Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4, “A King-Class Water Mage,” sees Rudeus (Yumi Uchiyama, Oshi No Ko) settle into a peaceful life with his growing family. But while things are good now, he is well aware of just how quickly that can change. Wanting to be ready for the next danger, Rudeus seeks to improve his magical abilities with some help from his favorite teacher.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4 opens with a slightly somber moment as Rudeus, Roxy, and several of their former party members say a farewell to Paul at his grave. The moment doesn’t try to play up the sadness too much, as it lets its cast bicker among themselves over trifling things. Clearly, the pain of Paul’s loss is slowly fading. While at the funeral, Rudeus is also given his and Paul’s share of the loot taken from the Teleporter Labrynth.
The reward money gained in the opening is the piece of this sequence that impacts the plot of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4. Having the rewards in his hands calls to Rudeus’ attention how he is the only adult in their household who doesn’t bring in steady income. This leads him to start wondering about what the future holds.
The future is at the forefront of Rudeus’s mind in Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4 follows a sequence of events, each showcasing Rudeus trying to watch over his family. From his concern over Aisha’s (Yûki Takada, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury) choice for a pet to learning more powerful Water magic from Roxy (Konomi Kohara, Sentenced to be a Hero), his family’s future is always the motivating factor for his actions. This sense of responsibility on the part of Rudeus is good to see, as it highlights a level of maturity not always present in the character.
Setting up the episode’s biggest moment is a scene that should be strikingly bad, but is par for the course in this series. Sylphiette (Ai Kayano, Honey Lemon Soda), in her role as Silent Fitz, and Luke respond to reports that Rudeus is assaulting a female student on school grounds. When the duo arrives, they find the mage pressuring Roxy to do something, with the writing clearly set up to lead viewers to assume it is something sexual in nature. Though, as it turns out, he simply wants her to teach him high-level water magic.
What makes this scene telling is how easily Sylphie assumes Rudeus is doing exactly what it looks like. Her half-hearted lecture about respecting a woman when she says no speaks volumes about how likely she thinks her husband is to actually listen to her. It then feels like the narrative tries to undercut Sylphie’s point by redirecting the conversation to look at how Sylphie may be getting jealous of how much of Rudeus’ attention Roxy receives. It looks terrible, but in a way fans should be all too familiar with by now.
Miscommunications and jealousy undercut Sylphie’s character again.
Once Rudeus explains what he was actually trying to get Roxy’s help with, the trio heads out to a quiet meadow where they can safely practice magic under Roxy’s tutelage. Once they are well away from any potential collateral damage, Roxy demonstrates a powerful lightning spell for Rudeus to try.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4 crafts a phenomenal moment as Roxy works through her incantation. The lines themselves, along with Kohara’s delivery, lend a solemnness and awe to the moment. How the storm clouds build and the delivery of the titanic bolt of lightning that finally answers the mage’s call sculpt a visual spectacle that infuses the scene with a classical, high-fantasy tone that isn’t commonly found in this series, allowing the moment to pop. When Rudeus takes his turn at the spell, the episode doesn’t manage to recreate the same aura the second time. This is due to how it frames the moment through Roxy’s eyes.
As Rudeus summons the same tempest, Sylphie and Roxy huddle together, weathering the howling winds and turbulent skies their husband conjures. As Roxy looks on in awe as Rudeus casually masters what takes most lifetimes, we see a flicker of him as he was when she first taught him, a child.
The magical animation that makes up the storm gives a special spark to the episode.
While this moment is clearly intended to invoke nostalgia and highlight how long they have been important to each other, it fails horribly. Instead, it simply serves to remind us that Roxy’s husband wasn’t even ten when she first met him, despite her already being grown. It’s an uncomfortable element of their romance that the show does no favors to itself by calling attention to.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4 once again has strong moments, as well as low points. Seeing Rudeus looking out for his family’s future is a strong note for the character, and the episode’s dive into epic fantasy magic is a wonderfully handled treat. However, its willingness to acknowledge the problematic parts of its narrative without ever addressing them continues to hold it back.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4 is streaming on Crunchyroll.
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Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4
6.5/10
TL;DR
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 Episode 4 once again has strong moments, as well as low points.