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Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23: Favorites

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Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23 – Quick Summary

In Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23, “Let’s Go Home,” Rudy crashed in on himself. He blamed himself for what happened to Paul, for better or worse. None of the party, not even Roxy, know how to help him. Will Rudy become a shut-in again, despite how far he’s come? Will he allow his role in Paul’s fate, and his inability to affect his mother Zenith’s state, to overthrow him?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23

Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23: Roxy had no idea what she meant to Rudy.

Roxy, I have good news, and bad news, for you. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

For my favorite quote, I’d like to offer what is perhaps the most self-effacing and simultaneously wrong statement ever uttered by a character in any fictional universe ever.

Ever.

And if you know of one that’s more false, I’d love to know about it!

Roxy tried to explain why she had chosen to comfort Rudy. Her heart was undeniably in the right place. It’s also undeniable that she acted with full knowledge of what she was doing. Elinalise, after all, had warned Roxy that Rudy was married. 

As she wrapped up her explanation, Roxy said (12:08), “I know you wouldn’t normally want someone like me.”

I had to stop the video at that point. She just said that Rudy wouldn’t want someone like her. I wanted to take her aside (or, even better, ask Elinalise to do it) and say, “Roxy, honey, he worships you as a goddess. He considers an old pair of your panties to be a holy relic. I think it’s safe to accept, as fact, that Rudy would, indeed, want someone like you.”

Just wow.

Favorite Moment from Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23

Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23: Roxy needed a moment, but she finally figured out what Rudy meant.

Roxy did not expect Rudy’s words. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Roxy Takes Charge

Did you notice that Roxy was still there in the morning? After the night he comforted Rudy? Even Sylphy wasn’t there the next morning.

I’ve always liked Roxy. She’s a gentle soul who can paradoxically take care of herself in a fight. She’s among the most decent people in this whole series. So, seeing her lock the door behind her when she entered Rudy’s room (02:29) came as quite a surprise.

Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23: Roxy learned to be bold!

Well, look who’s gotten bold! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

But even after she took the initiative like that, she remained blissfully unaware of what she meant to Rudy. I don’t think it’s that she still thought of him as the little boy who tried to look up her skirt. To me, it seems like she suffered from low self-esteem, based on her condition.

Remember the episode where we found out she lacked the telepathy of most of her people? Not only did that hit me personally hard (my son was born deaf, and her plight paralleled his), but it was another example of someone with trauma. This series has been fantastic at portraying authentic characters living through tough, painful challenges – and the scars those challenges can leave. 

As they traveled home, Roxy seemed to accept that she and Rudy would part ways. She fully expected to leave him with his wife and their upcoming child. What she didn’t expect was for Rudy to propose to her.

Delivery: Roxy Blinded Herself

I’m building up the idea that Roxy’s lack of self-confidence and self-esteem blinded her to how Rudy felt about her. But there’s yet another factor to her reaction to him proposing to her. The dude gave the most winding and unclear proposal ever. He took what seemed like ten minutes to finally blurt out (20:47), “Would you consider changing your name to ‘Roxy Greyrat,’ Master?”

My favorite moment is her reaction (starting at 20:58). She just stared at him, unable to comprehend what he’d asked. She blinked and thought about it before her eyes widened and she brought her hand to her mouth (21:01). Her eyes filling with tears as her face blushed completed the moment.

Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23: At first, Roxy didn't know what Rudy was trying to day. Understandable!

At first, Roxy had no idea what Rudy was trying to say. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

The story has given us a lot of character development. But that’s such a dry way of saying it. It’s more like this show has shown us the pain and damage that lives can inflict on us. In the sweep of the narrative, it reminds us of the comfort we can give one another. Roxy has never thought much of herself, which is a shame. But Rudy was in a position to do something about it. Seeing him take that step in spite of his own situation, and seeing how Roxy responded, felt authentic. I was glad they were able to connect in spite of their (or at least his) circumstances.

