And here the problem: This series is a absolute pisstake!
Now the main issue, as others have mentioned, is the first 6 episodes are just filled with nothing but talking (the majority of which is all done in just one location and by just one group of people). But what others have failed to mention (at least the reviews i've read) is that the talking done within the first 4 episodes is exclusively about things we already know! 4 episodes, FOUR, are basically used as the catch up for what happened in the previous half of this season!
Episodes 5 and 6 at least go into new territory with their talking (discussing what's going to happen rather than what has happened) but by that point all the good will and excitement that i had from the previous half of this season had been completely destroyed and i simply could not bring myself to care!
This was all compounded by the fact that the show continues to insist on using every opportunity it can to unleash it's tired and cliched "jokes" upon us. I've never found Tensura's comedy funny, cause i've seen it all so many times before, but i never minded until now when it feels so much like they're just doing it to waste our time.
On top of all of this is the continuing problem that none of the characters (outside of Rimuru himself) receive any kind of development or even possess any actual depth to them. The cast continues to be the very same one note characters they were when we were first introduced to them. Now this issue is exasperated by the fact that the cast is huge so most of them get little time on screen and are largely left uninvolved in things. But this issue is particularly galling when the show decides to waste at least 4 episodes telling you what you already know when they could've instead explored some of these characters or given them something to actually do other than make lame cliched jokes!
Finally Rimuru himself has suffered from a sort of character assassination this season. The tension of events is supposed to be high and very serious (his city was attacked, many of his friends killed, they're all going to war, he himself is going to face off against his opponent as well as numerous powerful individuals who may decide to kill him) and yet he doesn't seem to care. He's just arsing around makin' terrible jokes, laughing off important developments, ignoring warnings, behaving inappropriately in front of foreign delegates, and basically treating the entire thing (and world) like he's a kid and it's some sort of game. Gone is the character which, tho unsure of himself at times, you could believe to be an inspiring and competent ruler. Heck during the main confrontation he even goes so far as to interrupt and ignore Raphael, his greatest and most critical tool, 3 times despite the severity of the consequences should he fail!
And it's that that's made me quit Tensura entirely. No longer is the main character someone i'm interested in who i want to see succeed. Rather he has become the instrument that tells me that none of this matters, that the events unfolding are meaningless, that the characters around him aren't worth caring about, and that the world itself is just a worthless waste of time. Cause if he doesn't care enough to take it seriously when it should matter why should i?
Well it was that and the first 4 episodes... what the heck were they thinking a FOUR EPISODE RECAP?!!!
