That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S4 Ep 23 Review
Okay, I know that this is going to sound rich from me since I’ve had no problems seeing it happen, but the power of friendship is BS! Well, at least when it’s done due to lazy writing. But at least in this case, it didn’t lead to a deus ex machina, because the person on the receiving end didn’t win. And that’s a good thing, because the person in question was Granville Rosso. So, as Rimuru puts his insane plan to save Chloe and Hinata in motion, Shion steps up and locks the heck in. You can say a lot of things about Shion (she’s not that smart, her cooking is bad, no shirts can fit her), but when she steps up, she gets things done.
Shion Gets it Done
So, I don’t know if I had said it in my review of the last episode, but I was really hoping that we dive right into, well, Rimuru’s dive into Chronoa. This entire arc has been building up to finishing the story of Chloe; the fact that she is prominently shown in the OP and ED is proof! But instead, we are expected to sit through the last of the fights going on between Granville’s, frankly, suicidal plan. It’s a fight between Shion and Ranga against Razul. He’s an Insectoid, a species of bug-people from another dimension that are extremely powerful. Granville and his wife befriended and named him after a failed invasion centuries ago, and he’s served as his right-hand bug and ultimate weapon. And if you have seen the Chimera Ants from Hunter x Hunter or Cell (who we call a bug man), then you know how strong bug-people get in anime.
RAZUL VS SHION PART 2
HOW THE HELL IS THIS A SIDE CHARACTER FIGHT THIS INSANE 🔥
Now, we all know that Shion is no pushover. She’s one of Rimuru’s top subordinates. Sure, she may not be that smart, but we’ve seen how strong she is. She was able to go toe-to-toe with Clayman back at Walpurgis! However, the fight between her and Razul is the classic case of the unstoppable spear vs the unbreakable shield. In her case, Razul’s exoskeleton is as hard as steel, making it impossible for her to strike a killing blow. Well, at least at first. She knows just how much is riding on this fight, and she has no intention of dying again, because she refuses to worry her beloved Rimuru like that. So she locks the heck in, and uses her unique skill, Certain Outcome. Which basically translates to her being able to get whatever results she wants from doing something. In this case, a single crack in Razul’s armor is enough of an opening for her to finish the Insectoid off.
If there’s ever an Isekai fighting game like Smash Bros, they better put Shion in it.
The Heck?!?
But then we get to the whole “power of friendship” bs coming in. His soul goes to Granville to give him a power-up in his fight against Luminous. The man is literally powered up by the spirit of his friend! Not that it doesn’t do him any favors, because he still loses to Luminous!
And that is why only the protagonists can use the power of friendship!
So, with Yuuki and the clowns in the wind and Granville’s dumb plot foiled, all that is left is to save Chloe and Hinata. And to do that, Rimuru has to do the riskiest thing that he’s ever done. He has to get close enough to touch Chronoa, dive into her soul, find Chloe and Hinata and pull them out of there. Which, if things go sideways, could end up killing him for good. But Rimuru is HIM, so he does it anyway.
GO SAVE CHLOE AND HINATA
Rimuru sure is a lady killer 😅, and what do you mean by Hinata is dead 😟
And so, Rimuru enters the mind of Chloe Aubert, a beautiful field of flowers, and is met by an unexpected guest in the form of Shizu. Whether it’s actually her soul or just a mental guide, nobody knows. She’s just there to help Rimuru calm Chronoa down, which he does with no problem. However, this is where things get complicated: Chronoa says that Chloe’s soul is lost somewhere in their shared heart. But Hinata’s? She’s disappeared.
Well, it looks like Rimuru is about to face his toughest battle yet: saving his student and his…friend? Are he and Hinata friends? He’s not going to let something like death stop him from pulling this off, and we know that he’s going to do it. So why are we even questioning that fact? I’m just glad that we don’t have to deal with Granville’s stupid plots anymore.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S4 Ep 22 Review
So I just want to make sure that we are all on the same page about Chloe and Hinata. Chloe got sent to the past with Hinata’s soul hitching a ride, they became the hero Chronoa, and Luminous sealed them away until Rimuru could take care of everything. All of that was made clear in the last two episodes of the series. The real question now is how the heck are we going to fix this?
Sadly, it seems that part will have to wait until the next episode. This one is mostly just about setting us up for Rimuru’s toughest battle to date.
Chronoa’s gone nuts!
So where were we? Oh yes: grown-up Chloe, or rather, Chronoa in control of Chloe’s body. And…dang. When they said that Chloe had the most potential out of all her classmates, they weren’t kidding. She is the kind of person who could single-handedly stop a war. And as we see for ourselves, even the Demon Lords might not be enough to stop her, as Luminous is in the process of freaking out at the sight of Chronoa breaking free. And that’s before she equips her armor and sword. That sword of hers is as strong as his, which is very, very concerning. Add in the fact that Chronoa likely has the combined experience of Chloe and Hinata’s two thousand year odyssey, and is it any wonder why Granville wanted to free her? She could kill the Demon Lords, and then torch the rest of the planet.
So, now is not the time to hold back. As Luminous explains everything we already know to Rimuru, he decides that they need help. So he summons Veldora, and, surprisingly, he realizes right away that Chronoa was the hero who sealed him away. And, I don’t think the anime shows it, but seeing her again actually makes her nervous. Which makes sense, considering how he strongly reacted to Chloe’s future self in Ramiris’ old labyrinth. Also, he claims that the only reason he lost was because he saw how pretty she looked underneath her mask. Awkward.
