Monday, January 14, 2019

Slayers Next Part 2 Episodes 6-9



Lina Inverse and The Slayers.  Wherever they go, trouble always seems one step behind them.  And in the search for the legendary Claire Bible, the dangers have never been greater.  At least things are never boring with a vengeful princess and the promise of the ultimate dish of dragons.  And then it’s off to Seyruun, Amelia’s home kingdom.  But the worst trouble is waiting for them there: an assassination, a threat of civil war and a demon contingent content on taking advantage of it all.  Hope Seyruun has its check book handy…this wont be the cheapest job Lina Inverse has ever taken.

So last week I mentioned and highlighted the decidedly darker tone of the battle against Halciform and his quest for immortality.  Slayers took a chance on a story and more or less succeeded (the villain was utterly forgettable though).  I wondered if this was the new status quo we were sticking to for this season.  I was wrong (at least I think).  The bulk of this weeks episodes were back to the old business of prioritizing fun and hilarious stand alone quests in lew of a grimmer approach.  True we may not have made any progress on the Claire Bible front and Xellos basically had nothing to do in the meantime, but you know what, I was fine with that.  Cause, mostly, fun was the order of business this week and it was great.

The two stand alone adventures were a couple of Slayers best yet.  First we had the return of Martina, who was introduced in the premiere and found her kingdom (and wicked plot) destroyed by Lina.  She was back for revenge and man is this girl great.  Martina is as theatrical and over the top as Zangulus from Season One and filled with much more energy and personality than lackluster Season One villainess Eris (with a better costume too).  Be it her voodoo curse on Lina, her temporary crush on Gourry (until he needed to be told what a fiancée was) or her obsession with her own make believe God, Martina is a very welcome addition to this loveable cast.  Then we had Lina teaming up with a wild west chef (just run with it) to slay a water dragon for the ultimate meal.  The humor all around great (especially with poor Zel being used as an anchor) and the payoff was classic and excellent.  Not only did Lina and company have to hold off on that legendary dish due to the time it would take to cook it but it turns out the “sob story” Lina and crew thought the old man was telling them was actually true…he just happens to have a photo of his family and they all look exactly like Lina, Gourry, Zel and Amelia.  But then again, any tale that kicks off with Lina grabbing a waiter and saying darkly, “Take me to your Chef”, is bound to be brilliant on that alone.

The back half of this weeks set tried to return to the more serious stuff and didn’t quite succeed.  This is partly because there was no way Prince Phil would just be killed off screen.  Yeah, it was good to see Lina play the supportive big sister to Amelia but you just knew Phil probably wasn’t dead…and we were right.  Which led to a hugely entertaining proper return of Amelia’s pacifistic fist daddy.  Dressed like a mix of Racer X from Speed Racer and Schwartz Bruder from G Gundam, Phil was just as gullible and lovable as ever, kicking ass while still being perfect Dad of the Year material.  Buuuut then you had to remember that, once again, Phil is in the middle of another family squabble to steal his throne…which is the exact same plot that introduced him and Amelia in Season One.  This time though, it feels less played for laughs but isn’t that engaging either.  The only bit that was worth all of watching it was the cliffhanger: Lina being robbed of her magic by a monster and left helpless and powerless…holy crap that is scary and kind of interesting.  How long will Lina be without her magic and can she still be Lina without them?  Usually the best superheroine stories come from heroines being placed in such desperate but learnable situations a la Supergirl.

As I said above, as fun as this weeks set was, the brakes were put on the Claire Bible quest and I wonder if the show can afford to do that for a few episodes, especially since the mid point is in sight.  And then there’s the creepy smiling and finger waving Xellos…who kind of did just that in very brief spurts across four episodes, kind of a far cry from the shocking impression he made during last weeks premiere.  I guess I can just hope we get a swift resolution to Phil’s family civil war so we can get back to the main quest.  Lina without her powers though…im both curious how it will play out and also hoping it doesn’t take so long for her to get her magic restored as well.  It could teach her some humility…but it is Lina Inverse we’re talking about after all.  Return her magic to her and im sure she’ll be back to her normal lovable, greedy self in no time.

See ya next week everyone.

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