Thirty-seven-year-old Satoru Mikami is a typical corporate worker, who is perfectly content with his monotonous lifestyle in Tokyo, other than failing to nail down a girlfriend even once throughout his life. In the midst of a casual encounter with his colleague, he falls victim to a random assailant on the streets and is stabbed. However, while succumbing to his injuries, a peculiar voice echoes in his mind, and recites a bunch of commands which the dying man cannot make sense of.
When Satoru regains consciousness, he discovers that he has reincarnated as a goop of slime in an unfamiliar realm. In doing so, he acquires newfound skills—notably, the power to devour anything and mimic its appearance and abilities. He then stumbles upon the sealed Catastrophe-level monster "Storm Dragon" Veldora who had been sealed away for the past 300 years for devastating a town to ashes. Sympathetic to his predicament, Satoru befriends him, promising to assist in destroying the seal. In return, Veldora bestows upon him the name Rimuru Tempest to grant him divine protection.
Now, liberated from the mundanities of his past life, Rimuru embarks on a fresh journey with a distinct goal in mind. As he grows accustomed to his new physique, his gooey antics ripple throughout the world, gradually altering his fate.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Johan_Liebert_
Insert obligatory pretentious quote here because I’m not good at starting a review. The Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime or TenSuru is an anime that slipped into the radar of ever hungry anime watchers in October 2018. Since then, the anime has been praised as being a wholesome isekai deviating from the norm and positing a new and refreshed take on the genre. So, imagine my confoundment when only the first 5-6 episodes held true to the preceding sentence. After the first 6 episodes it turns into your typical harem loli bait. Allow me to elaborate. The anime starts off pretty good actually withour protagonist (who is a not-so-social-virgin at 37) dying, with his dying wish being “If I ever get reborn, I want to be OP af and want to screw as many girls as I like”; to be fair, I would probably also wish something along those lines. After citing his wish, “the great sage” reincarnates him into another world as the most OP slime ever. Stuff happens and he ends up saving a tsundere dragon from eternal imprisonment by eating him and also saves a village of goblins from direwolves. He, then names all the goblins and direwolves and takes it upon himself to create an ideal living environment for the monsters to live in. Just because he worked as a “contractor” in his previous life, he’s able to plan out a whole city mostly by himself. He also becomes an expert in holding a conversation even though he was lonely and awkward in his previous life. I don’t know how that works, but good for him right?
After planning a whole city mostly by himself, begins the directionless adventure of the slime. This is one of the main problems with this show, it does not know what it wants to be. There’s no overarching narrative, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but audiences at least need a sense of direction of movement in order not to be bored. There was something about there being a demon lord or something, idk it’s probably the same guy that’s present in every other isekai. What the show does is, it makes one of the characters say “Demon Lord” in some way or the other and the anime is like “well that’s enough plot progression for one episode. Who wants tiddies?”. Instead of actual plot we get “plot”. Not “plot” plot, but PLOT. Every girl the slime ever comes across is infatuated with him because we need to construct a harem or it will not be an isekai. Thus, the slime turns into chad slime and is swimming in tiddies, literally. The second problem with the show is that the danger does not feel real. Since the slime, who gets the name Rimuru by the way, is as OP as Goku in his Rainbow Super Saiyan Ultra Instinct Super Saiyan Legendary Super Saiyan God Ultra BS Level 5 form, nobody stands a chance against him. Anyone who challenges him, gets their ass handed to them in about 5 milliseconds. The fights usually go like this:
1.Rimuru’s henchmen fighting evil guy.
2.Evil Guy: You are just cannon fodder.
3.Henchmen lose; evil guy laughs; Rimuru arrives.
4.Evil Guy: You’re just a slime, you can’t do anything.
5.Rimuru beats the shit out of evil guy.
6.Evil Guy: *gasp* *starts following Rimuru for no reason*
Seriously, everyone who ever comes in contact with Rimuru becomes as loyal to him as you’re to anime. There’s this direwolf whose father is killed by Rimuru, but he’s like “meh, shit happens. You killed my father and dozens of my friends with whom I’ve spent my life till now, but you gave me a name so I instantly forgot about them”.
The comedy is ehhh??? I know comedy is subjective, but I can distinguish between well written comedy that isn’t funny just to me and just plain bad comedy. There’s this character who doesn’t speak and just says “mmmhh” and whenever he does that Rimuru goes “Speak up, man”. It was funny the first time but became annoying after it was repeated for a million times. There’s this lizardman who’s arguably the most irksome character in the show because his only purpose in life seems to be to make stupid decisions for the sake of tasteless humour. But, the most annoying part is that those actions, those asinine actions that he takes in the show which we took for granted, actually contribute to plot progression. He overthrows his father, the king of the lizardmen, from the throne during an invasion just because 3 of his henchmen told him that he is strong *annoyed nose exhale*.
The characters are painfully mediocre. Except for one female character, all others are there just to show some cleavage and get wet over Rimuru for no goddamn reason. Rimuru himself isn’t that interesting of a character. We never get an explanation to his motivation or what he wants to do, he just does whatever is presented to him. That’s weak writing. If your character holds his/her characterisation only in the context of the story then that’s weak character writing. There’s not even much to write as the characters are the definition of average. If they were on either end of the spectrum you would have something to say about them, but the characters in this show don’t have much of a personality. Only one character gets anything resembling a backstory which was so cursory that I forgot about it as soon as it happened. The characters are introduced as some kind of badasses only to further paint them as only superficially badass. There’s a character who tames the orcs and has a calm demeanour in his first scene but loses his mind when his plan fails. He’s portrayed as smart and shrewd but isn’t even able to figure out that his own slave is going to kill him.
The female cast consists of useless fanservice character #1, useless fanservice character #2, useless fanservice character #3 up to useless fanservice character #10, and Shizue. You can literally replace the female cast with boobs and it wouldn’t make a dent of a difference. Every female in this show, in one way or another, is only present to hold Rimuru between her boobs or to get angry for absolutely no reason in order to provide “comic relief”. I’ve put comic relief if massive quotations because all it does is annoy the viewer or pad for time as every episode needs to be 20 minutes long. The “comic relief” usually (and by usually I mean all the time) consists of girls vying to get wet over Rimuru or having other characters eat food that they’ve prepared; usually (and by usually I mean all the time) the food is very unpalatable and causes the person eating said food to faint. As you can see these are entirely new concepts that have never been executed or seen before in any anime, ever.
There’s a demon loli who runs around in bikinis blowing up whatever she wishes and is supposed to be a “demon lord” who are apparently the most OP people in the world. The demon loli is defeated by Rimuru by stuffing her mouth with honey; a feat which is applauded by his loyal followers quoting it as “A feat which only Rimuru-sama can accomplish” *exasperated sigh*. The demon loli (that’s what I’m gonna call her because she was only present in the show to appeal to pedos and was such a superfluous character that I don’t even remember her name and can’t be bothered to search for it), becomes besties with Rimuru because, well, we need an excuse to shoehorn in a loli with enough helium in her voice to lead to dizziness, nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness and ultimately death.
You might be thinking that despite shitting on this show why have I still given it a 4/10. Well, that’s because even though everything about this anime is utterly mediocre, I still had an urge to click the next episode and ended up finishing it in a day so it gets some points there. Even though the fights themselves can’t be considered anything other than one sided massacre, they were still fun to watch.
