Tag Archives: Isekai

Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Review

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Shangri-La Frontier is one of those shows that definitely took me by surprise with exactly how good it was. Now make no mistake, I knew the game would be excellent because the manga was. Yet the show still managed to be downright elite and this season starts to adapt my favorite arc in the series so it really ended on a high note. Definitely a title to keep an eye on because this is the kind of content I’m talking about when looking at excellent material.

The season starts on the more low key side with the devs fixing the Scorpion glitch Sunraku found so that he could no longer exploit them. The heroes also made an alliance with some guilds to get the pressure off but the first big event is that Sunraku and Psyger 0 run into the ultimate boss Lycagon. This is the ultimate rematch for Sunraku but the tough decision is deciding whether to go all out here or lose on purpose so he doesn’t give too much away. You understand the predicament but also realize that he has sunk too far into the social battles of the game. Giving up without trying your best would go completely against Sunraku’s character and it would have been a real shame.

Psyger 0 snaps him out of it quickly enough and then we get a really fun fight. The series excels in quite a lot of things, but one of them is definitely the fight choreography. You really get to see a lot of strategy in the battles like knowing what move to use and what cool downs are still in effect. It feels like a proper video game and I would say it’s probably the most realistic look at what a true VR game of the future could look like. I was definitely real impressed. Even Sunraku’s fights against minions tend to be fun for this reason although of course the bosses are when he’s at his best. At least with one exception, fighting other players but that’s really rare.

I tend to enjoy the quick voyages into other games outside of Shangri-La Frontier for that reason. In this season that means a quick journey into a mecha fighter game where Sunraku fights some old pals. This was a fun one because they did a good job with the robot battles and also because we get to see Sunraku strategizing against a real person. Outsmarting AI is one thing of course but it’s even more impressive when you defeat another player. Sunraku consistently shows that he is able to do this with minimal difficulty as well.

Then we begin two arc at once. This is a rare example of a big arc getting interrupted midway by another one. The main arc involves another unique scenario where Sunraku has to go to an underwater area to figure out how to take down the next monster. He brings the robot buddies along but this time Pendragon and Katzo have to miss out. It’s a fun enough arc but it does get completely overshadowed before long. The reason is because a giant tournament scrimmage is announced and Katzo has called Sunraku in.

Yes, this is the real final arc that the season ends off on. Sunraku is going to have to go toe to toe against the most powerful pro gamer in history at a game that he has never played before while she has played all of the other titles in the series. The one advantage he will have is that the game runs on the Shangri-La Frontier engine which is only available in Japan at the moment. It’s also a fun milestone because now the main characters are all going to meet each other IRL so we get a whole lot of banter. It’s pretty crazy to think that they had actually never met each other in real life before now.

The season doesn’t show us much of this arc yet, just enough of a taste to really get you excited. It still works tremendously well though and these episodes are top tier. The music, the directing, everything about this is extremely hype. In particular there’s one scene where Katzo basically admits that Sunraku and Pencildragon are the best gamers out there that stood out to me. The show played one of the new themes that is extremely hype (It’s not even out on Youtube yet) and really set the stage for how much this tournament means to him. I also love the rules as it is a real knockout style fight, meaning as long as you win, you keep on playing. Yeah the next season is going to rock.

As always the animation is really good here. It has a very solid style to it. You feel all of the blows and the movement is very smooth. It’s all very good and really goes to the next level during big battles. After that you have the soundtrack which gets full points. The first opening is spectacular as you’d expect. I didn’t care for the second opening as much but it’s still good. Then the tracks during the episodes are really incredible once again. Full on action themes that cover a wide array of genres. Nothing negative to say about any of those. It’s all just so good.

As for the characters, Sunraku is a great lead as always. I like how analytical the guy is while still acting like your ordinary gamer. He’s very down to Earth and competitive which are great qualities to have. His fighting style is fun and he always has a good time with the game. The show is far from being a comedy in any way but it definitely does know how to have some real fun gags every now and then. The show just has the perfect atmosphere and vibes for this kind of story.

Poor Psyger-0 still suffers from the fact that she has not worked up the courage to confess to Sunraku yet. So for now she just continues to hone her skills and do her best but it will be a while before she makes any progress. Fortunately inside of the game she is very powerful and she does great during the Lycagon fight. I’m generally not big on the more timid characters but she’s not bad. I would say it helps that she is really good at the game because at least in her own way she is trying to get closer to Sunraku. It’s not that she is passive or anything, she just can’t take that last step.

Meanwhile Pencilgon is one of those characters who has no problems getting whatever she wants. She generally just likes to be a vicious overlord in video games who has everyone at her beck and call. She is very skilled at deception and makes for a fun character. She may be a model in the real world but fortunately her friends are only into video games so it’s not like they care. They treat her normally and so it makes for a great trio of characters. They all just have fun with each other which is really the right way to go. Any scene with the main 3 in it is always a blast.

Katzo is the pro gamer of the group although I would say he is still often outshined by Sunraku. Not really his fault, that guy is just a legend. Katzo still holds his own the whole time and is a really good character. He does have connections and a lot of money which is how the final arc was even possible. He basically spent tons of money to get the best hotels and game equipment. His rivalry with Sunraku is always bound to bring in a lot of laughs as well.

I will say that the supporting characters in SLF tend to be on the weaker side though. Aside from Emul, we now know about 5 other rabbits and none of them are particularly interesting at the moment. They’ve all got their own unique gimmicks and all but you just don’t end up caring all that much. If the show has a weak point, it will be any scene inside of the Rabbit home world where it’s important for lore but that’s about it. You want Sunraku to get back out there and play the game some more.

