Yes, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4 is officially confirmed and premiering April 3, 2026. Bandai Namco Filmworks announced it on September 27, 2024, immediately after Season 3 wrapped. What makes this season genuinely historic is its five-cour format, something almost unheard of in television anime. Studio 8-Bit returns to animate it, with Miho Okasaki reprising her role as Rimuru Tempest.
Most fans know Season 4 is coming. Fewer know just how massive the scope really is, or what story arcs are actually being adapted, who the new antagonists are, or how this season connects to the movie releasing the same year. If you want the full picture, here is everything broken down clearly.
When Does That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4 Release?
Season 4 premieres April 3, 2026, on Japanese television. The first two cours air back-to-back without any break, running continuously through approximately September 2026. The release dates for the remaining three cours have not been announced yet. This consecutive-cour launch strategy is a direct signal that Bandai Namco Filmworks wants to build serious momentum before splitting the remainder into a staggered rollout.
How Many Episodes Will Season 4 Have?
Season 4 spans five cours, which translates to roughly 60 episodes total, nearly matching the 72 episodes produced across the entire first three seasons combined. This makes Season 4 the single largest anime production in the TenSura franchise by episode count. For context, most anime seasons run one or two cours, making this five-cour commitment an industry outlier and a strong indicator of how much source material remains to adapt.
What Studio and Staff Are Returning for Season 4?
Studio 8-Bit is back, having animated every prior season since 2018. Director Atsushi Nakayama returns to helm the production. Series composer Toshizo Nemoto, character designer Ryoma Ebata, and monster designer Takahiro Kishida are all reprising their roles, giving Season 4 genuine continuity in its creative team rather than a behind-the-scenes reset that could have shifted the show’s visual identity.
What Story Arc Does Season 4 Cover?
Season 4 begins adapting from approximately light novel volume 10, opening with the Rosso Family Arc. The primary antagonists are Granbell Rosso, a former Hero and head of the Five Elders of the Kingdom of Siltrosso, and his granddaughter Mariabell Rosso, who view Rimuru’s rise as an existential threat. After that, the Eastern Empire Arc, also called the Imperial Invasion Arc, is expected to follow, representing the most large-scale military conflict the series has produced.
If you want to pick up right where Season 3 left off, have a look at the That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Light Novel Volume 10 in English, which is exactly where Season 4 begins. There is also an exclusive premium paperback box set of the manga, which has actually outsold the light novel and is worth checking out if you have not already.
Who Are the New Antagonists in Season 4?
The central villains are Granbell Rosso and Mariabell Rosso, characters rooted in the political underbelly of nations threatened by Jura-Tempest’s growth. Granbell’s position as a former Hero makes him a uniquely dangerous enemy compared to the monster-side antagonists seen in earlier seasons, because he operates through institutional power and centuries of influence. This shifts Season 4’s conflict toward a geopolitical tone that longtime light novel readers have been waiting years to see animated.
Is There a New Slime Movie Releasing Around the Same Time?
Yes. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea premieres in Japan on February 27, 2026, just five weeks before Season 4 begins. Crunchyroll holds worldwide theatrical rights excluding most Asian territories. The film is an original story introducing three new characters voiced by Koichi Domoto, Saori Onishi, and Koji Yusa. It is the second original anime film following 2022’s Scarlet Bond, and Domoto notably called his role unlike anything he had portrayed before.
Has the Slime Light Novel Series Ended?
Yes. Author Fuse concluded the light novel series with volume 23 on November 29, 2025. A companion side-story volume, Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken: Toaru Kyuka no Sugoshi-kata, shipped alongside the final volume on the same day. A new side-story novel series has been announced for 2026. The manga adaptation, illustrated by Taiki Kawakami and serialized in Monthly Shonen Sirius, released its 31st volume in February 2026 and continues separately.
Where Can You Watch That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4?
Crunchyroll will stream Season 4 internationally, consistent with how every prior season has been handled. All previous seasons, the Slime Diaries spin-off, and the Scarlet Bond movie are already on the platform. Season 4 will also air on Japanese television beginning April 3, 2026, with the simulcast expected to run in parallel for international audiences. No English dub schedule has been confirmed yet for Season 4, though prior seasons received dubs through Funimation’s pipeline.
Why Did It Take So Long Between Season 3 and Season 4?
Season 3 ended in September 2024, and Season 4 does not begin until April 2026, a gap of about 19 months. The five-cour scale of the production is the most likely driver of the extended timeline, as animation studios require significantly more pre-production time and resources for that volume of episodes. It is also worth noting that the announcement came on September 27, 2024, the same day Season 3 concluded, suggesting Bandai Namco Filmworks wanted the production runway locked in before making any public commitment.
Is This the Final Season of the Slime Anime?
Nothing official has been said about Season 4 being the last. However, the light novel source material ended with volume 23 in November 2025. If Season 4 adapts volumes 10 through 23 across its five cours, it would complete the main story, making this the de facto final arc of the series in anime form. Whether Bandai Namco Filmworks pursues epilogue content, side-story adaptations, or additional original films beyond Season 4 has not been addressed yet.
What Season 4 Actually Signals for the Franchise
The five-cour commitment for Season 4 is not just a production flex. It tells you the rights holders are treating this as a finale-level event, not a routine continuation. The simultaneous rollout of a second theatrical film, the conclusion of the light novel in late 2025, and the return of the full original staff all point in the same direction.
TenSura is being given a proper send-off, built at a scale that matches how seriously the franchise has been taken since Rimuru first absorbed a storm dragon in 2018. For a series that started as a web novel in 2013 and grew to over 400 million page views, Season 4 is the ending this story always deserved.
