Mushoku Tensei and Re:Zero author - Comic Natalie Interview (ENGLISH)

Comic Natalie Interview with Mushoku Tensei (Rifujin Magonote) and Re:Zero (Tappei Nagatsuki) author (ENGLISH) | Original interview in Japanese: https://natalie.mu/comic/pp/mushokutensei

The TV anime "Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ikutara Honjikidasu" is a story about a 34-year-old recluse and NEET who is reborn in a different world of swords and magic, and uses the memories and regrets of his previous life to start his life over. The original work is a novel that originated on the website Shosetsuka ni Narou, and has won the overall ranking on the same site and the first place in "This Web Novel is Amazing! Comic Natalie is pleased to announce the release of a new version of the story.

Comic Natalie recently conducted an intervuew between the author of the original work, Rifujin na Magonote, and the author of the TV anime, "Re: Zero to Start Other Worldly Life" 2nd season, which is also being broadcast this school year. The two, who started their serialization on Shosetsuka ni Narou at the same time, call each other "Neko-san" and "Sun-san". The two talked about their expectations for the anime "Mushoku Tensei", the story behind the production, the appeal of the original work, and their thoughts on the creation.

Interview and text by Takahiro Saito | Translated with DeepL | Edited by Fritzkier

Rifujin Magonote: Mushoku Tensei author | Tappei Nagatsuki: Re:Zero author

Q: ─ You both posted your works on Shosetsuka ni Narou at the same time. but if you had a private exchange, could you tell us what made you meet? I've seen you send replies to each other on Twitter several times ...

Rifujin na Magonote: I don't know where we first met.

Tappei Nagatsuki: Where did we first meet?

I can't remember the details of where we met in person, but I do remember that around 2013, a chat room was set up for Novelist Naro U writers, and that's where we first met. At that time, each of the writers on Novelist Naro U, including myself and Sun-san, were approached by publishers to write books. But we were all amateurs when it came to book publishing, so the chat room was created as an environment where we could discuss things like, "Can we sign a contract under these conditions?" I think there were 12 or 13 of us at the most, and we talked every night in that room. I think we met in person later, at a meeting. I think it was later, at a meeting.

Q: So you didn't meet in person until after you had chatted to some extent.

Magonote: But I didn't have any "I got a totally different impression when I actually met him".

Nagatsuki: Sun-san and Nacchan* didn't feel like we were meeting for the first time, did they? We've been friends ever since.

*The author of novel "Bless This Wonderful World! 
The author of the novel "Bless This Wonderful World" is Natsume Akatsuki. This work was first published on Shosetsuka ni Narou at the same time as "Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ikitara Hontenai" and "Re:Zero Kara Hajimu Isekai Seikatsu", and was remade when it was published in book form. It has been nicknamed "Konosuba" and was adapted into a TV anime in 2016 and a theatrical anime in 2019.

Magonote: You go to USJ, go out drinking, play "Monhan", and have a lot of fun.

Nagatsuki: Then there was the physical exam off.

Magonote: There you have it.

Nagatsuki: Basically, we are playmates. We don't really feel like colleagues (laughs). We just talk about how interesting "Unemployment Reincarnation" is.

Magonote: I also thought, "Rezero is interesting".

Q: ─ I can tell that you have a very good relationship with each other. Do you have any memorable episodes from your past interactions?

Nagatsuki: I remember how shocked I was when we first met in the chat room. Our respective works were being talked about at the same time. At the time, I wasn't aware of handles or author names, so we called each other "Mr. Unemployed" and "Mr. ReZero".

Magonote: Every time you updated your work, it was talked about in a 2channel thread.

Nagatsuki: At the time, I was updating "ReZero," Sun-san then updating "Mushoku Tensei," and later Nacchan was updating "Bless This Wonderful World!" every day. Each of us updated at different times, so we divided the day into three equal parts and competed for topics.

Magonote: It's daytime for Nacchan, nighttime for me, and midnight for Neko-san (Nacchan).

Nagatsuki: So I was very conscious of them. I saw them as rivals. They were the ones who took away all the buzz from my work (laughs).

Magonote: But I've never had Neko-san say something like, "I hate you".

Nagatsuki: Because it doesn't help if you tell it (I hate you) to them (rival). I have to write something interesting and go above and beyond.

Magonote: But I like the way Neko-san tries to improve herself and is a hard worker. "I'm going to get to the top of the world with light novel!" and he have been working on it for a long time. I could really feel it even when we talked in the chat room.

Q:──You guys are good rival, aren't you? Both of you have read each other's works. May I ask you about the appeal of each other's works?

Nagatsuki: Want compliment from me? (laughs)

Magonote: Yes (laughs).

Nagatsuki: I don't have to tell you how interesting "Mushoku Tensei" is, but first of all, it's amazing that you were able to depict the life of one character, Rudy. People say that "CLANNAD" is life, but for me, "Mushoku Tensei" is life.

Magonote: (laughs).

Nagatsuki: I think it's amazing that he was able to complete such an epic work, which is something I haven't been able to do yet. I'm sure I'll find other things I want to write about while I'm working on it, but "Mushoku Tensei" concentrated on depicting Rudy's life to the fullest, and of course there are episodes where I say, "This character was doing this at this time", but the axis of the story never wavered. In fact, there are a lot of settings that Sun-san doesn't reveal to the public, and when I hear about those settings at drinking parties, I think, "That was that !?" or "That character had such a setting!" There are many things. But, he try to cut off all of the branches and leaves, then focus on growing the trunk. I write everything because I want people to understand this form that I find interesting, just as I thought it would be. I wonder if Mr. Sun trusts his readers in this area, or he is not interested in it (laughs).

Magonote: That's not true (laughs). I believe that the reader's imagination is better than what's in my head. That's why I think it's more pleasant for the reader to be able to imagine freely.

Nagatsuki: The more imaginative you are and the deeper you read, the more interesting "Mushoku Tensei" becomes to read. As proof of this, there are many sites that discuss the story.

Magonote: But on the contrary, Neko-san writes everything, even the parts that I would have left to the reader or compromised by thinking that I wouldn't have to write that much. That's why "ReZero" has such a well-developed worldview, and I think that's what makes it so appealing. Another attractive part of "ReZero" is the climax of the final loop. There is difficulty after difficulty, and despair after despair. If it were up to me, I'd probably just let the game loop one more time, and then clear the next loop with plenty of time to spare. There are no unnecessary loops like that. There's a sense of urgency when you read it, and I think the fact that it's a loop story and doesn't leave any room for error is what makes "ReZero" so interesting.

Nagatsuki: Due to the nature of the work, if you have an infinite loop, it will become tedious, or there will be a lazy loop somewhere. That's why I make the deaths painful and make it difficult for readers to get out of the loop so that they can maintain the tension.

Magonote: That may be a similarity with "Mushoku Tensei". Even with the abilities you have, you can't easily overcome difficulties. It's a different approach, though.

Nagatsuki: That's right. I think the reason why "Mushoku Tensei" and "ReZero" were so popular is because the main character doesn't take it easy. That's why I've heard people say that the more stress-free a story is, the more popular it becomes, but I haven't really felt it.

Magonote: In fact, I even have the impression that if I'm stress-free, I'll hit my head somewhere.

Nagatsuki: If it's stress-free, it may be possible to get up to 100, but I don't think it's possible to go beyond that. I think our writing style can go up to about 150, depending on how hard we work. We want to give people hardships and depict the drama of how they overcome them.

Magonote: That's right.

"The reason I wanted to improve my work was because I see Neko-san hard work." ─Rifujin na Magonote

Q:──The fact that you draw difficulties firmly is what the two works have in common, and it is also attractive. Another commonality between these two works is that they belong to the "other world" genre. Other-worldly stories themselves have been around for a long time, but they seem to be gaining popularity again these days, thanks to novel submission sites such as Shosetsuka ni Narou. I would like to hear your opinions on the reasons for the popularity of this genre.

Nagatsuki: The number of people using the Internet increased, and web novels became popular. And with the spread of smartphones, the number of people reading works on Shosetsuka ni Narou exploded. I think the popularity of otherworldly stories at that time is the reason why the number of works in this genre increased so much.

translation and editing is in progress, bookmark this page for more future updates.