WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 1 of The Slime Diaries "The Residents of the City of Monsters" now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The popular isekai That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime now has a brand-new spin-off anime, The Slime Diaries. Many anime spin-offs are either prequels, side-character shows or side storylines, but this spin-off is different. It takes place during the original show, which tends to be action-packed and focused on plot progression. The Slime Diaries, instead, covers the daily lives of the many characters and the sometimes mundane activities that fill their time.
Slice-of-life anime proves that, more often than not, daily life can be just as interesting and dramatic as high-stakes, action-packed adventures. The Slime Diaries is a perfect example of just that. Even though there's only one episode out at the time of this writing, it deftly sets the precedent for the rest of the season. While the original anime showcases the many characters in action, it's nice to see them and what they do in their downtime. It's a part of what makes them who they are.
The first episode starts off with Rimuru wanting to start a diary of all the adventures of Tempest and the things he's encountered thus far as a slime, but he's immediately overwhelmed by the number of things that have happened to him. The rest of the episode manifests that feeling, as each scene jumps from character to character and what they're doing. After the introductory scene, we land in the middle of some sort of meeting between Rimuru and his makeshift council. But it is soon interrupted by Shuna who has priority business: choosing which cute dress Rimuru should wear. Everyone agrees that this is important.
After that, Rimuru does paperwork with Shion, which would normally sound like a boring and contrived scene. But because Shion is well...Shion, paperwork quickly becomes something more. Time with Benimaru quickly follows as he heads out for patrol but is quickly swamped by fangirls. Then it's a walk through the town with the Goblins as they notice all the pretty new monsters walking the streets. It's scene after scene of daily activities with no greater stakes than in the present moment.
Rimuru visits most of his closest companions after that, including the Lizardmen, Geld, Hakuro and Treyni among a few others. The first episode takes place before the war and tension of Season 2, in a time when Tempest is just getting settled and everyone is at peace, so there's time to spend on daily tasks like visiting the people that run the town.
While there's only one episode of The Slime Diaries out so far, it successfully sets the tone for the rest of the season, unless there are surprises hidden in store. For those that love the characters of That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, this spin-off is the perfect way to spend more time with them. By watching their daily lives and the small details that make up their character, they will have more depth and complexity when the original returns for its third season eventually. It makes it perfectly clear that daily lives can be just as interesting as anything else, being enough fuel for its own spin-off anime.
