Rifujin na Magonote, the author of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, is facing criticism again, not over his storylines alone, but for how he handles feedback. With Mushoku Tensei: Redundancy Volume 3 on the way, fans are watching closely to see if a previously removed story involving two controversial characters will return.
Magonote has made his opinion clear: he doesn’t write to please readers. He writes for himself.
This article contains minor spoilers for Mushoku Tensei light novel series!
The controversy comes from the Redundancy spin-off series, which takes place after the main series ends. Originally posted online in 2015, it featured a relationship between Ars Greyrat (Rudeus’s son) and Aisha (Rudeus’s younger half-sister, and Ars’s aunt).
Aisha is much older than Ars, and since they’re family, many fans were uncomfortable with the story. In the original version, their relationship grows, they run away together, and Aisha ends up pregnant. The reactions, both in the story and from readers were strong. Characters like Eris and Lilia were furious, and the fan response online was just as intense.
Eventually, Magonote removed these chapters from the web version of Redundancy. While some of that decision came from the website guidelines where the work was published, fan backlash was clearly a factor.
Now that the third volume of Redundancy is getting a physical release, people are asking if that controversial storyline will be brought back, rewritten, or left out.
Also Read: 10 Anime like Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
“I Write Stories That I Believe In”
Magonote’s reaction to the criticism hasn’t been subtle. In a tweet, he shared how he feels about reader reactions:
“I appreciate compliments. Criticism bothers me and hateful comments hurt. But no matter what, I’m going to keep writing the stories I believe in.”
He added that while he hopes people enjoy his work, his main goal is to write for himself. Readers matter, he says, but they aren’t his main focus.
If no one were going to read it, it wouldn’t make sense to publish it, so I try to get more people to see it. But that always comes after ‘writing what I like the way I like it.’ Don’t confuse the two. What I love to write comes first, and then the readers. You always come second, sorry.
This has led to mixed reactions. Some fans respect that he sticks to his vision, while others feel like he’s ignoring real concerns from the people who supported his work.
Other Criticisms the Series Has Faced
The Ars and Aisha storyline isn’t the only thing fans have taken issue with. In August 2023, when Season 2, Episode 6 aired, Rudeus was shown buying a young slave girl named Julie. Some viewers felt this scene made light of slavery or treated it too casually.
Magonote responded by saying he doesn’t agree with slavery but wanted the story’s setting to reflect how that world works. He explained that Rudeus not questioning slavery was part of his character’s early flaws. His growth over time is supposed to show how much he changes from who he was.
There’s also been long-standing debate about Rudeus’s behavior in general. Many fans describe him as perverted and feel like the series sometimes includes too much sexual content. Magonote has defended this by saying Rudeus is meant to be flawed and that those behaviors are part of his development.
By late 2024, it was clear the criticism was starting to get to Magonote. He said he felt like people weren’t trying to understand what he was going for, and were focusing only on parts that upset them.
Rather than backpedal, he decided to keep doing what he’s always done—write the kind of stories he enjoys, even if they upset some people. This approach has led to more division: some readers support it, others think it comes off as dismissive.
All of this leads back to Redundancy Volume 3. The question is still hanging in the air: what’s going to happen with the Aisha and Ars story?
Interestingly, Magonote has said before that he wasn’t totally happy with how he handled that plotline the first time around. That leaves open the possibility that he might make changes, not because of public pressure, but because he sees a need to fix it.
This doesn’t mean he’s caving to complaints. Instead, it shows that even though he’s firm in his views, he’s still willing to rework parts of the story if he believes it could be done better.
This entire situation brings up a common question in fan communities: Should a writer listen to their audience, or focus only on the story they want to tell?
For Rifujin na Magonote, the answer is clear. He values feedback, but he won’t let it decide how his story unfolds.
With Redundancy Volume 3 coming soon, readers will soon find out how much of that controversial material, if any, makes it into the final version.
Source: Author’s Official X Account
