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The Slayers - DVD Collection Special Edition (Episodes 1-26)

The Slayers - DVD Collection Special Edition (Episodes 1-26)

List Price: $49.95
Your Price: $44.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The adventure begins...
Review: The main character of this crazy series is Lina Inverse, a petite yet very powerful 15-year-old sorceress with red hair and a temper even shorter than her height. Though she fights against the forces of evil, she is more of an anti-heroine as she is very violent and keeps the dirty wealth of bandits for herself after killing them.

The entire "Slayers" anime consists of 78 TV series episodes divided up into three 26-episode seasons, five movies, and six OVA episodes. This DVD set contains the entire first season of the TV series where Lina first meets her three tag-along partners. First there's Gourry, a blonde swordsman whose great with a sword but low on brains. Zelgadis is a cursed half-demon, half-golem, half-human who plays the role of the serious loner of the group that's featured in just about every anime. Finally there's Amelia, a clumsy princess who specializes in white magic...and she's also a major justice freak. Together, these four characters make up the main cast of the TV series, though there are several other characters who temporarily join the group throughout.

"Slayers" is basically a comedy/fantasy-adventure anime. The action consists mostly of the characters throwing DBZ-like magical blasts and other interesting spells at each other with some occassional swordplay added in the mix. It's a fairly light-hearted story loaded with humor, but each of the three seasons tend to get pretty dark, bloody, and serious towards the final episodes. My only gripes are that by the second season the relentless slapstick comedy gets stale, as do the plots which always involve Lina and the gang searching for some ancient, lost magical item in order to defeat yet another, more powerful ancient monster bent on destroying the world.

The basic plot of this season is as follows: After Lina attacks a group of bandits and steals their possessions, she meets up with Gourry. Lina soon discovers that one of the items she took from the bandits is actually the key to unleashing Shabrinigdo, a very powerful creature of evil that was sealed away long ago. After surviving several attacks by thugs wanting the key, she and Gourry encounter Rezo the Red Priest, who was born blind. He appears to be an ally at first until his true objective is later revealed.

This is the best season of the TV series, IMO. First of all, because it's the first, the plot is totally fresh, unlike the second two seasons. The pacing is great too as it practically hooks you right after the second episode. It does slow down a bit in the middle with a few comedic "filler episodes" (as do the other two seasons), but the plot picks up again in the last few episodes. Overall, it's pretty good and I especially recommend it if you're into fantasy RPG games.

