Anime and Manga - I respect the first human to have eaten a mushroom

[majestic]

6 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Good luck, .

I'm lucky that this is from a gaiden movie series, so not a whole lot of time wasted in case it goes sideways. Touching the movie proper or the series? Yeah, hell no.

[Bartimaeus]

It's been a hot minute, but finally a few more episodes of Texhnolyze. Not sure if it's because it has been a week, but I don't seem to have much grasp over what's happening with the plot anymore. Well, there's not that much left, so either I'll find the thread again somewhere along the way or I won't.

Edited May 16, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

I really need to finish the series, I think I was over halfway through Fist of the Northstar whe life distracted me.  I'd seen the movie years ago that was edited out of it, so wanted to see the whole thing.

[majestic]

So, I had like half an hour today to watch something, and I spent it on continuing Texhnolyze watched a bit of Raō Den: Jun'ai no Shō, because of course I did. It's quite interesting - not the film, I mean - to see that while I enjoyed the occassional martial arts Eastern and martial arts trash films (think Kickboxer) in general, this is just, neither. Being animated makes the martial arts feats unimpressive, but to be fair, as does modern wire-fu shenanigans, and the film so far is by far and large just not very appealing to me in anything it does.

On the bright side, there's only like thirty seconds of fanservice so far, not counting buff dudes with exposed chests. If those count, then it's nothing but fanservice from start to where I stopped, maybe even to finish, who knows. It's origin as an 80ies anime can't be denied either, some characters are rocking utterly awesome mullets. Imagine, for a bit, if Conan the Barbarian and Mad Max: Road Warrior had an animated lovechild that got adopted by an ancient Japanese martial arts master who didn't quite understand that the shlock these films had is part of the appeal*. The one thing it doesn't do is having that 80ies style, and it really could have used some of it. I don't know how the series is, and I never will, but this really is lacking a certain amount of fun. I wouldn't call it dour yet, but it's not far away.

Other than it being about growing stronger, conquest, death, some more conquest and it beginning with one of the characters offering his eyesight in exchange for the life of a hopeful martial arts youth it's, so far, at least not totaly offensive, but between this and re-watching the Visions of Escaflowne movie, I'd rather do the latter.

I wonder if I'll learn a lesson or two from this. Probably not.

*In terms of visuals, you could also say it's a less colorful version of early JoJo's, and by less colorful I mean it's grey, with some shades of grey and a bit of grey, with the occasional brown tones added to the mix. In terms of entertainment value, it's aso like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, if JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was deadly serious. That is to say, it's... yeah. Almost dour. Yep.

Edited May 17, 2022 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

11 minutes ago, majestic said:

but between this and re-watching the Visions of Escaflowne movie, I'd rather do the latter

At least Merle is in the Escaflowne movie. The twenty or so minutes I watched of the 1986 film was "spontaneously cease to exist" levels of drab and boring, as is often the case for me with 80s action stuff. It didn't help that I had a misleading impression of what the series was going to be about from the outset, as I somehow thought that it was going to be the adventures of a muscle god and a little girl, which sounded like it could be an interesting dynamic in what looked to be a brutal violence setting - if it was done right. Then I actually started to watch the film and quickly realized that I had made a terrible mistake and it wasn't even like 5% of what I imagined it would be like.

25 minutes ago, majestic said:

If those count, then it's nothing but fanservice from start to where I stopped, maybe even to finish, who knows.

Well, it's certainly there to appeal to boys, albeit in a very different manner.

[Gorth]

Watched more slime episodes... up to and including 8 iirc.

Poor Rimuru gets exposed to Elven fortune telling and sees the face of a girl he's supposed to spend the rest of his life with. Turned out to be true... in a way.

Right away in the episode following that prediction, he runs into a group of "adventurers". 3 of them are bumbling fools, good people, but not the most skilled adventurers. Together with them is a masked girl. The girl, when she eventually drops her mask is the girl shown to him by the fortune teller and her name is Shizu.

