Sureiyâzu

Anime fans who have enjoyed the first series of Slayers will not be disappointed with it's hilarious sequel! It is the best in which I give it a 10. For those who have not seen the first series, the story stands on it's own so don't worry. I highly recommend people who are new to Anime to go and pick this title up as a must see!

This is... beyond words! I was pretty impressed with the 1st series, but this one outdoes it in every aspect. We've got more chemistry between the characters, more powerful badguys, better animation and even funnier jokes. And best of all: the mysterious priest, Xellos! I absolutely adore that guy! "Sore wa himitsu desu. ^_^" He's so evil and sadistic, while at the same time handsome and charming with a classy style. Every time he opens his eyes it makes me shiver... they have really managed to caputure his age, wisdom and wickedness in that glance.

And the finale of the series! WOW! It really had me on the edge of my seat, heart pounding the whole time.

See this... you won't regret it!

Just one piece of advice though: see the subbed version! The english dub absolutely SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS and doesn't at all manage to capture the charm the japanese voice actors created.

/Anna

Slayers Next is a follow-up to the popular Slayers series. It follows the loud and brass sorceress Lina Inverse and her not-so-smart but muscular sidekick Gourry on another adventure. Lina and Gourry meet back up with familiar characters, Amelia and Zelgadis, and the newly introduced Martina. Our heroes also encounter the new villains Gavv and Hellmaster, giving them new challenges to overcome - and giving Lina a chance to learn spells not yet seen in the first series. The voices are great as usual. Most of the original cast from the English version of Slayers has returned. Or if you prefer the subtitled version, you'll most likely be familiar with popular Japanese voice actress Megumi Hayashibara lending her talents to Lina Inverse once more. I highly enjoyed this series, even more so than the original or the follow-up to this one, Slayers Try. Slayers Next is a hilarious adventure with a great deal of heart.

Probably the best of the three "Slayers" TV seasons, this one has Lina Inverse, the short, scrawny, bad tempered, feisty red haired sorceress with an unquenchable appetite, Gourry Gabriev, her big blond idiot swordsman friend, Zelgadis the cranky man of stone, and bouncy, justice loving princess Amelia going out on a quest to find a legendary book called the Claire Bible, hoping that it can save the world from a threat from the demonic monsters who wish to destroy our lovely little world. Along the way they are dogged by the mysterious (and obnoxious) Xellos, the obsessive Princess Martina who wants to destroy Lina because Lina blew up her home town, and once again they are eventually joined by Sylphiel, Gourry's fan-girl like admirer.

Better animation than the first season and far less obnoxious and self-righteous than the ensuing "TRY", "NEXT" comes closest to balancing the nuances of the characters with lots of slapstick humor and drama. The English dub track is actually pretty decent (and keeps closer to the original Japanese dialogue than most English dubs) with Lisa Ortiz (Lina), Eric Stuart (Gourry), Crispin Freeman (Zelgadis) and Veronica Taylor (Amelia) giving their all, but what would essentially be one of the better English dubs is ruined by the crucial casting error of David Moo as Xellos. I don't know what the casting people were thinking, but David Moo is badly miscast as Xellos, making the character sound most annoying, borderline stereotypical nerd, when he should sound smooth and slick; unless the original and proper Japanese interpretation of Xellos IS an annoying little nerd.

But for those of you who don't listen to the English dub, it's all good. Favorite moments include the oxy-moronic attacks of Amelia's dad Prince Philionel of Seyruun and Gourry being turned evil and unleashed against the other characters. Lina's unexpected attraction to Gourry is also funny along with nice opening and closing theme songs.

LINA: "Just how long do you plan on protecting me?"

GOURRY: "I dunno... the rest of my life?"

LINA [blushing & incredulous]: "The rest of your...?"

To paraphrase the introduction on the video box: "In ancient times, stories abounded of brave warriors performing heroic deeds...this is not one of them." :)

Slayers makes fun of not only RPG/D&D anime, but everything else--including the kitchen sink. Jokes, gags, and rampant violence aside, though, this story also has quite a bit of drama and character development.

Personally, I felt that the subbed version was much better--Megumi Hayashibara is perfect as the cute but slightly underdeveloped (but don't say that to her face :) Lina Inverse.

Definitely a series worth watching.