crooks.kathleen - 2016-03-21 12:53:24

Critic’s Log - Earthdate: September 4, 2014. Review #89: The Slayers

I have recently completed Final Fantasy IX (a PlayStation 1 game) and I had a lot of fun playing it and I really enjoyed the game. It has now become one of my favorite entries in the Final Fantasy franchise. I felt like watching a fun anime in response to finishing that game, and this one happens to be under the fantasy genre. That anime is… The Slayers.

This is the tale of Lina Inverse, a wandering sorceress and bandit-killer. She joins forces with roving swordsman Gourry Gabriev in what's supposed to be a quick union of convenience. Instead, an artifact that Lina "liberated" from a gang of thieves turns out to be the key to the resurrection of a demon lord. Urged on by the mysterious figure Rezo the Red Priest, the pair has no choice but to fight the dark lord and his servants, accumulating new allies and enemies along the way.

To be technical, The Slayers is a J.C. Staff production and as far as this anime goes, this anime does have the 90’s old school style. That should not discourage you from watching this one, it may be dated but for 1995, It was animated well for the most part. The Slayers looks good for its time and if you are into old-school anime. This one is a classic for a reason. However, for the time… Recycled animation is to be expected in this show, but there’s little recycling in the animation cels which can be seen as a good thing for this anime. Another nice thing is that even though this show does have those special scenes where there is dialogue in it such as Usagi’s transformation to Sailor Moon from, well...Sailor Moon. The Slayers has moments like those too especially with the spell chanting. Even though these are the moments that come with some animation recycling, those moments are nice to look at and like I said, they aren’t heavily recycled and I ‘ll leave it at that.

Now before I mention the music here, I do need to address something to avoid confusion. The composer is not meant to be confused with the influential and well-respected manga artist. The soundtrack to The Slayers is by (composer) Osamu Tezuka, and the music is not exactly memorable but it does fit the show. There are some memorable pieces that I did hear in the show,. However, there are two themes that are very catchy once you start watching The Slayers. The opening theme “Get Along” is really damn catchy, Kujikenai Kara! (I’ll Never Give Up!) also happens to be a damn catchy closing theme as well. These themes are both sung by Masami Ouki and Megumi Hayashibara. Masami Ouki would be also known for the opening theme of Revolutionary Girl Utena. Megumi Hayashibara on the other hand is a seiyu that does some anime openings, especially for all the openings of The Slayers franchise (or so I’ve looked up). The music might be the weakest aspect of The Slayers, but it isn’t a terrible soundtrack. There are just some tracks overused. I’ve seen a few anime where it contained not-so-well-used soundtracks and The Slayers does not have one of those “poorly utilized” soundtracks. So there’s a plus there.

When it comes down to voice acting. The Slayers may have some big names with its Japanese cast but the performances aren’t really A+ material. Megumi Hayashibara is fine in this show despite that she would be known for voicing Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop and unanimously famous for voicing Rei Ayanami. Those two roles I just said don’t feel like copies of Lina Inverse, and Hayashibara-san plays Lina appropriately. Yasunori Matsumoto is also alright as Gourry but I don’t have much to offer in terms of opinion with this guy’s voice. Hikaru Midorikawa is fine as Zelgadis, like Gourry… I don’t have any further comment about the voice, and I can say the same for Masami Suzuki as Amelia which I can only say…it is her only memorable role. A noteworthy extra is the late Daisuke Gori as Shabranigdo. Now, for the English Dub. I do find this interesting to talk about. Back in the 90’s, there were English Dubs that were just flat-out awful and unlistenable. The show was originally picked up by Central Park Media in the U.S. and their dubs tend to be pretty bad. This was because they were licensing and dubbing the shows under their name. In the case of The Slayers, this was a bit of a surprise. This might be stretching it, but the dub of Slayers may perhaps be the earliest of what I would label as a “Tolerable Dub”. Lisa Ortiz may sound over the top at times but Lina Inverse may perhaps be her most memorable role because she actually put some effort in the performance, and I like her voice in the show. Eric Stuart is a blast as Gourry considering he’s used for comedic relief, and yes… He also was the voice of Brock from the 4Kids version of Pokemon. I miss my childhood. Now with Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, there are two voices on her. Joan Baker (who really didn’t leave much of an impression), and Veronica Taylor. Veronica Taylor would later end up voicing Amelia for the rest of the series whereas Joan Baker only voiced Amelia. Some of you Pokemon fans should know that Veronica Taylor was the original English voice of Ash Ketchum until 4Kids re-casted the character and a number of other characters as well. As for Amelia, her performance was okay in the show. I will say that this dub does contain a lot of lesser-known and inactive voice actors and voice actresses with the exception of some main lead roles, this includes Charles Rolfe and Peter Davis who both played  Rezo the Red Priest and aren’t really involved in the anime industry anymore and… well, that’s pretty much it. This dub does contain two performances that are just flat-out bad in this show. First there’s Stacia Crawford as Sylphiel, and then there’s Daniel Cronin as Zelgadis. Stacia Crawford does stick around for Season 2, but Daniel Cronin did voice Zelgadis for 9 episodes but at some point after that… Central Park Media lost contact with him. They decided to re-cast Zelgadis and this would prove to be an improvement of the dub because Daniel Cronin was just terrible in the show, but he was replaced by none other than Crispin Freeman.