What did you think of Elinalise warning Roxy that Rudy was married? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

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14 thoughts on “Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 Episode 23: Favorites

  1. Roxy covering her mouth was pretty similar to her mother doing the same when Rudy asked if he can call her “mother” waaay back in season 1 ep.9. Love that attention to detail.
    Now that I think of it, wasn’t Paul’s grin from a few episodes back also very similar to Rudy’s smirk when he was a kid?

    As an aside, in the books Sylphie *was* there with him next morning. But the way anime did it works much better for visual format than a monologue between him waking up and turning his head to the side.

    1. I’d forgotten all about that! You’re right.

      Like you said, love the attention to detail.

      Interesting detail about the books. I’m going to have to make time to read them when the anime ends. I’m enjoying my immersion in the anime, and I don’t want to complicate it by my braining running a real-time comparison with the other material!

      1. That would be pretty far in the future!
        But that’s fair, reading the books will inevitably change the experience from discovery to comparison [s]and there’s enough grumpy people on the internets already[/s], and regardless of what people might say, anime does a damn good job by itself and does not require any supplements.

  2. Rudy is going to have a harem of some extremely powerful women. Eris is probably next. Polygamy is quite the trope because it means someone else doesn’t get a partner. Unless polyandry is also in the cards.

    I wonder if he ever gets his left hand back.

    1. Powerful women indeed! Sylphy knows incantation-less magic and Roxy is King class. I have no idea how powerful Eris is not, but I doubt she stood still after she left.

      I’m not sure what the attrition rate is for adventurers — though it seems most parties we’ve seen are mixed gender. Maybe polygamy is okay because there’s a gender imbalance?

      Or maybe Rudy’s just lucky?

      I also notice that there are a whole lot of women folk living with him now. Like, he’s absolutely surrounded. And he’s not lusting after most of them!

      If that’s not character development, I don’t know what is.

      About his hand — I remembered Zanoba and his work on the puppet. I wonder if he could develop a prosthetic hand for Rudy?

        1. Yep! Exactly that! Though a magical puppet hand powered by a Greyrat — the world might not be ready for such a thing.

  3. TCrow, you once mentioned that you don’t think Eris would be okay with being in a harem, and I’m not convinced of that given that Eris is a Greyrat, and the Greyrats don’t practice monogamy, so it wouldn’t make sense for her to unless after the separation she started living with a tribe of people who practice monogamy.

    1. Greyrats are a promiscuous bunch — that’s for sure! At least, the males in the line are. Eris took matters into her own hand before leaving to improve herself, so there’s evidence of her independence, too.

      The reason I’m not convinced she’d love being in a harem is a) she’s very, very independent, b) she wouldn’t be the matriarch, and she likes to be in charge, and c) I don’t think she likes to share very much.

      Though, that’s just a feeling I get from the character You’re right about polygamy within the Greyrat family.

  4. I’ve heard that, in the source material, Roxy didn’t take the initiative like she did here. Elinalise and Geese both encouraged her to do it and got her a bit drunk to make it easier. Liquid courage, as they call it. In that light, her continued timidity and self-deprecation make more sense. It makes a bit less sense here, where she gained the boldness to act on her own; when the quiet ones assert themselves, one has a better chance at stopping a continent in its movements.

    1. That was never stated explicitly in the books. All they did was air the idea to get Rudeus some sex and snap him out of his gloom enough to make him functional again, but if they intended to push Roxy into it is up to interpretation.
      And considering Elinalize’s surprise after it happened, I don’t believe that was the case for her. Can’t say anything about Geese, though.

        1. In the novels, but yeah. The scene is pretty much identical to what was shown in the anime.
          Manga is lagging behind, with the latest chapter only covering the first half of episode 20.

          Now, there *was* some additional scheming on Elinalize’s part that was cut, but it happened after the deed was done.

    2. I liked seeing her take the initiative. I understand that if we compare her actions to our moral framework, there are issues. But that world isn’t here. Roxy wanted to help Rudy, Rudy’s Rudy, so her options were limited.

      And he had made quite the impression on her when he rescued her.

      I liked how you described what happens when the quiet ones assert themselves. That’s Roxy!

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