Akane is probably the only interesting thing relating to that place and technically speaking she is still a separate character. She’s the second person to discover the unique quest and so now Sunraku is nervous that she might tell more people about it. The more people who know about this, the less valuable the info is as a bargaining chip. For now she seems trustworthy but we’ll have to see. Her overall level is much lower than the rest of the characters though so she’s a bit of a glass cannon at the moment.

Rust is the mecha pilot who ends up joining SLF temporarily along with her sidekick. She’s not a bad character but for now is on the weaker side. I don’t feel like she really adds to the dynamic at this point so she will need to do something to change that. Once that is the case then the cast will really be in an even better spot. At least she can fight though which is the important part.

The various leaders of the different clans like Animalia, Psyger 100, and the Professor haven’t done much yet. We got to see Animalia being rather overconfident and being stomped by Lycagon but that’s it. Each character seems interesting so I appreciate them being around to flesh out the world. They will be good for future confrontations even if they haven’t done much of anything just yet.

Lycagon of course is still one of the best monsters. She seems the most sentient out of all the unique creatures with how she plans and strategizes. She leaves the rest of the creatures in the dust in these respects. I also like how she even gets some plot twists which end up resulting in the power level going further up. You just don’t see that kind of dominance very often.

Then for the game arc, Sylvia is the most important new character for now. She’s basically a girl version of Sunraku with how talented she is. Her reaction times are insane and of course she is competitive as well. This is really what made her an opponent to beat. The series really cooked by making her the primary antagonist coming up. Sunraku will have to bring his A game if he wants to defeat her.

Then on Katzo’s team we have Megumi who is mainly used to hype up Sunraku and crew which I naturally don’t have a problem with. After all, the more hype they get the better. She definitely means well and her concerns are even pretty valid. After all, why would some random teens from Japan actually be better than pro gamers? I’d be concerned too and she was reasonable since after being stomped by Sunraku she stopped with that. She is a reasonable addition to the crew and I’d be cool with her sticking around.

Much better than the new underwater character in Araba. Nothing really wrong with him I guess but he just lacks depth. He’s a sea creature with a good honor code who can fight. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that he’s an A.I. ally and not a real player but I just don’t find him too interesting. I’d rather Sunraku be dominating the opponents on his own and monologuing instead of working with this guy. So he’s not a bad character but is an example of someone who does not add to the dynamic.

Also, while the tournament is far more interesting, we are getting closer to a climax here so in the next season that will still be fun. The battle itself is definitely quite intense with a lot of stand out moments all throughout. Next season will be a masterpiece regardless but definitely focus on the first episodes the most because Shangri-La really shows how you do a proper tournament arc. It’s absolutely impressive with no real weak points. I would maybe change one fight but it was still extremely satisfying either way.


Overall, This series continues to be an elite. The cliffhanger is absolutely spectacular and really gets you hyped for what is to come. I suspect it might be a while before we get a season 3 now that they are close to being caught up with the series but when it does return I shall be ready. In the meantime you should definitely watch this series. It’s really a great experience and not something you could find just anywhere. This is a series with a ton of heart an it reminds you how much fun video games are both to play and to see in action.

Overall 9/10

Suicide Squad Isekai Review

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It’s time for the Suicide Squad show that definitely came out of nowhere. In a way it does make sense since having a bunch of villains get Isekai’d into a new world is always an intriguing idea. We’ve seen it before with King of Fighters and a few others in the past. It’s a show that definitely doesn’t mind being bonkers and for that reason I would say it tends to be all over the place. It has some really high highs but also some lows and on the whole it’s a tough balance. It’s a fun watch but I would say it doesn’t really go past breaking even.

The basic plot is that Amanda Waller sends the Suicide Squad into a foreign world. They need to take down the former squad that was sent there and also finally establish relations with the kingdom. If they don’t complete this mission then the squad will be blown off the face of the Earth. As always, Waller has put bombs inside of them and so they really have to accomplish this mission quickly. This means none of the members are particularly happy to be here and as they’re all villains, they don’t have the best teamwork skills either. Will they be able to pull this mission off?

One thing that stuck out right away was that the show got Mori Calliope on board to do the show’s ending. That was pretty hype since I remember her days of being a fairly small Youtube singer so she’s really come a long way. It’s not my favorite song of hers but it’s pretty catchy with the rhythm at least. The opening isn’t quite as catchy though. In general the ost can be a little hit or miss like the rest of the show but some of the battle themes are really quite intense. There is a good amount of variety which is important.

Likewise the animation can get extremely good at some points like when Harley fights Katana. Those moments are really spectacular. Then the rest of the fights can sometimes be downright bad or fairly low budget. The fact that there are any really high budget shots is definitely a plus though and I could definitely watch the battles again. There aren’t a ton of reactors out for the battle yet but I’ll definitely be seeking more out soon.

Now as far as the story itself goes, one thing that would have benefited the show a lot I’d say would be for the bombs to no longer be working. Having them there as a constant timer can help with the tension I suppose but it also takes away from the appeal of having villains warped into a fantasy world which is that they do whatever they feel like. They’re not heroes but they might stop the monsters just so people will praise them or because the monsters are annoying. Having to do this so they aren’t murdered defeats the purpose a bit. They aren’t actually free for the duration of the series so we don’t know exactly what they would have done otherwise.

I’d also say the Squad are obviously not that likable. It’s sort of the point to show that they’re all hardened villains and everything but with some more fun banter it could have worked better. Clayface usually had the best lines here while the rest struggled to keep up with him. At their best they would have good moments but this is a show that absolutely could feel very slow when it was not focused on the action. The action helped to mask the weaknesses pretty well.

