The Spring 2024 Anime Preview Guide

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3

Following a recent decisive win, the powerful Rimuru (who was once a Japanese man, reincarnated into a fantasy world in RPG-esque slime form) has been elevated to the status of Demon Lord. As the leader of the Jura Tempest Federation, he must negotiate with surrounding countries and sometimes wage war to protect his beloved friends and citizens.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime season three is based on a light novel series written by Fuse and illustrated by Mitz Vah and its manga adaptation by Taiki Kawakami. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Fridays.

So here we are, once again back with everyone's favorite little amorphous blob of mass-murder, Rimuru. Now, I'm not bringing up his slaughter of 20,000 people just to be glib; it's actually at the center of this week's episode.

One thing I've always loved about That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is that it isn't afraid to spend time delving into the implications and fallout of what came before. And, in another show, this whole episode could have happened off-screen—or been nothing but a 20-second montage with a voice-over explaining what happened. However, by spending a full episode on this, we have a deeper emotional and intellectual connection to the proceedings—which is meaningful given how it's related to literally the most important moment in the series so far.

In response to Falmuth's surprise attack on Tempest, Rimuru killed 20,000 soldiers single-handedly—twice the number he needed to kill to bring his friends back to life (many of whom were trying to surrender). It is an event that not only pushes him far past the moral event horizon but also has the power to destroy all he's built. It could lead to a multinational war of genocide against Tempest if the truth got out. Luckily, outside of Tempest, only three people know the truth about what happened—and they're misshapen lumps of flesh being toyed with by a demon.

Thus, this episode is all about how Diablos uses propaganda to not only cover up Rimuru's mass murder but also make Rimuru seem like a saint in the process. Blaming all the deaths on Veldora—and then claiming Rimuru stopped the legendary dragon—makes Rimuru seem both powerful and diplomatic. After all, he saved Falmuth's king (his enemy) and sent the cure for the King's twisted condition.

It's solid from start to finish and serves to put a capstone on the entire arc. It also does a great job of re-focusing the series after the recent movie and OVA—moving away from the side stories and back to the main plot. Add into this some fun little comedic bits (like Shion pretending she is following the conversation or censoring the “Shion-cooked” bodies of the king and his retainers with the death fog commonly seen permeating Shion's food) and you have an above-average episode of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.

A lot has happened in the isekai genre since the murdered Satoru Mikami was reincarnated into a fantasy world as a small blue blob of goo. Now, it seems commonplace for otherwise average members of Japanese society to be reincarnated as spiders or even vending machines. What is it about Slime that keeps it so popular in the face of such weird competition? We're now at three seasons, a slice-of-life spin-off season, a theatrical movie, and at least eight OVA episodes (not including recaps), so the show must be doing something right.

From the outset, this third season gives no pause for contemplation, as the first episode leaps straight back into last season finale's Walpurgis convention, with gooey protagonist Rimuru schmoozing with his new "Octogram" Demon Lord buddies, celebrating the defeat of his long-standing enemy/nuisance Clayman. For viewers unsure of the context, a handy recap episode appeared on Crunchyroll last week, relating the intrigue of season two's last few episodes. Unfortunately, it's only helpful in contextualizing this premiere's first few minutes, as after that, we're back deep into political machination mode, with Rimuru's right-hand demon Diablo tidying up loose ends with the Falmuth Kingdom.

If you don't remember, Falmuth was the nation that unwisely waged war against Rimuru's Jura Tempest Federation. The war that Rimuru himself ended by taking a leaf out of Overlord's book by committing genocide. By absorbing tens of thousands of soldiers' souls, Rimuru could elevate himself to Demon Lord status. He rationalizes that he did this to protect his friends, but much like Overlord's amoral protagonist, Ains Ooal Gown, it seems the longer Rimuru spends in this world as a monster, the further removed he becomes from human morality.

Realizing it'll be challenging to win friends or quell enemy nations if they know the cute blue slime dude eats human souls for breakfast, Diablo spreads the misinformation that Rimuru's pet dragon, Veldora, defeated Falmuth's army. It's a convenient lie that's at least believable, especially as legendary dragon Veldora has indeed recently revived. What no one outside of Rimuru's inner circle knows is that instead of terrorizing the country, Veldora spends most of his time reading manga and leaking state secrets to Diablo in exchange for matcha pudding.

Already, this season of Slime evokes a weird tone. In between Diablo's horrifying manipulations (including dumping a box full of purple gunk and still-conscious body parts that used to be Falmuth's king in front of his government advisers), there are scenes of light and frothy comedy involving secretary Shion's enormous "oppai" and Rimuru-faced jello puddings. Perhaps that's one of the reasons the show remains popular – it features detailed and serious world-building, but it's populated by whimsical characters who know how to have fun.

Production-wise everything looks on par with previous seasons, there are no spectacular action scenes in this very dialogue-heavy opener. The plot is so dense now that it's likely to leave casual fans poring over wikis to remember who everyone is. Despite some of its more casually amoral plot developments, Slime is always fun. It's not the very best of the isekai genre, but it's highly competent and rarely boring. I'll certainly keep watching.