Slayers Revolution

[Kraco]

"Having lost the Sword of Light in the previous battle, Lina and Gourry continue their journey in search of a replacement weapon. On the way, the two of them meet up with Amelia and Zelgadis in the kingdom of Luvinagard while taunting some pirates. Lina is happy to reunite with her old friends, but appearing before her is Luvinagard's Inspector of the Special Investigative Unit; a man called Wizer. However, Lina is amazed at his unusual behavior..." -ANN

AniDB, ANN, Official

Episode 1 h264 - SS-Eclipse
Episode 1 xvid - SS-Eclipse


- - - - - - -



Slayers is a familiar title for great many people who have seen anime from 90's. Indeed, it has been some ten years since the last Slayers title. Slayers was a 90's anime, through and through, and thus it was doubly interesting to see whether they kept the old feeling and atmosphere or modernized it. I was glad to see they retained it, while obviously using modern methods for smoother animation and clearer picture. Even the particular, more...how should I say it, artificial (not robot like but kind of high-strung and overly stereotypical and emotional) sounding voice acting is still there. That trait pretty much started to disappear with the modern 00's anime. I haven't always been a fan of that, having dropped some series because I couldn't bear listening to some high-pitched high-school heroines, but it fits Lina Inverse & co perfectly.

Other than that, it seemed like a promising start for a series. Not much to say yet about the story but no doubt it will surface before long.

There was one sub release before SS-Eclipse as well, by Tadashi-wyvern, and I found it funny how there were so many differences between SS-Eclipse and them. Some lines were translated totally differently. Well, it's not like I'd need to think twice which one to support...

[Munsu]

Got a ton of catching up to do anime/manga/tv-show wise... if somehow I get the itch to watch all the previous series/movies/ovas, I'll give this a look. If not, this is a series I'll probably pass on for the time being.

With that said, a couple of years back I watched like 16 episodes of the first series, so I got a bit of a head start.

[vejita613]

I dont generally jude a series by the first episode (and I dont plan to do so here either), but so far I like what I see. Im still debating on the animation though and whether I like it or not. I can say, however, that Im not too keen on the digimon looking thing thats shooting off dragon slaves.

[Shadow Skill]

Been waiting 7 years for this. I Love it!!

I hope they keep it as enjoyable as this first episode.

[NeoBear]

tee hee i almost forgot how much fun Lina is, but i will say i don't like the idea of someone who can do the same things she can i hope theres a good reason =/

[ForteCross]

it was pretty generic... hope it gets better >.>
the animation was good... by the way, can someone tell me what happened to gourrys sword? (i know it will be spoiler, so you can pm me?)

[Kraco]

Dragon Slave shouldn't be any Lina exclusive spell anyway. What was her exclusive spell again... Giga Slave? We should get worried if the strange creature attempts to use that as well.

One of the things that bothered me about this show is indeed the seemingly limited amount of spells and the fact just about anyone can use them. Zel also had a super spell in the beginning, Ra Tilt was the name if memory serves, said to almost rival Dragon Slave, but then suddenly also Amelia could use it, despite the fact she was presented as quite a clumsy Defender of Justice. At that point I ceased to think even the bigger magics were anything special in Slayers, except for that one cataclysmic spell of Lina's.

[RyougaZell]

I really did not feel I was missing anything... I mean... I only watched first season when it was aired in Mexico, but never saw past them.
Still, it would be good to see the previous seasons, but I feel it would be a pain to find and download them. I'll probably download a couple more episodes before deciding if I'll follow this series or not.

[Ryllharu]

@Kraco:


[Plenty of info from previous seasons/movies and a little bit out of the books (the books are slightly different and give more details than Slayers and Slayers NEXT do)

It's not unusual at all for more than one person to use the Dragon Slave. A lot of people in the old series could use it, Lina was just very well known for having no sense of restraint on what is essentially a nuke. In fact, back in season 1, Lina taught Amelia how to use it, who leveled a burial mound. It was weaker, but that was understandable. Then, at the end of season 2, Sylphiel revealed she had learned to cast it. More specifically, specialized in it. So much so that Lina, even when her magic was boosted by the set of talisman she bought off Xellos, was not able to match Sylphiel's version.

As for the Rah Tilt, Amelia was strong is white/shamanistic magic in addition to meddling in black magic, while Zelgadis only used shamanist magic. The Rah Tilt is the pinnacle of Astral spells (detailed in that episode of season 1) so I suppose that somehow puts it between white and shamanist magic.