One big kudos I can give the story is that we get some pretty big twists at the very end. That was a really good way to end the season and while you may have some questions about exactly how this would work, I would say you can explain it away pretty easily. So it’s got the right amount of mystery there and you wonder how season 2 would play out. If it ever does get a sequel, that would definitely be pretty fun but I would like to widen the cast a bit both for fight scene reasons and to increase the body count. I almost never advocate for higher body counts but in a Suicide Squad title you are expecting some members to get bumped off. That’s sort of a staple of the series but in this show they all felt safe after a few episodes. So if you had started off with double the members then it would have been easier to bump a few off.

Now as for the characters in more detail, Waller is still the big shady boss as always. She loves commanding from the shadows and does a pretty good job in her role. It’s certainly easy to talk big while you’re safe on Earth. She may be a bit easy to manipulate from the Squad’s point of view but since everything still benefits her right now, you could easily say that she’s using them. It’s a solid dynamic for now.

Harley Quinn is a big focus in the show as you’d expect. She’s wacky as ever and gets her big moments as well. She may not take things seriously most of the time but she gets some really good fight scenes. She may even look too good in close quarters at times because then she’s sand bagging in other scenes to an insane degree. The show isn’t usually interested in power levels all that much but at least she does show up when it counts.

Clayface is the most overpowered character in the series since being made of clay makes him nearly invulnerable. Usually he ends up fighting in a super sloppy way so that he can be taken out super easily. I can’t say that I appreciate that to be honest but he has a lot of fun in his role. As I said before, he’s the most likable member of the squad and he does help a lot with bringing humor to the series.

Deadshot is one of those guys who talks really tough but can’t back it up most of the time. He’s a good shot but is completely reliant on bullets so once he’s out of those then it’s over. He tends to act as the pseudo leader of the group and keeps them under wraps but yeah he needs to work on his skills a bit more. Just being a guy with a gun when everyone else has some kind of super ability is not a great match.

Just look at Peacemaker. The guy has super strength and he is great with a gun. He immediately makes Deadshot not feel quite as impressive as he could be. Peacemaker definitely feels like the most insane out of the group though. The guy will do anything to complete the mission, no matter how much of a monster it may make him. The guy definitely lost his marbles a long time ago but still thinks that he is keeping the peace.

Finally we have King Shark who has the least amount of character. He is always ready to help but naturally can’t really banter with the rest of the characters. His strength is given a lot of respect though as in the final fights he is able to easily overpower his rival and only loses once it becomes a 2 vs 1. In a 1 on 1 battle no other water fighter is going to be able to top him.

The Joker doesn’t get a whole lot to do but every few episodes we will get a quick moment with him and Harley as he explains the solution to a problem to her. You definitely get to see his experience but not really much action yet. For now the show definitely seems to be playing his romance with Harley straight as opposed to the two hating each other or being in a toxic relationship so that’s definitely a change.

Rick is here to play the straight man. He reminds the crew not to do anything crazy so they don’t get blown away and is always around to help enforce that. He has no powers and is only average with a gun so don’t expect him to do a whole lot during the fights. I would also say he’s not the most discreet when it comes to keeping secrets. He’s okay but not amazing. I will say he does have his share of good moments but I wish they could have done more with him.

Now Katana is a scene stealer. Whenever she is on screen you know an epic action scene is about to follow. Definitely the best character in the show by far. The other villains just really can’t keep up. Ratcatcher and Thinker? Weaklings who can’t really do much once you get up close and personal. At least the Thinker actually talks tough and can hold his own for a little while. The Ratcatcher is just really whiny the whole time.

Killer Croc is also so weak that you can’t really take him seriously. The guy hides behind his allies the whole time. The only good member from the other squad is the Enchantress. With her abilities she really keeps the heroes on their toes. If anything they were definitely not very considerate even when she tries to help a bit. In a straight fight I’d take her to clobber the whole squad any day.

As for the other worlders, they are okay at best. Cecil is the kind of guy who worries a whole lot. He finally comes around by the end but it definitely took him a long while to get there. Princess Fiona also spends most of the season being super timid and afraid of everything. She gets her classic courage arc so she looks good by the end of that but it’s a super long wait. At least the Queen is just openly evil the whole time but her actions tend to lack any wisdom behind them. One would think she was trying to sabotage her whole kingdom.

At this point it’s a bit of a meme that pretty much every Isekai show has the same kind of fantasy world. A medieval type place with evil goblins running around and knights trying to stop them. Well this show plays that as straight as possible so the world itself isn’t all that interesting. Give me a modern sci-fi world any day. The show can also go a bit too far in reminding us how evil the main characters are at times. Suicide Squad Isekai is a show that randomly gets super violent sometimes and it can range from being shocking to annoying. The biggest example of this is probably when Peacemaker tortured one of the villains but there are other scenes of people getting eaten and ripped to shreds.

That is again another one of the theoretical perks of making villains the main characters since they don’t have a no kill rule. I’d say the more clever way of using them is to just show how selfish they could be or how they do heroic things for their own pleasure. Dialing down the violence either way would have been a good idea or at least making them semi likable. It can be difficult to really root for anybody here. I would say Clayface is the most likable from the villains but otherwise you don’t really want the others to succeed all that much. The villains also lose their hype with the amount of times they are kidnapped.

