Tag: Rimuru

Animini: That Time I Reicarnated as a Slime – Episode 21 Shizu-san’s Students

Geared Greetings Island Guests!  Just when I thought I was out they PULLED me back in! It’s a famous movie quote.. from I think Godfather.. one of those kinds of movies anyway!   Yet it also applies to this episode of Slime! FINALLY I had an episode I could enjoy again!  I am really grateful for that. This show was about to lose me!  Yet I am back!

The Summary

We begin this episode exactly where the last episode left off! Rimuru is standing in front of his class and they aren’t being very respectful to him, freezing out the new teacher like classical kids stuff! Which is quite cute! Rimuru then summons Ranga to command some respect and it kind of works! They fear him and say their names.. but to earn their trust Rimuru must first gain their respect!  This is achieved by a one on one against all the children. Hoping that they might burn out some of that magic energy that is killing them. And thus we get introduced to a few new characters in a fairly organic way!   I especially like Chloe Aubert who attacks with her plushies and the other girl who fights as quite the clever mage. Using alteration and evocation at the same time! That is quite cool!  I also like how the boys more or less reflect the Barbarian, The Monk  and The Fighter in a way and everyone feels quite distinct. Kenya feels quite like Shizu so I was afraid they would all be “imprinted” on her and mimc her in some shape, way or form but no this is quite the diverse troupe.

The children get defeated easily by Rimuru and he takes an antagonistic stance with them.. saying they will never surpass him! He gets them fired up. Then we get a timeskip a few years later. Rimuru visits Treyni because he will try to put natural spirits inside the children, much like what happened to Shizu, but hopefully less harmful.  She knows of the place but does not know an entrance.. so for the entire timeskip Rimuru is stuck without a clue!  A picnic however leads to new discoveries. When a Dragon attacks the capital, Rimuru saves a slightly shady merchant, who invites him to his home. Yuuki says the guy is safe so Rimuru and his kids go to visit the merchant. A trade deal with the town might be established.  A woman living with the merchant (not sure if she is his wife) offers the child a prayer. It draws Rimuru’s attention because that prayer talks about Nature Spirits. The slime pays the woman, for the info and travels with the children.. in an attempt to keep them safe. 

The Positives

So this episode is much much MUCH better, then the past five episodes! While there are  still a few silly writing moments , the show does benefit from the smaller scope of things. I hate to say it but it’s writing isn’t strong enough to do the large political things this show tried to do before! Rimuru’s stories can be cute.. but the show has been aiming for this larger than life, interconnected world. It isn’t strong enough!  This episode ditches that feeling and makes the story much more self contained around Rimuru!  It doesn’t feel like  the world revolves around Rimuru anymore and I am very thankful for it.  The children’s style of fighting is cute as well! You really feel like you see children play fight only this time it’s real.. but it has that level of being unrefined.  That makes this episode feel a lot cosier and the jokes land because of it!  Rimuru bribing the children with Manga works a lot better than him spitting out an entire library for Yuuki! It just cute!

I also must say I like the overpowered Rimuru a lot better than the underpowered one.  The dragon our slime protagonist fights gets one shotted by him so easily!  It feels so much better than the whole Charybdis fight. As much as I can appreciate there being more powerful creatures than Rimuru,  when you don’t have consequences, which is a fine choice to make lots of other anime make as well,  there is no point.  Making Rimuru more OP and feel powerful again makes it so much more comfy.. there isn’t that sense of let down and you just end up smiling!  The pay off is right because we want to see Rimuru do well! This episode nails that appeal this show had for me .. so I really like it!

The Negatives

The episode does suffer a bit from the same writing flaws the previous episode does, but it feels less obnoxious. However like last episode it does strain your ability to suspend your disbelief. As fun as Chloe’s puppetry is , how did those plushies survive playing with her friends?  Why is that Rimuru who sees a dragon approach town it takes him EXACTLY enough time to catch up to the dragon while he is that much more powerful. It isn’t bad. I just saw it done better so I think it is fair to shout it out. Stuff like how Rimuru now can make Manga without having to have eaten paper first, maybe he had it prepared, I am not sure! It’s a chain of events that just feels a bit too easy! I compare it to Bofuri and Digimon, where the story is also very straight forward but the story in Digimon is more molded around the characters, here it sometimes feels like the other way around.