Oh, almost forgot. The music is ok, the OPs and EDs are just fine and with the exception of one piece (which I just can’t seem to be able to find), all the others are forgettable. The animation is pretty solid though, especially during the fights. But, what good is animation when the majority of the show is as bland and tasteless as frozen dry fruits.
Tl;dr
If isekai is your thing, then go for it, but again if you really like isekai then you’ve probably already watched it. If you don’t like isekai and are going to try it because you’ve heard so many good things about it, then I’d recommend you to refrain from watching it. This is another one of those mediocre isekai that has been hyped to high heavens by the anime community. It’s literally like any other isekai.
Stark700
Life can be harsh and I’m sure most of us think so in some way or another. The typical everyman at adult age works an 8-5 schedule on weekdays to make a living. Satoru Mikami is a very ordinary person until he gets reincarnated as a slime after being killed in a knife attack. As tragic as that sounds, it may not be a harsh life after all. Isn’t life just full of surprises? After being turned into a light novel, Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime) is one of the few isekai shows that I genuinely looked forwardto this year. While it subscribes to usual fantasy gimmicks, this show also does a unique job at entertaining the audience through its charismatic main lead, world fiction, and creative storytelling. I refer this show as more of a fantasy isekai, one that has a slime as the superstar.
Can the isekai genre really have potential to be more than just what's on paper? It certainly could for some franchises. This show is one of them. Satoru is reborn as a slime and his role is crucial to everything around him. Taking on the alias “Rimuru”, he makes up for his appeal through a variety of personality traits: kind, witty, laidback, sarcastic, courageous, and among others. When you look at all these character personalities together, Rimuru can be very likable. In the early portion of the show, we see Rimuru’s charisma and being able to lead supernatural creatures without fear. He even gives names to his new friends while showing his compassion. Rimuru is built to be special in the show. This is established through his immense abilities (such his Predator skill), where viewers can easily point fingers at him for being overpowered. Indeed, this isn’t an overstatement. In most of his battles, they are more like curb stomp face offs where Rimuru dominates his opponents. From isekai shows in today’s world, overpowered characters aren’t uncommon. What actually sets Rimuru apart is his unnatural charisma and human behavior. The witty conversations and small talks he engages with others often makes his fights much entertaining than they should be. Even in serious conflicts, Rimuru finds time to make jokes while being strategic enough to formulate a plan. Now, that my friends, is setting a likeable isekai protagonist by example.
Yet, this show can be a tearjerker at times too. The emotional context draws important value with a character named Shizu. After a titanic battle against a demon known as Ifrit, we learn about her past and Rimuru even inherits her will. Taking on her form, Rimuru realizes that he can’t save everyone regardless how powerful he is. It sets the path of his journey to keep promises such as being a mentor for younger kids. In the latter half of the show, Rimuru finds a group of children with magical potential and tries to lead them as a positive role model.
Even as an isekai show established with such a powerful protagonist, its character cast shouldn’t be overlooked. We meet a variety of characters with colorful personalities during Rimuru’s adventures. Some of the most noticeable ones includes his allies such as Shion, Shuna, Gobuta, Benimaru, Ranga, and later on, the Demon Lord Millim. Through Rimuru’s character interactions, it’s easy to see how his charisma inspires others. Many of Rimuru’s followers shows great respect for him and similarly, he deeply cares about them. Even Millim, a Demon Lord with overwhelming powers, takes a liking to him as the two forms an unlikely alliance. Respect of course isn’t just demanded but earned. Thanks to Rimuru’s abilities, he manages to make alliances with the most unlikely races. Under Rimuru’s leadership, he even sets forth to build a new country with his allies. The central element of storytelling relies on Rimuru’s way of showing his will. He proves this throug his actions and words. Really, by the end of the show, I felt like I understood Rimuru far more than I originally anticipated.
Despite my love for the show’s witty humor, colorful character cast, and storytelling, I should point out the anime still suffers from pitfalls. Fan service scenes with baths are common and Rimuru is still vulnerable to earthly desires in the fantasy world. In fact, I dare say the author made the monster girls as cute and sexy as possible. Millim and Shion are prime examples for their character designs. Just take a close look at them. Millim is pretty much half naked in her default outfit while Shion gives more of a mature lady vibe. Like most fantasy isekai, elves are characterized as desirable by males. This is shown early in the show when Rimuru encounters them and finds himself in brief moments of lust. While the storytelling has adequate development and carries an emotional weight, it’s hard to say that it’s great writing. In fact, many of Rimuru’s battles are extremely predictable even against the strongest of adversaries. In most of those fights, you should certainly expect Rimuru to be the winner. While the series also gives some of its supporting cast time to shine, most of the spotlight falls under our little slime-kun. Perhaps a bit too much...
Finally, 8-bit is back. After years of mediocre light novel adaptations like Infinite Stratos and Knight’s & Magic, Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken’s sets a bar for being a marvelous example of world fiction. The magical world contains fruitful amount of content such as the various nations we see. Tempest is the most prominent one ruled by Rimuru. Located in the Jura Forest, it’s a prime example of a monster country filled with larger than life characters. Meanwhile, other locations such as Brumund Kingdom and Dwargon reminds me of the high fantasy elements of the isekai genre. While the visual quality can look a bit cartoonish at times, it remains vibrant, bright, and contains a fine degree of palette. It suits for this particular show with its lighthearted humor. The character designs are of course worth mentioning in the case of Rimuru, the Demon Lords, his monster allies, and the infamous Veldora Tempest. At times, I feel like the author really put his thought into making them look as otherwordly as possible. The battle choreography also delivers a visual direction of what isekai shows should be. Nothing too groundbreaking but being able to showcase what characters’ abilities can really do. You should definitely not expect a DBZ-level style of action quality but be prepared for some jawbreaking cinematography.
Don’t you just wish life was simpler these days? Looking back at Rimuru’s adventure, I confess that I am a bit envious of his life. He is so carefree despite being an such a prominent figure in his world. Whether taking on the form of a slime, human, or Shizu, Rimuru makes everything look so easy. As such, watching this show felt like an easy way of passing time and enjoying what the author creator wanted us to experience. Now I wish life was easier.
Krunchyman
Mikami Satoru’s (Rimuru Tempest’s) top search results: 1) Japanese Spooge-casters (newscasters) 2) AppleJack(ing) Off (My Little Pony Futa) 3) Slime Stuff (self-explanatory) 4) Grew Grew Cock fO`shO (spirit gun!)5) Legends of the Galactic Queero’s (starring Yang in the putang — otherwise known as Reinhard’s vagina)
But enough giggles for one afternoon, what do these words bring to mind?
Squishy. Amorphous. Pliable. Flaccid.
No. This is not an explanation of Rimuru “The Slime” Tempest’s appearance — or a Donkey Kong dong Shlong — rather, it’s a succinct description of That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime’s (henceforth, will be referred to as just “Slime”) unstructured plot and the easily influenced cast of characters. Now before the various facets of the show in question are taken apart to illuminate its numerous failures, one must give credit where credit is due. For Mikami Satoru (Rimuru Tempest) to have the wherewithal to instruct his friend to destroy his hard drive — due to the massive amounts of downloaded pornography, allegedly — in the midst of his final moments on earth, was nothing short of being hilarious and befitting of the modern day virgin. But as well-timed as this joke was, it bamboozled the viewer into thinking that Slime’s story would entail more adult-oriented humor, instead of a puerile adventure about freeing a dragon (Veldora) from an Endless Prison.
