That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3

Episode 65

Man, what a bait and switch. Here we are, all primed for a massive boardroom meeting filled with details both important and not—and they have the utter gall to introduce us to a new character.

Of course, I jest. The introduction of Masayuki takes what could have been yet another episode of the festival setup and turns it into something both interesting and enjoyable. Until now, Rimuru has faced many threats—from Orcs and Demon Lords to invading armies and Hinata. While Rimuru has fought head-on occasionally, more of his victories have come from his unique skill. The Great Sage, now Raphael, might as well be a magic “I win” button. No matter what Rimuru needs to know or wants to do, it can be effortlessly accomplished by Raphael. And when things get really bad, Raphael can even take over Rimuru's body or magic powers to do the supposedly impossible.

But here's the thing, Masayuki might have an even more powerful “I win” button. He has the Chosen Hero skill, which seemingly alters the fate of the people around him (including his own), so he ends up as the hero in numerous cliché situations. This makes him a great rival for Rimuru. While Raphael needs Rimuru's direction to activate (i.e., it needs to at least know his general intentions), Chosen Hero is at work all the time—regardless of what Masayuki wants. What could be more of a cliché heroic story than a hero not only winning a fighting tournament but defeating the evil demon lord who rules over the city at the same time?

Masayuki feels like a much better way for Yuuki to attack Rimuru than Hinata. Despite her own personality quirks, Hinata is no idiot. While she was tricked into attacking Rimuru once, she was able to generally figure out what the truth was afterward—ultimately helping to avoid a ton of meaningless deaths the next time she was put in the position of being used. With Masayuki, it doesn't matter what he thinks or feels. He is fate's puppet. Even if he chooses to do nothing, things always end with him coming out on top—more popular than ever before. All Yuuki had to do was get the hero and demon lord in the same place—and, as we see, that was little trouble.

With this single episode, I went from passively enjoying the laid-back festival preparation to actively feeling a bit of dramatic tension for the destined meeting of these two overpowered skills (and the poor fools they inhabit). Now do I think there is any way Rimuru could lose? Of course not. However, I also don't foresee a simple way for him to win—and it should be a lot of fun to see how Masayuki's fate-twisting powers affect the monsters of Tempest (especially considering their fanatical devotion to Rimuru).

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Come to think of it, Rimuru is far from the only demon lord who will be at the festival. I assume Ramiris, Milim, and Luminous will be there—and also Fray and Carrion. And that's not even mentioning the greatest evil dragon the world has ever known.

• Not gonna lie, I don't even remember that fox or where it came from.

• I admit, I have no idea what character both Shuna and Treyni know that would be suitable to be a floor boss in the dungeon. I'd be hard-pressed to remember any scenes where the two of them interact alone, much less with another powerful monster present.

• I thought that Rimuru was sharing Veldora's massive magical powers. So if Rimuru feels drained by naming the fox, shouldn't Veldora as well? Or has he become a demon lord given Rimuru his own stores of magic beyond what he shares with Veldora?

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.