English Dub Review: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: “Returning from the Brink”
Overview: Rimuru (Brittany Karbowski), Shion (Michelle Rojas), Beretta, and Veldora (Chris Rager) continue their battle against Clayman (John Burgmeier), Malim (Kristen McGuire) and his forces.
Our Take: Clayman’s arrogance was destined to be his downfall from the moment he first underestimated just Rimuru and manipulated Falmuth into attempting to murder monster citizens of the nation. But even I didn’t know just how prosperous his posturing and how much of a pushover Clayman was until the opening minutes of the episode. Although with all fairness, neither did he, which was what made it that much more fulfilling when Clayman began to see his chances of victory crumble around him as easily as his forces were. One of my favorite moments is the Beretta joke with her actually cleaning Clayman’s puppets as not only was it an unexpected gag coming from her but an incredibly funny one as well. Shion was really the final piece of the puzzle that made Clayman’s recompense all the more sweet with how unfazed she is throughout his attacks with that barely changing. Michelle Rojas enthusiasm as Shion is never not charming but her apathetic and unimpressed disposition throughout is especially superb. But it wouldn’t be that amazing if not for some stellar animation which this episode brought in spades Shion’s complete domination of Clayman. That same sentiment also extends to Veldora’s battle with Malim with his Street Fighter and DBZ move set being an incredibly nice touch referencing his nerdy otaku side.
Veldora’s fight also leads to the ultimate twist that in Malim was never actually controlled and Carrion was never dead. This was a huge curveball and one that is well-executed for how it threw me for a loop especially considering how little it was telegraphed beforehand but after some explanations were given it started filling in quite a few blanks. Like Malim being too powerful for Clayman’s pathetic tricks or Rapheal not being able to identify the nonexistent spell on Malim. It also very much increased my outlook of Frey, so I’m free to simp over her like Rimuru does (like that’d ever stop me).
In the closing moments, Walpurgis pulls another surprise I didn’t quite expect and one that doesn’t pay off as well as the others did in trying to make Clayman a more sympathetic character. This feels like too little too late, not to mention it feels to leave its mark with how emotionally unimpressionable his motivation is, especially with the lack of his detailed dynamic and past with the Harlequin Alliance. It also further confirms just how extensive Yuuki’s reach has been up to this point as an antagonist. Too bad he hasn’t been expressed as a particularly interesting or unique one yet. Thankfully, there’s one last battle to be fought, while teasing Clayman’s creator Kazalim, in him giving Clayman one last power boost and setting the stage for an epic final battle and not leaving us underwhelmed without one.
"There are also other characters that come and go (also owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery conglomerate media company)."
Huh. Is that just referring to other characters from the show itself, or is this implying that the new season is going to have cameos from other WBD IPs