English Dub Review: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime “Yuuki Kagurazaka”

Rimuru used unique skill: bootleg manga creation.

Overview (Spoilers Below!)

Hakuro slices a megalodon into filets. The town feasts, its peace and prosperity assured. In a bath with the girls, Rimuru asks why Milim became a demon lord. She straight-up can’t remember. Milim heads out to see the other demon lords and tell them not to mess with this town.

In a dream, Rimuru remembers Shizu’s wish for them to look after her students. Rimuru decides to travel to the Kingdom of Ingrassia to find them, riding on Ranga. First, Rimuru plans to approach Yuuki Kagurazaka, one of Shizu’s Japanese ex-students who now runs the Freedom Academy. Fuze prepared documents to make Rimuru’s passage easy. Once inside, they’re awed by the modern city, from the large planes of glass to the teleportation-driven elevator.

Yuuki introduces himself, but he’s put off by the fact that Rimuru is wearing Shizu’s mask. When he sees Rimuru’s appearance, Yuuki attacks them, but Rimuru holds him off by quoting “I’m not a bad slime, slurp,” which Yuuki taught Shizu.

Rimuru bonds with Yuuki by telling him about the continuations of his favorite shows from the human world (but he’s not interested in current events, just anime and game news). Using Great Sage’s power to copy their own memories, Rimuru reproduces an entire library of manga for Yuuki to read. Yuuki believes that it’s possible to move between this world and the human world, since there are stories about monsters in Japan. Rimuru says that they’re happy with their new life. Yuuki arranges for Rimuru to serve as a teacher at Freedom Academy.

Yuuki tells Rimuru of Shizu’s ex-student Hinata, who gained enough power to surpass Shizu when she was just 15. He explains that Shizu’s five students aren’t otherworlders like him, Rimuru, and Hinata—they’re “summons” like Shizu who were used as weapons. Yuuki isn’t sure if their bodies will be able to handle the amount of power inside them, or if they’ll be incinerated from the inside out. Young summons usually don’t last longer than five years, after all. Rimuru vows to try to save them.

Rimuru enters the classroom to meet their students, and one almost decimates them with a flaming sword. The kids—Kenya, Ryota, Gale, Alice, and Chloe—are all around age 10 and are all trouble. Rimuru gets an odd feeling from Veldora.

Our Take

Finally, an episode that’s funny again.

I had almost given up hope on this show’s ability to make me laugh, but lo and behold, this episode hits the nail on the head. The scene between Rimuru and Yuuki is downright hilarious. After a cool attack in which Rimuru and Yuuki go head to head, Yuuki’s possessions flying as ominous ambiance sounds in the background, we immediately cut to the two of them sitting on the floor. Yuuki gasps, “Really? I can’t believe that’s how the show ended!”

Rimuru’s ultra-dramatic reveals are comedic gold, from their somber declaration that we’re on Final Fantasy XIX (which isn’t even true!) to the revelation that the Sagrada Familia is almost finished (true, but an absolutely hysterical non-sequitur that has nothing to do with anything else in this show). Yuuki is totally uninterested in hearing about the Japanese prime ministers after his arrival in this world. And Great Sage is back with their comedic observations—when Rimuru uses them to recreate manga, Great Sage declares, “Notice: this is a waste of my abilities.” (Rimuru is quick to quip, “No, it’s not! This is the best thing you’ve ever done!”). And even when Yuuki tells Rimuru of Hinata, which is an otherwise a deadly serious scene, Yuuki asks if Rimuru understands and Rimuru thinks, “Nope, not really. So I’ll just act like I know.” It’s a silly romp that’s sure to make any viewer smile. Even Gabiru’s men don’t grate on me this episode—Gabiru weeps while seeing Rimuru off, and his comrades delightedly declare, “Sir Gabiru’s so sensitive!” “Just let it out, sir!” Clearly, they celebrate both his military victories and his delicate side.

But this episode knows when to be serious, too. The reality of the summons’ prognosis is certainly sobering, and is delivered with appropriate gravity. And there’s time for relaxation, too—a gentle shot earlier in the episode shows the goblins sprawled out after a night of drinking, crickets quietly chirping as the village peacefully sleeps. And it’s lovely to see Gabiru and Geld bonding some more.

The design of the new city is cool. From Italian-style churches to sets of medieval armor on display, Ingrassia has a distinctly old European feel, especially with the invocation of the Sagrada Familia. At the same time, the tech is highly modern. Hints of Yuuki’s former life can be found in the magic-operated automatic door, in the receptionist’s outfit that’s reminiscent of a stewardess, in the model of a motorcycle he has on his mantle. It’s an intriguing mix of old and new.

My main complaint about this episode is that, once again, Rimuru’s world shows a sexism that seems completely at odds with its protagonist’s gender-neutral nature. When Rimuru thinks of who they’ll leave in charge of the town in their absence, they imagine only men—even though Shion has proved herself to them time and time again, and Souka is clearly a more responsible choice than Gabiru. I’m also unsure why Rimuru is constantly taking baths with only the women of his village, except for the sole purpose of shoving some harem content into a show that doesn’t need it. On a completely unrelated note, I’m confused about the idea that no summons under the age of 10 has ever lasted more than five years—I mean, Shizu did, right?

Misogyny and small continuity gripes aside, this episode is a barrel of laughs from start to finish, highly relatable for any die-hard nerds.