Slayers

Title:Slayers
The Slayers
スレイヤーズ
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - JC Staff
Animation - SoftX
HAYASHIBARA Megumi
KOYASU Takehito
MATSUMOTO Yasunori
MIDORIKAWA Hikaru
R1 License - FUNimation
TOUMA Yumi
WATANABE Takashi
Lina Inverse is a very powerful sorceress who has a craving for cash. After she steals some loot from some bandits, she meets a gallant swordsman named Gourry. Together they go on a journey and soon meet Zelgadis, a fighter-mage who's desperate for an artifact Lina took from the bandits. When the Red Priest Rezo comes to warn Lina about Zelgadis, it seems clear who the enemy is. But then facts begin to emerge that blur the lines between friends and foes. And with the potential of the Mazoku Dark Lord, Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, being resurrected, there may not be time to figure things out. After resolving that issue, the young miko Amelia joins forces with Lina and Gourry as a 2nd Rezo appears and a bounty is put out for Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis. Who's behind all of this? Will Lina have the power to cast the most powerful spell of all? And is there enough food in the world to satisfy her and Gourry?
[26 TV episodes]. Series was originally licensed by CMP but the license has now been acquired by FUNimation. While initially it was believed their would have improved subtitles and maybe some fixes in the dub using the original VA's, none of this came to be. The only improvements are a slightly cleaner image, no "black box" to block the Japanese text on the title screens, and for the subtitle watchers, previews and some other tiny things that were not there for the CPM release.]

Funimation has decided to post the first season to HULU.
click here to see the first episode on HULU
[edit] The ↗Slayers franchise time line: Lost Universe (same universe):
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 6 6 6 6 7 7 Ggultra2764 [series:10#1552]
A decent action-comedy title for me to watch. Slayers more or less parodies medieval/ fantasy style plots found in stuff like the Dungeons and Dragons games. Major characters like Lina and Zelgadis tend to be aware of their status within the title at points and remarking on the enemies and situations they face. Some characters tend to be a bit over-the-top with their actions like Amelia and her father attempting to pull off heroics and Gourry being very dense with many things beyond his skilled swordsmanship. Not to mention for a protagonist, Lina doesn't totally fill the typical qualities you would find of a hero. She's greedy, short-fused, arrogant and often has no qualms creating collateral damage from her overpowered spells. The show doesn't take itself seriously and it does a good job at delivering its laughs consistently. The series does do a decent (albeit formulaic) job at setting up some plot developments involving Rezo that do shift the mood of the show during major confrontations, even during the frequent filler episodes. But even in these moments, Slayers still retains its comedic parody of medieval/ fantasy action plot formulas and character archetypes.

But I did find the show's visual and aural presentation to be the show's weakest area. The visuals to the series are a bit lacking where scenery doesn't look too detailed, character design lining looked a bit jerky and there are a good number of reused animation frames and animation errors to take notice of. The soundtrack to the series wasn't too memorable for me either as I just breezed through the OP and ED songs after hearing them in the first episode and none of the insert music stuck out for me.

Despite my issues with the show's presentation, Slayers was still a fun comedy title for me to look into as it did enough of a good job at poking fun of the very genre that its world takes place in. I look forward to seeing more of the series franchise at some point, regardless of the Rent rating I have tacked onto this season of the show.

Last updated Sunday, December 19 2010. Created Sunday, December 19 2010.
Buy 7 8 8 7 10 9 Dreamer [series:10#2279]
I watched this a while back but barely getting around to posting a review. At first, before picking this one up, I hadn't a clue what I was getting into. But, wow, I'm sure glad I picked this one up.

Art, Animation and Character Design
The art and animation show's it's age. I mean, afterall, we're talking about 1995... almost a decade and a half old at the time of this review. So the art and animation isn't exactly up to today's standards but it's not a turn-off by no means. The character designs are imaginary and pretty good. Each character is unique and enjoyable. Some of them really grows on you, such as Lina (protagonist) and the cute Amelia.

Music
Unfortunately, as good as this whole series is, the music was seriously lacking. The opening theme song was not even noticable and the ending song was more or less the same. Throughout the anime, there was nothing that caught my interest.