One thing the show should have done would have been to learn into the anime element a little more. For example throughout the season they hint at the characters getting new abilities in the fantasy world but nothing comes of it until the final battle. Then they have fun with the super powers but that should have been happening throughout. That or just make Katana the villain in every episode since her scenes were always the best by a wide margin. I think a show all about her could have been an easy 8 star title right out of the gate.

Overall, Suicide Squad is a show that is definitely like a true roller coaster. It can get really epic in some moments and then sort of boring in others. It can look amazing one moment and then rather off the next. You never really know what you’re going to get with the episodes. I do feel like they really had some key misses here the whole time though. Some of the story choices like the bombs just clashed with the approach they were going for and I’d also say they didn’t nail down the “charismatic group of villains” angle as well as they could have. It’s definitely an experience and if you’re a fan of the Suicide Squad then you should check it out but it’s not really going to hold its own against the average anime.

Overall 5/10

Saint Seiya: Meiou Iden – Dark Wing

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A pretty solid take on the classic Saint Seiya mythos. I like that it’s a very different look at the series while already being a lot of fun. I’ve got high hopes for this series so we’ll see if it can live up to this. I’ll have a review up for the series as soon as it ends.

Overall 8/10

King of Fighters Gaiden: Origin of the Flame Review

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King of Fighters seems to get a whole lot of manga titles. I haven’t been able to finish most of them yet though so interestingly one of our starters gets to be a time travel story. You can’t really go wrong with that though and it’s a fun adventure. I wouldn’t say that I’m a big fan of the main character but we’ve got a good story here with some action and adventure before it all ends.

The series starts with Shingo still being really weak and wishing that he could compete with the big shots like Kyo and Iori. His family is a big mixed on his chances but he knows that one day he will be the best. Unfortunately he falls into a portal that leads him into the distant path in the days of Orochi and the original ancestors of Kyo and Iori. Now Shingo realizes this is a unique opportunity to learn from them but unfortunately nobody trusts him. When the villains start to make their move, Shingo will need to step up or all hope is lost.

It is an interesting way to have Shingo get stronger by fighting people who are just like the ones he aspires to be like. I can see why they’re all a bit suspicious too since Shingo isn’t great at actually conveying all of this. He’s a bit slow on the uptake in regards to his having travelled back in time but eventually he gets it. This feels like a classic Isekai adventure because now he’s in the wilderness with mysterious creatures/monsters and it all takes place in the old times. Of course I do prefer a more modern backdrop but it works out well enough.

The series is only 10 chapters long, however some chapters are split into 3 parts so you could say that this is closer to about 25 chapters. It’s enough time to quickly get Shingo some skills and then throw him back out. I wouldn’t say this one feels rushed or anything like that which is good. The story is balanced all the way through and the art is really solid. At least, the art for the fight scenes is great. I like how the flames are handled and the action scenes have a lot of weight to them. That’s important because there is a lot of hand to hand here so if the animation wasn’t up to par then that would be really bad.

My only issue is that some characters look way too similar. In particular Yasakani and Kusanagi are almost identical at times. They have almost the same uniform and hairstyle as well. The only difference is usually that Kusanagi tends to be smiling while the other guy is always frowning. With the context in the show you’ll usually be able to tell them apart but it’s a little close for comfort if you ask me. So the artist could have done a little better there.

As the main character, I never thought Shingo really rose up for me. I do want to underscore that he’s not really bad or anything like that but at the end of the day he’s a comic relief character trying to quickly transition into being a full fledged hero which is a tough road. It’s not something you can just say that you’ll do and then it’ll be accomplished. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. When he has his serious moments, I can’t always take them seriously and usually he doesn’t either as he’ll go back to yelling after that.

In a power levels sense it also hurts the final fight just a bit because you have a hard time believing that Shingo could pull this off. This is probably the only area where being so short hurts the series because there wasn’t enough time to properly show him getting stronger. We do have a little montage where he remembers the opponent’s skills and starts to adapt to them but it’s a little rushed. Particularly since he was fighting someone with Orochi abilities. I feel like Shingo should have gotten wrecked there.

Kusanagi was a lot more interesting. He’s a guy who likes to fight and protects the villages as best he can. His role grows bigger in the second half once Yasakani is kidnapped and he has to fight off the Orochi opponents. The guy has a lot of confidence and style, both things that I appreciate out of my main characters. His skills were the real deal and he didn’t have to act as gruff as Yasakani the whole time. He just went with the flow.

Yasakani is a good character who is actually a nice guy even if he can’t show it. My only issue with him is that it ultimately feels like he goes down real quick and he doesn’t have a ton of willpower. The way his plot ends was also rather unexpected if you ask me. I didn’t think it had to go that way. He basically decides that he can’t defeat the power within him and runs off in a complete retreat. This dooms everyone to go through the cycle of violence which lasts through to the present. Why not fight against that and control the darkness? Sure, that may be easier said than done but you have to at least try.

Kaya is Yasakani’s wife and she has a solid role here as she can see into the future. Unfortunately this also makes her act rather complacent about the future since she thinks that it can’t be changed but it’s not as egregious as Yasakani because she can’t really fight. Her two opponents would have been too much for her either way. She helps to give Shingo more confidence which is always appreciated though and I would say that she was a good character.

Finally we have the main villain Yakumo. He gets quite a lot to do near the end with all of his scheming. The guy can fight too beyond just being a mastermind which is really good. You always want someone who can do a little of both. Ultimately he doesn’t even let defeat get him down and I appreciated that he took everything with a lot of dignity. To the end he was still really amused and he also helped to raise the stakes of the series as soon as he appeared. Now that’s a good way to make an entrance.

