Product Details

• Actors: Megumi Hayashibara, Yasunori Matsumoto, Hikaru Midorikawa, Bin Shimada, Masami Suzuki
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Section 23
• DVD Release Date: January 9, 2001
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005221A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,305 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Slayers - Book of Spells" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Lina Inverse, the red-haired heroine of this slapstick jiggle series, roams a strange Never-Never Land performing deeds of derring-do. Her partner, Naga, looks like an anime version of a Frank Frazetta heroine, her voluptuous figure barely contained in a minuscule costume. The only things they share are a need for money and a love of food. In "The Scary Chimera Plan," Lina matches half-wits with Diol, a sorcerer who wants to incorporate her into the three-headed monster he's making. He's not much of an opponent until he produces 10 doppelgängers of Naga, complete with her grating laugh. Naga and Lina are hired to help a nerdish boy win his spurs in "Jeffrey's Knighthood." Their tutoring turns out to be completely unnecessary as Jeffrey's mother, Ms. Josephine, is a one-woman war machine capable of flattening any foe. In "Mirror, Mirror," the enchanted looking glass of a fabled sorcerer backfires on a would-be thief: it produces versions of Lina and Naga that are mirror images of them psychologically--cute, cowering, and helpful. These misadventures are very silly, but some parents may object to the scenes of Naga's breasts bouncing within a micro-bra and the jokes about Lina's noticeably smaller bust. Episodes: 1. "The Scary Chimera Plan," 2. "Jeffrey's Knighthood," 3. "Mirror, Mirror." Suggested for ages 12 and up for violence, profanity, and sexual humor. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slayers Special, May 5, 2001

By 

Chen Chi Yen "C.C." (Taipei, Taiwan Taiwan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Slayers - Book of Spells (DVD)

These three episodes were from the novel Slayers Special, and were originally named Slayers Special 1,2,3. The plots is not related to the Slayers, Slayers Next and Slayers Try TV series (TV series were from the original Slayers novel, not the Slayers SP novel).

Compared to the TV series, episodes in this disk (and the movies) are more funny, short and have less of conspiracies. You'll see their funny acts all the time in this disk, and the castings are wonderful. It show you the full potential of what Lina and Naga are capable in their day-to-day works (what a life!)

If there is anything disatisfy me in these episodes, it's the length. If will certainly make you want to see more episodes like these, but this is all what have with Slayers Special (Books of Spells) now and they're short episodes - but they're good.

One more thing, they share the same ED song - but this song, by Hayashibara Megumi / Lina Inverse - is exceptionally good.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slayers at its best, April 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Slayers - Book of Spells (DVD)

This is truly Slayers at its best. This DVD contains all 3 episodes of the the Slayers Special OAV. Full of homour and action, this DVD is a must have for all Slayers fans everywhere. The original and unique slap-stick humour found in everything Slayers is pulled to it's full extent in this truly hilarious piece of anime art. This 3-part OAV takes place before the original slayers series. As opposed to the usual Slayers group, Lina's only companion is Naga- quite possibly the funniest (and at times the most annoying) anime character ever. With Naga's annoying laugh and Lina's un-stopable hunger, This dynamic duo gets into many adventures! Take my advise and buy this DVD, you wont regret it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All 3 Slayers Special episodes on one DVD, January 21, 2001

By 

"nogana_naishi" (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slayers - Book of Spells (DVD)

The three Slayers Special episodes found on Book of Spells are the first of several OVA series based on Slayers, taking place before the TV series.The story is what you'd come to expect from Slayers. Lots of extremely funny slapstick humour mixed in with a somewhat serious plot. The three episodes take you on the nonsensical journeys of Lina and Naga as they seek money and food. If you've seen the Slayers TV series, you'll know just how nonsensical these journeys are.

As for the DVD itself, ADV gives us a LOT to gawk at. This DVD is packed with goodies, from previews and trailers to almost 100 character and background sketches from the three episodes. The DVD quality is excellent as well. I noticed basically no artifacting during the episodes.

As for languages, ADV gives us Japanese and English. The English dub is really nothing special. Cynthia Martinez doesn't hold a candle to Megumi Hayashibara. It's really a shame ADV was too cheap to hire Lisa Ortiz to do Lina in the OVA episodes. Lisa Ortiz does a truly great Lina worthy of Megumi Hayashibara herself, and ADV's cheapness created a really subpar dub. And while Kelly Manison may have mastered the laugh, she just isn't Naga like Maria Kawamura is. My opinion? Stick with the Japanese audio track. The acting is 10 times better.

One thing that angered me about this DVD, however, was ADV's translations. ADV just loves to translate things their own special way. One of the major parts of Slayers is the spells. Heck, there is an entire indepth book that takes about all of Lina's spells, but ADV took it upon themselves to mess up the translations of these spells. Anyone who has seen a few episodes of the Slayers TV series will know there's no such spell as "Explosion Array," for example.

Despite a few small flaws, the three whole episodes and a ton of extras make Book of Spells one to keep.