Episode and Series Stories
Wow! What an awesome and hilarious series. At the first episode, I was laughing my ass off and dying of laughter from the silliness and antics of Lina. At times, I would be laughing so hard, my eyes would be drenched in tears and face beat red. What made this even more funny was the fact that our characters knew they were nothing more than actors in a "skit". I never thought I'd say this, but even the filler episodes were a riot. Throughout the anime, you come across a vast array of characters and with so many characters, you get a plot that's constantly twisting and evolving. As well, spread throughout the series, our main character's backgrounds are explored enough so, to keep you satisfied. As the series was coming to an end, there was some serious moments and awesome magic effects.... along with some fancy swordplay.

Overall, a MUST buy. This is one of those "great" animes that will stay in my hall of famers. I actually did a marathon one night and watched half of the series strait through.

Last updated Monday, February 16 2009. Created Monday, February 16 2009.
Buy 9 9 9 9 9 9 Ilpalazzo [series:10#1977]
VERY VERY FUNNY, A great anime, must see

Last updated Monday, December 12 2005. Created Monday, December 12 2005.
Rent Forbin [series:10#1573]
Drama : Low
Action : Med / High
Comedy : High
SciFi : None
Ecchi : Low
Great Series! This and Sorcerer Hunters TV are one of my favorites! Lina is a riot! I wonder how she became so powerful. More after I see more.

Well, I had to downgrade this to a rent. I'm sorry but CLONES? Please, that's a dumb thread plot. It was going so well up to Shabarnigdo, then poof the last 13 episodes just wasn't very good.

Current I'm on Slayers Next and so far it's better than this one.

Last updated Thursday, May 05 2005. Created Wednesday, February 23 2005.
Rent 7 6 9 6 7 6 Buzze [series:10#1034]
What can I say? I'm hesitating between buy and rent, so I settle for rent. If you like it, you can always buy it afterwards. But it's definitely a must-see!
Don't expect too much from the animation. For this days standard it's a bit old I guess. But it sure isn't bad at all.
Music is a bit neglected I feel, the songs are never as catchy as the music in e.g. FLCL. It never bothered me though.
The humour and the characters are totally my style! Lina becoming mad as hell is great to see. Justice-loving Amelia, dumb Gourry, ... They fit really well and their interaction is great.
I wish they would have put more effort in the story though. The filler episodes were good enough, but they're fillers and nothing more

Last updated Friday, April 16 2004. Created Friday, April 16 2004.
Buy 6 6 7 5 8 Tom [series:10#1086]
This is my favorite in this series. I think it's best if your like me and played a few RPG's before you discovered girls, but still remember being terrified that a black dragon could be hiding behind that small shrub up ahead and if you don't make your dex reflex check he'll use his breath weapon (I'm not a nerd, just so you know). This series is all about slapstick and takes nothing serious at all, except the fact that Lina has small boobs (small my foot, she's at least a c-cup, and trust me, I know what I'm talking about), which is a running joke through the WHOLE series, and yes it gets old fast. The characters were likeable if not great to look at (Naga is the exception, but she's not in the tv series anyway). I'm glad that I own this, but you may want to watch it first before you decide.

Last updated Monday, December 01 2003. Created Monday, December 01 2003.
Rent Stretch [series:10#628]
I'm not really qualified to write an in-depth review of Slayers, even though I've watched the series in it's entirety. That's because I've only seen around 1/8 of it in the Japanese language form it was originally made in. Let this instead be a cautionary tale about the dangers of sub-par dubbing and localization (I'm talking about the old "Software Sculptors" dub on VHS tapes here).


Slayers has such a great reputation that when I started collecting Anime this was one of the first series I went looking for. Being the inexperienced otaku wannabe that I was, I went looking for the dubbed version, since surely reading subtitles while watching could only diminish the joy of animation, and it would be impossible to appreciate the skill of a VA speaking in another language, right? Unfortunately, I could only find one of the volumes in subtitled form, and reluctantly settled for that. Sure enough, the first time around I detected no particular difference in quality between the acting of the dubbed and subbed versions, but also came away with the impression that the quality of the series as a whole was disappointing compared to my high expectations. The humor struck me as "dumb", "unsophisticated", and "so-so". I concluded that this show had been seriously overrated, and declined to watch the second or third seasons. Recently, I started rewatching this series, largely because nowadays I strongly prefer subtitled anime, but needed something dubbed to listen to while snacking late at night. As I recalled, the show was fairly amusing but not fantastic by any means. And then I came to the single subbed tape.