The other negative is the excessive narration Rimuru does in this episode. Normally he does narrate events happening in his village, but on a much bigger scale. You can not show building a village because  a real time visual doesn’t represent that. So of course Rimuru has to narrate. However in this episode it is very present and not for stuff you have to use it for. For example Rimuru goes on a long talk on how he paid the woman for her info. Why is that narrated? We see the scene happen. Sure it happens in the back end of the episode and it bridges into traveling but it happens a lot of times. It feels very “expositionny”  It is a far cry from the bad stuff in the past few episodes, just a bit sloppy!

The Score

Compared with the “I want to Drop this” episodes of the past few weeks, this felt like a total breath of fresh air. My critiques mostly stem from me being soured to the show so much! I am in that place where I am happy that it went the route it went.. but I am also kind of sour that THIS is all I wanted. I never needed this to be that super deep series with factions and betrayals and other stuff. The fact that this show can be this charming.. made me miss that so much and that is both feels amazing.. but also kinda painful! The flaws this episode have I’d easily forgive.. if it came anywhere but after the Charybdis arc.

What we got was a great episode,  that was fun, it did what it had to do, did some clever and colourful things.. whose only gripe is that it feels a bit “lazy”. I want to make sure Chloe is fine.. so she can be a great mamma to her plushies and have a lot of fun playing with them.  I want to see if they get a better spirit guardian then the Ifrit..because this plan.. I am not sure about this plan! This episode made me go from “I will finish the season but will pass on the second season  to, I might watch the second season when it comes out.. at least give it a chance.. So while I can’t justify my highest score.. the effect that this episode has had on me is huge!

Animini: That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime -Episode 19- Charybdis

Steam Powered Salutations and engine sounds driving out my frustrations. Slime has been in a slump during this whole Charybdis mini-arc and in this episode we get the finale. One big final battle filled with cool visuals and people making their last stand.. Let’s close this arc off in style… or turn Charybdis in Sin from Final Fantasy X and have the OP character that is NOT the main character oneshot it..that will close it off as well. The weird thing is .. I kinda like that it went this way.. but also not?!

The Summary

Rimuru’s troops fight Charybdis and the Megalodon in this episode. Along with some troops sent by Gazel Dwargo on Pegasi the final battle goes relatively smoothly showing how far everyone has come along. Turning those Megalodon into mince meat within the first four minutes of the episode. Only Gobta’s group of tiny goblins  struggles and a disappointed master looks onto him, finishing the creature off. Shion, Ranga, Souhei and the Pegasus Knights take down the other Megalodon and Souhei is called a dreamboat again. I love how into him Rimuru is still and he is an insanely capable guy!   When everything is said and done and the sharks lie in defeat Sin.. I mean Charbdis is beginning to shoot it’s scales at people swarming them and cutting them up.   It is time for Rimuru to step in.

Rimuru fights Charybdis on his own but doesn’t manage to do enough damage because this monster has “ultra” regeneration.  Rimuru uses a new ability called gluttony to absorb all the cells and the group now can go for all out attacks… which is skipped.  We see people laying on the floor all tired out and Rimuru guesses that they did no more than 30% damage to  the thing. The monster yells the name Milim in frustration and Rimuru realises the thing is not here for him but for Milim.. seeing that Phobio is inside he now asks Milim to join the frey and take it down carefully.  Trying to save Phobio.. she one shots it and saves Phobio and Demon Lord Carrion shows up t o take back his apprentice.. after shoving his head through the floor hard.  He seems like a swell guy and calls himself the king of all beasts and happily enters a non aggression pact with Rimuru. Milim is happy she did Milim stuff. So all is well that ends well.

The Positives

By the brief summary and some critical lines you may have already noticed I was not the biggest fan of this episode, but in fairness.. I do like this episode best in the current mini arc. There are lots of satisfying actions and Milim is actually fun in this episode and USED for what she is set up to be used for. I like how she is eager to fight and the irony of Rimuru denying it from her because he suspects the creature is after him. Rimuru has been very central and this form of “arrogance”  is somewhat entertaining. I don’t like it from his angle..  but more on that later. I do like this episode from Milims angle though.. her apathy and not caring if people die is something I kind of enjoy! She can sleep while peoples life are in danger.. because Rimuru orders her to stand down. It’s on him.. and because of this weakness on his side I really liked it as a positive on hers.  I also quite like how Charbdis who is said to have the strength of a Demon Lord gets squished so easily.. showing that that analogy might be true.. but demon lords vary so much in power.. it does not say anything. I do enjoy that kind of power scaling. Especially since RImuru was not good enough to face it. It implies higher stakes later on.

