In the custody of Inspector Wizer, Lina and the others
finally reach Ruvinagald, where they begin to unravel the mystery behind
Marquess Gioconda’s plans for Pakota’s home of Tarforashia. Twists and turns and betrayals await everyone
and soon Lina and the Slayers are brought face to face with one of their
greatest enemies from their past. With
the fate of two Kingdoms on the line, Lina, Gourry, Zel, Amelia and Pakota will
have to pull out all the stops to defeat Duclis and a new Zanaffar. But even if they do win, the mission to save
Tarforashia is only just beginning.
In the past, the midpoint of the first three seasons of
Slayers marks a pretty epic clash between good and evil (Slayers Try’s devastating
finale left Lina and the others separated and their fates unknown). While this is technically the Season Finale
of Slayers Revolution, it’s also a good bookmark considering this season and
the one were covering next, Slayers Evolution R, are basically one season split
into two halves. That said, both as a
midpoint of a larger story and a finale, Slayers Revolution ended things on a
pretty good note, closing out a season that is just under the greatness of Slayers
Next but definitely a step up from Slayers Try.
Once Lina and company set foot in Ruvinagald, it was time
for answers and we got answers aplenty, along with some nice double crosses, unexpected
twists and great action. It was a bit
refreshing to see Gioconda revealed as a power hungry maniac who had her sights
set on a Kingdom rather than the world and basically wanted to corner the
market in a magical arms race, not a bad change of pace as far as Slayers main
antagonists go. But we couldn’t just have
one villain think so small compared to usual Slayers villainy. Nope, it was Duclis who stepped up to claim
the mantle of “Big Bad” even after he learned of the wrongs Gioconda committed
against a helpless Taforashia. He was
set on revenge and didn’t care who got hurt in the process. Oh and he summoned a giant wolf looking demon
to exact his vengeance with. Zannafar’s
ethereal design was pretty cool and almost looked like he could fit into say
Inuyasha. Not to be totally outdone,
Zuuma got in some great fight scenes with the Slayers and nearly defeated all
of them until Gourry got to wield the Sword of Light again. While it looks like Zanaffar and Duclis are
done at the end of the season, it was indicated through a nightmarish inducing
post credits image that Zuuma isn’t going anywhere and will definitely be back
in Evolution R.
With Duclis taking the path of revenge against anyone who
didn’t truly help Taforashia in its time of need, the door was opened to really
deepen Pakota’s character and story arc.
The tragedy of Taforashia was hard to watch, all of the people falling
to a plague that couldn’t be stopped. We
even got to see that Pakota and Duclis’ bodies are among those in hibernation,
their souls are residing in their current beast bodies. Pakota really grew out of the slightly
obnoxious “Lina in a stuffed animals body” he was at the start of the
season. His determination saw him truly
make peace with Lina and even play a big role in getting Seyruun to help battle
Zannafar in the final battle. I wanted
to root for the little guy but also give him a much needed hug too…actually why
didn’t anyone give him a hug (looking at you Amelia). With plenty of strong character moments and
true growth, Pakota was definitely the finales MVP. In a similar vein, Wizer finally shook off
most of his own obnoxious traits when things got serious. Piecing together Gioconda’s deception and
tying all of the events together was something I never expected the man to ever
be capable of. However, once he dialed
back, and pretty much let go of, “Lina Inverse is responsible for everything
and must be arrested” bit, Wizer was actually likeable. This isn’t the first time Slayers has pulled
these characters adjustments and improvements like this. Just think of how insufferable Filia was in
Slayers Try until just after the halfway mark when she realized her Golden
Dragon Order wasn’t as righteous as she claimed.
The final battle against Duclis and Zannafar brought Lina
and the Slayers back to Seyruun, where we got to see some old friends return,
one better than ever. Sylphiel’s new
voice is the most welcome thing to happen to the character in the English Dub. No longer does she sound so one note. Surprisingly, much of Prince Phil’s more
eccentric qualities were toned down substantially as he heard out Pakota’s
story and rallied Seyruun to support him.
Wisdom comes with age I guess but Phil is still Phil and it’s always
awesome to see him paired up with Amelia.
He and Sylphiel both leant a big hand to the clash with Zannafar, which
saw literally everyone pitching in before Lina delivered the greatest Dragon
Slave yet. I will say, the more they
played the opening theme, the less concerned I was for the safety of my
favorite characters. When Lina and the
gang fought Zuuma, both times, it was scary, like fear for their lives
scary. Eh, im not holding the lack of
tension against the Season Finale, I just felt things were a bit more dire when
Lina fought Rezo, Phibrizzo and Valgaav.
Also, where was Xellos during all of this? With the reveal that Zannafar and his still
sealed away brethren were conceived to battle and maybe destroy monsters, you’d
think the sneaky demigod would want to lend a hand in taking him down. But no, Xellos steered clear of pretty much
everything after Gioconda’s demise.
Which is a shame, it would be nice to see Xellos actually fight
alongside Lina again even if it is brief.
But he’ll be back in Season 5 with maybe more to do.
While Revolution closed its own story out, it definitely
left some breadcrumbs for Evolution R.
The possibility of Rezo returning is kind of chilling given how much
trouble Lina had against the original and a clone in Season One. What kind of role will the red shaded maid
Ozzel have in the search for the jar that supposedly holds his soul? And will she try to kill Lina and company again
because of another contract or will she help them find it? Just what kind of chaos is Zuuma gonna cause,
and will he get both of the arms back that he lost to Lina and Gourry? (Probably a lot given how crazed he looked in
that post credits image) Can Taforashia
be saved, along with Pakota’s original body?
Will we see Phil, Sylphiel and Wizer again or any other familiar
faces? Obviously, everything wasn’t
entirely tied up but I never held it against a single moment of an otherwise
really well done finale.
Though it’s a shortened season, Slayers Revolution
continued the strong comedy/action streak of its predecessors. Sure some of the new characters took forever
to become likeable and some of the comedic stand alones weren’t as strong as
Season One of Slayers Next. But having
Lina, Gourry, Zel, Amelia and Xellos back (many of them with their original
English Voice Actors) more than made up for any shortcomings and provided a
nice bit of nostalgia fever along with recognizable music, great opening and
end themes and better animation (not knocking the classic 90’s look at all). Plus, the mystery of Pakota was well done and
full of heart and the villains ended up being close to on par with Valgaav from
Slayers Try (aka one of the few truly strong points of that season) The action has only gotten better and when
Slayers pulls off a good joke, its funny as hell. Is it Part One of Two? Yes.
Am I ready to finish this review and pop in the first volume of
Evolution R? Absolutely.
Final score for Slayers Revolution is 8/10.
And we’re not wasting any time either. I promised back to back seasons and you’re
getting just that. Come back this Friday
as we begin the (as of now) final chapter in the Slayers saga: Slayers
Evolution R. See ya around everyone.
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