Slayers TV Series #1

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Name:Slayers TV Series #1
Contains:
checked Comedyun-checked Mechsun-checked Drama
un-checked Violenceun-checked Shoujo 
un-checked Hentaiun-checked Explicit Sexun-checked Brief Nudity
Running Length:? mins.
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Slayers TV Series #1
Slayers review

(Remember, if this review is helpful or well-written, please give me a good rating (down below)! Thanks for your support! *^__^)

Animation:
It's sort of like Sailor Moon, except that the spell sequences can't compare to SM's transformation sequences.
Now, if you haven't seen Sailor Moon, which would make my comparison pretty useless, then I'll just say the animation is pretty flat. Lighting, detail, and realistic movements are just some of the things you won't find here.
Luckily, you don't have to! Because, although I hate to go with yet another SM reference, the offbeat style of the series doesn't really call for perfect animation. It's supposed to be crazy and it's supposed to be funny, so the style works. Who needs perfect animation for facefaults and Lina kicking Gourry in the face for making fun of her bust size?

Plot:
First of all, the characters:
Lina - A hot-tempered sorceress who eats a lot, fights with Gourry a lot, gets angry extremely easily, and has complete confidence in her abilities.
Gourry - A travelling swordsman who happens to have the legendary Sword of Light, gets attacked by Lina a lot, and makes fun of Lina a lot.
Zelgadis - A warrior and spellcaster who was cursed with a golem body, is searching the world for a way to cure it, and tends to be the "dark" character of the show.
Amelia - A white mage who believes that justice will triumph over everything, but is often too clumsy to do it herself.
That's literally all there is to their personalities. When you look at it, they're actually really shallow characters, but the thing is that you put them all together and somehow it just works. They can all play off of each other's personalities and, again, it just works. I can't really explain it.
That said, the plot was actually the selling point of this series for me. Practically every review I've ever seen across the Internet goes on and on about the comedy in this series, but I really don't get why. Sure, at least two or three jokes show up even in the most serious episodes, and sure, there are some pure comedy episodes. I particularly liked the wedding episode and the acting episode for their comedy aspects.
But it's the plot that gets me, because it's ongoing from episode 1 to the end. At first, taking a statue from a band of theives doesn't seem like much of a start to a series... Until it's found out that that statue may be a key to resurrecting the dark lord Shabranigdo, and suddenly everyone's after it. It was nicely done, with Lina trying to protect it at all costs and wondering whether it was Zelgadis or Rezo who could be trusted. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before the real bad guy would get it, but the way it was done was nicely executed: Zelgadis was after Lina in order to get that statue, but only because he thought Lina might trust Rezo with it. She'd been trying to keep it away from Rezo too, but because neither Zelgadis nor Lina could trust each other, it ended up in Rezo's hands anyway.
That leads to the big showdown somewhere around episode 10, and then Lina and Gourry go travelling on, meet Amelia, end up wanted, find out who put the bounty on their heads, and eventually find out who those people are working for, have showdowns with all of them, come out victorious...
The point is, there's only one break in the story from episode 1 to 26, and that's after the fight with Shabranigdo. Somehow, it had enough twists in the story to keep me interested from episode to episode and wanting to see what happened next.
It sure isn't a Kenshin-quality plot, but it's solid enough.

Humor:
Ah, the legendary Slayers humor...
I really don't see why it's so legendary. If nothing else, it's a bunch of chest jokes, Lina beating up Gourry, Zel and Amelia making up sarcastic remarks, and Amelia trying too hard to be the hero.
Which isn't to say that it's not funny. Probably the only thing ruining it for me was that Slayers wasn't one of the first series I saw, so the comedy was, more or less, comprised of a bunch of things I'd already seen. That and it didn't seem like it was living up to the hype, because the show actually tries to take itself pretty seriously and it seemed like every review I read wouldn't acknowledge that.
If your standard of "serious" is Serial Experiments Lain, maybe Slayers looks like pure comedy, but to me, Slayers is more serious than the Rurouni Kenshin TV series ever was and THAT show was based on real historical events!
But getting back to Slayers, it did make me laugh and I won't deny that. In fact, it's a funny show. The only thing is that they seem to spread the jokes too far our and I think that hurts the overall light-hearted side of the show a little bit.

