Anime Review: Slayers Try
- Thread starter KValentine
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The filler episodes were annoying, but I enjoyed Try. I think the banter between Xellos and Filia helped fill in the gap where Lina and Gourry used to provide the dio-slapstick, which is better than them still being at each other's throats after all that time.
The gray area of allegiances help keep things fresh to me. No fun if they just spell out exactly everyone's motives. Hell, Xellos has been playing that game since he was introduced and I liked trying to figure out who it was working for at any one time.
If I have any problem with characters, it's the supporting henchmen characters. They are nearly carbon-copies of henchmen from previous seasons and I still can't get myself to care about them. It seemed they try to give them too much story time for characters only meant to get humorously blasted by Lina's group and forgotten about til they show up when the joke can be funny again.
The gray area of allegiances help keep things fresh to me. No fun if they just spell out exactly everyone's motives. Hell, Xellos has been playing that game since he was introduced and I liked trying to figure out who it was working for at any one time.
If I have any problem with characters, it's the supporting henchmen characters. They are nearly carbon-copies of henchmen from previous seasons and I still can't get myself to care about them. It seemed they try to give them too much story time for characters only meant to get humorously blasted by Lina's group and forgotten about til they show up when the joke can be funny again.
Try definitely doesn't hold up as well as the first two seasons of Slayers. Personally, Slayers Next is my favorite.
However, the season is still entertaining, despite it failing to live up to its predecessors. They currently have a boxset available for a reasonable price that contains all three seasons of the show. Anyone interested should pick that up.
However, the season is still entertaining, despite it failing to live up to its predecessors. They currently have a boxset available for a reasonable price that contains all three seasons of the show. Anyone interested should pick that up.
It's funny, I know it's not a lot of people's favorite, but I really like Try, and more so than the original Slayers (the first season)--it seems less afraid to get deep earlier on, and some of the character interactions are a lot more interesting (Filia and Xellos as someone mentioned; Amelia has grown up a little and her interactions with Zelgadis are fun). Valgaav is a great antagonist, and I like the "angels" as well (I can't remember what they're called)--for a screwball comedy, there's some really cool philosophical debates going on in the background, a theme that picks up from and expands from Next. The comedy is still there, though, but I didn't mind the in-jokes--to me those are continuity jabs, and not necessarily repetitious (I personally get great delight in the ones about Amelia's "sister" that pop up once or twice). But it dares to get more serious, and while I think it does a good job, people who want lighthearted Slayers and nothing else will indeed be disappointed. I don't think that makes it bad.
There are filler episodes that get tiresome, but I can say exactly the same thing about the original (especially the original)) and Next.
IIRC Darkstar has a funny long name in addition to the epithet "Darkstar" (just like his counterpart Shabranigdo has some kind of title that I'm not remembering at the moment), and you have to remember in Japanese, "Darkstar" still sounds foreign and "fantastical." And at least there are far fewer fan/translator debates on how to spell it (although I'm sure out there there's some weaboo out there who insists on spelling it something like DAKKUSTAA), unlike... just about every other character or place name in the series. Oh, the Amelia/Ameria and Seyruun/Saillune and Jillas/Jiras debates never end....
Now, you want to watch lackluster Slayers, watch Revolution/Evolution-R. Sad to see the series go out with a whimper rather than a bang.
There are filler episodes that get tiresome, but I can say exactly the same thing about the original (especially the original)) and Next.
IIRC Darkstar has a funny long name in addition to the epithet "Darkstar" (just like his counterpart Shabranigdo has some kind of title that I'm not remembering at the moment), and you have to remember in Japanese, "Darkstar" still sounds foreign and "fantastical." And at least there are far fewer fan/translator debates on how to spell it (although I'm sure out there there's some weaboo out there who insists on spelling it something like DAKKUSTAA), unlike... just about every other character or place name in the series. Oh, the Amelia/Ameria and Seyruun/Saillune and Jillas/Jiras debates never end....
Now, you want to watch lackluster Slayers, watch Revolution/Evolution-R. Sad to see the series go out with a whimper rather than a bang.
Perhaps I'm simpleminded, or perhaps it's because I saw this one to the end before the other 2 seasons, but I enjoyed Try. Yes, the main characters are letting themselves get led by the bad guys often, and selective incompetence hits them too often just to further the plot, but I did like the serious parts of this anime. I find the grey-area villains quite good, and far more entertaining than your everyday oh-what-fun-I'm-having-being-evil bad guys, unless those are used for good commedy. I liked being able to sympathise with Vargaav. On the whole, I think this is a worthy addition to the series.