As a sidebar about the Giga Slave, that one is unique to Lina. There has been speculation in the past that Lina was a reincarnation of the Lord of Chaos, just as her older sister had a shard of Sylfeid (the water god who fought to the death with Shabernigdo) inbedded in her, and leading to the reason Lina is so terrified of her sister.

[Kraco]

Yes, that exactly is the one thing I don't like about the whole Slayers universe, like I said before. You would think a spell that can level whole towns (like a nuclear bomb) would be somewhat difficult, demanding, and thus a rare skill, but nah - it's there like a fireball in other stories; for any magic user showing a little interest.

What comes to Amelia and Zelgadis, let's not forget Zelgadis was a villain at some subleader level in the beginning, and a direct underling (and creation) of the big bad guy. It makes sense he knows some devastating magics. Amelia, however, is some spoiled kid who got a bright idea of saving the world with justice of her own making.

Well, Slayers never was any deep series and thus skills and details come and go according to what is needed by whatever flimsy plot currently happens to be in control of the characters.

[Ryllharu]

I think you are mis-characterising Amelia. She's not just some spoiled kid. She's the crown princess (since her older sister ran off, lots of speculation who she really is), but Amelia also was sent through thorough training at the academies in her kingdom, often remarked as the center of White Magic on the continent.

I expect her to know so pretty powerful spells herself.

[Kraco]

I expect no such things from somebody who first climbs to the top of a tree to shout out her opinion of justice and then falls down head first.

But like I said, it's a moot point in this series in any case because with the exception of the one end-of-the-world spell every other major spell is known by every groom and even their horses.

[Shadow Skill]

So... Anyone else notice that digimon bunny looking thing had a zipper on it?

[Yukimura]

Sheesh Kraco, casting the Dragon Slave is not supposed to be impossible it's just hard to do it properly without blowing yourself up.

Slayers spells seem to only require a verbal component to invoke, but require magical talent/skill in order to be controlled and harnessed usefully.

I doubt the chant for the Dragon Slave is all that big a secret like the other spells Lina learns in season 2. But mages should also know there's rarely a good reason to use such a doomish spell and the risks involved in miscasting it are so great that few are willing to try it in order to master it.

I suspect more than a few people who tried to learn it end up having it explode in their faces, taking out not only the caster but the entire town around them as well.

[Ryllharu]

I'm certainly not the first to say you can't take Slayers even the slightest bit seriously. Just look at most of the dialogue and situations in this episode.

Back to Kraco:
You also can't forget about Lina's geographical location.

In the first and second season, in addition to all the OVAs, the Slayers cast are all trapped on a single "continent" (you can see it focused on in the OP of NEXT). The barrier drops at the beginning of TRY, and the Slayers are sent to explore the remainder of the world.

Which we are immediately informed does not know anywhere near the amount of magic that the continent Lina and the others hail from. All these magic weilders had been concentrated in such a small space.

So who exactly did we see capable of high-level magic spells throughout the episodes?
a) Lina, world reknown sorceress
b) Her two friends, Amelia and Sylphiel (Zelgadis really doesn't know that much magic comparatively, flare arrow and astral vibe on his sword are most common)
c) various members of the MONSTER race (or demon gods)
d) dragons (Filia and a few others)
e) Naga

It's really not that much if you think about it. The only place where commoners know any amount of magic is their isolated continent where everyone is concentrated together. Lina and her merry band (or Naga) outshine nearly everyone there by far. Outside of the Seyruun/Sairaag area, no one seems to know magic at all.


To take it even further, Sylphiel, Amelia and (debatably, but I believe it) Naga, are special cases due to their famed lineages.

So claiming that "everyone" knows all this high level magic is pretty misrepresentative just from the overwhelmingly biased view we get following Lina and her overly capable companions. Lina has killed three gods, more or less on her own, and her companions don't die every time, so they have to be up towards her level of supremely overpowered.

[Kraco]

Alright, alright. I tried to come up with things to defend my case but the truth is, I reveal it now, is that I'm just a big Zelgadis fan. I've always liked sympathetic yet cool, tragic villains, far more than any heroes, and Zel started as one. Plus he's pretty much the only cool hero in this whole show.

And so I was pissed off when the goofy next to useless defender of justice Amelia knows all the spells Zel does. Zel who obviously has gone through much more than the little girl. I felt like my favorite character in the whole show was reduced to just another name of little importance. In the beginning he still seemed like somebody who could even stand a little while against Lina (minus Giga Slave obviously). But if Amelia can do all the big things Zel can do... Give me a break. That's nobody to respect anymore.

