The First Step is Rimuru walking into Engrassia like a tourist and leaving the first Council session ready to start a war over a contract. Hinata soundproofs a restaurant warning. Maribel scripts the insult. The episode ends on his face when he reads the “yes” they actually wrote.
Previous: Season 4 Episode 4 — Invitation · Hub: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Hook
The First Step is Rimuru walking into Engrassia like a tourist and leaving the first Council session ready to start a war over a contract. Hinata soundproofs a restaurant warning. Maribel scripts the insult. The episode ends on his face when he reads the “yes” they actually wrote.
This page is the sequential stop after Episode 4 — 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 5 (overall #77)
- English title: The First Step
- Japanese episode title: 最初の一歩
- Runtime: ~24 minutes
- Studio: 8bit
- Original air date: May 8, 2026
- Kagex score: 8.6 / 10
- Where to watch legally: Crunchyroll (region-dependent)
Should You Watch It?
Watch it. The cliffhanger is the point of the cour’s first punch. If you skip, Episode 78 is just a brawl without the insult. Light action, heavy table. Beginners will need Season 3’s festival context. Anyone who likes Rimuru when he stops being nice should stay.
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 “The First Step.” Fight-only watchers may feel the talkier stretches; nation-building fans will not.
Spoiler Warning
Spoilers for Season 4 Episode 5 (“The First Step”) follow. Stop above for a clean first watch. This page does not spoil later episodes.
Story Recap
Kids’ clothes in a capital
Rimuru’s group arrives in Engrassia, tours, shops, and he accidentally buys children’s clothes. At a restaurant they meet Hinata. Soundproof barrier. She warns that nobles will oppose him or use him, and they smell Eastern Empire fingerprints. He asks her to check Dwargon for an invasion route. They connect Muese’s death to Western hands. The comedy shopping is the last cute beat before the committee. Hinata is still the best brief in his life.
Maribel sets the fuse
Maribel plans to sabotage the meeting so the alliance dies and Rimuru maybe dies, using Johann of the Five Elders. Yuuki visits and questions her motives. That visit is not a rescue. It is another predator sniffing the same trap. The next day Rimuru hits Council HQ. Members small-talk the festival and the train. Lester, the chairman, names three joining rules. Rimuru can live with the conditions — until he reads what they actually produced.
Three rules, then the real paper
Publicly the West wants international-law compliance, open markets, and military contribution. Open markets risk tech theft. Military contribution is influence Rimuru could use. Then they spend hours “amending” and hand him a version that treats Tempest like property. He goes hostile. The episode cuts there on purpose. You are supposed to sit in that anger. Public recaps describe the insult as slavery-shaped terms aimed at the train, weapons, fortune, and dungeon. Treat the exact wording as the show’s, not a quote I am inventing.
A first step into a snare
The title is cruel. The first step toward a human-monster coprosperity sphere is a contract designed to collar it. Rimuru came in good faith after a founding festival. Maribel counted on that. Hinata counted on him needing a warning. Both were right.
Hold on his face
No swords in the chamber yet. The fight is a document. Season 4’s Rimuru-anger is rarer than his kindness, which is why the cliffhanger works. Next week the prince brings an Orb. This week the paper is enough.
Story Analysis
Cliffhanger craft. Comedy shopping exists so the insult slaps harder. Hinata’s dinner is the last honest conversation in the city. Maribel/Johann is the authorship. Pacing is tour, warn, session, stop.
World-building is Council procedure as a weapon: hours of amendments nobody invited you to write. Engrassia as HQ city. Dwargon as a possible invasion corridor if the East moves. Do not over-claim what the paper says beyond “he reads it as enslaving Tempest’s assets.” The show is allowed to be specific; a recap page should not fake a full legal text.
Character Analysis
Rimuru is the guest who came to sign and stays to snarl. Shuna, Benimaru, Souei are the silent cabinet in a human capital. Hinata is the warning system. Lester is the chairman riding a process. Maribel is the author. Johann is the Elder on-site. Yuuki is the other question mark in her parlor. Muese is a corpse in the reasoning. Gazel Dwargo is an offscreen route Rimuru wants checked. The Council members are a chorus Maribel can tune.
World Building
Engrassia hosts the Council and looks like a place you buy clothes. Soundproof dining is a diplomatic tool. Council membership has published rules and unpublished revisions. Trains and dungeons are the assets the West most wants in writing. Eastern Empire fear can be a genuine strategic topic and a cover story at the same time. Unique Skill users can steer a room without sitting in the chair.
Nothing here is later-arc homework. If a name or rule is only teased, it stays a tease.
Animation
City tourism, a tense dinner, a chamber, a face. The last close-up is the episode. Keep the shopping cute so the cut is mean. No sakuga required. Acting and layout. 8bit TV can do “he just read the contract” if the storyboard holds the beat.
Kagex animation score for this episode: 8.2 / 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
- Asking Hinata to check Dwargon is Rimuru thinking about a two-front continent, not only a committee.
- Hours of amendments are the tell that the three public rules were bait.
- Yuuki questioning Maribel is not him switching sides — it is him measuring her.
Best Moments
- Rimuru in kids’ clothes in a human capital, still trying.
- Hinata’s soundproof “they will use you.”
- The document hitting him like a slap.
Pros & Cons
Pros: Specific to “The First Step” —
The cour’s first real punch is a piece of paper. Watch it. The anger is the point, and the next episode spends it.
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: 8.6 / 10 —
The cour’s first real punch is a piece of paper. Watch it. The anger is the point, and the next episode spends it.
- Story: 8.7
- Characters: 8.6
- Animation: 8.2
- Music: 8.3
- Enjoyment: 8.6
I like Rimuru angry because he so rarely is. The shopping gag made the insult worse in the best way. This is the episode I would show people who think Season 4 is only meetings.
What to Expect Next
An orb, a prince, a fake assassination, and the Council finding out who actually walked into whose trap.
Next: Season 4 Episode 6 — The Council of the West. Watch legally on Crunchyroll.
FAQ
Do I need to watch Season 4 Episode 5?
Yes if you are watching the TV series in order. Skipping “The First Step” leaves a hole later episodes assume you have.
What is the Japanese title?
最初の一歩 — Crunchyroll English title is “The First Step.”
When did it air?
May 8, 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 77 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 5.
Keep exploring
- Tensura anime hub
- Season 1 review
- Overall review
- Previous: Season 4 Episode 4 — Invitation
- Next: Season 4 Episode 6 — The Council of the West
- Characters
- Fact and Spoilers
Your turn
Was “The First Step” 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.
