BRING IT HOME GOBTA! | That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime - Episode 21 | Season 3
Added 2025-04-20 12:18:20 +0000 UTCThe Tempest martial arts tournament is underway, bringing with it some wild matchups.
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I am so far behind on commenting.... It took a long time to edit this comment. The main thing that Rimuru was thinking about the whole time was, what are Masayuki’s actual skills, and who was going to be the best person to reveal it (not to mention be a part of the Big Four). More on this later. No one in Tempest really knows what Masayuki is capable of. Whenever Rimuru is confused by the audience's reaction, it's because Masayuki's Skill had made something that usually would look bad to them somehow look good. Rimuru and most of Rimuru's staff are immune to Chosen One, so they aren't feeling the same way. Remember that the Skill Chosen One has four parts. It's not just luck, or even charm. The audience sees everything he does and interprets in the best light, for instance. When I first read about the Heroic Action function of Chosen One, I thought they way they phrased it "The user's activities are all the first steps to becoming a champion." meant that people would perceive him as a champion more and more, especially in light of the charm aspect of his Skill. It felt like a huge realization when I started thinking that its purpose might even be to make him into a real champion, or even Hero, a fate even extending to his party. It's like a training program for Heroes. I didn't see it as altering fate. I saw that as part of the luck aspect, but I guess that is also fate. In my head they have slightly different meanings. ****************** About Chosen One: The description in the LN trailed off. (It appeared they wanted the reader to know that all the information was not included there.) Not to mention the Skill seems to be using him. I have theorized that the name Chosen One indicates that the World or the Skill itself is doing the choosing. I think it was Luminus who in Ep. 12, referring to Gren, said something like, Heroes are always at the mercy of fate. This is in contrast to how most people's desires define what Skills they get. What is the System (the World) trying to do here? Is this the System: 1. Overriding a person's wishes to give Masayuki that Skill? 2. Aligning with his wishes (as is normal), but doing it in an unusual way? Although Masayuki has to take certain attitudes and/or actions to activate the Skill, it wasn't like when others' Skills were acquired. It's as if he already has that Skill, and he didn't go through any process of receiving that Skill from WotW. It was just unlocked in steps. 3. Bestowing the Skill in a normal desire-fulfillment-based way, but then the Skill acts in an unusual way. Maybe the desire he is demonstrating that triggered the acquisition of the Skill was not wanting to be Heroic, but simply "going with the flow". However, this desire conflicts with being truly Heroic, because that ultimately requires "stepping up". Or do all heroes consent to go with the flow, especially if fate is involved? I think I successfully twisted myself into knots here. But we did see Masayuki proactively use the Skill, knowing how his speech to Bovix would be taken by him and the audience, taking a bit of control back, despite it being a passive Skill. A lot was left out of the fights. Bovix had received (when named by Rimuru) the Extra Skill Self-Regeneration. Equix had received a Skill, name unknown, that had an effect on magic. Raphael had some abilities regarding manipulation of Skills.This includes the functions of Combine/Disassemble that were originally part of Degenerate (Shizu's Skill that was sacrificed to help Great Sage to evolve.) We also had Ability Adjust, part of Raphael. This is what Raphael uses to sort through, optimize, arrange, and discard the many Skills Rimuru receives from his people via his connections with him, and because of the Food Chain function in Beelzebub. Using these Skills, and because Raphael had discovered that Food Chain could be reversed to grant Skills to a named target, Raphael wanted to do an experiment. She wanted to try to apply a Skill Gift to Bovix. Rimuru gave permission and so Raphael applied Ability Adjust to Bovix’s Self-Regeneration to alter it to Ultraspeed Regeneration. Then Raphael gave Magic Interference to Equix in the same way. I don't think these Skills occupy a new