Man, what a difference! Whereas the first time around I didn't detect much difference between the dubbed voice of Lisa Ortiz and the subbed one of Megumi Hayashibara, this time I find myself wondering how the voice alone could be responsible for the vast difference I comprehend. Hayashibara's Lina is infinitely more... what's the word... wacky! Maybe the fact that the Shabranigdo plot arc had just come to an end before my single subbed VHS tape began, and the episodes can now afford to be more silly, has something to do with it. For the most part the dubbed acting is competent, but at times the timing and emotions can be painfully misdone. Were they trying to take the plot more seriously than its makers intended? The lesson is that there is liable to be a price to be paid for the convenience of hearing an anime's dialogue in English. Sometimes you actually get a better performance when reading subtitles along with an expert VA speaking in Japanese. It's surprising to what extent expert Japanese VAs can convey emotions through the tones they use, and to what extent your brain can "match" these emotions to the english words you are reading at the bottom of the screen. Whereas once I regarded the single subtitled VHS tape to be "better than nothing", now I consider it the best of the set, and a tantalizing glimpse of how good the series as a whole could have been, had I watched it as it was originally made.


Having seen only a fraction of this series in subtitled form, I can't say for certain how well the remainder will hold up; perhaps the new Funimation dub will represent a significant improvement. No matter what happens, Megumi Hayashibara will never betray you!


My favorite line (unchanged since my first review): "Give a guy a break and you'll end up broken!"--Lina

8/03 #48

Last updated Friday, March 21 2008. Created Saturday, August 09 2003.
Buy 7 5 8 8 8 8 AstroNerdBoy [series:10#436]

I really didn't know what to expect when I started watching and have been pleasantly surprised. It is funny in a more silly way. It might be funnier to those who've played a lot of RPG games though. I will admit that I've had no belly laughs, but I have enjoyed Lina and her insults. :-D Since the series doesn't take itself seriously, we get a lot of humor where the characters know they are actors playing a role in a series. The times the series got serious, something would happen causing one of the characters to remark on how they knew this couldn't stay serious. :-D

The title is serial in nature which I love, though there are a lot of "filler" episodes in the middle. Those were mostly fun, but a couple were a little tedious. The story is interesting as well. Actually, there are two stories with the 2nd tied to the first. The first 9 episodes cover the first story and the second story starts almost immediately with the introduction of the cleric-mage Amelia and the departure of the fighter-mage Zelgadis (he comes back though). The first half of the 2nd story is where the filler comes in as the plot is not advanced beyond setting the table. In the last third of the series, the miko (think RPG cleric) Slyphiel joins the party and Zelgadis comes back. The main reason the story is done like this is because of the original Japanese Slayers stories that were first published in the Japanese Dragon magazine. The story about Shabranigdu is only four chapters long. Not a very big novel for sure, thus the reason it only took 9 episodes to tell.

That said, I think that those who aren't fantasy buffs or who haven't played fantasy RPG's (whether on the computer, on a BBS, or original D&D style) won't appreciate this as much. English dub watchers are REALLY missing out on a lot as the Japanese seiyuu cast does an outstanding job. Hayashibara Megumi IS Lina Inverse. Casting her in the role was perfect and she plays it well. Had I only seen this in English, I would have still enjoyed the series, but not nearly as much.

As for the DVD, expect a pretty standard domestication of the series including forced translations of honorifics in the subtitles. I disagree with Software Sculptor's decision to translate the name of the evil powerful race (Mazoku) to "monster race". There are monsters and there are Mazoku. They are VERY different. Thus the term "monster race" doesn't clear things up, but rather adds to the confusion.

Bottom line: a lot of fun and Lina is now my hero!

If Stretch will pardon me, I'm going to copy him and throw in my favorite line to date: "I just helped myself to a little of their treasure and now they're just never gonna leave me alone." -- Lina.



Last updated Friday, May 11 2007. Created Saturday, August 09 2003.
Buy 9 6 10 8 8 10 Zelgadis [series:10#719]
The Slayers is an excellent anime to see. Although the animation isn't that great, the comedy is funny as hell, and you will be laughing your ass off at what the characters do.
The four main characters consist of the greedy sorceress Lina Inverse, The dumb as a rock Gourry Gabriev, The Justice Loving Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, and the mysterious Zelgadis Greywords. There is also Slyphiel who comes in the last part of the Slayers. The Slayers is extremely funny, especially the filler episodes in the middle which are the best part of the series.

