I was going to write this as a review but I don't have enough to say to warrant it, and at the same time I have too much to say for it to be a show note in my list, so I'll split the difference and make it a blog post. Does anyone still do these?
Anyway, when I first picked up Slime Isekai way back in the day I was already suffering from isekai fatigue, but the thing that set the show apart was its focus on literal world building. It was fun to sit down and watch the city of Tempest grow. To see Rimuru gather weak, downtrodden people and then see everyone work together in harmony gave the show a really positive vibe that was sorely needed in the genre. When it was initially airing a lot of people likened the show to a TV version of the video game Civilization. In a real world where politics is an absolute dumpster fire, Slime Isekai felt like a look into an alternate world where governments and political systems actually worked, and had the people's best interests at heart.
However, some problems began in season 2 and are extremely evident in season 3. First of all, we now have way too many characters doing way too many things and I don't care about any of it. This is a problem a lot of shows with big casts run into, in that you really don't have time to sufficiently develop this many characters and also cram in a billion plot points and ALSO expect the audience to remember it all. This puts the show in a weird spot. It has all these different political alliances and character motivations that I don't have a chance in hell of remembering, but it's almost like the show recognizes that because it makes the characters and their relationships painfully simple and straightforward. At the time of writing, there's a forum post on the show's page called something like, "Is this a show for kids?" and that's a pretty damning question to have to ask.
The point that made me drop the show is in episode 4 of season 3 where they're droning on and on about some automatic magic thingamabob BS that they're installing on the roads and I kept asking myself, do I need to remember this? Is this going to be relevant later? And I decided that ultimately regardless of what the answer to that question is, I don't care because it's meaningless discussion about the show's lore and magic mechanics, and if you know anything about my thoughts on the Fate franchise it's that I don't give a single crap about any show's dumb made up magic mechanics. A show trying to explain its magic system to me is like listening to a kid tell me about a dream they had. I'm sure it was super vivid and meant a lot to them, but I couldn't care less and just nod till they stop talking.
So that's the point of frustration I reached with Slime Isekai. It started as an interesting concept but got lost in its own sauce, and the author clearly does not have the skill needed to write characters or scenarios that can get me to care long-term. I don't think I'll be finishing season 3 or picking up future installments in the series.
Thank you for reading.
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