That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond

 Man, let me tell you about That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. 

I had some adventures with a party of reincarnated travelers. One was reborn as a vending machine, another a hot spring, another used to be a big shot salaryman, but is now a little girl and military genius. One girl was a spider (so what?), another guy a sword, and another guy had his own party with an inept goddess, masochistic knight and boom-happy mage. 

Actually, you didn't, Bo.

Huh?

I think you mixed up a bunch of Japanese franchises together (FYI, all of these "travelers" are from actual Japanese anime and novel franchises). The one we're focused on is based on the novels by the writer "Fuse" and illustrator Mitz Vah. We can now tell you about the time That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime got its own movie, subtitled Scarlet Bond. It's in theaters now.

Those already familiar with the franchise know how a lowly salaryman was murdered by a random mugger and was reincarnated as a blue blob named Rimuru Tempest. Rimuru, who can also take on a humanoid form, makes friends with ogres, godlike dragons, nature spirits, demons, goblins and other fantastic beasts. He rules his own nation and gets involved with fantasy politics.

That's the gist of what I understand. 

The movie is really concerned with the ogre Hiiro, who defects from Evil Lord MacGuffin the Irrelevant (not his actual name). He's gravely wounded in the process and is nursed back to health by Queen Towa (her actual name) with her magical tiara. He pledges himself to her. So, he's concerned when he discovers her powers are killing her. He ends up meeting Rimuru and company, some of whom are his old Ogre friends, by accident. Rimuru decides to help out. It turns out the tiara is cursed and someone in the Queen's inner circle wants her to succumb. What's a slime to do?

The film barely brings anyone up to speed about prior events; when it does, it's usually through Hiiro being late to the party (Orcs burnt down his village! But they're good now. A godlike dragon is now a manga reading lay about. Rimuru has friends in high places, etc.). Its own story is swamped with heavy exposition. It takes a half-hour or so before Rimuru meets Hiiro and gets the plot moving. The conspirator is revealed to be Towa's doctor, a character I completely forgot about for most of the film. Anyone not familiar with the franchise will be lost in the shuffle. I gleamed at some synopses beforehand and I was still lost. 

There are some good concepts here. Rimuru is a good protagonist; he's quite overpowered, but he has a pleasant personality. It's quite amusing to see Hiiro realizing when he's late to the party. Among Rimuru's companions, the best of them is Ranga the giant wolf, who's as funny as he's imposing. His other companions have some good personalities even if you need a pamphlet to discern them. It's quite interesting that the villain behind Towa's curse graciously concedes when her own subordinate, the demon heavy Lacua, tries to cheat contract law. Towa and Hiiro's relationship is fine, even if it's somewhat drenched in the exposition. What worked better was Hiiro's comradery with his ogre friends, particularly the swordsman Benimaru. 

There's some good animation & character designs, along with a decent score by Hitoshi Fujima. That exposition swamp is a challenge, though. You might have a great time watching That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond if you already know what's what. It might make an ok time for everyone else. It's no classic, but it's still a decent matinee. Maybe I should check out the anime.