Customer Reviews

The Slayers DVD Collection

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

A defect in the Japanese language track has resulted in phase-inverted audio. On pro-logic and 5.1 systems this will result in a spacey sound with extremely low volumes making it nearly impossible to hear what is being said.

Central Park Media in their official press release has decided to leave this defect in place making no effort to correct this obvious flaw in their product.

Consider this before you spend the $100 on this set.

The main character of this crazy series is Lina Inverse, a petite yet very powerful 15-year-old sorceress with red hair and a temper even shorter than her height. Though she fights against the forces of evil, she is more of an anti-heroine as she is very violent and keeps the dirty wealth of bandits for herself after killing them.

The entire "Slayers" anime consists of 78 TV series episodes divided up into three 26-episode seasons, five movies, and six OVA episodes. This DVD set contains the entire first season of the TV series where Lina first meets her three tag-along partners. First there's Gourry, a blonde swordsman whose great with a sword but low on brains. Zelgadis is a cursed part-demon, part-golem, part-human who plays the role of the serious loner of the group that's featured in just about every anime. Finally there's Amelia, a clumsy princess who specializes in white magic...and she's also a major justice freak. Together, these four characters make up the main cast of the TV series, though there are several other characters who temporarily join the group throughout.

"Slayers" is basically a comedy/fantasy-adventure anime. The action consists mostly of the characters throwing DBZ-like magical blasts and other interesting spells at each other with some occassional swordplay added in the mix. It's a fairly light-hearted story loaded with humor, but each of the three seasons tend to get pretty dark, bloody, and serious towards the final episodes. My only gripes are that by the second season the relentless slapstick comedy gets stale, as do the plots which always involve Lina and the gang searching for some ancient, lost magical item in order to defeat yet another, more powerful ancient monster bent on destroying the world.

The basic plot of this season is as follows: After Lina attacks a group of bandits and steals their possessions, she meets up with Gourry. Lina soon discovers that one of the items she took from the bandits is actually the key to unleashing Shabrinigdo, a very powerful creature of evil that was sealed away long ago. After surviving several attacks by thugs wanting the key, she and Gourry encounter Rezo the Red Priest, who was born blind. He appears to be an ally at first until his true objective is later revealed, which involves freeing Shabrinigdo.

This is the best season of the TV series, IMO. First of all, because it's the first, the plot is totally fresh, unlike the second two seasons. The pacing is great too as it practically hooks you right after the second episode. It does slow down a bit in the middle with a few comedic "filler episodes" (as do the other two seasons), but the plot picks up again in the last few episodes. Overall, it's pretty good and I especially recommend it if you're into fantasy RPG games.

Lastly, I'd like to point out that though this is the first season of the TV series, it actually isn't the "true" beginning of the story. The six OVA episodes and all the movies except for "Slayers Premium" are actually prequels to the TV series. Lina is a bit younger and is teamed up with her original ally/rival, Naga the Serpent, a goofy, tall, scantily clad sorceress with an annoying high-pitched laugh and breasts the size of soccer balls, who just happens to be my favorite Slayer! Though regarded as inferior by most fans, I personally prefer those movies and OAVs over the TV series because Lina and Naga are just hilarious together and the plots are always fresh and fun. You can see Lina and Naga's first meeting in "Slayers Excellent". I recommend at least checking out "Slayers Return" or "Slayers: the Motion Picture"--they're the best IMO.

Warning! The re-released version of the Slayers Box set has ANOTHER audio glitch! Wait for the re-re-realease in mid July...

A while back I remember that some people whose opinions mattered highly to me kept telling me to get off my back and go see The Slayers. Sounded like some lame Buffy rip off so I refrained from suubmitting myself to legions of vampires hunting after a scantily clad and lame chick. Then they told me about the plot and I admitted I wanted to take a look. This box set runs over a hundred but I saw it on e-bay for 40 and snatched it up. I watched the whole first season in 2 nights...and now I wish I never had bothered! Because now I have to go spend more money and get the other boxed sets and see what happens to poor Lina and her band of idiots.

This story is absolutely brilliant, carefully thought out, and incredibly advanced in it's simplicity. It's a laugh riot and a half. Simple enough plot in the opening....Lina Inverse uses her amazing powers to steal some treasure from some bandits who come after her...and then she is saved (not that she needed saving) by a great swordsman and complete idiot named Gourry(voiced by Eric Stuart the voice of Brock/Squirtle/Dexter and may others on Pokemon). Gourry is upset cause she's not a babe but they travel together anyway running into dragons, an intriguing chimera/golem named Zelgadis, a fish guy named noonsa and Rezo the red priest who is blind and wants a rock called the philospher stone so he can set free and ancient evil that could destroy the world. And even after Lina battles through all that she still has to contend with the not so handsome Prince Phil and his clutz daughter Amelia who is a shining example of what would happen if you put a squirrel on sugar and angel dust and gave hims magical powers, a voice box, and two left feet-it ain't pretty folks. Lina and her band of not so great warriors get into one jam after another and never cease to be entertaining. I love many animes and it's hard to find great ones amongst a lot of the crap but this is a true gem.....why are you still reading this....go see Slayers...if you've seen it go watch it again! You don't want to mess with Lina-unless of course it's that time of the month!