Wondering how a Japanese girl ended up in the same world as himself, he finds out that she's a "summon" (back in episode 1, there was a conversation between Rimuru and the dragon, where he found out that he himself wasn't a summon, but a reincarnation). While summons maintain their original bodies, they can only be summoned by very powerful magic and are usually bound/enslaved to the summoner. So is the case of Shizu, whose master forced her to merge with a fire spirit (named Ifrit iirc). She then spent decades working for her master as a blade, a killer and an assassin. She remember killing her best (only?) friend in this new world, when her body acted against her will, obeying orders and incinerating the other young girl before her eyes.

The last thing she remembered from her old life was fire and bombs raining from the sky (Japan during WWII). Rimuru who is from a much newer time period shares his memories with her, showing what Japan looks like many decades later. But... despite her youthful looks, she's old. Like, very old and eventually she loses her control of the fire spirit she's merged with. They ensuing battle ends up killing her (and destroying the new village the goblins had just finished building). She has a few last requests from Rimuru. Confront her summoner and consume her to preserve her that "infinite stomach" Rimuru has. That way, they can be together forever. Quite the bittersweet ending

Rimurus analyze skills (which he can use on consumed items) enables him to project himself into a new form, looking like a young human boy with blue hair.

 

Edit: As for how Rimuru beat Shizu, by consuming the fire spirit, which sets her free of its control. But ultimately also left her without the fire spirits effects and strength. A look inside Rimuru shows the spirit suddenly face to face with an amused dragon lord, who seems to find it all very amusing (the dragon from episode 1, who agreed to this being the only way for it to escape it's imprisonment in the cave). It's not really a stomach Rimuru has, more like a portal leading to some kind of pocket dimension.

 

Edit2: The hapless little group of adventurers that accompanied Shizu... after one of them got the bright idea of poking a burning stick into an ants nest

[InsaneCommander]

Spy x Family

Episode 4:

Anya and her parents go to the Academy for the admission tests, which include looking elegant and impeccable, but Anya steps on poo and wants to pick her nose. Despite having the test's answers and being able to read the other students' thoughts, Anya barely passes it.

 

Episode 5:

Anya is accepted in the Academy and the family celebrates, but Anya refuses to go to school unless her father reenacts a rescue from her favorite tv show. Yor gets completely drunk and doesn't notice that Loid is a real spy.

 

Episode 6:

Some fools try to kidnap Anya. What could possibly go wrong?

On the first day at school Loid learns that only the top students and their parents will be in the meeting he needs to attend. Not believing Anya can qualify, he prepares a plan B: to have her become his target's son's best friend. She reads his thoughts, but still ruins the plan.

 

Edited May 19, 2022 by InsaneCommander

[majestic]

I have honestly no idea what to make of Spy x Family. That looks both adorable and horrifying.

[Bartimaeus]

The End of Texhnolyzelion: Uh...this sure went somewhere. So I'm gonna need a multi-page majestic plot and thematic analysis of this one, stat.

One thing I really appreciate about shorter shows is that...er, well, they're short. Okay, so that's not exactly groundbreaking news, but it's doubly true for dark, violent, and/or difficult to follow shows like this where you, quite frankly, would get exhausted by the show over time. I'm sure that Breaking Bad is an excellent show with many objectively good qualities, but it's literally 60 hours long - about thirty long movies worth. That's a really long time to be wallowing in gritty violence and nihilistic misery, and it tends to make it so I lose interest in them because I just don't want to do that at such a ridiculous length. 60 hours of Sailor Moon I can do, 60 hours of Breaking Bad I cannot. Anyways, that's all to say that I can appreciate it when a show like Texhnolyze clocks in at like 6 to 8 hours instead - it makes all the difference in the world for me being able to complete it.

Spy x Family: I almost want to try it out myself, and then I remember that I'm me.

[Gorth]

Up to episode 13 in the story about my favourite slime...

