Mushoku Tensei creator breaks silence on anime slavery controversy

Mushoku Tensei portrays slavery in a rather controversial way, generating a lot of hate among fans. As such, creator Rifujin na Magonote has stepped forward to address the issue.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 is one of the most popularanimeseries of Summer 2023. The story follows a jobless and hopeless man who reincarnates in a fantasy world while keeping the memories of his past life.

Mushoku Tensei anime scene depicting slavery

Living under the name Rudeus Greyrat, he is determined to live without regrets. Season 2 follows his story as he is now a grown teenager. Recently, Episode 6 of Mushoku Tensei Season 2 gathered a lot of negative press with the way it depicted slavery.

Fans condemn the way the protagonist is indifferent towards slavery and doesn’t consider it to be necessarily evil. Amid the backlash, the series creator, Rifujin na Magonote, has broken his silence on the issue.

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Magonote clarifies his intention behind the slavery theme of Mushoku Tensei

ルーデウス、奴隷に対する嫌悪感はあんまりないです。奴隷全員が例外なく奴隷になる前より不幸というわけでもないので、人さらいは悪だけど、奴隷制度自体は悪とは言い切れないっぽいし、自分の馴染みのない文化に自分の正義を振りかざすまい、って感じです。#無職転生

Magnote shared Rudeus’ perspective on the sensitive matter. He said: “Rudeus doesn’t really have any feelings of hatred for slavery. He feels like; it’s not necessarily the case that all slaves are universally unhappier as slaves than they were before becoming slaves. So while kidnapping is evil, he can’t say with certainty that slavery itself is evil and doesn’t want to impose his own sense of justice upon an unfamiliar culture.”

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Naturally, this comment disappointed fans. While the considerate fans consider it normal based on the story’s setting, many believe this ideology shouldn’t be portrayed in anime. Regardless, the debate broke out as the Magnote had to make another comment regarding the matter.

私自身は奴隷制を容認してるわけじゃないから弁明したいけど、でもルーデウスを奴隷制に嫌悪感のない人物として書いたのは事実だし、原作も「この世界ではこれが普通のこと。仕方ないこと」って受け入れられるよう、マイルドな設定と書き方にしてるから、あんま弁明しても仕方ないんよな

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He added: “I don’t condone slavery myself, so I’d like to apologize. But it’s true that I wrote Rudeus as someone who has no aversion to slavery. I’ve written it in a mild setting so that it can be accepted, so there’s no point in justifying yourself.”

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Slavery is a common theme in anime, and it’s always depicted as an evil practice that needs to be stopped. Therefore, it’s no wonder fans would be surprised to see a protagonist who is indifferent to it all. In the series, Rudeus and Zanoba face a problem where the latter wants to make figures but isn’t able to.

Therefore, Rudeus, Zanoba, and Fritz go out to purchase a young slave who could be trained to create figures. They wanted a child slave who could use both hands equally. Not long after, they “buy” a young girl and name her Julie. Although Rudeus and the others don’t treat her badly, this scene gives the idea that a young girl’s life is only worth a small amount of money.

Although Maganote’s post clarified his intentions, it didn’t help calm angry fans much. They still cannot accept the disturbing concept of slavery in Mushoku Tensei. After all, these themes are incredibly triggering.

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