Tuesday 14 April 2015

The Slayers, Slayers Next, Slayers Try

I probably should have done these one by one but they came in a boxset like this so... yeah.

Ok... story time, back when i was in high school (which i'm just realizing is over a decade ago... wow) I had a friend who adored The Slayers series.
Like... she like The Slayers as much as i like Natsume Yuujinchou.

One day she decided to lend me the three seasons... she didn't bother with the OVAs or anything since they are pretty much just goofy fun.

So i watched it, enjoyed it well enough and then kinda forgot about it... i'm really bad with names and some of the names in the series are so ungodly stupid it would just make me roll my eyes.
Still i didn't have any bad memories of the show other then it just kinda stops after Try.

Not too much longer after a 4th season gets announced (i think it was 11 years since Try ended but maybe 2 or 3 since i watched the show)
The problem was back then if you were watching anime online you weren't doing it legally.
so i just didn't watch it.
Funimation did get the license but they were charging stupid prices for 13 episodes (and by they i really mean the people sellign their stuff... rarely saw it for less then 60 bucks and that was when we were at par)

However Last Christmas Rightstuf put on one of their lovely holiday sales and i managed to pick up 1-3 boxset for 24 and 4-5 bluray for 22.
the entire series for less then 50 bucks (ignoring that when i actualyl got charged our dollar had tanked and my entire order cost a lot more then expected)

Last time when i watched it it was in english... i don't remember it very well but i also don't remember it being bad.
The japanese was really good... well... on character made me sad but i'll get to that when i get to next.

anyways for those who haven't seen the show.

Lina inverse is a 15 year old sorceress who, by chance, meets a swordsman named Gourry Gabriev. They adventure together and eventually meet up with a chimera named Zelgadis who wishes to return to his human form and a princess/justice loving freak named Amelia.
They also meet other characters.
Sylphiel - a Shrine maiden who is Gourry's childhood friend.
Martina - Only in season 2 and is a complete waste of time and space. should have been a bit character at best and should never have joined the party.
Xellos - doesn't show up till Season 2 and is a mysterious Priest who seems to be leading the group down a specific path.
Fillia - Not introduced till season 3, a golden dragon/priestess who has had a prophecy that involves a human, originally they go for Lina's older sister but soon they find out it's actually about lina.

The Slayer:
This season focuses mostly on introducing the world and the characters. The big bad is... uh
Shabrinigado... a monster as black as pitch and capable of destroying the world. Trying to figure out who is friend of foe she works to defeat the evil.
However in the search to ressurect the monster one man manages to create a monster far worse.

Of the three this is probably my least fav season, the gags are just a bit too much and it's missing some of the charm in Next or try.
at least when she uses a certain spell there is a tangible consequence for it even if it's gone the next episode.

The Slayers: Next
Second season and we get introduced to Xellos... who is voiced by Natori.
I had no idea he had been working for so long... and playing a "is he good or bad" character like Xellos was enough to make me wince.
The focus of the season is Turning Zelgadis into a human.... well it is until they decide they need to find something called the Claire bible... which may have a spell to change a chimera to a human  but more importantly has a few spells that have been lost to time, one she even used in the previous season but without knowing all the risk she took.

For character interations this season is my fav. Especially Lina and Gourry... they get some adorable bits.
For plot this one gets a little silly near the end but it's still pretty good.

The Slayers: Try
in this seemingly final season we find out a barrier that had surrounded the area has been broken and they can now travel the world... the outside world has very little knowledge of magic but much more lore regarding dragons, gods and monsters.
We learn more about Gourry's sword.... Gourry becomes useless for most of the season but overall the plot is much better then any season before it. there are some stakes and not too much "will i, wont i" in regards to certain magic.

To this day i haven't seen the OVA's at all... or at least i don't think i have like i said i don't remember too much.

and starting tonight i'll be watching "revolution" followed be "evolution - r" (but i'mm gunna call it what the Bluray calls it.... Revolution-R)
if you have a chance to watch the show, pic it up... it's extremely 90s but a lot of fun.

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