Autumn 2018 First Impressions – That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Living alone and never having had a girlfriend, 37-year-old Satoru Mikami is dissatisfied with how his life has turned out. But after dying at the hands of a robber, he awakens to a fresh start in a new world…as a slime monster. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 24

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Satoru Mikami has had a pretty decent life so far – he’s got a good job at a good company and generally enjoys how things have unfolded. He is disappointed in his lack of a love-life, however; as a 37-year-old man who’s never had a significant other, he feels as though he’s missed out on one of life’s very important pleasures. He doesn’t have much time to lament this however, since a runaway man with a knife stabs and kills him in the street (and on the way to his favorite meal, too). With his last breath he implores his subordinate to remember him fondly (and to trash his hard drive). As the world fades into nothingness, Satoru feels his body dissolve away.

Unexpectedly, he wakes up in a strange place inside of a very strange body. He realizes after some experimentation that he’s now a slime a-la Dragon Quest, with some fairly cool skills – he can absorb magical materials and store them in his body, he doesn’t feel pain, heat, or cold, and he can regenerate after suffering damage. He realizes, though, that he’s not alone. A stentorian voice beckons to him, and after some back-and-forth Satoru realizes that he’s sharing his space with a particularly powerful and threatening dragon. They make a mutually-beneficial deal: Satoru will be friends with Verudora the Dragon, and Verudora will grant Satoru the power of magical sight. Satoru is a little embarrassed to realize that, even at age 37, he’s still worked up over making a new friend.

Impressions: I don’t think it’s productive to complain about the ubiquity of other-world or “isekai” series any longer; they’re clearly popular and they’re obviously here to stay. Now that we’re in the late-game era of the genre’s recent popularity, however, it means that authors and other creative types seem to feel open to playing around with the tropes a little bit. Enter That time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, which tells you all you need to know in the title; it takes the general idea of the typical Japanese guy traveling to an alternate world for fun and profit, and adds to it the extra dimension of removing the character’s human identity (at least for a little while).

I don’t think this first episode would be so successful were it not for the sympathetic lead character. While I’m definitely done with male characters who lament their own virginity (desperation isn’t an attractive look), Satoru isn’t the typical misanthropic teen shut-in of anime series past (or present, unfortunately). Sure, he’s disappointed that he’s never had a romantic relationship, but he’s also shown to be relatively successful at his job and well-liked by his coworkers. When the universe calls upon him to become a sacrifice to save his soon-to-be-married subordinate, he doesn’t miss a beat. While again, the “boo hoo, I’ve never had sex” attitude is tired, what’s refreshing is Satoru’s lack of outright bitterness about it. I’m not generally one to say “well, at least it’s not that bad,” but considering the character’s decent attitude, and then his transformation into a creature who’s excited to learn about his new form and who’s game to adapt to it, I think I can let it slide in this case.

The production values of this episode are pretty impressive as well. Just watching Satoru’s walk cycles during the first few minutes introductory minutes was entertaining, but as he undergoes his transformation and becomes a little blue gelatinous droplet there are lots of fun visuals as well. There’s quite a bit of CG in this episode, especially during expository scenes; it seems to me that someone had a lot of fun turning Satoru’s inner voice into a kind of magical interface through which we also gain access to his new knowledge. His slime body is also occasionally depicted with computer graphics, which I suppose is for additional emphasis; it’s interesting to me, because judging from the animation style during the ending (eventually opening?) theme, the overall style looks to be much more cartoonish and less focused on realism. It remains to be seen whether the contrast will continue to be utilized and successful as a visual tool.

This show, like many isekai series, seems enamored with the prospect of defining itself by using old video game logic. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but I find that this can lead to tedious scenes that feel more like game tutorials than animated entertainment. I think it’s safe to say that many people watching the show (especially people, like me, who are almost exactly Satoru’s age) are probably familiar with old NES and SNES RPGs, and nostalgia can definitely be a powerful drug at times. The little chip tune parts of the soundtrack are definitely enjoyable and fit the atmosphere of the show well. I find, though, that nostalgia and referential humor is sometimes a crutch for anime that’s otherwise not very confident in its own story, characters, or writing; it’s easy to overlook lazy or problematic content when a shiny video game reference is staring you in the face. I hope that there’s more going on in the show than a gaggle of geeky gaming gags.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this episode so much. I’ve admittedly got a bit of a prejudice against the genre since it often seems so focused on male power fantasies. When I was younger, there seemed to be more isekai stories focused around young women; now it seems that the gender-focused has swapped (or maybe I’m just conscious of it now). Considering how this series is set up I definitely wouldn’t rule out the power fantasy aspect and the key art tells me that the main character definitely won’t be wanting for cute girls. However, and It’s difficult to articulate, I’m getting a different impression from this episode and feel like the attitude of the series might be slightly less unevolved. I’m all for an anime that questions genre tropes even if it indulges in them to some extent as well. This might be an entertaining alternative to the more typical teenage guy self-indulgent fantasy series.

Pros: The main character is pretty amusing and doesn’t wallow. The animation and visuals are really great (even the CG!).

Cons: I suspect the show may fall into some nostalgia pitfalls. There are some scantily-clad women in that key art.

Grade: B