That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 2

Episode 47

It's funny. Last episode, the show pulled out all the stops narratively to try and convince us that Clayman's forces had the upper hand—to the point where Beretta's interference was needed to make things evenly matched—only for all that tension to be deflated this episode. If anything, the addition of Beretta (not to mention Veldora) makes things so lopsided in Rimuru's favor that half of the ongoing fights is resolved instantly.

And honestly, that's not really a complaint. We've known for the majority of this half-season that Clayman has bitten off way more than he can chew when it comes to Rimuru. His information has been terribly outdated and his forces have been outmaneuvered at every turn. At this point, anything besides a one-sided beatdown would have shattered the suspension of disbelief.

In other words, if the previous episode serves as an emotional appetizer by letting viewers savor the sight of Clayman getting punched in the face a few times, this episode is the main course, as Shion gets to beat him relentlessly and mock him before dismembering him and leaving him floating in a puddle of his own blood. Clayman's comeuppance is super cathartic to see—especially at Shion's hands. After all, she is one of the citizens of Tempest most directly affected by Clayman's scheme (you know, having been brutally murdered in the street and all).

In fact, it's easy to get so caught up in Clayman's much-deserved beatdown that you don't notice the elephant in the room: Milim's plan doesn't make any sense. Like, none whatsoever.

While we don't get a direct explanation, it seems Milim did all this to uncover the person working behind the scenes to destroy Rimuru—i.e., Yuuki. Yet, how does pretending to be mind-controlled, invading another country, and fighting your friends while being surrounded by the most powerful Demon Lords on the planet accomplish this goal? If she wanted to beat the information out of Clayman, she could have done it at any time—I doubt anyone besides Guy Crimson and his partner dragon could have stopped her.

Even if she was concerned about the rule that Demon Lords don't meddle in other's affairs or territories (which I doubt she would be), the moment Clayman tried to mind control her, any non-aggression pact in place would have been null and void—especially with Frey there as a witness. There was simply no need to go along with any of Clayman's plans.

And now, with Clayman going True Demon Lord and Rimuru stepping in to fight—and presumably kill—him next episode, it doesn't look like Milim's going to get any additional information from him about his mysterious backer. This whole thing seems to have been a massive waste of time and effort.

However, just because her whole endeavor seemed pointless, that doesn't mean this is some kind of massive plot hole—or even that it is out of character for Milim. If anything, this is actually the kind of plan I'd expect Milim to make—like, she had a goal at some point but just got caught up in the fun of the whole thing and decided to roll with it. After all, just because Rimuru has befriended her, that doesn't mean that Milim is anything less than the immortal, chaotic force of nature she has been for hundreds of years. This whole mind-control act could have been for no other reason than she was bored.

All in all, it's a good reminder that, while she may like Rimuru, Milim is fundamentally different from mortal beings and is in no way tied down by human morals. Her cheerful demeanor and tiny frame may just belie her capacity for unfathomable, unpredictable malice.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Anyone else bugged by the fact that everyone is super down with the whole slave labor idea? Sure, these soldiers did invade the Beast Kingdom, but they didn't kill a single citizen of that nation. And hell, when your general is a psychopath who loves killing and your country's leader mind controls people for fun and profit, I doubt the average soldier had any say in the invasion—or even being part of the army at all for that matter. Becoming a slave forced to repair a city they didn't even destroy seems like a bridge too far—especially considering that with Claymans death, Clayman's territory will likely become Rimuru's (making these enslaved people his citizens.)

• Would it really be that hard for Rimuru to find a place for Ramiris and Beretta to live in Tempest? Like, I'm sure the Dryads would just love to build her a palace in the forest if it kept her close to them.

• Boy, they had fun just sliding that “Milim is Veldora's niece” revelation in there, didn't they?

• Well... Rimiru did tell Veldora to “play” with Milim.

• ...I wonder if CAPCOM and Toei got a big pile of cash for this episode.

• The 3x3 Eyes joke really got me. And if we assume that Rimuru died in our world when Tensura was first published in 2013, that means Veldora will be missing out on both sequel manga series. Poor dragon can't catch a break.

• It must suck to be Raphael. You're completely beholden to a guy infinitely stupider than you who publicly takes credit for your ideas and ignores what you say anytime he thinks he knows better.

• I loved watching the Demon Lords who totally thought Milim was mind-controlled try to protect their fragile egos.

• Clayman was a fool to believe that anyone who Milim has deemed a “friend” would be dumb enough to betray her.

• I bet Frey protected those dragon mitts with her life.

• If Clayman is weaker than the other clowns, forget Shion—Geld could have probably taken him down.

• At this point, no sob story about how Clayman just wanted to belong is going to sway me from excitedly looking forward to seeing his corpse.

• So... what? Clayman has already killed 10,000 people and just hadn't realized it? That's equally monstrous and convenient.

• Even if Clayman does become a True Demon Lord, he won't have had Raphael min-maxing his stats and skills like Rimuru had. I predict another beatdown in Clayman's future.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.