Finally got to read Volume 14 of Mushoku Tensei. I am will soon read the long awaited volume 15 for a reunion with my precious Eris, but I'd like to summarize what I feel about this volume and the series up until now.
First of all, I'd like to summarize what I love most about the series: Misunderstandings.
It might not seem like it at first glance, but what makes the character relationships and interactions of the characters so interesting is this. No one actually completely understands one another, people often assume the things they think they know about the other person and they meet each other in the middle of the road. For example, I love that Rudy never understood what actually bothered Norn about him, he assumes it was only because of his first impression caused her to hate him, but he never understood how she feared him, much less why she feared him. This doesn't happen only with Norn though. Paul, Elinalise, Roxy, Sylphie, Eris and Aisha all have variying degrees of similar situations.
Characters who look like they have one motivation might actually have another if we look deeper into it through their own perspective. And its so good that the novels show these to us. Even from the very first volume, discovering Zenith went along with keeping Lilia not because she actually believed Rudy's excuses for her and Paul, but because she thought she would destroy Rudy's "home" was such a compelling and heart warming moment that it was criminal to be cut from the anime.
Another thing I like is that there is weight and consequences to things that happen. Be it accidents like the Displacement Incident or mistakes like the Manatite Hydra fight. And the way the regret of Rudeus's past life correlates to the suffering of his current life is masterfully done .
I also love how the novel isn't specifically tied to a formula or narrative structure. It really does feel like we're following along the life of someone else slowly, good and bad, slow moments, thrilling moments, everything goes. Its charming how relatable and mundane moments can be.
Finally, talking about volume 14 itself. Overall I liked the volume, even though I felt like the book ended before turning point 4 and from turning point 4 its basically another book. Which would make sense, but it felt kinda weird.
It was great getting to see Chaos Breaker and get to know Perugius. It was even better getting to see other sides of Nanahoshi and the development of her friendship with Rudeus, I am worried about the future tho, that girl barely left home before, who knows how she is gonna act now after discovering her illness.
The Demon Kings and Empresses are always really fun and I really liked Atofe, its hard to be mad at her dumb antics.
The MVP of the volume is definetely Zanoba, Atofe couldn't be stopped without him there.
And perhaps thats why the tone shift hits so hard. The sillyness of the entire volume, and of the Man God's advice during that dream, takes a somber gone when we understand how close to death we actually were. Atofe and her demons can be a bunch of doofus, but they were strong enough to defeat future Rudeus and kill Eris. Man God casually tells Rudeus to go to the basement and it would have wound up killing Roxy and leading Sylphie to her desth. Life truly can change in an instant and with this I feel that Mushoku Tensei will never be the same again. I only hope everything goes well...
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