Product Details

• Actors: Michael Sinterniklaas, Veronica Taylor, Lisa Ortiz
• Directors: Michael Sinterniklaas
• Format: Widescreen, Color, Box set, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Funimation Prod
• DVD Release Date: June 1, 2010
• Run Time: 312 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003CP62D4
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #11,902 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

  #95 in	Movies & TV > Boxed Sets > Anime
  #1 in	Movies & TV > Animation > Characters & Series > Slayers

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Slayers Evolution-R (2009) more or less picks up where Slayers Revolution left off, with maladroit sorceress Lina Inverse and her gang casting spells, overeating, and getting involved in slapstick misadventures. Lina's foes from the previous season, Inspector Wizer and Marquess Giocanda, fall by the wayside and Pokota takes on a larger role. Although he looks like a cross between a Pokémon and a plush bunny, Pokota is really Prince Polen of the Kingdom of Taforashia. The only one who can awaken the slumbering citizens of his realm is Rezo the Red Priest. Lina defeated Rezo and Dark Lord Shabranigdo at the end of season 1, but Rezo's soul has been preserved within the Hellmaster's Jar. Pokota wants to resurrect Rezo to save his people; chimera Zelgadis, who once served Rezo, wants the priest to restore his human body; and Lina's smirking nemesis Xellos has an interest in Rezo's fate, although he won't say why. The earlier episodes are devoted to comic adventures, but the story takes a more serious turn in episode 23. Pokota displays an increasingly noble character, and director Takashi Watanabe cranks up the visuals as the ghost of Shabranigdo reappears. Naturally, Lina and her friends come through in the end, and everything ends reasonably happily. Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia are ready for another adventure, and this popular fantasy-farce will probably continue--to the delight of fans on both sides of the Pacific. (Rated TV PG: suitable for ages 13 and older for cartoon violence, occasional profanity and risqué humor) --Charles Solomon

(14. Newcomer? A New Journey! 15. Oh My Head! Where's My Head? 16. Partner! Sharing Mind and Body? 17. Quality Time? A Home Life with Love? 18. Raider! Voice from the Darkness! 19. Seek! Who's Being Targeted?! 20. Townscape! Because It's Manmade! 21. Uncover! The Exposed Darkness, 22. Voice! What's Inside the Jar? 23. Wisdom! Seek the Time That Will Never Return! 24. Xeno! The Price of Revival! 25. Yesterday's Memory! Days Regained! 26. Zero Hour! The Destroyed One!)

Product Description

The magical mayhem of The Slayers Revolution continues in The Slayers Evolution-R! With the original cast of The Slayers back together for the first time in over a decade, Lina Inverse and her crew are reunited and doing what they do best – saving the world by almost destroying it!

Lina’s gang and their new ally Pokota are hot on the trail of the Hellmaster’s Jar! It’s no ordinary piece of pottery: it holds the soul of Rezo the Red Priest. Opening the vessel and resurrecting Rezo is the only hope Pokota has of saving his kingdom’s people. With masked assassins, headless knights, and shifty Xellos in the mix, one thing is certain – destruction is guaranteed!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Evolving "Slayers", April 16, 2010

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Slayers Evolution-R: Season 5 (DVD)

"Slayers Evolution-R" is billed as the fifth season, but it's actually more like the second half of the fourth season -- it wraps up all the dangling plot threads and deals with the whole Taforashia disaster. And unsurprisingly, things get a lot darker in these episodes -- as you'd expect for the Slayerverse, things start lighthearted and goofy (soap opera!), but slowly become apocalyptic and explosive.

Lina and her friends focus their efforts on finding the Hellmaster's Jar, a magical item that transfers souls -- and currently holds the spirit of Rezo the Red Priest. With the assistance of a living suit of armor named Nama, the gang launches off into their latest quest... only to get tangled in a bizarre scheme of Zuuma's. He's sent Ozzel and the Hellmaster's Jar to a wealthy merchant named Radock, and lures Lina and Co. to the same town.

Of course, nothing is that simple: Radock isn't all he appears to be, monsters are attacking, and Xellos is trying to get his hands on the jar. However, getting the jar isn't the end of the Slayers' problems, especially since Pokota is determined to resurrect Rezo so the priest can restore his homeland of Taforashia -- and he trusts Rezo a lot more than the rest of the gang does. What is the Red Priest keeping hidden from them?

"Slayers Evolution R" pretty much does what the second half of every "Slayers" story arc does -- all the various loose plot threads (Ozzel, the jar, Taforashia) are tied up neatly, and Lina ends up getting roped into a potentially apocalyptic struggle that somehow stems from everything else in the plot. All that, and we get some nice nostalgia moments with Rezo and "Nama" (who seems strangely familiar to Amelia and Lina).

There's still plenty of hilarious stuff woven in, especially in the hilarious "soap opera" episode that mocks all the melodramatic stuff ("The shock of the accident's given me amnesia!" "I have amnesia too!"). But things get much darker after the gang encounters Zuuma again, resulting in some gruesome deaths, creepy monsters (hair tentacles!) and a horrific flashback where we see how poor Zelgadis became a chimera.

The biggest flaw is that the Epic Climactic Battle feels like a copy of a previous Epic Climactic Battle from way back in the first season. Seriously, come up with something new!

Lina is still bombastic and a little crazy, but she also seems more intelligent this time around, since she's apparently able to unravel people's nefarious plots. There's also fun episodes for Gourry (dumb and good-hearted) and Amelia (who gets stuck inside Nama), and poor Pokota is driven to desperate measures to save his people. And poor Zelgadis is forced to relive the horrors of his transformation into a chimera -- the scene where he finally confronts Rezo's soul is hauntingly powerful.

