The Slayers Revolution

The swords and sorcery comedic fantasy epic returns once more after an 11 year hiatus! The Slayers was one of the most popular animes in the late 90’s and none of you weeaboo young’ns know not nothin’ about it! Being a gigantic fantasy nerd and all it’s one of my favorite anime series of all time. Originally it spanned three seasons, The Slayers, The Slayers Next and The Slayers Try. There’s also a series of light novels, manga, and films but they’re all generally only loosely related to each other (except one short movie made in 2001 which was an extension of the TV series.)

The Slayers is a mixture of fantasy action, slapstick comedy, witty dialog and just general fun (mostly episodic) adventure storytelling that usually ends with a bang in a starkly dramatic climax generally revolving around saving the world from one thing or another. Where the stories may never really be the apex of literary genius the lovable characters are really what carries the franchise. It stars Lina Inverse, a comically boastful and powerful sorceress with a foul temper, a destructive and violent personality and a heroic streak despite all that, Gourry Gabriev her hapless and idiotic swordsman sidekick/love interest, Zelgadis Greywords the stoic straight man who specializes in Shamanistic magic and was turned into a chimera in his youth (and thus has stony skin and wirey hair), and the spazmodic and justice-loving Amelia Wil Telsa Seyruun the princess of the holy kingdom Seyruun.

Lina is rather abusive to her friends.

Three episodes have aired so far, and the fansubbers seem to make quick work of them. It’s great to see such dedication to this series and you probably won’t have to worry about needing your fix if you decide to follow it! Remember kids, fansubs are great for bringing us shows before licensing, this Slayers season will likely be distributed in the US by FUNiMation or Software Sculptors in due time.

I can’t exactly tell if this season is as good or as funny as previous ones, I think my fangirlism is getting in the way. I thought some of the designs of new characters were a bit hokey and the animation a bit stilted in places, but I quickly reminded myself the show’s always been like that. In fact, it uses the original music, and the character style and deep shading all ring of an oldschool feel, but at the same time everything is crisply digital and a bit streamlined. Being so familiar with the original (and having watched all three seasons at least twice in their entirety) it messes with my head a little. However the good thing is that the characters are drawn more consistently than in past seasons and for better or for worse it follows the usual Slayers formula exactly.

The infamous Luna or a false alarm?

But that’s just it, Slayers is Slayers, it’s funny, it’s over the top, and the characters are extremely likable. The opening and the closing seem to promise us alot of my (and everyone and their brother’s) favorite character Xellos but he so far hasn’t made an appearance. The opening also features a shot of a cute girl in a waitress costume which of course has sparked an explosion of speculation among Slayers fans that we’ll finally get to see Lina’s infamous off-screen sister Luna who turned down an offer to save the world in Try because she was too busy with her part time waiting job. Although this character’s design doesn’t resemble past glimpses of Luna in series openings and closings (yes I’m really this much of a Slayers fantard.)

We get reintroduced to the main cast very quickly in the first episode while Lina is out attacking pirates (because, you know, by now she’s wiped out nearly all of the bandits in the world.) Her reputation as a walking embodiment of chaos (which isn’t too far from the truth) has only worsened and later on she’s being fingered by a new character, the kingdom of Ruvinagald’s inspector Wiser Faylon, for, well, being Lina Inverse. We find out Zelgadis has been appointed Amelia’s royal bodyguard (which gives them an excuse to show up together like they always do I suppose, not to mention they’re generally considered a canon pairing) and that Gourry is still too dumb to remember Zelgadis and Amelia’s names after not having seen them for an extended period. A new character is also introduced who looks a little ridiculous but is not the adorable mascot character I feared it would be from the opening. Whoever this mystery creature is (who appears to be a living stuffed animal) he possesses a level of magic and attitude very similar to Lina’s.

The introduction of the characters in the first episode may seem a bit quick to newcomers, but although the series relies somewhat on the audience being familiar with the first seasons I think it’s fairly easy for new watchers to pick it up. And if you like what you see definitely check out the first three seasons, it’s one of the most memorable animes out there.

Just a finale note: the dedicated fansubbers here are Static Subs. They offer super high quality torrent downloads of the shows they sub so throw a donation their way if you partake!

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