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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Watch | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:3598#1552] |
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That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is one of the latest popular entries in the isekai genre that focuses on Rimuru Tempest, a slime that is the reincarnated form of a 37-year old Japanese businessman from our world who was killed by a mugger and brought into the fantastical world that he builds his own empire of monsters with. This series reminds me quite a bit of Sword Art Online in a number of facets, which lead it to be a bit of a mixed bag for me. Both titles feature overpowered protagonists who are hardly challenged in many of the battles they take part in and much of the cast within the series quickly warm up to said overpowered protagonist. But while SAO tries playing things serious with Kirito as its overpowered lead, Reincarnated as a Slime is a bit more light-hearted in exploring Rimuru's ridiculous abilities as he is aware of how overpowered he is and tries to enjoy himself in his new life as leader of monsters. The series is more focused on him trying to resolve things diplomatically with enemy monsters he comes into conflict with, yet not being afraid to exert deadly force if the need arises. There is a solid foundation for world building in the series as well where Reincarnated as a Slime dabbles more into the monsters and magic within its world, with emphasis on monsters becoming more powerful when granted a name and humans summoned from our world as part of a magical ritual. On the negative end though, Rimuru's overpowered nature, as covered above, does lead to a lack of serious conflict in the series since he has little difficulty dispatching any enemy threat that comes his way. The series is divided up into a number of story arcs focused on an element to the fantastical world that Rimuru is part of. While helping to provide some more exploration of the world, Rimuru's ability to easily neutralize any antagonistic threat does prevent any kind of serious storyline stakes to be felt in any conflicts that take place throughout these story arcs. Plus, many characters within the series seem to exist only to admire and awe at Rimuru's overpowered abilities and leadership thus killing quite a bit of potential at fleshing out these characters beyond whatever character types they may epitomize of isekai titles. Not helping matters is that the series lacks a conclusive ending as there are hints of later conflicts to come in the series yet Reincarnated as a Slime stops during another of its story arcs and the series ends covering a side story about Shizu, a powerful human warrior summoned to the fantastical world from Japan. Overall in spite of its hype, I'm kind of lukewarm in my reception to Reincarnated as a Slime. While having some positive elements with Rimuru's predicament and some sold world building, the series reminds a bit too much of Sword Art Online with having overpowered leads not seriously challenged and able to easily earn the admiration of mostly everyone around them, thus leading to a lack of engaging storytelling and conflict to a large degree. Anyone seeking decent isekai titles may be better off looking into better titles of the genre like Re: Zero or Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. Last updated Thursday, June 06 2019. Created Thursday, June 06 2019. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
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[series:3598#628] | ||||||
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(20 episodes watched): There are anime in which characters find themselves trapped within video games, and there are ones in which they find themselves in supposedly real but fantastical worlds that are very much like video games; this is one of those. Satoru is reincarnated in an alternate world that functions very much like an MMORPG would, complete with a narrator announcing when he acquires new powers. Though he starts his new life as a slime, it looks like he won't remain one for long. Judging from the OP/ED sequences, he will soon be human again and will have the appearance shown above. He has been reincarnated in a video game-like world, where some sort of computer-like overarching mind keeps track of things. Although he is little more than a gelatinous blob at present, he's already acquiring abilities like 'Thermal Fluctuation Resistance' (whatever exactly that it) somehow. He's already been declared a 'Predator' and 'Great Sage'. In short, I'm not expecting a whole lot of philosophy here, or agonizing about how he could have spent his previous life better than he did. More likely this is an unusual excuse to place a real-world person within a virtual reality. The first personality Satoru meets there is a dragon who has been imprisoned in a cave. But I am still curious about where this might be going (and what was the deal with the scene of a WWII air raid at the beginning?). This show may have already cast off its most unique element, but it would be hard to imagine a slime keeping us entertained for a dozen episodes or so, and there's always a chance that what replaces it will be fun. So I'll watch episode two and see where it goes. Before Satoru got knifed, the real-world scenes struck me as relatively high quality work. Again, Satoru may look like a slime, but he is in fact a powerhouse of desirable abilities and powers, and exudes an awe-inspiring aura which is visible to enlightened people. All the various characters that are displayed in the OP sequence had made me worry that the show might soon have too many to keep track of, in part because they would be shallow and uninteresting; but thankfully that hasn't happened yet and I still enjoy this somewhat odd anime (there are so many characters, however, that I began to wonder if this might be a two-season show). I wish it had been explained better what exactly has happened to the dragon, Lenora, though. Is Satoru carrying him around somehow, wherever he goes? Still, this remains a fun show which largely makes sense and leaves me curious how things will ultimately work out. The plot isn't overly complicated. Whereas in Overlord the main character's goal in a MMORPG is largely to seize power at whatever cost is necessary, here Satoru only wants to do good deeds and make life better for everyone. In episode eight Satoru finally acquires the ability to take human form, as illustrated above. This had taken so long, and so many characters who had yet to appear are shown in the OP sequence, that it dawned on me that this must be a two-season show. But that seemed OK, because this story was managing to stay fairly fresh and I didn't mind continuing to watch (more than a few shows run out of originality long before they complete even one season). The manner in which Satoru got his body was unexpected and even sort of moving. It appears that he has made a promise of sorts to complete a quest which the previous owner had undertaken, which is a handy way to keep the plot moving. All or most of the missing characters appear in episode nine, in which Satoru encounters a group of what seem like Samurai Ogres. Rimuru (Satoru's new name) expands his power in a peaceful manner by helping out groups in trouble and thereby earning their friendship and loyalty. He builds a confederation of allied groups in a great forest. Increasingly serious threats come along, but he manages to overcome them in a mostly plausible and entertaining manner. Seemingly unstoppable foes appear, but he stops them. It is getting a little tiresome around episode 18, and I wish something truly unexpected and novel would happen. Charybdis and the flying sharks (or whatever) didn't turn out to be all that much of a serious opponent (and I don't think a single person got killed resisting them), which wasn't exactly exciting. But of course I'm still watching. Afterwards what might be the final arc of the series begins as Rimuru sets out to keep the promise he made to the girl whose body he appropriated. Five children who are what's known as 'summons' have fantastic powers but will basically self-destruct before long if some solution to their problem isn't found. I was not exactly intrigued by this prospect; I'd rather learn more about Rimuru's nation building than whether a mere five children who I don't really know will survive. The last of my interest petered out and I decided that there was no need for me to see how this arc, and the series as a whole, ended. Last updated Friday, June 07 2019. Created Sunday, October 21 2018. | ||||||||
