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Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 6 – Quick Summary
In Jobless Reincarnation II episode 6, “I Don’t Want To Die,” Rudy found researching the teleportation event to be more difficult than he anticipated. Fortunately, Fitz recommended some texts and even offered to help – when the Princess’ schedule allowed it. Can they make headway together? Meanwhile, Zanoba convinced Rudy to train him to create figures. Does Rudy have the patience to teach the prince to create intricate figures? If not, will Zanoba have to live life unfulfilled?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 6
Rudy was all “there but by the grace of God” about Fitz’ comment. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
This season is all about Rudy using his increasingly well-developed empathy. He’s very aware of where he’s been. He got a shocking reminder in the previous episode, when he experienced a PTSD flashback at the hand of the gorilla dorm mother.
Rudy doesn’t use that knowledge to feel superior, either. He uses it to understand where someone’s coming from so he can meet them there. We see it all the time with Zanoba. In case I haven’t made it clear before, this is one of the things I love about this show. It’s all about how Rudy is growing into a mature, responsible, and compassionate man.
He’s also self-aware, which I think is probably a prerequisite to compassion. Take my favorite quote, for example. Fitz, Zanoba, and Rudy had just arrived in the slave market. Fitz stopped in front of two of the “wares,” a mostly naked man and woman. Amazed, Fitz remarked that she had no idea that it got so huge.
She was looking at the male.
Rudy thought (14:20), “Spoken like a true virgin. I was one of you once. And now? Now I’ve got other things to worry about.”
He was self-aware enough to know that he, too, was imperfect, so he would not cast judgement. I find that to be a commendable attitude.
Favorite Moment from Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 6
Not Everything in a Fantasy World is an Appropriate Target for Virtue Signaling
It took a show of this caliber to make this moment hit so hard. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
It Goes Without Saying…
I doubt what I’m about to say applies to anyone who would reads my blog. But it’s something I want to get off my chest.
I understand, based on some comments in the Reddit thread (see below), that some object to Rudy not trying to lay waste to the slave market. First, let’s get something out of the way: slavery is morally reprehensible. There are no redeeming values surrounding slavery. None. There is nothing – absolutely nothing – good about it.
But those pining to see Rudy destroy the practice, keep this in mind: once it takes root in a world, it takes an ocean of blood to dislodge it. Remember the Civil War? Even that wasn’t enough. Even now, even in the year 2023, I still see intellectually dishonest and morally disgusting statements about how there were some benefits to slaves.
There is not now, nor could there ever be, benefits to slavery. To anyone. Except the oppressors. Let’s always be clear on that point. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I don’t know how to be any more clear than using phrases like “morally reprehensible.” Maybe I could throw in sayings like utterly wrong, appallingly incorrect, and the like, but I think you get the idea. I mean, come on: any so-called benefit might have been a real benefit if offered independent of the whole “let’s utterly take away an individual’s freedom” thing. Let’s not kid ourselves: anyone trying to sell the benefits of slavery has no business trying to live in a civilized society. They don’t belong.
But Let’s Say It Anyway
I hope I’ve made my point: slavery is wrong.
And Rudy did the right thing by not using his magic to destroy the slave market. Seriously, remember the Civil War? That’s about the only path to destroy slavery using force. The other option is building political power, which takes decades or longer. Jobless Reincarnation is far too realistic a tale to pull something like that.
So what could Rudy realistically do? Just what he did. If he had more money, maybe he could buy all of the slaves’ freedom – which would mark him as a political target for everyone in favor of such a system. If people in the United States, a country that calls itself freedom-loving, can still advocate for slavery and try to paint it in a positive light, imagine what an even less “advanced” society would do.
Setup: Rudy Met Juliette Where She Was
Sorry for going on about this. I’m in the middle of writing my sixth novel, and it’s dealing with a civilization at about the same level of ancient Rome. To be realistic, you have to make set up things that are internally consistent, given the world. It just bugs the hell out of me when I see people criticize a work for being authentic.
Especially with the level of authenticity that this show brings to the table. Like the authenticity in my favorite moment. It’s heart-breaking. It’s soul-crushing. What’s more, it’s something I think a lot of us have lived through.
Some of us didn’t.
Rudy recognized the look in the slave who would be named Juliette. He knew despair when he saw it, because he had lived it. He knew – and this is part of the authentic part – that even if he “purchased” her, he could not instill within her the will to live.
Rudy recognized that look. He had seen it in the mirror, in another world. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
He knew that with such clarity that he offered to put her out of her misery. She only needed to say the word. Now, I have a degree in Roman Catholic theology. I know the church says that anyone who commits suicide gets an automatic ticket to hell. In response to that human teaching, I can only observe that whoever said that has never lived through despair. They cannot have. Because if they had, they would never have uttered something so cold, so callus, so completely devoid of any compassion.
Rudy has lived through it. I think Rifujin na Magonote, the writer, has lived through some stuff. The moment when Rudy asked Juliette if she wanted him to kill her stunned me with its honesty. It was, in Rudy’s mind, the best he could offer.
Delivery: False Hope is False – and Dishonest, If Knowingly Indulged
She didn’t give him the go-ahead. He backed away, ready to leave, despondent that he could not do anything for her. Then he heard her speak. At first, he could not make out what she said. She spoke again, saying (19:50), “I don’t want to die.”
