Hello, I'm 25 years old and have always been a big video game and anime fan since I was 4 years old when I first played Super Mario Sunshine. I have also always been a collector and I have been collecting anime merchandise for quite a few years now. My number one goal when collecting is to collect figures and goods of my favourite characters.
My main interests in life are: Video Games, Anime, Drawing, Fictional Characters, Plushies, Figures, Toys and Character Goods.
I have always used fictional characters as an escape from bullying and personal issues in my life. I am an eccentric person especially when it comes to my interests which caused me to be bullied a lot in school and college, this in turn made me feel too scared to like anything to do with anime and manga for two years which surprisingly was even more misery inducing than being bullied. This continued until I eventually decided to replay one of my favourite video games of all time Tales Of Symphonia: Dawn Of The New World and I decided to embrace my interests once again and never let people stop me from doing what I love, as hard as it is with how boring society is. Anyway, with that little bit of my emo anime protagonist backstory out of the way, let's get onto the interesting stuff, how I found out about Rimuru-sama!
In late 2018 my friend showed me this image of three Isekai anime protagonists. I had seen the other two before Tanya and Ainz but never the blue haired one on the right, I said it's "Ainz and those random guys". My friend said it was "that one slime from that recent anime".
Art by Sakusan Yousoeki
I was intrigued by this blue haired slime and a few days later I decided to find out more by googling the slime anime. I found out that the protagonists name was Rimuru Tempest and the anime was called Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken (That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime). I found this image of him and was smitten. Long blue hair, dark clothing and golden eyes? Sign me up!
Artist Unknown
I then went onto My Figure Collection and started looking at his merchandise and immediately wanted to get his EXQ figure but I decided to watch some clips and the anime first, unfortunately the first clip I saw spoiled what happened when Rimuru got his human form as it was the latest episode that had just aired but I still wanted to watch the anime anyway. When I started the anime I was immediately hooked, and loved Rimuru's character (and I quickly ordered that Rimuru EXQ figure which arrived just a couple of days after Christmas) I continued watching the anime every week all the way until it finished airing on March 26th 2019 which made many a drab Monday just that little bit better.
Figure by Banpresto
The main thing I loved about Tensura was Rimuru, he really captured my imagination with his design and personality. In regards to his design I think both his slime form and human form are equally loveable. His slime form is very adorable and is incredibly versatile and I love how at the end of each manga volume Taiki Kawakami sensei draws him as a different food. I absolutely love his human form too due to the elegance and cuteness of his design with his golden eyes, long silver-blue hair and his iconic blue coat and scarf. I love both of his forms however his human form was the first one I saw and fell in love with because I l adore androgynous characters.
I also enjoy his personality as he is very funny, kind, caring, understanding, shy, quirky and charismatic but is not without his flaws. He has a dark side where due to his loneliness in his previous life he can at times be very cold and cunning and is not afraid of decimating any forces that dare to harm his subordinates and countrymen. He tends to react very severely in such situations but I feel like this adds depth to his character and makes him very empathetic. One of his greatest struggles are his anxiety issues which cause him to be incredibly humble, doubt himself and feel unworthy. Other characters call him a pushover, say he is a "softie" and King Gazel tells him he is too humble and soft-spoken as a leader. However, this unassuming nature causes many to doubt his abilities and underestimate him so they get quite a shock when Rimuru gets angry. As Hakurou said in the manga when Rimuru was in a rage "You have angered the one creature you should never have riled".
I think one of my favourite Rimuru quotes has to be "I underestimated you, but not as much as you underestimated me" as it perfectly sums up his character and I can definitely relate a lot to the feelings of underestimation he experienced. I find Rimuru's personality traits very relatable and I feel that Rimuru as a character embodies so many of the same feelings I experience. I also enjoy the fact that he was liberated from the mundanities of his previous life of living as a salaryman by being reincarnated as a slime allowing him to get a bit more confidence in himself. I feel like Rimuru's story is very relatable to someone who doesn't fit in. He has the perfect dichotomy between good and evil. I really related to Rimuru's uncomfortable transformation from a human into a slime (sadly I haven't had my own transformation into a slime just yet!) and how initially ashamed he felt with himself, his own voice, his appearance, the fears around not trusting his own body and feeling like a slime out of water.
The slime also seems to suffer from a case of thanatophobia (fear of death) as most clearly shown in the manga / light novel only sequence where Rimuru goes on a journey with the Adventurers and he starts worrying about his own mortality and about the fact that he will inevitably outlive all of the friends he has made. He then wonders if it's even worth getting close to anyone at all as he states "If making a close friend only means they will die and leave me behind...would I choose loneliness instead?" This rather philosophical moment means so much to me as someone who spends such a long time fretting about the doom and gloom of death!
Rimuru has definitely been a rock for me (A Rimurock?) He really cheers me up and always makes me laugh when I'm sad, he even graduated with me! I fell in love with his beautifully kind heart most of all and there's no one I'd rather have as my Partner in Slife! I love doing Rimuru themed activities such as collecting his merchandise, adding items of him to the database on MFC, archiving his content, playing Rimuru mobile games, reading the manga, the light novels and cosplaying him. So far I have over 1000 items in my Rimuru collection and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon even now that he has taken over my room!