Rimuru practises his new human body. He has also picked up a "body double" skill, so due to a lack of mirrors in the world, he uses that to see what he actually looks like. Much to his horror, he realizes that his otherwise pretty young face is attached to an androgynous body with bits and pieces missing

Wondering why he's looking like a kid (he was a 37 year old man in his previous life) and a bit uncannily, looking very similar to Shizu, he experiments with adult versions of a human body. Trying first a man, then a woman. The latter resulting in a lot of blushing and rejecting of the idea of adult, gender specific bodies. The young, androgynous human it is. He also repaired Shizu's mask and keeps it part as a keepsake to remember her by and part because it has magical (or rather anti magical) properties, masking the wearers aura and hiding his true power.

 

Things are happening in the world outside the "goblin village" (because they are no longer normal goblins, nor is the village recognizable as a goblin village). Somebody as of yet unknown to the viewer other than the name, Lord Gelmud, finds a dying orc and tampers with it. Subsequently, the great forest of Jura (where Rimuru and his followers live) gets invaded by a massive orc army.

The first people to get annihilated were the ogres. Rimuru runs into a small group of ogre survivors, who attacks him because of the mask he's wearing (Shizu's mask). The orcs that wiped them out was led by a "Majin" wearing a similar mask, so they assumed it was him. After beating some sense into them Rimuru decides to name them. As far as I understand the whole naming of monsters thing, it's not a trivial thing (which is why most monsters have no names). It requires a lot of magical energy to bestow a name on a monster and iirc, Rimuru went into several days of coma when he named all the goblin villages. On the other end, receiving a name makes a monster a lot stronger/smarter/etc. The 6 ogres becomes something else, becoming "Kijin" (just like the goblins became first hobgoblins, the dire wolves became something else and so on). They are now a force to be reckoned with, owing allegiance to Rimuru and moving in with his extended goblin and dwarf family in the village. The ogre leader Benimaru becoming a truly powerful fighter and magic user, Shion declaring herself Rimuru's "secretary", the scout (Soei) can suddenly create lots of body doubles to keep watch in many places at once (and teleport around). The old sword fighter, Hakuro, who in the first encounter managed to sneak past Rimuru's defenses and cut off his arm, turns into... something out of a martial arts movie.

(I think a console game was made for the franchise too)

 

Next to face the orcs are the Lizardmen, who lives in the marshlands around the central lake of the forest. Separate post coming up for that

 

Edit: Shion's cooking really is bad...

[Amentep]

Space Cobra -

Episode XXI -"The Two Sword Kings" (Futari no Sōdo Ō) & Episode XXII - "The Underground Visitor" (Chitei no Kyaku)
 

Spoiler

The Two Sword Kings

• After stopping the Swordians, Cobra and Lady are captured.  Cobra awakes and finds himself in prison with other prisoners.  It seems the Swordians drain the life forces of those they hunt and they've taken to eating the prisoners (metaphysically).
• Cobra  uses his super-strength to escape; the other prisoners believe there is no escape.
• The Swordians are traveling to another colony to capture new prisoners.
• Cobra searches for Lady, but instead finds the true ruler of the Swordians, Jeek; he's been imprisoned so long he can't even create a psychic force to move.  Cobra hides in armor and weilds the Swordian leader in a fight against the usurper, Babel.
• Cobra gets found out, but also reveals that Babel has also been cheating in the fight (and presumably, the one where he beat Jeek(- his armor is a robot!
• Babel uses his mental powers to switch Cobra's senses around.

Trippy, man...duuuuuude.

• Cobra, with guidance from Jeek (and finanally remembering the fact that they'd already established that if Cobra can sense the presence of something the Psychogun can target it) destroys both the robot and Babel.
• Cobra walks away (forgetting that he was searching for Lady).

The Underground Visitor

• I guess Cobra found Lady after all, as she and Cobra decide to visit Jingoro - the man who created their ship, The Turtle.
• Although Lady suggests Cobra might have an ulterior motive...

Okay, we get it Lady, Cobra's a perv!

• When they arrive they find that Jingoro and his daughter are missing.  It seems the Pirate Guild has taken some of Jingoro's rock mining equipment and taken over the planet, raiding at will from an underground base.  With the help of Jingoro's robot Harvey, he gets one of Jingoro's other mining ships and heads to the base.
• After several fights, Cobra and Harvey crash into a giant cavern.  Getting out to look they are beset upon by mindless cave people
• One of the mindless cave people is Yuko!