Besides this subterfuge, Slime grants Rimuru with — no exaggeration — the most ridiculously over-powered “cheat code” in the existence of Isekai. Although, at first, Rimuru is perceived as a relatively weak, helpless being, his ability to absorb literally anything to amass new skills is ridiculously “broken.” Furthermore, Rimuru can alter his appearance on demand and can later combine different abilities to forge new, stronger spells/attacks. Plus he can create potions for healing, various weapons for killing, and manipulate time itself. Still, though. This does little justice to the wide array of skills he displays throughout the series. Literally, if you can think of it, Rimuru either possesses it or can ascertain it through his absorptive powers.
“Why is this a problem, though?”
People, typically, can not acquire new skills on the drop of a dime. It takes time and a great deal of dedication. Take Naruto, for example. Even though humans will never produce a Rasengan in their life (a terrible pity), they can empathize with Naruto’s hard work and determination in mastering the difficult, new skill. Rimuru, on the other hand, appropriates spells/powers rather effortlessly, making his “arduous” journey difficult to empathize with. To put it another way: imagine the smartest person you knew growing up, and how effortlessly they achieved straight “A’s.” Their accomplishments seem watered down because they are expected given their superior intelligence, rather than achieved through rigorous persistence. This is the same dilemma the viewer is faced with when watching Slime. Rimuru, to the detriment of the series, is too perfect and no task seems formidable enough to properly challenge him.
Furthermore, as far as characterization goes, Rimuru is as bland as oatmeal without milk (that’s right, dry out of the bag mother f—ker’s). He presumably lived 37 years as a human, but routinely acts like a child — especially in the presence of voluptuous women. Due to him possessing incredible powers, having an altruistic mindset, and not having any discernible personality (besides being a kind individual), he immediately evoked comparisons to the Gary Stu complex. Which hits the nail right on the head! What’s worse, is that Rimuru — the focal point of Slime — experienced diminutive growth/development throughout the course of the series. He is the veritable vanilla protagonist in this metaphorical Slime sundae (ewww!) that was so sorely missing in delicious toppings (what am I talking about?).
The remaining cast of characters, woefully, failed to elicit any fond memories, as the writing staff seemed more concerned about character quantity, rather than quality. Essentially, each character get’s their five minutes of “useful” screen time, and then they are effectively disregarded to clear the way for even more characters. Besides Shizue Izawa — who had a mildly interesting backstory — every character is easily forgettable, becoming a distant memory after the end of each episode. Until they come back in another episode and you’re like, “oh, they still exist?”
In terms of the plot, it proceeded like clockwork. Various problems occurred to create “tension,” but no situation felt insurmountable. Rimuru, per the hero obligation, spouted useless, uninspiring lines, such as: “If I don’t don’t kill him now, it really will be a disaster,” to substantiate the stigma of the boring, invincible hero archetype. It also perpetuated the overall laziness of modern day anime writers. Their inability to craft new, interesting stories and layered characters — with a semblance of authenticity — demonstrate their lack of ambition and willingness to take bold risks.
Slime is an anemic mimicry that never breaks free from its own constraints, hamstringing its potential to inspire excitement and joy in the viewing audience. Instead of a “hot mess,” Slime is just a mess. A wet, goopy mess.
HaXXspetten
As someone with literally thousands of hours of playtime in the Sid Meier's Civilization series over the years, I very much appreciated this anime. Isekai series are a standard staple in the anime industry nowadays and managing to stand out from the crowd can be easier said than done. Generally the way people do this is by giving some sort of twist to an otherwise quite generic setup, which in the case of Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken is quite simply that the protagonist gets reincarnated as a slime of all things once he gets transported to this particular fantasy world. However, it is important tounderstand that that part is *NOT* what makes this anime stand out from most other isekai series. Rather it is how likeable the protagonist is as a character and most importantly the general style and execution of its story.
You see, regardless of what kind of twist people like to throw into their isekai novels, in general they still boil down to a similar end goal. You normally have some sort of greater peril to tackle or evil demon lord for the MC to defeat and in the process of doing so he'll get his own harem etcetera; it's all very shounen-like in terms of writing. But Slime isn't really like that. Instead, this anime is much more relaxed and focuses on completely different kinds of challenges.
In essence, watching Slime is like watching a let's play of a fantasy version of a game of Sid Meier's Civilization. At the beginning of the story, our protagonist Rimuru comes across a poor goblin village, very basic and currently suffering from attacks by nearby wolf packs in the forest. He offers to help the tribe, and in the process not only manages to deal with the threat of the wolves, but by using his powers he's able to help the goblins domesticate them and join forces for mutual benefit. After being chosen as the new leader of the tribe due to his accomplishments, Rimuru starts the long and arduous task of trying to transform the village into something greater.
This is a large part of what the anime is truly about: the evolution of civilization. Over the course of story we get to see more and more races join the village as it grows into a larger town. We get to see the establishment of culture and diplomacy with other nations, the progression of science and infrastructure, the birth of an independent country and the political negotiations of a fresh, multi-species society with the rest of the world. It's all quite fascinating to watch and it makes me wonder why this is such a rare thing to see in anime. It's not only rare but at least if you ask me, it's also a hell of a lot more interesting than a group of people feeding off the power of friendship to go overthrow some evil demon lord or whatnot.
Now that is not to say that Slime doesn't have its fair share of action and clashes with hostile forces as well, but they are generally more large-scale conflicts with other nations. Also, while it is undeniable that Rimuru is ridiculously strong due to his completely broken Predator ability that lets him devour anything, I never felt that this was much of a drawback for the anime. Even if he may be overpowered, at the end of the day the eventual goal of the anime isn't just to defeat a bunch of enemies. The main challenges of this story are not ones that can simply be solved with brute force; they are a lot more sophisticated in nature, and I appreciate that a lot.
Unfortunately the second half of Slime isn't quite as good as the first half as there are less challenges standing in the way both in terms of peaceful and hostile ones. It feels a bit more slice of life-like and also contains a bit of a side arc that I don't really think did a whole lot good for the anime as a whole. I did have the show scored as a 9 for the majority of its airing but ultimately I had to chop off a point towards the end for this fact alone. Nevertheless, with a second season already confirmed, I can only hope that it finds its footing again once that comes around.
Ultimately, Slime is a great isekai show for the simple reason that it's focused on what it's simply like to start a new life in a new world—as well as the aforementioned evolution of society—without having to turn the story into a generic shounen fantasy adventure in the process. It's just a fun anime in general, and Rimuru's cheerful, smug and smart outlook on the world does a great deal for its overall enjoyment value as well. The show certainly wouldn't be the same without him. Overall, it's a very enjoyable and surprisingly creative show which is always cheerful, light-hearted and relaxing, without any excessive drama needed. Definitely recommended.
