Azusa Aizawa was was a full-time corporate slave, working long hours several days in a row, until one day she passed out and died from overwork. A goddess allows her to get reincarnated in a fantasy world, granting her wish of simply having an ageless, immortal body, although she starts at Level 1 like everyone else. Remembering her unsatisfying death, Azusa decides to take it easy in this new world, her only work involving doing some medicine-making and killing 25 weak slimes a day to have enough money to live. As it turns out, though, killing slimes daily for 300 years straight gives enough experience points to max out to Level 99, and three centuries later, Azusa is recognized as the Great Witch of the Highlands, and quite possibly the strongest being around. Azusa isn’t exactly the biggest fan of this, given how much of a threat to her laid-back life her newfound reputation is, especially when a powerful red dragon challenges her to a fight…
As a fan of the light novels, I was glad to see this anime adaptation do what it needs to do to highlight what I think are this series’ main strengths. At its core, this is a slice-of-life isekai story, so don’t expect much in the way of drama or excitement; this is something you watch to relax and appreciate the character interactions and small adventures. There are some nice moments as Azusa reflects on how much she has helped the nearby village of Flatta and how much the people there appreciate her medicinal work. The best moment, though, is when Azusa takes on the dragon Laika (who, like many of the great dragons of fiction, has a cute girl form) as a pupil, and as she is building a new house for them, she encourages her to not work into the night.
This is why I like this series so much. It is not just a slice-of-life story, but also a story about how overwork can be deadly to our well-being (sometimes literally!), and the importance of working in a way that is both meaningful and healthy. With that theme in the background, this is a solid adaptation of a light novel about a fantasy one can actually make a reality: having a good work-life balance.
I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level is available on Crunchyroll.
I agree, though I haven’t read the novels. Watching the mc insist on taking rest, even if you don’t feel you need it, struck me as very Christian. Ditto for insisting your value doesn’t come from your work.
As a fan of the light novels, I have been looking forward to this adaptation. It’s a great slice of life series.
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[…] a series about taking it easy for centuries at a time, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level goes to some pretty deep places, […]
[…] I’ve Been Killing Slimes is just one in a long line of “slice-of-life light novels” or “slice-of-life isekai” that take on these modern-day ills in one way or another. There are also series like By the Grace of the Gods, My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World, and several others, enough so that slice-of-life is actually a popular sub-genre of isekai. While they may have some action here and there, the focus of these novels tends to be less on fulfilling some grand quest and more on simply enjoying day-to-day life in a fantasy world. […]