At first I was surprised by how much visibly older Rudeus looked, but I think that's just because I'd forgotten how much Rudeus aged in the final episodes of the prior season. Looking back and comparing them makes me realize how much subtler the change is than I first imagined: S1/C2 poster vs. Now.

Commentary:

• Is it just me, or is that "cinematic" postprocessing effect more intense now? It feels "shakier" than S1 and I was kind of hoping that they would only use it during sidestory episodes...
• This shot is giving me serious deja vu. This has to be a callback to a prior OP/ED, right?
• Oof. Been there, buddy. Time for depression arc
• Oof! Mega depression arc incoming...
• What's up with the cliche of making panic attacks sound like a flash bang? So weird, but at least Rudeus gets over it quickly through the power of, uh... I hope that's not hair, but it's probably hair.
• How all healthy relationships begin. Calling this a "red" flag would be a little too on the nose, huh?
• I totally got baader-meinholf'd when the subleader called their battle plan a "dandoori". Translator's note: dandoori means "plan" 😄 -- well, according to the Pikmin 4 translation team it's "[...] the art of organizing your tasks strategically and working with maximum efficiency to execute your plans quickly". Good word imo
• Sad Rudeus is kind of a buzzkill, isn't he?
• Yay battle cured his depression and now it's impact frame time!
• Wouldn't be an isekai without one of these scenes. I give it 2 more episodes before they're beloved and cheered upon... or not! I suppose bribery makes for an efficient shortcut.
• omg... it's worse than I imagined. Why can't you just be normal, Rudeus?
• Oh, right... yeah kind of forgot that he's super depressed.
• I know I was against the hair thing, but somehow this now feels like a step backward. Can we go back to the hair thing, please?

That poor normal mage out there reading a book every time he wants to cast some weak fireball.

Then Rudeus just casually conjures a fire nuke without saying a word.

It have been a while since I read that volume but I'm still surprised at how good egg and bind are at adaptation,this may be better than the LN itself.

Good episode, I especially loved that circling around scene when Rudeus breaks out of his trance, looked like a trademark MCU scene in a way. As usual, the ED rocked and blended in perfectly.

@[email protected], please also mention Muse Asia in the Streams list, it's a licensed free stream on YouTube in many parts of Asia. It only streams 720p video for some reason though, does anybody know why?

WTH he was touching the panties this whole time???

It was a damn great episode. It's neat to see how emotionally stronger Rudeus became, in comparison with his past life. It wasn't a single experience, but lots of small ones. He got depressed in both lives, but at least in this one he was able to stand up, burn the past losses (the hair - eww, the smell) and move on.

IDK I kind of liked the emotional side of this episode but couldn't quite grasp it.

Great first episode! They did a good job of showing him work though his loss. I wonder how long he’ll hang out with this party for

I don't think the anime gets the feel of Rudeuses emotions quite right, I want to say the ln was more impactful, but it was a while since I read it so I might just be misremembering.

I really enjoyed this episode. I am looking forward to next week!

He burnt her hair!? Come on rudues... That's a bit over the top

I was wondering if he was gonna burn her hair, with how they foreshadowed it by those firefplace shots as he was fiddling them.
Now, how will Sara now treat Rudeus. The same way as Eris would ? Snce they are supposedly so much alike.

And little question if anyone knows, is Rudeus in the north to actually find his mother ? Did we see him get any clue related to that in season 1 or... ?

I'm happy the animation is better than episode 0. Really great episode.