By Reed Richards
That time I got Reincarnated as a Slime is my favorite series. I forgot how I discovered it, but ever since I watched it I’ve been pretty obsessed. I think that it is one of the more tame and respectable of the isekai subgenre. Though it does fall into tropes that other worse Isekai’s do, like the main character getting too strong too quickly, but the main sense of progression is not from being really strong physically, rather it’s the making of his nation and caring for his people.
The show follows your basic Isekai plot of a guy getting killed and sent to another world where he is some kind of chosen hero, but, as the title suggests, this plot does not give instant gratification. Instead, we’re given a bit of a slow burn. The story is about the progression of the main character existing in this world and going from some cute little slime in a cave to a well-known diplomatic leader in a freaky, fantastical world.
Now to explain the world he’s sent to: The world is covered in a thing called Magicules, which are invisible forces that fuel all monsters and magic that is used in the world. Magicules are like air but magical. The denser the concentration of Magicules, the stronger monsters born from it are. Now, Rimuru, our main character, is fortunate because he reincarnates into a cave (as a slime), which is very dense in Magicules for a reason that you will have to find out when you read it (and you will read it because it’s very good).
The story is in a linear progression: the world’s super interesting, and there are a couple kingdoms fighting for power (kind of not really). The world is mostly peaceful, except for the huge threat of monsters. Humans are exceptionally weak in this world. If a high-ranking monster attacks a kingdom or a settlement, the place is almost completely razed to the ground, and everybody inside is done for.
That’s why we have things like the Free Guild, which is where people can sign up and earn money from doing jobs for others. Everybody operates out of the Free Guild, but if you’ve got the power, you’re fighting monsters. Larger cities still have their armies and whatnot, but this world hosts a mercenary kind of situation.
The rating for monsters and humans is on a scale of F rank to special S rank. F represents someone who has no combat abilities whatsoever, E represents a human adult in power, D represents those similar to a soldier, C represents an experienced soldier who takes many humans to defeat, B represents threats that can wipe out a village, A represents those that could wipe out an entire town and requires a nation to mobilize, Special A represents those who could destroy a small size Nation. S rank is for Demon Lords, which will get into later, and Special S ranking is reserved for threats that nobody could hope to defeat.
Keep in mind there are stronger beings, and this ranking is only from the human perspective, which as I’ve stated before are the weakest dudes on the planet. We’ve gotten slightly off track, and this is a big tangent about rankings, the Free Guild, and all the stuff that comes after, but what’s really important are the characters. Oh man, the characters are great. You always want to see them do something right. Rimuru is the coldest dude sometimes, but he’s also the biggest idiot (in a good way). He’s a great leader of his people. I wish I could talk more in depth about him, but you’re going to have to read it to find out, which is why I’m making this whole article.
All the side characters that are part of Rimuru’s little band, well, I say little but you’ll see, they are all cool and unique in their own way. It’s also fun to see them and see how the town develops over time, and the new things Rimuru brings in from his previous life. The magical solutions to everyday problems makes you think: “Why can’t I have that in real life?” It’s so fun and so interesting. The art is so beautiful, especially in the manga and the light novels. There’s a lot of story to get through in about 24 novels, which are all great, by the way, except for 17 because it’s boring.
You always want to see Rimuru beat up some ungrateful, rude, or annoying person who just wants to come take advantage of him because he’s a monster, but most of his problems can’t be solved by fighting, which I think makes it a more interesting story because strong character’s problems are all political, so he can’t beat everybody up or solve everything with violence. Although he probably could, he chooses not to because he’s a nice person and has some character to him.
The world, like I’ve said before, is very interesting. The world building is nice and very easy to see and think: “Oh, yeah, that would probably happen in real life,” like when a new trade route is established or a new diplomatic decision is made. There’s a lot of politics because the main focus of the story is the politics that he has to go through while trying to run a nation of monsters. Now I can’t tell you much more than I already have without you reading it by yourself, dear reader. There are many mediums which you can experience “I got Reincarnated as a Slime” through: there’s the manga, which has120 chapters; there’s the anime, which is wrapping up season 3 right about now, and there’s a light novel, which have 20 books currently translated and 21 is being worked on right now. And if you ever are sad that you’ve read all the manga or watched all the anime, there are like, a thousand spin offs and more to come so you can get your fix whenever you want—however you want. I hope after reading my terrible ramblings about my favorite series, you will consider partaking in this most satisfying story in the near future. Thank you!
Read it: https://mangasee123.com/manga/Tensei-Shitara-Slime-Datta-Ken
Watch it: https://hianime.to/watch/that-time-i-got-reincarnated-as-a-slime-429?ep=9295 (after season 1 watch Slime Diaries before starting season 2.)
Light novels: https://tensurafan.github.io/ for some reason starts at volume 6 which is season 2 of the anime so read it after season 2.
beniciapaw.com 