“That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea” is a stand-alone offshoot from an anime fantasy series about a salaryman-turned-slime-turned-demon-leader, Rimuru Tempest, and his friendly coalition. Suitably enough, it starts with his crew on a postcard-pretty beach vacation, as if off duty between seasons of the show. But trouble (and possibly a long-dormant dragon) rears its head when the turmoil facing a nearby undersea kingdom explodes into view, in this satisfactory maritime adventure directed by Yasuhito Kikuchi.
Clad in summerwear, the team members arrive via dragon airship at a Mediterranean-style resort island, complete with grotto tour, at the invitation of an elven emperor. An explosion offshore punctures the idyll, followed by a band of assassins who attack Gobta, a goblin member of Rimuru’s coterie, and Yura, a priestess. At Yura’s underwater kingdom, Kaien, an insidious prime minister, Djeese, runs circles around a weak king and courts chaos as he seeks an ancient flute with special powers.
The resulting crisis doesn’t feel as plot-packed as many of the show’s episodes, and the sprightly animation builds to the requisite airborne clashes with kingdom-annihilating stakes. Nestled into the story is an underdog romance between Gobta, who is typically buffoonish but holds his own in combat, and Yura (whose kingdom’s history gets an ethereally drawn sequence).
It’s honestly easier to feel more invested in these characters (or to have a reference point for the understatement of Rimuru’s role) if you’ve been hanging out with the show for one or more seasons. But it’s a diverting dip in the anime sea.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea Rated PG-13 for some violence and suggestive material. In Japanese, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes. In theaters.
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