by Cain Noble-Davies
Worth: $15.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Various
Intro:
… a big-screen showcase of everything that makes the core series so joyfully watchable.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime has a premise as deceptively straight-forward as its titular monster. An ordinary Japanese salaryman, after a fatal stabbing, is reincarnated in a fantasy world as a lowly slime monster named Rimuru (ever played Dragon Quest? Yeah, it’s like one of those) and decides to simply live his second life as comfortably as he can.
Underneath his encyclopaedic knowledge of manga and RPGs, his self-prescribed gluttony and selfishness, and a lust for busty elven babes (an isekai series that deals in viewer wish-fulfillment? Shocker!), is a heart open enough to accept all manner of monsters, along with many other fantasy races, to create a kingdom where all are welcome and all can prosper.
Far more than ribbing JRPG tropes, it’s a series about the intricacies of statecraft and all the work that goes into realising the adage “Can’t we all just get along?”
As is usually the case for cinematic anime continuations, Tears of the Azure Sea involves our central cast going on a vacation from the events of the main plot (on an on-the-nose location literally called Resort Island), but inevitably getting entangled in a deeper scheme that could spell the end of this new locale.
Rimuru and his inner circle of wolves, goblins, demons, paladins, and dragons all get their time in the spotlight (usually during the stunningly-visualised battle scenes), but the emotional crux of the film ends up being little hobgoblin Gobta, whose blossoming bond with water priestess Yura not only drives a lot of the conspiratorial plotting, but also leads to surprisingly devastating moments. Even without the focus necessarily being on the bestest slime enby, Gobta serves a similar purpose in showing the kindness and friendship underneath the ‘monster’.
The animation from studio Eight Bit makes the most out of the theatrical format, with everything from grand magic sigils to falling through trees and hitting every branch on the way down a joyous spectacle. The setting design is fun too, both for the lavish trappings of Resort Island and the ancient architecture of the underwater nation of Kaien, with both feeling equally as lived-in and (more importantly for the story being told) valid as civilisations worth preserving.
Even with the change in scenery and (ostensible) change in tone, the story is a reiteration of one of the show’s core themes: what it means to be a just ruler. Rimuru shows that benevolence in leadership is both possible and beneficial, whereas the shadowy force trying to get a Water Dragon to destroy everything, wants to rule because of entitlement.
That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime: Tears of the Azure Sea is a big-screen showcase of everything that makes the core series so joyfully watchable. The animation and the soundtrack by Hitoshi Fujima of Elements Garden keep things looking and sounding great, the character work builds on the communal feel that makes this core group so fun, and even though the story is more focused on bolstering what has already been established than making new moves, there’s more than enough emotion and spectacle to still make it work. And with how well it introduces the important series aspects at the start, it’s a great way to introduce newcomers to a new potential comfort watch.