Grrr! Argh!

• The pirates attack and Yuko reveals she's been hiding amid the mindless cave people - actually drug addicts who've been mining a psychotropic mineral for the pirates guild.  Jingoro has been killed by the pirates.
• Yuko, Cobra and Harvey infiltrate their manufacturing base and destroy it, ending the Pirates drug trade (and presumably killing all the mindless people in the cave.
• Cobra asks Yuko on a date by the romantic light of the lava destroying the factory.  Harvey objects and we end on them comedically fighting.

Clearly Harvey has been talking to Lady

The Swordian 2 parter story was kind of lame, ultimately, and while the Underground Visitor had the makings of a better story, the fact that its only one episode makes the narrative turn on a dime (the biggest turn is Yuko's reveal which seems to have a pointless bait & switch over the course of about 2 seconds).  Also whoever thought it was a good idea to have two back-to-back stories where Cobra fights opponents who travel underground?  I'd have ditched the Swordians and split this story up into a two-parter (or combined it with the escape part of the Swordian story and made it a properly structured three parter with the first part being Cobra and Lady helping people escape the underground traveling Pirates instead of Swordians).

[Gorth]

That "Cobra" stuff looks like something out of a 70's Belgian comic... I might have to check it out

[InsaneCommander]

19 hours ago, majestic said:

I have honestly no idea what to make of Spy x Family. That looks both adorable and horrifying.

Interesting that you say that, considering I avoid mentioning the most disturbing things in the story. For example episodes 1 and 2 spoilers only):
 

Spoiler

Anya got her telepathic powers from experiments she was subject to when she was younger. She is an orphan and was desperate to be adopted, having been returned to the orphanage a few times before Loid found her. Now she will spend her time with two people that will keep thinking about things like assassination, lies and so on. This can't be healthy for Anya. And she is so desperate to have a family that she will even help Loid with his mission.

Also, since Loid is not from this country, I imagine somebody could send Yor to kill him when/if he is discovered. At best Anya will grow up with some serious psychological issues. At worst she will have a traumatic time with her parents and will become an orphan again.

But yes, there is plenty of adorable too.

 

16 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spy x Family: I almost want to try it out myself, and then I remember that I'm me.

[HoonDing]

"That "Cobra" stuff looks like something out of a 70's Belgian comic... I might have to check it out "

Read the manga, the artist is named Terasawa Buichi.

Edited May 20, 2022 by HoonDing

[majestic]

majestic can't Komminicate, episode... yeah, whatever. 16, it's 16.

This one was okayish. The first episode since the first one that was, well, okayish, even though it didn't have any moments for Tadano and Komi to spend some time alone. One of the things this show does at the moment is keeping Komi at a standstill for everything to work. I don't know if that is specific to the manga, but Komi began talking at some point, at least to Tadano, and now we're no longer doing even that.

She should at least be able to talk to Najimi now. Eh.

[InsaneCommander]

Spy x Family 7:

I forgot to mention in my previous comment. Anya is 4 years old and is pretending to be 6. Imagine how it would be like going to school like that. Imagine doing the homework for kids two years older...

 

It's Anya's first class. She tries to get the mission back on track but, despite her brave efforts, things don’t go well.

Yor tries to help her with math, but an assassin’s thoughts are not the best examples for a child. So Anya freaks out and lock herself in her room.

Still, she ends up studying on her own until falling asleep. At least now Loid understands he has to be a better father.

Edited May 22, 2022 by InsaneCommander

[Gorth]

That time etc. etc. slime (too long title)

 

After having more or less genocided the Ogres, the Orc horde enters the swamp lands of the Lizardmen. Fortunately, the one of them with a bit of brain is their king and he orders his son, Gabiru (who has no brain), to leave their village with a Lizardman army and recruit allies amongst the neighbouring people, mostly Goblins, to help with the fight against the Orc horde. He does that for a while, straining his intellect to the bursting point in doing so. His warriors are no less intellectually challenge and start goading him into seizing power, because... he's such a great warrior, a hero and a genius, much better at everything than his dad, the king. If anyone has see The Fifth Element, it was like a throwback to Ruby Rhod and the way his sycophants were fawning all over him. I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but he really is smarter, stronger and faster than his warriors, because he got a name bestowed upon him by Lord Gelmud (who we know nothing about at this point except he also has a master whose bidding he's doing).