 The Slayers also happens to be the first anime that Crispin Freeman got to work on, and this led to good times from there on. Crispin Freeman may have not been perfect with Zelgadis, but considering it was his first major role, I’ll give him a pass. He sounds much cooler in the role and it is by far the most memorable role in the dub. The Subtitled Version might be a little more listenable than the dub, but considering the show’s campiness… The dub wouldn’t hurt either. and guess what…The ADR director of this dub happens to be from Jim Malone who was responsible for the old-school Pokemon dub.

When characters are concerned. Lina Inverse has attitude and all. Gourry is funny and has a good heart despite his stupidity at times. Amelia can be a little annoying sometimes, and Zelgadis may have been cool. What most of these characters have in common is that they kind of feel the same since Day 1 but that is not to say that I hate these characters. I actually like them. Zelgadis’ backstory was quite intriguing and at the time I’m doing this review, I don’t know what happens beyond this season and if there is anything revealed about his past in later seasons, I will comment on that in a later review but for this one I won’t since I haven’t seen anything past this season. I know there isn’t much development going on with the characters in this show but considering there is more than one season, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how the characters turn out in the later seasons.

As for the story, it is your typical episodic fare. There is a catch however. According to a source or two, The Slayers is a parody of the high fantasy genre which I guess adds up. The story of The Slayers in my opinion is the weakest aspect of the show. The show is watchable in its first ten episodes but after that, the show does slow down and feels like it is going nowhere. I advise you to be patient around the middle third of the show because the pacing is not like the first third. The last third is watchable but the story doesn’t really feel as plausible as the first third of this season. Without giving away spoilers, let’s just say what is seen in the first third could have been done in the last third and the stuff in the last third could have been done in the first third. This might be viewed as a deconstruction of the common “Three Act structure” but who knows… But since The Slayers is a parody of the high fantasy genre, I guess this was fitting to have the pattern like that but it doesn’t excuse some unplausible writing later on after the first third… Does this hurt the show… Hell no! The Slayers is definitely one of those shows that people can get into if they are interested. I really enjoyed this show, flaws and all… but in all honesty, I did feel that the story was a bit weak but I digress. I do commend Takashi Watanabe (the anime’s director) if he remained true to the source material.  it is still a fun show and I look forward to reviewing to more Slayers material.

The Slayers was originally available by Central Park Media back in the 90’s but for a number of years… The Slayers is still available by Funimation. The Slayers light novel series was available by Tokyopop but they went under and there were only 8 volumes translated into English, so…good luck to anyone hoping for the rest to be brought here. The Slayers Special light novel series was available by Tokyopop and well… I guess that particular light novel series met with the same fate. A manga called Slayers Medieval Mayhem was available by CPM manga and it is out of print as well as another manga that CPM manga licensed called Super Explosive Demon Stories Slayers. Slayers Mangas such as Slayers Special, Slayers Knights of the Aqualord, Slayers Premium, Slayers Revolution, Slayers Legend, Slayers Evolution-R, and Slayers Light Magic were never brought stateside, light novel iterations such as Slayers x Orphen, Slayers Delicious, and Slayers Smash were also never brought stateside. However, even with a shit ton of Slayers material that was never released in America. The Slayers OVA’s such as Slayers Special and Slayers Excellent were released by ADV Films and they are currently out of print since ADV went under and its successor Sentai Filmworks has not rescued it from out of print. The same applies for Slayers: The Motion Picture, Slayers Return, Slayers Great, Slayers Gorgeous, and Slayers Premium since they were originally licensed by ADV Films. As for the main series…

Slayers Next, Slayers Try, Slayers Revolution, and Slayers Evolution-R are available by Funimation even though Slayers Next and Try were originally licensed by Central Media Park. Now all this supplemental material mentions have finally been said and done. I shall start wrapping up this review.

With everything said, The Slayers is an anime that has its flaws but can still be enjoyable regardless. The animation was mostly good for 90’s anime for the most part, the music is fitting but may not stand out for some with the exception of its catchy opening and closing themes. The characters might not be well written but I wish the story could have re-arranged some of its elements for a more plausible effect in the story. Despite the flaws that I find in The Slayers, My enjoyment outweighed my nitpicks.

I give The Slayers a 7.4 out of 10, it is GOOD!

Feel free to leave a comment.

wolf.kristofer - 2014-02-01 17:11:48

This was the first anime I ever watched.... Man it brings back memories.. I loved it. Two of the main characters were my first anime crushes ever. Lena who is an amazing witch goes about life in the most relaxed and hilarious ways ever. Zelgaudous who is an intelligent calm man who goes the root of best survival and such in life. Gotta love them all though.

Slayers is a great comedy and magical story. Give it a try before judging it. XD