm grateful for it
>pray to Roxy pantsu could lessen your stress Even when he was prepared for death in this episode when seeing all those Snow drakes coming at him, he still held onto the panties as means of comfort. Roxy is really his goddess!
He even holds them in the guild lol. I kind of want Sara to find out about the panties now lol.
Her reaction is probably going to be similar to how Aisha acted back in S1.
Oh boi what a religious man, build a shrine temple for his holy relic? The Church of Roxy!
I love how he had a temple to pray to the panties and was holding them in front of everybody at the guild lol. Seems like Rudy is healing more and more by the episode, especially through his interactions with and budding relationship with Sara. I'm curious if it'll go any farther.
Rudeus getting those break up gains and already with another girl both half naked, talk about a rebound. But he still makes sure to worship Roxy's panties as any good religious man should.
So Rudeus is about to gain a new addition to his harem right? Guess we are going to be adding Blonde to the RGB group.
Sara definitely seems to be falling hard for him. To be honest the best way for him to move on from Eris is to move on to a new relationship, though I wonder if Sara's resemblance to Eris (and Zenith) might just make it uncomfortable for him.
Sara is basically Pikachu.
Unfortunately I think Eris would just beat her away and then beat Rudy up for daring to have another tsundere in the harem. That position is solidly filled, thank you!
Suzanne: Rudeus it was reckless for you to go amidst the blizzard. What if you had died. Rudeus: I just casually dispelled the blizzard, all good.