Time to Journey to the Center of Chloe
So, even with the combined power of Luminous, Leon, and Veldora, Chronoa is just too much for them to handle. So, Rimuru has to do what might be the most reckless thing that he’s ever done. He’s going to have to travel inside of Chloe’s body, find the souls of Chloe and Hinata, and somehow pull them out. Well, he just needs to wake Chloe up. He has to find a way to pull Hinata out and get her back in her body. Either way, it’s’ insane, reckless, and crazy. And you know what? It’s also something that only Rimuru can hope to pull off. Otherwise, Lubelious is a goner.
I have to admit, I didn’t really like this episode. Especially considering how it was coming off the heels of two bangers, it felt like it was just reiterating everything that we had already known. But at least it’s setting us up for one heck of a finale.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 10 Review
You know, I used to think that Eris was the biggest meathead in the Mushoku Tensei series. I mean, it took Rudy a while to teach her how to read and write, and I’m pretty sure she forgot most of it after she went to the Sword Sanctum. When the two first met, Eris’ default solution to any problem was punching it. Not to mention how her letter to Rudy was trash. But after watching this episode, I think we’ve found an even bigger meathead. Like, someone who makes Eris look like a college professor in comparison. And thanks to this meathead, Rudy is almost kidnapped and forced to say goodbye to his family.
Now what?
Picking up where the last episode left off, Rudy, Cliff, Elinalise, and Zanoba’s search for a cure for Nanahoshi’s sickness has borne fruit: they found Kishirika! As thanks for feeding her, she tells them about the herbal tea that will help take care of Dryne Syndrome. The key is this plant called Sokas Grass. It’s original environment was destroyed long ago, but most of the Demon Lord’s castles have plenty of it. There’s just one problem. Her old castle in that very city is currently occupied. And the person occupying is the one who put out those wanted posters for Kishirika: Atofe Rybak, the Immortal Demon Queen.
Upon hearing all this, and that Atofe is mad at Kishirika because she drank her favorite alcohol, Rudy doesn’t hesitate to hand her over to the Demon Queen’s guards in exchange for the grass. That’s the good news. The bad news? He and Zanoba have to have an audience with Atofe.
She’s a Dumbass! Dumbass!
At first, I thought my video had stopped… and then I realized that Atofe’s brain had just stopped working for a moment lmao 😭🤣
I’m just going to come out and say it: Atofe is dumb. Like, really dumb. Rifujin, the author of Mushoku Tensei himself, says that she Eris taken to her logical extreme. Look at what she does the second she meets Rudy and Zanoba to her own guard!
This is like looking at the worst-case scenario of what Eris could’ve grown up to be like if she hadn’t met Rudy. And not even he can keep her fully under control!
It gets worse. She starts demanding that, as a “reward,” Rudy join her personal guard and serve her. Now, the anime doesn’t cover it, but in the light novels, that means spending ten years enduring her training and antics, and then getting two years off to see family. That means that Rudy would have to miss the majority of Lucy’s childhood! So he naturally refuses…but Atofe doesn’t take no for an answer. There’s only one thing to do:
And so, the group had no choice but to get the heck out of dodge, with Atofe in hot pursuit.
Scratch that. She managed to cut them off at the portal to Perguius’ castle.
For the first time in a while, Rudeus is fighting a battle that he can’t win, and he is painfully aware of it. Worse, he knows that if Atofe beats him, he can say goodbye to his happy family life forever. But at the end of the day, what matters most is getting the sokas grass to Perugius. So while the others fight Atofe and her guards, Cliff makes a beeline for the portal. For a moment, it looks like they’re gonna make it!
But then we get tricked into thinking that Atofe’s guards had cut off escape, only to learn that they had set foot inside the portal. Which means they ran into Perugius.
Now, interesting story about Perugius and Atofe. Back in the Laplace War, the two had fought on opposing sides and hated each other. But Perguius’ brother in arms, the first God of the North God sword style, managed to beat her. Then, he used that to convince her to marry him! So, Perugius and Atofe had to promise not to try and kill each other anymore, much to their dismay. And while Perugius has every intention of keeping his word, that won’t stop him from beating her up!
There are so many people in this world that are stronger than Rudeus, it’s crazy. But at least things worked out. They got the plant needed to save Nanahoshi’s life. So we can all breathe a sigh of re…wait a second. What’s the title of the next episode? Oh. Ohhhhhhh…Turning Point 4.
Oh boy…
Dang, I thought I had more time to mentally prepare myself for this. By now, you guys should know the drill. When there’s an episode called Turning Point, that means that something big is about to shake up Rudeus’ life. Something that I have had to keep my mouth shut about for the three years I’ve been covering Mushoku Tensei. I’m not spoiling anything yet, as I want to see how the anime plays out. All I’m going to say is that we are about to enter the best arc of the story. Please, anime. Please don’t ruin this for us!
I Give “An Audience with an Immortal Demon King” a 4/5
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, S4 Ep 19 Review
It is such a good time to be a fan of the isekai genre right now. The Big Three of isekai, Slime Tensura, Mushoku Tensei, and Re:Zero are all airing side-by-side and are headed into some of the best arcs in the story. I can’t tell you about Mushoku Tensei because I swore not to until the anime makes it to it, but with Slime? We’re about to get a story that’s going to completely reframe how the story could’ve gone. And it all has to do with three women who look surprisingly similar: Chloe, Hinata, and Chronoa.
