The first film of the popular isekai That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime was first officially announced in September 2021 via the film's official Twitter, with an initial arrival date of sometime in Fall 2022. However, since then, there have been various developments regarding the upcoming Slime movie, titled That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime: The Movie – Scarlet Bond, with the film's first trailer being released earlier this year in March.
The initial marketing of the film touted a November 2022 release date in Japan for the That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime film, with Crunchyroll being behind the film's distribution to theatres in all major territories (except in Asia) sometime in early 2023.
Plot
The plot of That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime: The Movie – Scarlet Bond is an original story created by the author of the series' original light novels, Fuse. The events of the upcoming film take place at some point after the events of the anime's second season, therefore placing the events of Scarlet Bond after Rimuru's ascension (descent?) to Demon Lord status. It is, at this stage, unclear whether the events of the upcoming film can be considered canonical. The film features an unexpected antagonist – an Ogre survivor named Hiiro, who happens to be Benimaru's older brother.
With the bonds within Tempest being stronger than ever, the reappearance of someone from Benimaru's past, as well as a conspiracy brewing in the small neighbouring country of Razha; the ties that bind the Ogres of Tempest will be put under immense strain. From what is shown in the film's teaser trailers, Hiiro has emerged from Razha and enlists Rimuru and company to help him and the mysterious queen, who possesses a strange power, deal with a major problem that could lead to the nation's ruin. Queen Towa makes use of a mysterious scarlet tiara's power in order to drive back a strange "poison" that threatens the nation of Razha; however, use of the tiara's power has significant drawbacks and ramifications for Towa's health.
Marketing
The film has had two trailers, a few key and teaser visuals, as well as a visual featuring Hiiro's character design released in anticipation of the film, which were made available between the months of March and June. The second trailer for Scarlet Bond was released in August, and it revealed the official release date of the film. That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime: The Movie – Scarlet Bond will be released in Japanese theatres on November 25.
As revealed in the teaser trailers, the production of this film will be done by the same studio that handled the production of the Slime anime series, 8bit (also responsible for the animation production on the upcoming football anime, BLUE LOCK). The animation seen in the trailer is visually striking, and the character designs made available are well-done, so the teasers have definitely done their job in bolstering anticipation for the film's release.
Staff and Cast
The direction of Scarlet Bond is the responsibility Yasuhito Kikuchi, who returns to the director's seat having been in that role for the anime series, while the screenplay is the work of Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun). Music is the jurisdiction Hitoshi Fujima, who also worked on Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers (2016). Art design will be done by Masahiro Satō and Rémy Boisseuil, while series character designer Ryouma Ebata returns, alongside Art Director Ayumi Satō, Director of Photography Hiroshi Satō, Sound Director Jin Aketagawa and Chief Animation Director Yūichi Tanaka.
New cast members arrive on the scene to voice the characters that are introduced in the film. Yūma Uchida (Megumi Fushiguro, JUJUTSU KAISEN) will play Hiiro, while Queen Towa will be played by Riko Fukumoto. The information regarding the film's theme and insert songs has also been released, with it being reported that the song "Make Me Feel Better", performed by MindaRyn will be the theme song for Scarlet Bond, while insert songs will be "Jōka" performed by TRUE and "SPARKLES", performed by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION. All three artists have had songs used in the Slime anime series, and the film maintains a sense of sonic continuity in that regard.
That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime: The Movie – Scarlet Bond is set for release in Japan on November 25, and will be in theatres globally in early 2023.