Last updated Friday, May 23 2003. Created Friday, May 23 2003.
Buy 8 8 8 8 8 7 Sesen Kelader [series:10#471]
All the episodes of Slayers are plainly "ridiculously" and "out of mind" except the last few episode fighting the evil boss. These also applies to Try and Next. However, what's astonsihing about it is the tremenous usage of great-looking magic. And sometimes also sword fighting.
NEvertheless Slayers is hilarious, and I really like the main character's personality. Greedy, vigorous, unreasonable sometimes but kind.

Last updated Friday, January 03 2003. Created Friday, January 03 2003.
Buy 7 8 6 10 8 8 Akito [series:10#472]
I finished slayers in one day.... CAN'T stop watching because it is so funny. The is a great deal of action in the story, and the music is nice too.

Last updated Friday, January 03 2003. Created Friday, January 03 2003.
Avoid 5 5 4 4 2 Midnighter [series:10#94]
Slayers is complete fluff. The story is lightweight and cliched, the characters are really likeable, though cardboard-cutouts,particularly Lina, and the American dub is for the most part horrendous.
The humor is warm and occasioanlly effective, which is the main appeal, I think. Sadly, it is very hit and miss...usually miss, since we've seen the gags over and over again in better anime. Really, how many times can we watch an anime character eat a lot and still think it's funny?
Slayers is consistantly over-rated, in my opinion. It's entertaining enough, and quite funny occasionally, however rather quickly the jokes tend to wear thin, and the characters' personality quirks that were cute at first become irritating. It also ran too long! The story plods along leisurely, not particularly going anywhere. This should have been an hour long movie, not TV series.
The animation budget must have been miniscule, because the animation is choppy, with stock footage galore. Oh look, Lina's hurling a fireball again. I didn't see that one coming.
In conclusion, I would have enjoyed this much more if the animation had been better, and if it had been shorter. Ruin Explorers is much better sword and sorcery in a short, easy to digest package of only 4 episodes.
In conclusion, Slayers is SO hyped and so popular that when one finally does watch it, it cannot help but be disappointing. Interchangable characters, a wafer thin and plodding storyline, grating english voices, and too much hype makes Slayers damn near unwatchable. Watch Slayers if you must, but be forwarned, you may feel physically dumber once it's finished.

Last updated Tuesday, January 08 2002. Created Friday, March 02 2001.
Buy 6 6 8 9 Black Panther [series:10#142]
This is another favorit of mine!!! It is great!! I dont think it is to bad for kids, but like almost shows you should watch it with them! It is deffently a comedy all the way!! Very entertaining!!! enjoy!!!!!

Last updated Friday, February 23 2001. Created Friday, February 23 2001.
Buy 7 7 10 10 9 8 Lickylick [series:10#133]
This is one hell of an anime.
Slayers is a very funny anime that also has a good deal of decent action. The animation may not be up to par with others, buy Slayers is one hard anime to beat.
The characters are great and act as foils to one another. Lina and Gourry's relationship drives a good deal of the humor in the series. Amelia provides alot with her "Everything for Justice" policy. The quiet and usually serious Zelgadis makes a perfect target for jokes while being a kick-ass character. Sylpheel adds a bit more of a serious tone to the story, especially since you first see her very close to the end of the series. Rezo is frikkin cool as the villain. I fell in love with how cool he was then, and he is still one of the best anime villains out there in my opinion.
The music is REALLY GOOD! I am a big fan of Megumi Hayashibara's music and both the opening and ending songs are spectacular.
The story flows very nicely. The first chunk of the series is more focused on the humorous aspect. Later on it turns very serious and very cool.
If you are a fan of anime, you must at least see Slayers, but I would definitely advise you to buy this one, na no da.

Last updated Saturday, February 10 2001. Created Saturday, February 10 2001.
Buy 6 6 10 5 9 9 Dr.Yoshi [series:10#110]
This was the first anime I ever saw. In fact it was this series that got me in to anime.
The start of a classic anime. Slayers is great. The animation is not as good as I hoped, but the story and charaters are some of the best I have ever seen.
Fantasy, and fun. You must see this series. It got me on the right foot, now lets spred the love.

