Let’s back things up to a beastly confrontation.
What They Say:
That time I got Reincarnated as a slime season 2 #1: Rimuru’s Busy Life
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Rimuru is back! All hail our conquering hero Slime!
Kestrel went into the first seasons blind but since I have been reviewing the light novels my perspective is from an existing franchise fan. So I know that pages and pages of world building exposition were cut from the narrative or given the cliff note treatment. Such changes are necessary to keep the story flowing in the medium of anime. However…
I was disappointed in how the last season of That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime began to rush the plot toward the end of its premiere seasons. In a rush to get through the School arc, events from the novel were glossed over and a few events skipped. I was particularly annoyed because some of those events were of import to events which are to come in the anime. You can understand my delight in seeing those events restored for the start of this new season.
The series jumps back to when Rimuru is teaching the kids, leaving them in the hands of an adjunct to teleport home to see his new diplomats off on a goodwill mission to the Beast Kingdom. We are reintroduced to Youm, the human who Rimuru used as a heroic scapegoat for his own exploits, and his crew. We get a few silly scenes of the girls dressing up Rimuru in dresses, which is a reminder that Rimuru is essentially androgynous in his humanoid form. Then it’s back to business as diplomacy is set in motion.
Why did I want to see this scenario play out so badly? Because not only are we properly introduced to some new characters, but because Slime has been pretty fun to watch when battle breaks out. The action in the show has had some tight fight choreography and we were deprived of one hell of a fight in the match up between the Beastketeers and Rimuru’s crew.
How did such a misunderstanding come about? Well, it turns out it isn’t a misunderstanding so much as the beastmen hold strength above all else. The only way to command respect as equals is to prove their might. As soon as the beastmen delegation meets Rimuru’s party after the diplomats depart it becomes clear. So Rimuru humors Sufia’s desire for a fight after insults start flying his way.
Youm was supposed to square off against Sufia, but Shion being Shion can’t let the insult against her lord go unchallenged. So Youm faces off against Grucius instead, a beastmen who is also a seasoned warrior. While swords and claws clash Rimuru stands back and watches the warriors go at it.
And just like that the episode is over before it feels like it’s even begun. The new opening and ending themes for this season meet the quality of the previous openings and endings by being catchy and fun but nothing super impressive. The animation in this episode matches the best of the previous season but it’s hard to say if that will hold for the full length. Either way it looks good and sounds good, and that’s good.
In Summary:
Slime is back and it came to kick ass. This episode isn’t just a return, it’s a return to form for the series. Not only does it make good on filling in some gaps and gives us a splendid fight to kick off the season. It should be a conflict heavy arc, and if the action can maintain the quality of the vibrant skirmish in this episode than I have high hopes. Slime remains one of the more cheerful, optimistic, and guilt-free isekai series where so many go for grim.
Episode grade: B +
Streamed by: Funimation and Crunchyroll
