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Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 7 Review – Quick Summary
In Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 7, “What Lies Beyond Effort,” Ghislaine continued to teach swordsmanship to both Eris and Rudeus. There’s one major difference: Eris is really, really good at it and Rudy is really, really not. But another problem is brewing — one that could affect the whole family. Eris’ 10th birthday is coming up. Her family is throwing a huge party, and if Eris can’t dance, it could affect their fortunes. That became Rudy’s problem when Edna Rayrune, Eris’ etiquette teacher, asked Rudy to cut back on his lessons to increase Eris’ dance lessons. Eris just wasn’t getting it! Will more training help? Is there anything Rudy can do to help? Or will Eris bring ruin upon the family?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 7
You know, I think that’s probably the happiest we’ve seen Philip. Capture from the Funimation stream.
With Edna giving Eris extra dance lessons, Rudy had some free time. He could have spent his time doing nothing, or he could have spent this time doing something illicit. Instead, he decided he wanted to learn some more languages. Gotta give Rudy credit: He wanted to better himself!
As he had a comfortable relationship with Philip, Rudy met him in the library to review what materials they had. The family had a decent collection of books. Rudy picked one off the shelf and was surprised that he couldn’t read it. Philip told him it was written in the Beast-God language. He extolled the virtues of that language. Well, he said Rudy could use that language to “hire beast people as servants.”
Philip was really happy to see that Rudy felt attraction to beast people. Rudy said that he loved their “fluffy ears.” Philip himself preferred their tails which would often twitch to give away their feelings. By the end of the conversation, Philip felt positively excited. As they both sighed in reaction to their imagining, Philip said (04:49), “You really do have Greyrat blood.”
Mind you, I’m not 100% convinced that’s a good thing…
Best in Show Moment for Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 7
Will Eris accept help… from Rudy? Capture from the Funimation stream.
Setup: Eris Has Some Challenges
Eris Can Swing a Sword
The episode started off with a practice sword match between Ghislaine and Eris. It was obvious that Ghislaine wasn’t fighting at full speed. Otherwise, neither Rudy nor Eris would even have been able to even see her move! But the beast woman wasn’t dawdling, either. She’d attack Eris, who would stutter her steps to avoid the attack, then counter — quickly.
One particularly interesting sequence showed Eris sensing Ghislaine’s feint, adjusting the angle of her wooden sword, and following up with a low attack. Eris could do this because the little girl was fast. Not as fast as Ghislaine, but for a human, she was quick. Her performance impressed Rudy and me, too. The sequence featured beautiful choreography and animation. It would also be important for later.
The image doesn’t do the scene justice. This practice match was packed with action and determination. Capture from the Funimation stream.
But Eris’ Can’t Dance to Save Her Life
Edna had tried to could focus Eris’ attention on dancing. No matter how hard she tried, Eris just couldn’t learn it. Time had grown short, and Eris responded the way she usually did when she got frustrated. She ran off to the hay stack outside the barn. Her exit was so loud that Rudy looked out of his door, only to see the blur that was Eris rush by.
Rudy surprised me. He went after Eris (well, Edna guilted him into doing it) and he convinced her to give it another shot. How? By doing something that I wasn’t sure he had it in him to do. He was open and honest with her. She accused him of being perfect at everything. He scoffed at that idea. Surprised, she asked what he wasn’t good at, and he shared that the Demon-God language was kicking his butt. She sounded genuinely curious when she asked why he kept trying.
“Maybe because the worse I am at something, the better I feel when I work at it and learn how to do it,” he said (07:52). And he meant it. His candor and obvious concern, along with his offer to help her learn to dance, convinced her to go back.
Eris seemed honestly surprised when Rudy admitted there was a lot he couldn’t do. Capture from the Funimation stream.
Delivery: How Will Eris Handle Humiliation?
Rudy Actually Helped?
Rudy soon learned that he might have bitten off more than he could chew. Eris couldn’t get the timing down. The longer a dance went on, the further ahead of the meter she got and the harder she tried to compensate. The more she tried to compensate, the more frustrated she felt. At one point, she spun Rudy so hard and fast that he flew about fifty meters across the floor to smack into the far wall.
Eventually, though, she made it through a dance. With Rudy. Who worked really hard to keep her in control. So, how would she do at the party, in front of her father, mother, grandfather, and the entire aristrocatic community?
You guessed it. She and the poor brave young man who tried to dance with her ended up on the floor.
For a brief moment, I thought she might pull it off. Capture from the Funimation stream.
Rudy could have stood in the crowd, anonymous. He could have ignored Edna’s silent entreaties to help. And he could have ignored the tears in Eris’ eyes. But he did not ignore those things, any more than he ignored some of the people in the crowd saying this spelled the end of the Boreas family. So maybe there was some self-interest there — if the Boreas family fell on hard time, it might affect Rudy.
Will Eris Take the Offered Hand?
I don’t think his decision was entirely based in self-interest, though. He boldly stepped onto the dance floor, offered Eris his hand, and asked if she wanted to dance. Eris was as frustrated and upset as I’ve ever seen her. She knew she couldn’t run. Eris knew she had just failed in spectacular fashion in front of anyone. She knew what that meant for her family. Until Rudy offered her his hand, all she could do was pick herself up and fume.