Granville’s Plan
To remind everyone, Granville’s attack on Luminous and Rimuru isn’t just to get revenge for the death of his granddaughter. He’s smart enough to know that even rigging the game in his favor won’t be enough to kill Demon Lords. So while he and the Moderate Harlequin Alliance keep everyone busy, Yuuki has stolen Luminous’ most prized possession: the sleeping body of Chronoa, AKA the legendary hero who sealed away Veldora centuries ago. TL:DR, she and Luminous were best friends, and when she couldn’t control her power for much longer, Chronoa had her seal her away until the moment when she needed to wake up. Given how she was strong enough to seal Veldora, a True Dragon who’s stronger than even a Demon Lord, this was a warranted precaution. But since Granbell had been undercover in his alter-ego as one of the Seven-Days Luminaries working for Luminous, he knew everything about her. More importantly, he knew how to wake her up.
Stealing Chronoa’s body was phase one. Phase two is what is currently underway: organizing this attack on the Demon Lords to keep them distracted. And to help with this, after Luminous manages to best Granbell’s reanimated wife, Maria, the man absorbs her (no joke) to restore his youth and gain an advantage over Hinata, forcing her on the backfoot.
Uh-oh
And then comes the moment where Granville commences phase three. Chloe, out of concern for Rimuru and Hinata, ends up running into the fight, distracting all of them in the process. And keep in mind, this is a big moment for Leon. This is the first time since he was summoned to this world that he’s seen Chloe, his beloved adoptive sister. And she immediately is in danger as Granville sends his next attack straight at Chloe. Neither Rimuru or Leon can make it in time, but Hinata can. Unfortunately, the only way Hinata can save Chloe’s life…is by sacrificing her own.
It feels like Fuse must have taken a page out of Dragon Ball, because this is just like when Piccolo sacrificed himself to save Gohan. Granbell basically committed a canon event.
Where did Chloe go?
What happens next is a little confusing and doesn’t quite make sense. As Hinata is dying, despite Luminous’ best efforts to heal her, Chloe starts saying how things are happening “too soon.” Then reality starts glitching out, and before Rimuru understands what’s happening, she disappears right in front of him! And so does Hinata’s soul.
I’m not entirely sure how death and the afterlife works in Slime Tensura, but apparently, when someone dies, they either move onto the afterlife or re-enter the cycle of reincarnation. What’s happened to Hinata is different. When Shion and the victims of Falmuth died, their souls remained behind for a while, something that Rimuru extended until he could bring them back. But Hinata’s soul has completely vanished!
Then things get even crazier. The exact moment that Hinata dies and Chloe vanishes, Chronoa wakes up. As in, the exact same moment.
This is about to get crazy
This next part, I don’t know how to explain without spoiling things, but it comes down to this: Chronoa and Chloe are connected thanks to time travel. And neither of them could remain active at the same time due to how time travel works, as it would create a paradox. With that paradox now resolved, Chronoa has been awoken. And she is now an instrument of destruction and death that will kill everything in sight. Which was Granbell and Yuuki’s plan all along: wake up Chronoa, sic her on all their enemies, and watch what happens.
As for the how and why for this, that still needs to be explained. After the ED rolls, we see Chloe standing in an open field somewhere else, saying how things weren’t going the way she wanted yet. She’s talking about things that you wouldn’t expect a kid her age to normally know, which is probably confusing some anime-only fans. Thankfully, it looks like the next few episodes are going to finally explain everything. Based on what I’ve read in the light novels and heard through the fandom, this is going to be one of the best storylines in the series.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S4 Ep 21 Review
This. This is peak you guys. Chloe might have just become the best girl of Slime Tensura. Well, sort of. She’s at least one of the best characters in the story as of now as we watch her experience one of the hardest examples of time travel I have ever seen. At least she’s not alone in it, though; she has Hinata with her! Which is good, because, as it turns out, she’s destined not to last those 2,000 years of continued existence.
The adventures of Chloe and Hinata
After establishing herself in the past as Chronoa, the hero of time (not sorry, Link,) it is now up to Chloe and Hinata see that history turns out the way that they want it to. Which means that they’ve got to spend the next 2,000 years fighting and helping people. Just how Chloe is able to live that long, I honestly don’t know. All I know is that living for that long could make someone change who they are as a person or go crazy. But Chloe? She has some incredible willpower to her! She’s able to keep going all that time thanks to her love for Rimuru! It’s impressive how much she is able to achieve! Plus, she’s not alone.
In those two millennia, Chloe and Hinata form a symbiotic partnership with each other. Hinata will take over for Chloe at times at the girl’s behest, and this will allow her to see what a true Hero can be like. And she is impressed by it. It shows you just how much Hinata’s guilt and doubt was holding her back.
Plus the fact that they can switch now helps Hinata to become even better friends with Luminous than in the present day. Which explains why Luminous has always been so sweet to Hinata. The Vampire Demon Lord had to keep her mouth shut about all of this for years in the name of their friendship. It’s heartwarming.
You know what’s awesome, though? Seeing Hinata be the one who seals away Veldora.
Hinata got her get back with Veldora
In a surprising twist, it’s not Chloe herself who seals Veldora away. It was actually Hinata using Chloe’s body that did it! I don’t get why Chloe couldn’t do it herself, but I guess she just wanted to let Hinata settle her grudge match with him. Either way, it works out. And with that, the future is all but secured. Well, as secured as it will be for Chloe.