Now, I know I may sound like some average teenager voicing their opinion, but Slayers is quite possibly the best anime ever, with only its own successors, Slayers NEXT and Slayers TRY surpassing them, and that's only because they have Xelloss in them ^_~ When Flat-chested bandit killer Lina Inverse sets out on a journey, she gets more than what she bargained for! When attacked by some vengeful bandits, she pretends to be all frightened and is "saved" by a nitwit blonde swordsman named Gourry. Together, she and Gourry go throughout the land, looking for bandits, treasure, and the next meal. On their journey the meet Rezo, the Red Priest, Zelgadis, a chimera with a personality problem or two, Ameilia, the champion of clutziness and justice, Sylphiel, the white priestess with a crush on Gourry, amidst a wide variety of fish men, werewolves, monsters, and mazoku (which software sculptors translates as monsters to make things confusing). Turns out someone wants to resurrect the dark lord of the world, Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu, the really hard to pronounce mazoku lord that was cut into seven pieces, but was still alive. If that happened, who knows what kind of chaos would ensue, so Lina and her newly formed gang team up with some serious magical firepower to see if they can stop him! Software sculptors, with a few doubts here and there, did a fairly good job on converting the series to english. However, there are some points I should bring up. The English Dub (the voices in english) sound horrible. Lina sounds 30, she's somewhere between 15 and 17 in the series. Gourry is played by Brock's (from pokemon) voice actor. Sylphiel's voice cracks me up every time I hear her get highly emotional (she's supposed to be sad, it's a very sad moment in japanese, why is it then that I always crack up when I hear it in the dub?) which accounts for why most people write of Sylphiel as a ditz, Ameilia sounds 25, she's only 14, and so on. Plus, the subtitles, which are there for your convinience, are highly screwed up when you compare it to what it's supposed to be translating- the japanese seiyuu. For example. Mazoku is a word in japanese meaning Race of Evil, which is the name of the most powerful evil things on this island of theirs. Software sculptors calls the mazoku "monsters" even though the monsters are defined in the official slayers books as slimes or vampires or those things in between. So if you don't mind small things like that, or some phrases that have been completely changed, you'll be perfectly happy. Overall, though, Software Sculptors did (I shudder to say it, but I will anyway) a fairly good job. All you have to do is listen to the japanese without the subtitles, and know japanese, and you'll be PERFECTLY content. If you don't know japanese, and aren't picky, watch it with the subtitles. but, if you really don't wanna read what's going on, listen to the dub. It's nice with the DVD that you can do all that and not have to pay for seperate versions. Thanks Software Sculptors, for finally coming out with it on DVD! GO SLAYERS! WHEE!

If you are an anime fan, Slayers is a must have. It is slap down hard core comedy, fantasy, and action. The animation is not as good as it could be, yet it fits the plot.

The story revovles around a 15-year-old expert sorceress Lina Inverse, the Dragon Spooker (according to my sub). Yet Lina isn't the typical, slutty, thin, sweet tempered, naive herione. Insteade she is short, has a crappy attitude, and is very down to Earth. As you follow Lina's travels, you will come across the cute, blonde, yet dumb as a rock swordsmen Gourry. Personaly I think Gourry puts new meaning to the term, "dumb blonde". Together they are traveling to Atlas City, yet they don't get there as planned.

When Lina robbs a mob of Bandits known as the Dragon Fangs, she and Gourry stumble upon an artifact that can change the way of the future. Yet Lina is not aware of the power of what she finds. Enter Zelgadis. A half human, half Chimera. He is also after the artifact, but not to rule the world.

Soon the team meets up the the exentric little princess name Amelia, who tags along with the Slayers team. Amelia is my favorite character. At first she only joins the group because she wants to learn Lina's most power spell, The Dragon Slave. But soon alterior motives keep Amelia from going back home.

To add with all the chaos going on, the team has another group of followers, only they are trying to draw the group to the city of Sairag. What is the angle of the mysterious and not too smart persuers of the Slayers gang? And what is the secret of Rezo? Also what mysterious powers dose Gourry possess? Finally, how will Lina be able to survive all the madness of multiple people trying to kill her?

This seris is non-stop, you just can't stop watching it. Not to mention, it is just too hillarious. Although I do advise you to be mature when veiwing. Some of the humor has a sexual sence to it. For example all the jokes about Lina being underdevoloped, and Lina losing her powers at 'that time of the month'.

The voices of both versions are really good. The dubbing of this seris isn't as bad as some of the other English jobs I have seen. In the orginal version, the talant of Megumi Ayashibara portrays Lina Inverse, and sings the opening and ending theme song.

Every otaku should veiw this seris, you will not be disspointed

Slayers is about the infamous Lina Inverse! a young, cute looking, sorceress with a temper to match, she fights the bad guys, takes the treasure, eats three times her body weight, and casts spells that would even make DBZ jealous. This has to be one of the funniest anime I've seen in a while, with comedy from the likes of Lina Inverse, the slow-witted Gourry, Justice Freak Amelia and her Father the "Prince", and many many more.

Technically Slayers isn't as crisp as you would expect but its pretty good nonetheless, the subtitles are on key with the usual typo here and there. The voice acting is superb both Japanese and English voices sound great and fit thier characters perfectly. Also the music is just great, both opening and closing songs are catchy, and don't make you want to skip the credits (You may even look foward to seeing the credits). Technically the series is pretty solid.

All in all this is a superb series with action, comedy, adventure,good music, great characters (good guys and bad guys), easy to understand story that won't hurt your head, and to sum it up its just plain great entertainment. This was an excellent edition to my anime collection, and I'm sure it would be the same for any anime fan.