User Reviews

This show doesn't take itself too seriously and that's what I love about this. It's much like a dungeon and dragons game where you're just with a group of friends who jokes around. Even Glass Reflection has said (want more of that, go to the other reviews) and each character has there own personality.We follow two characters most of the times, Lina who is a sorceress with a chip on her shoulder and Gaurry, a rather bumbling warrior. The two work rather well together from the moment they met and are the main reason why the show keeps going on. The two argue like an old married couple but its Gaurry's heart and Lina's knowledge that makes the dual work so well in every little case they go. Sure you have some of the stereotypes that happen once in a while, like the 'stupid' blond haired Gourry and the little loud mouth girl Lina, but I never found them predictable. I believe one of the reasons why they made him like that is because then we have a sort of open book to help us get into the world. Since he doesn't know the world (or plays dumb) we get a reason for Lina to explain the things we won't understand.

Zelgadis is a rather interesting character as he is half stone in his whole body (immature jokes aside fokes). (Kurai: "Ha! Hard as a rock even in bed!" Angel: *smacks him hard on the head* "What did I just say?") He is also a sorcerer and in the first half, we see him as a protagonist. Now, I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say he ends up turning around and teaming with the other characters. Amilia was more annoying then the others but her character sort of grew on me. Lets see, I believe Zelgadis is Chaotic good and Amilia is really Lawful good if you want to get into D&D.

The storyline isn't really a one directional storyline but it actually changes halfway through. It's not that it goes into a completely different storyline but it does throw a couple twists and turns. Sadly though, we never get a full sense of the world they are in. They throw things in on last second and then take a little bit of time trying to rectify the change of the world. Now, they have really good luck though in this because most of the explanations actually seem to work but that's because they didn't put a standard to the world in the first place.

The artwork does show its age but this was made on cells. Even though its classic, it's rather clean and when they do stray away from the artwork, its mostly to show a gag rather then just a whim. We do get some still images and overused footage but I never was bothered by this. I have to say their costumes are really ridicules though but that's a norm for any fantasy style show. The whole magical jewels on magical jewels for a sorcerer, the armor that actually doesn't look like it would protect him to well on his legs, it's just one of those things. IT is like they made this a stereotypical fantasy but then joke about that same thing at times.

Lina's English voice was one that I had to actually grow to like, hers and Amilia. They were a little too high but not as high as the Japanese version. I couldn't get into the Japanese version sadly because of Lina's voice but the English is another matter. I think some of the jokes also work better in the English but again, it might be regional for this. They talk about lots of items that really aren't in there time frame like cheeseburgers and such. It gives another layer to the show.

This episode keeps the same feeling as the one before with a little extra comedy in it. Comedy brought on by the ex-princess Martina. She's supposed to be the protagonist but shes more of a comedic relief that I think was put in when people wanted Naga back. Her outfit is slightly less scandalous then that of Naga but it's got the same sort of feeling. I always wonder how the hell those types of clothing stay on a character when her body is always moving around the way it does. Anyway, she is completely out of control, even to the point that she orders her father around. How the hell a princess becomes a spoiled little brat I… OK, never mind. I answered my own question.

It is here that you sort of learn more about who's side Zelgadis bats for. I have to admit that when I said he was chaotic good in my last review of the first series, I was a little wrong. I believe him to be chaotic natural rather then good. This is because he goes to whatever side he thinks he has more of a chance to get his body back to normal, a feat that always seems to screw up in the end. We also have the normal Lina, Gourry and Amelia as in the last season.

Some of the stuff does seem repetitive, Evil guy wants to take over the world and what not, but there is enough that doesn't repeat itself that kept me interested. I loved when Xellos ended up showing up out of no where with no reason except for him to get some screen time and give a little more comedy! Next to Zelgadis, Xellos is one of my favorite characters! Now I should also bring up the character Xellos. It is unclear a lot of times weather he is on the side of good or the side of evil but one thing is clear, he is chaotic in nature. Everything he seems to do is to make chaos in the world. He also seems to be rather interested in Lina in somewhat of a romantic way.

The artwork keeps the same feeling as the first one, showing all our favorite characters in rather interesting predicaments although there are times that the art style looks like the animators got a little bored.

We have the same voices as what they had before, including Crispin Freeman as the voice of Zelgadis. No one else's voice changed lucky for us and so we don't have to worry about the same problems that would arise like say… in Pokemon where we hear the cute little boy's voice change into a crazy puberty voice. David Moo did a rather splendid job catching the witty voice of Xellos, keeping him playful and charming without destroying his overall intention to his voice. After the voice actors got down the personalities of there characters in the first series, they kept that going throughout the next and kept it as fun as it ever was.

Let me start off by saying that the original Slayers are some of my favorite anime. With that in mind, my hopes and expectations for this new season were impossibly high. Slayers Revolution came out somewhere in the middle. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very good. All our beloved characters have been reduced to tropes with only the newer characters getting anything resembling emotions. Empy gimmicks that don't get laughs and characters acting in certain ways just because they're supposed to, its really a sad excuse for writing. Soulless. All in all it wasn't a bad watch, the story was semi-solid with only nitpicks for problems. I hated how they absolutely would not reference past seasons even though there was every reason to, talking about things as if they had never encountered them before or there was no past history (This isn't really a spoiler, but Sylphiel talking about the Demon Beast Zanifar as if she doesn't know anything about it is the most stupid thing ever). The time line of events kept shifting and changing to the point where it wasn't clear at all how much time has passed between back story and current times (Years? Decades? Centuries?). I think the most disappointing part was just how empty all the characters were and how there was never a real sense of danger. Lina didn't have any of her usual underdog humility to offset her bratty behavior. Gourry might as well have been a post for all he did (and whatever happened to their undercurrent? It was nonexistent). Zelgadas had none of his dry wit or any of his usual selfish motivations, going along with everything just because, "What choice do we have?" Prince Philonel was REASONABLE (Since when?) and Xellos was another placeholder without any of his usual mischievousness (with one notable exception), all the best characters seemingly on the screen for no other reason than because they're supposed to be there. To sum, its not so bad that it will ruin the old ones for you, but it's not even in the same ballpark with the first three seasons.

Contains some spoilers

I haven't seen the original series/season, but I was able to catch two of the episodes of Next on the International Channel, and they interested me. After I earned enough, I bought the Slayers Next DVD box set.... and believe me, it's great.

The main plot for this season is Lina and co. are reunited when annoying whiner Martina and her father capture Amelia during some negotiations. Let's just say that Martina and her pop's plans soon fall apart. Afterwards, Lina learns Zelgadis is searching for the Claire Bible, so they team up to search for it. Martina, who wants revenge, but can't honestly think of a plot to really threaten them, follows. They meet Xellos, who is also searching for his own reasons, and form a somewhat uneasy alliance with him. And things just go more crazy from there.

When they're not searching for the Claire Bible they're fighting evil monsters and stuff, in some stories that can take up to seven episodes. The great blend of action and humor make this a must-see. While some stories are more focused on humor(the one where they try to cook a dragon is HILARIOUS), some are a bit more serious(like when Hellmaster kidnaps Gourry).

The animation is great, the music is great, and the voices are great... well the Japanese ones anyway. The English dub is okay, at best, and though some of the voices are somewhat tolerable, some, like Xellos, really get on my nerves. Only watch the English dub if that's the only format you're able to get your hands on.

BOTTOM LINE: If you get the International Channel, watch it. If you see ANY of the old videos, get them. If you have enough cash, buy the DVD box set. Just see this series, or you will be missing out on something great. P.S., Cartoon Network, if you're reading, add this to Adult Swim!!!