category of Skill (a gift skill), these are actual Skills. They don't seem unique, so I guess they are only Extra Skills. But Raphael also apparently gave both of them a Skill Rimuru had never heard of called Determiner. This is a Unique Gift. We have never seen these before. I guess this type of Skill, despite its name, is not limited necessarily to one person, and Unique only refers to how powerful it is. Determiner allows the user to combine two aspects of Uriel, Unlimited Imprisonment and Dominate Space (aka Control Space, iirc). The effect is to restrict or weaken the powers of the target in a space the user created. This was inferior to its source Skills, easily resisted. But if the user was vastly stronger than the target, they could drag them into a dedicated space where they would have the advantage in battle. It might require ingenuity, but it still could be useful. It depends on the opponent. Maybe it could be used as a defensive barrier. The point is, now Raphael has a new ability. Rimuru had only promised to fight Masayuki if he won, not everyone else. Gaiye challenged Rimuru, and Diablo stepped in to say he would fight him if he won the tournament, and if he beat Diablo, then Gaiye could fight Rimuru. Rimuru added that he would fight only if someone beat one of the “Big Four” first. Rimuru might be getting acclimated to the “Big Four” concept, he’s starting to see ways that it can be useful. The crowd was in high spirits. The tournaments in Engrassia were a big deal, especially in a world without many good entertainment options. But in Engrassia the common people couldn't get in, they’d have to wait to learn the results. Here, everyone could enter, and there were four giant screens where you could even see close-ups. They used optical magic and were similar in some ways to the projectors people saw at the previous day’s presentation, and were drawing attention. (And I mentioned then that some people, particularly Gazel, thought he should have kept this technology secret, given that viewing from a distance could give a military advantage.) Regardless, Rimuru had learned in his previous life that these details were important in a sales pitch. Rimuru thought Geld had the best chance against Carrion, although Carrion was way stronger. He thought Bovix and Equix would lose ultimately but wanted them to showcase the Dungeon. He didn’t want Gobta to fight Carrion because it would make Tempest look weak and ludicrous. Masayuki didn’t want to fight at all. Rimuru’s initial thoughts about the competitors: Masayuki: Rimuru can't understand how he wins if no one has ever seen his sword. How can he possibly fool an entire audience? If he had such a large fan base, he must have some ability, but Rimuru still suspects there to be some fraud involved. Rimuru can't believe he's as popular as he is. Jinrai: Rimuru thinks there's something odd here too, because even though he wasn't an A-rank, he must have something to allow him to make it this far, some secret, and Rimuru decided to keep an eye on him. Gaiye (GUY-yay, but cut the yay part short). Maybe an A-rank. Bovix/Gozuru and Equix/Mezuru. I talked about them elsewhere. Easily A-rank. Lion Mask: The three Giant brothers were cheering him on. These guys all lost to Lion Mask the previous day. The message of support that Soka relayed had all Milim's trademark speech patterns, so it was even more obvious who had sent it. Rimuru was hoping Carrion would end up fighting him. Rimuru supposed Masayuki had to lose sometime. Gobta: Probably will lose but maybe if he tried really hard he'd tap into some hidden strength? Maybe he’d awaken to some amazing powers. Pause from Raphael (second time in the anime). Geld: Soka called him the star performer. Maybe Soka respects him more? Rimuru's turn. Rimuru, in the LN, simply used Dominate Space to “connect a path” from the stands to the main arena. But not before leaving Benimaru to guard the dignitaries, Rigurd was taking care of them, and Souei to watch over the entire arena. Masayuki winced when Rimuru mentioned he would fight him if he won, so Rimuru deduced that Masayuki didn't want to. Jinrai said he was only there to help Masayuki, and Rimuru promised him a new weapon and armor no matter what happened due to his sportsmanship. Jinrai was taken aback, and he accepted, but was still a bit sassy, but if he really thought Rimuru had evil motives he wouldn't have. Rimuru's motives were twofold: reward him for participating (because it drew