That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 7

Introduction

Have you ever watched a disappointing anime that then suddenly seems like it’s not going to be so bad after all? Have you then had your newfound dreams crushed when you remember that it’s a disappointing anime and so you should have known better because it is that bad after all?

That’s exactly how I felt while watching this latest episode of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. I can’t explain why, but for some reason I was optimistic about this week’s episode. Maybe, just maybe, it would exceed my expectations and actually entertain me.

But, no. Of course that wasn’t going to happen. And, in the end, I only have myself to blame because for a few minutes I forgot that this series panders to the same audience as SAO. That’s right, I’m talking about you, reader who probably enjoys this series.

So, today, along with the standard summary I’ll also be breaking down what parts of the episode are pandering to the audience and what parts were genuinely clever or interesting.

Conqueror of Flames

We start off with a flashback to Shizu’s childhood just after she was summoned into the fantasy world. She now holds the Fire Spirit Ifrit inside of her, though it’s probably more accurate to say that she is his vessel, since she doesn’t appear to be the one in control.

Speaking of not being in control, her master, presumably the Demon Lord, is able to use some sort of spell to manipulate her into doing his bidding. We’re not outright told that this blonde guy is the Demon Lord, but it’s heavily implied, which I find interesting considering his appearance.

I had previously assumed he was just some sort of corrupt official. I’m looking forward to seeing if this is his true form or if he’s merely taking on the appearance of a human. This series hasn’t done anything unique yet, and I find it hard to believe the Demon Lord is just a regular guy.

Enter Green Falco. Green Falco as I’ll be referring to him since we were never given his name, is just one of three throwaway characters we meet in this episode. He appears out of nowhere and challenges the Demon Lord to a duel, only to be instantly turned to ash by Shizu and her new power.

It seems his only purpose for appearing at all was to show us Shizu’s new abilities, and perhaps imply that the Demon Lord is the one who summoned her. Honestly, both of these pieces of information come up again later, so Green Falco had no effect on the episode whatsoever.

We then skip a few years into the future and see Shizu becoming friends with one of the other girls under the Demon Lord’s control. The girls find a monster which they name and want to keep as a pet, but then Shizu is commanded to burn her new friend and pet to death, just like Green Falco.

Shizu then wakes up in the present time and decides that she must both leave the goblin village as well as her new adventurer friends. Her reasons for doing so is that she’ll just end up bringing them misfortune and she’s searching for the one who summoned her, presumably to defeat him.

Before I get to what happens next, let me take a moment to set the scene. When Shizu was first introduced, we saw that she was wearing a strange-looking mask, seemingly for no reason. At the time, I assumed that this mask worked as some sort of seal to suppress either her own powers or some external power working on her.

My reason for thinking this was because she seemed to always keep the mask on, even while eating. Sure, Goblin Slayer keeps his helmet on even while eating, but that’s so he can’t be knocked out, and Shizu’s mask doesn’t really protect against that.

However, we then see that Shizu doesn’t actually have any problem with taking off her mask, such as when she talks to Rimuru, so I assumed that my initial assumption was incorrect. Perhaps she merely likes the way the mask looks, or it was given to her by someone, or she wants to hide her identity.

Well, from this most recent episode it would seem that my initial assumption was the correct one. Shizu suddenly begins having one of her episodes, and her mask begins to crack with bright light coming out from within. This doesn’t necessarily mean the mask was a seal, but it heavily implies it.

But, the fact that the mask appears to have worked as a seal isn’t interesting. In fact, that’s pretty generic considering her background as a summon of the Demon Lord. What interests me here is the fact that Shizu was so nonchalant about taking her mask off in the first place.

If she knows that the mask seals away the Fire Spirit within her, you’d think that she wouldn’t take it off so casually. But, hey, what’s the point of having an evil Fire Spirit inside you if you never give it a chance to break free and destroy everything you ever cared about, am I right?

As Shizu is transforming into the Fire Spirit Ifrit, it’s confirmed by one of the adventurers that she is, in fact, the hero of legend, Conqueror of Flames, Shizue Izawa. I’ll be coming back to this revelation later on, so keep it in mind.

Fire Spirit Ifrit

When Shizu completely transforms into Ifrit, it doesn’t look too good for our heroes. Rimuru instructs Rigurd and Rigur to lead the rest of the villagers to safety, leaving only himself, Ranga, and the three adventurers to face the Fire Spirit.

