The Show – An under-developed sorceress, an air-headed swordsman, and magical overkill
Starting up the first DVD brought back fond memories for me of my favorite mercurial sorceress. The show starts off as Lina Inverse, an under-developed 15 year old sorceress prodigy, is completely decimating a bandit camp—and then robbing them blind. Not what you’d imagine from a typical heroine. Lina does fight for the greater good, but that usually entails filling her belly or making money off troubled townsfolk. Soon after her explosive debut, she meets Gourry Gabriev, an expert swordsman in a long line of knights and defenders and with about as much brains between his ears as a party balloon. Thinking he shouldn’t leave a “little kid” to travel the rogue-filled forest alone, Gourry sets off with Lina on her way to Atlas City. And so the adventure began…
Presentation – Excellent
This DVD set is remastered from the original show. Since I’ve only ever seen The Slayers on VHS, I can say without bias that the sound quality has been enhanced and the animation’s colors seem more vibrant and with less of the grain that a lot of earlier anime has. (It’s still there, but not an issue with me.) Also, though I’ve never seen them for myself, the reported audio problems with the first DVDS that Software Sculptors had released have not presented themselves with this set. There are no sudden changes in volume and the dubbing and lip sync are spot on. All-in-all, you can’t ask more of a remastered classic.
Aside from technical aspects, the box presentation features excellent artwork (always a plus with me) and, to me, a new way of packaging a DVD set. Instead of the old accordion method of boxing, or multiple cases, all four DVDs fit snugly one on top of the other on two holster sides of the box, with a pocket on the cover flap to store one while you remove the one that was behind it. It’s a more efficient use of packaging, and very saving on your shelf space since it’s not much thicker than an average DVD case.
Extras – The bare bones
The only extras listed on the box are an Episode 1 edit for alternate languages, textless opening and ending songs, and trailers. At that, it took me till disc 4 to actually see these extras, because the packaging does not list what disc they’re located on. For sets like this, I typically assume when there aren’t many extras provided that the extras are on ever disc of the set. So, as I kept going through the series I kept wondering if those scant promised goodies would ever come. I suppose the treats were being saved for last, but I do feel that this should have at least been given mention on the box, because some people like to view the extras before jumping into the show.
Overall – My love is rekindled
I’ve been a fan of the show for about eight years now, and I had been eagerly awaiting the day when I could possess it on DVD. I’d passed on the first DVD releases because of all the bad reviews on its audio, and now that I’ve sank my teeth deep into this set I can’t wait to acquire Slayers Next and Slayers Try on DVD as well. It’s a good, often light-hearted show with a well-paced storyline that keeps you watching each episode to the very last without complaint. It has its serious points and lots of action, but there’s more than enough comedy to counter-balance it favorably. It’s a good series to share with new and old anime fans alike.
Overall: 9.5