History YMMV / Slayers

* TheyWastedaPerfectlyGoodPlot: Despite the perfect opportunities in both Slayers Premium and Evolution-R, we never get to see Naga re-unite with Lina and officially meet the TV cast, particularly her younger sister Amelia. A reunion between those two could have been the start of endless story potential.

* TheScrappy:
** Sylphiel's demure personality, strength in healing magic over attack spells, and [[DieForOurShip feelings for Gourry]] made her heavily disliked by a lot of Western fans who have the RealWomenDontWearDresses mindset. Because of that, the more stubborn Filia is preferred by them. On the other hand, both Sylphiel and Filia are only moderately liked by Japanese fans, and Hajime Kanzaka, the novel writer, [[CreatorBacklash dislikes]] Filia (and ''TRY'' in general).
** [[BrattyHalfPint Prince Pokota]] never gets a lot of love, from any kind of fan, probably due to his high magical power, angsty past, and LeeroyJenkins-like attitude.

** Gourry can easily be mistaken for a girl.

* GodNeverSaidThat: Slayers fans have a long, storied history with this thanks to canon materials and interviews going untranslated for decades. If you see the words "Kanzaka said" without a source provided, then take it with a grain of salt.

* MagnificentBastard: Xellos. He is quite able to manipulate almost any character who meets him into doing his bidding, ''even those who know he's an evil bastard and don't wish to be part of his schemes''-he just factors their reluctance and ReversePsychology into his ploys, as well as a large amount of HeelFaceRevolvingDoor.

** Even the dub has some of this. The first 13 episodes of Season 1 were recorded in 1996, and aside from Creator/LisaOrtiz as Lina and Creator/EricStuart as Gourry, it really doesn't hold up very well, featuring many stilled performances and awkward script choices. It starts improving quite a bit in the second half of Season 1, with Creator/VeronicaTaylor as Amelia and Creator/CrispinFreeman as Zelgadis, and the dubs for NEXT and TRY are considered among the best of the 90s, featuring many well-done performances that strike a balance between the series' comedic and melodramatic elements, with Xellos and Sylphiel's voices being the only sore spots. A change in voice director (from Jim Malone to Anthony Salerno) also helped. ADV's dubs for the the movies and [=OVAs=] aren't as fondly remembered (aside from maybe Creator/KellyManison as Naga), most likely because they couldn't capture the magic of NEXT and TRY's dubs. [=FUNimation=] even tried to go back and fix some of the first 13 episodes' mediocre dubbing, but were unable to. When Revolution and Evolution-R were dubbed in 2009-2010, [=FUNimation=] did go out of their way to bring back the main four voice actors, due to fan demand.

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Hajime Kanzaka's tendency to make up explanations for various plot and character details on the fly, leave them ambiguous and contradict himself at later points, combined with leaving key information out of the actual series and only makiing it accessible via interviews that are difficult to acquire outside of Japan, leads to a distinct proliferation of FanonDiscontinuity and {{Fanon}}.

* AdaptationDisplacement: "Huh? What do you mean there are novels?" This would actually apply to any number of fans, since the novels weren't translated until around ''eight years'' after the anime was first distributed in the states ([[NoExportForYou and only the first eight are currently translated anyway.]])

* AwesomeMusic:

** The legendary second opening song, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J14Y9pFIW-M "Give a Reason".]]

** This one has died down over the years with the advent of ''Revolution'' and ''Evolution-R'', but many fans either liked or hated the third season (''TRY'') because of its darker plot and [[GrayAndGrayMorality fascinating(?) and well-done(?) questioning of who is and isn't evil]]. And the simple fact that by the end there was a sense of ''been there, done that'', with the antics of Lina and the gang - especially the antics of Lina - just not being as funny as they would've been in the two previous seasons.

** There's the ever-popular {{Yaoi}} choice of Zelgadis/Xellos, with the alleged justification that they secretly love one another, despite the blatant hatred Zelgadis has for the latter.

** Filia is only allowed to be with Xellos, not anyone else, ''especially'' Valgaav. Because their constant bickering and passive-aggressive treatment of one another is ''clearly'' the sign of a loving old married couple. Never mind the fact that Xellos is completely incapable of feeling positive human emotions, while Filia is a part of [[HolierThanThou a bigoted race of god-worshiping dragons.]]

