Share and Follow
The popular isekai series That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime has made a grand return with its second film, ambitiously surpassing its predecessor.
In recent years, the excitement surrounding Reincarnated as a Slime had dwindled due to its sluggish third season and a lackluster first movie. These factors contributed to diminishing the buzz around what was once a leading title among new isekai series. However, the protagonist, Rimuru Tempest, is on a quest to reclaim his former glory with the nearly simultaneous launch of Season 4 and the fresh cinematic installment, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea.
This latest film situates itself intriguingly within the series’ complex canon timeline, echoing the standalone side-quest vibe of its predecessor, Scarlet Bond. However, it maintains a strong enough link to Season 4 to captivate existing fans of the series.
The narrative unfolds with Rimuru and his allies seeking a well-deserved break from their relentless political endeavors, following the triumphant inauguration of the Demon Kingdom Federation Tempest. They accept an invitation to the secluded resort island of Elmesia, hosted by the Celestial Emperor of the Magi Dynasty Salion. Yet, their anticipated retreat quickly turns out to be far more eventful than they had imagined.
The movie’s storyline picks up with Rimuru and his companions deciding to take a much-needed vacation from all their political nation-building efforts following the successful opening ceremony of the Demon Kingdom Federation Tempest. To that end, the group is invited to the private resort island of Elmesia, the Celestial Emperor of the nation of Magi Dynasty Salion, but their stay isn’t anywhere near as relaxing as they’d hoped.
When viewed as a simple anime film made as fan service for pure entertainment value, Tears of the Azure Sea hits all the right notes that longtime fans will love. But if expected to be anything much deeper than that, it’ll just be a disappointment.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime’s New Movie Has Some of the Series’ Most Impressive Action Scenes
From the outset, Tears of the Azure Sea makes a notable effort to capture the attention of its audience. The opening scene has some of the most impressive fight choreography in the entire movie, all centered around a new character named Yura.
As a whole, the action and sakuga of this movie are commendable. Where it really matters, the film knows where to deliver impressively animated scenes, some of which are some of the most visually appealing in the entire series so far. There are both grounded, hand-to-hand combat scenes and those big, explosive magical attacks befitting of Rimuru’s new status as a Demon Lord.
On the other hand, the movie’s visual effects (like explosions, tornadoes or other acts of nature and magic) can sometimes feel uncanny when compared with the rest of the animation style. While those kinds of effects work perfectly to highlight the “otherworldly” quality of Rimuru’s power (such as when Raphael pops up to consult him), they feel jarring when applied to the surrounding environment.
Tears of the Azure Sea’s Characters Are Where the Movie Shines
As an individual character, Tears of the Azure Sea‘s deuteragonist, Yura, has a lot of interesting mystery around her. Unfortunately, her overall arc is about as generic as they come. She’s the basic archetype of a tough, strong-willed heroine who is later revealed to be more than meets the eye. While it works thematically for the film, it always felt like there was more that could’ve been done with Yura to set her apart.
Still, her personal storyline intertwines with Gobta’s well, and Gobta is undeniably the star of the show here. His relationship with Yura is endearing, even if it’s the most basic “Beauty and the Beast” storyline imaginable.
While the film’s story does have some general good ideas that expand on the overall series’ themes, they’re so bogged down by the most obvious tropes and story beats that they lose a lot of their impact. The story is the most basic caricature of a classic Disney fairtyale, but without taking itself seriously enough to actually have the impact of those same fairytales it copies. By the time the main villain reveals his “true” intentions, it borders on cringe-worthy.
The only thing resembling a subversive or unique aspect of the story is its romantic conclusion that feels directly snatched out of last year’s mega-hit film Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc.
The biggest redeeming quality of the narrative ends up being the characters, which has always been TenSura’s strength anyway. The series’ characteristic sense of humor still lands, guided by the strong personalities of its main cast.
Unfortunately, not even every member of the cast gets their time to shine. Benimaru, Hakuro and Soei barely do so much as exist in the film, let alone play prominent roles. They get their licks during the action, and then fall right back into the background. Perhaps it’s a price worth paying for Gobta to get his true moment of growth as a character.
Sea of Azure is a Notable Step Up From TenSura’s First Feature Film, But Not Much More Than That
Fans will certainly want to stick around in theaters after Tears of the Azure Sea’s credits role, as it provides a key hint at an important storyline yet to be revealed in Season 4 that they won’t want to miss.
Along those lines, this is a film that is purely for the fans. It’s a lot of fun for what it is, and hits the right notes for the characters TenSura fans love. But that’s really it. This film is not going to change any lives like Chainsaw Man’s Reze Arc might, or break new ground for the animation medium like Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle did.
Tears of the Azure Sea makes a more valiant attempt at appealing to a wider movie-going audience than 2022’s Scarlet Bond did, and it does succeed at that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t succeed at very much else. This will still be a passably fun experience for diehard TenSura fans, and their friends might not even be mad at them for being forced to accompany them to the theater to see it. But as an anime film judged on its own merits, there’s not very much to recommend.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea doesn’t really feel like taking a vacation, because it doesn’t offer any novel experiences that viewers will remember for the rest of their lives. It’s more like calling into work and playing hooky for the day: a good way to relax and waste some time without achieving anything important.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Tears of the Azure Sea comes to theaters everywhere on May 1.
- Release Date
-
February 27, 2026
- Runtime
-
112 minutes
- Director
-
Yasuhito Kikuchi
- Writers
-
Toshizo Nemoto, Yasuhito Kikuchi, Fuse
- Producers
-
Kôhei Eguchi
Cast
-
Koichi Domoto
Zodon (voice)
-
Takuya Eguchi
Soei (voice)
- Great action and fight choreography
- Gobta’s growth and development
- Sense of humor
- Generic storyline
- Jarring visual effects