Due to Chloe’s past self about to be summoned to this world along with Leon (she gets flung into the future), Chloe’s consciousness will soon disappear as she can’t exist in two places at once. So, the rest is to be left up to Hinata. But there’s a caveat: Chronoa. It’s not just an alias anymore. It’s actually this alternate personality that could eventually take over Chloe’s body one day. And when that happens, no one will be safe. So now, Hinata has to spend the next two hundred years holding Chronoa back until she is summoned to the other world. So, Chloe says goodbye to Luminous and then lets Hinata take the reins, and right away, Hinata is nearly overwhelmed by the power of Chronoa. The fact that Chloe kept her at bay all that time is a true testament to her willpower for the sake of her beloved!
This also means that it is ultimately Hinata who rescues Shizu, the woman who will become the basis for Rimuru’s body and her own future mentor. So, in a supreme twist of irony, Hinata gets to teach her own teacher. How crazy is that?
Ultimately, though, it comes time for Hinata to lose her own consciousness to her past self. And that is why Luminous leaves her in suspended animation, awaiting the day when she can finally awaken after her and Chloe disappear. She doesn’t know what might happen next, but she is confident that Rimuru will be able to handle things. And so ends the story of Chronoa…until now. The episode then ends in the present day as we see the results of what has happened: Chronoa is now out, and she is ready to go on a rampage. So, once again, it’s up to our GOAT Rimuru to save the day.
Man, this was a good mini-arc, you guys. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind an entire spinoff as we see Chloe and Hinata’s adventures! But I guess it’s time to return to our regularly scheduled chaos next week.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S4 Ep 20 Review
Oh, I have been waiting a while for this part of Slime Tensura. Ever since season one, the series has kept dropping hints that there is something special about Chloe Aubert. That she has an important role to play. Well, if you’ve read the light novels already, then you know the story was setting us up for one of the best time travel stories in anime. If you thought Trunks’ attempts to save the future were crazy, then you haven’t seen what Chloe has had to go through for the sake of her beloved slime, Rimuru.
Hinata Really Hates Herself
The last episode of the anime ended on a very bleak yet mysterious note for anime watchers. Hinata apparently died saving Chloe’s life, only for her soul to disappear. And then Chloe vanished into thin air. Obviously, the two are somehow connected, and we are about to learn why. But first, we get a look back on Hinata’s life.
Despite many people in her new world calling her a hero, Hinata has never seen herself as one. The reason is that during her life on Earth, she had to watch as her dad became incredibly abusive due to falling on hard times. It got to the point where she straight up killed him to try to end the abuse. And this wasn’t an act of self-defense, by the way; we see her push him off a cliff in the anime. When her mom got worse, she started thinking she’d be better off as an orphan, but then she got isekaied. It’s something that she feels a lot of guilt over, and it’s that guilt that’s kept her from unlocking her full potential. And now she’s dead…or is she?
As it turns out, the reason why Hinata’s soul vanished is that it jumped into the body of Chloe. Then Chloe jumped 2,000 years into the past, and this is where she dumps the exposition on what the heck is going on. I could share a link to a video explaining it all, but I want to try and tell it myself.
Chloe can Time Travel
To put it simply, Chloe has a unique skill that has left her trapped in an infinite time loop thanks to the deaths of Rimuru and Hinata. Originally, the incident with Falmuth, with Rimuru never fighting Hinata and thus making it back in time to stop the massacre. Thanks to that, he never had a reason to become a Demon Lord which left him and Tempest significantly weaker. Five years later, the Eastern Empire invaded and destroyed Tempest, with Rimuru dying in battle. Yes, our OP Slime died. After that, Velodra crashed out and went on a rampage, forcing Hinata and Chloe to fight him, only for Hinata to die in battle. That, in turn, led to Chloe being sent back in time. She would then spend the next 2,000 events trying to change history to prevent Hinata and Rimuru’s deaths, eventually transferring her memories to her future self.
Since Diablo was never summoned, Tempest was completely different which led to the tragedy Chloe spent 2,000 years trying to prevent.
The endless chain is finally shattered in the current canon timeline. This loop becomes an anomaly because Rimuru does not die.#転スラ#tensurapic.twitter.com/yUOoUGcQQX
This was just the most recent time loop. She’s done this so many times that she can’t remember anything past the last few times. All she remembers is that every time, Rimuru and Hinata, the man she loves and the woman she sees as her role model, die. She thought that she had changed things by stalling Rimuru long enough for things to play out as we know, but then Hinata died prematurely thanks to Granville.
Put some Respect on Chloe’s Name
Now, time travel in the isekai genre isn’t a new concept. Arguably the best example of it has been found in Slime Tensura’s contemporary, Re:Zero with Subaru’s infamous Return by Death. And I do mean infamous, because if you have seen some of the ways he’s died, you are left in disbelief at the fact that he is still able to keep going! That is basically what Chloe has had to experience for who knows how long! The only difference is that Chloe isn’t the one dying; it’s everyone else she cares about.
DAMN… what an episode. 🔥 For me, this is easily TOP 3 Tensura episodes ever, 10/10.
