New Companions is Tempest’s HR department losing its mind: Dino shows up for cream puffs, Ifrit comes out of storage as Charys, dryads get doll bodies, and Diablo is still out buying a thousand demons. Gaia learns to hunt in a dungeon because she cannot live outside it yet.
Previous: Season 4 Episode 12 — Tempest Evolves · Hub: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Hook
New Companions is Tempest’s HR department losing its mind: Dino shows up for cream puffs, Ifrit comes out of storage as Charys, dryads get doll bodies, and Diablo is still out buying a thousand demons. Gaia learns to hunt in a dungeon because she cannot live outside it yet.
This page is the sequential stop after Episode 12 — not a random recap dump. Scores below are for this 24 minutes only.
Quick Information
- Anime: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
- Season / Episode: Season 4, Episode 13 (overall #85)
- English title: New Companions
- Japanese episode title: 新しい仲間達
- Runtime: ~24 minutes
- Studio: 8bit
- Original air date: July 3, 2026
- Kagex score: 8.5 / 10
- Where to watch legally: Crunchyroll (region-dependent)
Should You Watch It?
Watch it if you like the roster expanding. Sitcom plus lore, low war. Skip and the Black Numbers feel like they spawned from nothing. Dino and Charys are the headline hires. A palate episode that is secretly an army episode, because Diablo is still on the phone.
Beginner-friendly? No as a start point. Watch from Season 1 Episode 1. This installment assumes you already know Tempest’s core cast — Rimuru at minimum.
Bottom line: sequential viewers should not skip “New Companions.” Fight-only watchers may feel the talkier stretches; nation-building fans will not.
Spoiler Warning
Spoilers for Season 4 Episode 13 (“New Companions”) follow. Stop above for a clean first watch. This page does not spoil later episodes.
Story Recap
Gaia cannot commute
Rimuru is drowning in paperwork. Milim wants to teach Gaia hunting. They take dungeon avatars with Ramiris and Veldora. Frey comes to collect Milim again; Gaia cannot go, she only survives in the labyrinth for now. The pet is a dungeon resident. That is sweet and a containment fact. Rimuru hides in his dungeon lab. Diablo calls: he wants to bring a thousand subordinates. Ramiris, Vesta, and Veldora are making vessels with elemental cores and pseudo-souls. She needs an assistant. The lab is a body factory. That should worry someone. It worries Ramiris only as a staffing issue.
Dino vs cream puffs
Shuna announces Demon Lord Dino, homeless, here to stay. Rimuru hates the laziness until cream puffs convert him into a subordinate. He parks Dino in the dungeon so Guy will not get spicy. A near-accident in vessel-making, and Ramiris wants bodies for other dryads. Vesta puts Dino to work. Veldora wants an assistant and nominates Ifrit, now a friend after the Salamander summon. Rimuru remembers Ifrit trying to murder people and still agrees to a vessel. The new form reads feminine. Veldora names him Charys; he evolves into a Flame Lord who can switch gender presentation. Dryads get bodies and become Dryas Doll Dryads. Diablo is still shopping.
Companions as infrastructure
Every hire is a labor solution: lazy Demon Lord as dungeon staff, Ifrit as Veldora’s buddy cop, dryads as fully mobile instead of tree-bound. Rimuru keeps solving loneliness and labor with the same spell. It is endearing. It is also how you accidentally build an army while making cream puffs.
Diablo’s shopping list
A thousand subordinates is not a bit. Next episode is the Black Numbers. This episode is the purchase order. The cute hires are the A-plot. The primordial recruiting trip is the loaded B-plot. Season 4 is allowed to be both a sitcom and an arms race.
Guy’s shadow
Parking Dino so Guy stays calm is Octagram etiquette. Releasing Ifrit is Rimuru trusting a former raid boss because Veldora asked. New companions are never free. They are favors, names, and vessels. The bill is coming from the demon realm.
Story Analysis
Sitcom structure, recruitment thesis. Comedy is cream puffs and Ifrit’s new look. Emotion is Gaia stuck in the dungeon. Unease is a thousand demons on backorder. Pacing is lab, visitor, montage.
World-building is vessel tech as a Tempest industry, Dryas Doll evolution, Flame Lord as a named evolution, and Demon Lord houseguests as a Guy-risk. Ifrit’s history with Shizu is not the focus here; the episode is about a new working body. Do not drag Shizu into a recap the hour does not stage.
