{"id":3150,"date":"2021-04-05T20:00:06","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/?p=3150"},"modified":"2021-04-05T15:35:14","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T06:35:14","slug":"when-a-cute-little-slime-goes-full-villain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/05\/when-a-cute-little-slime-goes-full-villain\/","title":{"rendered":"When a Cute Little Slime Goes Full Villain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout its first season, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime<\/em> is a light-hearted anime about an overpowered protagonist, Rimuru, being reborn in a fantasy world as a slime. While there are plenty of problems to overcome as he builds his own tiny country of monsters, there is very little in the way of meaningful tension. Not only is Rimuru able to beat or befriend any martial threat but pretty much any other problem is resolved just through him being a kind person\u2014showing others that his dream of a world where monsters and humans live in peace is not only possible but attainable in their lifetime. Or to put it another way, things always seem to work out for him. All this changes in the second season.<\/p>\n

While Rimuru is away tying up loose ends from the first season, Tempest is attacked by 100 soldiers and 3 powerful otherworlders from the Kingdom of Falmuth. At the same time a set of barriers is erected that block the monsters\u2019 ability to use magic and weakens them dramatically. The short battle leaves dozens of monsters dead\u2014including one of Rimuru\u2019s best friends, Shion.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: T\u3010\u516c\u5f0f\u3011TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u8ee2\u751f\u3057\u305f\u3089\u30b9\u30e9\u30a4\u30e0\u3060\u3063\u305f\u4ef6\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

In the wake of this battle, Rimuru returns. In shock, he can\u2019t even cry. Yet, in this moment of grief he gains a new hope. He learns that it may be possible to bring back his fallen friends\u2014though it only has a 3% chance of working. All he has to do is become a demon lord…<\/p>\n

…by killing 10,000 humans and absorbing their souls.<\/p>\n

Now, as luck would have it, an army of 20,000 from Falmuth and the Western Church is coming to wipe out the \u201cevil monsters who attacked their citizens when they were visiting Tempest.\u201d So Rimuru promptly decides to kill them all.<\/p>\n

Now, this is a decision built more on revenge than hope. Falmuth hurt Rimuru. Now, he wants to hurt them back. But there is also a fair share of guilt mixed in as well. He holds some of the responsibility for their deaths. Not only is he their king, but he had been warned by two separate friends that Falmuth would attack sooner or later as Tempest was threatening their position as the area\u2019s main trade hub.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: T\u3010\u516c\u5f0f\u3011TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u8ee2\u751f\u3057\u305f\u3089\u30b9\u30e9\u30a4\u30e0\u3060\u3063\u305f\u4ef6\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

However, Rimuru continued to assume that things would just work out for him as they had up until that point. He ignored the warnings and all Falmuth had to do was wait until he was away to launch their attack. Bringing back those who died would alieve him of much of this guilt\u2014not to mention that it\u2019s far easier to blame others than partake in some serious self-introspection. Thus, Rimuru heads out to kill the invading army.<\/p>\n

At this point, it should be mentioned that none of Falmuth\u2019s 20,000 strong army were directly involved in the attack on Tempest (beyond the King and his advisors). These 20,000 men simply believe they are marching to eliminate a horde of evil monsters who attacked their citizens. (The squad who physically attacked Tempest are wiped out by Rimuru\u2019s followers before his fight with the main army even begins.) Moreover, these 20,000 are like ants before Rimuru. None of them could even harm him. Nonetheless, Rimuru begins to kill them in a surprise attack\u2014killing them one-by-one.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: T\u3010\u516c\u5f0f\u3011TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u8ee2\u751f\u3057\u305f\u3089\u30b9\u30e9\u30a4\u30e0\u3060\u3063\u305f\u4ef6\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

Using the sun to hide himself from view in the sky, Rimuru shoots lasers at the men\u2014who don\u2019t even know they are under attack. They just watch in fear as their friends die one after the other before they suddenly drop dead as well. When a pair try to surrender to him, he kills them\u2014gaining the spell \u201cMerciless\u201d which allows him to instantly kill \u201cthose who plead for their lives or seek aid\u201d\u2014in other words, it\u2019s a spell that only works on people who want to surrender. He then uses this skill to kill the remaining 14,000 soldiers\u2014except for those most responsible for the attack on Tempest: Falmuth\u2019s King and his Bishop advisor. He captures them instead.<\/p>\n

Now, in the end, everything works out for Rimuru and he is able to bring his friends back to life while also giving a power up to himself and all those connected to him. However, it\u2019s hard to look at his actions as anything but evil.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: T\u3010\u516c\u5f0f\u3011TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u8ee2\u751f\u3057\u305f\u3089\u30b9\u30e9\u30a4\u30e0\u3060\u3063\u305f\u4ef6\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, his country was being attacked. However, there were any number of ways to end the war without more blood being spilled. With his overwhelming power, he could have easily captured the King and Bishop without any loss of life and sued for peace if he truly wanted to. But he didn\u2019t. He wanted revenge.<\/p>\n

When it came to bringing his friends back to life, he only needed 10,000 souls. Yet, he killed all 20,000. It wasn\u2019t really about saving his people in the moment. He wanted revenge.<\/p>\n

When the soldiers had given up, thrown down their weapons and were begging for mercy, he slaughtered them all. Because to him, the rules of war weren\u2019t important. He wanted revenge.<\/p>\n

By giving into revenge, Rimuru has crossed the moral event horizon. Every happy moment he has and every great thing he accomplishes will be forever tainted by the 20,000 people he killed to get there\u2014the 20,000 people that didn\u2019t need to die.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: T\u3010\u516c\u5f0f\u3011TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u8ee2\u751f\u3057\u305f\u3089\u30b9\u30e9\u30a4\u30e0\u3060\u3063\u305f\u4ef6\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

More than that, he betrayed his ideals\u2014undoing all of the hard work he had done so far. Instead of creating a nation of peaceful monsters that humans could safely work with, he has shown that he and his are exactly what the humans feared them to be. Make them mad and they will slaughter humans without mercy\u2014something even more intimidating given that Rimuru is now a full-blown Demon Lord. From here on out, when the human nations make peace with Tempest, it won\u2019t be out of mutual goodwill but out of fear. And people hate what they fear.<\/p>\n

Of course, within Tempest, those who love and adore him will still view him as a hero\u2014the hero who did what was necessary to bring the fallen back to life. But to us, the viewers, it\u2019s hard to see him as anything but a tragic villain who committed an atrocity when at his lowest point. Perhaps Rimuru will learn from this and do better in the future but it\u2019ll be a long time and a lot of effort before he can be seen as a hero again.<\/p>\n

\n

Top image source: \u3010\u516c\u5f0f\u3011TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u8ee2\u751f\u3057\u305f\u3089\u30b9\u30e9\u30a4\u30e0\u3060\u3063\u305f\u4ef6\u300f<\/a> on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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