That's it. I'm not generally speaking taking this series seriously at all, just this single thing.

[Ryllharu]

To defend Zelgadis...he dabbles in black magic, specializes in Shamanism, and is a swordsman who is on par with most, though many of the villains have to be very skilled to compete with Goury.

Zel is a jack of all trades. But he doesn't focus on anything...and it shows only because of who he happens to be with. It's exactly the same with Amelia and Sylphiel. When the latter is around, with her pathetically weak, carrot-shaped Flare Arrow, Amelia's white magic is a total joke. The same went for Filia, who had both dragon strength and as a focused priestess, was stronger than Amelia as well. When either of those were around, Amelia doesn't stand out at all either because her black magic is only slightly stronger than Zel's.

Now, not that she'd ever show up, but if Naga was compared to Zelgadis, his Shamanist magic would look equally weak. Her golem summons are something he has never even shown aptitude for.

-------------------------------
All this said, there is a reason I like the movies more than the latter two seasons of Slayers (especially the midway of NEXT). In the series, Lina pops off Dragon Slaves like fireballs. In NEXT, she even does abbreviated casts.

Compare this to the movies. Not that Naga makes it more serious, but it takes Lina FOREVER to start up a Dragon Slave. They put a lot of art into her charging up the spell, and the incantation takes at least twice as long as the longest of casts in the series'. All the magic in the land slowly gathers into her hands, and she dramatically lets it fly.

That puts a lot more emphasis on the spell, and how much harder it is to master. Perhaps since the movies chronologically proceed the three series, Lina has developed immense skill with the Dragon Slave, though certainly not to the power levels that Sylphiel did (and the abbreviated casts are weaker).

So the series are even easier to not take seriously compared to the movies, which strangely enough are filled to the brim with completely unserious plots.

[and yes, of all the characters, Naga is probably my favorite, Lina right behind]

[Yukimura]

Well come on now, Zelgadis is awesome regardless of anyone else's spell repertoire. Being the jack of all trades that he is makes him much more useful overall than anyone other than Lina. While there are plenty of situations where Zel can't be the shining hero saving the day I can't think of a single situation where he was a liability in battle.

Zel is a support character and that's just the way it has to be, but he's one of the better support characters out there. He can be relied on to take care of himself in pretty much any situation, unlike Amelia, and to some extend Goury, who sometimes have to be saved from something immune to their area of expertise that's a non-boss. He may not be the heavy hitter with magic that Lina is or with swordplay that Goury is but if you need someone at your back and you have no clue wtrf is around the next corner Zelgadis is definitely your man.

[Dark Dragon]

ok here is a few things about the Slayers universe that might helps make some sense.

The Lord of Nightmares is the ultimate being in the slayers universe who is neither good or evil.

The Lord of Nightmares created 4 worlds, each with it's own Demon and God so to speak.

Lina world is where Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo is the demon and the Flare Dragon Ceiphied is the God

Shabranigdo created 5 Demon Lords that served as his lieutenants. The only 3 that i can name are Demon Dragon Gaav, Hellmaster Phibrizzo and Greater Beast Zelas-Metallium.

now as for the spells, there are three branches of magic with consist of black, white and shamanic.

White and Shaman magic call upon the user own power in order to cast the spell.

Black magic however is something the Demon Lords give the humans in order to cause more chaos and destruction. Black magic spells call upon the power of the Demon race instead of the caster.

The Dragonslave for example call upon the power of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo. So i guess to an extent it's base on how much of the Demon powers the user can harness which will determine the effectiveness of the spell.

The Giga Slave is special to Lina and i'm not really sure when and how she learned it. It call on the power of the Lord of Nightmares which seems to be the only thing that is capable of killing the Demon Lords. In Slayers Next Lina also manage to learn the Ragna Blade which is another spell that calls on the power of the Lord of Nightmares but only to a lesser extent making it less dangerous.

A lot of this was drawn from memory of the stuff i've read from light novels and the first few seasons so if there is anything wrong feel free to correct it.

On a side note: A lot of peoples are speculating that Zelas-Metallium is in the OP because there is one scene where you see Xellos with the lower body of a woman standing in the background and since Xellos serve as the priest for Zelas peoples are assuming that figure is Zelas.

[Kraco]

Anyone else's spell repertoire:

Episode 2 h264 - SS-Eclipse
Episode 2 xvid - SS-Eclipse