Slime really is the GOAT of isekai for me. The story, worldbuilding, characters, lore and especially the rewatchability are all top tier. Bravo, FUZE. 👏
That…might be…some of the most impressive willpower that I have ever seen in a character. Chloe has been living through so much failure and loss and keeps trying. Most people would have gone completely insane having to go through all of that even once! I haven’t even watched Re:Zero, and I know that Subaru goes through absolute hell on a regular basis! But I think Chloe might have him beat when it comes to sheer willpower! And she’s doing all of this for the sake of her love, Rimuru. It’s genuinely sweet.
At any rate, now that she’s in the past, Chloe’s goal is to ensure that the future plays out exactly like she wants it to. First things first, she has to re-befriend Luminous Valentine, and she knows exactly how: warn her about Veldora’s rampage on her old city!
To make a long story short, it works. They’re not able to save the city, but they do get the people out and guide them to the place that will become Lubelious. Having secured the trust of her friend once more, Chloe then sets out to ensure that things play out the way she wants to get the future she wants. A future with her beloved Rimuru. And she even gives herself a new name that will be known by all: Chronoa.
Man, this is peak! What a great time to be an isekai fan!
So I was scrolling through YouTube a few days ago during a lull in my day job, when I saw this clip Crunchyroll posted for this anime that came out in July, Red River. It’s an adaptation of a 1990s shojo manga that was apparently pretty popular back in the day, if the Internet is to be believed. Intrigued, I wound up researching it over the next few days, and I have to admit, I can see why the comments on YouTube are upset with Crunchyroll for not promoting this. I can also see that the anime is lowering the bar for what is, for all intents and purposes, the shojo counterpart of Inuyasha.
What is Red River?
Released from 1995 to 2002, Red River is a time-traveling Isekai about Yuri Suzuki, an ordinary girl from modern-day Japan who’s just about to enter High School (college in the anime). Right as she and her boyfriend are walking home together, these tendrils of water shoot out of a puddle, and before she can even cry for help, she gets sucked in. When she awakens, she’s no longer in the land that she knew, or even the time she knew.
To her misfortune, Yuri has been dragged three thousand years into the past, to the heart of the Hittite Empire that ruled what is now modern-day central Turkey. The reason is that this evil Queen, Nakia, wants to use her as a blood sacrifice to kill all her stepsons so that her actual son can become the next king of the empire. Luckily for Yuri, she managed to run into one of those princes, Kail, before getting captured, and he realizes his evil stepmom’s up to something. So he saves her by lying that she’s his new concubine, taking her under his protection until they can find a way to get her home. And when Yuri blows her first chance to go home to avenge a servant boy she befriended, she’s stuck in the past for a whole year with Kail. And with Nakia still after her, she has to keep up the ruse of being Kail’s lover while learning how to be a warrior in a world that’s harsher than the one she knows.
To top it all off, Kail tells everyone that Yuri is the incarnation of Ishtar, this goddess of love and war. So, no big deal.
This has SO MUCH IN COMMON with Inuyasha!
I wasn’t joking when I called this series the shojo manga equivalent of Inuyasha. Besides the two of them releasing around the same time in the mid-90s, they share a lot of similarities in terms of premise and the main characters. And that is both to their benefit and their detriment.
Firstly, we have the lead heroines, Yuri Suzuki and Kagome Higurashi. Both of them are young, compassionate, and spirited Japanese schoolgirls around the same age, though Yuri gets aged up to 18 in the anime. Thanks to forces outside their control, they are transported into a distant past they are not prepared for and become the target of evil forces. Kagome is hunted by Demons who want her dead or the shards of the Shikon Jewel she’s searching for, while Nakia wants Yuri dead so she can take over the Hittite Empire. So to survive, they both come under the protection of the lead heroes and other allies as they learn how to get stronger. And in doing so, they become powerful and respected badasses: Kagome becomes a skilled archer and priestess, while Yuri masters swordsmanship and the art of war.
The only real differences between Kagome and Yuri come down to their circumstances. Kagome’s the reincarnation of the well-regarded priestess Kikyo and can go back to her time whenever she wants. Yuri, on the other hand, is not actually the incarnation of a goddess and doesn’t have the respite Kagome does. So she’s got it harder.
At Least the Male Leads are Different
Then we have the lead heros, Inuyasha and Kail. Honestly, there’s very little similarities between them. Inuyasha is a half-Demon with the powers that go with it, and is brash, crude, and aggressive by nature. In contrast, Kail is handsome, refined, and known as a playboy who refuses to be tied down. The only real similarity between them is how their relationship with the female lead starts out: Kagome and Yuri can’t stand them at first. But like it or not, they are forced to work together to accomplish their goals, and it goes from there.
Plus, there’s also the fact that the more time each pair spends with each other, their relationship grows. They go from dislike to respect and friendship, and eventually, maybe even love.
Which brings me to something about Red River that I think people should be warned about: the mature aspects.
Trigger Warning: DEPICTIONS OF SA TO FOLLOW
I never read the manga, but one thing I remember happening a lot in Inuyasha the anime is how often Kagome was captured or targeted by the bad guys. Often it was because she could locate Jewel Shards or for her immense spiritual power, but there were also instances where people did it because of her beauty; sometimes both!
And Yuri? Imagine the same thing, but worse.
It should be important to note that, while Kagome and Yuri are already considered attractive by modern standrards, that doesn’t initially translate over when Yuri’s stuck 3,000 years in the past. Due to her small size, slim figure, and preference for more masculine clothing (some even mistake her for a boy), Yuri is initially not seen as beautiful by the Hittites. That’s already changing in the anime as she makes up for these perceived shortcomings with her fiery spirit and growing skill as a warrior, making more and people see her as beautiful. Which isn’t a good thing, as it leads to several men starting to want her for themselves, with Kail the biggest culprit.
