The isekai genre has been exploding since 2014, invading the market with stories looking and sounding pretty much the same. Some succeeded in creating their own flavor of isekai (Overlord, KonoSuba, Re: Zero, Youjo Senki), and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, or TenSura for the aficionados, sure found its seat at the VIP table.
Will fans see a That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3?
What happened so far in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Satoru Mikami is your regular 37-year-old salaryman in Japan. A virgin and a bit of a video game otaku, Satoru is content with his monotonous life. Until the man dies, stabbed in an alley while protecting a friend. He wakes up in a cave, discovering that not only has he been transported to another world, but he has been reincarnated as a slime. However, Satoru is not your regular slime: he was granted the power to absorb the abilities and mimic the appearance of the organisms he would devour. While exploring the cave, he encounters Veldora Tempest, a proud dragon sealed for 300 years because of his crime. A new friendship is born, and Veldora bestows the name of Rimuru Tempest upon the slime. To set the dragon free of his shackles, they decide that Rimuru should absorb his friend.
Now, armed with his new wisdom and power, the ex-salaryman (and ex-human too) is set on making the most of his second chance at life. He then leaves the cave and quickly encounters a group of goblins begging him to protect them from the Direwolves. After killing the Direwolf Leader, Rimuru convinces both tribes to learn how to live together and proceed to give each of them a name before passing out. When he wakes up, he discovers that all the Goblins and Direwolves evolve thanks to being named. With the premises of what could be the beginning of a new people and kingdom, but no one skilled enough in crafting and swordsmithing to provide clothes and houses, Rimuru decides to visit the Dwarves to establish a trade relationship. Therefore begins his quest toward its ideal kingdom, something that is going to attract the ire, envy, and curiosity of the powerful Demon Lords.
What is going on with 8BIT?
TenSura season 1 premiered on October 2, 2018, and ended on March 19, 2019, running for 25 episodes. Season 2 started in January 2021 and is still ongoing. It was directed by Yasuhito Kikuchi and Atsushi Nakayama, written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, composed by Elements Garden.
With the big isekai wave of stories looking the same, sounding the same, giving us the same, one would look at TenSura with passable boredom. The show does quick work of that and subverts all expectations. It is way too good for its own good. The beginning tricks us into thinking we are watching classic isekai: the protagonist needs to die to be transported in the fantasy world, then he gets…and that’s where TenSura stopped being a classic isekai. After that, we get to experience new flavors. They’re tasty. Rimuru has a magnetic personality and brings a lot to the story and how the viewers experience it. He is optimistic, smart, looking for ways to fix things, and funny: Rimuru is simply charming. His character goes so well with the lightheartedness of the story. When things go his way, it is not because of the infamous deus ex machina or just because of “plot,” It is the result of him considering people and situations with logic. He slowly turns a small village into a kingdom, rallying people behind him. Those people do so because they have seen hope and a way to build something strong with him. The rest of the cast is pretty large, but TenSura still gives them enough individuality visually and mentally. They all look different based on their race/faction, and through small interactions, we can slowly piece together their characterization. This adds to the liveliness: we really are in another world with its own rules, and its people and nothing will stay static.
When talking about world building in TenSura, we are talking about care and precision. Everything makes sense, and details are not just thrown in our faces to be consumed, questioned, and forgotten. We are taught how it works, and we are shown how it came to be. Rimuru started with a village to end up with a nation. That process had steps, steps that we are going through alongside the protagonist and his allies. And with these steps, we keep discovering more and more of this world. TenSura presents a world geographically rich. And if you think the story has trouble balancing characterization, world-building, and plot development, try again. The pace is impeccable. The way events are arranged a natural flow, as things do not get dragged, nor are they cut short. There is always a goal, something to do, but it is taken care of promptly. The audience is not forced to jump from one point to the other without a proper explanation. And with all that, we still get enough action and drama to enjoy. At no point, the viewer is overwhelmed. The animation is average, sinking to below average at certain points, but nothing too drastic. The character design is softer and more detailed than its manga/light novel counterparts. The landscapes are different based on the location (one nation does not look like the other) and the colors are bright and vivid, turning dark and menacing in more perilous moments.
TenSura is 8Bit’s first big hit anime. The studio is working on the ongoing Season 2 at the moment. They also have aligned two new series for 2022 (Bluck Lock and Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit). The studio entered a partnership with Bandai Namco to produce anime (which surely means that those will be shown with a potential for a video game).
What do we know about That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3 so far?
Nothing has been released as of yet.
Season 2 is still being aired, meaning that it is too soon to get an announcement.
What are fans saying about That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3?
TenSura is a wild success. No one saw it coming, but everyone got conquered. The fandom keeps growing bigger in an organic way. Fans are musing the idea of a third season, but with Season 2 still ongoing, they are not in a hurry. Most worries come from fans wondering if 8Bit has enough material in the light novels for a Season 3. With the anime still being on TV, all communities are really active. TenSura received way above-average scores on different websites.
Will there be That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3?
The light novel, which is the original format of TenSura, is written by Fuse and illustrated by Mitz Vah. It has 20 volumes and started on May 30, 2014. The series is still being published. In 2018, the title was ranked fifth in the top-selling light novels ranking in Japan. During the same year, it was also announced that the series had 4.5 million volumes in circulation. The franchise has several manga adaptations. The main one closely following the light novel storywise is written by Fuse and illustrated by Taiki Kawakami. It was launched on March 26, 2015, and is still ongoing (18 volumes).
Three spinoffs followed: The Ways of the Monster Nation (9 volumes since July 2016 and ongoing) and Tensura (again!) as a Workaholic Slime (2 volumes since September 2018). The third one, titled The Slime Diaries, was written by Fuse and illustrated by Shiba. It has 5 volumes and started in March 2018, and is still getting published. The Slime Diaries also received an anime adaptation. The main manga has been recognized as the first one based on a light novel to reach up to 25 million copies in circulation by May 2021. They, light novels and manga series, are all licensed in English.
The franchise also counts five OAD (Original Animation DVD) that came bundled with manga volumes and had original stories written by Fuse. In 2019, Funimation released 2 combo pack volumes of the first season, and in 2020, a limited edition combo pack (DVD + Blu-ray) was released by the same publisher. The merchandising around the franchise is astounding. You can find many articles for all tastes: figures, hoodies, stickers, t-shirts, charms, cushions, puzzles, etc. The selection is neverending. Google Trends shows how the series is sought after worldwide with a nicely colored map. And the graph is not telling a different story: search queries about Season 3 slowly started when Season 2 started airing and, as we are getting close to the end, they keep getting higher and higher.
When will That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3 be released?
With no official announcement yet, it is impossible to determine a date.
What can we expect in Season 3 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime?
Considering his popularity in Japan and foreign countries, Tensura is in the starting blocks of renewal for a third season. The franchise produces numbers and results in all categories. In addition, the light novels are pretty far in the story, and 8Bit has ample material to adapt and work with for a few extra seasons. The fandom is eager to see what Rimuru’s ambition will create!
