English Dub Review: The Slime Diaries “Return of the Summer Festival”

Overview: Tempest throws Rimuru (Brittany Karbowski) a nostalgic summer festival featuring various fun activities and games throughout with all the monster citizens taking part in the fun. 

Our Take: Rimuru wants a summer festival and goddamn it he is going to get one when Tempest throws the motherload of all parties. Some fun activities include Rimuru being creeped out by the uncanniness of the slime masks modeled after him or trying on a yukata with the girls. Shuna being a jealous masochist of Shion’s voluptuous fun bags makes it an eerily hilarious fitting in anticipation of the festivities.  

Rimuru gushing about takoyaki highlights the anime food sensory overload we all love in how unmatched it is in its craveability factor. Also, the edgy cannibalistic jokes regarding Rimuru never ceases to amaze me in everyone’s shared hunger over the delicacy that are slimes. There is a crazy mutant goldfish in Hakurou’s catching game that further shows the insane size differences compared to the human world Rimuru originally hails from. Souei enjoying the festival with Souka, winning her a prize is adorable and makes me genuinely want some romance to advance within this series or the main one. Treyni loves getting the vines pulled that are still attached to her body for exactly the reason you’re thinking. Geld’s doting over the little goblin girl he has befriended continues to be heartwarming.  

Other little moments help make it a dazzling night. Gabiru’s zeal in leading the ceremonial dance is enjoyable. Ranga recognizing the communal experience of the festival and people involved helps create a warm and homey atmosphere. Rimuru’s feelings of unworthiness in being praised and exalted are well-documented and reiterated in being the star and model of a float, further showing how much damn charming he is in his humbleness. Shion, on the other hand, sure as heck feels the opposite in being very enraptured by being praised on the slime float. So much so that Great Sage was alerted that she was evolving into a dominating purple empress. Michelle Rojas played up her arousal well, making for hilarious effect, and if Shion ever needed a footrest, I, for one, would gladly volunteer. Rimuru is the best kind of leader in him recognizing his weaknesses with this episode showcasing that aspect in him understanding his selfishness in putting aside his worries to throw a party. But it is a kind of selfishness that is understandable in how therapeutic it is for hard times, ending with a wholesome familial note added on with everyone else’s selfishness in wanting to have more parties after as well.