Monday, September 10, 2018

The Slayers Part 4 Episodes 15-18


With a price on their heads, Lina, Gourry and Amelia make their way to Syraag, and supposedly to whoever put said bounty on their heads.  But the road is long and treacherous.  And with every town on the lookout for them, it means the Slayers aren’t getting any money (or food) any time soon.  There’s no greater threat to the balance of nature than a hungry and broke Lina Inverse.  From fake weddings to stage plays to a mission to exterminate a Sea Dragon, there isn’t much the Slayers are willing to turn down to reach their destination.  And boy are they in for a shock when the true mastermind behind their recent troubles is finally revealed.

This weeks set of episodes is kind of what I expected Slayers to be from the very beginning: various stand alone adventures with tiny hints at a larger plot brewing.  Don’t get me wrong, the first half of the series keeping things more connected wasn’t bad at all.  And while the final destination of the second half of the season might be in sight, the bulk of this weeks episodes, much like last week, were about the journey, not the destination.  Things did get a little repetitive early on, hell even Lina made a comment about the endless attacks by bounty hunters galore.  But there was plenty of fun to be had as well.  After all, even when it’s not on it’s A Game, Slayers is still a show about fun.

There were three stand alone adventures this week that sort of followed the same format in the beginning but still did enough to stand out overall.  Lina being forced into a wedding was fun if only to see Lina in a wedding dress.  Somehow I doubt even an actual marriage for Lina would happen without her blowing something up.  The play reminded me of Avatar: The Last Airbender, specifically the episode where Team Avatar sees a Fire Nation play about their exploits and how wrongly theyre portrayed.  Of course it’s no surprise everyone views Lina as a monster except for Lina herself, which made it all the more entertaining.  My favorite part though was when Lina and Gourry used the final play to their advantage to take down Zangulus and Vrumugun.  Zangulus definitely seemed right at home on a stage…Vrumugun is still as dull as ever so whatever, forget him.  Lastly, we had Lina and Amelia dress up Gourry to look like Usagi Tsukino in order to sneak through a town and defeat a Sea Dragon before they could reach their final destination.  Poor Gourry.  Not only did he get hit on by a hulking swordsman but the same guy also proposed marriage…huh two marriages in one set of episodes, weird.

Things picked up again once we got to Syraag.  Finally, it was time for answers.  And just who did put out the bounty on Lina and Gourry?  Another sorceress named Eris, who is a disciple of Rezo the Red Priest.  Not gonna lie…that feels kind of underwhelming.  If anything, I feel like Eris should have been built up a bit more besides the teeny mentions to her then undefined character by Zangulus and Vrumugun.  Nothing really made her stand out besides her skimpy outfit.  However, this meant we could finally get a true, no holds barred showdown between The Slayers and Team Rezo. Zangulus and Vrumugun’s defeats were both epic, though im not positive Verumugun’s dead cause apparently he can copy himself.  And who did Vrumugun in?  ZEL!!! Hell yes, my man Zelgadis is back and now Team Slayers is complete (also he’s got Crispin Freeman debuting as his longtime voice, so this is even more momentous).

Unfortunately (and I mean this in a good way actually), Zel wasn’t the only returning face….yeah Rezo’s alive.  I should be questioning and denying this return out right but man, a chill ran down my spine when he spoke and emerged.  I know I ragged on Rezo a bit in the first half of the season cause his goals were overkill.  That’s actually why im excited to see him back, this seems like a possible do over (even if he’s probably an impersonator or even a clone).  In any case, Rezo’s return was a big cliffhanger to end an uneven but fun week of Slayers antics.  We’ll see where this heads next week right here on the Gundam Anime Corner.

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