Ifrit then summons three salamanders (dragons), I assume because he thinks fighting our heroes is beneath him. Honestly, there’s no other reason I see for him to do this considering he clearly believes he’s the most powerful one there by a long shot.

We then learn that Rimuru’s water abilities have no effect on Ifrit, but Eren’s ice magic does have an effect on the salamanders. Rimuru then absorbs Eren’s magic so he can use it as well, and takes out two of the salamanders in this way. The third one then self-destructs, injuring the adventurers.

At this point, Rimuru instructs Ranga to take the injured adventurers to safety, leaving only himself to fight against the Fire Spirit. This is when I actually thought we were going to get a good fight in this anime. I know, I should have known better, and I still can’t explain why I thought this.

Ifrit is a Fire Spirit, and I think it’s safe to assume that as such he’s one of the most powerful fire users in the world. However, Rimuru is immune to fire, because he’s immune to everything. Remember, this is a power fantasy, of course the protagonist is invincible.

Because of this, when he’s hit by a powerful fire cyclone, the damage is nullified and Rimuru catches Ifrit with his steel thread (which is also immune to fire). He then uses his Predator skill and eats the Fire Spirit, so we’ll probably see him able to use fire-type attacks in the future.

But, there are two things I hated about this “fight.” The first is that it wasn’t even a fight, it was just Rimuru tanking a fire blast and then eating his opponent. The second is that this showcases how there will never be a real fight in this series simply because Rimuru is invincible.

It doesn’t matter who his opponent is, all he has to do is tank their attack and then eat them using Predator and the fight is over. And, before anyone tries to tell me that it’s a comedy because he’s overpowered, it’s not. That’s not how any of this works.

An overpowered protagonist doesn’t instantly make a series a comedy. SAO isn’t a comedy even though Kirito is overpowered. Overlord isn’t a comedy even though Ainz is overpowered (although it is good for related reasons). One Punch Man is a comedy, but not solely because Saitama is overpowered.

In fact, if you’re argument for this series being a comedy is to compare it to One Punch Man, then I don’t think you understand One Punch Man. The point of that series is to make fun of series like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime in which the protagonist is overpowered to the point that no fights are entertaining, just like this fight against Ifrit.

Anyway, the episode ends with a scene of Ifrit attempting to escape Rimuru’s stomach, only to find Veldora lurking within. Veldora informs Ifrit that there is no escape and challenges him to a fight. An interesting thing to note here is that Ifrit seems to be afraid of Veldora.

The Hero of Legend.

Why is it interesting that Ifrit appears afraid of Veldora? Because Shizu was the one who sealed Veldora away by using Ifrit’s power. You would think that this means Ifrit is stronger than Veldora, but apparently this isn’t the case.

Or, perhaps the two of them are on fairly equal footing, but now Veldora has a score to settle with the Fire Spirit. Perhaps we’ll get to find out next episode, but I’m not so sure considering how little screen time Veldora has actually gotten so far.

Assuming that Veldora really is more powerful than Ifrit, does that mean that Ifrit’s power only made up a fraction of Shizu’s power? Is Shizu actually the one who sealed Veldora away using her own abilities?

Her title is Conqueror of Flames after all, which implies that she’s able to control Ifrit’s power to a fairly large extent. We saw her use fire magic when adventuring with Eren and the gang, but we should probably assume that she’s able to call upon a larger amount of Ifrit’s power.

However, let me play the devil’s advocate for a moment. Let’s say that Shizu is only able to wield a small portion of Ifrit’s power and that she doesn’t have any special abilities of her own. If this is the case then how would she have become known as a legendary hero?

I think she would have had to be a solo adventurer who allowed Ifrit to take control of her body when she fought her opponents. This would explain her impressive feats, but would also make it impossible to verify she was the one who accomplished said feats.

If she had companions and then allowed Ifrit to take control of her body, he would undoubtedly attack them as well, which is why I said she would have had to be a solo adventurer and that her feats would be unverifiable.

Either way, the fact that she was a legendary hero at all is interesting in itself. If she really is the summon of the Demon Lord as is implied, then why would he allow her to become an adventurer? Why is she being allowed to live even though she’s seeking him out?

Last week I joked about Shizu finally being a reason to watch this anime, and as it turns out, I think that statement holds true. What I’m looking forward to most in this series is further explanation of Shizu’s character and her heroic feats.

Conclusion

Are you still enjoying That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime? If so, let me know what about the series has kept you engaged for this long. If not, let me know your least favorite aspect of the series.

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My review of the next episode is available here.