There are two other fighters who appear that are controlled by Orochi but they are almost literally dead bodies that are reanimated with his power. They have some character but appear super briefly. It does remind you that seeing Orochi bring together 8 warriors would have been really awesome but it just wasn’t in the cards this time. I guess the series wouldn’t have been quite long enough for all of that but it would have been a great battle.

I would say the biggest strength of the series is that it’s engaging all the way through. Even though the past isn’t always my thing, the series had a good plot right from the jump. The small character cast allowed everyone to be built up really quick and you could expect a fight in virtually every chapter. Some of them would be training fights of course but the hand to hand was always good. While Shingo wasn’t my favorite lead, I did like that he always had a positive attitude about things.

This was a short series that always felt like it was going to be short so it wraps everything up and does have a very definitive beginning, middle, and end. Whether you’re a fan of the franchise or not I think you would be able to appreciate the series on this basis. It’s just good storytelling even if again, Shingo probably should have gotten wrecked in the final fight.

Overall, This is a solid King of Fighters title and worth checking out. The story itself may feel random but that’s the fun thing about spinoffs. You can pick a character and just drop them into any setting or situation that you want. I imagine Shingo fans in particular would get an extra kick out of this. Why not go all out if you’re going to make a story right? I feel like that’s what this series did and it worked really well. I look forward to finishing some of the other KoF titles as well.

Overall 7/10

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 2 Review

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Slime season 2 feels like the biggest glow up I’ve seen between seasons since Mob Psycho. Now it may not seem nearly as drastic just looking at the score but I would say it can take a whole lot of effort to go up from being a 7 which is pretty good to being an 8 which is truly great. Additionally I was tempted to push this all the way up to a 9 but I told myself I needed to calm down. The entire last chunk of the season was incredible but I had to carefully factor in what I would consider to be a very rough start. Ultimately the series was able to pull itself up rather well and I’m definitely looking forward to season 3 more than I would have been before.

I would say there are really 2 main arcs here. The second arc is really the highlight but the first one is solid too. It’s just the opening episodes before that which get tricky. So life is good and Rimuru is still building up his alliance in Tempest. At this point he already has a Demon Lord on his side as well as the incredibly powerful Vendora and hundreds of powerful warriors. Perhaps he will be the one to achieve world peace. In the meantime though he has to meet with powerful politicians and share drinks and such.

So this arc was pretty weak….but I consider this to be pre arc. For around 3-4 episodes it just feels like not much is happening. Rimuru is socializing I suppose but it feels like an excuse for just lots of fanservice and not much else. It was a weaker start than season 1 so I was a bit nervous here. I mean the production values are still great and all but where was the fun story? I would even say there wasn’t a ton of world building here. Fortunately that changes when the outside kingdoms decide to attack Tempest which is what really sets off Arc 1 for real. The Kingdom of Falmuth hatches a plan along with the holy Church. They will send 3 humans to frame the monsters for an attack which will give justification for these guys to murder everyone. Meanwhile Rimuru will be held at bay by Hinata, one of the Church’s most powerful fighters. Can Rimuru get back in time to win?

This was great and for another show you might have expected this to be the climax of the season. First off, we now know that there are more humans in the world which is a really big deal. We do know that humans are summoned and saw two of them in season 1 but now you have a fighting force of evil ones. Each human is also shown to be exceptionally powerful as they are treated as a powerful race in this world. As a sidenote, it is nice to see humans actually looking really tough as opposed to just being fodder in these fantasy settings. This also helps make the world feel even bigger as these 3 could be twisted leads in their own isekai adventures and now Rimuru has to take care of them. All 3 of these humans are complete villains of course so Rimnuru does have to hurry.

Another reason why the arc stands out is because Rimuru faces his first true challenge in quite a while. Due to the double barrier in place, all of his abilities have been greatly sealed while Hinata is at full power. This does tell me that Rimuru is already much stronger but of course excuses won’t matter if he’s dead. This was a great plan from Hinata from start to finish and I appreciated her confidence. This was absolutely a great fight as well and by this point in the show (Which is still fairly early) I knew that season 2 was going to rebound quite well from those opening episodes. You can almost skip those and not miss much tbh.

Hinata’s skill is something of a mystery though. By the end of the season we see her scaring opponents who are potentially even stronger than a demon lord or at least one with the rank but true power is more of a pseudo demon lord. So in theory Hinata wouldn’t even need Rimuru’s powers to be limited to stop him unless Rimuru had already passed that level. I’m inclined to say he had not at the time but his Gluttony ability bypasses defense so maybe that’s something she knew she had to avoid. Either way this is an arc with a lot of action and an incredible climax which even involves Diablo showing up. Rimuru also gets a big power up which will certainly be handy for later on.

After that we get a break in the action for a while as the next episodes are all meetings after meetings. I actually liked these episodes quite a lot though compared to the non action ones from before. For starters these are all serious meetings and not just an excuse to have a lot of fanservice the whole time. Additionally, I’m always up for a good strategy meeting so it’s nice to see everyone hanging out. It certainly could have been sped up but it’s fine either way. We also get a quick villain meeting which is a lot of fun and sets up the new characters as everyone gets ready for the main meeting.

See, the demon lords have a meeting for Walpurgis whenever there is something big to discuss. Clayman has summoned everyone for important news and now that Rimuru is so powerful and has the rank, he will be in attendance as well. Clayman has been the mastermind for pretty much every event in season 1 and 2 so Rimuru needs to be there to see his future plans and also to throw some threat around. Each demon lord can bring up to 2 attendants as well in case any funny business happens. That said, the attendants would likely be out of luck anyway though.

