Wake Up, and One Step Forward

Wake Up, and One Step Forward (目覚め、一歩、 Mezame, Ippon) is the Twenty-third and final episode of the Mushoku Tensei anime series originally broadcasted on December 19, 2021.

Synopsis
Suddenly, Eris disappeared, leaving behind a letter. Rudeus thought that he was able to start his life over again and change through various encounters and journeys, but the shock of losing Eris made him withdraw again like he did in his previous life. Just when he is about to give up on everything, the memory of his mother Zenith comes back to his mind. ......

Plot
Rudeus falls into a state of depression, and begins having flashbacks to his old life where severe bullying at school traumatized him into become a social recluse. Meanwhile, Eris has left on her own journey with Ghislaine so that she can grow strong enough to fight Orsted and protect Rudeus. Ruijerd rescues some travelers from beasts, earning their praise despite revealing his identity as a Superd to them. Zanoba and Geese continue on their respective journeys as they recall Rudeus fondly. Gyes and Tona continue to train together in Doldia Village. Roxy encounters Kishirika and helps pay her enormous bar tab. In gratitude, Kishirika uses her Demon Eyes to locate the whereabouts of Rudeus' family, revealing Aisha and Lilia have safely reunited with Paul and Norn, while Zenith is located in the Labyrinth City of Rapan on the Begaritt Continent. Roxy and her party immediately make preparations to leave for the Begaritt Continent to rescue her. Rudeus is still in a depressed state, but after having a dream about Zenith, he remembers he still has a duty to find her and overcomes his insecurities to continue his journey. Elsewhere, Sylphiette, who is alive and now has white hair, tries to convince an unknown group to recruit Rudeus into their ranks.

Characters

 * Rudeus Greyrat
 * Eris Boreas Greyrat
 * Ghislaine Dedoldia
 * Ruijerd Superdia
 * Alphonse
 * Zanoba Shirone
 * Geese Nukadia
 * Roxy Migurdia
 * Kishirika Kishirisu
 * Elinalise Dragonroad
 * Talhand
 * Paul Greyrat
 * Zenith Greyrat
 * Lilia Greyrat
 * Norn Greyrat
 * Aisha Greyrat
 * Gyes Dedoldia
 * Minitona Dedoldia
 * Tersena Adoldia
 * Holy Beast
 * Fitz
 * Ariel Anemoi Asura
 * Luke Notos Greyrat
 * Elmore
 * Kleene

Locations
Central Continent


 * Asura Kingdom
 * Roa (Refugee camp)
 * Buena Village
 * Kingdom of Ranoa
 * Sharia

Demon Continent


 * Krasma

Millis Continent


 * Millishion
 * Great Forest

Bergarit Continent

Adaptation Notes
This episode adapts the following material:

Light Novel Volume 1


 * Extra Chapter: The Mother of the Greyrat Family

Light Novel Volume 6


 * Chapter 13: The Young Miss's Resolution.
 * Interlude: The Two She Encountered.

Light Novel Volume 7


 * Extra Chapter: Ruler of Ranoa Magic Academy

Differences with the light novel:


 * In the light novel, Eris PoV was a monologue between the sex scene and before Rudeus awake.
 * The anime expands Rudeus' worries after his separation from Eris.
 * The anime adds many PoV  for some characters.
 * Ruijerd helped some travelers.
 * Zanoba traveling in a carriage in a snowy land.
 * Geese traveling in a desert.
 * Gyes, Minitona, Tersena and the Holy beast in the Great forest.
 * Kurt arriving in the ocean.
 * Paul and Norn reunion with Lilia and Aisha.
 * How Roxy's group arrived and started the party was cut.
 * In the light novel, Kishirika sees Rudeus that was training in the northern lands.
 * Some scenes after Roxy discover the Localization of Zenith thanks to Kishirika were cut.
 * A scene Elinalise proposed to tell about Zenith localization to Rudeus.
 * The demon king Badigadi appears for the first time and decides to help them.
 * How the group is divided in two, Roxy with Talhand traveling to Millishion to meet Paul and Elinalise with Badigadi to the northern land of the central continent to meet Rudeus, with the purpose to inform about the localization of Zenith.
 * The anime adds a dream of Zenith about the Family.
 * Looks like that was inspired in the LN 1 Extra Chapter: The Mother of the Greyrat Family
 * The LN 6 Extra Chapter: Distorted, But Unchanged was cut.
 * The LN 7 Extra Chapter - Ruler of Ranoa Magic Academy only was covered a little with the last scene.

Trivia

 * The preview images where delayed two days and released with the preview trailer.
 * Is the first time that the author of Mushoku Tensei is credited as script writer for a episode.
 * Is the episode with the most number of voice actors, with 31 in total.