First of all, even the title is boring as shit aside from the "slime" part. "That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime" says nothing aside from the fact that the main character is going to be a slime. Big if true. Shocking. Apparently the author had real difficult time coming up with the title. Sure, there isn't anything inherently wrong with making an eyecatching title- But if the answer to that is just literally putting the premise as one, then it's pretty safe to say the author is very obviously creatively bankrupt and the series isn't worth the time. And to add to the insult, the character is an overpowered sue character that doesn't even abide by the common notion of a slime and the series becomes another self-insert power fantasy. And to even further add to the insult, it still manages to use the generic cute anime girl design instead of the slime in the promotional poster. Amazing.
The setting of this series is also disgustingly generic, and it really boggles my mind how some people unironically think any of this is good world building. Slimes, dwarves, goblins, orcs, monster wolves, dragons, elves, demon lords, and just any other Dragon Quest reject mobs you can think of, and it's got them all. Essentially it's like making a randomly generated dungeon with RPG Maker's premade assets and just calling it a day. There's nothing interesting to look at, because you've seen them all before- The only thing that could remotely subvert an expectation would be that they act slightly differently from the "norm", but even that is overdone and tiring.
But you might be thinking, "Who cares if it borrows assets from every other isekai fantasy series ever? That doesn't say anything about its writing quality." And you'd be right- It doesn't. But what it says about the series, is just complete utter lack of creativity not only in assets, but also in just general writing.
Just look at this nonsense up to the sixth episode:
[minor spoiler below]
The main character gets reincarnated as a slime in a different world- Then immediately by the second episode, he becomes an overpowered sue character that can quite literally do anything. They can just eat anything of any size and instantly gain all of its powers and abilities, because apparently that's what slimes do. He also has infinite storage of what he eats, and can finitely but perfectly reproduce anything he also eats as long as he has the resources in his infinite storage. Then if that wasn't enough, he also gets a giant exposition machine called The Great Sage in his head that just explains away anything that he might be unfamiliar with, so there's absolutely no struggle. Then if that also wasn't enough, he doesn't have any motivation whatsoever other than completing a few "side quests" he might encounter along the way, so his characterization is the most boring "good guy" trope you can think of. Then of course, everyone likes him because he's Number One. And if there's someone who doesn't like him? Clearly must be evil or stupid. Or both.
[minor spoiler above]
The fact that the writing needs a gigantic exposition machine in the first place already shows that the writer is absolutely incompetent and that unraveling his dollar store isekai world care package through other means is simply beyond his talent. This exposition machine is also incredibly obnoxious as it constantly cuts off whatever is happening on the screen into some Shaft-style Powerpoint presentation mode whenever it wants to explain, which just doesn't do well for the flow of the show. This sort of exposition machine is commonly used in narrative when the main character isn't talkative or is a video game character that responds based on player input to add some sort of character dynamic while maintaining that form of interactivity- So when it's used aside a very talkative main character, it really goes to show terrible the writing is to warrant the usage of it.
And finally, the show doesn't even make great use of what little it has going for it- The production budget. I guess they thought they found the next Overlord in the making, so the quality of the visuals is actually pretty good. Sadly, the series also spends a lot of time on minutes and minutes of monologue, explaining characters' powers and abilities, and covering backstories of side characters nobody cares about. Essentially, this is the Weeny Hut Jr. version of Sword Art Online, but I guess people don't even notice the similarities because Kirito got a cool slime mask. With this trend, I can already see that "Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon" series having a bright future as soon as it's picked up by any semi-decent studio. No, that actually is a thing. And yes, anime is fucking dead.
Press F to Pay Respects.