Soundtrack:
"Get Along" is one of the best opening songs ever and the closing isn't bad either, but the background music was pretty lame most of the time. A lot of it was actually dark and foreboding, but the problem is that it wasn't dark and foreboding enough to really get across anything emotionally.
There isn't a piece in Slayers that I can think of that stands out, with the possible exception of the somewhat funny music that plays when Lina fights the first fishman or during Amelia's introductions in the first episode you see her.

Overall:
Slayers is a funny show with good serious moments, and I like it. The only thing I'm left wondering is why everybody else won't even point out what I thought was a pretty good plot, because it's definitely worth mentioning.
Recommended.

A list of my other 29 anime reviews:
Right here
All of the series I've reviewed are listed at the bottom of the Saint Tail review.

Overall Rating: 8
Animation:7 Plot:8 Humor:8 Sound Track:6
Weight: 40 (Reputable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=119048 

>But it's the plot that gets me, because it's ongoing from episode 1 to the end. At first, taking a statue from a band of theives doesn't seem like much of a start to a series... Until it's found out that that statue may be a key to resurrecting the dark lord Shabranigdo, and suddenly everyone's after it.

If this wasn't such a vapid show (let's face it... people DO tend to watch it more for the comedy than the plot) I would be jumping up and down on your face right now.

What's the point of reviewing something for those who might be interested in trying something new, if you tell them the whole plot before they see it!!
Slayers TV Series #1
i origionally saw this on a taped version from my amiga lisa
and didnt think much of it. The animation didnt apeal to me and neither did the plot.
It WAS funny though..very entertaining to the sence that galery was the kind of guy that i would imagine being in
bright neon swim trunks and saying things like narly dude!
i didnt care for the music either.
The only thing in this show that i commend is the unique and interesting characters. I definantly fell in love with zelgadis.
Overall i would recommed this anime only if you didnt have anything else better to watch.

Overall Rating: 6
Animation:6 Plot:7 Humor:8 Sound Track:0
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=92816

Slayers TV Series #1
Almost all of the reviewers I ever see talk about how Slayers is so funny. Slayers is a comedy, but it does have a major plot most of the time, and the plot always winds its way into drama. It isn't pure comedy by any means. The characters are very interesting (even more so if you have access to the facts given only in the novels,) and the writing is nicely done. Slayers is one of those few shows that knows not to take life too seriously- but never completely lose your guard. The first Slayers series is actually rather juvenile, especially compared to the third series. But it certainly isn't dumb. Some episodes are in my opinion! Tapes four and five are pure comedy. I didn't find them very funny, but I know most people do. I prefer 1-3 and 6-8. Those have some comedy mixed into a plot. It does bring up some good points, too; such as never to go into a fight expecting to die in a blaze of glory. "If you’ve only got a one percent chance of winning, but convince yourself you’re going to lose, that one percent becomes zero percent! No matter what, I don’t want to die. That’s why, when I fight him... I’ll win." -Lina

Overall Rating: 10
Animation:7 Plot:9 Humor:8 Sound Track:8
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=63767

Slayers TV Series #1
I Loooooove Slayers!!! Gourry is a real moron, Lina is a psychotic sorceress with WAY too much power and Zelgadiss is just plain. . . . . cool.
The reason I only gave it a "9" is because I've seen both subs and dubs.
The dubs were okay but kinda screwed up. . .
Example :"Rezo was both my grandfather and great-grandfather."
-Zelgadiss
See, that just creeped me out.
It inferred inbreeding. Well, I still recommend this to, um,. . . . the world, and I think that the OAV's kinda sucked. (Damn Nahga)
Well. Kill Nahga and Praise Zel. That's my view.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=13742

Slayers TV Series #1
Slayers kicks ass! The characters are all cool. Zel is the best character in Slayers!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=13741

Slayers TV Series #1
Die Lina DIE! the show sucks ass!

Overall Rating: 0
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=13740

Slayers TV Series #1
I liked the 2nd and 3rd tapes. I think if I watched the first tape, I would've never gotten into the series. BTW get the subbed after the third tape. You'll miss out on some things if you get the dubs. This anime is for people who like slapstick comedy, so try not recomending to people who don't like slapstick.

-Is it just me, or did Zel change a whole lot in Slayers Next?

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=13739

Slayers TV Series #1
it's great,lena's hot

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=13737

Slayers TV Series #1
This is one of the best series I have ever seen :) Wonderful plot, Really funny,I can't wait to see more :)

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=13736

Slayers TV Series #1
bring kimba back! im 41 and i watched kimba alot when i was a kid i would love to see this cartoon make a come back thanks michael.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=13735

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