Finishing up my TenSura rewatch with the recent anime original move Scarlet Bond. Now this story is written by Fuze, so while this doesn't take place in the manga or Ln, it seems to very be anime canon. As a lot like Visions of Coleus, it is very easy to see where this fits in the timeline. While Coleus mostly takes place before Rimuru goes back and saves Shizue's students. In Scarlet Bond minus the start of the movie, it takes place after Walpurgis.
Honestly one issue with Scarlet Bond is that despite being a film centered around Ogres and with the Older Brother that we see in the main series. One issue with the film is that outside of the very start it doesn't center around the Ogres. It's disappointing because it could have been a great time to give them a focus. But instead we get a story about Hiiro requests Rimuru's squad to save the princess of Raja, Princess Towa. Which we see in the early part of the movie saves Hiiro and gives him a name.
Visions of Coleus is much clearer with its direction. Add world building with the Kingdom of Coleus and add a tease to how strong Demon Lord Valentine is. Not too much add some foreshadowing that seems to be very consistent from what we have seen so far in the anime with Shizue and Chloe.
I will mention that this is the first time in this series that we see the naming convention is used by someone other Rimuru. It really puts into perspective how strong Rimuru is. So in that it's cool to see. But beyond the plot of this is very similar to Visions of Coleus and quite honestly it was executed better there.
The writing in this movie at times feels very underwhelming. For instance Rimuru takes care of the poison, but doesn't go into depth to figure who is the one to cause. In fact, he wouldn't have learned that if it wasn't for Diablo. So this adds more intrigue to Diablo's history. This is the first clear mention that Violet is also a Greater Demon. Considering Guy called Diablo, Black, if you can recall back in S1 Leon mentions to Shizue Greater Demons correspond with Colors. It makes you wonder will Rimuru encounter more of these Greater Demons in the near future. It is also the same to say Violet will be a thorn in Rimuru's side in the near future.
While the plot in the movie does have its issue, I do say seeing that this is the 2nd time Violet and her minions have been looking for a host for her to manifest. Though her intention was to use the Kingdom of Raja's bloodline to do that. But much like Diablo she isn't pure of evil intentions. She simply wants them to use the Tiara of their own free will. Instead, her minions force a situation where Towa would use the Tiara. At a first glance when Towa saves Hiiro at the end it looks like a BS power of friendship ending. But Violet mentioned the deal with Towa's bloodline is voided.
How Hiiro swallows up the curse orb is very much an idiot plot. Him being irrational to save Towa is fine, but to the degree where the takes the princess out of the palace and swallows an orb that can transfer bodies, even though only 1 orb is presented at the time.
Ignoring that, animation/action/fights are easily the highlight of the movie. And works well for what this movie tries to do. Benimaru vs Hiiro fight was a great showcase of Benimaru's increase of strength since Riimuru became a Demon Lord. The short Violet and Diablo fight was great as well. We know Violet could hold her own against both Demon Lord Valentine and now Diablo. This holds credence that Diablo and Violet when she has a name can hold up against the other Demon Lords. This is definitely worth keeping in mind.
Like with Coleus, Tempest establishes relations with Raja as well. I am curious how much both of these kingdoms tie into the canon story of the anime, or if they end up being underused?
The movie overall was decent. Great action, underwhelming writing, but some bits of world building added that was very good for what is to come. While Scarlet Bond is easily the weakest arc in TenSura, it still was an enjoyable one to watch. But I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it, if I were pressed for time.