more people) and so he would look bighearted to the world. I already talked about Gaiye challenging Rimuru elsewhere. Bovix and Equix. I already talked about this scene too. Lion Mask: Don't go overboard. Rimuru was in a hard place, he couldn't ask him to withdraw or tell him good luck. Some of it depended on who his opponents would be. Gobta: Rimuru gave him a pep talk. Subtext: Face this. Geld: Rimuru told him to use his strength to the max. The draw: Problem with Bovix vs. Equix and Geld vs. Lion Mask was that, no matter who won, they would be exhausted when facing Masayuki. Rimuru's whole purpose (well other than publicity and profit) is to gauge Masayuki's true strength. If you look at it that way, the whole tournament looks like an entirely different thing. And it's not working out well for Rimuru. Yeah, there is the choosing of the Big Four fourth member, and putting on a good show, and not suffering any hits to their reputation, but the thing Rimuru is constantly thinking about, is figuring out Masayuki. In fact, this may just be Masayuki’s plotline and character exposition we’re doing here. Rimuru speculates that somehow fate is arranging things to make it as easy as possible for Masayuki. So I will take a break here just before the matches begin. Also, I need to mention that Veldora, Ramiris, and Milim are busy getting the Dungeon ready. He didn't invite Veldora, especially, because he didn't want him getting too excited, although Milim had circumvented the problem by throwing in an underling. Veldora had no such convenient person. I did some research into the term “ The Four Heavenly Kings” origins. That is the original: shiten'nou. "The Four Heavenly Kings are protectors of Buddhism who guard against evil forces from the four directions. They include Jikokuten (east), Zōchōten (south), Kōmokuten (west), and Tamonten (north). Tamonten is sometimes worshiped independently under the name of Bishamonten." "The term "Four Heavenly Kings" or Shiten'nou was used in Japan as a title for the four strongest and most loyal vassals of various famed warlords, including Minamoto Yorimitsu, Takeda Shingen, and Tokugawa Ieyasu." *************** The Battles. I am not going to give blow-by-blow commentary, just point out a few things if necessary. Quarter Finals Bovix vs. Equix Melee types, not the magic-casting sort. A-rank monsters few would ever see fight against each other in their lifetimes. Twenty minutes. Equix Self-Regeneration couldn't keep up with the damage that Bovix's Lightning Horn inflicted, while Bovix had Ultraspeed Regeneration which meant that he healed much faster from Equix’s Equine Spear Flail. Rimuru thought that Equix had used the same tactics in previous battles, but given Bovix's new abilities, he should have been more careful. Hopefully he learned from this. Masayuki vs. Jinrai. Everyone knew Jinrai would forfeit. It made no sense to Rimuru that everyone cheered this. Flowing Swordsman Gaiye vs. Gobta. Gaiye seemed to just barely be A-rank. His weapon and armor were all Rare-level, meaning he must be pretty successful as an adventurer to afford that. Gobta had Unique-level gear (a step up from Rare). But Rimuru thought he didn't have quite the skill Gaiye did. When the battle started, Gaiye moved quickly and struck Gobta in the chest, and it was only Gobta’s armor that saved him. Rimuru was upset that Gobta was leaving himself way too open, and if Gaiye had tried to hit an unprotected spot, it would have been different. Rimuru judged that Gobta was trying to get disqualified by running away. Now he was just trying to protect himself, which might have been correct, but given how the matchup looked more equal on paper, at least, Rimuru wished he’d try harder. However, as the battle progressed, Gaiye kept cutting off Gobta's escape. The observers Souei and Shion opined that Gaiye was being unnecessarily mean, despite Gobta's not-so-honorable behavior, leading Rimuru to kinda want Gobta to win. It was true Gaiye had an unorthodox fighting style which confused Gobta. Rimuru decided to give Gobta a push (a bribe). That's when Gobta decided to use his “last resort”, which Rimuru wished Gobta had used before. Rimuru figured he should have bribed Gobta earlier, given Gobta's lazy streak, but despite having Geld in there, he still needed Gobta to make a full effort. Gaiye had lowered his guard, sure of victory, but now Gobta was prepared to do anything to win, which doomed Gaiye. As leader of the Goblin