The Workplace Inspiration Behind That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime's Rimuru

When it comes to bizarre premises for storytelling, the medium of anime has pretty much got the market cornered. Take "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime," for example; from the title alone, you already know that this is going to get weird. However, the Isekai genre, a term for stories about characters who are transported to other worlds or realities, has a knack for making these strange scenarios effective and relatable.

"That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime" follows Japanese businessman Satoru Mikami (Takuma Terashima) as he is transported to a fantasy world where he becomes a lowly slime. However, a deal with a dragon sees him take on the identity of Rimuru Tempest (Miho Okasaki) in hopes of breaking the dragon's curse and building a new life for himself in this world. Fuse, who created "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime," has some very grounded and everyday inspiration for certain aspects of Rimuru's personality and drive.

Sitting down with Mipon for his first English language interview, Fuse recalled the other fields he had worked in prior to becoming a mangaka, and how his time in the labor industry had a particular influence on Rimuru. "Rimuru is basically my image of an ideal boss. As much as I don't like to admit it, during my time as a construction foreman, I would lose my temper when my workers wouldn't listen to my instructions," Fuse confessed. "I know that isn't right."

While anyone who has worked heavy labor jobs like construction knows how challenging and frustrating the work can be, no one wants to get yelled at. Fuse acknowledged this point as he continued to explain. "However, it is very difficult to lead people and accomplish a task together, and I couldn't help but become emotional at times," Fuse admitted. "Drawing on that experience, I imagined what things might have been like if I had a boss like Rimuru and included that in TenSura's story." TenSura, by the way, is shorthand for "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime."

The ideal boss definitely sounds like an effective set-up for a character, especially if you want fans to be on their side. As fans are definitely on Rimuru's side in the hit anime series, it would seem that Fuse's inspiration behind the character has paid off immeasurably for him (via Parrot Analytics).

This isn't the only key thing from Fuse's time in the construction industry that helped to inform "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime," though. The mangaka also uses his experience in the labor industry as a reminder to work on what he can when he can instead of stressing over the entirety of a project all at once.

"If you're struggling with something at work, for example, you won't get anywhere if you just keep worrying about it," Fuse observed. "At my previous job [as a construction site foreman], the work wouldn't wait for me to be ready, so I simply had to do whatever I was able to at the time," he concluded.

Honestly, this is great advice for just about any situation, so it's easy to see why the "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime" creator uses it as an example. There's almost always something you can improve on while you're waiting for your next assignment at work. Speaking of which, fans will no doubt be hoping that the upcoming third season of the series will be even better than the first two.