Presentation

Generally, not much has changed in accordance to the release of Slayers Next in terms of packaging. Slayers Try comes packaged in a space-saving fold box that also has the niftiness of being made of eco-friendly cardboard. It sports some quality box art as well, making sure to note for people the three main characters to focus on this time around—Lina, Filia, and Valgaav. This set sports excellent voice acting on both the Japanese and English dubbings. It’s a fairly faithful English translation, as well, so there’s no need to cringe at the words “English dub” here. Once upon a time, when Software Sculptors had originally released this series on DVD, there were many flaws with the audio. That is not the case now, as Funimation has gone in and fully restored the quirky soundtrack and the, ah, dulcet tones of our favorite heroine. Not only that, but the color of the animation has been remastered and restored to liveliness. It still has the grainy quality that traditional animation tends to have, but I think that works more to its favor.

Extras

After the small bulk of extras that Slayers Next had treated me with, I’d look forward to finishing out the series with a heavy dose. Here, the set falls short. As always, the extras are found on disc four and they are small, indeed. You have textless versions of the opening and ending songs. Not necessarily a bad thing, as they’re great songs. But after that, all you have are trailers for Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, the Holic/Tsubasa double feature, Dragon Ball, Full Metal Alchemist, Glass Fleet, and Blue Gender. No spiffy commercials or fun karaoke videos grace this set as it had with Slayers Next.

Overall

By and large, Slayers Try is the most serious themed of the Slayers TV series. It has just as much action and comedic relief as its predecessors, but Try always seems to have that tense undercurrent that keeps you watching to the very last. Some people tend to like Next better than Try, but I feel that Try brings a subtle, but epic, crescendo to the series. By the end, you have to watch the credits all the way through. It feels like the perfect conclusion to both the season and the TV series. I wasn’t overly impressed with the paltry extras offered, but I think that does get overshadowed by four discs, seven episodes each, of a quality series and story. For long-time Slayers fans, Slayers Try will be a boon to their collections. Those new to Slayers will probably find themselves wanting more after watching Try, and turn to other DVDs in this franchise to see more of the action, comedy, and drama that seamlessly rolls into one being with Slayers.