Quote Originally Posted by MFauli View Post
Of course, as Ryll mentions, it's already being set up that she's just being manipulated, too. Again: Super convenient aka bad writing: Have a "friendly" character commit evil and excuse it later on with "but she didnt choose to!!1".

I want authors to accept the consequences of their writing, not have their cake and eat it, too. You want a character to destroy and kill? Then stand by that and don't backpaddle later on. Guys, I'm not randomly shitting on this anime, I want a better story and I think we all would benefit from that.
But here's where you're wrong. You dismiss it or conveniently ignore it after it gets pointed out. So I'll point it out again.

Slime isn't lazy writing. It is actually meticulous. The only lazy writing in 36 episodes has been 1) Degenerate, Shizue's OP power, which just got written back out of the story and 2) the demon summoning, as recently discussed.

Almost everything has hint, connection, and payoff throughout the series. Everything. I'm only noticing it now because I've rewatched the anime at least once before this season, and I've read the manga in between seasons so I get to piece these parts back together again with a retrospective mindset.

Some examples:
a) Rimuru talks to Dwargon about Being a Ruler and that it doesn't always mean you can play nice -> shit happens -> Rimuru takes greater responsibility for his citizens and commits atrocities in order to safeguard them
b) Rimuru gleefully trades with the first human settlement he finds -> Tells his people to not harm humans out of sentimentality -> BOTH these things bite him in the ass because other countries view Tempest as weak from that interaction, and his people can't defend themselves out of having too much respect for his edicts.
c) Rimuru eats a bunch of herbs when he can't even see for an unknown amount of time -> the high potions they create become central to his economy -> those potions save many critical characters -> but not the citizens he cares about the most
d) Gabiru. Everything about the dude. His arc mirrors the dwarf scientist's, and now they both work partially banished in the cave.
e) Gobta. Scrappy little shit. Gets into trouble -> Grows after accompanying Rimuru on a few journeys elsewhere -> gets trained by Hakuoro -> Keeps his cool later on when they face their greatest threat so far -> Accomplished fighter and scout who operates with honor and patience and honestly is probably the premier representative of the goblins at this point
f) Benimaru's progressive gag about how horrible Shion's cooking is actually represents how much he cares for her, because he'd be happy even if she was furious, if only she would revive. But in this and previous scenes, we see how much he eats it anyway. Or has eaten it in the past, to the point he actually developed a poison resistance. It's almost a throwaway gag, but in its culmination here, we actually get a lot of insight into the ogre/oni clan that we've never been shown.
g) Shizue, and literally everything surrounding her including the kids that Rimuru mentored, saved in a manner that no one could save Shizue going through the same circumstances. How she continues to influence Rimuru.
Or the half-dozen other ones I've posted about in full detail.

So, before we say "Oh, Milim was brainwashed, and actually innocent the whole time!" or "She's so powerful she just does whatever she wants and rampages and it's all forgivable because Rimuru is a murderer now too!" maybe, just maybe, we should actually let it play out. This series is way better written than you've been giving it credit for.

You're just not connecting all the dots to actually see it.