People love to make this greater than it really is. Probably in an effort of making the story they love and identify themselves with/as, a greater thing than it is. Because, you know, most people don't got nothing going for themselves, so they cope through things they build their identity with. (a.k.a. fans)
I wouldn't call this ED gimmick 'legitimate' though. As if it was as 'easy' of a predicament as depicted here. It was treated 'seriously', but for real, it was written as a bad schadenfreude joke all along. Like "dayum son! you got permanently soft because the broad you traveled with left you without notice, that hurts bro" and he 'healed' himself by banging his childhood friend.
@TotallyAbsurd The story already provides several layers of drama when it comes to the loss of loved ones by various individuals, the struggle of once again reuniting families, seeing a microcosm of what the estranged individuals go through by using Rudeus as a primary focus, so not taking ED all that seriously is perfectly fine.
Rudeus lost his confidence as a man and that's more than enough of a reason. He solves it by bedding someone he actually has a strong emotional bond with, overwriting the insecurity. Treating it with levity never really took away from the legitimacy, better than him going about everywhere touting he's limp.
@TotallyAbsurd whoah... getting a little heated in the comics. Ok... love or hate the ED scenario, I think it was pretty on brand for this story. Coz Rudy was a hypersexualized kid on account of being an adult stuck in a baby's body. He was also reincarnated into a really ho*** bloodline. Being a NEET hikikomori, who was caught jacking off to hentai on the day of his parents' funeral, dying, then suddenly being reborn into a really attractive boy... surrounded by now-legal-for-him-lolis... he grew up into a pretty messed up kid. Not only that, he had s** with Erin, who was 14 at the time, who was a couple of years older than his current body, but was 1/3 his mental age... 😬.
He got ED because, that s** scene started out as a moment of triumph for him. At this point he was mentally a 50-year-old virgin, who was largely unattractive and even disgusting to the opposite s** for most of his life. Getting banged by the hot older girl was probably as impactful for him as that first horse ride out of their estate... a symbol that he has overcome that particular trauma. Remember, one of his most traumatic memories was being tied naked to the school gare and being recorded and ridiculed by both his male and female schoolmates. Then, immediately after this "victory", he wakes up to a cold bed, with a letter from Erin saying they shoukd break up, and she straight up abandons him... even going so far as to cut her hair, which is a big deal in both Japanese culture, and even in this particular isekai. He developed ED because he felt: Wow! Erin having s** with me was so bad she went on a joirney of self-discovery after breaking uo with me.
@TotallyAbsurd I think you looked at it the wrong way. He didn't get ED just because he was sad about being ghosted, it was specifically because he was terrified that getting intimate too fast is why she left. He subconsciously felt like making things sexual would ruin any relationship he made. He didn't get healed by banging his childhood friend, he got healed by her still being there in the morning.