The first thing Kail does when he meets Yuri is kiss her. Granted, it was so he could hide her from Nakia’s cronies, but still. Then he saves her life by lying about sleeping with her, which she is forced to go along with, which is embarrassing. And to keep up the ruse of being his concubine, the two of them have to share a bed together. And, being a young man, it doesn’t take until the second episode for Kail to try and make that fake-concubine thing the real deal. He stops when she says she has a boyfriend back home, but that doesn’t stop him from repeatedly kissing her.
That’s also not even getting into the other guys end up falling for Yuri, most of whom are even less willing to restrain themselves.
The bottom line, due to this being a product of the 90s, and that Yuri is stuck in a time when morals aren’t as high as they are now, parts of Red River haven’t aged gracefully and will likely upset people.
Oh great, it’s like TBATE All Over Again
But enough about that. How is the anime itself? Given how its fans have waited thirty years for it to get adapted, it has to be amaz-it’s mid.
I’m the kind of person who focuses more on the story itself rather than the animation, but ever since the disaster that was The Beginning After the End, I’ve become more aware of bad animation. While this series is nowhere near as bad as TBATE was, it’s not as amazing as it could be. When we get our first large-scale battle, it relies on bad CGI to animate the soldiers, which is a bit of a turn-off. Or when Yuri defeats one of Nakia’s minions that was hunting him and everyone is proclaiming her to be Ishtar, it’s just a handful of soldiers in the anime instead of the large crowd in the manga. It may not seem like much, but if you have read the manga, then you’ll know why older fans are turned off by it.
There is one other thing about the anime that I’m not a fan of, and that’s the censorship, but not for the reason you think. I understand that many of the mature scenes and depictions of dubious consent and assault aren’t going to fly today. I can also understand why the studio would want to tone down things like nudity. The problem is that the show only goes halfway. It should either keep everything to satisfy the fans, or go all the way with the censoring. Compromise can be good, but there are times where doing so will upset everyone.
There are about 7-8 episodes of the anime out by the time this goes up, and it has 28 volumes of manga to cover. That’s not enough time for a 12-episode anime to cover everything, meaning it would need to come back for more season. Those seasons, though, won’t happen if the show doesn’t do well, and so far, that seems to be the case. Even I’m not that overly interested in it, with most of it being due to me liking tomboys like Yuri.
The manga, on the other hand…
After learning about the anime and what it’s about, I wound up going online to find the manga it’s based on. I then proceeded to binge-read the majority of it in the span of a few days, and I have to say…wow. What a story.
Firstly, the artwork is absolutely gorgeous. Far, far superior to what the anime has given us so far. I can totally understand why the older fans are upset with the low quality of the anime, even if it does capture Yuri’s cuteness well enough. And the story! It’s a geopolitical story in the vein of things like Game of Thrones that spans the ancient Near East, and one that Yuri has to carefully navigate her way through to survive. And she doesn’t make it through without suffering plenty of loss and hardship. Plus, the relationship between her and Kail does become genuinely sweet to watch. I have a soft spot for good love stories, you know.
There are Still Some Issues, but Nothing’s Perfect
The main criticisms that I have about the manga, though, besides the adult stuff, center around the plot holes. For example, around the halfway point in the story, Yuri hardly thinks about her family and boyfriend back home in favor of the life she’s built in ancient Anatolia. She doesn’t even get the chance to say goodbye, let them know she’s alright, or give them some form of closure. And then there’s Nakia’s plot, to begin with. Why does she need Yuri specifically? For that matter, why did she need to kidnap someone from 3,500 years in the future when she could have gotten someone from her time? And she just keeps persisting in her attempts to kill Yuri when a more pragmatic person might cut their losses and send her back. She’s not that interesting as a villain.
And there’s also the setting itself. I’m not sure if Yuri knows this, but by the time she gets sucked into the past, the Hittite Empire’s days are numbered. Around 150 years later, it and most of the societies in the region will enter the Bronze Age Collapse that will take centuries to recover from. So, it makes the ending very bittersweet in nature.
Despite all of this, though, and all the faults I found, I couldn’t help but like Red River. It was such a page-turner that I couldn’t stop reading it, even if it gets repetitive after a certain point. It really did remind me a lot of Inuyasha, and I’m grateful for that. Plus, it did give me some ideas for when/if I ever decide to try my hand at my own historical isekai. So, go watch the anime if you’re up for it, but I think that the manga is a much better use of your time.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 9 Review
I am sick and tired of the vile accusations that our dear Sylphiette is somehow responsible for Nanahoshi coughing up blood. We knew it wasn’t Sylphie’s fault, so why are we making memes about it?!? Even Rifujin, the author of Mushoku Tensei, is getting in on it!
In all seriousness, though, we know that Sylphie didn’t do this to Nanahoshi; she’s Rudy’s Goddess of Love for a reason, after all. This is just our way of coping with what has happened to her. And, as this episode confirms, this isn’t the kind of problem that can be solved with magic. If Nanahoshi wants to survive, then Rudeus and the others need to find her a cure.
DON’T DIE, NANHOSHI!
