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AKA: N/A
Genre: High fantasy comedy
Length: Television series, 26 episodes, 23 minutes each
Distributor: Currently licensed by FUNimation
Content Rating: 13+ (fantasy violence, occult references)
Related Series: The Slayers, The Slayers NEXT, Slayers (movies)
Also Recommended: Dragon Half, Rune Soldier, Slayers
Notes: Based on the novels by Kanzaka Hajime.

Earlier licensed to CPR/Software sculptors, but has since been lost to FUNimation.
Rating:

The Slayers TRY

Synopsis

It's the Slayers, with Lina Inverse (disgustingly powerful mage trapped in the body of a cute little girl), Gourry Gabriev (strength of a god, brains of a peanut), Zelgadis Greywers (the still-cursed straight-man of stone), Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune (justice's greatest threat, er, proponent) traveling on even more adventures, with new traveling companions, while facing new threats to the world as they know it ...


Review

I love this series. Who knows how many junior-high afternoons I spent dreaming up fantasy worlds instead of doing my homework ... and this is the glowing tribute to those daydreams. Off-color, wacky, and completely irreverent, this series maintains the appearance that, "Yes, there's a serious plotline here, and we really are in mortal danger."

It's only an appearance, though ... especially when that ditziest of all Gold Dragons, Filia (or Phyria, however you want to spell her name) shows up. According to the AD&D Monstrous Manual (the beast bible of the role-playing youth), the Gold Dragon is the "wise, judicious" leader of all good dragons. Well ... Filia is anything BUT wise and judicious, easily flying off the handle and getting either stunned or very, very mad. Possessive, jealous, and immature, she is everything a Gold Dragon should never be, which is why she is a worthy addition to the Slayers cast. (As much as Slayers fandom seems to dislike her.)

The early episodes seem fine enough, but sadly, Slayers seems to be running out of fresh gags. One can't last alone on the sheer comedic power of Hayashibara Megumi for long ... and the series is finally starting to go down the "been-there-done-that" route as well. The execution's fine, it's just time for something new. You can be almost-destroyed-but-just-get-in-that-one-last-Dragon-Slave only so many times ... It's no wonder they stuck to the OAVs and movies after this series, because it looks like the actors needed a break.

Don't get me wrong, I love this show. But like all good things, it had to come to an end. Which isn't a complete loss, because the actors have all gone on to perform great voice work - like Hayashibara Megumi in Cowboy Bebop, and Kuwashima Houko (Filia) *really* hamming up the ultimate ditz role in Martian Successor Nadesico. So fret not, Slayers fans.

(There'll probably be another movie soon anyway.)

Showing signs of slowing down in latter episodes...how effective will the damage control be? It's just not as witty as it used to be, save for the interaction between Filia and Xellos. Carlos/Giancarla Ross

Recommended Audience: Same audience as the original series. Again, the occult stuff may offend some parents, but it's really of no consequence to most viewers, as it's complete hokum to the original audiences.



Version(s) Viewed: digital source
Review Status: Partial (12/26)
The Slayers TRY © 1997 TV Tokyo / Softx
 
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