That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3

Episode 72

The first part of this episode is spent resolving the greater conflict of the back half of the season: the attempt by the Rosso family to undermine Tempest's power economically and plant a spy in Rimuru's inner circle. To his credit, Rimuru handles this exactly as he should. He lets it play out until the spy tries to ingratiate himself and then threatens to blacklist all those involved in the ploy. Better still, he uses these events to flush out the person working against him in the shadows from the start: Yuuki.

Over this arc, we've seen Yuuki act as a friend to Rimuru, bonding with him and Hinata over their Japanese roots and helping to break the ice with the world leaders visiting Tempest for the first time. In fact, he's always acted as a friend to Rimuru's face, eager to nerd out with him about manga and the like. This leaves us with two possibilities when it comes to his character: he is either 1) a master manipulator and is calculating everything he says and does or 2) a man who likes Rimuru as a person—and as a friend—but won't let that get in the way of his larger goals. I tend to lean to the second interpretation and I think Rimuru might agree with me. He too can clearly feel the bond between them even if it's obvious to everyone now that Yuuki is a villain as far as the residents of Tempest are concerned.

Other than that, the boardroom meetings are basically there to tie a bow on things and note the unintended consequences of Rimuru's actions. After all, with the broadcast system in the dungeon, Rimuru basically invented TV before the invention of the telegraph. He did it to put on a show but Dwargo is quick to point out that he just changed the face of war in the process.

Is it any wonder the assembled friendly nations are all about forging ties with Tempest? The neighboring elves, dwarves, and humans are all keen to be linked by Rimuru's impending railway; they can all see the industrial revolution Rimuru is ushering in.

That said, there is an elephant in the room that no one brings up: What will happen to those countries not allied with Tempest? Those left out will no doubt see this as a threat and only a matter of time until they are destroyed economically if not militarily. And while the major nations of the West have all formed bonds with Rimuru either through true friendship, ties between Demon Lords, or by being puppets of Tempest, there's be no such outreach to the East. We know very little about the empire in the east at this point but if I were them, I'd be preparing for war. And as we see from the Rossos in the closing moments, this might just be exactly what's going to happen.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I laughed my ass off at Rimuru's train model. Sure, it linked the major countries around Tempest but not a single rail line ran to a port.

• Look, if an immortal elf empress wants you to call her by a nickname, you do it. You don't argue about it in front of an international delegation.

• I don't think giving up the innards of your sacred mounting should be tied to seeing your crush on a regular basis.

• Rimuru hasn't realized it yet but he's also invented the entire telecommunications industry even if he skipped over a few steps. Phones and Zoom (and perhaps even a rudimentary internet) are certainly possible using the same magic.

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