English Dub Review: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime – Tears of the Azure Sea

It’s that time again…to be reincarnated as a Slime into your local movie theater to watch the second That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime movie! It’s been over three years since the first film, Scarlet Bond, which I have to say I wasn’t a huge fan of, mostly due to how it made the regular cast’s involvement feel kind of superfluous, and how much of the plot hinged on the movie exclusive characters being kinda dumb to make conflicts happen, followed by a resolution that had two fake out sacrifice deaths within the same minute. I know that movies like these that are meant to be big advertisements for the show they’re based on aren’t typically the most compelling in terms of story, especially when they have to work within a specific point in the story’s timeline and thus can’t have any meaningful consequences, but Scarlet Bond REALLY ended up feeling like a waste of time the end. Thankfully, Tears of the Azure Sea is a marked improvement on that, so with that mini rant on the last movie out of the way, I can go into detail about how, if you’re a fan of this series and watching its currently airing fourth season, this movie is a solid use of a hundred and five minutes.

Taking place between the third and fourth season (much like Scarlet Bond took place between the second and third and a previous OVA miniseries took place between the first and second), the film follows Rimuru Tempest and his band of merry monsters as they plan to blow off some steam after running a massive festival for their newly founded country. However, those vacation plans are quickly dashed as the team are quickly swept up in defending Kaien, an underwater kingdom, from efforts by rogue forces to summon an ancient Water Dragon to attack those on the surface. And in the midst of this chaos, Gobta, the runt of the litter among Rimuru’s friends, finds himself in a whirlwind romance with Yura, a priestess of Kaien who is desperate to save her people. Gobta actually ends up being the surprise lead of the movie with Yura. So much of a surprise, in fact, that the Wikipedia page for the movie doesn’t even currently list him in the credits because it would be so unexpected to involve him this much. Rimuru and the usual heavy hitters of the group do have their parts to play, especially in the numerous sleek action scenes, but this is most definitely Gobta’s movie, as he goes through the initial belligerent stage with Yura of arguing and being combative, to seeing each other as equals and finding a special kinship in one another that feels genuinely heartfelt. Unfortunately, Yura does suffer from being made specifically for this movie, but here’s hoping future seasons of the anime get to work her in.

Now, if you’re a fan of this series, you are very likely already going to be going to see this movie regardless of what I or any other review says, even if I do actually like this one well enough. For those who are freshmen to the Slime show, however, this might be a good way to dip your toe in the water to see if you’d like to take a swim. Despite taking place at a specific point and making numerous references to previous events, there is a brief recap at the start of the movie to tease what one may want to go back and watch. On top of that, the previously introduced elements end up weaving in pretty well on their own and don’t require much in the way of outside explanation to understand. And it helps that the movie’s story feels fully contained and works well enough on its own. Plus, every anime gets a boost in entertainment value from playing on a big movie screen, and I plan to watch it there as well to get that feeling, though it also doesn’t hurt that current cinema offerings are a bit sparse. I would say to check this movie out and see whether or not it makes you want to dive into nearly a hundred episodes of story. Jump on in, the water’s fine.