Have you ever been there? In that moment, when you’d decided it was over, that there was nothing you could do? When you saw no affirmative reason to live? Maybe all the plans were in place. All you had to do was pull the trigger.
And it occurs to you that no, you might not want to live. But you don’t want to die.
Small steps. Lives change by taking small steps. There are few exceptions. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
That moment hit me with such savage authenticity that I could only marvel. As a viewer and as a writer, I have rarely encountered a more human in extremis moment.
Yeah, it was so real it kicked even my thoughts into Latin.
Real people don’t just get over events like Eris leaving. Real people don’t jump from despair to hope. They take a small step back from the edge. That’s the best they can hope for. That’s what this show gave us. And that’s why it’s my favorite moment in this show – if for no other reason than Rifujin na Magonote’s honesty in the moment itself and everything leading up to it. I just hope that someday, I can write that honestly.
What did you think of Fitz’ continuing to tease Rudy? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 6: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu Season 2 • Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 – Episode 6 discussion
- DOUBLESAMA: MUSHOKU TENSEI: JOBLESS REINCARNATION SEASON 2 EPISODE 6 REVIEW
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 0: Guardian Fitz
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 1: Brokenhearted Mage
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 2: The Forest in the Dead of Night
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 3: Abrupt Approach
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 4: Letter of Invitation
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 5: Ranoa University of Magic
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 6: I Don’t Want to Die
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 7: The Kidnapping and Confinement of Beast Girls
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 8: The Fiancé of Despair
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 9: The White Mask
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 10: These Feelings
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 11: To You
- Jobless Reincarnation II Episode 12: I Want to Tell You
My main issue with the slavery arc is that we didn’t hear Rudeus’ thoughts on it. We’ve been in his head for thirty episodes now and he’s never shied away from telling us what he’s thinking, and yet, he’s in a slave market and has no thoughts of it… Had they made a thing of him being disgusted by it and thinking of how he might change things it wouldn’t have come across in the manner that it did. I’m not saying he’s going to change it overnight, but he seemed fine with it to the point that it was no different to going to the supermarket. That felt surprisingly out of character for him.
I’ve thought about that. I’m not sure I’ve come to the right conclusion, but one of the clues I’m relying on is how Rudy talked to Nanahoshi. She wants to return to Earth; Rudy wants to stay where he is. He’s gone “native,” so to speak. He didn’t embrace slavery in that he didn’t get all excited that they were going to that market. But you’re right — he didn’t show any negative reaction, either.
I think he’s just become part of this world. He’s actively putting aside a lot of his memories and opinions from our world.
Like you, I would have liked to have heard his thoughts more clearly on the matter. But to me, given who he has become, I found it realistic, though regrettable.
My soul delights in freedom and the equality of all people in the eyes of the law, but that is a shockingly new concept for most of the world. For century after century, for thousands of years, and even in much of the world today, such as in Africa and the Middle East, slavery was, and still is, perfectly normal. One was either a free man or bonded to someone in some way: a servant, a slave, an indentured person, etc. That was simply how it was, and is there is anything more difficult to change, more heretical to challenge, and more dangerous to oppose than whatever is “normal,” most especially when it is also convenient to those in power?
I do not hold with the notion of demanding that every fictional work be in line with our modern way of thinking. That said, I *do* find the display of slavery to be uncomfortable, and it seems to me that it’s been getting a bit more time in the spotlight lately. Off the top of my head, there’s this show, and Slave Harem, and Black Summoner, and Shield Hero, and How Not to Summon a Demon Lord… and I know I’ve seen it recently in several more titles, even if I can’t recall them at the moment. Several of them do feel like they’re putting a bit of a positive spin on either being a slave to a good master, or having someone as a slave, even in instances where they depict slavery in general in a negative light. Jobless Reincarnation, at least, doesn’t seem to be going in the way of making anything about it look positive. It’s just something that is accepted as normal. The best that can be said about this is that they won’t be cruel to Juliette.
Interesting that the first name Zanoba came up with was that of the little brother he’d accidentally killed back when he didn’t know any better about his strength. When we heard about that, in the moment where he was forcing his scumbag brother to release Rudy from imprisonment, he was being depicted in something of a monstrous light, but it would seem that what he did to his brother has actually stayed with him all these years since.
As for the idea of getting a slave to do their art for them… that kind of defeats what I thought was the purpose of learning how to make art with one’s own hands.
I have to sometimes remind myself that we have made some progress, at least in the west. That makes any hint of backward motion all the more lamentable!
Interesting you mentioned some of those others shows, especially Slave Harem and its ilk — it does seem like they’re trying to put a positive spin on slavery. That’s just wrong, of course, but one aspect of it does strike me as humorous: the people who enjoy it seem to assume that, if they were in that world, they would be on the owning side of the equation.
Few of them seem to consider what it would be like to be on the owned side.
I’ve been thinking about getting Juliette so she could make the art — from a noble’s perspective, isn’t it normal to claim credit for the work anyone performs under your authority? If it were me, I’d agree with you. If I don’t create the art, what’s the point? But it might look different to Zanoba.