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33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gotta love slapstick swords and sorcery, October 1, 2001
This review is from: The Slayers Try DVD Collection (DVD)
If you love Slayers, then you have to buy this boxset. The Slayers is arguable the best series of any kind (anime or other) out there, ever. It's versitile, funny, deep, and downrigth enjoyable, with a loveable cast and FABULOUS humor. Slayers Try, the third season, has it's ups and downs. Personally, I believe that the Slayers reached it's peak with Slayers NEXT, so expecting something better from TRY will just dissapoint you. Slayers TRY has much less of a re-view value than NEXT, and a less interesting cast. Although the villans, Jillias, Gravos, Valgaav, and Dark Star Dugradigo were well developed, the cst of heroes suffered. The elimination of Martina, Sylphiel, and most importantly Zangulus was not compinsated for with the addition of the anoying and useless Filia. She has moments of humor, but I got sick of her by the end of the series. Xellos plays a weaker, less humorous role in TRY, and harldly even uses his catch line.. "sore wa himetsu desu," which was a HUGE dissapointment. Also, there was no romantic angle to it, so some versitility was lost. Not to say that TRY isn't an excellent use of ones cash, it's Slayers for crying out loud, how much better can you get? The animation is about on par with NEXT, maybe a little less colorful, and the effects and spells were great, the slapstick is priceless, and it's got Lina Inverse. You can't ask for much more than a series with Lina Inverse! So, to sum it all up, it's great, it's fabulous, but it's not phenominal.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly entertaining conclusion to a great anime series, July 19, 2002
This review is from: The Slayers Try DVD Collection (DVD)
I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Slayers. This series is just so endearing that you instantly fall in love with the characters which helps cover any problems with the plot. Series one was kind of a disappointment to me in places (although it was still brilliant in others) while Slayers Next (season two) was sheer bliss and represented what was to me the pinnacle of Slayers; great character interaction, sharp dialogue and an excellent plot. Slayers Try is the third season of Slayers and although it's a lot different then Slayers Next, it is still brilliant and in some ways is superior to the series that preceded it. The humor isn't nearly as present here as it was before, and Slayers Try takes on a much darker tone then the previous outings. Sure the humor is still here but it isn't as in your face, which is both a strength and a weakness. Clearly it was a gamble to change the focus of the series but I think the creators made a good decision when they realized they couldn't possibly make a repeat of Next while maintaining any form of originality. Try introduces a few new characters, some of which are memorable, some of which are not. I really like Valgaav as well as Jillas on the bad guy side; especially since they were given a fully fleshed out history and the motivations for their behavior made a lot of sense. Also of note is Fillia who makes an excellent foil for Xellos, although she often ends up just being humiliated instead of getting the better of him. Nothing much has changed for the core characters; the romance angle has been dropped somewhat (which is a little disappointing since it's obvious that the series creators injected a lot of chemistry between the couples up till now) but we still have the occasional bit thrown in for good measure. It is hard to describe much else without ruining the plot of Slayers Try, but suffice to say that it reminded me a lot of Lodoss War with the characters of Slayers thrown in. A lot more serious, but it is a credit to the characters that they are flexible enough for us to take them seriously during times of tension and laugh at them during times of craziness. Great work, although some die hard Slayers fans might be turned off by the de-emphasis on humor.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Following the path between light and darkness, April 8, 2003
This review is from: The Slayers Try DVD Collection (DVD)
The Slayers Try brings us once again into the realm and world dominated by the fiery-tempered Lina Inverse and her coterie. Continuing the epic, we find ourselves engaged in yet another desparate struggle to save the world. It sounds cliché. The characters have already been well-developed in the first two series, their traits ironed out from comically flamboyant and exaggerated to more manageable levels. Lina has already saved the world twice--first from the Dark Lord Shabranigdo, then in the climax of Next from the vile mechanations of Hellmaster Phibrizzo. That climax certainly left little room for further expansion. Try enters the stage knowing how it seems an overdone battle between good and evil--of the great flairs of Slayers has always been the self-deprecating commentary--but Try is not about a battle between good and evil; it is a battle between hope and despair. The creators seem to have attempted to blur the lines between good and evil--and they succeeded. What we find are not immaculate heroes squaring off against debased villains, as was the case before, when it was readily apparent that Gaav and Phibrizzo were well rooted in the side of evil. Instead we find characters that are flawed, fallen, but not inherently good or evil. We find a struggle in Almayce and his Overworld companions over the risks of destroying one world to save another; we find the Golden Dragons that serve the Fire Dragon King acting for what they believe is good, but willing to accomplish that goal through horrible means. Finally we have Valgaav, who is drowning in despair and hatred and yet still possesses a compassion that, while twisted, is still admirable. What we see in Try is not the forces of good confronting the tides of evil, but people--be they dragon, human, monster, or god--each with their own often conflicting agendas, struggling to save the world they live in the best way they know how. And yet, Try still preserves the natural Slayers flair, the comedy and slapstick, the evergoing quest for more food. I challenge any Slayers fan to examine this series in the light of the others, to trace the maturation of the characters from the onset of the first series to the conclusion of Try, to find the depth that yet exists in a story that is not inherently complex yet carries a beauty all its own.
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