CodeBlazeFate
When was the last time a light novel adaptation or isekai tried to be straightforward? Nothing fancy, nothing repetitive or self-indulgent, just simple. With the likes of Re:Zero, Akashic Records, Overlord, and Mahouka, it’s become harder and harder to find an LN or isekai show that just wants to entertain (parodies like Konosuba don't count cuz fuck you). Even many of the “simpler”, “safer” anime like The Asterisk War and Isekai wa Smartphone fail to realize that we just want something simple and satisfying. That’s probably why Slime is as popular as it is. It just wants to entertain us with a fun, digestible isekaiworld for an adorable protagonist to build in and explore. Not to mention, it does so with some decent visuals, good music, and the sense of whimsey you’d expect from a show about being in a game-like world. That’s not to say the show never gets violent, that it never indulges in typical LN and isekai cliches, or even that it’s a good show. It’s just that Slime values entertainment above all else, never overindulging to the point of stupidity or alienation. Frankly, this is the first isekai in years to not suck.
Slime’s visuals are honestly strange. It doesn’t really feel like it was made in 2018 or 2019. Something about this odd and inconsistent art style doesn’t feel like something you’d see nowadays. While the art style certainly feels unorthodox, a lot of the facial expressions are priceless and adorable as a result, particularly with Rimuru’s slime form. The sheer liveliness of some of the environments trumps even the likes of No Game No Life, which is arguably the most visually stunning isekai on the market. The show often experiments with different styles, like swapping between anime and photorealistic footage when getting us acquainted with Rimuru’s slime form in episode 1, or when he fantasizes about hot elves and they’re drawn in a 90s aesthetic. Several moments in the show, along with the first ED, also add a sort of digital, VR-like filter to whatever’s happening onscreen. Speaking of the first ED, the visuals for it change 4 times, and each version looks great. Even when they’re not experimenting, some of the action scenes and sequences of Rimuru wandering around in slime form look stunning and fluid. The first OP is a wonderful example of this. Sadly, the visuals are about as inconsistent as everything else. For every moment of smooth or lively visuals, we have moments of typical static shots, and episodes where we don’t get much animation. Some of the background and foreground scrolling tends to look awkward as well, and the rampant CGI tends to be even worse. Still, the character designs are generally great, and the high points in the animation put nearly every other isekai or LN adaptation to shame. Studio 8bit is probably one of the better sources of isekai anime out there.
Even more vibrant is the music. Early on, we’re treated to some fun chiptune pieces, along with some adventurous tracks. Somehow, the amount of more lighthearted and fun tracks, and even the amount of battle themes is completely overshadowed by the sheer volume of great emotional pieces. A track that perfectly exemplifies both sides of this is actually the first ED, "Another colony" by TRUE. The guitars and drums give this energetic vibe that’s both invigorating and a tad emotional, and the violins more than add to the more emotional aspect of the song. Along with the decent vocals, these elements turn this into one of the better EDs of 2018, and a great way to cap off each episode. I don’t care as much for the second ED despite its more sentimental tone. Takuma Terashima does the 2 OPs of this season, and they are both fantastic. The first, “Nameless Story”, is a striking tune, especially with that bombastic usage of the special guitar which gives a more rustic, perhaps 2000s vibe. The visuals accentuate that vibe, as both aspects of the OP meld to create both this sense of adventure and danger. The second OP, “Meguru Mono” is a far calmer, more emotional piece that shows just how far Rimuru and his civilization have come, and how wondrous things will remain in the future.
As expected from an isekai, the writing is a bit of a mess. The show’s pacing is often strange, and it has a ton of pointless and bewildering time skips. Emotional moments often feel rushed or conjured out of thin air, and the show often forgets about its characters until they randomly appear later. Examples of the latter include the time when Gobta’s just left alone in a cell halfway into episode 5 and forgotten about, or when the goblins and wolves are told to wait outside at the beginning of episode 4 and are forgotten about until episode 6, where we see them and a whole new batch of goblins working. The show also tends to resort to time skips, glossing over the progression of the central village Rimuru builds, and making the town’s progression and some of Rimuru’s absences feel utterly ridiculous.
Another problem is that the world-building is sometimes inconsistent and unexplained, like how Rimuru could only name like 50 or so goblins and one wolf before passing out in episode 3 and then 500 goblins in episode 6. The worst case of the latter is in episode 19 where the wolf Ranga suddenly has a strong partnership with Shion and pulls a flying ability out of nowhere, since the characters ask how and when he learned that and became that close with her, and we never get an answer. Granted, the world-building is never indigestible and rarely broken like it is in Mahouka or Smartphone. It’s just that these issues become especially distracting when the narratives are already rather unremarkable and badly paced. It’s even worse when most of the arc conclusions are drawn-out, anticlimactic, or cheesy, with the 4th arc’s finale being the worst example. That said, some of the storylines in this show are genuinely good. The best example of this is the 3-part storyline with Shizue at the end of arc 1, with its intense backstory and a sentimental payoff for Shizue and her ultimately tragic tale. If only more of this show’s arcs and mini-stories were as good as this or even the majority of the second arc, but inconsistency really is Slime’s middle name.
A majority of the characters in this show are actual yes men, often with one defining character trait and only some level of chemistry to make them salvageable. Barring Rimuru (the little asshole), his internal sage assistant, and perhaps the utter dolt that is Gabiru, it seems like the best characters in this show are ones that appear for a short time, like Shizue, Veldora, or the trio of guild adventurers at the end of the first arc. They along with the characters I’ve named often have the most entertaining personalities and chemistry, and the most we get from them are a few gags at Gobta’s, Shion’s, and Rimuru’s expense. Almost none of them have any exceptional personalities or amazing chemistry to rival the GOATs in anime casts, nor do any of them necessarily wring any hype out of me aside from a character introduced in the penultimate episode. However, none of them are insufferable or horribly written. Still, this is probably Slime’s weakest and least entertaining aspect.
The experience of watching this anime at its best is a lot like that of playing a Kirby game. It has an adorable, round, expressive protagonist who absorbs his enemies’ powers while exploring new lands, and a sense of whimsy crafted by the bouncy slime animation and wonderfully varied OST. The experience of watching this anime at its best is a lot like that of playing a Kirby game. It has an adorable, round, expressive protagonist who absorbs his enemies’ powers while exploring new lands, and a sense of whimsy crafted by the bouncy slime animation and wonderfully varied OST. It’s not necessarily well-written, visually stunning, or even consistently entertaining, but it sets a benchmark for isekai that frankly hasn’t been met in half a decade. All it needed to do in order to not suck was just be straightforward and willing to entertain.
With that said, can we finally have a good isekai again, please? I don’t want another isekai ending with a recap episode, as amusing as this one was. (Yes, the recap is listed as its own anime now, but it was still advertised as the final episode by the show itself, and MAL did not list it as its own entry when this review was made. Fuck you, it's my review...you bullies.)
Written and Edited by: CodeBlazeFate
Proofread by: Peregrine
TheDeedsOfMen
Sometimes in anime there comes a point when there is just too much friendship. Characters who were enemies seconds ago suddenly become best friends for no real reason. No hard feelings, no suspicion or anything. Never any problems, just one happy family. There are no alliances of convenience, no fear of being backstabbed, no slow defrosting of relations. I can appreciate the idea of talking people out of hostilities, but come on. Just a few words and there we go, best friends forever? Am I supposed to take this completely unironically? And apparently this is because they really respect the protagonist, whom they have suddenly chosenas their new leader. Yes, they have found their one true love: Rimuru Tempest. Their love for him is so great that they can put aside all their previous grudges just to serve under him or otherwise be friends with him. Everything is forgiven in nanoseconds and they can all live together in perfect harmony. The second ending perfectly pictures the problem: pretty much the entire cast having fun together. There is nothing at stake. There is no conflict. Just sunshine and rainbows all day, every day.
