That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is gaming goodness

If you’re a gamer, there’s no doubt you’re familiar with low-level monsters in role-playing titles or online games. Many times, these take the form of tiny animals or even slimes. The ubiquitous Smile Slime from the Dragon Quest series is a great example. They’re armed with low HP and basic attacks. Just imagine what would happen if you took a slime and outfitted it with some truly overpowered abilities. It’d be total chaos, right? 

That's essentially what happens in the fantasy anime That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, a hilarious romp through a fantastical world that feels just like a video game springing into life. Following a man who, upon dying, finds himself whisked away into an unfamiliar world where slimes, goblins, demons, elves, and dragons roam freely, it's a gripping tale that gamers and anime fans alike will want to tear into with ravenous desire. If you thought you'd already seen all the shows like this one, well, that's where you're totally wrong. You've certainly got to give this one a try. 

One fateful day, office worker Satoru Mikami is meeting friends for lunch when a mugger attempts to rob his friend's soon-to-be fiancee. Satoru intervenes when the mugger attempts to stab her and takes the blade instead. He's losing blood fast, and while his friends want to save him, he dies in the middle of the sidewalk with one last request: for his friend to wipe his computer's hard drive before he passes. 

While making this odd request and on the brink of death, Satoru reflects on things and how he might behave or look in his "next life." A disembodied voice appears to act on his final thoughts before succumbing to his wounds, and translates his wishes into "skills." Why? He's going to have a very different "next life." 

When Satoru awakens, he finds himself in a strange body. He has no eyes, but he has a wide variety of abilities. He can absorb things with his new, gelatinous body. He can sense things rather than see them, and he can steal away other monsters' abilities. When he finally is able to see himself after "leveling up" and gaining the ability to "see" magical particles in the environment, he finds that he's become an actual slime!

Yes, the very same kind that you'd hack and slash away at for a few measly XP apiece. But this anime series takes that old, tired misconception and turns it on its head immediately. This slime is no pushover, as the very first episode finds him befriending a dragon and earning his brand new name: Rimuru Tempest, which he's known as henceforth in the series.

Without ruining any major parts of the story in that regard, he's got to find a way to rescue said dragon, all the while figuring out how to get better acclimated to his new slime body, which apparently can do just about anything he wants. He can even mimic other items, both organic and inorganic if he chooses to. This makes him an especially formidable opponent, and as he begins to travel the world and befriend others, he learns that his life is going to be very, very different now that he's become a slime. 

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is a wide, nuanced world with plenty of characters and plot threads beyond Rimuru's to follow, as it's an "isekai" story. Isekai means "different world" and it's a subgenre of anime where normal individuals are transported to alien, unknown, or parallel worlds. This is one of the hundreds of different series in the world of anime, but it's also one of the most interesting out there at the moment. 

It's the perfect way to kick off 2019 as an anime and gaming fan. Start watching That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, which is available to view dubbed or subbed, and change your perceptions of what slimes in video games and fantasy worlds can do. Or just bask in the totally OP selection of powers foisted upon Rimuru. Seriously, it's kind of ridiculous but awesome.