That Time I Got Reincarnated as an unstoppable ball of power and charm.... I mean a Slime Review (Episodes 1-10)

You know, I could probably just leave this review at the title and it would perfectly sum up my thoughts on this anime, but I guess I really should go into some more proper details. This is a show where a guy dies in an accident and is somehow teleported to a fantasy world as a Slime. The thing is, however, he comes with an entire laundry list of abilities, Immunity too elements, the ability to absorb and learn abilities, the ability to perfectly recreate objects, and during the ten episodes I watched he was far and above everything around him in terms of power.

Even without getting into specifics of the story itself, you are kind of already starting to see the problem here. After sitting through the show this long, there just doesn't feel like there are any stakes. Possibly the mightiest hero in the history of the guild, The Conqueror of Flames, a persona legendary renown throughout the land, had absolutely no chance whatsoever of defeating this slime.

And pretty much everybody loves and admires him. He has a loyal following of hobgoblins, a pack of wolves, legendary Dwarven blacksmiths, and most recently some very powerful Ogres. Note, this is ten episodes in, and already the anime has pushed well past the point of no return. This is far too long to go without having any kind of dramatic tension to the plot, what little of one there has actually been. So far it's been just small story arcs as the town is getting built up.

The worst part of all of this is that the Slime.... really doesn't have a story. He's just dropped into this world with incredible power and does stuff. Helps out the Goblins, because he has nothing better to do, and is really just doing stuff to be a good person. That's fine and all, but being a good person is really easy when you have the power to brush anything to the side like nothing. It's the inherent problem with overpowered characters in most cases.

That isn't to say that the show is completely void of merit, otherwise, I wouldn't have made it to episode 10. For those just tuning in, my policy for Anime Reviews is that after six episodes, if the show gives me no reason to keep watching and has nothing of interest, I will stop and review the show then. If the show does keep my interest, even a little, no matter how bad it is I'll keep watching until that fades entirely. So what kept me going past episode six?

Well, to start with the animation and fights actually a really well done. That said that only accounts for a small amount, as no matter how well done a fight is if there is no tension behind it it's really hard to care. (For the Record, One Punch Man is an exception to this, but I'll get into that another day,)

There were a few things that really did keep me interested, and one is learning how this world functioned. See, as the audience, you are actually learning things along with Rimiru the Slime. And it's not at all like Ulysses, a show were six episodes in you have little to no idea what the rules of the world are or how anything works, you are simply learning more as the story progresses. You have a pretty solid foundation of how things work a couple episodes in. The show is actually paced very well in that regard, and the story told very well.

The next part will be a bit of a spoiler, but there really is not getting around this, as it's at the core of my issue with the series and the major part of why I dropped the show. There was a character I mentioned earlier called The Conqueror of Flames, and as I character I really liked her. There are people in this world summoned from other worlds to be fighters, and shew as summoned from Real World Japan, though unlike our main character she never died and reincarnated, just summoned. Because of her connection with fire, as her home was burned to the ground, she had an affinity for fire in this world. The Demon Lord who Summoned her was able to bind Ifrit to her, and she became a fierce warrior but was forced to serve the Demon Lord. After losing a fight to a Legendary Hero, she becomes a member of the Guild and learned to control Ifrit. She only wished to find the Demon Lord who summoned her.

She dies at the end of the story arc and asks to be absorbed by Rimuru so she doesn't become part of this world in death, a world she never felt she belonged in. She never managed to meet that demon lord again. Here we had a great character with an interesting personality, a great backstory, and was incredibly fun to watch in combat. She was very powerful, but never really felt untouchable.

And now Rimuru can take on a human form that resembles a character that you actually give a damn about, and are constantly reminded of what could have been. I felt like the show was mocking me on purpose at this point, and once she exits the story the last bits of my interest faded.

There are good things about this show. The animation is solid, the fights are well choreographed, there are some interesting side characters, and the jokes can actually be pretty great at times. My personal favorite was when he originally died in the real world, his dying wish was for his friend to throw his computer in the bathtub. Then, at the very end of the episode, you get to see his friend actually do it. Now that, my readers, is a true friend.

The problem is the show cannot escape from ten episodes of zero tension to the plot and the focus being on a character who is not at all interesting. Everything about this story revolves around the absolute worst aspect, and him taking on The Conqueror of Flames form just serves as a slap in the face of what kind of story you could have had.