Rimuru has no goals in life. He wants nothing for himself, instead wandering around and helping random people he meets. When people gather around him, he likewise dedicates his time to helping them with their mundane problems. Furthermore, he does this in a very passive manner. Something new comes up, and he reacts, for instance by beating up some random generic villain that showed up for no reason. When he does obtain long-term goals, even those are simply things he was entrusted with by people he barely knew. In one particular case, we are informed of the importance of the person beforehand by prophecy because of course this is the best plot device for the job. They are destined for each other even though they have never met because... destiny or something. Seems legit.
How can I relate to someone like that? They have gone out of their way to write a protagonist so altruistic that angels would blush in envy. It's too much. Especially in a strange new world full of dangers, no believable person would behave in this way, and even if they somehow did, they would be utterly unrelatable. People are not stereotypical heroic protagonists. People are more nuanced, and they carry flaws. Imagine random people, whom you've never met, walking in and asking you to take care of their mundane errands for no real reward. Repeat this over and over again. Of course, you would every time do everything they wanted, right? Without a single complaint, without ever having desires of your own?
I imagine you wouldn't. Because most people are not angels.
Incidentally, we learn very little of Rimuru's personality. This is pretty much all we know:
1) He likes waifus to an extent, and
2) he performs generic good deeds, often against generic villains.
Beyond his fondness of mammary glands and his dislike of generic evil overlords, he does not appear to have any well-defined beliefs or interests. And it is not as though he actively seeks out waifus either. A few of them join him on their own, and while he enjoys their presence, it is not like he actively seeks out their company or tries to develop his relationship with them. After so many episodes, I still don't know what makes him tick. He just kind of... hangs around passively and helps the people around him who make him solve all their problems.
After his rebirth, Rimuru nearly instantly gains nigh godlike powers so that almost nobody is a real threat to him. He didn't even have to work for it much at all because of the cheat abilities he received at birth. Kind of makes the part about being reborn as a slime meaningless when the slime ‒ an allegedly weak monster ‒ is instantly godlike. There would be ways to handle an overpowered protagonist. He could at least deliver witty lines or semi-decent jokes on its basis. It could be a satire of overpowered characters. It could be that the protagonist uses his powers in an interesting way, maybe by scheming or making difficult moral judgments. Highlighting their own ruthlessness can actually be funny as well. Unfortunately, Rimuru is in favor of mechanical infodumps and generic super-altruistic lines, so here we are then.
Overpowered abilities and perfect altruism are a terrible combination because it lets characters bypass any difficult moral judgments. They can take the easy way out and trivially solve almost anything, implying that we should all follow their example and take care of every problem we come across. But the rest of us don't have godlike powers, so what do you expect us to do? Sometimes we have to make difficult decisions, and those tend to be the most interesting ones in fiction too.
The rest of the cast is usually even worse. As I was implying earlier, Rimuru is surrounded by a fanclub whose members worship him without question. They praise him many times during each episode, which gets old fast and really dampens character interaction. They barely have any characterization beyond this either. This fanclub includes women desperate for him because of course it does. You can debate whether it counts as a genuine harem, but either way it is another symptom of the fanclub mentality. This is not how actual people speak to each other, at least if they are being honest. I don't want protagonists to be surrounded by fanatic fanclubs 24/7.
The antagonists are somehow even worse. There are essentially two types:
1) The card-carrying, mustache-twirling villains in black capes that are the bane of anime and fiction in general. They are so obviously evil that it hurts. God forbid the protagonist has to make difficult moral decisions; we can't have that. Plus the antagonists receive approximately zero characterization and zero interesting lines. Also, they are as incompetent as you'd expect, so a miss in that regard as well.
2) The "antagonists" who actually have no interest in opposing Rimuru in the first place. In fact, give it a few minutes and they will be best friends with him. Their reasons for this change of heart are so trivial that there was no real conflict to begin with.
What a brave stance this show is taking. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad. All the good guys love the protagonist. Actually, many of the alleged bad guys aren't bad either because ‒ as noted ‒ they become friends with the protagonist anyway. Sometimes even without fighting. Try offering them some candy. Maybe that will do the trick. Incidentally, does "Demon Lord" stand for "official envoy of friendship" in this world? Because ‒ judging by the Demon Lords onscreen ‒ that sure is what it looks like. What a happy-go-lucky bunch of people. They say you "fall from grace" to become one, but that is probably just a troll.
You can probably guess what this does to the plot. Because adversaries instantly become friends, what can the author do to move it along? If you guessed "make new ones appear out of nowhere," you are right, and this is the result. The plot abruptly transitions from one point to another without any strong underlying theme or message, never stopping to think about the events more thoroughly.
Rimuru defeats generic evil (or "evil") villain A.
->
Rimuru defeats generic evil (or "evil") villain B.
->
Rimuru travels somewhere and solves mundane errand X.
->
Rimuru defeats generic evil (or "evil") villain C.
->
Rimuru travels to random location Y and saves a bunch of people from a technobabble-based illness or something.
And what did we get out of all this? No cohesive plot, that's for sure. No interesting themes, either.
The comedy falls flat as well. The reason is in part the same friendship I have been ranting about. The comedy consists of the usual lighthearted slapstick that we have seen thousands of times, complete with the equally predictable fanservice. I know we shouldn't expect too much, but the show is afraid to offer even the slightest hint of black comedy or scathing commentary. Nor is there any irony or satire found here or even a hint of the simplest sarcasm. No self-awareness. No subversions as far as the eye can see. No funny rants against existing conventions. Here everything is obvious, in-your-face and very conventional, but comedy only works if it is surprising and audacious enough. This show plays it too safe. It is afraid of rocking the boat in any way or form. As a result, it is not funny, even when it is clearly trying to be.
Furthermore, Rimuru's dialogue seems really dull and generic, including his inner monologue. He and his infodumping exposition ability ‒ essentially a robot ‒ simply describe surrounding events and offer very little in terms of personal viewpoints or deeper thoughts. The wrong way to do world-building is to just dump the info, go "Hmm? So that's how it is," and leave it at that. Sure, Rimuru may plan to use this info to beat the enemy in front of him, but this always takes place in a very mechanical and straightforward manner. There is very little in terms of tactics. There is even less in terms of any moral debate because the world is so black-and-white, and the arbitrary infodumping does little to help this. It is also a problem with the way the dialogue was written. Lines are delivered in a simplistic and predictable fashion. At least lighten it up with your personal ideas or some witty remarks, but nope. To be fair, Rimuru tries to deliver jokes sometimes, but they fall flat for the reasons outlined above.
"But we can't have a protagonist with well-defined personal beliefs. How will people self-insert as him?"
Well, maybe self-inserting is not always necessary. But even if you wanted to, the problem is the opposite. How am I supposed to self-insert as someone who is so passive and lacks initiative? I don't want to self-insert as a cardboard cutout or blank slate.
Interesting characters actually believe in things. They have goals in life, and they struggle to fulfill them.
