Confused

The main source is still LN not manga. The same as with previous seasons.

You are correct, the main source is the manga and they can't surpass that and adapt the novel because the production is mostly funded by the manga publisher. They haven't surpassed the manga in the last three seasons as well, each time the managa is 1-3 months ahead of anime like rn they adapted ch 118 in the finale of S3 and ch 122 of manga came out. The anime is also following its own cannon on top of the source material cannon where anime original characters from OVA and movies appear. The reason for the anime original content is the same, they just have the fans enjoy some new content while the managa adapts the LN volumes which the next season will adapt like they did rn with the announcement of a movie alongside S4 because they will need the manga to have 30+ chapters, and ot only has 4 currently plus it's monthly as well so it'll take atleast 2 years for the next season to come out but atle we get a movie next year lol.

I'm surprised they already announced a 4th season even if the 3rd was garbage to the maximum.. fucking meeting simulation

@charliex3 As manga and light novel reader I'm afraid it is not. This season as well as previous seasons most likely based their source on manga rather than LN. Here are the reason why:

1) In the official website (the Japanese one) of each of the seasons they credited Kawakami Taiki (he is the one who made the illustration for the manga). While the illustrator for the LN (Mitz Vah) is not mention.

2) There are certain scene that are slightly different between manga and LN. And anime follow the manga in those scene. One example I can give is back in season 1, when Shizu visited Tempest (at that time, it only a settlement). In LN, she barely talk with Rimuru then go berserk while summoning Ifrit. In manga, they have a talk about their world and she even riding Ranga when touring around the settlement. There are others minor difference but I can't recall it right now.

3) The anime itself pace their release date based on the current manga progress. With how much volumes the LN has, it kinda weird that the gap for each seasons are longer especially this is the biggest project that studio 8bit has. Surely they would focus on this series rather than other series.

These are the reason why I believe the anime follows manga hence, MAL also put manga as their source material.

@LukaPochi I highly recommend you to drop Tensura bc next seasons/movie will be similar in terms of storytelling, action and character/world development ☺️. This series is well-known for its great story and worldbuilding in anime and light novel formats, if I am not wrong the light novel received a prize some time ago.

I'm surprised they already announced a 4th season even if the 3rd was garbage to the maximum.. fucking meeting simulation

@Coast27 What are you talking about. The start of the next season might be similar but then it turns up hard quickly and has some cool character introductions. Then the season after will be the peak of the show. Season 3 was definitely the low point of the series thus far.

@LukaPochi tensura is literally a world building series, if you don't like it then don't watch it.
They could've handled the meetings a bit better but still, solid season, one of my favorites tbh.

@Vex_D Uhh, i beg to differ.

S3 just showed everyone what this series is clearly about.

Talks that lead up to fights so said fights actually mean something.

This is coming from someone, me, who is anime only.

So if someone like me can understand that, it speaks volumes for those who have read the LN yet dont.

@animefanftw123 doesn’t mean that the build up was executed perfectly though.

Also there are plenty of fights later in the LN, it becomes more action oriented near the end.

@Vex_D Near the end?

The LNs are still releasing so the "end" hasnt happened yet.

Plus this is just your opinion on them being a letdown.

@animefanftw123 Yes it is my opinion. I still loved season 3, I just am not blind to the flaws in the execution.

The end of the LNs is next volume, or one more if it's stretched for some reason. So seeing as 22/23 LNs are out I think I can safely comment about "near the end" having more fights.

@Vex_D Once again, any "flaws" this series has are all just opinions.

I myself dont see any flaws thus thats my opinion. You think otherwise.

Also, where was it stated that the next volume would be the last?

@animefanftw123 The author (Fuze) stated that the next volume is planned to be the last one on his Shosetsuka ni Naru blog.

I absolutely concur with Vex on the series getting WILDY more combat-focused near the end. The newest volumes are basically all combat, with them feeling more-or-less the same. A new system of measuring power (basically magicule count) gets introduced near the end which then just gets used again and again for absolutely no reason. All fights become just: new person with higher power score than we've seen! -> fighting for a while, opponent has the upper hand -> deus-ex-machina power buff from nowhere for the good guys -> winning.
Series was much better (not high praise) when it was more worldbuilding focused for sure imo.

What the hell is this thread? So much false information, I can't believe it.

The "official" source of the main anime is the manga. Yes, the manga. In practicality it's a bit of a mix between the manga and the light novel (because they keep too close to the manga while the manga parts the anime covers is still releasing so parts of the seasons need to be taken from the LN instead) but the credits of the OP or ED (don't remember which one) always references the manga version ("That Time I got reincarnated as a Slime" published in Monthly Shounen Sirius) and the manga artist is listed as the source material's creator alongside the original WN/LN author, while the LN illustrator is not mentioned as the LN illustrator, but rather credited for "character design".

The WN got nothing to do with the anime. The LN's storyline massively deviated from the WN, and the manga and anime use the LN storyline, not the WN storyline.

The main source is still LN not manga. The same as with previous seasons.