Is Rudeus one of the best isekai protagonists despite his controversial past?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is Rudeus one of the best isekai protagonists despite his controversial past?". Your opponent's style: Jobless reincarnation hater

Rudeus is the best isekai protagonist and is in no way weird.

"Best" and "not weird" are two entirely different defenses. Rudeus literally reincarnates as a child and immediately pursues adult women. Even if he's narratively compelling, calling that "not weird" is denial, not argument. Which are you actually defending?

Well im defending Rudy as a whole. Judeing him based on that fact alone is a horrible point. We have kazuma and Rimaru who both went for older women and everyone exepts it as ok but gets mad when its Rudy.

You're conflating acceptance with equivalence. Kazuma's a comedic pervert played for laughs, not redemption. Rimaru doesn't have sexuality as a character trait. Rudeus demands we sympathize with his past as a *hikikomori pedophile*, then watch him pursue minors anyway. The story frames this as growth, not comedy. That's the actual problem. Why should narrative framing matter less than the act itself?

Because the act is why framing exists. It shows the real side of reincarnation. Kazuma and Rimaru are the fantasized version of this genre, Rudy is the realistic version. Their is no real comedy in this situation, it might come up every once in a while but in reality he goes through the struggles that you would never think about in Isekai. He has to go back to being a child and grow up again. He is a minor himself in the world so therefore he will grow up that way.

Now you're actually arguing something defensible, but you've buried the lede. You're not defending Rudeus as "best protagonist"—you're defending him as *most realistic*. Realism and quality aren't the same thing. A realistic portrayal of a predator grooming children is still a story about a predator grooming children, regardless of narrative intent. If your defense requires abandoning "best" and settling for "most honest about something repulsive," haven't you already lost the original argument?

Well to be the best it has to relate to the watcher, and realism is the best way to endulge the watcher hence separating it from other Isekai and putting it above others. But those predatory allegations on him are unrealistic. I mean he is a child with memorys from his past. For him to be a predetor he would have to have been a adult going after children.

That's circular logic. You can't say "he's realistic because he's relatable" then deny his predatory behavior by claiming childhood amnesia erases culpability. A 40-year-old mind in a child's body pursuing romance with other children isn't suddenly innocent because he got younger. The show itself doesn't frame it as innocent—it frames it as a *flaw he overcomes*. If overcoming means he still does it anyway, you're defending the behavior, not the character. What actually changes?

The show does not show him in the way you are describeing, it shows a boy using his past knowlage to navagate the new world. Same as Rimaru and Kazuma did

Wrong. The show explicitly depicts him grooming Eris and marrying her as a child. Rimuru and Kazuma don't marry kids. You're erasing the actual plot to defend it. If the show really treated it identically to them, why does it matter that he's "realistic"?