Riders, Gobta could summon his starwolf and Unify with it. I am not sure when he was first able to that, they aren't talking about this Skill in the anime. But it enhanced Gobta's strength (magicules) to an A-minus level monster, combined with sword skills taught by Hakurou. That would make his fight with Gaiye close to equal. That Gobta didn't do this sooner just proved he planned to lose. Except it was Ranga that arrived through the Summons. At base, direwolves are a C or D-level threat, but they evolved from that point, of course. But Ranga? Shion seemed to approve of Ranga having concocted such a scheme, while still criticizing him. Diablo ruled the attack valid, pretending to not recognize Ranga. The crowd seemed to approve. Gobta was surprised. Rimuru still wasn't sure that there wasn't an infraction of the rules, because Gobta would probably have lost without it. But because Rimuru was still intent upon testing out Masayuki, he figured it was just as well. I described this fight in more detail than I had said because Gobta's strength is a subject of a lot of discussion, as well as his relationship with Rimuru. Geld vs. Lion Mask I feel like I also have to describe this in some detail because Geld is also an important character. The two decided to have a bare fist fight. It was an epic one. Geld stuck to punches and throws. He looked for openings. Lion Mask used a variety of techniques, and Geld wouldn't be able to overwhelm him with power. Despite their physiques being equal, Lion Mask has a lot more magicule power. In tactical terms, the fight was Geld’s defensive ability against Lion Mask giving no openings while attacking. So it seemed that Lion Mask had the upper hand, but Rimuru thought that sometimes luck would overcome power. Geld, the reserved pro vs. Lion Mask with the amazing aura made the audience remember them. The fight continued this way for fifty minutes. Finally Lion Mask asks why Geld isn't using his Skills (which are Protector and Gourmet). We know what ensued. Lion Mask was strong, way above average monsters or Majin, and even high-level elementals (= spirits?). After Lion Mask used his enhanced punch (Lion Cannonfist in LN), Geld was unable to continue. The two warriors now felt a deep connection. Rimuru was proud of Geld. End of Quarterfinals. Semifinals Potions could heal wounds but not restore magicules (although didn't we just learn that Potions only affects things with magicules? –seems a bit contradictory.) So fatigue will play a big factor. Masayuki and Bovix. Rimuru wondered if Masayuki's powers were real? Because Masayuki looked nervous to Rimuru. Masayuki took the mic. He started to praise Bovix, which impressed Rimuru into thinking that Masayuki was more mature than he thought. It also surprised Rimuru, thinking Masayuki is saying he’ll go easy on Bovix. Was this sincere, or was he making excuses? Masayuki went on to say that he, Masayuki, wouldn't get any joy out of fighting Bovix in his exhausted condition. Btw, he wondered, wasn't Bovix appointed as a floor guardian, but it looked like maybe he wanted to be part of the “Elite Four” more? This prompted Bovix to defend the honor of the floor boss position, while asserting his desire to achieve more. Then, Masayuki said Geld was better suited for the Big Four role. I think Masayuki was hyping the dungeon role over the Elite Four role, saying Bovix should concentrate on the Dungeon role. A way to make Bovix forget about trying to be part of the Big Four, because it was unlikely anyway. Then Masayuki says he would probably win now since Bovix is tired, and it wouldn't be fair for either of them, and there should be a true determination of who’s stronger, while telling Bovix that he would have an advantage on his home turf (Dungeon). Rimuru decided that Bovix must be scaring the crap out of Masayuki. Bovix didn't know that Rimuru’s intent was to try to gauge Masayuki's strength, so he listened to Masayuki's attempt to get him to concede. Which he did happily. And the audience was cheering on Bovix, who just said he didn't want to fight. And Masayuki too. It made no sense to Rimuru. To his eyes, it looked like a bluff, while to the audience it was a genius move. Masayuki must have some strange charisma. Wait, could it be Rimuru himself was getting fooled into thinking that? Maybe Masayuki wasn't afraid but didn't want to reveal his abilities to Rimuru, and the whole thing was an act? Rimuru couldn't let his guard down yet. (All of Rimuru's thinking