My favorite aspect of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime as a series is how much focus it puts on actions having consequences—most notably the unintended variety. Once again, this movie puts this idea front and center. With his immense magic powers and modern-day knowledge, it can be easy to forget that, when it comes down to it, Rimuru is rather weak politically—getting by on his earnest heart and kind demeanor more than anything else.

For example, it never occurs to him that he can no longer simply go on vacation with his friends. While he may see it as simple downtime after putting in some seriously hard work, the fact remains that his vacation group is made up of four Demon Lords, their most powerful generals, the Elven Empress and Princess, and the literal walking apocalypse, Veldora, the Storm Dragon. Even if he and the rest have the purest of intentions (which they do), they are still a force capable of overthrowing—or annihilating—any country they come across with little-to-no effort.

As the film shows, fear is a powerful weapon, and even the mere presence of Rimuru or the others can be used to drive otherwise peaceful people into doing something foolish—especially if someone with political savvy is working behind the scenes to push things in that direction. In a very real way, none of the tragedies in this film would have happened without Rimuru taking up the Elven Empress' invitation to hang out on the beach—and that's a sobering thought that serves to highlight our otherwise overpowered protagonist's weaknesses.

The other big unintended consequences from this film come from Rimuru's actions, where he once again mixes his magical and scientific knowledge to devastating effect. However, unlike the last time he did this and ended the lives of 60,000 men, this time, he has an audience. While Luminous Valentine may currently be siding with Rimuru, this is partially because she doesn't see him as a true threat—she believes she (with Hinata at her side) would beat him in a fight. But in showing his true power, Rimuru clearly unsettles her—forcing her to re-evaluate just how dangerous he actually is.

But while Rimuru, his actions, and the resulting consequences are the impetus and framework for this story, this is not his movie. Rather, this film is centered around another character: Gobuta—and this ingenious choice is why the film works as well as it does.

While Gobuta has had his moments to shine throughout the anime, the fact remains that he is largely a joke character. He is the lazy coward who is more powerful than he both appears and believes himself to be. However, that is not to say that he isn't kind-hearted and noble—just that his view of himself and the world has been warped by the fact that he's a mere mortal surrounded by dragons and demi-gods.

This film does an excellent job of showing that, when facing any human opponent this side of Hinata, Gobuta is a beast. The fight scenes with Gobuta are the best in the film. Rather than being centered around big flashy magic attacks, his fights are grounded, realistic, and fun—much more like an animated Jackie Chan fight than anything else. But better still, Gobuta's fights also serve a dual purpose, building a repertoire between him and the film's heroine, Yura, as the two protect and help each other through a series of punches and kicks.

Yura herself is a noble, if sheltered, priestess who is trying to do the right thing for her people and the Dragon she serves. Gobuta is completely different from the nobility she usually associates with, even though he has the ear of a king just as she does. He is a free spirit who acts based on his inherent moral code rather than any political maneuverings. Helping out someone in trouble—be that assassins in the shadows or those caused by a heavy heart—is just in his nature. It is a purity of spirit that immediately attracts her to him, even though he is a goblin. Their romance is the core of this movie. For while Rimuru may be able to vanquish the villain in a blast of powerful magic, it is Gobuta alone who can save the girl—because he alone has built the emotional connection with her that allows her to be saved in the first place.

As you may have guessed from my earlier ravings about Gobuta's fight scenes, this film is a solid step up from both the TV series and the previous feature film. Be it the grounded fights or the flashy magic ones, everything looks great from top to bottom. Each character also gets several new designs (i.e., vacation wear, swimsuits, and the like), which goes a long way to making this movie feel like more than a simple cash grab.

The music is generally great, from Yura's traditional-sounding priestess song to the J-Rock music used for the climax. The only real issue musically comes from when both of the aforementioned songs are played at the same time, making for a discordant mess—especially as one is diegetic while the other is non-diegetic.

All in all, I admit to being pleasantly surprised by this movie. As an original side story to an already completed light novel tale, it can obviously make no major changes to the ongoing story. However, by centering things around an often-underutilized side character like Gobuta, we get a story that, at the very least, has emotional weight to go along with the eye candy. I wholly recommend this film to anyone invested in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime—or anyone who wants to watch a diminutive goblin lay out a group of assassins using nothing but a ladder.