It’s finale time isn’t it? Well yeah you could say that. Maybe it’s the fact that Darkstar is breaking
though into the world. Maybe it’s that
Lina is getting some unexpected reinforcements to shove Darkstar back into his
dark dimension. OR it’s the fact that
Darkstar’s final form is a very familiar one.
Whatever it is, Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, Amelia and Xellos have been here
before but the situation has never been as grave as this as Dragon and Demon
fire threatens to consume all. They say
“if you cant take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” Clearly whoever said that never met Lina
Inverse. She loves the heat and the
kitchen will be her conquest…or her reward if she can save the world for a
third time.
At the time Slayers Try originally aired its finale in
Japan, it would prove to be the end of Slayers for over a decade. Supposedly there was an original 4th
Season entitled Slayers Again in the works.
But that never came to pass. So
at the time, this was it. If Lina
Inverse and friends weren’t coming back, there needed to be a huge finale,
bigger than anything before. And while
the final set of episodes definitely went for the grandest stage of all…they
also highlighted just how uneven of a ride Slayers Try has been overall. For every cool action and character moment,
there was always something holding everything back.
After last times look at how everyone who wasn’t Lina,
Gourry, Zel, Amelia or Filia could be a villain, it seemed like a cheat for
everyone to just say, “screw it, let’s all just be good guys and save the
world.” The only person I think gets a
pass in this regard is Xellos because of his unique reasonings. He’s out to save the world…just so his kind
can destroy it themselves. Otherwise,
Xellos and his kind could never call themselves “true monsters.” Does it make sense? The more I think about it, it sounds
shaky. But it did put Xellos back in my
good graces and Lina was able to give him the pummeling he deserved for
knocking her out last time. Also, cudos
to giving a shoutout to the probably much supported Filia/Xellos ship when
Filia gave him one more insult and Xellos replied that he was glad to hear that
again from her.
So everyone got a Darkstar weapon. A plan, more or less, was put in place. But this is the final battle we’re talking
about, things could never be so easy.
This time, Valgaav made a long awaited return, fueled by Darkstars power
itself, and ready for a huge cleansing act.
Yep, Valgaav wanted some good old death and rebirth action as his final
act as villain of Slayers Try. It feels
like a generic villains endgame but Valgaav’s depth and the deeper look into
the fate of his people give him a pass.
The only problem with all of this was the overall pacing. There was only so much slicing and blasting
at a demon the size of a continent bearing down that could be done. And then there were very long pauses to wax
philosophies and ideologies and repeat the same prophecy over and over again. It sucks to say but it dragged everything
out longer than it had to be across four episodes. This could have been wrapped up in three with
the final episode being a much needed breather to send The Slayers on their
merry way if this was their final season.
One thing I have to talk about with this finale is
Filia. Up until last time, I thought she
was the weakest part of Slayers Try.
However, she was forced to drop her hollier than thou attitude and look
right at the atrocities her people had committed. She could no longer stay blind and she
stepped up because of it. Not only did
Filia renounce her Priestess status but she also tried to reach Valgaav with
greater understanding of his pain. Im
sure that for all the Xellos/Filia supporters, there are equal amount
Valgaav/Filia shippers too. Though I
never did see them as romantic (possible though it could be), I do wish that
Slayers Try had spent more time looking at Filia and Valgaav’s relationship as
it could have been deeper and more fleshed out instead of trying to shove it
into the last battle (though it was partly effective). Luckily Valgaav did get his own happy ending
by being reborn into Filia’s care…that’ll make shipping awkward though. An even stronger moment for Filia was getting
Jillas to let go of his vengeance and joi the good team. At least one absolute wish was granted,
Jillas getting a happy ending…though I do hope he goes back to little Tails
after helping Filia with her new shop.
Lastly, maybe it was just me, but with all the focus of
the final battle being on settling matters of the past of a subtly sad land,
The Slayers almost seemed along for the ride instead of being front and
center. Both prior season finales seemed
to make better use of the team rather than just standing around and attacking for
two seconds before minutes of debate and info dumping. Sure Lina got the show stealing kill shot on
Darkstar and Valgaav…but she still seemed to play a smaller role in her own
shows finale…that didn’t sit well with me.
Maybe I was just too focused on how drawn out everything was. I will say this: I was never eager to see
Slayers and Slayers Next reach their ending.
Slayers Try, I was always wondering how much longer they were going to
plod things out…that’s sad. It makes me
happy that Slayers Revolution and Evolution-R did eventually arrive because
ending the journey of Lina Inverse and The Slayers here would have been kind of
a letdown.
Guess we should wrap things up one more time eh? Slayers Try attempted to ride the success of
Slayers Next by changing the landscape and doubling down on the mature
storytelling while still trying to be the same comedy that the Anime world fell
in love with. Mostly, it did not work
that well. One of the newest key players
in the season, Filia, took way too long to become bearable. The constant changing of allegiances and
motives bogged down a set of otherwise very promising villians (and they still
ended up being some of the better ones in all of Slayers so far). The stand alone adventures teetered back and
forth between classic Slayers and attempts to change the comedic formula when
it wasn’t broken to begin with. Luckily,
our core merry band of sorcerers, swordsman and monster were as likeable as
ever. Whenever a Slayers show is
announced, ill always look forward to more scenes of Lina, Gourry and Amelia
fighting for food while Zel moans about it and Xellos chuckles in the
background. Some of Slayers Try did
work. The scale was always amazing,
especially when you had Dragons, Monsters and Gods all fighting on the same
screen at once. Lina with the Bow and
Arrow of Light was amazing (if terribly underutilized). They did dig deep into the sad history of the
Ancient Dragons and Golden Dragons, something you’d expect more from Record of
Lodoss War than Slayers but still. I
just wish we could have seen more of the new world rather than jetting back and
forth between the same three temples Legend of Zelda style. And while the season seemed to get itself on
good footing during the excellent mid season cliffhanger, the rest of Slayers
Try seemed to struggle afterwards to match that good quality (despite a couple
of fun stand alones that followed).
In the end, Slayers Try gets a…6/10. It’s the weakest season so far for (full pun
intended) trying too hard and in the process forgetting about enjoying the journey
instead of rushing to get to its end (and even then it dragged a lot). If it weren’t for the ever enduring energy of
Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, Amelia and Xellos, with a few welcome new additions,
this season would be rated much lower.
But is this truly the weakest point for the Slayers
franchise? Well we’ll find that out
later this summer when we tackle Slayers
Revolution and Slayers Evolution-R
back to back, probably after whatever big summer series I decide to
tackle. Til then, see ya on the flipside
Lina Inverse…never stop firing those Dragon Slaves or filling your black hole
of a belly.
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