Some particularly hilarious scenes has Gabiru basking in sunlight beams, reflected off the shields of his warriors (who points the light towards their hero), looking like a movie star posing for the cameras...

Eventually believing his own delusions, he deposes of his father the king and decides to round up Rimuru's village as "cannon fodder", in addition to the 7000 goblins he already conscripted for the glorious nation of the Lizardmen.

Tl;dr; it didn't go to plan and his unconscious form gets carried off by his warriors. However, Rimuru has come to the conclusion (well, not really by himself, but a visit of a Dryad, the caretaker of the forest convinced him) that the Orc Lord and his horde (200000 strong) needs to be dealt with.

Gathering his villages and the 6 Kijin (ex-Ogres), he and his army squares off against the Orc army. Rimuru doesn't even get to flex any of his magic muscles as between them, the 6 Kijin annihilates a quarter of the Orc army and forces a confrontation between the Orc Lord and Rimuru.

To make a long and epic battle short, Rimuru is victorious and the Orc Lord is mortally wounded. From the dying Orc Lord, Rimuru learns a bit of exposition, who the Orc Lord was before he was given a name and why he was found dying in a wasteland by Lord Gelmud. A long and devastating famine had threatened to wipe out of the Orcs, dying a slow and painful death from starvation. Gelmud used this by bestowing a new ability on the Orc Lord, who could pass it on to his people. Similar to Rimuru, Orcs can (or could, the ability got consumed by Rimuru when defeating the Orc Lord) eat not only dead enemies, but their own dead and so sustain themselves, even growing stronger and absorbing the strength of the fallen they eat. Basically turning them into an almost mindless horde of ravenous, all consuming swarm of land sharks.... but, Rimuru offers the surviving Orcs, that they can join his village. They get food and shelter in return for providing muscle and labour to they growing community.

Some time during the battle with the Ord Lord (named 'Geld'), Lord Gelmud had stressful experience where his head got separated permanently from his body....

 

Last thing to do, Rimuru frees the Lizardman king from captivity and they enter an alliance. At a gathering, they all declare Rimuru "Grand Chancellor of The Great Forest of Jura" (with the Dryad's blessing).

A few hints and about what was going on before, including Lord Gelmud's master, but not much info yet.

Gabiru gets sentence exile (much to his surprise, as he was convinced he was going to die) by his father, the king. Three of his closest syco... followers are overjoyed, knowing that he'll survive, and decides to follow him into exile.

 

[InsaneCommander]

10 hours ago, Gorth said:

Gabiru

He is hilarious.

 

[majestic]

So this is the point in my life where I'm starting to think that Steins;Gate wasn't the bottom of the barrel for terrible ideas...

[InsaneCommander]

7 minutes ago, majestic said:

So this is the point in my life where I'm starting to think that Steins;Gate wasn't the bottom of the barrel for terrible ideas...

[InsaneCommander]

The Rising of the Shield Hero S2, episodes 5-7:

Naofumi and his friends defeat the Spirit Tortoise, but not without paying a high price. The real culprit is still alive and has run to another world.

After pursuing him, everyone gets back to level 1, which means Naofumi can't effectively use his Shield abilities and so can't attack. Raphtalia reverts to childhood and can barely raise her sword. And Filo... is probably an egg somewhere. Let's hope nobody wants to eat an omelet.

This season was not as good as the first one, but this last episode resets things and it looks better now.