KANLen09
Well well, seems like the story to this popular series isn't ending yet, at least for now. Nonetheless, I would like to declare TenSura as one of the greatest Isekai series ever made, and 8-bit's adaptation of the source material (majority from the manga, some with LN/WN) couldn't have come any closer to pure excitement and enjoyment, even after some big falls and hiccups along the way. And with Season 2 in the horizon to come (at the time of this review) in 2020, let's dissect what Season 1 here has already churned out so far. *This will be a tad bit spolier heavy, but I'llpromise to keep it very generalistic!*
Story:
The Isekai "other world" genre at this point is nothing new, becoming a commonplace in modern-day anime, and TenSura is no different. Some dude lost his life in an "everyday typical" incident, except that the scenario causes his death...and what happens next is even more mysterious (and honestly one of the big selling points of the series). He is reincarnated as a gender-less slime (and it's even proven in the myriad of source materials), and honestly Rimuru Tempest is legit one cool lit character, quite possibly one of the best characters I've ever seen in an Isekai series. As time passes, by captializing on the differenitating MC cast and crew, it truly is something that is special against the many generic Isekai stories out there.
From the get-go, Rimuru, in slime or transformed human form, is quite the OP figure. Being a slime, it can traverse everywhere with the versaility to transform as and when Rimuru likes it. With the help of the basic but powerful Unique Skills Predator and Great Sage, plus the meet-and-greet consumption of the tsundere Storm Dragon Veldora, it is set to create a name for itself under the guidance of Great Sage and harmonize the assortment of characters coming its way in the Jura forest. As the series grows, the plot building of the Jura (Forest) Tempest Foundation town in the light of Veldora's disappeared large domineering presence is a very important one, not only for Rimuru and his teams of growing fellow mercenaries, but of combatting external threats as well.
For the very concerned parties, pertaining to the source materials, TenSura Season 1 covers:
- Manga: Pretty much the entirety of the manga, both Japanese and English subbed releases.
- LN/WN: LN Volumes 1-4 and WN Arcs 1-3 (with some non-linear episodes adapting relative chapters), not gonna mention them here, but please do check them out.
- Some episodes are anime originals (or rather, side stories) too, I'll leave that for y'all to find out as well!
Characters:
Overtime, we get to see the many characters, starting from strong pack of direwolves (Ranga, leader of the pack) to good-looking goblins (Gobuta you deserve the high praise here), even the insanely strong small community of dwarves (Kaijin and Co.) and ogres (Benimaru and Co.), and also both the Lizardmen (reminds me of the proud jerk Gabiru) and eventually the orcs themselves also. Not to mention even the Demon Lords make their first appearances, and while we have seen the first of the Demon Lords (Destroyer Milim Nava, Clayman, Leon Cromwell and others), Season 1 didn't go as far as to mention their purposes and motives, I'd bet that LN/WN readers who most likely already know how big the action is, and we'll sadly have to wait till Season 2 to fully let the proceeding major arcs flesh in its glory.
Oh, and don't miss out the companion MC in line: Shizu Izawa, quite possibly the integral character close to Rimuru. Dubbed "The Conqueror of Flames" with the fire spirit Ifrit, that was embedded by Demon Lord Leon himself, Shizu is pretty much in common with Rimuru, that both are "World Travellers", summoners that are required to be powerful, so much so that their existence comes off as totally rare. Once a subject of constantly failed experiments, a sacrifical pawn at the heart of it all, she is saved by Rimuru due to the curse inflicted upon her heart that turned into hate. As a consequence, she always wears the power-nullifying (Anti-Demon) mask to encapsulate Ifrit's massive power. In the later stages, Rimuru redeems her life, promises to take up her request of vengeance and teaches the summoned children on behalf to improve on their magic abilities. In a sense, we can all symphatize with Shizu as a memory of pure hell and torture, and how Rimuru sees her as a close friend brings the feels.
Overall, a well-rounded cast of characters, and I pray that Season 2 knocks off the walls with more key characters that will arrive in due time to come and break the door open for bigger possibilities, between Rimuru and Co. and the other characters not yet revealed!
Art and animation:
My outlined preliminary review after the first 1.5 months still stands, and highly so to even greater effect as Season 1 is officially wrapped up. Props to the production staff and everyone's contributions over at 8-bit for this amazing series. An overall high quality, top-notch product through and through, certainly the flagship series that the studio has to offer. Though sometimes the series will have certain hiccups in quality, but on an overall standpoint, we viewers stand to gain tenfold. And how can I forget about the references for anime original episodes? [b]*Salt meme* intensifies[/b]
Music:
When will a series be stretched wholesome by its OST alone? The endless amount of reveals throughout these past 6 months through the 2-cour OPs and EDs just made more hype and pleasures all the more redeeming as time goes by. Not to mention that all 4 songs are awesome to listen in their own right, but many would agree that the OP/ED pairing of the 1st cour shines brighter than its counterpart. The OST shines during its battle segments, whether be it with major enemies or even just friendly fire. Heck, the music here is one awesome ball of fire.
In conclsion, with people complaining about the cut content towards the adaptation, it's hardly noticeable at its first steps, it regretfully interpolates through the hurts-and-shreds of its erratic pacing. But for anime-onlys like myself, I feel that with this much disruption (ever since Milim arrived and the Royal Capital arc with Shizu's students), the attention to detail subsequently increases and it's hard to call it a good adaptation overall. But whatever the case is, it does not detract from the overall experience, and is still a fun and enjoyable series to watch in its entirety.
Now we'll just have to wait for the continuity that is Season 2, bringing even bigger hype in 2020. Until then, have a wonderful "It's Slime Time!", on behalf of Rimuru and Shizu, #SlimeTime out!
The-Observer95
Its really sad to see that people were saying that Slime peeked to early, when story was just getting good in my opinion, but I can not talk for other people here but me. Story wise it got better and better as it went long, and also I think one thing so many studios even big ones get in trouble is that constant animation but studio 8bit really nailed it in the animation department. Many people do no know but studio 8bit is a small studio but that does not stops them from giving us the quality animation. The main character is also likable even thoughhe is in a isekai anime, I say that because because many isekai protagonists are just plain bad and boring but that is not the case here. Even though the name alone makes you believe that its gonna be a echi/harem series but I was stunned to find its more story driven and action packed series, which was of course a pleasant surprise. And I have to say it below my expectations but there are some problems which needs to addressed as well, the those problems are the secondary characters, because side characters do not get the enough time to shine or progress and mind I remind you there are a lots of sides characters, I mean a lots of.
I hope the side character dilemma will be resolved in second season now that its has been announced, other than that its a fun series.
Larkus
Don't waste your time, nothing actually thrilling or interesting happens. Every problem will be resolved with no issues, If you can't talk things through, there's always some OP skill that will fix everything, no need to learn or change. Characters are just a number of usual tropes for the genre and anime in general and the comedy isn't that good that it could serve as a driving force. The worldbuilding will be spoon-fed to you at a snail's pace which isn't a problem by itself, but it also can't be a driving force in this case. The art and music are fine, but nothing to writehome about.
Aku_Bukan_Wibu
talking about the best isekai anime, one thing I will say is it's hard, it's hard to determine whether Konosuba or Tensura, but if I have to talk a bit seriously maybe I will give this throne to Tensura (reincarnated as a slime) because this anime has a very interesting world building and story. a very satisfying story and doesn't get stuck in the mind. the story is light but still serious and delicious, I don't even get bored of watching it over and over again while eating. I give 100 out of 10 for this anime, an anime that I always wait for the newseason. Light Novels never disappoint.