Last updated Monday, May 21 2001. Created Wednesday, December 20 2000.
Rent 7 7 8 9 9 9 Anonymous #75 [series:10#75]
I was laughing my butt off through the whole series! This series is by far one of the best I've ever seen. It's got lots of action and comedy and very little romance. The characters can even be hilarious in series situations. I don't think there wasn't a time where I had a silly big smile on my face. This is a must see!

Last updated Thursday, August 31 2000. Created Thursday, August 31 2000.
Buy 4 4 9 7 7 The Coyote [series:10#64]
This is a hilarious anime truly one that makes me glad to be an anime fan it is not especally well animeaited and the story can be somewhat predictable but I can watch this series over and over and over agian and still get a laugh and still enjoy every second of it. The Characters are truly classics and as for the dubbing I think Lisa Ortiz, Crispin Freeman, and the rest do the best job in Anime. I have seen all of it dubbed and Subbed and in my opionion it's funnier and better dubbed. An absoulte must for the anime collection.

Last updated Tuesday, December 04 2001. Created Friday, July 28 2000.
Buy 6 5 10 6 8 CatWoman [series:10#65]
I LOVE THIS ONE! AGGH IT'S SOOOO GOOD! It is a little bit of a comic Loddoss Wars. If you like Loddoss Wars you will probably like this, if you can take it lightly! The magic, bothered me quit a bet at first...but no anime is perfect right *sheepish smile*. THIS IS A MUST BUY! It is funny, has a good story line, and great characters!!! WONDERFUL characters! That you can never seem to get enough of! And it's a nice relaxing one, cuse' they never let anything get too serious.

Last updated Tuesday, January 08 2002. Created Thursday, July 27 2000.
Buy 7 6 7 9 10 9 Anonymous #51 [series:10#51]
Although the producers of this series were forced to the thrifty production, with the animation suffering as a result, it nonetheless told the story in an incredibly stylish way. The characters were introduced extremely well, with a high degree of comedy, and just enough drama and development to make it believable.
For the most part, this series comes off as almost too comical, but indeed it knows when to be serious. With the addition of stoic Zelgadis to the group, the jokes become that much more hilarious, with him as a sounding board from which the others bounce their puns.
Indeed, the last part of the series makes a much more serious move, and the inclusion of the mostly-serious character Sylpheel certainly adds a huge degree of a solemn atmosphere to the proceedings. However, all in all, the Slayers is comic fantasy, with a touch of melodrama, an excellent package and supremely likeable, whether in anime or manga form.

Last updated Monday, June 26 2000. Created Monday, June 26 2000.
Buy Jenn-chan [series:10#31]
One of the best fantasy comedy series around, Slayers has defintely made it's mark on the anime world. Not only does it have one of the most memorable characters in anime (Lina Inverse), voiced by the best seiyu in all anime (Megumi Hayashibara), but it has a kick butt soundtrack too! If you haven't seen Slayers, get a volume NOW.

Last updated Monday, May 08 2000. Created Monday, May 08 2000.
Rent 6 5 7 8 6 6 Dingle [series:10#35]
This is the first of three TV series revolving around four core characters. Most of this show is filled will fluff and humor. I think the main point of this show is to introduce the characters that they develop in the later shows. It is pretty funny, but the animation is poor. The first box set was kind of week. This is probably due to being unfamialiar with the series. If you have the interest stick it out, The Slayers saga pays off.

Last updated Friday, May 05 2000. Created Friday, May 05 2000.

Other Sites
NameURL
IMDB http://us.imdb.com/Title?%22Slayers%22+(1995)
Slayers Universe http://www.inverse.org/
While the site is no longer updated, it does contain the most information about the world of "Slayers" including the original stories/novels the anime was based on. Details on the Mazoku hierarchy are here as well as spells and tons more. Absolutely a must-see for "Slayers" fans!
QP's Slayers Page http://homepage3.nifty.com/QPHOUSE/slayers_e.html
Another great Slayers site that has synopsis of many of the Slayers books and tons more information.
FUNimation's Slayers Site http://funimation.com/slayers/
Wikipedia - Slayers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slayers

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