Overview: Rimuru (Brittney Karbowski), Shion (Michelle Rojas), Shuna (Tia Ballard), Malim (Kristen McGuire), and the rest of Tempest ring in the new year by praying to their lord and savior, writing down their wishes for the future, collecting fortunes, and just… enjoying their time together.
Our take: New Year’s Day starts off well with Rimuru’s prank gift on his ‘dropping the ball’. It shows more of the charming cultural disconnect between himself and the otherworldly natives in the different recognized celebrations and the practices associated with them. However, Rimuru spreading his own traditions is always a pleasure, as he introduces the Japanese practice of visiting a shrine after New Years. The punch line that he is the deity he prays to is also more amusing fuel for his discomfort at being hailed. An interesting fact that I never realized was the lack of money used in the shrine ritual due to there being no money in Tempest yet, at least in the anime.
There are more raging breasts between Shion and Malim. It may be a tired joke, but the series manages to keep it refreshingly funny with entertaining dialogue, especially with Michelle Rojas and Kristen McGuire delivering in their spirited, spirited fights. Other fun activities make up the rest of the episode, such as drawing fortunes and Gabiru getting a prank or the kids playing a matching game with Rimuru’s slime likeness. It gives Gobta a chance to be the jerk we all know and love and honestly, with how much everyone loves Rimuru’s altar literally this time around, it’s a nice change of pace on Gobta being a rambunctious pissant.
Everyone makes a very nice calligraphy expressing their new year resolutions. What was not pleasing to the eye was the lack of subtitles for scenes with Japanese text for the English dubbed version of the series. It’s a recurring glitch that forced me to switch to the subtitled version to understand the full context, and hopefully it will clear up in the future for more clarity.
There are other brief cute moments that help round out the episode with some downtime focused on the rest of the cast. Shion and Malim engage in a badminton fight, Youm, Geld, and Hakurou hit their mochi, and Souka and Souei engage in cute kite-flying.
The unfortunate truth that slimes cannot dream makes what Rimuru would like in Shizu equal parts comforting and sad. There’s Treyni’s warning about the impending battle of Charybdis towards the end of the first season that solidifies his placement in the timeline nicely. Despite all the fun and light-hearted stuff and story bits, it is woefully lacking in the commentary and deeper themes that are cultivated throughout the various topics it covers. That said, Malim’s childish spirit with Rimuru makes for a sweet and enjoyable ending as Tempest’s bustling life continues to make a nice continuation of the city’s status quo. And while he didn’t get to do it this time, hopefully Rimuru will fill his diary with even more great stories from everyday life in Tempest with more spirited antics and therapeutic relaxation at some point.