Meanwhile, Rimuru wants to take the initiative against Clayman and his forces this time so he’s having his army attack Clayman’s while they are both at the meeting. That means they are all sent to different areas to take down Clayman’s Five Fingers, a group of elite fighters. Given how powerful Rimuru’s guys are this is as much of a stomp as you can imagine but we do get a lot of great fights as a result. Even some of Rimuru’s fighters who don’t seem like offensive specialists show what they’ve got when it counts.

I would say this arc even beat the first one. It’s just the perfect climax to everything the series was building up to. Clayman may have looked really bad to the point where I wrote an editorial about one mistake that he made but it was still good to have him as the final boss. It made sense to get him out of the way and now every demon lord has to respect Rimuru and his abilities. You certainly can’t trust any of these demon lords either so that sets up a lot of interesting paths for the future. It’s really hard to say how things will play out as a result since everyone is keeping their cards close to the chest.

I have an eventual editorial coming up about the power levels in the series and discussing how powerful the heroes are so I won’t go into too much detail here. I will say that this is one of the most interesting parts of the series though. There are an absolute ton of factions running around and there are so many big shots that you will be curious how they all stack up to each other. You have the Demon Lords, Elder Demon Lords, Hinata, Diablo, Rimuru, Veldora, etc. Each of these guys have claims to be some of the strongest in the verse but who really outranks each other? Throw in the Clowns who seem to be exceptionally powerful with the fact that Hinata likely has her own bosses and it makes things very interesting. Veldora also isn’t the only dragon. So I won’t start ranking them here based on what I believe to be the correct ladder, but it’s something that Slime does quite well.

I dare say that only perhaps One Piece has more active factions and power level discussions that come from it. Otherwise it’s hard to top Slime with how many moving parts there are and it makes all the fight scenes even more interesting. Another reason why this show is so great is because you are always wondering what is going to happen next. Who will make their move and how will the world change as a result of it? While the Slime show loves its peaceful talks you know that eventually battles are going to break out.

At the same time you are never worried for the main characters though. Rimuru’s army is far too powerful to be endangered by anyone or at least it seems that way. Perhaps before he got a power up but in this season Rimuru gets a massive one which means that he greatly outranks almost every character in the series. While that may be a wrap for most of the tension here, you can still get some similar to One Punch Man by keeping Rimuru out of it. Much like that series I think this one was effective at pulling that off by giving the other characters their own big fights.

It doesn’t hurt that the animation is exceptional. There is a great deal of budget behind each fight with a lot of quick moves and solid special effects. Each battle stands out with the sharp colors and you will be on board right from the start. At no point in the season do you feel like the animation falters at all. Then you have the soundtrack which is also greatly improved from the first season. Surprisingly it feels like a lot of the season 1 battle themes have been completely discarded and replaced. I’m cool with that because these themes are just better. “Going Forward and Backward” for example is my favorite track in the show and it fortunately plays for almost all of the battles. It’s a great theme that immediately increases the tempo and gets you ready for a top notch battle.

I also greatly enjoyed the new theme song that plays for the second half of the show. (First is good too but not in the same league) Now this is a top tier opening with incredible visuals and a really catchy song. I’ve certainly listened to it a fair number of times. It’s also a good first look at Rimuru’s new costume even if he doesn’t wear it much in the season. I wish he would stick to that one because it’s easily his best one. It’s also fun that we’ve finally gotten to the Hinata fight since it felt like it was in the first 3 openings because they never knew when the fight was going to be adapted. Still feels off with how long it took but I guess the animators were really looking forward to that moment.

Rimuru continues to look good in this season and works well as the main character I think sometimes he doesn’t trust his own abilities as well as he should though and gets nervous over nothing. Still, gone are the days when he wasn’t really sure what to do. He’s now learned well how to be a true leader and takes command when needed. It’s hard to believe that the guy was just an ordinary joe not too long ago. Now Rimuru isn’t trying to be a hero but he is doing his best to be a leader who watches out for the people.

For example at one point he has to destroy I think it’s 100,000 people in order to bring back a few hundred. It was a no brainer for him since these guys were on the villain’s side and he needed to get his people back. Perhaps not what a hero would do there as this is the definition of trading lives for lives but it is something you would expect your king or leader to do for you. Rimuru set a strong example for his fighters that he will defend them at all times without exception. You also may feel like he didn’t need another power boost, but why not right? At this point it feels like Rimuru has to be top 10 in the verse at the minimum and I would argue he is likely stronger than that. We probably won’t know for a while.

Either way, Rimuru is able to hold his own seasons really well and had a good rage moment at Clayman when he struck Milim. That was a good way to know that Rimuru was for real. Meanwhile Great Sage is also fun. At this point it’s fair to say that she’s basically a character as she can take control of Rimuru’s body if he allows it so she can fight. Additionally she is always giving out helpful information and is almost like a sidekick that Rimuru can count on. She has a lot of attitude but that just helps for the banter.

After what feels like ages we finally get to see Veldora in his human form in this season. It’s nice to have him out of the prison for a change and his human form has a lot of fun with the cast. He is incredibly powerful as you would expect and certainly doesn’t back down to anybody. He gets a brief fight at the end which will cause you to really wonder about where he stacks up as well. Either way Rimuru has another good friend now and I think Veldora will fit in with everyone really well. He had a great first impression on them after all.

