Summary
The following contains spoilers for Episode 8 of Mushoku Tensei Season 2, “The Fiancé of Despair,” now streaming onCrunchyroll.
The newest episode ofMushoku Tenseiconcern two unrelated stories that both focus on love and romance. The first half of the episode concern’s Rudeus’s classmate Cliff Grimoire, who experiences love at first sight with a rather unexpected partner. Then, the coming of fall hails the beginning of mating duels between beastfolk men and women, which Rudeus finds himself suddenly wrapped up in.
With this episode, Rudeus has finally gotten to know each of the students in his classroom, though he has yet to meet everyone in his class. Though Rudeus has been at University for quite a few episodes now, he’s taken quite some time to actually get to know his fellow classmates. While these characters are still new, they are all going to be a big part of Rudeus’s life,so taking the time to establish them is very important.
RELATED:Mushoku Tensei: Smartest Characters, Ranked
A Classmate’s Love
Rudeus has fully settled into his classroom, having gotten closer to not only Zanoba,but also the rowdy Linia and Pursena, who seem to respect Rudeus’s strength as a boss. The only other classmate that Rudeus has yet to really bond with is the genius student Cliff Grimoire, who finds his fellow students' antics to be unbearable. Cliff’s life takes a sudden turn when he spies a beautiful woman from the window of a dorm, and immediately falls in love with her.
The next day, Rudeus comes across a group of students beating on someone. He quickly chases them off and is surprised to discover that the student he saved was in fact Cliff. Cliff is somewhat annoyed to be saved by Rudeus, but thanks him begrudgingly. Later, Cliff comes to Rudeus and admits that he is interested in a girl, which turns out to be Elinalise. As it turns out, Cliff picked a fight with the students from before for spreading rumors about Elinalise’s promiscuity, not knowing that they were in fact true. Cliff then asks Rudeus to introduce him to Elinalise, since the two are acquaintances.
RELATED:Mushoku Tensei: Characters That Were Neglected In The Story
Cliff’s Passion
Unsure what to do, Rudeus decides to speak with Fitz about whether or not he should let Cliff meet with Elinalise, as he’s certain that Elinalise’s true nature will break Cliff’s heart. Fitz tells Rudeus that while he might be right, he should still let Cliff express his feelings to Elinalise. Seeing Fitz’s point, Rudeus relents and introduces Cliff to Elinalise. Cliff immediately makes a passionate confession, causing Elinalise to take Rudeus aside so she can berate him for bringing such an innocent boy to her. When she realizes that Cliff is being serious,she tells Rudeus that due to her curse, she couldn’t possibly be with one person. Rudeus then tells her to reject him if that’s the case. Elinalise agrees, and Rudeus leaves to give the two of them some privacy.
The next day, Rudeus is surprised to see Cliff and Elinalise all over each other in the classroom. Elinalise explains that though she told him about the curse and tried to reject him, Cliff’s proposal was so passionate that it was even able to shake her heart. When Rudeus asks what she’ll do about the curse, Elinalise tells him that she’ll do her best to endure for Cliff, while Cliff swears to one day make sure to lift Elinalise’s curse. The two seal that heated passion with a kiss while the other students in class look on in disdain.
RELATED:Mushoku Tensei: The Importance Of Rudeus’s Flaws
A Duel Of Passions
Cliff and Elinalise aren’t the only ones looking for love. With the onset of fall, male and female beastfolk have started challenging each other to duels with the intention of finding a partner. This includes Linia and Pursena, whose potential suitors are so numerous that they’ve decided to hole up in their dorms for the time being, with a good luck message sent to Rudeus. Rudeus doesn’t understand the meaning behind the message until a beastman hoping for Pursena’s hand challenges Rudeus to a duel, and he realizes that the girls have made him the target (and therefore deterrent) for their numerous suitors.
As Rudeus takes shelter within the library, a long line of challengers waits patiently for him to come out. When he finally does, however, he finds that all of them have been defeated by a large, six-armed man who calls himself the Demon King Badigadi. Badigadi is the fiancé of Kishirika Kishirisu, the demon who gave Rudeus his Eye of Foresight. Badigadi challenges Rudeus mostly due to his curiosity over his large mana pool. With Fitz sent to retrieve his staff, Rudeus takes the time to ask Badigadi about the Man-God, but Badigadi claims to have no knowledge of him.
Fitz soon arrives with Rudeus’s staff and tells Rudeus to not be ashamed to run away due to the Demon King’s massive strength. Rudeus echoes that worry, and asks Badigadi to spare his life. Badigadi finds his caution silly until Rudeus mentions almost being killed bythe Dragon God Orsted. Badigadi then proposes that Rudeus hit him with his strongest attack, and if he wounds him, then he wins. Rudeus prepares a massive Stone Cannon and fires it at Badigadi, blasting him apart. Though Rudeus believes he has killed him, Badigadi soon revives and declares Rudeus the victor before knocking him out with his own attack.
With the day over, Rudeus is simply happy to know that he no longer has to deal with Badigadi, and that he is unlikely to ever see him again. However, that turns out to not be the case, as Badigadi soon appears in their classroom sporting their school uniform, bellowing his signature laugh.
