Time is Running Out for ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime’s Third Season
When I think of the examples for isekai done right, a few names jump out: Mushoku Tensei, Re:Zero, The Eminence in Shadow, Tsukimichi, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, and, of course, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Honestly, I have just embraced the genre as commonplace in anime, because, in my opinion, complaining about the abundance of the genre is not going to make the near double digit entries a season go away any time soon. Of all of those great examples, I can recall Slime as one of my first experiences in isekai (knowingly, anyways). The action series excelled in its first two seasons by colorfully building a lovable main character’s ascension to being a demon lord and the creation of a nation. Even if it got a little dry at periods, the payoff/conclusions to arcs always felt close and worth the wait. We even got a solid OVA “movie” and a masterpiece slice of life spinoff series, Slime Diaries (I still want to write about that one day!).
So, when we learned about Slime receiving a two-cour, third season starting in Spring 2024, fans were excited. As the weeks of the season crept on, we sat through some characters talking about politics and misunderstandings. Then, right around the corner? We sat through some more talking about politics and misunderstandings. Following this we sat throu- oh shit, look! Fighting! Oh hell yea- wait it’s over. Okay, more talking. By the time the second cour arrived a few weeks ago, fans saw 13 more episodes of this season as more of a threat than a treat. Personally, I was hoping season three would mirror the second season, where the slower pace of the first half was quickly forgotten in favor of an enthralling finale. Sadly, it appears that we are not going to be getting an encore of this inspired decision.
It’s the continuation of slow, dry politics that make what should be an exciting development in the narrative feel so hollow. At this point in the season, Rimuru is organizing an Olympics-like festival for the nations of the fantasy world to gather and celebrate. Rather than focusing on the actual festivities and excitement, we are enduring every last detail in event planning. I feel more like I’m listening to my mother’s stress from planning the baby shower for my nephew than wait for a demon lord to fight some creepy vampire and his granddaughter who probably should find a different place to sit in the parlor than where she decided to pop a squat.
There is a part of me that hopes that it can still “land the plane” and have a fun conclusion, but it is turning into a race against the clock. Even when the action has picked up this season, the sequences have looked awkward and, quite frankly, ugly at times. I have been entertained by the English dub (Brittney Karbowski is the greatest voice actor in the industry right now, and I will die on that hill) and that is enough for me to stick this journey out, but I worry about the lasting impression this season will have on fans. There are already folks I trust opinions of bailing on Slime, threatening to never come back because of this lethargic junior-year performance.
Where did things go wrong here? Some are pointing to this stretch of the light/web novels being one of the weaker valleys in the narrative. Having not read the original material, keep in mind this is just my speculation, I get the impression that this has been some filler or just the author feeling an unnecessary amount of pressure to stuff the world-building with bloated politics. This is far from a unique opinion, as several folks have pointed out that, at one point, we were looking at roughly seven or eight different factions being actively explored/rotated talking over their current “move” in the world. We aren’t experiencing an action anime, we’re watching a game of Risk. This desperately needs to change, and soon. Otherwise, the bus for Slime time is going to be a lot emptier.
