Fans Criticize Oldeus Design in Mushoku Tensei 3

This was one of the Mushoku Tensei episodes I was looking forward to the most and, at least for me, it was a huge disappointment. First, because everything was pushed to the next episode, so I don’t understand why yesterday’s episode was called “Turning Point 4” when the actual Turning Point 4 won’t happen until next week.

Second, there’s the design of Future Rudeus… what was that? Books let you imagine the scenes in your head, helped by the few illustrations they have, and the illustration of Future Rudeus in the light novel is really cool. Then you compare it to the anime and… that’s it?

And I wasn’t the only one who thought that. Other people were also disappointed with Future Rudeus’ design. Compare the artwork above! Fans have imagined this scene in anime form for years, and even a fan-made animation had more impact.

“Oldeus’ design is better in the light novel. He looks more imposing than the anime version.”

Japanese fans, however, seem to disagree and didn’t find anything wrong with Future Rudeus’ appearance in the anime:

• For someone who’s on the verge of death, he actually looks pretty healthy.
• He’s a man in his 70s, what were you expecting? Personally, I think the anime gave him a face that works perfectly well as an aged version of Rudeus.
• Honestly, I don’t understand the complaints about the artwork. If an old man with a much more terrifying face showed up saying “I’m you,” would that really make the story more interesting?
• It’s not like he has to look handsome just because he got old.
• He looks like a relatively healthy old guy, which makes it feel weird. He should look much more worn out.
• The fans raised the expectations way too high, and the haters gave away way too many spoilers.
• The animation is way too bad. Why did they change this part specifically?
• I don’t think the difference between the faces is anywhere near bad enough to justify all this criticism. Aren’t the fans being a little too picky?
• But if some weird old guy suddenly showed up and said, “I’m you from the future, don’t trust them,” I don’t think it would be all that exciting.
• It’s sad that the fan-made design looks better.
• Steins;Gate has already used this idea to death, and since everyone has already spoiled the hell out of it, there’s not much left to say…
• It’s the classic development where a future version of yourself appears. Then they reveal that it’s you and leave the continuation for the following week. Wasn’t that timing kind of awkward?

WOW, I completely agree with the comment above. I didn’t like this cut at all. The timing was really bad.

• If they wanted to make it a surprise, they should have covered everything from the old man’s appearance to the explanation in the same episode. If they wanted to keep it mysterious, they should have waited until next week to reveal who he was, right?
• Looks like the hype has been pushed to next week.
• People who nitpick every little thing probably can’t enjoy anything. I thought it was good.
• Stop trying to defend it by saying “it was good” and then making a point of emphasizing that it was only “normal.”
• Honestly, the animation was already over in the first season. It’s been terrible since the second season.