- Mangaka : Sho Okagiri (Story) Mitz Vah ( Character Design)
- Publisher : Yen Press
- Genre : Fantasy, Shounen, Isekai
- Published : August 2020
Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken The Ways of the Monster Nation (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a SLIME The Ways of the Monster Nation) Introduction (No Spoilers)
Who would have thought a nation of monsters founded by a slime would go on to become one of the greatest kingdoms in the lands. The new Demon Lord Rimuru rules over the Kingdom of Tempest, a kingdom that rivals all others in technology, culture, and economic might. The aforementioned diverse culture makes it a traveler's paradise. Framea, a bunny girl with a love for adventure and travel undertakes the task of writing and cataloging the new kingdom for a guidebook commissioned by none other than the ruler of Tempest the Great Demon Lord Remuru Tempest.
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
The world of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime rightly so tends to revolve around the titular character but the world is so much bigger than Rimuru and his close band of subjects. The adventurers we’ve come across now and then Elen, Kavel, and Gido must lead interesting lives especially since they are friends of Rimuru the same goes for a lot of the other citizens of the burgeoning metropolis of Tempest. We also know until the creation of Tempest an actual city and organized government of monsters and by monsters was unheard of. So, the curiosity of the world must be focused on this new nation especially by monsters many of whom never imagined that they could even aspire to become more than third-class unnamed citizens of their world.
The arrival of Framea and her over-amped curiosity made her the perfect recruit to create Rimuru’s planned guide book. The bunny girl, as if by some unseen force (*cough* Rimuru) meets all the most important craftsmen in the kingdom and is even tasked to escort some “nobles” through the forest and defend them from some rouge monsters. She is then personally asked by Rimuru to accompany Elen, Kavel, and Gido as they explore the brand-new dungeon under the city and review it before its unveiling as an attraction to the public.
1. You Need More SLIME time
The story may be focusing on Framea the travel writing bunny girl and the people of Tempest but you can’t have a story about in the world of the SLIME without Rimuru showing up. You see his little slime formed hands in this story from the beginning as he manipulates who Framea runs into and talks with as she tours the city. We even get to see him step out from behind the curtain, so-to-speak about halfway through the story. You even get a few glimpses of his odd sense of humor in the traps he designed in the dungeon that remind you more of a Japanese game show than a life-threatening trial. You’ll be happy after reading this story to see Rimuru the ruler and not Rimuru the great wizard, demon lord, teacher, or adventurer.
2. Bunny Girl
We’ve seen all sorts of bunny girls in anime, some young actresses just trying to be noticed, some members of a proud warrior race, and some completely overpowered but not too bright. A bunny girl we haven’t seen until now is one that is an amazing writer and has an overpowered analytics skill called “Dilettante”. You don’t have to worry about her character being abrasive or arrogant with a skill that judges things either. She is more the happy go lucky type that enjoys new things. Did we mention she’s cute to boot? She is, as with most bunny girls, a mixture of cute and sexy. We even get to see her in a bikini for one frame reminding us of the battling blue-haired bunny girl Shea from Arifrueta.
1. You Want Big Drama
The world of SLIME has had some real harrowing moments, from the invasion of the Orc’s, to the redemption of Shizue Izawa the events of volume 1 the follow the adventures of Framea don’t nessarly have any dire moments. The volume is an introduction to Framea and a reintroduction to many of the characters like Diablo and Gobta, the noted exception is Benimaru-sama who even got an apology from the author at the end for not slipping him in the story earlier. We think that if this was an anime it might be accused of being filler, that is if it were to stand on its own, we know multiple volumes are coming out in this side story and since we are dealing with a fantasy world filled with dungeons things can go south fast and take that anxiety level back up to eleven.
Final Thoughts
We really enjoyed this manga. It was nice to get a peek in on a lot of the characters we’ve gotten to know over the years. The chance to really get to know Elen and her party is especially nice. We haven’t seen them much in the anime and assume they are a little bumbling but are in fact “B” rank adventures, so they’ve got some skill. The introduction of a new character that lets us “discover things” through her eyes is also a very good convention for this kind of story. The best part is that she isn’t going to just disappear after one episode but the entire side story is based around her so she isn’t just going to hop off never to be heard from again. We really look forward to seeing what kind of dungeon the Demon Lord Rimuru has constructed and how he plans to exploit it for economic gain.
Author: Zeke Changuris