That Time I Watched the Second Season of I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Production

Slime was never a very impressive-looking series. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad. I can’t clock it for being inconsistent or lazy as far as production goes. But it’s just sort of standard. The designs are nice enough. I like them a lot. But they’re also simple and not all that original. The backgrounds are similarly fine and the animation does the job.

However, I do have to give kudos to the cast once again. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime owes a lot to its charm and that’s in part thanks to the great chemistry of the voice actors. I particularly enjoyed hearing Rimuru and Veldora play off each other. They really do sound like old buddies. Maybe college mates that still hang out together on weekends!

Story & Characters

Like I said, I was worried. There are plenty of charming anime that just don’t manage to recapture the magic after their first season. And there was plenty of reason to think that That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime would be one of them. At the end of the day, it’s not exactly a fresh premise. The isekai genre is a bit oversaturated at the moment. And although having a non-humanoid main character did add some interest at the time, it seems like par for the course now.

And in a way, this second season didn’t capture what I loved about the first. It’s not the same. But that doesn’t make it bad, it’s simply good in a different way.

One of the things I liked the most about the first season of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is that it mixed in a lot of almost Slice of Life elements. Many episodes were concerned with Rimuru learning about this new world, making friends, building up a nice little community to live in and acquiring new skills. It was in between those quiet moments that were peppered in grand battles and tense confrontations. The first season did have adventures, to be sure, but it was wrapped in casual, almost mundane events of everyday life in a fantasy world.

Well, stuff got real in season 2. There’s no pussyfooting around the fantasy adventure this time around, this season is almost an epic. And occasionally, it gets uncomfortable in a very interesting way.

For me, the biggest takeaway of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime season 2, is Riumuru’s own character evolution. Oh and Veldora but I always love Veldora. I’m a Veldstan. But to get back to Rimuru. I’m probably going to let some spoilers slip about his characetré I’ll try not to but knowing me, it seems likely that I’ll blab.

Because this season features harsh obstacles with way higher stakes than season 1, Rimuru is forced to make some pretty tough decisions. And surprisingly, he often chooses the ruthless path without hesitation.

I have in my notes about the mid-season or the end of part 1, if you were watching it in two parts, that Rimuru is starting to remind me a bit of Griffith. If you are familiar with Berserk, you know that this is both a very good and very bad thing. Very good because Griffith is a fantastic character, very bad for everyone involved in the story.

I’m not saying that I foresee Rimuru losing himself and becoming an antagonist (although that would certainly be one of the biggest twists ever!) but the magnanimous and unfailingly kind slime I use to know is no more. Mercy is a virtue that comes at a high price and once you have an entire nation counting on you, that price becomes impossible to pay. Or at least, that seems to be how Rimuru sees it.

And I like this. It’s a very good way to illustrate how the pressures and responsibilities of leadership are bound to change someone. So far, there is no real exploration of how that change affects Rimuru’s relationships with others but it was still impressive to watch in isolation.

Moreover, we did get a much better view of the higher powers this season, namely the demon lords and what their role is in the world. It’s light fantasy politics. I feel like this aspect of the story is mainly set up for a future season. I see a lot of potential. However, it was largely unexplored this time around.

In case I haven’t made it clear, the second season of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, is in fact pretty pact with action and suspenseful build-up to the next battle. It makes the previous season look very calm and uneventful by comparison. And to be clear, I like both, just for different reasons.

Like last time, the season ends with the reveal of an important antagonist that we don’t get the chance to confront. I really like the idea of this baddie. It’s going to bring up all sorts of clashes.

Finally, I can’t finish a review of the second season of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, without mentioning Veldora…again. Veldora is back and SPOILERS out of confinement. He even has a humanoid form for fitting into smaller rooms and apparently reading tons of manga. I don’t have a profound insight to share about the legendary dragon. I just like him. He made this season awesome. I want a spinoff of his adventures, maybe with the Sebastian-looking demon guy. Fun!

You might like this anime if:

You liked the first season but would have preferred it more epic!

I save all my screencaps on my Pinterest and you can find more there if you are interested. But I still like to show you a few in the post. If you’re like me, screencaps are something that really helps you decide to watch an anime or not.