That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime also known as TenSura or Slime Isekai is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Fuse, and illustrated by Mitz Vah. It was serialized online between 2013 and 2016 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Micro Magazine, who published the first light novel volume in 2014. Sixteen volumes have been released as of March 2020. The light novel has been licensed in North America by Yen Press, who published the first volume in December 2017. It has received a manga adaptation published by Kodansha along with three manga spin-offs published respectively by Micro Magazine and Kodansha and an anime television series adaptation by Eight Bit, which aired from October 2, 2018 to March 19, 2019. A second season of the anime series was slated to premiere in October 2020 but has been pushed to January 2021 due to COVID-19, and an anime adaptation of the second spin-off manga was slated premiere in January 2021, but has been delayed to April 2021 due to the same circumstances.
Plot
Satoru Mikami is an ordinary 37 year old corporate worker living in Tokyo. He is almost content with his monotonous life, despite the fact that he doesn't have a girlfriend. During a casual encounter with his colleague, an assailant pops out of nowhere and stabs him. While succumbing to his injuries, a mysterious voice echoes in his mind and recites a series of commands which he could not make sense of.After regaining consciousness, Satoru discovers that he has been reincarnated as a Slime in an unfamiliar world. At the same time, he also acquires new-found skills, particularly the ability called "Predator," which allows him to devour anything and mimic its appearance and skills. He stumbles upon Veldora, a Catastrophe-level 'Storm Dragon', who was sealed for 300 years for reducing a town to ashes. Feeling sorry for him, Satoru befriends the dragon, promising to help him in destroying the seal. In return, Veldora bestows upon him the name Rimuru Tempest, to grant him divine protection.
Now free from his stale past life, Rimuru embarks on a quest to prove his worth. As he starts to get used to his current physique, word of his weird accomplishments start to spread like wildfire across the world, changing his fate completely.
Media
Light novels
Fuse originally serialized the series as a web novel on the user-generated content site Shōsetsuka ni Narō between February 20, 2013 and January 1, 2016. The series was acquired for print publication by Micro Magazine, who published the first light novel, with illustrations by Mitz Vah, under their GC Novels in May 2014. On April 15, 2017, English publisher Yen Press announced during their panel at Sakura-Con that they had licensed the series for release in North America.Manga
Taiki Kawakami launched a manga adaptation in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sirius on March 26, 2015. Kodansha USA announced their license to the manga during their panel at New York Comic Con on October 6, 2016. A spin-off manga, titled That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: How Monsters Walk, with art by Shō Okagiri, has been serialized on Micro Magazine's Comic Ride website since July 28, 2016. A second spin-off manga, titled The Slime Diaries: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, with art by Shiba, has been serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sirius since March 2018, compiled into three volumes as of November 2019, and licensed in English by Kodansha USA. A third spin-off manga titled That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Workaholic Slime and illustrated by Shizuku Akechi began serialization on the Niconico website on September 26, 2018, and has been compiled into one volume as of July 9, 2019. On June 3, 2020, Kodansha USA announced that it has licensed That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Workaholic Slime.Anime
An anime television series adaptation aired from October 2, 2018 to March 19, 2019 on Tokyo MX and other channels. The series is animated by Eight Bit and directed by Yasuhito Kikuchi, with Atsushi Nakayama as assistant director, Kazuyuki Fudeyasu handling series composition, Ryouma Ebata designing the characters, and Takahiro Kishida providing monster designs. Elements Garden is composing the series' music. The first opening theme is "Nameless story" performed by Takuma Terashima, while the first ending theme is "Another colony" performed by True. The second opening theme is "Megurumono" performed by Terashima, while the second ending theme is "Little Soldier" performed by Azusa Tadokoro. The series is simulcast by Crunchyroll with Funimation streaming an English dub as it airs. The first season ran for 24 episodes. An original animation DVD was originally scheduled to be released on March 29, 2019, bundled with the 11th manga volume, but it was delayed to December 4, 2019, bundled with the 13th manga volume. A second original animation DVD was released on July 9, 2019, bundled with the 12th manga volume. Three more original animation DVDs have been announced, with the third OAD being released on March 27, 2020, bundled with the 14th manga volume. The fourth OAD is being bundled with the 15th manga volume, which released on July 9, 2020. The fifth OAD will be bundled with 16th manga volume, which releases on November 9, 2020.A second season has been announced, and was scheduled to premiere in October 2020, but has been delayed to January 2021 due to the effects of COVID-19 on Japan. In an official statement, the anime production committee explained that they were "proceeding with the production... with a sufficient preparation period" but the "announcement has had a great impact on the originally planned production schedule" so they decided to postpone the second season. The second season is a split-cour anime and the second half has been pushed from April 2021 to July 2021. Eight Bit will still animate the series, with the staff and cast members reprising their roles.
A spin-off anime series based on the Slime Diaries: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime manga was scheduled to premiere in January 2021 but has been also delayed to April 2021 due to COVID-19. Eight Bit will also animate the series, with Yuji Ikuhara directing the series, Kotatsumikan writing the script, Risa Takai and Atsushi Irie as character designers, and R.O.N composing the music.
Reception
The light novel series has over 4.5 million volumes in print. It was the fifth best-selling title of 2018 with 539,277 and its manga adaptation was the ninth best-selling title of 2018 with 3,460,066 copies.The light novel ranked eighth in 2017 in Takarajimasha's annual light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, in the tankōbon category. It ranked sixth in 2018 and fifth in 2019.
In 2019, Rimuru Tempest won Best Protagonist on the Crunchyroll Anime Awards.