re: Masayuki makes it more obvious than ever to me that if Rimuru is reacting in such a way to Masayuki, he can't be ignoring other suss people.) Gobta vs. Lion Mask. Rimuru assumed this was a done deal, but he wanted to cheer Gobta on. Rimuru was convinced Carillon was going to win, however, which would be desirable as he would be a good opponent for Masayuki. Rimuru is a bit anxious about Masayuki. But here comes Gobta, all fired up. Rimuru reminded himself that he needs to cheer for Gobta. Gobta had summoned Ranga from the beginning of the bout. Rimuru thought Ranga was stronger than Geld, so Ranga could win against Carrion who was operating under self-imposed limits. But maybe Gobta, on the microscopic chance he won, could reveal Masayuki's powers for Rimuru, so maybe it didn't matter who won. Trusting Gobta with this was a bit worrying but whatever. Rimuru started cheering for Gobta. Carrion tried to get Gobta to quit but he wouldn't. Gobta made the first move, meshing well with Ranga, and Rimuru figured they had strategized during the break. Gobta fell off Ranga, and Rimuru thought, “I knew it.” The crowd was laughing at Gobta trying to scurry away, but they didn't realize Carrion's threat level. Then Carrion threw him as in the anime. People were confused because they thought Ranga was a dark direwolf, C-rank, but they began to question this. (He’s a Tempest Starwolf, Special-A grade, thought Rimuru.) Carrion used Elephant Stampede. Ranga wouldn't have been able to escape except that he voluntarily left the ring. It surprised and disappointed Carrion, which left him open for an instant. Carrion had been treating Ranga as his opponent, but his true opponent was Gobta, who had not stepped out of the ring. Gobta had deliberately been hanging around the edge looking weak, while he was actually being sneaky. Ranga was resummoned back into the ring, and he attacked. Carrion was overconfident enough that he only dodged enough, he judged, to avoid the attack and to prepare a countermove. But since Ranga wasn't actually aiming for Carrion, but his mask, he misjudged the move, and Ranga bit through the mask. Now Gobta was using his dagger and Icicle Lance, and continued to aim for his mask. Protecting his face meant Carrion couldn't fend off Ranga. The audience was unhappy with the cowardly, sneaky way of fighting, but Gobta didn't care. Gobta blamed Rimuru out loud, which Rimuru wished he wouldn't do. Now everyone was blaming Rimuru saying that Rimuru gave him the idea (seeing as how the audience couldn't see how Gobta could come up with it), and it figured he was aiming for Rimuru's Elite Four. People were saying now that Rimuru was probably manipulating the selection of the Big Four. Rimuru thought, no, it was all Gobta, and he really didn't need a Big Four that needed his constant input in order to function. Carrion finally gave up and left the ring. Rimuru could tell Carrion was furious but remained in control. It wouldn't be good if it became known a former Demon Lord had lost at this place and in this way. But Rimuru thought it was really Milim's fault, because he thought Gobta wouldn't have come up with the idea unless Milim had sent that public message of support to Carrion at the beginning (reminding him to remain incognito). But people did enjoy the fight, no matter their opinions on the tactics the combatants had used. People wondered why Lion Mask had to conceal his identity so much. People thought Gobta was the bad guy, but they didn't hate him too much. People seemed to prefer Tempest's tournament to Engrassia’s tournament for its looser rules. Even if the last bout was objectively bad, it still entertained people. Later: Ranga was punished for joining a match without permission by forbidding him to lurk in Rimuru's shadow until further notice. Ranga was expecting praise, but then his literal puppy-dog eyes got to Rimuru and he told him that it really depended on how he performed in tomorrow's contest. He told him to act like the summoned animal he was supposed to be, that Gobta was in charge. Ranga and Shion were good friends and Rimuru thought Shion's influence led Ranga to go overboard at times. Rimuru was worried that if he didn't put his foot down, who knew what Ranga would try. Rimuru thought it would be okay the next day. He decided that Ranga wouldn't go overboard with Masayuki, and he thought Gobta would have no problems gauging Masayuki's true might. The worst-case scenario would be if Ranga would