Over the past decade, the Isekai genre has undoubtedly caught on and become quite popular. While this genre was always huge in Japan, fans overseas have become hooked on the alien genre as well. When we talk about iconic isekai series, we usually think of Sword Art Online, the time I was reincarnated as a slime, and Re: Zero. But recently is a new, incredibly popular isekai series that has increased in popularity Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.
Mushoku Tensei has seen a lot of success, but its most recent season has struggled, as its new fourth episode debuted with a low 6.6 rating due to its controversial nature and questionable themes. The series is now recovering in terms of ratings, but compared to other series such as Re:Zero, it has proven to be quite underwhelming.
Mushoku Tensei Season 3 Episode 4 Debuts with a 6.6/10 IMDb Score, Marking New Season 3 Low
Mushoku Tensei was originally a web novel by Japanese creator Rifujin na Magonote, which debuted on November 22, 2012, before ending on April 3, 2015. The web novel was undoubtedly popular, and because of that, the series went on to receive a wide variety of new adaptations, but most notably a manga release of one, TV series, which is a TV series. small and not known for many hits beyond Jobless Reincarnation.
The TV anime series first debuted on January 11, 2021, with season 1, and it then continued on July 3, 2023, with the second season. Now, in 2026, we finally got the release of the third and final season after three years of waiting. On July 4, 2026, Mushoku Tensei Season 3 made its debut in spectacular fashion, with 2 episodes released at once.
At first, it was undeniable that the series itself had received an upgrade with the third season. At least, animation-wise, Mushoku Tensei Season 3 looks like an upgrade after the disappointment of the second season, which was notorious for quality drops in some episodes. But despite that, the ratings haven't all been positive, especially with the latest episode 4, which was released on July 19, 2026 in Japan, and almost immediately after globally.
Mushoku Tensei Season 3 Episode 4, titled Suio-kyu Majutsu-shi, debuted on IMDb with one of the lowest scores in the entire franchise, coming in at 6.6/10. It was definitely a shocking score for a franchise of this scale, but in large part it was due to fan dissatisfaction. This new episode had its fair share of controversial content. While not exactly new to the Mushoku Tensei series and the Isekai genre as a whole, it left a discouraging taste in many fans' mouths, leading fans to rate it a 1/10 or 2/10.
Mushoku Tensei Season 3 struggles to maintain high ratings despite some recovery
Then Mushoku Tensei Season 3 Episode 4's debut, ratings are definitely up again. Currently, the same episode sits at 7.8 out of 10 with 4.1K overall ratings. In part, the rating has gone back up due to many dedicated fans believing that the series had actually bombed in reviews, so to counter that, they have started giving 10/10 ratings, even if they don't think the episode itself deserves it. So in many ways this new rating is certainly skewed.
Regardless, even with that, the Mushoku Tensei series as a whole hasn't been the best rated in general. With over 50 episodes in total at the moment, the series only has three episodes rated above 9/10. In general, the score for this franchise is usually around 7.5 out of 10. In itself, that score might not seem bad, but on IMDb, many anime series regularly hit 9 out of 10 with spectacular episodes and story writing. For example, Re:Zero, another Isekai, released its fourth season and had 8 episodes rated above 9/10, with the other episodes also hovering around the high 8s. 2 of these episodes even have a near perfect score of 9.9/10.
Even on MyAnimeList, compared to some other series, Mushoku Tensei does not have a top rating. Its first season has a rating of 8.32/10, its second season's first part is rated 8.2/10, while the second part is rated slightly better, with 8.6/10. On MAL, its third season stands as its highest-rated so far at 8.8/10, but it's nowhere near the highest-rated anime series this year, let alone all-time.
Future of Mushoku Tensei and other projects in the works
Mushoku Tensei Season 3 has just started airing, and because of that, the series still has quite a long run ahead of us in 2026. At the moment, we have confirmation that Mushoku Tensei Season 3 will span 27 episodes, which is quite similar to its previous seasons with longer than usual anime television season episodes. However, we do know that the season will be split into two courses, with the first and currently ongoing season being 14 episodes long. At the moment we do not know when the first course will end and when the second will start. It appears that the second course is set for a 2027 release, giving us two years of Mushoku Tensei content in a row.
The series' fate after that is currently unknown. We don't know if Mushoku Tensei will get a fourth season, but given the anime's overall popularity, we'd be surprised if it didn't. Despite the controversy surrounding many of the plot points in Mushoku Tensei, the series is still quite successful compared to other isekai. Based on the latest figures, the series appears to have 18 million copies worldwide in circulation.
However, in 2026, it must be noted that the series was surpassed by otherworldly anime, especially Re:Zero Season 4. Re:Zero Season 3 won Isekai of the Year at the 2026 Crunchyroll Awards 2026.
Its most recent season, Season 4, went on to become the highest-rated anime season of the year and the second-highest-rated anime of all time on MAL, just behind Frieren. It did so by earning a score of 9.16/10, well ahead of Mushoku Tensei Season 3. Re:Zero's score is expected to grow further as the season continues.
With that in mind, we expect Re:Zero to beat out Mushoku Tensei at the Crunchyroll Awards once again as Best Isekai of the Year, and we think the former more than deserves the title with its incredible new arc, as well as directing and producing the anime. Mushoku Tensei may be popular, but it definitely doesn't seem like it's taking home the Isekai crown anytime soon with juggernauts like Re:Zero around.
Source: IMDb
