Review: 'That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime'

Anime: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a SlimeGenre: Fantasy, IsekaiAge Rating: Good for AllStudio: Eight BitMusic: Elements GardenAuthor: FuseDub/Sub: SubbedEcchi Level: ConservativeTriggers: N/A

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So, I started watching this one when it first came out, and I finished it when it finally posted the last episode. And woo boy, someone needs to talk to the maker about what a decent season size is. Because 20+ episodes is a lot of season to fill.

On top of that, they do like… everything in this season. What could feasibly fit into two or three seasons was all crammed into one. You go from a level one mob thug to level 100 mob boss (that’s a reference, there’s no actual mob boss) in the span of a season. So, if you intend to watch this, prepare to say, “Already!?” a lot.

Now, to get on to the story. It’s a bit weird. The main character, who very briefly goes by Satoru Mikami, is your everyday Japanese guy thinking about girls and meeting with his friend, when all the sudden he gets stabbed to death. Yes, you heard that right, the anime goes from 0 to 100 before the actual anime even starts. So we get to watch him slowly die as a voice in his head begins cataloguing his data randomly, then BAM! He wakes up as a slime in a fantasy world.

Here’s where the real anime starts, and to be completely transparent, I should hate this anime. As a writer, I have to keep myself in check to keep from making characters “too good.” If I find myself making life too easy for characters I write, then I have to dial things back so that there’s conflict, so that there’s a struggle. Because a story isn’t interesting without intensity and struggle. And that’s exactly what this writer doesn’t do.

So, Satoru is reborn as a slime, and he meets this wicked (not necessarily evil) dragon that’s trapped inside a barrier for eternity… or something like that. Keep in mind, I finished this series a while ago. Anyway, after a short talk, they become friends, and the dragon concludes that the only way he’ll get free of the barrier is to allow the small slime to absorb him. Oh, right, the slime can absorb anything. Literally anything. Rocks, plants, people, animals, anything. He can dissolve it into apparently nothing. Now, for objects, like ore, plants, or rocks, he can reform it later into other things. He can take this metal ore straight from the stone, and form it into a sword later.

All of this is thanks to this voice in his head, the voice in his head, named the Great Sage. She’s basically a computer that allows him to analyze opponents, tinker with his skills to make them more effective, and even acts as his apparent 3D printer ability. To be honest, I haven’t seen this kind of thing in anime often, which is surprising.

Anyway, back to what I was saying previously, due to their (Satoru kinda loses his sex when he is reincarnated and consistently uses an androgynous form) mind brain sage abilities, they engulf the dragon and gain his power. And from this point on, the slime is known as Rimuru Tempest.

Now, here’s the part where this anime kinda goes off the rails. Like I said previously, I should by all rights hate this anime’s storytelling, because I’m a writer. We’ve all had that character back in the day as a kid that we made up. They were super awesome, beautiful, charming, and had ALL the superpowers, and could never be beaten. We’ve all had those characters we created as our imaginations run wild. However, these don’t make for very interesting story characters, because as we get older, we learn that it’s the journey that’s the important part of the story, and not so much the destination.

These characters are often classified as Mary-Sue or Gary-Stu. And Rimuru is 100 percent in that category. When they fight, they win almost effortlessly. When they want to create something, it’s often done flawlessly. When they want to make friends, they… do. Any time you think there may be some kind of battle that will test Rimuru’s abilities, it ends disappointingly easily. Whenever there seems to be some kind of struggle between allies or two factions in the series, you can almost predict that as soon as Rimuru gets involved, it gets easily resolved. So, don’t go into this anime expecting typical storytelling conventions.

That said, even as a writer, I don’t hate the series. It was still enjoyable to me… somehow. It could have something to do with the fact that it kinda smashes other anime tropes. Typical bad guy species in common fantasy aren’t used as villains here. The main character isn’t a “chosen one” type, but instead is powerful because of a unique and surprisingly useful technique. There isn’t any particular love interest for the main character. And many other things that are almost laughably common in other anime are brushed aside here. Also, the cast is huge and incredibly diverse.

So, maybe it’s those things that drew me into the anime. Or, maybe it’s the fact that, despite being born into this new fantasy world, there’s no goal. Rimuru has shown no expectation of returning home, there’s no BIG BAD GUY that has to be defeated, there’s no super secret key item that they’re seeking. They’re just living their life and building a kingdom with the help of friends. So the anime could literally go anywhere. And it’s kinda exciting to see where the author takes it.

That’s really all I have to say about it. It’s fun, the animation is well done, the music is decent. The story is lacking as far as any suspense, but the comedy does make up for it, as well as the large cast of characters. Though, I really feel this anime could benefit from one thing: on occasion, there will be instances where Rimuru isn’t able to get to a battle himself, so his friends and companions, who are weaker than him by a wide margin, have to fight. I feel like this anime could benefit from them doing battle, rather than Rimuru, giving us the struggle and moments of intensity that are lacking. Maybe that would fix the lack of tense moments in the series, or maybe not. I’m not sure. But, I’m gonna keep watching anyway.

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TLDR: Don’t approach this one if you’re looking for your typical anime stuff. You’re not going to find it here. And also don’t watch it if you’re expecting any kind of thrill from the battle scenes. Because while the animation and the battles look awesome, there’s almost zero anticipation of a fair fight. As long as you can get around the fact that the good guys will almost always win without much of a struggle, then this one is pretty fun and charming. I like the characters, I like the setting, and I like the lack of focus on a specific objective. I like seeing a fantasy world where people are just trying to live their lives. And despite the odd choice of writing for the main character, the others can make up for it if that isn’t already a deal breaker.

RatingsAnimation: 8/10Music: 6/10Story: 4/10Comedy: 7/10Overall Rating: 8/10

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SPOILER TALK: No real spoilers to go over here. I like the anime despite its writing, which was surprising. So, give it a look if that decision wasn’t already made by the odd main character issue.

BEST GIRL: Shion. Nothing says awesome like a towering, seven-foot tall ogre secretary. She’s a far cry better than a lot of the other female characters in the series, and is also entertaining.

BEST BRO: Ranga. Funny thing is, I actually had a wolf character named Ranga in one of my past D&D campaigns. So when this character came up, I almost laughed. Despite that, Ranga is awesome. Despite how easily he came around to Rimuru’s side, he makes an awesome mount, makes an awesome fighter, and is intimidating as hell. Plus, he’s a wolficorn with a giant horn on his head, and can be unsummoned by hiding in your shadow. What else would you ever need?