Mushoku Tensei

An unnamed 34-year old NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) is evicted from his home. As he wanders the streets, he laments his life and wishes to start over. Simultaneously, he sees a group of teenagers quarrelling, and is reminded of a childhood friend he had feelings for in middle school. When a speeding truck threatens to hit them, he pushes them out of the way and dies in the process.

He awakens in a baby's body and realizes he has been reincarnated into a world of swords and sorcery. Determined to make the most of this second chance, he discards his past identity to embrace a new life as Rudeus Greyrat. Due to inherited affinity and early training, Rudeus becomes highly skilled in magic. During his childhood, he studies under the mage Roxy Migurdia, befriends an elf named Sylphiette, and becomes a magic tutor to noble heiress Eris Boreas Greyrat.

Just as Rudeus begins to feel like he has found his place in this world, a major magical catastrophe destroys his nation, teleporting and stranding hundreds of thousands of people far from home. Some end up in dangerous places or situations, resulting in their deaths due to murder, war, execution, monster attack, or exposure to the elements. Stranded in a foreign land with Eris, Rudeus begins the journey home with help from a warrior named Ruijerd Superdia. During their travels, Rudeus is approached by a mysterious entity called Hitogami, who offers cryptic advice with unclear motives. After three years, including a defeat by a powerful world-class warrior named Orsted, Rudeus successfully escorts Eris home to their devastated homeland. However, political tensions and a misunderstanding lead to Eris's sudden departure, leaving Rudeus heartbroken.

Two years later, Rudeus, still affected by the fallout of the incident with Eris, suffers from erectile dysfunction. He enrolls in Ranoa Magic University following advice from Hitogami. There, he reunites with Sylphiette, who helps him recover. The two marry shortly thereafter. Rudeus later joins his father's quest to find his missing mother, ignoring Hitogami’s advice. During the journey he develops a romantic relationship with Roxy who becomes his second wife. After reconciling with Eris, Rudeus marries her as his third wife. The series continues based on Rudeus's daily life and growing family, along with his and Orsted's efforts to ensure Hitogami’s precise demise. After an unsuccessful attempt on his life, Hitogami abandons his plans against Rudeus and shifts focus to his descendants. After Rudeus dies at the age of 74, Hitogami and everyone die except for Roxy Sylphiette Eris Norn Aisha Lucy Lara Ars Sieghart Lily Christina and Juliette, the twelve of them are the last ones left living and live the rest of their whole entire lives in peace and do not die in the end at all.

After graduating from university in 2007, Rifujin na Magonote began submitting manuscripts to publishers. After receiving no results, he decided to quit.^[3] Some years later, he was reading Kanekiru Kogitsune's Re:Monster, where he learned of the web fiction website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. After reading some of the serials on the website and thinking he would not be ridiculed for his writing, he began submitting there.^[3] Magonote wanted to depict a student who fails at school, trying to have another chance at life through this series.^[4][3] The setting of the work was created by adding elements of several popular Naro-kei works to the story that he had wanted to write for a long time.^[3] From then on, Isekai stories were popular and the approach was "If I were you, I would do this", "If I'm going to be reincarnated, I should write about my childhood properly" or "Is it possible to make use of the settings before reincarnation?" ^[3] During his youth, Magonote was a fan of fighting games in arcades. He often regretted leaving his hometown and he channeled that sorrow as a driving force when he began writing Mushoku Tensei, aiming to overcome his past difficulties and see the story to its end.^[5] Magonote says his influences were Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer and Parasyte, which focused on family and human relationships.^[6]

Magonote commented that he made Rudeus aware of his controversial personality and intended for Rudeus's actions to become more meaningful in the process. He left it to the readers to judge him. Magonote wanted the audience to pay attention so they could relate to him.^[7] He got a great response in episodes 6 and 7 of the web version of the novels when Roxy took Rudeus out. This acceptance made him think, "Let's grow in this direction."^[8] The message of the series is that "everybody can make mistakes."^[9]

After publishing the first parts of his work, Magonote wrote that he intended the series to last at least a hundred chapters.^[10] Due to criticism of his work, Magonote considered ending the series prematurely but decided to continue when it topped Syosetu's daily rankings.^[10][11] Originally, the story arc, in which Rudeus reunites with Aisha, was supposed to be completely different from the published work.^[12] Magonote intended to have Lilia die off-screen, with Aisha hiding under a different identity. He decided against Lilia's death and rewrote the story arc to make sense of her survival and lack of contact. Magonote stated the story arc might be bizarre due to the changes, but expressed no regrets; he noted Lilia's survival made him reconsider Zenith's condition in the story.^[12] The climax was influenced by Tappei Nagatsuki's Re:Zero. Regarding the ending of this novel, Magonote was thinking of writing until Rudeus died, and at the same time, writing until Rudeus turned 34 because he died at the age of 34. He has also said that since the prologue is about an unemployed man who is kicked out of his house, he did not want the story to end with someone being beaten up.^[13][3]

Magonote intended to create a sequel to the web novel series based on the Six-Sided Universe. On January 15, 2021, Magonote announced that he plans to finish the Orc Eroica web novel first. Due to his health problems, its completion has been delayed.^[14]

The light novel has received praise from several publications. Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, an annual light novel guidebook, ranked Mushoku Tensei as the fourth most popular manga in its 2017 edition.^[83] According to Syosetu's rankings, the web novel consistently appeared as the website's most popular work.^[84] The light novels has also appeared on Oricon's charts and ranked in T-site's novel popularity polls.^[85][86][87]

By August 2021, the light novel series had reached 8.5 million copies in circulation,^[88] increasing to over 13 million copies by June 2023^[89][90] and then to 14.8 million by February 2024.^[91]

The main character of the series, Rudeus, has been criticized for being overtly perverted.^[92] Anime News Network found Rudeus difficult to sympathize with due to his immaturity. In addition, the novel has been criticized for its sexualization of underage characters.^[93]

Real Sound [ja] expressed concern about how the narrative portrays Rudeus's previous life, noting its heavy focus on reclusive former students and their issues as well as comparing it to the popular light novel series Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World. Nevertheless, Rudeus's commitment to overcoming his flaws in his new life helped to make him a more sympathetic main character.^[94] Real Sound writer Niji Kusano stated that the key to Mushoku Tensei's success was Rudeus's achievements in his new life, despite this being a common isekai trope.^[95]

Tappei Nagatsuki, author of Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, commented that one of the strongest aspects of Mushoku Tensei is its handling of Rudeus, noting that he suffers similarly to the main character from the visual novel Clannad.^[13]