Archiving a Comment: "I've Been There... Rudy."
Mushoku Tensei deals with complex emotions like depression in a tasteful way, in my opinion. -- Another Mushoku Tensei set of comments I posted on videos online. See my first set here.
You're not Insensitive. You're normal.
This is a comment I posted on a reaction video for Mushoku Tensei episode 23. For context: That episode showed Rudeus Greyrat in his most depressive state so far in the anime.
The reactor said she didn't understand it, and didn't want to sound insensitive because she knows some people deal with these things.
You're not insensitive for thinking this way, you're just normal. But "just get up" only makes it worse. At least for people who've been there for a long time.
I understand Rudy's mentality he was stuck in. I've been there. Maybe the fact I'm still watching reaction videos means I still am there, even if I got better.
Anyway, when you're in that state you block any positive thought. (Even if Rudy was reminded of his helping of people, his brain will make up 100 reasons why that wasn't him.) In that state, dying doesn't seem so bad, "what's the point in living if I'm never gonna be a good person?" (Extra points if people around you say that too.) You only cling to life because it's more painful (and sinful) to kill yourself than waiting for a miracle to save you one day... People say you can save yourself, try harder, but the fact that you've been stuck there is a proof that it's not as easy as people make it sound.
That's why his first step at the end feels like a huge achievement. Especially for someone who's been there and is on the verge of recovery.
Obsessions with Roxy
That's also a reason why I think Rudy's obsession with Roxy a brilliant piece of writing... People like that need an excuse to block the positive thoughts with.
The fact that he wouldn't have gone outside without Roxy's help left a devastating imprint on his psyche. Now his depressive brain will always have the excuse ”I wouldn't be here without Roxy anyway” whenever it needed to block a positive thought.
This is why until he fully recovers, I would consider his obsession with Roxy unhealthy and toxic. How I love the realism in this story!
- The image is from Mushoku Tensei episode 2. Taken from Google.
Really good analysis of Rudeus, especially this part
I now have a clearer idea on how depression works and how I should approach it if I'm helping a depressed person. It's unfortunate though that you can relate to it so much from personal experience, I hope you're doing well my friend.
I think Mushoku Tensei is almost great when it comes to the psychology of Rudeus, a lot of people criticize his perverted behavior but I think it makes sense, his flaws are easy to relate to for most men.
I say "almost great" though because Rudeus got over his fear of people very quickly, the dancing scene with Eris annoyed me a lot because he shouldn't magically be okay with performing in front of a crowd like that, when just recently he was afraid of walking out of his house.
It's not a big deal, but I just think it was the missing straw to make it a great show.
I hope I do better too. I'm not like that most of the time, but when I'm like that, it's very hard.
I never thought about the dance scene that way... There could be many explanations in-universe for this, but I agree... The anime/novel both implied that he recovered too quickly for something he's been living for many years. I think the author will notice that flaw in his writing too if he thought about it, but otherwise, I think this story has a very accurate deciption of depression. That's rarely seen in anime form.
Oh, if you want a good presentation of social anxiety, watch A Silent Voice movie, and pay attention to the protagonist's eyes, and the camera movement. That director understands social anxiety extremely well!
I'm here if you need someone to talk to, you shouldn't keep these emotions bottled up.
From what I understand Rudy's condition is "Agoraphobia", it shouldn't go away easily, or at the very least he shouldn't be so good at socializing.
I had the same issue with Subaru from Re:Zero at first, they introduced him as a "NEET" but he's far from it, a complete extrovert. I'm willing to overlook this one though because someone told me he wasn't a NEET in the light novel, the anime unnecessarily added that because it's an Isekai, seems like they forgot it's not an escapist fantasy, unless it was made for masochists 😂
Yeah I watched A Silent Voice, it's pretty good! One of the rare cases of bullying in anime where the parents are in the picture. I didn't pay much attention to the visual details though since I was drawing while watching 😅 maybe I should rewatch it someday.