Title: That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation Vol. 3
Author: Sho Okagiri (Adaptation), FUSE (Original Story), Mitz Vah (Character Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 160
Genre: Isekai, Fantasy
Publication Date: January 5, 2021
The Story
Volume three is going to make you hungry! (uwah? I was a poet and didn’t know it! ASTOUNDING!). Rimuru calls Framea in to speak with her as he has a special guest in the form of his finance minister Mjollmill. Part one of Framea’s guidebook is ready for print but Mjollmill suggests an event at the coliseum to help pass it out. As soon as that’s mention, the Demon Lord Milim shows up looking for a fight… and she gets one…
In the form of a cooking competition with a focus on desserts! A panel of four judges is assembled in order to judge sweets created by masterclass chefs from around the land! Get ready for stunning images that look better than real-life food, and descriptions on par with Food Network. To be honest, if you’ve read one single cooking manga in your life, you’re not going to find much of anything here that’s all that different.
Half a volume of manga later, Framea runs into an orc who, despite being big and strong, is actually quite weak but he’s determined to be of some help to his people… so he wants to become a chef. Withing trying to spoil the winner of the tournament, I’ll just say that Framea takes him to see the winner but he suggests someone else because he specializes in sweets and if he truly wants to end the famine plaguing the orcs, he would be better suited learning from an all-around chef… so they turn to Shuma. She gives them a guided tour of her kitchen and, suddenly, there seems to be a path for him.
After making some poorly-shaped rice balls, the orc wants to improve. He enlists in a school in order to learn how to cook. Rimuru suggests that Framea signs up as well. Before we know it, we are being given the grand tour of the campus. Along the way, we end up visiting the art department where a statue of Rimuru was carved but has gone missing! Ramiris the master detective is on the case and we will solve it…. NEXT VOLUME!
Characters
I was flipping through and don’t recall if they ever said the orc’s name. I don’t remember reading it but for a character whose name I might have missed, he sure was the focus of the development in the second half of the book. His passion to make sure that his people don’t have to endure hunger ever again was a pretty nice sentiment… especially after he recognized his own weaknesses and wanted to find an alternative way to be useful to others! Nice little underlying message there for anyone who feels the same way in real life!
Of course, the cooking competition had a ton of characters but Milim and the winner (again, not naming him to avoid spoilers) received the most attention. Milim is quite the feisty demon lord. She’s full of spirit and fire and has that awesome sassy attitude! I like her… even if she can be a bit on the loud side at times but characters such as hers often are. When it came to the winner of the tournament, given what happens later between himself and the orc, I couldn’t help but think of Major Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist.
The volume ends with Ramiris… the master detective who vows to find the missing statue of Rimuru… although the task might be a bit too “big” for someone of her… size. Oh, she’s a faerie, by the way. She seems a bit spunky but we don’t really get much of her. I’m sure we’ll see this story continue on in the next volume where she’ll get some more attention!
Final Word
I know that this is a spinoff series but it seems the spinoff is doing a bit of a spinoff of itself. Up until now, it was all about Framea creating a guidebook for Rimuru and while she has done that, it was only part one (which is included in the back of the manga as a bonus chapter, by the way!). It was a little confusing because, with the way the volume started, I was under the impression that the entire thing was done. At that point, I actually thought that this was the final volume, thus bringing this spinoff to a rather short conclusion. It is then later verified that it was only the first part of an unknown number of parts for the guidebook.
I guess in between passing out part one and beginning on part two, this volume serves as a bit of a break. A cooking competition and then Framea going to school was a bit of a detraction but I can see how these kinds of things can lead to more plot points to construct the next part of the guidebook. It’ll be interesting to see how they fold them in like so softly folded egg whites into the batter of your favorite fuwa fuwa dessert! (I couldn’t help myself)
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**This item was provided for review by Yen Press