Character Analysis
Rimuru is reluctant HR. Milim is a mom with a dungeon baby. Gaia is the new companion who cannot travel. Frey is still truant officer. Dino is lazy until pastry. Vesta is the lab adult. Ramiris needs help. Veldora wants his friend back. Ifrit/Charys is the risky rehire. Dryads become more people. Diablo is the offscreen recruiter. Shuna is the receptionist for apocalypses. Guy is the reason Dino gets a job instead of a couch in the open.
World Building
Some newly named beings can only live in labyrinth conditions. Vessels can hold pseudo-souls on elemental cores. Demon Lords can join Tempest for snacks. Releasing a sealed spirit into a doll body is legal if a True Dragon vouches. Dryads can evolve into mobile doll-dryads. Primordials are about to be on a job listing. Guy Crimson’s opinion is a zoning law.
Nothing here is later-arc homework. If a name or rule is only teased, it stays a tease.
Animation
Dungeon-hunt cute, lab FX, Dino comedy, Charys reveal, dryad bodies. Spend on Charys and Gaia. Cream puffs are the sitcom insert. A character-intro week. 8bit can go pretty on evolutions without a war.
Kagex animation score for this episode: 8.3 / 10 — peaks vs average cuts, not a sakuga clip ranking.
Music and Voice Acting
Score 8.3. 8bit’s TV mix leans on Elements Garden sting + silence. Japanese track is the reference for Rimuru’s dual register (cute slime vs office-brain). Dub timing varies by season; don’t wait on it to judge the episode.
Hidden Details
- A thousand subordinates is the next episode’s headcount sitting in a phone call.
- Gaia dungeon-locked is why the labyrinth keeps mattering after the festival.
- Charys evolving from a name is the same holy mechanic as Gaia, applied to a former enemy.
Best Moments
- Cream puffs defeating a Demon Lord’s unemployment.
- Ifrit walking out in a new body because Veldora asked nicely.
- Diablo casually mentioning a thousand demons.
Pros & Cons
Pros: Specific to “New Companions” —
A hiring episode with a loaded purchase order. Watch it for Dino, Charys, and the dryads. Stay because Diablo is not joking.
Cons: Requires earlier episodes. Viewers who only want climax fights may call the political / logistics scenes slow even when they are load-bearing.
Final Verdict
Kagex overall: 8.5 / 10 —
A hiring episode with a loaded purchase order. Watch it for Dino, Charys, and the dryads. Stay because Diablo is not joking.
- Story: 8.4
- Characters: 8.8
- Animation: 8.3
- Music: 8.3
- Enjoyment: 8.6
Dino for cream puffs is peak garbage-genius. Charys showing up made me nervous in a good way. Diablo’s headcount is the “oh no” under the sitcom.
What to Expect Next
Three colors of primordial, seven hundred demons, and a name that makes an army.
Next: Season 4 Episode 14 — The Black Numbers. Watch legally on Crunchyroll.
FAQ
Do I need to watch Season 4 Episode 13?
Yes if you are watching the TV series in order. Skipping “New Companions” leaves a hole later episodes assume you have.
What is the Japanese title?
新しい仲間達 — Crunchyroll English title is “New Companions.”
When did it air?
July 3, 2026 in Japan. ~24 minutes. Studio 8bit.
Is this Season 4 filler?
No. Tensura’s “quiet” hours are usually nation, diplomacy, or setup — not recap filler.
Where does this sit in the overall count?
Overall TV episode 85 of the main series (S1–S3 are 72; Season 4 continues from 73).
Should I watch Slime Diaries first?
No. Diaries is optional comedy. This review is the main TV track.
Where are character guides?
Tensura characters — Rimuru, Veldora, Milim, and the Tempest officers.
Where are facts / spoilers for the franchise?
Fact and Spoilers on the hub. This episode page stays inside Episode 13.
Keep exploring
- Tensura anime hub
- Season 1 review
- Overall review
- Previous: Season 4 Episode 12 — Tempest Evolves
- Next: Season 4 Episode 14 — The Black Numbers
- Characters
- Fact and Spoilers
Your turn
Was “New Companions” a continue episode or a skip-risk for you? Favorite beat? Who should get the next character page?
Sources: Crunchyroll episode titles; Wikipedia list of Tensura episodes; official Tensura anime site.