Three days after Nanahoshi collapsed in a pool of blood, her condition begins to stabilize a little. Perugius’ familiars are skilled at their work, but there is only so much they can do. At the very least, they confirm what Nanahoshi’s suffering from: Dryne Syndrome. In a nutshell, her body’s unable to neutralize the mana saturating this world, and it’s been slowly killing her. If I had to compare it to a real-life counterpart, it feels a bit like radiation poisoning. Since Nanahoshi has no mana, this means that she’s suspectible to it. And if nothing changes, she’s going to die.
What happens next can only be described as one of the most valid crash outs in the history of crash outs.
This moment is one of the reasons why I consider Mushoku Tensei to be one of the best isekai of all time. A lot of isekai treat coming to another world as a form of escapism and act like it’s a good thing. But the truth is, not everyone will see it like that. Nanahoshi was happy with her life back home. She misses her family, her crush, her friends, modern technology, everything. And she was summoned to this world without being asked or even wanting it and has had to work hard to survive.
I think a lot of our hearts went out to Nanahoshi in this moment. A lot of us may see isekai as a means to live the lives we have always wanted, but for every person that would thrive in another world, it feels like there will be plenty who just want to go home. And as harsh as she is to Rudy, she’s also right. He’s had his own share of struggles, but he could’ve gotten it way, way worse. And that’s why Rudy is determined to find her a cure.
How are we going to find he-never mind!
Now, there’s only one person alive who could possibly know a cure for Dryne Syndrome (or is it Drain Syndrome?): Kishirika Kishirisu, the former Demon Empress. AKA that little shrimp that Rudy gave food to one time, and she gave him his magic eye. She wanders around the Demon Continent at her own leisure, doing whatever she wants. Which means that, in order to track her down, Rudy has take himself, Cliff, Zanoba, and Elinalise to the Demon Continent.
Considering how this is the first time in years that Rudy has set foot in the land where he began his great odyssey home, you would think that he would feel a little nostalgic. But the city they end up doesn’t exactly have pleasant memories for him, and he’s too focused on saving his friend.
And then, just when it looks like they’re in for a wild goose chase trying to find Kishirika, this happens.
We have just earned another wish from the great Demon Lord!!
Un. REAL. The plot must love Rudeus and his friends, because that is the only feasible way that this could happen. The bad news is that they’re not the only ones looking for her: someone has a bounty out for the former Empress. But no spoilers! Let’s just say that we’re about to deal with someone…crazy.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 8 Review
You know what’s cooler than a floating castle? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING I CAN THINK OF RIGHT NOW! Sorry, I’m just a little excited at the fact that we are starting a new arc for Mushoku Tensei that will take us to some interesting places. To begin with, though, Nanahoshi decides to reward Rudeus and their friends and family with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They’re getting the chance to travel to Chaos Breaker, the floating castle that’s home to the great hero and Nanahoshi’s mentor, Perguius Dola! Several of Rudy’s loved ones have reasons to want to meet him, and we get to see some cool stuff in the process. But then, something bad happens.
It’s Like Magic Uber!
Does The Name "Man-God" Ring a bell!? WE ARE SO BACK!
So, in order to travel to the fabled castle in the sky that is Chaos Breaker, Nanahoshi brings them to a secret location marked by this tablet. From there, she can basically summon one of Perugius’ familiars, Almanfi of the Bright. Rudy actually knows this one, though. Right before the Displacement Incident, Perugius sent Almanfi to investigate what was happening, and he tried to kill Rudy and Eris. He might have if Ghislaine hadn’t been there. The good news is that he’s willing to take everyone there…except for Roxy. Thanks to his experience with Laplace, Perugius doesn’t like Demons. So, Roxy has to be left behind, to her and Rudy’s dismay.
Once they get teleported to Chaos Breaker, though, it proves every bit the wonder of the world that books say it is. The castle is gorgeously designed and ornate, there are beauitful gardens with flowers. The whole thing is nothing short of incredible. The fact that Rudy and the others are able to set foot there is incredible. And several of them have things to ask of the Dragon God.
For such an intimidating-looking figure, Perugius is actually a pretty chill guy as long as you don’t offend him. He’s very friendly with Nanahoshi, having agreed to help her with her efforts to get home by telling him everything he knows. Plus his familiars are nice enough to go out and get food for them, allowing Nanahoshi to have something close to a Japanese meal for the first time in forever. He is, however, a little weary of Rudy, saying how his mana levels remind him of Laplace. If he had resisted getting teleported, he could have stopped himself from going.
To business. Rudy asks Perugius if he can help restore his mother. Alas, he doesn’t know what’s happened to her. The most he can say is that her time in crystal made her some sort of Blessed Child, like Zanoba. He does, however, reveal that that’s how Elinalise was found almost two centuries ago by one of his friends. She kept it secret because a.) she never regained her memories from before she was in crystal, and b.) that was how she was cursed to have s** or die. It also indirectly led to the death of her first husband and her being exiled from the village she made her home.
Ariel’s request is much more overt: she wants his backing to become the next Queen of Asura. But Perugius isn’t going to just give it to her like that. She’s going to have to work to secure his support, and it’s going to be a slow-going process.
Sylphie tries asking Perugius if he knows what caused the Mass Teleportation incident, but not even he knows why or how it happened. All he knows is that it wasn’t man-made. Almost like there was some sort of error in the universe.
