@burmn123 I'm sure it is because of the pedophilia theme. You've got a 40-year guy planning to "plant a seed" to 5 year old girl and later having sex with 13-15 year old girls, getting them pregnant, stealing underwear, worshiping bedsheets with their virgin blood in his hidden cell. And it never addressed as a questionable thing. In contrast, these actions are praised as good or brushed off as a joke.
The thing is, Mc starts as a pedophile who watches videos of his own 5-year naked niece while pleasuring himself and in the end, he doesn't change. The difference is only body swap when it comes to sexual tendencies. It's not a very likable character trait lol.
The facts are true.
He's mentally 40 year old, he's an adult man even though his body changed.
He's having lustful thoughts for 5-7 year children's, assaulting them (how many likable heroes you know who tried to remove panties off 7 year old sleeping child or next episode being happy to be in bed with them hoping to do naughty things with them?), and later on having sex with those 13 year old children. Still stealing their panties and worshiping cutout bedsheets with their first-time blood on it secretly like a creep.
I wonder how you're going to sugarcoat that.
The way story portrays and does these things are gross like none other anime did. It's kind of wish fulfillment anime for pedo despite other good content which is not spoiled by pedophilia themes.
At least in other mediums, MC's having second thoughts or just do it for silly jokes like Araragi in monster stories. They don't go out and do those P things to characters (children's basically).
These are the facts and it's hardly justifiable.
It's easy to see how many people find it's hard to resonate with such rotten to the core MC.
Just to remind you. MC starts as a 40-year old P, he reincarnates to child body. He's still a P. And he ends as P. (his thoughts, motivation are not influenced by reincarnation, let me remind the first EPs what he thought of 5 year old child and other characters while being 5 himself). He has sex with 13-year-old childrens while being 40 year adult in children body for god's sake. Swap Rudeus to his old body and how does this look now?
This could be handled better, but it is not. Probably author projecting himself on MC. What's even worse, that so many chose to ignore such displayed extremes and says "it's no problem".
I get it. It's japan. It's lolies and stuff, but this work does 100 extra steps to make it creepier than it should, thus, criticism because it's handled poorly.