English Dub Review: The Slime Diaries: “The Arrival of Winter”

Overview: Rimuru (Brittney Karbowski) and Tempest prepare the winter months ahead with various activities. 

Our Take: With all the added layers on account of winter casting its cold breath on Tempest, Rimuru’s public nudity, as a slime, coming to light is a shockingly funny revelation. It is amusing how the show’s plots find clever ways of making humorous developments of characters. Benimaru is a fire awareness mascot and the only thing that could have made it better was an actual PSA commercial to go with his sadistic ad. It is also neat to see the effect winter has on species like newts in making them drowsy. 

It’s A Bug’s Life when happy critters are introduced to the exterminator that is Malim in a hilarious subversion of the peaceful Tempest. It is also mind boggling to see how everything is so, so big in everyday beetles and bees being the size of chihuahuas. Shuna continues to be the definition of beauty and grace in how she takes care of Rimuru, making him a scarf, but does not forget about her big bro, knitting him horn gloves. Because, of course, those sharp little nuggets are the most vulnerable to the cold and need to be kept warm. Eren and the gang pushing aside memories of Shizu for the salty delicacy that is meat is just plain dirty. They eventually find some in a hulking knight spider. Gobta taking it down with a faulty sword, caused by Malim, is a testament to how damn good of a blacksmith Kurobe is even when making mistakes. 

One of the best aspects besides the fun day to day laidback activities of Tempest and the lessons you can take from them is the extra little insights on characters. It is nothing monumental but it helps flesh out people like Youm and the circumstances that led to him accepting being made into a hero by Rimuru when he arrives at the city. It builds upon that pivotal moment showing how Rimuru’s sincerity and kindness to his citizens won him over. A knight spider hotpot, strongly resembling a meaty gigantic crab, continues to show how fantastical creatures make the best dishes in alternate worlds and how mouthwatering anime food art will never not make me hungry. The feast is a warm welcome to Youm and the gang as well as closing to the start of a chilly new season. Also, the ending tag is a nice way of showing the little things Rimuru misses about being human in cold weather with his newly developed and monstrously excessive frost breath mirroring that of species that get cold.