go into full “beast” mode in front of the crowd, and then Masayuki beat him, in which case Rimuru would have to step in, and the chance for talking would be gone. Rimuru was very worried that he didn't know about Masayuki's skills in battle. He hoped they could settle this, and if Gobta won, there’d be no problems. But it all depended on tomorrow. Talk on the Streets and Dinner Most of the conversation in both places was about the competition. While the night stalls did massive profit, fanboys were for Masayuki, the hard-core were for Geld or Carrion, while a few arena-battle nerds cheered for Gobta. At dinner, talk revealed that Gaiye was pretty famous, drawing attention to Gobta. Among the children, Alice was all Masayuki. Chloe didn't care. The boys thought Geld was cool under pressure but Carrion was more popular. Dinner was very kid-friendly, Fried shrimp, meatloaf steak, and cream-filled croquettes. Milim, and her party, were at the next table and overheard the children. Carrion was grinning, and Milim was a little peeved. Middray was jealous. Milim said she should have disguised herself and entered, which Carrion and Middray both objected to. Milim said, oh well, she was attending the tournament the next day. As for her Labyrinth work, she said it was perfect. Carrion said he wouldn't because his staff invited him out, and he wanted to look around the festival himself. Middray and Frey had spent the day at the concert hall. . Frey pointed out that Luminus had spent the day in the theater in the best seat. So now Hinata wants to know what Rimuru is gonna do if he fights Masayuki. This prompted another round of opinions. The kids began arguing over whether Rimuru was stronger than Masayuki. Alice and Kenya sided with Masayuki, the other three with Rimuru. Hinata interjected that she herself didn't have a good gauge on Masayuki's strength but that Rimuru needed to be careful. She couldn't go into detail because that would mean revealing too much about her Skills, but apparently Hinata had done some investigation on Masayuki, telling her that even she would find him a difficult challenge. But then she had to say she would probably beat him 90% of the time. None of the kids disagreed, in fact they thought she could beat anyone. Rimuru didn't like the picture he was getting. As they put it in the manga: Hinata >>> Rimuru >= Masayuki Well, Rimuru said, I do think Masayuki is willing to talk. Hinata agreed. She said that she would be willing to talk to Yuuki, who apparently was Masayuki's guardian. But she thought they might not need to. Meaning maybe he'll lose. Rimuru was a bit dubious given it was Gobta they were talking about. If he did things normally, it would probably be okay, but sometimes he got these crazy ideas. Raphael : ….. (another suspicious pause) But anyway, he still couldn't see Masayuki beating Ranga. Hinata then said Gobta seemed to have a lot of potential. Rimuru was, yeah, but it's Gobta. Then Hinata took the kids out to the night market, while Rimuru mentally begged her not to spoil them too much. To me it looks like Rimuru is the parent role while Hinata is like the grandparent. Rimuru appreciated that Hinata was worried for him. If Gobta lost he didn't think anything really bad would happen, and he was prepared. They’d figure it out. In the meantime, he ought to enjoy the festival. Despite having tons of problems and tons of things to do, he felt really fulfilled and happy. And now it was time for a meeting. Btw, Daggrull's Sons had been cheering Lion Mask on the sidelines. They were wearing T-shirts that said things like SHION FAN CLUB, and SHION 4 LIFE. They had become Shion's biggest fans. Rimuru worried about them, but decided eventually they’d learn the truth. They were cheering for Lion Mask now because he had beaten them the day before all at once. The sons did have the energy of a former demon lord, and they weren't pushovers. They had only lost against Shion because of a lack of battle tactics. They were still probably ranked above Bovix and Equix. Shion seemed disappointed and even angry with them for losing against Carrion, but Rimuru thought they had just messed with the wrong guy. It was bad luck they all had to fight Carrion in the same match. But now Shion was preparing to train them even more. Good luck to them.
myst0dreamer
2025-04-25 02:45:28 +0000 UTCYou already know who named gobta. And you see him often. It's ysegduygseufyguyrgchydvhgfdv
Fox Demon
2025-04-21 04:10:15 +0000 UTC