Oddly enough, it’s Zanoba who hits it off the best with the Dragon Hero. All he wanted to know was if Perugius knew anything about the automaton they found in Rudeus’ house. It was made by the Mad Dragon King Chaos, a long-dead artisan and craftsman. But Zanoba and Perugius have a mutual love of arts and craftsmanship, so the Dragon God agrees.
I Wish I could Find that Mural to show you!
Everything seems to be going well for the group as they explore the legendary castle, but there was one moment that stood out to me. Nanahoshi shows Rudy, Zanoba, and Cliff this secret room that’s filled with this old mural that came with the place. Not even Perugius knows what it’s for, but…it feels familiar. A little bit like what we see at the end of every episode as we get the title of the next one. That can’t be a coincidence.
Whatever this mural is supposed to be about, though, it winds up getting a backseat, as the episode ends with an emergency. Nanahoshi is in worse shape than we thought.
Nanahoshi doesn’t feel so good!
The anime has done a good job of dropping hints that whatever Nanahoshi has been suffering from isn’t normal, but it really starts to gain attention in this episode. She’s coughing a lot more and she looks notably weaker than normal. But it’s the final moments of the episode that make us realize just how dangerous things are.
I knew that this moment was coming, but that didn’t stop me from being just as horrified as Rudy and Sylphie were. That was a lot of blood that Nanahoshi just coughed up. And the look of horror on her face right before she passed out! She was probably thinking that she was going to die. Death can be scary at any age, but she’s still a teenager. A scared teenager who came to this world against her will and just wants to go home. We can’t let her die here!
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 7 Review
Ahh, graduation day! One of the most important milestones in any young person’s life! Of course, it’s not Rudeus who’s graduating. He’s got years before that actually happens, and since he lives nearby and Roxy works at Ranoa University, it doesn’t really matter. No, this is the graduation for two of his friends who are getting ready for the next stage of their lives: Linia and Pursena. But it’s a reminder of how time continues to move forward!
Place your bets Folks!
So, Linia and Pursena are finally graduating from Ranoa University. Which in and of itself is a pretty big achievement, because from what we’ve heard, they were so bad in their early days that they could’ve gotten expelled. At least losing to Rudeus gave them a lesson in humility, so I guess it worked out. But before they leave school forever, there’s one loose end that they need to tie up: which of them’s the strongest.
The whole point of Linia and Pursena coming to Ranoa University was to prepare one of them to become the next chieftain of the Beastfolk. They wanted to find a strong man to help them, but all their suitors were too weak to meet their expectations. So, in true delinquent fashion, they decide to settle the succession through a 1v1 fight. Winner gets to go home as heir, the loser can live their own life. And to make it even sweeter, they have Rudy, Zanoba, and Nanahoshi come along to witness it. Which is awesome, because this was one rumble that they didn’t want to miss!
This entire fight was like watching two pro wrestlers or boxers square off against each other, with all the implications that go with that. The two start off by throwing insults at each other, and then they go in for that mutual punch to the face. When Rudy used magic to make a bell and hammer and started doing commentary, I almost lost it. The guy just can’t help but be a goofball sometimes, can he?
We’re gonna see them again. I Know it!
In the end, Pursena comes out on top. In the fight between cat and dog, the dog wins! And with that, the two decide to part ways for good, with Pursena heading home, while Linia deciding to travel and try her hand as a merchant. It’s a very tender, bittersweet moment for the two of them…that then gets immediately ruined when they end up leaving from the same way out of the city. Last we see of them, they’re still arguing like cats and dogs.
By the way, as an aside, I thought you guys should know: according to the Man-God, if Rudy hadn’t gone to Begaritt, the two of them would have tried pursuing him next mating season. Which means that this fight could have turned into one over Rudy.
I’m sure we’ll see them again one day.
WATERMELON!
The back half of the episode, though, focuses on soemthing we haven’t covered in a while: Nanahoshi’s experiments to get home. She hasn’t had that many appearances in the first half of the season, and that’s because she keeps getting sick. It’s not that bad, yet, but she’s so focused on getting home that she has tunnel vision. But the results prove to be worthy it when she and Rudy manage to summon something organic from Earth: a watermelon.
The real win, though, is that this means that Nanahoshi can move on to phase four of her experiments. So everyone gets together to celebrate. And from Rudeus has said, these sorts of parties have become fairly regular and helped them all bond. Which is good, because it’s helping them all have the kind of fulfilling school life that they would want to have. Also, seeing drunk Roxy acting possessive of Rudy is adorable.
And then we come to the bombshell. Nanahoshi says that to proceed with phase four of her experiments, she’s going to seek out her mentor in magic, and she offers to introduce him to Rudeus and the gang. This mentor might also know some secret to returning Zenith back to her old self, sweetening the deal. Who is this mentor, you ask? Perugius Dola, the Armored Dragon God.
DRAMATIC BACKSTORY!
A quick lore dump is in order if you haven’t watched the first two seasons. Four hundred ago, the Demon God Laplace was out for world domination and threatening all of mankind. Thanks to the efforts of Perugius and his comrades, Laplace was defeated and sealed away, but it would not last forever. In the next century or so, Laplace will be reborn. Thus, Perugius has spent the last four centuries in his floating castle with his familiars preparing for the day he would come back. He’s a hero respected all over the world and one of the most powerful and influential people alive. So, he’s a big deal.
This marks the start of a new chapter in Rudeus’ life, and one that will not be as peaceful as what we’ve seen thus far. Things are about to get very crazy as we meet new faces, travel to familiar lands, and crazy things will happen.
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