I really enjoyed a lot of the fight scenes.. though most of the truly satisfying action was against the Megalodons instead of against Sin.. I mean Charybdis. Glutonny was sweet to see as well and Carrion’s raw physical strength also had a nice impact. I was not bored this episode. Shion Souhei and Ranga making a stand against the scales wasn’t bad either.. so in terms of events.. all of them provided ample entertainment.  Milim’s final attack was a bit lackluster.. but hey she was holdhing back so  that actually works for me.. it can be lackluster if it’s meant to be I guess. Though it did not feel satisfying.. I can live with this .. I think!  The fact that Clayman is being outed as the possible instigator in this event is also interesting and will help drive the plot further. So there is excitement on both a visual and narrative level. However.. there is a big problem.. with the engine that drives this episode.

The Negatives

Where this show really fails for me is with consequences.. there are non.. for no one. If Rimuru  was not in this episode nothing would have really changed..okay Phobio might be dead.. but he would not because that is not how this show is written. Rimuru makes a tactical error in this episode assuming it is him the calamity creature is after.. as a result HE wants to be the one to deal with it. I already think this is a bit out of character for RImuru because the entire idea of all these alliances and bonds and stuff is so he can keep everyone safe and the reason he adopted Milim in his village is to keep the village safe from big threats beyond him. Yet for some reason he wants to fight for himself..  his followers kind of made him. The fact that Phobio is inside does not change that image so letting Milim fight now.. fits neither mindset. Not the mindset to look like a strong leader, not the mindset to keep everyone safe. To make matters worse they make a joke that people do not believe Milim is a Demon Lord and she is just one of the tools at Rimuru’s disposal.. so this plan was useless TWO TIMES over. 

A bad plan I am fine with.. but then let there be consequences.. let Ranga die in the attack , heck even Shion or Souhei, let the city of Dwargon be mad that he risked their lives while he had such a weapon. Let there be something.. but no everyone gets neatly potioned up and when Milim one shots the monster everyone is okay with it. So what is the point of this episode then?!  Rimuru doesn’t seem to learn from his misinterpretation, Milim doesn’t change and no one is hurt and no trust was violated so the status quo has not changed at all since they met Milim.. everything is still the same.. like we are trampling water. To add insult to injury we also see Treyni walk up to the group unscathed. Her sister told them they were fighting the calamity but would lose.. but losing against a giant calamity style creature .. apparently also means walk away unharmed.  So all we get is entertainment ..but with no impact.. I am happy to be entertained. I also like the intro and outro.. that keeps me entertained as well.. and this last arc is basically just like a 60 minute intro song.

The Score

I did like what I saw.. I just did not like what I saw between the lines.. and for an episode it was still entertaining.. it just was very superficial and empty.. like the eggshells of a cool painted easter egg sitting on your plate in pretty colours. This episode is really greasy Kebab.. as long as you eat it you enjoy yourself.. but as soon as that final bite has been taking the regret and the slightly icky after taste comes in. Does that make Kebab bad food.. no  not really!  So I don’t think it is really a bad episode either.. It’s just a bit to fillery for my taste. Not as in.. not relevant to the plot.. but it has the same circle of no consequence a filler arc has.

 I am happy this did not turn out to be the final story in the first season because if that was true I will be honest I would probably not return for season two. So I am kind of happy this stuff happened the way it did now we can move on , into better and more epic things.  I love that it’s light.. but I also loved that I cried for Shizu.. I love when the village grows and when new monsters get added and I want more of that.  So all in all I have very mixed feelings about this episode. It serves my needs very well.. but it is also nothing. So  I will just say that it is okay. Depending on your mood and your need for continuity this can either be a perfectly fine episode to turn your brain off… or a frustrating one if you want to see anything in terms of character growth or overall development. It exists.. and for a show you hold dear just having an extra episode can be good enough.. for me  that sentiment went out of the window with the last two episodes though.