Slayers Evolution-R — Final Thoughts (SPOILERS)

While taking the 2nd-half of Slayers Revolution and turning it into a separate series may have been a marketing ploy on the part of the Japanese, I decided that I didn’t mind this if the writers continued to attempt to shift the anime in line with how the novels are. So how did things go? Well, the alignment with the novels continued and there was one nice teaser, but in the end it was a mixed lot for me, depending on whether I saw this as a hardcore fan or a casual anime fan.

The series starts with the Nama-chan arc, which provides two things. First, it shows how soul transfers can ultimately work. Second, it gave the writers a means of adding the character Naga to the series without adding the character Naga to the series. *lol* Naga is a character from the prequel novels (which are still ongoing) and has been animated in the various Slayers’ movies and OVA’s. She is also Amelia’s long-lost sister. Hardcore Slayer’s fans have longed for a reunion of these two sisters and so the writers gave it here by having a new character named “Nama-chan” who conveniently has no memories and who’s soul conveniently occupies a suit of armor. Now we can have Lina go off on her old nemesis (though without completely understanding why Nama-chan would annoy here so) and we can have Amelia and Naga meet, but without violating anything since they’ve never done so in the novels.

For those hardcore fans, this pseudo reunion is a fun treat, especially when Lina goes off or in episode three where Amelia finds herself trapped inside the suit of armor that is Nama-chan. From a non-fan perspective, the Nama-chan arc is mostly a complete waste of time as it does nothing to advance the main story plot. Some character development in episode 3 for Amelia is the one gem of this arc for non-fans and fans alike. However, the other four episodes in the arc will be nothing more than pointless filler for non-fans I’m afraid.

After the Nama-chan arc is over, we pick up the Zuuma thread left over from Slayers Revolution. Here, the story gets interesting again as Zuuma is a credible threat to Lina and company as are the two mazoku that are introduced. The story basically follows the novel plot thread for Zuuma with a few changes that had to be done to make the story fit into the anime canon. The only negative here would be the distraction that is Ozel. The writers have teased her for so long that it becomes rather tedious to get no answers.

With episode 9, the plot finally begins to move forward and we see a nice flashback of Zelgadiss as a human and working with his old team from before he met Lina (whom were introduced anime-wise in the original Slayers series). That’s another nice bone for hardcore fans and a nice taste of character development for Zelgadiss. Ozel continues to be somewhat of a distraction until Rezo comes back to life. After that it is “game on” as they say.

The highlight of this — Xellos, hands down! Actually, Xellos comes off pretty well throughout the whole series, acting very much in character with his novel counterpart. Xellos is merely tailing Lina’s party and is never a member of it. Xellos does not like disrespect but gives Lina a bit more leeway than most, but that’s because he respects her and knows she respects him for what he is — a very powerful mazoku.

Xellos is a mazoku with his own agenda. That’s how it should be. I really liked seeing Xellos this way and kudos to the production team for making it so. Also, props to the production team for not only finding a way for Xellos to be shown in his actual body (which is cone-shaped), but for allowing him to cut loose during the fight with ghost Ruby Eye Shabranigdu.

Ultimately for the hardcore Slayers fan, there’s a lot to like in Slayers Evolution-R from the pseudo-Naga revival, typical Slayers humor, an accurate portrayal of Zuuma, an accurate and excellent portrayal of Xellos, Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, and Giga Slave. For non-fans, there is a weakness in writing with too many bones tossed to hardcore fans so that casual viewers are either left in the dark or are bored to tears at times. So if you are a hardcore fan, this is easily a 4 out of 5. If you aren’t, 3 out of 5.

Note: As of this writing, I’m told that FUNimation will market this series as “Slayers Evolution-R” as they did in Japan. Initially when FUNimation had their press release announcing the license, FUNimation simply referred to both Slayers Revolution and Slayers Evolution-R as “Slayers Revolution.”