Title: That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation Vol. 2
Author: Sho Okagiri (Adaptation), FUSE (Original Story), Mitz Vah (Character Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Isekai, Fantasy
Publication Date: November 3, 2020
The Story
Volume two of That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation continues Framea’s three-star episodic journey around Tempest as she is tasked with creating a guidebook for Rimuru-sama!
First off, I have to say that this series wasted no time in getting to the fanservice as we are given a chapter inside of an open-air bathhouse followed by a hot spring chapter! If you were looking for your typical dose of exposed skin and white blurs placed in just the right places, then this volume will start off in a satisfying way for you.
After this, Framea is charged with heading to a blacksmith shop where we run into a couple of Crusaders in Litsu and Arnaud. They are looking for a guide and while Framea isn’t familiar with this part of Tempest yet, they say it’s fine as they are afraid that they will stand out a bit too much. They head into the blacksmith shop where we meet Kurobe who is looking to add a bit of.. eh.. “firepower” to a sword. I’ll let you figure out how that ends up.
Afterward, Framea gives her progress report to Rimuru and he feels that the guidebook needs something. He thinks about what can be added and comes up with the idea of photos but in this world, cameras don’t exist… yet. Rimuru sends Framea to meet up with Vester who ends up giving Framea the one and only camera in existence. She goes around and begins to take photos and that causes a bit of a commotion. A rumor starts that if you take a photo with the person you love, you’ll end up with them forever so, you can pretty much tell what kind of a situation Framea ends up in!
With her camera, she then goes off to meet a group of children who are all spirit users. Here, we finish off the volume with a bit of action against some undead minions.
The whole three-star running joke continues on but, at one point, she often wonders if she is about to have her first five-star experience! While she doesn’t have one in this volume, it’s kind of a nice and subtle seed that was planted to suggest that the series will probably conclude on a five-star event… which will, most likely, be her own personal experience making the guidebook! (Calling it now!)
Characters
There really wasn’t much in the way of development, per se, with Framea. Instead, we focus on the side characters that were introduced.
Arnaud and Litsu are a little bit like oil and water. Arnaud is definitely the level-headed one between the two while Litsu seems a bit more free-spirited and untamed. She is desperately searching for Soei but for what reason, we don’t really know. She was a bit frantic in her search, though, so it makes you wonder just what that reason was.
Kurobe is a bit eccentric when it comes to his blacksmithing. Even though some of the swords are failures, Framea can still that they still have some use even though they are not rare quality. Kurobe is somewhat obsessed with blasting magic and really overdoes it when infusing one of his good swords with it. He kind of reminds me of a certain time-traveling mad scientist in a weird sort of way!
Vester seems to be a pretty normal guy even though he does fulfill Rimuru’s request for a camera. We do learn that he is afraid of heights when he takes Framea to ride upon the back of a wyvern in order to get an aerial shot of Tempest. Outside of this, he seems friendly enough but makes it clear that he was only performing these duties because it was Rimuru that commanded him to do so.
Final Word
For a spinoff series, this remains pretty interesting! There’s just the right amount of action and world-building to keep you interested and even though each chapter is episodic, it doesn’t really get old or boring. Even though the fanservice was a bit of an eye roll, it is to be expected in almost every series at this point. I’m just waiting for the beach chapter next volume! (Just a prediction, I don’t know if we’re actually getting a beach chapter but since Framea now has a camera… it’s not entirely out of the question!)
Overall, it was a pretty light-hearted and fun experience that a fan of the main series should enjoy! The episode nature of the chapters makes it easy to read and to digest while enjoying each individual story. Having each one tie into Framea’s journey of creating a guidebook is a pretty simple way to tie in everything together but simple often works best because it works really well in this series!
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**This item was provided for review by Yen Press
