©Daiki Kawakami, Fuse, Kodansha/Tensura Production Committee ©Shiba, Fuse, Kodansha/Tensura Diary Production Committee
Cards on the Table: This is probably my favorite tournament arc in a long time. Why? Because 90% of everything is done in one episode. Now, to be clear, I don’t hate the tournament arc in general. When I was younger I loved them. But over the years, I enjoyed them less and less. Often, they feel like an excuse to show off the military prowess of supporting characters at the expense of any meaningful plot progression. Sure, tournament arcs can have real personal stakes for our main heroes, but that usually only matters in the climactic final game.
exist TensuraHowever, we’re still showing off the various supporting characters, but with all the fat removed. Instead of a two-minute fight that takes thirty minutes of runtime, we get a two-minute fight that takes…two minutes. Basically, we’ll pull off some big moves and special attacks, do some reversals for excitement, and win – and we’ll even get into a fight at that point.
The biggest joke of this episode is Masayuki’s incredible skills at work. In the first round, he faced off against a friend who immediately resigned. In the next round, he was able to convince his opponent that it wasn’t going to be a fair fight, as he was already tired after the first round, while Masaki still had plenty of energy. Therefore, they agreed to fight again later. At the end of the episode, things look like Rimuru might actually have to fight Masaki. Considering his fate-changing passive ability and hero status, Rimuru could be in trouble.
The actual battles we see are mainly between Carrion and Gobta. For Carrion, what we see is the usual glorious strongman battle. For Gobuta, comedy is the point. As a joke to Gobda, Rimuru sees him as a coward. However, any objective person can see that this is not the case. Gobuta is just a person shaped by his environment. He is 100% aware that he is an ordinary goblin, surrounded by many of the most powerful beings in existence. No matter how strong he is, his comparison targets are Rimuru and Veldora, Shion and Benimaru. So of course he thinks he’s weaker than he actually is.
Nonetheless, we see him not only take down a capable human swordsman, but also force Karion, a fearsome former demon lord, to resign. Because Gobda was much weaker than those around him, he learned how to use his brain in battle. Did Ragnar force his way in? Great! Gobuta will use him as much as possible, changing all the rules in the process. After all, in a life-or-death battle, it’s what you can win that matters, not how you win. So, with a little motivation and a little quick thinking (and maybe Masayuki’s strength), Gobuta made it all the way to the finals.
All in all, it was a fun little episode. It has both action and comedy. I always love the moments in the series when Gobta becomes more than a simple punching bag. I’m really excited to see how Masayuki’s power can turn everything in his favor – if Gobuta can compete with the heroes.
grade:
Random thoughts:
• I wonder why the dwarves ended up there. Is this related to the fighting tournament or the festival as a whole? (Anyway, I’m sure we’ll find out next week.)
• It’s worth noting who will believe Masayuki’s nonsense and who won’t. Of course, Rimuru is immune, but surprisingly, so is Chloe. Perhaps this has something to do with the mysterious source that stabilizes her own strength.
• I’m shocked that the Beastketeers and Hinata didn’t compete – each to demonstrate the supremacy of their respective demon lords. But what surprised me even more was that Veldora and Milim didn’t put their hats into the ring (despite Rimuru’s attempts to distract them).
• How is Raphael doing? I can’t help but feel like I’m missing some key message. Does this have anything to do with its view of Gobda? Or was Masayuki’s hero power causing some kind of interference?
About me being reincarnated as a slime Season three is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