I’m still not a big fan of Gobta but I will give him credit for immediately believing his friend when the humans tried to frame him. Gobta wasn’t having any of that and that’s good because your friend should always have your back when it counts. So he may not be a great fighter but he’s a good friend. Meanwhile Benimaru gets a chance to show what he’s got as well. As always he seems to be the most impressive from his family of fighters and hasn’t really had to break a sweat. He even takes down a very powerful villain from season 1 in an instant which is very impressive. I don’t think he’s demon lord level but this guy can hold his own against anyone under that.

Shuna has her very best appearance in this season. Usually she just appears as the rather quiet and timid princess but here we get to see what she can do on the battlefield. Sure enough, she doesn’t need backup or for other fighters to protect her. She takes one on of Clayman’s leaders and shows him just how outclassed he is against her. Shuna’s magical spells are very impressive and she can be ruthless in combat. Now whenever she stays at the village we know that it’s in good hands.

Shion also looks great here and had one of the biggest improvements from season 1. She has really settled into her role as being Rimuru’s right hand woman and makes sure that nobody slanders him. When the villains start being sassy she quickly takes them out. While she mainly seemed evenly matched with Suphia, I think we all know that she would have won in the end with her big energy attack. Shion even takes a demon lord near the end which is further evidence of her power. In a true one on one fight she will not be going down easy that’s for sure. Her loyalty is also just great and she’s a fun character through and through.

Souei is the ninja of the group and his speed is always very impressive. He doesn’t look quite as powerful as the others but he gets less opportunity to fight like that. When he does join the fray you can usually count on him to get a win or look pretty good either way. The mentor of the group Hakuro gets a pair of fights to himself. The first fight doesn’t go very well for him but the deck was stacked against the guy. Once he is able to fight at full power then everything changes immediately.

Ranga is still around and while he doesn’t really get anything super big to do, he is always a loyal fighter for Rimuru. His ability to hide within shadows is handy and he gets a fight at the end but it’s mostly off screen. Now Milim is a character who gets a whole lot to do. I’m not sure about some of the twists with her though. There is a particularly big one near the end that will reframe all of her actions throughout the season but I’m just not sure that I buy it at all. Seems like a really convoluted way to go about things and it just doesn’t seem to make sense with the flashbacks of around when her plan would have started.

Either way it does show that she has great self restraint though. The characters rightfully do call her out on how this was rather irresponsible but I don’t think she seems too apologetic by the end of this. She is powerful enough where nobody would want to mess with her anyway though. She is one of the 3 top level demon lords after all so there’s almost nobody in the verse who could hope to beat her anyway. It’s why Rimuru got so lucky in having her as an ally.

Speaking of allies, Geld gets to have his first bit of action now that he is a part of Rimuru’s army and he looks good. His raw power is able to overwhelm his opponent’s regeneration. It’s a really intense fight to be sure as he just keeps pounding away at his opponent until the guy just can’t get up anymore. If not for outside help he would have ended things right there. As a power type I’m usually not going to think Geld will win much but he did really well here that’s for sure.

Unfortunately Diablo has not done much yet but he’s certainly a character that you will want to keep a real close eye on. He gets one fight in the season and it’s a really impressive one because he is able to easily overwhelm his opponent who is supposed to be incredibly powerful. In fact, we know he is based on previous appearances so the fact that Diablo is basically able to dumpster the guy is crazy. I have really high hopes for what Diablo will be doing in the future.

Yohm is an adventurer who gets a much bigger role here. He’s a nice guy who may not be extremely powerful but does rather well for himself with a sword. He has a bit of a romance with Myulan going. There is a rival in Grucius but you know that Yohm is the only one with a chance from the start. They three of them have a good dynamic though. I do think Yohm doesn’t handle the situation with Myulan very well though. As soon as things started to get fishy I would have liked for him to have been yelling for backup or trying to interrupt her technique. That would have made a world of difference for Tempest.

Of course things go well for Tempest but otherwise a whole lot of blame would be on Yohm. The most blame would be on Myulan though…you know for being the actual traitor. Ultimately she was under a bad circumstance here but still went through with all of this. Grucius gets some credit for trying to stop this from happening even if he wasn’t successful. I like his confidence but Grucius really doesn’t get any big wins here.

Then we get to good ole Clayman. The man with the worst plan possible and he makes mistakes at every turn. He really was in a good position initially but showed his cards too early and it cost him. Due to some twists it is even worse for him as we learn that Clayman was doomed for the start. He tries for some sympathy points at the end but Clayman was way too far gone by this point. No way you would really sympathize with that guy much. The situation is entirely of his making and now he has to live it.

Meanwhile the Jesters are interesting wild cards right now. They seem to work for Clayman’s boss and are really confident in their skills. It seems like they might all be Demon Lord level and if that’s the case then the heroes could really be in some trouble now. We’ll see how that plays out. Carrion doesn’t look great as far as demon lords go but to his defense, everyone would lose to Milim really. Or at least most of them would but when you factor in that she was sandbagging a bit then it gets really tricky for him. Ultimately it’s probably a good idea that he has decided to work for her though.

Ramiris might be the weakest demon lord here but she works well in the comic relief role. I like to think that she must have a crazy support ability to have become a demon lord though. Surely you can’t make it to that rank without having some kind of ability right? So I’m skeptical at how weak she is and figure she must be hiding something. All of the Demon Lords show up of course and while some are more impressive than others, they all seem like they can fight so something has to be going on here.

