Fans Are Getting Tired Of Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken

There is no doubt that "Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime)" is one of the most popular franchises today, not only in terms of anime but also for being one of the best-selling light novels in Japan. Currently, the long-awaited third season of the anime adaptation is airing, however, some fans have started to get upset for a rather particular reason: there are too many meetings and not enough action!

When it comes to anime, fans obviously expect to witness spectacular battles and exciting outcomes, and although this third season promises this, viewers have to eat, so far, a total of six episodes where the group of protagonists or the villains of the day sit down to have a meeting and talk during the entirety of the episode.

All of these meetings are evidently a factor in the franchise's worldbuilding (i.e., establishing the foundation upon which the world of "Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken" operates), and are surely a cherished detail for anyone interested in this kind of information. It's pretty clear that they also serve as a precedent for the battles of the upcoming episodes, so they're actually taking their time to prepare and set the stage for it.

Although it may not seem like it, the meetings in "Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken" are a crucial factor for the plot that appears from the source material. In light novels, meetings are a big part of the plot and serve to learn about Rimuru Tempest's views, his inner thoughts, and the dilemmas he faces. In fact, many claim that, if these scenes did not exist, Rimuru Tempest would be a one-dimensional character who in the end only ends up "doing things for the sake of it". In many ways, some claim that this is what should have been done with "Classroom of the Elite," where many of Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's monologues are omitted.

But as with anything, there is a wide variety of positive and negative opinions about how the third season of this popular film has developed. However, it is more than evident that everyone is going to forget this when the confrontation between Rimuru Tempest's group and Hinata Sakaguchi's group finally begins:

"I think the problem is the direction of the anime. If there's a worse way to build the world, I haven't seen it yet. The episodes don't have good pacing, at times it's like you're looking at still images. And the fact that for 5 episodes in a row it's just meeting after meeting after meeting, information after information after information."
"And it's all done in the most bland and unimaginative way possible. The first season was very good at world-building. That's literally what attracted most of the fanbase, but the world-building was done by really exploring the world."
"We've all read light novels or manga, so it's not that we don't have attention spans to follow the construction of the world. The problem is that the episodes are poorly paced, low budgeted, and poorly directed. So yes, I agree with people who say this season has been a disappointment."
"I don't have a problem with meetings in the light novel or manga. I have a lot of problems with these in the anime. In the light novel it works, you can read at your own pace, which makes the experience much faster. The anime stretches the dialogue to fit 24 minutes of something you could have read in 5 minutes. The rhythm is not adequate, despite being very faithful. The context of the dialogue is not the problem, but the way it is presented."
"Tense never had the kind of action you're talking about, but it still had episodes that had characters moving. Do you know how to move? Moving images? Your body parts moving? Not just the mouth, but the whole body. Anime couldn't even match the quality of the light novel or manga, even if it tried to be original."
"Presentation and direction are paramount and key to this. You have to realize that watching the meetings, where most of the time they're sitting and talking back and forth, with occasional images, isn't the most exciting thing, but if you do it weekly, multiple times, you'll off the fans. The information in them is fantastic, but it's a dumping ground of repeated exposure when it comes to the same information, just retold other characters, plus characters and visuals barely move on the screen, this is the reaction you'd get."
"The reunions are one of my favorite parts of Tensura, every time there's a reunion, they either drop a big bombshell or introduce something new, but the reunions in season three feel like they're trying to save animation budget. They don't have to go in-depth every time they explain the same information. This time not everyone is Hinata, but everyone is Hinata."
"Everybody's missing the point of complaints. Meetings CAN be exciting. Just don't animate an entire episode of people sitting in static poses. Get them up, move around the room, bang on the table, get excited, refer to the things they're talking about, get the people listening in the conversation, get their eyes light up, some get bored, etc. etc. SHOW MORE than you tell. People watch court shows for this very reason. Most people are seated, but there's still something visually appealing."
"It's true, nowadays we're conditioned to look for more action-packed shows. I don't mind the meetings, but it would help the show a lot to trim them a bit and remove the scenes that don't serve the progression of the narrative enough. In my opinion, this series would be better a little more condensed. I still like it, it's a decent show, but it could be an exquisite show with a better pace."