‘Mushoku Tensei Isn’t a Show You Can Recommend to Women,’ Says Viral Post with 10K Likes — 5ch Weighs In

From our other sites

The story

A post arguing that the anime Mushoku Tensei “isn’t something you can recommend to women” racked up 10,000 likes, sparking a reaction thread on 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G (Live Commentary) board. Posters pointed to father Paul’s infidelity and protagonist Rudeus’s selfish treatment of women as evidence, while rumors swirled that a Hololive streamer had criticized the show on a broadcast — though even those spreading the claim admitted they “hadn’t watched it, just heard about it,” leaving the source unclear. Some in the thread argued it wasn’t about gender at all but a generational gap in values, and the discussion expanded into which specific scenes from the original novel were actually the problem.

What people said

3AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:20
Honestly, this is only something you'd recommend to total bottom-feeders who've failed so hard at life that their only hope is a next one.
4AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:21
Wouldn't Paul and Rudeus come off as creepy even to guys, not just women?
11AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:26
Re: #4
It's not just that the father's gross — saying 'the maid's just as bad, idiot' feels like a very female take.
Same with going all the way to 'get a vasectomy!'
But honestly, he kind of has it coming.
5AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:22
Getting people this riled up — Pekora really is top dog (Hololive's Usada Pekora).
6AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:22
I mean, getting your mistress pregnant while your own wife is pregnant too — of course the only reaction is 'gross.'
7AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:22
It's basically a masterpiece of everything that triggers visceral disgust in the 'Naro' (isekai web-novel) scene.
Creepy regardless of gender.
8AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:24

I love the part where Rudeus hits on a hostess-bar worker.
If Pekora watched this, she'd probably be even angrier than she was at Paul.
10AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:25
Re: #8
By that point 'Old Deus' has become an even bigger scumbag than Paul.
33AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:38
Re: #8
I really want Pekora to watch all the way to this part.
12AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:26
Honestly Paul really is a scumbag, so Pekora's got a point.
13AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:27
From a woman's perspective, yeah, it's just not a palatable show.
Don't throw a fit just because the reaction isn't what you wanted.
14AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:28
Can this show not go five minutes without infidelity, impotence, or some other dirty joke?
15AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:28
I love that Pekora got mad at the maid too.
Well, the maid was the one who came onto him, after all.
25AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:34
Re: #15
Her stance is she won't let it slide even for female characters if their moral compass is broken.
19AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:30
✕ A show you can't recommend to women
○ A show you can't recommend to 2020s otaku

Better to think of it as an old-vs-new values gap than a male-vs-female one.
The way Saga of Tanya the Evil plays sexual harassment for comedy really clashes with how otaku culture feels about that stuff now.
20AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:30
Re: #19 You mean Mushoku Tensei, not Saga of Tanya the Evil.
How'd you mix those up?
36AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:40
The thing with Paul is supposed to be out of bounds even by that world's own standards, though.
39AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:43
Re: #36
Is it, though?
That world basically runs on polygamy.
It's only the Milis faith that practices monogamy, and the conflict happened because Zenith is a believer.
45AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:46
You see the 'but Rudeus is really trying his best…' argument a lot, but doesn't that apply to Bakugo from My Hero Academia too?
75AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:10
Re: #45
With Bakugo you always hear 'his past sins don't just disappear! Being a good person from the start is what matters!'
47AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:47
Both episode 4's Paul and episode 2's panty-thief Rudeus are genuinely creepy.
It's only natural that people who can't get past that have a rejection reaction.
53AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:53
Re: #47
Pretty sure episodes 6-7 Rudeus is no better, honestly.
57AnonymousOct 4, 2026 11:57
Women who actually like Mushoku Tensei seem even rarer than women who like Lycoris Recoil or 'losing heroine' (unrequited-love heroine) stories.
61AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:00
Re: #57
They're probably as rare as a protected natural monument — basically nonexistent.
67AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:05
Don't drag real-world ethics into fiction.
76AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:10
Re: #67
If you'd said that and fought that battle just as hard when Chiramune (fan nickname for Chitose-kun Is in the Ramune Bottle, an anime previously called out for similar content) got torched online, that'd be consistent.
But since it's a blatant double standard, it just doesn't land.
74AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:09
It's entertaining watching a scumbag muddle through life while at least feeling some regret about it.
80AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:12
Re: #74
True, but that's the same logic as delinquents looking twice as good the moment they do one good thing — the exact trope otaku claim to hate most.
79AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:12
Never watched Mushoku Tensei so I can't say, but I think anime protagonists are more interesting the creepier they are.

Steins;Gate and Attack on Titan both have seriously creepy protagonists.
But they're great anyway.
82AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:13
Re: #79
'Naro' (web-novel isekai) creepiness is a different kind of creepy.
And not in a good way.
84AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:14
Re: #79
Fair point.
These days having a sharp edge and glaring flaws is exactly what generates buzz.
88AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:16
Haven't watched it so I don't really know, but the Hololive person was saying bigamy is gross, right?
This show's creepiness doesn't exactly stop there, though.
95AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:20
Re: #88
I haven't seen it either, but according to nanJ (2ch's baseball/NanJ board) chatter, the father slept with the maid and that's what the VTuber was criticizing.
100AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:22
Having multiple wives is fine, but the way it's played is way too flippant.
Marrying Roxy made zero sense.
Comfort sex with his mistress while away on a trip, leading to marriage — what even is that?
And it all got forgiven just because his sister got mad about it.
102AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:22
Re: #100
What exactly is wrong with that? I don't get it?
103AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:22
Mushoku Tensei's probably never generated this much buzz before.
105AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:23
Re: #103
All it took was one Hololive person calling out Paul — how'd it blow up this much?
106AnonymousOct 4, 2026 12:24
Re: #103
At the end of the day it's just a 'Naro' show.
Its popularity is tiny next to a VTuber's reach.

Background and Key Points of the Debate

Mushoku Tensei has sparked controversy every time it airs over its depiction of father Paul’s infidelity scandal and protagonist Rudeus’s relationships with women, and this latest “not recommended for women” take is simply the latest chapter in that pattern. What split opinion in the thread was whether to frame the issue as a matter of “gender” or as a difference in “generational/era-based values,” with many commenters pointing to how otaku culture has shifted in the 2020s. Meanwhile, it’s easy to overlook that the Hololive streamer’s criticism said to have started it all was reported secondhand even by the people posting about it — phrases like “haven’t watched it, just heard about it” and “according to nanJ chatter” — meaning nobody has confirmed who actually said what. It’s worth noting the rumor may have taken on a life of its own, spreading as a simplified “a VTuber slammed it” narrative.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Mushoku Tensei Fan: “This Isn’t a Show You Can Recommend to Women” ← 10,000 Likes.”

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *