While many anime claim to have openings that are so great that fans never want to skip them, only Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation has truly harnessed the art of unskippable openings. The anime keeps viewers guessing with intro and ending sequences that often intertwine with the plot instead of being the usual OP or ED-style video to bookend each episode. This creates a truly unskippable intro experience with Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, although the most recent episodes are tweaking this trend slightly.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation has been warming and breaking anime fans’ hearts since the Winter 2021 season, and with season 2’s second cour underway, it shows no sign of stopping. The main character, Rudeus ‘Rudy’ Greyrat, balances triumphs and new tribulations in every new installment, with glimpses at his next adventure often teased in the ending credits.

While Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is known for often featuring unskippable openings, lately it’s the outros that lead comfortably into the next episode, a great way to enhance an anime binge.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Often Features Unmissable Opening Credits

This Anime Forgoes Hyped-Up Intros for More Moments With Its Characters

While streaming live-action hits like Peacemaker use bombastic dance sequence openings to transfix viewers, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation interweaves its opening themes with small character-driven scenes. While the second cour of season 2 has moved away from this practice, it is still present in most previous episodes of the anime, and it feels unique and refreshing. Mushoku Tensei forgoes hyped-up intros in favor of an opening credit sequence that’s more cinematic in its qualities, like the start of a feature film.

That’s not to say Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation doesn’t have fantastic opening title music. Its latest opening credits feature the song “On the Frontline” by hitorie, and it’s a pretty elegant sequence, but the unskippable openings from season 1 are still hard to beat. With five openings and two endings performed by Yuiko Ōhara and “Spiral” by Longman underscoring montages of the characters traveling over long distances, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation has created a unique, unskippable experience.

These sequences are used to quickly show moments of the story that the series doesn’t want to linger on, such as the protagonists traveling from one place to another. While nothing important happens in these opening sequences, they are still part of the episode, so it doesn’t make sense to skip them. This solves the main issue with anime openings: it doesn’t matter how cool and energetic they may be, after hearing or watching it a couple of times, it’s normal to skip them.

Jobless Reincarnation Wants Viewers to Enjoy Its Entire Runtime

In cour #2 of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, the ending theme, Mamoritai Mono by Yuiko Ōhara, often plays with an elegant ending title sequence. But occasionally, like at the beginning of a new arc like at the end of episode #18 “Turning Point 3”, the ending credits are sometimes unaccompanied by music as a pivotal scene plays out. This is the case for numerous crucial plot developments, such as when Rudy is heartbroken by Eris’ sudden departure after their night together. One example from the past year is episode #1 of season 2.

It’s presumptuous to say that every episode will end similarly to the previous one. While cour #2 has thrown surprises like episode #15 with a traditional credit scroll, it still feels like a positive anime trend lately, with more shows getting creative with their openings and credits, like Oshi no Ko. With Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, its unpredictability in the plot, as well as its creative use of openings and endings, ensures viewers won’t want to miss a thing.