Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken: Coleus no Yume

I'd honestly been starting to slip off of this series. The second half of season 2 felt surprisingly anticlimactic, and the movie Scarlet Bond did not work for me. Knowing that one of the main threats from that movie was going to be reappearing in this one (wasn't hard to figure out, given the cast list), even if she was one of the more interesting aspects of the movie, was not a good sign, and given that this was a three episode run that basically functioned like a movie, that was another potential strike against it since these self-contained stories hadn't really worked for me ... already.

Then I watched it, and honestly, it's good to enjoy this series again.

Don't get me wrong, it's still got some of the problems with the main series, but it feels really endearing. Maybe that has more to do with resetting things to a point before the major power escalation of S2, but there's just a lot to enjoy here. Sure, threats don't feel particularly threatening again, but the "threat" here is different: major political division and Rimuru's chance to prevent it. The plot is nothing exceptional, but keeping it largely simple (beyond a deeper plot that we've only started to understand even taking the movie into account) is in its favor, making it easily contained to the three episode run. It starts off as an idiot plot (i.e. one where everything could be solved if two people just sat down and talked for a minute), but that conflict gets resolved in a satisfying manner without feeling overbearing (looking at you, Scarlet Bond). It's far from perfect - its villains are two-dimensional, the main cast just exits the plot at a conspicuous juncture, and we never find out what a certain character was after despite being highly advertised. Still, it's nice to see that this series is back to effectively balancing both Rimuru's no-nonsense attitude when it comes to getting things done with his naiveté and otaku nature. It's also nice to not have a bunch of unnecessary fights - what does happen here is well-contained based on the characters and emotions involved, with very little feeling drawn out to an extreme. It feels comfortable in a way I've been sorely missing.

This takes place between Season 1 & Season 2.

A 3-episode "arc" where Rimuru tries to resolve a dispute within a kingdom but uncovers a conspiracy. Sound familiar? It's basically the plot of Scarlet Bond movie but paced better.

Story-wise, it's been done before within the series, even down to the tropes and lack of stakes or tension. Honestly, it's just something they put out to tide people over till the next season's release and to give an "early" look at Luminous and Violet for fanservice reasons.

So it's no secret that Fuze (the author) have been making spin-offs left and right to milk the popularity of the ... series as much as possible as he's nearing the end of the Light Novel. This is one of those.

Are you missing out on anything important by not watching this? No, but you still might enjoy this if you're one of those people who would consume anything regarding this series.

Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken: Coleus no Yume is... bad. I'll make this a short one.

I have seen all of Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken as of writing this review (1st of November 2023) and I have thoroughly enjoyed most of it. The MC may be a bit OP, and most problems are solved too easily, but there's much enjoyment to be found in the series, wether it's the humor or just relaxing to a likable main character fixing problems and fighting spectacular battles. Coleus no Yume, however, is just not good on an objective level. The plot is not only cliche, but also badly ... written with a cop-out happy ending where everything is resolved perfectly in an instant by character who just show up at the end, and even Rimuru (the MC) is just standing in place as if frozen in time for almost half the last episode while everything else is resolved, and it is treated as if nothing is wrong. Everything about the writing and characters in this special is weak as an 80-year-old with late-stage terminal cancer. Both princes adored their little sister and each other, but was instantly ready to kill each other without even saying a word to each other. The sister knew the truth of everything all along, but just didn't say anything. The sister was severely ill and blind, but literally a teaspoon of honey in her tea cured her. Oracle kept warning Rimuru that the "archdemons" were such bad business that he might not stand a chance, but he easily crushed them, only to stand by for several minutes. All the characters from the rest of the series has been dumbed down to mentally challenged (retard) levels or worse.
Worst of all, the pasing was so atrocious that I almost dropped it halfway, despite there only being 3 episodes in this OVA.
Given more episodes, better pasing and a more interesting andin-depth background for the Royal Family, their supporting character and the investigation plot, this could've been great, but it seems we were given a 2 minute plot outline stretched nanometer thin on a dirty road instead.
Not recommended.