Lastly, I'd like to point out that though this is the first season of the TV series, it actually isn't the "true" beginning of the story. The six OVA episodes and all the movies except for "Slayers Premium" are actually prequels to the TV series. Lina is a bit younger and is teamed up with her original ally/rival, Naga the Serpent, a goofy, tall, scantily clad sorceress with an annoying high-pitched laugh and breasts the size of soccer balls, who just happens to be my favorite Slayer! Though regarded as inferior by most fans, I personally prefer those movies and OAVs over the TV series because Lina and Naga are just hilarious together and the plots are always fresh and fun. You can see Lina and Naga's first meeting in "Slayers Excellent". I recommend at least checking out "Slayers Return" or "Slayers: the Motion Picture"--they're the best IMO.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Slayers is one great anime series
Review: The Slayers is a great anime series. Its packed with Action, Comedy, and tons of slapstick humor! There are some scenes that will make you laugh and some even that will make you shed tears. Overall this DVD collection is one that you definetly want if your an anime fan! I give it 4 stars becuase it has a slight audio bug. The japanese soundtrack is in mono not sterio.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Never before, has sorcery been this funny
Review: The Slayers is quite possibly THE best fantasy/adventure anime in existance. And getting the entire 1st season for one price? Tell me I'm not dreaming! The slayers has a lot to offer. People that have seen Slayers the Motion pictiure, don't be decieved, I know the Movie was absolutely horrible, but the series is nothing like the movie! In the series, you get to meet up with some of the clasic Slayers characters Such a Gourry, the dumb as dirt swordsman, or Amelia, the Justice-crazed power-ranger. The Slayers is a non-stop ride of laughs. And it is complimented by it's superb story line, and good voice acting. Over all, the Slayers will become a series to be remembered for a long time to come, so I suggest you pick up a copy while you still can!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: this is worth your time
Review: The Slayers was the first anime series that I owned, and it was a great inauguration to the world of anime. Lina is the incredibly energetic, violent and super-powerful sorceress who winds up having to save the world. She's accompanied by the dense but noble swordman Gourry, the somber Zelgadis and the cheerful and justice-crazed Amelia.
Doesn't sound too fresh or creative, does it? But Slayers seems to do just about everything right, and it adds up to an extremely funny and enjoyable experience. Lina is played by the wonderfully talented Megumi Hayashibara, possibly her best known role, and she also contributes the opening and ending songs. The rest of the cast is also solid, particularly Taketo Koyasu as the voice of Rezo. The English cast isn't as good. Everyone seems to go crazy over Lisa Ortiz as the voice of Lina, but she really can get pretty annoying at times, and is never all that brilliant. The highlight is definitely Crispin Freeman as Zelgadis.
Anyway:
I really like the timing on this series. It starts out light-hearted, and gets a little more serious until it culminates in episode 10. Then it becomes funny again for awhile, until it gradually slants toward seriousness at the end. The series is laced with slapstick comedy, and even at the end, one never gets the impression that the creators are taking themselves too seriously.
Slayers is a series that just screams fun. The animation quality is not very good, but that hardly matters. Plus, you get a fine array of extras on these discs. Slayers isn't quite top of the line, but anyone simply wanting to laugh and have a good time should see this.
p.s. for unknown reasons, the Japanese track in this set plays really really quietly. We found that plugging your DVD player (we used a PS2) directly into the television seems to clear that up.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Like swords, sorcery and comedy?
Review: Then you'll love the Slayers first season! It's the perfect balance of fantasy, comedy and (dare i say?) a bit of seriousness. The characters' antics are the funniest, with Lina's insatiable appetite and Gourry's complete inability to understand the events that surround him. You wont regret buying this! Why are you still reading? Go buy it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dungeons and Dragons was NEVER like this!
Review: Think you know everything there is to know about the sword and sorcery genre? Think again.
Dragons, wizards, valiant swordsmen, trolls, sorceresses, and magic up the wazoo. Yeah, that's all here. But this isn't your everyday Dungeons and Dragons schtick.
We open with a fiesty sorceress named Lina Inverse, voiced by the legendary Megumi Hayabashira on the Japanese track and the comparable Lisa Ortiz for the English dub. She's a reknowned Bandit Killer, and despite being a mere fifteen years old, knows the most potent spell in black magic.
Then we toss in brave-hearted and dim-witted master swordsman Gourry Gabriev. He's as valiant and noble as he is dense. And his skill with the sword is unequalled.
Throw in a mysterious Chimera, a justice obsessed princess with a heroine complex, a cryptic blind priest, and more bandits than you can shake a stick at, stir, and you've got the most hilarious, off-beat mix imaginable.
Slayers has the ability to go from deadly serious to whimsical and lighthearted and then back to deadly serious all in five minutes.
Backed up with a terrific musical score, this is a series that will have you on the edge of your seat when you're not rolling in the aisles.
A MUST HAVE FOR THE TRUE ANIME FAN!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the greatest anime ever!
Review: This anime is GREAT. I am a seasoned vet of anime, having seen many many many anime, some good and some bad. This anime takes the cake for being the best anime I have EVER seen. It is hilarious and has good action. The young sorceress Lina is believable as a regular 16 year old girl going about her life, except that her life involves killing dragons, bandits, and demons and using magic. The animation is good but the first episode is kind of jittery when anything moves. It is bearable and it does end after about half of the first episode is over. The audio is not perfect but the story, characters, comedy, action, ect. is more than perfect. It more than deserves its five star rating.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Series
Review: This collection is great. It does a nice job of maintaining constant laughs and/or has an interesting plot to keep you engaged constantly. The finnaly is wonderful and doesn't disappoint you with action. The only thing that could have been improved would have been some of the english voice actors should have been replaced and the translations didn't always carry the calaber of jokes contained in the subtitles.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great anime
Review: This has to be the funniest anime I have seen yet!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Good Series Plagued By Audio Problems
Review: This is an excellent series that suffers because of a major defect in the DVDs that the manufacturer (Central Park Media) now says they refuse to fix. Not only that, but they continue to sell them as if nothing is wrong. There is also about a minute of footage that was inadvertently cut from the end of the last episode. Please avoid this set for now until a fixed version is made. For those looking to get their Slayers fix, check out the "Book of Spells" and "The Motion Picture" DVDs. These are both very funny and require no previous knowledge of the series to enjoy.


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