This is what makes a moment dramatic. What would Eris do? To up the stakes, everyone was staring at them. Even Philip shook his head and muttered, “You’ve done it now, Rudeus” (15:40).
Eris took his hand.
Whatever else Rudy has done, whatever else he will do, in this moment, he helped Eris save face — and achieve something that had been previously impossible for her. Capture from the Funimation stream.
I could go on about how they at first fumbled about, Rudy making sure to catch her before she could fall. Or, I could go on about how he used what he’d learned by watching her sword play with Ghislaine. I mean, he had a great idea to tell her to add feint timing to her dance, which slowed her down enough to fit the music. For me, though, it was that instant when she decided to take his hand that was special.
Though seriously, their dance was pretty cool, too.
What did you think of the strange orb in the sky at the end? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 7: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu – Episode 7 discussion
- RABUJOI: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – 07 – May I Have This Dance?
- Random Curiosity: Mushoku Tensei – 07
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 1: Jobless Reincarnation
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 2: Master
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 3: A Friend
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 4: Emergency Family Meeting
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 5: A Young Lady and Violence
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 6: A Day Off in Roa
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 7: What Lies Beyond Effort
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 8: Turning Point 1
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 9: A Chance Encounter
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 10: The Value of a Life and the First Job
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Episode 11: Children and Warriors
*****Even Philip shook his head and muttered, “You’ve done it now, Rudeus”*******
I wonder what that was about. Is asking for a dance the same thing as a formally presenting yourself as a suitor? Especially with that ending, there’s something going on we’re not told about yet.
Me, too. At first I thought Philip felt embarrassed because Rudy had broken some social rule or something.
But given how grandpa reacted to the dance, and how we didn’t see any other young men dance with her, I think you’re right.
Rudeus wasn’t supposed to stand out. Philip didn’t want to reveal that he had a Grayrat boy with him.
Do you think that’s all there was to it? That would still make sense. I don’t have a thorough understanding of their politics yet, but revealing a family member at the right time might have advantages.
This episode was good. I especially like Rudy’s character development- a episode or 2 ago; he DID attack her. This time; he restrained himself. But he did still look in on that tower and found the lord and that maid gettin’ it on in that tower. At least he’s improving!
“At least he’s improving!”
And thank goodness, too! I really hope this is a redemption story!
Both the fighting and dancing animation is so beautifully done. A lesser show would have probably used CGI for some of it…not Studio Bind!
I also adore Eris’ sparring outfit. It’s clear she feels so much more comfortable and like herself in shorts than in billowing dresses!
The choreography for both the sword training and the dance was great. The animation in Mushoku Tensei is something I can’t fault at all.
I found it jarring that Rudeus said he needed to thank Roxy and then proceeded to say that he needs to get her to let him lick her feet. Like wtf? If that was how it was in the source novels too, then Rudeus feels awfully entitled to his otaku dream fantasies coming true, even going so far to think that thanking Roxy would involve him being permitted to lick her feet. It’s either that, or Roxy has some kinky fetish that viewers are unaware of.
I also felt there was some tonal dissonance when it showed the prince of Soreno groping Roxy before she puts him on fire, and after that she laments about how unhappy she is about the clay figurine because of how it sexualizes her body. If that prince stuff was meant to be a running gag that lightened the mood of that scene, I don’t think it quite worked and trying to lighten the mood of the scene in the first place with that sort of thing was probably not even a great idea because it takes away from Roxy’s discomfort. I think it’s telling that instead of feeling sympathy for Roxy’s discomfort, Rudeus commented on the prince being a connoisseur with a good eye.
For all the talk about Rudeus respecting Roxy, it’s clear he will sexualize any female he takes a fancy to even going as far as to sympathize with the person bringing Roxy discomfort, whether that be Sylphiette with his remark about grooming her to be his ideal woman, and with him sexually assaulting Eris last episode.
“I think it’s telling that instead of feeling sympathy for Roxy’s discomfort, Rudeus commented on the prince being a connoisseur with a good eye.”
Someone said that at least in the manga, the prince’s story makes a point — but we’ll have to wait and see. I’m not sure I’d call it dissonance, because it seemed like the point of the scene. This show isn’t afraid to let Rudy be Rudy, even if it makes us in the audience uncomfortable.
In some cases, profoundly so.
“and with him sexually assaulting Eris last episode.”
I was relieved when Rudy _didn’t_ do that in this episode. I’m hoping the show goes for a redemption arc, and scenes like that give me hope. But if Rudy is so psychologically damaged that he can’t pull himself out of it, then I’ll accept a cautionary tale.
“Both the fighting and dancing animation is so beautifully done. ”
The animation captured the furious intensity of the fight and the breathless awkwardness of Eris’ first dance. Then it captured how joyous she felt when she realized she could dance! That was some good stuff.
“I also adore Eris’ sparring outfit. It’s clear she feels so much more comfortable and like herself in shorts than in billowing dresses!”
I got the same impression!