Leon is another one of the demon lords and he looks impressive. The guy hasn’t fought yet or anything but he has a confident atmosphere about him and doesn’t back down from a fight. Even Crimson who seems to be at the top regards him with a good amount of respect. While Crimon is always joking around you can tell that he does mean it when he says he would help Leon out if he was in a jam. I like the comradery between the demon lords. I’m sure some of them would backstab the others in a second but for others I do think they would be good friends. take Demon Lord Frey and Milim. They seem like good friends and Frey isn’t really the ambitious type so I don’t think she would have much motive to go around seeking more power. After all they’ve been demon lords for a while so I doubt they want anything to disrupt the balance of power. It’s why things should get crazy once that breaks down.

For miscellaneous characters first we have Suphia. She is one of the beast warriors and fights rather well. I like how aggressive she is and that makes the fight with Shion really good. Then you have the mysterious Yuuki. Remember that he did block Rimuru’s full powered punch when they first met so he can certainly fight. As a bit of a secret mastermind I could see him being a huge focus in season 3 unless he is truly the end game goal. Then there is Hinata who is a bit of a wild card since we don’t really know how the Holy Church will play into things. They seem corrupt already but at the same time I would assume that they won’t openly team up with the demon lords. I would love to see them as a true third party that causes trouble for both sides. Hinata has the raw power to pull this off after all.

The Church is manipulating her but I don’t think that’ll last forever. The question will be if she ends up joining the Tempest Federation or not. Personally I think she will just to make Rimuru’s army of unbeatable fighters even more impressive. Yamza is definitely Clayman’s most impressive minion. The guy can fight really well with a sword and while he was never a threat to the heroes, he looked way better than the other fingers. I wouldn’t have minded seeing him more that’s for sure, but I should be satisfied with his appearances here.

Middray and Hermes are fun characters who serve Milim even if she doesn’t seem to know about the Dragon Faithful group. Hermes is more of a rookie so he tends to lose his cool a bit. I don’t blame him for wanting to fight off Yamza though especially if he believes he could win. The whole arrangement seems one sided for Clayman’s army. Once again, the twist about Milim doesn’t help for scenes like this where they are only standing down because she has cosigned all of this. Not a great move that’s for sure.

I don’t agree with Middray allowing all of this disrespect though. He definitely has to defend himself when the villains are going in like this. It would go a long way to building up the kingdom’s credibility. Especially since he does seem very powerful. Not as strong as Benimaru or anything like that but he can take on many other fighters. Then we have Albis who is one of the stronger beast warriors. She has a full super form and everything which is always tough to defeat. She was the one fighting Yamza too who is an impressive opponent to be going up against.

Then we have the 3 otherworlders. They’re all total villains but made for entertaining characters. First up is Kirara who has the ability to hypnotize people so they agree with her. This doesn’t work in the wonderful realm of Tempest though since the demons can block that ability from working. She can also heal though which is very handy. Things don’t end very well for her though and it’s why you never want to be in a group of villains for very long. They will always turn on you.

Then you have Kyoya who is always acting very polite but it seems to be an act as he is just as crazy as the others. It only comes out during a fight when he’s winning though. Otherwise the guy stays quiet and tries not to make a scene. His sword skills are impressive as is his future sight. With that he can dodge attacks easily. His abilities feel like something an isekai lead could have too so it helps with the whole image of these guys being reverse leads. The otherworlders give us some of the top fights in the season too so credit there.

Finally you have Shogo who is effectively the leader here. He can punch really hard and his berserk skill improves his stats even more. That really makes him hard to stop. He ends up taking a whole lot of punishment as the fights go on though. He can dish it out but he certainly can’t take it. I like how the guy is always yelling but he’s definitely not a villain you can count on. Ultimately Razen gets the best of him but things don’t even go very well for that guy either. I liked Razen’s confidence though. I thought his arc was going to be a lot longer and that he would show up later but it just wasn’t in the cards for him.

That wraps up most of the characters in this season. Of course there are a considerable amount of other characters that I haven’t mentioned like the various kings, other members of Tempest, etc but the cast is exceptionally large so mentioning them all would take quite a while. It’s really an excellent cast and that’s part of what makes the show work so well. No matter what plot they go to you can bet that something interesting will be happening. Season 2 is quite busy with all of the plots and sub plots going on.

The show is really a blast and it’s also a very calming title. For most of the show you never feel like the heroes are in danger so you enjoy the spectacle of all the fights without worrying about the heroes much. There is a tense moment in arc 1 to be sure before Rimuru gets his power up but it’s safe to say that after that you don’t get a very serious moment like that again where you think this might get ugly for the heroes. It probably wouldn’t work if every show started making things too easy on the heroes but it’s just rare enough where it works as a change of pace. You’ll be having a good time throughout.

Even when the fights are not ongoing the show has a good amount of humor and solid writing to carry it at all times. Really the only problem with the show here that keeps it from being a 9 is that the fanservice can be quite excessive. Particularly in the opening episodes there is a lot of fanservice and it just keeps on coming. After that the show dials it back to more of a normal amount. Slime isn’t really the kind of series that ever totally gets past this issue but at least it’s mild enough where it takes a decisive back seat to everything else going on. It’s Rimuru’s primary concern when meeting one of the demon lords which is unfortunate for his character. I did say he is improved from season 1 a lot with experience and all but this is still an unfortunate trait of his.

Overall, You’ll definitely have a really good time with this season. Slime has certainly improved since its days in season 1. The animation and soundtrack have never been better. The story is also at an all time high and the pacing is good. The fights are on point and you’ll just be having a great time here. There is just so much action and no matter who is fighting you know you’re in for a treat. The power levels being mysterious is also good since it allows the series to go in a lot of different directions for the next season. Once we know that Rimuru really is the strongest then that’ll probably limit what it can do to an extent. Either way you’ll want to check this one out.

Overall 8/10