Category: TV Series
No. of Episodes: 26
Year of Production: 1995
The Slayers, is regarded by many to be the quintessential fantasy/comedy anime. Based a upon a is a series of light novels written by Hajime Kanzaka and illustrated by Rui Araizumi. It has been developed into several manga titles, five televised anime series, two three-episode original video animations (OVAs), and five movies.
Slayers can be said to be inspired by Dungeons & Dragons in terms of its narrative, following the adventures of the sorceress Lina Inverse and her companions as they fight monsters, wizards and demons. Unlike D&D, however, the series refuses to take itself seriously, and instead opts for the route of outright silliness, with characters been mauled by a giant fish or gay sea serpents.
The plot of the first season is based on the first light novels and is pretty standard as the fantasy genre goes. The plot does follow the "bad-guy-threatening-the-world- so-let's-go-stop-him" formula but the cast of off beat characters save this from been another bland fantasy. The series will sometimes take breaks in the middle of serious story arcs or fights for comedy value but it manages to find a nice balanace.
Animation wise the series has aged. However, it was made on a smaller tv budget and this should not be hed against it, as it still is better than many modern western aminaions.
All in all I recommend the series and would advise people to give it try, the early episodes may not make capture you but its a series worth sticking with.