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Amelia's love of justice being {{flanderized}} in most adaptations from the novels initially made her as [[TheScrappy scrappy]] as Pokota. [[MostAnnoyingSound Joani Baker voicing her at first didn't help at all.]] However, [[MostWonderfulSound Once Veronica Taylor took over her voice acting]] and her {{Flanderization}} was toned down, she quickly became a fan favorite.

** Sylphiel's demure personality, strength in healing magic over attack spells, and [[DieForOurShip feelings for Gourry]] made her heavily disliked by a lot of Western fans who have the RealWomenNeverWearDresses mindset. Because of that, the more stubborn Filia is preferred by them. On the other hand, both Sylphiel and Filia are only moderately liked by Japanese fans, and Hajime Kanzaka, the novel writer, [[CreatorBacklash dislikes]] Filia (and ''TRY'' in general).

** In the first season, Zelgadis claims that Rezo the Red Priest is [[IncestIsRelative both his grandfather and his great-grandfather]]. {{Word of God}} has since been passed on that this was a verbal mishap, and that not only was Zelgadis supposed to be unsure whether Rezo is two generations removed (grandfather) or three (great-grandfather), but he's truly Rezo's great-grandson.

** Gourry seems pretty well-adjusted considering his [[TearJerker back story.]]

** Even the dub has some of this. The first 13 episodes of Season 1 were recorded in 1996, and aside from Creator/LisaOrtiz as Lina and Creator/EricStuart as Gourry, it really doesn't hold up very well, featuring many stilled performances and awkward script choices. It starts improving quite a bit in the second half of Season 1, with Creator/VeronicaTaylor as Amelia and Creator/CrispinFreeman as Zelgadis, and the dubs for NEXT and TRY are considered among the best of the 90s, featuring many well-done performances that strike a balance between the series' comedic and melodramatic elements, with Xellos and Sylphiel's voices being the only sore spots. A change in voice director (from Jim Malone to Anthony Salerno) also helped. ADV's dubs for the the movies and [=OVAs=] aren't as fondly remembered (aside from maybe Creator/KellyManison as Naga), most likely because they couldn't capture the magic of NEXT and TRY's dubs. FUNimation even tried to go back and fix some of the first 13 episodes' mediocre dubbing, but were unable to. When Revolution and Evolution-R were dubbed in 2009-2010, FUNimation did go out of their way to bring back the main four voice actors, due to fan demand.

** Creator/HoukoKuwashima and AkiraIshida respectively voicing Filia and Xellos, who continue to aggravate each other throughout the third season, in light of them also much later voicing happy couple Miyako and Dan in ''Manga/BambooBlade''.

* CreatorsPet: Lina and Naga for the light novel writer and artist, Lina even moreso for Rui Araizumi, the light novel artist - most of his artwork is of her, and most of his newer pieces (and art in the ''Slayers Smash'' novels) have her either in sensual poses or with prominent nipples. It's also been made clear in-universe that both of them, Lina moreso, are abnormally powerful compared to most mages.

** Amelia is also somewhat Woobified as noted above; you're supposed to feel terrible for her and give her a protective hug when a villain tears a great bloody hole in her back or tries to rip out her soul or what have you. Amelia herself, though, is [[{{Pollyanna}} too damn genki]] to be held back by any of this.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Amelia's love of justice being {{flanderized}} in most adaptations from the novels initially made her as [[TheScrappy scrappy]] as Pokota. [[MostAnnoyingSound Joani Baker voicing her at first didn't help at all.]] However, [[MostWonderfulSound Once Veronica Taylor took over her voice acting]] and her {{Flanderization}} was toned down, she quickly became a fan favorite.

** Dilgear is absolutely this albeit in a villainous sense.

* {{Narm}}: Sylphiel's voice acting in the first season of the dub. Particularly her BigNo [[spoiler:when she sees Syraag's destruction at the hands of Rezo]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Dilgear seems to be rather PopularWithFurries with some giving him a DracoInLeatherrPants treatment.