"Slayers Evolution R" isn't an independent season -- instead, it finishes up the stories begun in "Slayers Revolution," and winds up being a rollicking, dark-tinged adventure/comedy with a deja-vuey ending.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Revolutionary than its counterpart, July 2, 2010

By	L. Johnson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Slayers Evolution-R: Season 5 (DVD)

Slayers Evolution-R absolutely 100% redeems the previous Slayers Revolution of its mediocrity. Slayers Revolution wasn't terrible, but it was disappointing, and seemed mostly pointless. Evolution-R is another story. It is exciting, funny, and in some ways more revolutionary than its counterpart.

Evolution-R follows the tried and true Slayers formula closely. It starts with silly episodes and later moves on to more serious ones. The silly episodes here are still a little weak, but they are better than the silly episodes in Revolution, and some of them even advance the story and develop the characters a little, so they are not entirely pointless. The serious episodes are where this season shines.

The Zuuma subplot is interesting, and managed to make me like the character quite a bit more. In Revolution, I found Zuuma very annoying and found it hard to believe the Slayers would even have a problem dealing with him. In this new season, Zuuma gets an interesting plot that puts the Slayers in a unique situation, which allows for some good character development on Lina's part. It was good to see the Slayers in a situation where they had to show a little self-control and reasoning, rather than just blasting everything in sight.

Many have complained that the climax of this season feels recycled and uninspired. I disagree. Yes, the finale is reminiscent of Season 1's finale, but there are enough differences to make it interesting, and the updated drawing style helps too. In season 1, I felt that it ended very abruptly, and they never really gave ample time to wrap up and provide closure for Rezo the Redpriest. This season provides us with that closure, and gives us some insights into Rezo's mind. Plus, we get to see Rezo fight Xellos, and we get to see Lina fire off a freaking volley of Dragon Slaves. She's never done that before, and it was fun to witness.

The best part of this season was the character development. Slayers is generally lacking in the character development department (mostly because they like to focus on humor) especially when it comes to developing characters besides Lina. But this season gave at least 1 episode to each of the other 3 main characters. Amelia and Gourry both got rather silly episodes, but they did build their characters a little nonetheless.

By far the most interesting and exciting part of the season is the episode that focuses on Zelgadis. This episode alone is worth the purchase in my opinion. After 4 seasons and eleven years, Zel finally gets one episode that builds his character and gives us insights into his conflicted mind. The part where Zel confronts Rezo is absolutely priceless.

So, is this season perfect? No, definitely not. It certainly has its flaws. The anti-climactic resolution to the Zuuma subplot comes to mind. But it has greatly improved everything that we saw in the Slayers Revolution, and it has surprised me with good character development, and an exciting story. Nothing will ever beat Slayers NEXT in my mind, but this season does a good job nonetheless. I give it a perfect score because it is the PERFECT addition to every Slayers fan's collection.

For those of you that haven't watched Slayers (as if they'd ever be reading this review), go watch it, NOW! For Slayers fans, I guarantee you will greatly enjoy watching this season. A must buy for all slayers fans.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A high-quality and welcome update for The Slayers series, June 17, 2010

By	D. White (NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Slayers Evolution-R: Season 5 (DVD)

As the second of two thirteen episode collections comprising the recent Slayers anime series revival, Evolution-R more than lives up to expectations...though it at times safely and rather blatantly borrows from the past to ensure doing so.

Picking up from Season 4/Revolution--what most other anime series would call part one of a single season--Season 5/Evolution-R (part two, natch) starts off with a batch of lighter-weight episodes after Lina and company (including Revolution newcomer Pokota) discuss what to do post-Revolution. These are enlivened by the entertainingly irritating "Nama", an animated suit of armor with a voice and personality that distresses Lina in their familiarity as much as pitch. As we move further along the main plot asserts itself, things become more serious, old nemesis Rezo--seen on the cover itself--figures more prominently, and the overall stakes build towards a harrowing (and pyrotechnic) conclusion.

The aforementioned borrowing of elements mostly comes from what many consider the strongest of the earlier Slayers seasons, Slayers Next. A scene involving Lina realizing how much she relies on Gourry simply being there must have given Lisa Ortiz (Lina's defining voice actress) a serious case of déjà vu. And the final episode even more so.

Technically, the series shines. In full widescreen, smoothly animated and bursting with color, Slayers has never looked better. Indeed, it competes visually quite well against the wider anime landscape. Audio is also of top quality, with extra kudos directed to the exceptional English dub.

Funimation went out of its way to secure the "primary four" American voice actors for Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia. All not only reprise their earlier roles with confidence, but in some cases sound even better. Such as Veronica Taylor as Amelia, who manages to revisit every ounce of energy the character had a decade ago, but now in crisp 5.1 surround audio.

Some other important characters have been recast as necessary, and the results also shine. In particular, Xellos and "Nama"--a name that Xellos himself remarks sounds "close enough" to what you may be thinking--have been solidly recast, with voice actors that remind of the past efforts while remaining individual.

Similarly, Evolution-R itself works safely within the familiar Slayers framework yet maintains a solidly individual, updated feel. Bolstered by the crisp visuals and the exceptional English dub, Evolution-R is highly recommended to series fans. Evolution-R also works for newcomers, even standing alone from Revolution, but they will benefit from the forewarning that the silly antics of the first several episodes are not representative of the relatively more serious episodes that the show shifts rather sharply into later on.