Anime reviews: Super Slayers edition

Slayers has been around for a long time and I’ve always been something of a fan of it. Now I’ve seen the main TV series, and that was easy to get, but the OVAs have always eluded me for various reasons. Usually I’d only get to see them if at a convention. Over the last few years, I managed to finally find all of them, and get them all in one pile of anime to watch. Some of these I have seen, some I have not.

This is less of an actual review, and more of a treat for myself, as well as possibly a guide for anyone who wants to watch the OVA/movie side of the Slayers franchise. Or at least tune in for Naga’s top-tier ojou-sama laugh. We all know she’s the master of it. What’s better than Naga laughing? Eleven Nagas laughing.

Lina may have small boobs and no cleavage but she’s clearly not tsurupettan. She has at least enough for a handful going on. I’d play with ‘em. By anime standards, or when standing next to Naga or Amelia, I guess they’re small. In terms of direct comparison to actual people, Lina’s boobs are realistic. Meanwhile, we have characters like Konata from Lucky Star. Now that girl is flat, but she doesn’t get worked up over it. She wears that flatness like a badge of honor.

The theme songs of the OVAs, movies, and the main TV series have stood the test of time. Perhaps nostalgia has something to do with it, but I’ve found that nostalgia can’t save everything. It usually doesn’t. And yet, I can listen to songs like “Midnight Blue”, “Nemurenai Yoru Wa” and “Run All the Way” and still feel somewhat pumped up.

Maybe there’s a proper order to watch these in. I don’t think it really matters. These have always been about the Lina/Naga dynamic with no over-arching plots connecting them. As for where these take place in the larger Slayers continuity, most of these (except for Premium) take place before the TV series.

Slayers Excellent
Slayers Special
Slayers Perfect
Slayers Return
Slayers Great
Slayers Gorgeous
Slayers Premium

“Slayers Excellent”
3 OVAs, 1998-1999
Here we have a trio of OVAs.

Labyrinth: Lina and Naga go into a dungeon for a mission and find they’ve been bamboozled.
Frightening Future: Lina takes a job as a bodyguard for Sirene, a spoiled daughter of a businessman, then gets immediately tired of her shit. Sirene then gets schooled by Naga about the ojou-sama laugh.
Lina-chan’s Lovely Makeover: Lina and Naga get dragged into a fight between rival fashion designers.

“Slayers Special”
3 OVAs, 1996 to 1997
Some more OVAs. Also sold as “Book of Spells”.

Scary Chimera Plan: Someone wants to fuse Lina with a bunch of mythical beasts to make an ultra-powerful chimera. Of course, Lina thinks it’s an awful idea. Making 10 clones of Naga wasn’t too bright either. This is also where we find out that Naga knows she can weaponize her laugh.
Jeffrey’s Knighthood: Lina and Naga are tasked with helping to boost the self-esteem of a pencil-necked geek.
Mirror Mirror: Lina and Naga set out to capture or kill some troublemaker dude, only to find a magical mirror that creates their opposite selves: A pacifist Lina, and a modest Naga. Which means that at this point there are now at least twelve Nagas at large in the Slayersverse.

“Slayers Perfect”
1 movie, 1995
The first movie, and the first work outside of the TV series. Lina and Naga go to an island that’s only accessible once per year for a hot springs trip but end up solving a mystery and doing some time travel.

“Slayers Return”
1 movie, 1996
The second movie. Lina and Naga take on a job to liberate a small village, but they have treasure on their minds. Then they end up trying to stop an ancient mega-weapon.

“Slayers Great”
1 movie, 1997
Lina and Naga get caught up in an argument between rival golem makers. Then they literally get caught in the golems themselves in some kind of gladiator match. This OVA is further proof that Lina and Naga usually don’t have noble intentions, aren’t really friends as they just kind of tolerate each other at best, and will throw each other under the bus every chance they get. And that’s why we love them.

“Slayers Gorgeous”
1 movie, 1997
Once again, Lina and Naga get caught up in a family feud, and once again, they take sides against each other. Naga has to school Marlene on how to do a proper ojou-sama laugh. We get to see a big bunch of dragons get spooked by the mere mention of Lina’s name. And that’s power in its own right.

“Slayers Premium”
1 movie, 2001
This one is a little different for a bunch of reasons: This takes place in the TV series continuity (around Try), and is the only Slayers movie that didn’t get a release on LaserDisc, being just barely on this side of the year 2000.

The animation is a bit more fluid but the character design is kinda off here. Instead of Lina/Naga, we get Lina/Gourry, along with some Amelia/Zelgadis and Xelloss. After Gourry eats some cursed octopus, he (and then Lina) gets afflicted with Takago, where everyone starts speaking in complete gibberish.

Getting it:
Since all of the OVAs and movies were released by ADV with no license rescue, they’ve been out of print for a long time. At this point you’re better off downloading them in some form. But if you insist on getting the DVDs, I advise getting the individual discs as much as possible. There are 7 of them.

Movies:
Perfect (DVDSL/001) + Return (DSL/003) + Great (DSL/004) + Gorgeous (DSL/005) + Premium (DSL/007) = Movie Box (DSL/BX1).

OVAs:
Book of Spells aka Slayers Special (DVDSL/002) + Excellent (DSL/006) = OVA collection (DSL/BX2).

Complete collection:
Movie Box (DSL/BX1) + OVA collection (DSL/BX2) = Complete collection (DSL/BX3).

The complete collection set was released back in 2008, which does have everything, but that set is fucking rare and in the event it shows up on ebay, it often goes for as much as $400. Like I said, if you must get this on DVD, get the individual discs. They’re going to be easier and cheaper to find incrementally. They’re the same content anyway. Maybe you can luck out and find a deal on one of the smaller sets. The only thing you’d really get from having the full collection in one box is a couple extra inches of shelf space, and by the time you’re worried about that, you’ve probably already given up on physical media as a whole long ago.

There is a BD set available in Japan, if you’re willing to trade a translation for having it in BD form.

Wanna be a hipster about it? All of them except Premium are available on LaserDisc. Each of the OVAs are on their own disc, for a total of 10 discs. That’s how LaserDisc rolled. The only reason Premium isn’t on LD is because that’s too new, having been made after LD production came to an end. Oh yeah, and the LDs are untranslated too.

I think some of these were also released on VHS early on.

Don’t feel like being a hipster or going on quests or spending a giant pile of money or all of the above? Mouse clicks for .mkv files will get the job done.

4K TV test: These are early ADV releases, and honestly, they have some rough spots. My DVD player is trying its best. Maybe if I went with the downloaded versions that are based on the import BD set they would look better. These are all cel-based, painted by hand, so there will be little flaws here and there. Those flaws are what made pre-2000s anime so organic and natural, giving it a human touch.

Aside from that, the higher production values of the OVAs and movies are apparent and have aged somewhat well, despite never really having gotten any kind of state-side update in almost 20 years.