©Daiki Kawakami, Fuse, Kodansha/Tensura Production Committee ©Shiba, Fuse, Kodansha/Tensura Diary Production Committee
Just when you thought it was safe to watch Tensura The board is back again!
So much of the plot so far has been spent on Rimuru, preparing to take the international stage by storm with his upcoming festival, that you might have forgotten its original purpose – to bring life in the forest but within the city. Many foreign nationalities gathered together.
Although Rimuru basically just occupied Veldora’s territory, Veldora didn’t do anything in the way of domination. He’s just…well, a dragon. His realm—the Great Forest of Jura—is filled with any tribe that can carve out a space for themselves in the shadow of the storm dragon. Now, suddenly, here comes this slime-turned-demon lord who literally takes their lives in his hands. If Rimuru doesn’t want travelers to be constantly attacked by rebels on his shiny new path, he must allay the fears of everyone now ostensibly under his rule.
Fortunately, he has some familiar faces in the horde before him – lizards and dryads – who can show the others how to act. But for the most part, all Rimuru has to do is listen to each group’s concerns and reassure them that he won’t start murdering them en masse (which, to be fair, is a legitimate concern).
All of this plays out in some interesting ways. On the one hand, Rimuru accidentally ended a hundred-year war and brought peace to the war-torn forest area. On the other hand, he granted the dryads their greatest wish: to live with their god Ramiris. He also added a tribe of elves to the dungeon’s population. This poses an interesting question to the Tempest’s governing structure.
Basically, Rimuru immediately decided that everything in the Ramiris Dungeon was under her jurisdiction. By implication, this refers not only to dryads, but also to orc refugees and elves. This makes the dungeon gradually become an independent country and completely dependent on the storm. Of course, it seems nice that Ramiris and Rimuru are on good terms, but what would happen if the dungeon dwellers committed a crime during a storm and then hid in the dungeon? What would happen if Tempest one day unilaterally shut down trade between the Undercity and the outside world? Does this rule mean that Veldora is Ramiris’s responsibility and not Rimuru’s because he lives at the bottom? Rimuru once again impulsively decides to relieve himself of personal responsibility, which could have huge consequences for the future.
Other than that, it was fun, but the action portion of the episode was actually the least interesting. Three guys we’ve never heard of before show up and want to fight. Each one is as powerful as a low-level demon lord – and Shion defeats them all in just seconds. We then find out they’re not evil, just idiots, and despite them breaking through Tempest’s defenses and beating up its people, everything is happily resolved. So I guess it’s a good thing that Rimuru didn’t kill Storm by attacking them for no reason – although after the whole Farmus invasion, that seems more in character.
All in all, this is a good series Tensura. A little comedy, a little action, a little big concept that wasn’t well thought out or explored. This is par for the course.
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Random thoughts:
• Is this the first time we’ve seen the cast in black uniforms outside of the opening scene and main image?
• The Dyrad family is vital to protecting Tempest and the forest as a whole. They are all in the dungeon. Doesn’t this mean that the storm has lost its early warning system?
• It’s an interesting character note that Rimuru only begins to care about the elven slaves after discovering they might be his people.
• I really wish we could have seen how Milim brought the dragon into the dungeon. The logistics of it make for a great comedy bit in itself.
About me being reincarnated as a slime Season three is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
