Mushoku Tensei Author Explains: ‘I Don’t Condone Slavery’

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation author Rifujin na Magonote apologized on Thursday following earlier tweets discussing main character Rudeus’ views on slavery.

Rifujin na Magonote wrote:

I’d like to explain myself, as I don’t condone slavery personally. However, it’s true that I wrote Rudeus as someone who is not averse to slavery. Also, the original story is written with a kind of mild setting where it is accepted that, “Slavery is a normal thing in this world. It is what it is.” Because of this, there’s no point in making excuses [for my actions].

In episode six of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II, Rudeus Greyrat purchases a child slave named Julie (voiced by Sumire Morohoshi) to make figures for Zanoba. The recent development ignited conversation about the series’ use of questionable narrative development again after its previous season included discussion of sexual attraction to prepubescent girls.

Rifujin na Magonote commented on slavery in his series on X (Twitter) on Sunday and wrote: “About Rudeus: He 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 a culture he is unfamiliar with.”

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II will air for two cours (two quarters of a year). The first half premiered on July 2 and Crunchyroll is streaming the series as it airs in Japan. Rifujin na Magonote initially serialized the story on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō (Let’s Become Novelists) website from 2012 to 2015. Kadokawa‘s MF Books imprint then began publishing a print version in 2014. The 26th volume shipped in November 2022.

The first part of the novels’ first anime adaptation premiered in January 2021, and the second part premiered in October 2021, after a delay from that July.

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