16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's good, but not the best of Slayers, August 18, 2002
This review is from: The Slayers DVD Collection (DVD)
Slayers is my absolute favorite anime, but that doesn't mean I'm going to blindly rant on about how perfect it is, because that would be far from the truth. When watching Slayers for the first time, assuming you're starting from the beginning, you might find the first several episodes to be rather, dare I say, boring. You might end up thinking, "If THIS is what everyone's recommending, I'm not getting it."
But, keep watching, because slowly the show will grow on you. Once it gets to the middle of the series with the "filler episodes," you'll find yourself wanting more. The few non-plot episodes in the middle are a great break from the slightly heavier material that came before it. And then as soon as you start to wonder what happened to the main plot, it comes back. And it's great. Even though it's a tad cliche, part of this is because Slayers is a series that makes fun of the fantasy genre while seemingly ridiculing itself.
If you've watched the whole (first) series and STILL think you're missing something, you are. The second season, "Slayers Next" is, in my opinion, the best of Slayers and one of the best storylines in all of anime. But this review isn't about Next.
Now for the DVDs...
Even though the box states "remastered audio," Software Sculptors made a few mistakes correcting the problems. On some episodes on discs B and C, the Japanese audio track is inverted. This can cause varied effects depending on your audio setup. I've played them on two different TVs- on one of them the dialouge sounds perfectly normal, with the exception of sometimes the theme songs sound a bit muffled. On the other TV, the audio sounds like it's coming from behind instead of from in front. It's not really that big of an issue, to me at least. All the dialouge is still understandable and I can even go as far to say that it sounds a lot clearer than when it's in the proper format. However, you might not get the same results with your setup, so it's best to, when and if you buy the set, make sure that there is a sticker on the bottom of your box that says "REMASTERED AUDIO" with a picture of Lina on it. Or, like me, you can take your chances. If it sounds horrible, you can always exchange them through The Right Stuf. People I've heard from say that they received their replacements very soon after sending in their defective discs. If you have any questions about the program, I suggest e-mailing The Right Stuf, because when I talked to them, they were very prompt in replying to me, and they provided helpful information.
By the way, on my audio setup(s), I noticed that the English track was significantly quieter than the Japanese track, although this wasn't an issue or a glitch.
The video transfer was of very nice quality, much nicer than the Next DVDs and an improvement on the original set, I'm sure.
The extras really do nothing to enhance the series, so if you already own the series on VHS and are considering buying the DVDs because of these, don't. The interviews are with the main four voice actors (Lisa Ortiz, Eric Stuart, Crispin Freeman, Veronica Taylor) and they're only a couple of questions about them and their jobs. If you already own the Next DVDs (like I do), you might be disappointed to find out the interviews are not done by video like on that set.
The art gallery is basically screenshots and official art that you should have no trouble finding on any website with a fairly large image gallery.
The graphic novel pages are only a couple of pages from the book "Medival Mayhem," and the pages aren't big enough to read the wording, much less know what's going on. You're much better off just buying the book if you're that interested.
The only thing I really enjoyed in the extras was the sketch gallery. It was a lot larger than the one on the Next DVDs, and my only problem was that I couldn't print them onto paper so I could use them when drawing fanart!
I don't have a DVD-ROM, so I can't vouch for the quality of those extras. I wouldn't expect much, though.
So, overall, this is a very nice DVD set, if you ignore the slightly annoying audio glitch. The show itself is very solid entertainment and a classic favorite with anime fans. If you buy this set, I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Vaudeville Meets Dungeons and Dragons, January 7, 2004
This review is from: The Slayers DVD Collection (DVD)
I'm not sure if The Slayers was the first anime effort at building a series on an RPG game framework, but it is certainly the success that defined the genre. It stars Lina Inverse, a teen-aged war wizard with the appetite of an army and a temper to match. She quickly pairs up with Gourry, a golden guy with the sword of light. Gradually, over these episodes and entire team of adventurers come together.
A large part of the episodes are basic treasure hunting and demon slaying fare, but the driving story arc is about the Red Priest Rezo who has sold his soul to the demon Shabranigdo so that he might see again (*and rule the world while he is at it). Lina crosses paths with Rezo and his minions repeatedly until a final showdown ends the series.
The story is loud, brash, slightly off-color, and funny in a slapstick sort of fashion. It's actually hard to pinpoint what it is that actually makes the series the success it is. But the writing is well done and there is a host of dizzy characters waiting to pick up the pace on a moments notice. Perhaps it is the interaction between these characters which makes the series work so well.
The Slayers has a strong influence on both adventuring and magical girl genre, the latest of which is Rune Soldier. The latter, like The Slayers, places as much emphasis on character development and interaction as does The Slayers, but with a bit more sophistication. After all, The Slayer's audience is now eight years older.
Central Park's decision to package all 26 episodes on four DVDs makes this a cost effective purchase, but it also means that there is little in the way of extras. In fact, other than some short bios on the first CD, there aren't any. Indeed, don't expect any fanciness at all as part of the package. But do expect a lot of entertainment for your dollar.
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43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent show, but with a massive audio bug, September 20, 2000
Slayers is a lot of fun if you like crazy, over-the-top comedy in a fantasy setting.Some people complain that it's stupid, which is certainly true, but it gets a lot of humour from its slapstick stupidity. Think of Slayers as something along the lines of the Three Stooges meet Lord of the Rings.
However, CPM messed up massively on the Japanese audio. One track is phase-inverted. On a mono setup, you get basically no audio. Stereo systems sound "funny," lacking highs and lows and pretty much any sense of direction (in addition to being very quiet). ProLogic receivers will throw everything to the back speakers. This is the same set of problems that showed up with Rurouni Kenshin disc 1, except that, unlike Media Blasters, CPM is calling this a "non-issue" and not offering any fixes.
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