[Bartimaeus]

The post-Princess Tutu show pick: Dennou Coil, episodes 2 and 3. This show is...I don't know, kind of like the tone and cast of My Neighbor Totoro meets the setting of Ghost in the Shell, I guess is how I'd put it. That doesn't really sound like it should be a good combination, but the show has been putting the appropriate amount of time into having the characters (all five of the important ones who have been girls/women so far, although I think it's likely a younger boy will eventually join them) have nicer, calmer moments of silliness and fun while also having them run for their lives from the government(?) machines trying to hunt and clean up after them in their very strange tech city, so it's been really good so far. It's a shorter series at twenty-six episodes. I'm having to watch this one in English instead of Japanese because I'm not watching it alone, but the English dub is also good (although, in my opinion, not quite as good as the Japanese, but it's good enough that I don't mind). I still haven't decided which show to focus on next on my own.

I would like to once again implore that Madhouse stop making shows that I have to watch all the way through - it's very bad news when I enjoy something from even 2007 that they made. It's also a lot more lighthearted and normal show compared to Texhnolyze, which I'm pretty happy about. Texhnolyze was good, but I need something a little more straightforward and fun.

10 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

The Rising of the Shield Hero S2, episodes 5-7:

The summary of the premise I read about this show sure went somewhere:

Spoiler

Naofumi Iwatani, an easygoing Japanese youth, was summoned into a parallel world along with three other young men from parallel universes to become the world's Cardinal Heroes and fight inter-dimensional hordes of monsters called Waves. Each of the heroes were respectively equipped with their own legendary equipment when summoned. Naofumi happened to receive the Legendary Shield, the sole defensive equipment, while the other heroes received respectively a sword, a spear, and a bow, weapons meant for attack. Unlike the other heroes who are fully supported by the kingdom and gain several strong allies each, Naofumi's luck turns to the worse after his single companion, revealed to be the kingdom's princess, betrays him, steals all his belongings, and leaves him devoid of all assistance and supplies after she falsely accuses him of sexually assaulting her.

Mocked by the nobility and shunned by everyone from his fellow Heroes to peasants, a now cynical Naofumi is forced to train as a hero alone while working to make ends meet, until he buys from a slave trader a young tanuki demi-human girl named Raphtalia and an egg that hatches into a bird-like monster whom he names "Filo", both quickly growing into adulthood and becoming powerful warriors under his care. As they little by little gain the trust and gratitude of the people with their heroic actions, Naofumi and his companions work together to carry out their mission as saviors as they unravel the mystery of the Waves and the reason why they are a threat not only to their world, but to other worlds as well.

I'm guessing the orange girl pictured above is this Raphtalia?

Edited May 25, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[Gorth]

My favourite slime series apparently has a spin off series "Slime Diaries", which is placed chronologically in the middle of season 1. A number of episodes featuring the cast, but events being independent from the main season (and episodes also being "stand alone"). I might have to get that one too and watch when I finish season 1. Having a lot of fun watching it so far. The skin on my face feeling a bit tight from the constant smiling

Edit: Currently at episode 20 in season 1, will write a summary a bit later

 

[InsaneCommander]

17 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

The summary of the premise I read about this show sure went somewhere:

  Hide contents

Naofumi Iwatani, an easygoing Japanese youth, was summoned into a parallel world along with three other young men from parallel universes to become the world's Cardinal Heroes and fight inter-dimensional hordes of monsters called Waves. Each of the heroes were respectively equipped with their own legendary equipment when summoned. Naofumi happened to receive the Legendary Shield, the sole defensive equipment, while the other heroes received respectively a sword, a spear, and a bow, weapons meant for attack. Unlike the other heroes who are fully supported by the kingdom and gain several strong allies each, Naofumi's luck turns to the worse after his single companion, revealed to be the kingdom's princess, betrays him, steals all his belongings, and leaves him devoid of all assistance and supplies after she falsely accuses him of sexually assaulting her.

Mocked by the nobility and shunned by everyone from his fellow Heroes to peasants, a now cynical Naofumi is forced to train as a hero alone while working to make ends meet, until he buys from a slave trader a young tanuki demi-human girl named Raphtalia and an egg that hatches into a bird-like monster whom he names "Filo", both quickly growing into adulthood and becoming powerful warriors under his care. As they little by little gain the trust and gratitude of the people with their heroic actions, Naofumi and his companions work together to carry out their mission as saviors as they unravel the mystery of the Waves and the reason why they are a threat not only to their world, but to other worlds as well.