AnonymousKing7
TenSura (Slime Isekai) is the first anime or any tv show for that matter, made me read a text material that it is derived from. I usually hate reading as I prefer visual stimulation more or you could say I lack imagination. Anyway, after watching two seasons of this anime, I couldn't control myself from reading the next 10+ volumes of LN, which is the source material, from where the last episode of the anime had ended. I even read the WN to see the climax of the story, as it is very addicting. The crux of the matter is that I'm addicted to escapism andthis show just gives me what I want. Easy go lucky slime, who does whatever he/she wants as he has power to do so. His powers including Great Sage and Predator are so OP, that I wish I have that if I get reincarnated as well. Imagine having AI with so much knowledge about the world and unimaginable processing power with you all the time, and the skill to steal other people's skills.
But even if you are not into escapism, the show is really great considering, it has a very likeable MC out of all anime that I have watched so far. He is so likeable that you feel like, you wish you had him as your friend. The inner monologues of him and his interactions with other characters are so engaging to watch just like kumako from the anime "Kumo desu ga, Nani ka?". You'd also like the skill system of TenSura, over any other isekai or even any other anime for that matter. TenSura has an amazing world building, politics, economic etc., albeit not as complex as our world, based on what is shown. The show is not very intense like Re: Zero, but takes itself seriously unlike Parody/Comedy shows like Eminence in Shadow or Konosuba. This is one of the very few isekai, that does what it supposed to do, almost perfectly. It is very similar to Overlord, but little different because, in Overlord, Ainz is a bad guy, whereas, Rimuru (Slime) is a good guy. This season specifically, rushes through some stuff in the source material, nevertheless it's still enjoyable.
Overall, very enjoyable isekai, with very likeable MC, intriguing Skill system, amazing world building, politics, economics etc.,
Rating - 8.5
Phnnn
Don't listen to the negative reviewers. This show isn't what they expected, that's all. It's a very strange show, and it's going towards a very strange story. The first season is more of an introduction than a thriller. You'll like it, if you're into casual shows and strange stories! If I'm forced to enter a longer review, I'll go on ahead saying that a lot of the story and topics seem to come out of the author's whim. But that's fine. Not every story has to be deep and dark. This is chill and mostly merry. But there's an obvious twist in there. Time travel. Spirits. Reincarnations.Death and love.
ThatAnimeSnobRE
Don’t you just love it when fans of a show constantly make up reasons for why what they like is unlike anything else? In the case of this show, it’s because the protagonist is a slime. Aha, see, that has never been done before! Did I mention how despite being the weakest monsters in all JRPGs, he’s actually more powerful than the gods? Or how he also turns into a cute girl early in the show? How original! Other than that, it’s a typical isekai series that checks all the usual clichés in the book. A loser virgin from our world gets reincarnated in a differentone that functions like a videogame, where he is ridiculously overpowered, easily defeats all opponents, makes everyone his allies, and every female rushes to squeeze him between her huge melons. It’s literally just another power fantasy for collar workers of Japan who wish they were the masters of their own world.
The main hook of the show is the constant evolution of the slime’s abilities, and the growth of the society he builds every time he completes a quest. Both of which are done in a breezy, wholesome way. The protagonist can instantly copy any ability from creatures he consumes, and with them powers through any problem that gets in his way. It’s all done in a cheap way, since there is no sense of training or learning. It’s all about using abilities you gained and you use them as easily as pressing a button. Also the allies he makes are to the most part joining him after being overwhelmed by his powers and not because they gained his trust or see him as a fellow warrior. The direwolf in the early episodes is a prime example of that. He accepts the slime as his master despite having killed his father and a lot of his friends.
There is also no actual plot to speak of, since every arc plays out like a loosely stitched together quest in a videogame. The protagonist is not actively trying to achieve a specific goal. He wants a peaceful society, but doesn’t actually do something about it, besides reacting to whatever comes his way and that conveniently results in making the society better. The story is as lazy as the logic behind acquiring new abilities.
There are no interesting characters either, since they are all fairly one-note. Whatever powers they have are quickly eclipsed before the slime. Whatever background stories they have are quickly forgotten in favor of the next loosely stitched together quest that appears. Even the slime is not interesting as a character. He’s just a carefree nice guy who has nothing to struggle towards, since he can easily overcome any problem with sheer power. Even when a demon lord that is stronger than him appears, he just befriends her by giving her food. And said demon lord is a bikini-clad loli. The author just doesn’t give a damn.
Despite all that, the show managed to win a lot of watchers by being a wholesome civilization-building isekai. It works as far as escapism goes and, unlike most anime, doesn’t break any rules or betrays its initial premise. It is shameless empowerment fantasy from beginning to end, a thing which is not afraid to admit at every chance it can. Kudos for that, but it is definitely nothing great.
Senayaa
tensei shitara slime datta ken is just a generic isekai anime like others. just a guy transported to a fantasy world but as a slime. despite the common concept of a story that they use, its still enjoyable. when i say enjoyable, i mean really enjoyable. to be honest, i cant stop watching this anime and i even read the manga and the web novel and with that i can say that this series is a walking masterpiece. i know saying this anime as a masterpiece is just a stupid idea but in my opinion, i found this series very very interesting. just the idea of starting anew life and then leading a small village to the point where they establish a whole country is just amazing. it makes you really appreciate rimuru's hardwork and want to know more and more.
to be honest, words cant describe how much i love this series and knowing that i need to wait a year for another season is a bit hard for me. well in the meantime, reading ahead in the manga and web novel is always a good idea.
to show my love to this series, i have put everything to 10. well alot of people will probably disagree with me but thats what ratings for right ?
Slime_Shady
The most wholesome sh*t in existence. Every character could with ease be in my top ten I just love the buggers, I know a lot of people including my friends who hate, and I understand completely when viewing from a critical lens, but personally can't wait too see where this show goes. A genuinely unique experience, I don't know why people compare it too Overlord. Perhaps with the OP MC troupe, but god surely you can see past that, as for me it does not define the show. It is more about world building and relationships, without the excessiveness that comes from every other anime.I think everyone would agree battles could perhaps be longer but this man just smacks much like Saitama so I truly cannot blame them.
BadPsychologist
Overall great and about as it good as it gets regarding empire building. This regards the current 3 seasons, but the feedback remains generally applicable. A contractor dies trying to save someone and gets reincarnated as a slime that can absorb things and take their power. He then tries to build a kingdom, and the things above are the 3 main things that let him succeed: 1) A broken absorbtion ability lets him stay in powerlevel with the more and more strong characters introduced. That gives the ability for war and not being run over 2) A contractor understanding of the modern world, allowing for governing andstructure, to slowly turn a monster village into a quality city/empire
3) Kindness and willingness to help others and have mercy. This leads to strong groups he defeats joining the city, and stronger/equal powers like nations or demon lords becoming friends/allies. Negotiation becomes much easier with his friendly attitude, tasty food for guests and his willingness to lend help to anyone.
That also means most of his problem solving and benefit creating is not actually done by him being op, unlike many other isekai or even empire building like Overlord.
In general what stands out is that despite an increasing power level of Rimuru, general solutions and plans remain intelligent and don't rely on that power. He will create plans to increase the financial and technological level of his country, without just relying on force.
