Title: That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation Vol. 1
Author: Sho Okagiri (Adaptation), FUSE (Original Story), Mitz Vah (Character Art(
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 161
Genre: Isekai, Fantasy
Publication Date: June 23, 2020
The Story
That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation is a spinoff series that revolves around a rabbit girl named Framea. She is summoned by Rimuru after it is discovered that she has great analytical abilities. Rimuru is in the process of upgrading Tempest and would like to task Framea with going around and using her skill to create a guidebook for any and all visitors coming into the city. This way, they had a great sense of where to go and what to do during their stay. Even though she was reluctant at first, Framea accepts the job.
And that’s pretty much the story. The volume is pretty episodic as it goes chapter by chapter and has Framea experience different things in Tempest. Her adventures are all for the creation of this guidebook but there is some linking between these episodic chapters.
For instance, Framea goes to visit a blacksmith where she picks out a weapon. In her case, she is pretty skillful with a boomerang so that ends up being her weapon of choice. With a weapon picked out, Rimuru charges Diablo with putting Framea to the test so he summons a boss-level creature in her vicinity. Framea demonstrates great courage when it appears and this leads to Rimuru asking her to test Tempest’s greatest dungeon which was recently revamped as he feels the dungeon will be a great attraction to adventurers who may visit tempest.
The volume ends with a two-chapter adventure in the dungeon to which things don’t go so well in the end!
I like the way the story was structured. While you can tell that it was pretty episodic, they did little things to tie each chapter together so you got a sense of progression which made you forget that the actual story is simply just the creation of a guidebook for Rimuru. I have to say that it was rather enjoyable and therefore, I give the story three stars.
Characters
With this being a side story, Rimuru was cast into a supporting role this time around with the majority of the focus being put on Framea. Framea is pretty vanilla, to be honest. She has a bit of an adventurous side yet, she’s always hesitant and unsure of herself. It’s that kind of wishy-washy character you’ve seen many times in other manga, regardless of genre. I would have loved to see a unique quality about her to help her stand out more but other than being a bunny girl that isn’t being dreamed about by some rascal, there’s really not all that much to Framea. Still, despite her being a bit on the plain side, she did entertainment throughout the volume so it wasn’t all bad. I think I’ll give her character three stars.
As I mentioned, Rimuru is taking the role of a supporting character here. His goal is to build up Tempest so that it is a place both humans and monsters can enjoy. He goes out of his way to ensure that Framea has it easy while in Tempest by providing food, lodgings, clothing, weapons, money, and anything else she needs. Didn’t know a slime could have so much sugar but here we are. For all of the support, Rimuru gets three stars.
Outside of that, all of the other characters are very minor… including Diablo. They only play a part when needed which allows all of the focus to be placed on Framea. That usage of characters gets three stars.
Final Word
Usually, side stories aren’t really that interesting. They usually have a basic premise akin to a filler episode with the goal being to capitalize on the parent story in order to sell more copies. While that actually seems like the case here, I do have to admit that the story was pretty entertaining. Plus, there is dungeon crawling in it and since I’m an RPG nerd, that appealed to me rather well. Framea’s journey throughout Tempest to create a guidebook was cleverly disguised as the manga itself felt like the actual guidebook. If you put yourself in the role of the visitor, then each chapter becomes a separate part to guide you through the city vicariously through Framea.
Maybe I’m reading a bit too much into it or maybe that was the intention all along. Still, if you’re a fan of That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, then I would say grab this side story as, honestly, it wasn’t really bad at all. It is a bit on the short side compared to most manga but the pages didn’t fly by because it was short… they flew by because I was thoroughly entertained. I would give this volume, overall, three stars!
By the way, if by the end of this review, you can’t tell was Framea’s catchphrase is… give yourself minus three stars.
Follow me on Twitter @JJPiedraTOH
You can also check out other The Outerhaven reviews on your favorite social media networks:
Subscribe to us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theouterhaven
Subscribe to us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOuterHaven
Subscribe to us on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/theouterhavennet
This item was provided for review by Yen Press
