Over the past decade, the Isekai genre has undoubtedly gained great popularity. The genre has always been very popular in Japan, but international fans have also become fascinated by the otherworldly genre. When we talk about iconic isekai series, we usually think of: Sword Art Online, That Time I Was Reincarnated as a Slime, and Lee: Zero. However, a new isekai series has recently emerged that is rapidly growing in popularity. Ignorant Reincarnation: Unemployed Reincarnation.
Mushoku Tensei Although it has enjoyed much success, its controversial nature and questionable subject matter have led to its latest season struggling, with the new fourth episode debuting with a low score of 6.6. The series is currently recovering in viewership, but has proven to be quite disappointing compared to other series like Re:Zero.
Mushoku Tensei Season 3 Episode 4 debuted with a 6.6/10 IMDb score, marking Season 3's all-time low.
Mushoku Tensei is a web novel originally by Japanese author Rifujin na Magonote, which debuted on November 22, 2012 and was completed on April 3, 2015. The web novel was undoubtedly popular, and because of that, the series went on to gain various new adaptations, including manga releases, but most importantly, an animated TV series from Studio Bind, which was rather small in scale and not known for many hits beyond Jobless. Reincarnation.
The animated TV series first debuted with Season 1 on January 11, 2021, and then continued with Season 2 on July 3, 2023. Now, in 2026, after three years of waiting, the third and latest season has finally been released. On July 4, 2026, Mushoku Tensei Season 3 debuted in surprising fashion, releasing two episodes simultaneously.
At first, there was no denying that the series itself had been upgraded for a third season. At least in terms of animation, Mushoku Tensei season 3 appears to be an upgrade after the disappointment of the second season, which was notorious for poor quality in certain episodes. But despite this, not all reviews were positive. Especially for the latest episode 4, which was released in Japan on July 19, 2026, and was released almost immediately worldwide.
Mushoku Tensei Season 3 Episode 4 (Suiokyu Majuzushi) debuted on IMDb with one of the lowest scores of the entire franchise (6.6/10). It's certainly a shocking score for a franchise of this scale, but it also caused a lot of dissatisfaction among fans. This new episode contains quite a bit of controversial content. It's not entirely new to the Mushoku Tensei series and the Isekai genre as a whole, but it left a bad taste in the mouths of many fans, causing fans to rate it 1/10 or 2/10.
Mushoku Tensei Season 3 struggles to maintain high viewership ratings despite some recovery.
from Mushoku Tensei Season 3 Episode 4 debuted, and viewership ratings clearly rebounded. The same episode currently holds an overall rating of 7.8 out of 10 with an overall rating of 4.1K. The ratings have gone up again, in part due to many dedicated fans believing the series has really been bombarded with reviews, so to counter this, I've started leaving 10/10 ratings even though I don't think the episodes themselves deserve it. So in many ways this new rating is clearly distorted.
Despite this, the Mushoku Tensei series as a whole didn't receive the best reviews overall. The series, which currently has a total of over 50 episodes, has only three episodes rated 9/10 or higher. In general, this franchise scores around 7.5 out of 10. That may not seem bad in and of itself, but on IMDb, many anime series regularly top 9 out of 10 scores due to their brilliant episodes and story writing. For example, Re:Zero, another Isekai, has released its fourth season and eight episodes have received ratings of 9/10 or higher, with others hovering around the high 8s. Two of these episodes received a near perfect score of 9.9/10.
Even on MyAnimeList, Mushoku Tensei doesn't have the highest rating compared to other series. The first season has a score of 8.32/10, the first part of the second season has a score of 8.2/10, and the second part has a slightly higher score of 8.6/10. On MAL, the third season achieved its highest rating ever with an 8.8/10, but fell short of being the highest rating of all time or even the highest rated anime series of the year.
The future of Mushoku Tensei and other projects within the store
Mushoku Tensei Season 3 has just started airing, so the series still has quite a bit of time left in 2026. It has now been confirmed that Mushoku Tensei Season 3 will consist of 27 episodes. This is very similar to previous seasons, which featured longer-than-usual anime TV season arcs. But we do know that the season will be split into two courses. The first and ongoing course consists of 14 episodes. At this time, we do not know when Course 1 will end or when Course 2 will begin. The second course is scheduled for release in 2027, marking the second year in a row that we are offering Mushoku Tensei content.
The future fate of the series is currently unknown. There's no word on whether Mushoku Tensei is getting a fourth season, but considering the overall popularity of the anime, we'd be surprised if it doesn't. Despite the controversy surrounding many of Mushoku Tensei's plots, the series is still quite successful compared to other isekai. According to the most recent figures, the series appears to have had a worldwide circulation of 18 million copies.
However, it is important to note that by 2026, the series has been overtaken by otherworldly animations, especially Re:Zero Season 4. The third season of Re:Zero was named Isekai of the Year at the 2026 Crunchyroll Awards.
The latest season, Season 4, became the highest-rated anime season of the year and the second-highest rated anime on MAL, right behind Frieren. It achieved this with a score of 9.16/10, well ahead of Mushoku Tensei Season 3. Re:Zero's scores are expected to rise even higher as the season continues.
With that in mind, we expect Re:Zero to once again beat out Mushoku Tensei for Best Isekai of the Year at the Crunchyroll Awards, and we believe Re:Zero fully deserves the title with its incredible new arc and animation direction and production. Mushoku Tensei may be popular, but with juggernauts like Re:Zero around, it's unlikely to take home the Isekai crown any time soon.
Source: IMDb