About criticism:
1) There's not much of a harem: 2 girls simp over him, but 2 girls in 60 episodes or so is very acceptable. It's a fantasy setting so you're gonna see occasional tiddies and shirtless guys, which isnt necessary, but also not tragic. The focus isnt on it.
2) Rimuru op!: He absolutely has insane powers, but starts low, and wherever he is, there's still stronger people. He has more power through the people he befriends, like Veldora or Milim. It's also not really much about fights he crushes, he rarely actually fights. In such a world you need a super strong protagonist, and still his success hails from diplomacy and strategy.
3) Slow pacing: somewhat true. There's times when things feel dragged out, in the sense of too much attention to what should be a relatively small issue for a nation/the plot. Still, it does make the growth of the nation feel realistic and not sudden.
4) Lacking side characters: kinda true? With the arching plot of a growing nation and the politics and threats to it involved, there's little time to delve into the details of one of the many characters. It's a story that focuses on the plot, not detailed dynamics between side characters.
5) "we've seen this before": people will pick some detail and claim that since this aspect appears in other stories, this means it's bad. Tropes reappear for reasons. Generally they serve some purpose, and with a genre come certain tropes, and with a big story come so many elements that many will be tropes. Nothing is fully unique.
If you stopped complaining at each restaurant that this steak too was made with salt, you'd enjoy more dinners.
TLDR:
Great isekai/empire building. Despite an increase in scale, success generally rests on smart plans created by Rimuru himself and his kindness creating allies. Of course, the occasional satisfaction of action and impressing people with power is also there.
Natsuri42
One of my favorite isekai anime. It's unique, full of action and fun, have great animation, cute characters. Main character Rimuru can be cute but also serious, strategic and merciless when his friends are in danger. But friendship is not what saves the day. Rimuru has serious skills and brain to use them in his favore. What else do you want from anime to be great? The plot is always evolving and I just can't wait what Rimuru and others will acomplish in the future. What I like most about Rimuru is his friendly nature. Unless someone show him hostility he will consider themto be his friends.
MScientist0
*Short Non-Spoiler Review* Finally, an anime for both the isekai weebs and casuals to enjoy has arrived! What you might like about this anime: - Great comedy - Fantastic animation - Overpowered MC - Cute isekai girls with a tad bit of fan service here and there - Overall heart-warming anime to watchWhat you might dislike about this anime:
- Same ol' isekai troupe
- Lack of darker, more compelling story
In summary, I enjoyed this particular anime because even though on the surface it's just your same old isekai fantasy series, it possesses a level of enjoyment that some other isekai series fail to capture. I would definitely recommend watching this.
BStrifeSword114
Being a huge fantasy junkie, and someone who always enjoys a good laugh, I decided to give this series a shot. It seemed like a match made in heaven for me. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out. Story: 2/10 A nice, normal 37 virgin guy is tragically stabbed whilst protecting his friend. His last words are to wipe his hard drive of pornography so no one can see it. Then he dies and is reincarnated as an overpowered Slime monster in a fantasy world (because of course). I guess helping someone means you get to be reincarnated as an OP blob. It makes one wonder what God decidedto do with all those heroes who died storming Normandy beach.
I think the main problem here is that there is absolutely nothing outstanding about the plot. It’s a generic fantasy world. That alone wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, except the plot never seemed to want to go somewhere meaningful. The protag meets a tsundere dragon, and after releasing the seal on said dragon, it causes monsters to run amuck in the nearby forest. For the next 20 episodes, he spends the entire time helping build up a goblin village. Getting them food, shelter, supplies, teaching them various things so that they may help themselves, fighting off monsters, recruiting new allies, etc.
But why should we care about these goblins and other monsters? Why does the slime care? Because they’re in trouble? Since he can basically do whatever he wants to, why doesn’t he instead go out and explore the world and cure cancer or, you know, do something actually meaningful? He’s ridiculously OP and almost nothing can touch him anyway. Go do something more grandeur and exciting. If he only wants to help others, there are far more efficient (and more interesting) things he could be doing. Most of the story never feels original. The world is dull. No overarching plot or direction to speak of.
Now, all that being said, there are in fact, two unique things, which are also the most interesting aspects. First, others from Japan find themselves in this world, albeit none of them are reincarnated as OP slimes and are instead used as mediums for others to do their bidding, IE like a magic summon. The other aspect is the fact the protag is a slime. But this has literally zero impact on anything. It allows him to eat things and take their powers via Kirby. But it’s not like a mimic ability itself is particularly unique and there are other ways one could go about it.
Art: 9/10
It’s downright gorgeous. I found it impressive on multiple levels. Attack animations and movement are aesthetically pleasing. Being a two cour show made it all the more impressive. Rarely will you see animation that isn’t a movie look this good. There are only a couple of inconsistencies that prevent it from being perfect.
Sound: 7/10
The sound effects usually sound good, and it pairs up beautifully with the impressive animation. The only disappointment here is the OST, which felt lackluster overall. I only watched a small part of the dub, but it seemed respectable.
Character: 3/10
The protagonist is the biggest problem here.
He’s OP, can do anything, and is a nice guy with perfect morals. He’s a Gary Stu. Apparently he still wants girls though, despite lacking necessary parts…not sure how that works but whatever. The idea itself couldn’t even make me chuckle. Just another “Overpowered reincarnated isekai nice guy who does nice things and meets cute girls.”
Most of the characters are uninteresting. The goblins have vanilla personalities, as do the orcs, the lizards, the dwarves…you name it. It doesn’t particularly matter which race or group of people you think of, their normalized colloquialisms and character motivations makes it hard to care about any of them. Not a single group felt like it’s own culture. The orcs came the closest, but unfortunately that aspect was pushed aside in favor of more meathead action scenes instead.
There are also some demon lords who are villains or something, and yes, they’re also as standard as your villains come. Muhahaha, you think you are strong little slime? Well you certainly seem interesting, maybe I’ll finally get off my laurels and do something in about 20 episodes. But don’t worry, it would be inconvenient to the plot if I did it myself, so instead I’ll send some weak minions who will get progressively stronger before I do anything. Truly I am a mastermind genius! Something something evil something.” The other side antagonists are just comical anyway- maniacal laughter, weak motivations…you’ve seen this hundreds of times already.
There was one colorful character, Milim, who appears towards the end of the series. She’s a demon lord who looks 12 but is actually 2000 years old (because of course). Naturally she wears a ridiculous thong-thing to go with it. I guess skimpy outfits give women super powers in Japan or something. Anyway, she is introduced as being 10x stronger than the Slime protag- and a potential enemy intially. But he gives her some honey so she decides they should just be friends. Lord knows she couldn’t have just taken it by force. What a waste.
The one character who was mildly interesting was gone after a couple episodes early on in the series. Not going to spoiler the circumstances, but that was disappointing.
Enjoyment: 3/10
It has some of the prettiest animations that are further enhanced by the fantastic sound effects. But the forgettable story, bland characters and listless world make this title an especially hard sell, even to fantasy fanatics.
Overall: 3/10
Pros:
+Gorgeous animation
+Top-notch sound effects
Cons:
-Bland, uninteresting story
-Dull characters, especially the protagonist
-World-building is terrible
-Lackluster OST
