Reviews Literature / Slayers

I Love it.

I remember deciding to pick up Slayers and watching the first episode of the anime. I didn't dislike it, but I decided to drop it and pick it up again if I couldn't find anything else to watch. Half a year later, specifically after subjecting myself to a particularly horrendous anime, I kept to my promise and continued Slayers. One of the best decisions of my life.

Slayers is a fantasy story about an adventurer sorceress named Lina Inverse in her quest for riches and new magic. She is joined by a wide variety of people throughout her journey, and often finds herself crossed with the machinations of many evil individuals.

Slayers isn't great because of complex characters, or unique and epic storylines. But rather because it is simple and fun. Slayers takes itself less seriously than other similar anime and spends more time on comedy. This anime is generally funnier and more clever than other anime of similar genres. It starts off kind of awkward, but picks up exponentially after it finds its ground. Some of the most entertaining episodes are the ones that don't progress the plot, because we get to see the characters work their way through whichever unique gag the episode has planned for them (In other words, the filler episodes are good). When the show get serious, it still throws in a few well timed jokes so it never feels like to much of a slog.

And speaking of characters, they are great too. The main four we spend the majority of time with encompass all the needed personality traits to work off the humor and each other perfectly. And they are each fleshed out in their own way and have a 3-dimentional range of characteristics. Side characters who travel with the main cast temporarily are also entertaining. I even like The Scrappy Pokota in seasons 4 and 5 because he's the only character who will frequently stand up to Lina. The villains on the other hand are on the weaker side. The majority are GenericDoomsdayVillains with semi-flat personalities at best. But it doesn't matter. This is one of those shows where the heroes are far more entertaining to watch than the villains.

Slayers is a very simple anime. And that's why I think it's so great. So many cartoons and anime try to be the next Avatar: The Last Airbender. Having complex characters and challenging ideas. Which is why when a show decides to be something much more basic and easy to pick up and watch, it stands out to me. Sometimes, a good show is all I need.