I'm guessing the orange girl pictured above is this Raphtalia?

Yes, that is Raphtalia. And the summary is wrong about Filo. Well, I think it is. And here is where you find the worst part of this anime. She is a giant bird that can turn into a little girl, one that doesn't seem to have reached adulthood or at least she thinks and acts like a child. Despite that, she once stated that she wants to mate with Naofumi. And Spear SPedo hero (that would be good friends with Pedosus) is in love with her or something. There is even a spin-off series about him reversing time multiple times and trying to win her heart. And that is more than I need to know about it.

Still, I enjoy this anime for its fantasy setting and the hardworking of the hero, fighting against all odds and choosing to do the right thing even though few people respect and support him. By the end of the season he clears his name and the people who wronged him face some justice. It is very satisfying.

[Gorth]

My favourite slime... episode 16 to 19 (I think, may be 20, I'll need to double check, but it was a "mini arc", introducing Milim Nava and the world of Demons to Rimuru and his growing society (The Jura Tempest Federation or some such)

Short version, Milim observed the events and the death of the Ord Lord Geld through a scrying ball, while at some demon lords place. What a great opportunity to relieve some of her perpetual boredom

She ends up in the city of Tempest, looking for Rimuru and of course all his loyal subjects sense the threat she poses and attacks her. Not that the combined force of his most powerful subjects is anything Milim can't fix with a flick of a finger. Rimuru shows up and... plays dirty. He had correctly assessed her to be part immensely (and immeasurably) powerful, but also childish. Not only in looks, but in temper and disposition. Challenging her to a duel, he dares her to let him hit her first... which he does with a lump of bee honey which he shoves into her mouth. Suddenly she's willing to call it a draw in return for more of that sweet honey... (she didn't really come to fight anyway, she was bored out of her mind and this place and Rimuru looked like an interesting distraction)

Milim decides to move in (Rimuru's slime form can show some nicely shockeded looking animations) and not only that, Rimuru is not only her friend, but her bestie!

(I "cheated" a bit and checked out some of the background lore and character bios from the manga fandom wikis, especially checking what was cut in the anime adaptation, and Milim is probably the second most powerful demon in existence, rivaled only by another demon lord named 'Guy Crimson', one of three original demon lords, 'Ramiris' being the third, but she plays a significant role a bit later)

 

A number of small side plots, like his followers refining the process of synthetically created healing potions (rather than relying on Rimuru to do the healing all the time) and the minion of another demon lord making the mistake of trying to move as the new "boss" on behalf of his master... until Milim sees it and decides nobody does that to her bestie and proceeds to smash him to a pulp, only stopping short of completely annihilating him because Rimuru interferes (was in one of the previous clips I posted). Rimuru interrogates the minion ('Phobio') a bit and gets information about his master, the demon lord 'Carrion'. But for now, the biggest threat comes from yet another Demon Lord, 'Clayman'. He has the allegiance (for reasons unknown) of 'The Moderate Harlequin Alliance', which he engages to gather information. A powerful being 'Charybdis' is re-awakening and he wants to know if it can be controlled. The two harlequins take it one step further and tricks Phobio into  finding Charybdis under the pretext of it granting him power etc.... and gets literally consumed by it (Charybdis is a kind of spirit only creature, needing a physical body to take over and resculpt to its needs).

A dryad shows up in Rimuru's city and warns Rimuru, that something big and nasty is coming their way and everybody is asked to help, except Milim (Rimuru is part scared of what would happen if Milim really lets loose and part worried about relying on someone a bit unreliable). She really wanted to impress her bestie...

 

Long fight short, it ends in a complete disaster. Rimuru does find out that part of Charybdis' mind is filled with so much hatred of Milim it shines through. Rimuru asks Milim to help... and she's very enthusiastic

 

Next up is episode 20 and onwards, but that is another little story arc. Rimuru promised Shizu on her death bed, he would look after the human children she had been teaching at a school for otherworld summons....