Slayers

Publisher
ADV
Director
Hiroshi Watanabe
Production
Bandai, Kadokawa Shoten, King Records
Country of origin
Japan
Format
OVA
Running time
60 minutes
Year
1996

Slayers Excellent

By John Huxley
9th Nov 04

If the Slayers' titles are to be believed, this collection of Slayers adventures is, apparently, excellent. Quite a bodacious claim. Still, I guess they were hardly going to call it Slayers Rubbish, were they? Although they might want to think about calling the next one Slayers Naked if they want to shift a few more copies...

Boastful titling aside, this edition of Slayers is notable because it eschews the 60 minute OVA format of the previous two in favour of three 30 minute episodes. Each is a self-contained story centring around the wacky adventures of none other than everyone's favourite mismatched duo, the world renowned Lina Inverse and her rival/companion sorceress Naga the Serpent as they travel around a hokey fantasy land blasting monsters for cash and all sorts of other hilarious activities.

Long time Slayers fans are in for a treat with the first episode which retells the very first meeting between our two heroines. Despite some dramatic visuals and a couple of laughs this momentous occasion is a disappointingly brief and relatively inconsequential experience - before you know it we're back hunting monsters in a typically formulaic Slayers scenario that makes up the majority of this episode. In my opinion this was a wasted opportunity to expand on the backgrounds or develop the relationship between these entertaining yet shallow characters. This episode may remain a footnote in Slayer's history but there's little else worth mentioning here.

The second episode does help to improve things a little with a slightly more engaging storyline that sees Lina escort the bossy, pretentious daughter of a rich businessman. Every bit as irritating and self-centred as her usual companion Naga, this little madam appears to be more bother than she's worth until the opportunity arises to teach her some manners. Of course the plan backfires spectacularly and lands both Lina and Naga in hot water, but what's new? Not a lot, evidently! Par for the course, this episode is full of the crowd pleasing jokes about Lina's diminutive bust and Naga's evil chortle, plus a little flare arrow/freeze arrow action thrown in for good measure. Although there have been better Slayers adventures, this is a nicely paced, well presented episode that should keep you distracted enough for the thirty minutes running time.

The third and final episode maintains the pace with an extremely silly yet surprisingly enjoyable tale about a town divided by two rival fashion designers. Each offended by the other's radically different approach to their profession, they're quick to hire the talents of Lina and Naga (on opposing sides, of course!) to aid them in the fight for fashion justice. The two designers are neat additions to the Slayers' never-ending roster of characters, particularly the prim and proper lady designer who sides with Lina; her plain, formal fashion designs totally at odds with her erratic and psychotic tendencies. The battle is taken to the streets as neither side is willing to forfeit, building to a predictably explosive climax involving the rival sorceresses. Unfortunately this quickly degenerates in to a disappointingly sterile action scene that only serves to fulfill the mandatory giant monster quota. If you can overlook this shortcoming you'll find a decent episode that wraps up the disc on a high note.

With three short episodes replacing the 60 minute format of the previous two Slayers' discs this was always going to feel like a different experience. The lengthier running time gave Slayers Great and Slayers Gorgeous more space to develop the story and really establish the secondary characters, whilst each of these episodes feels sort of hurried in comparison. On the other hand the shorter running time does lend these episodes a upbeat pacing that perfectly suits the often superficial humour. In the end Slayers Excellent fails not because of the altered format, but rather because the episodes on display here simply aren't of a high enough quality. Slayers' fanatics will get a few laughs from the stock jokes - there's never a dull moment with Lina and Naga - but for everyone else I'd recommend the sharper scripting of Slayers Gorgeous.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English 2.0 and Japanese 2.0 audio, English subtitles, 2 interviews with cast memebers, production artwork, Slayers trailers

Release information: UK: 15th November 2004, ADV

Notes: Finally the Slayers DVDs get some decent extras! Along with a few trailers and some production artwork we're treated to two small-ish interviews with the US voice actresses of Lina and Naga. If you've ever watched a US ADV interview before you'll be knowing what to expect here; an entertaining if not entirely revealing interview. Pleasingly most of the questions revolve around Slayers which negates the compulsory "how did you get in to voice acting"? They may feel a little short but you shouldn't find your attention wandering, so that's probably a good thing. The packaging is almost identical to the previous two volumes save for the different artwork, so not much to report on there. Easily the best of the Slayers discs so far.

-- John Huxley 9th Nov 04

Slayers Images