Slayers Revolution continued a steady streak of both
goodness and some not so great continuations (and in some cases newer problems
were added). Still, it’s great to be
journeying along with Lina and the gang once again. This week we got some big callbacks to the
earliest days of the Slayers franchise while upping the stakes in the present
with some scary new enemies.
The biggest win for this week was the return of an old
favorite: the unofficial fifth member of Lina’s rag tag team Xellos. While it is sad that his original English
voice actor didn’t return with him, Xellos is still as entertaining as ever
with his cryptic cheerfulness. Not only
that but he’s directly standing in Lina’s way this time and we got to actually
see Xellos take on Lina, Gourry, Zel and Amelia all by himself. It feels obvious that Xellos was holding back
during their battle. Whether he
genuinely likes them or just finds them all entertaining, given how much
Xellos’ true demonic power has been hyped up, I feel like he could have just
snapped his fingers and killed everyone instantly. Still, only using a fraction of his power,
Xellos lived up to his threatening legend and defeated everyone, even if it was
all part of Lina’s plan to get the gang to Ruvinagald. Xellos’ return also helped balance the scales
of the newly introduced Revolution cast members who haven’t impressed and
continue to fail. Wizer continues his
usual arrest Lina Inverse schtick and it was old barely a minute in. But Xellos pulling his leg for his amusement
was the humorous antidote needed to make Wizer bearable (though watching the
old man briefly attempting to romantically woo Lina was kind of gross). Also, Xellos pulling out the “Lina’s sister”
mention trump was great if only to see Lina try to claw her way out of the dome
she was trapped in rather than risk seeing her sister again. I wonder if we really will ever see Luna
Inverse at some point in the Slayers universe.
The central plotline of Slayers Revolution got serious as
we learned some backstory behind cute little Pakota. Not only is his home kingdom trapped in a
powerful mist and it’s people in long term hibernation due to a once incurable
plague…but both of those magical attributes to Taforashia were applied by Rezo
the Red Priest. Holy crap. I’m with Zel when he said that’s a name he
never thought we’d hear again. Given
Rezo’s status in the land, im surprised his demise hasn’t been associated with
Lina more often. And for a moment it
seemed like Rezo’s demise might put a damper on saving Pakota’s home. But when the little guy mentioned that the
mist would lift if Rezo was dead…that should send a shiver down anyones
spine. Is it possible Rezo could return
this season or in Season Five? I may have
been back and forth on the guy way back when, but Rezo was still a formidable
adversary that set the standard for Slayers villains to follow. Lina and company barely survived two battles
with him (the original (?) and a clone).
Can they win a third bout with the seemingly death defying Rezo?
We’ll have to wait on answers to those questions. But in the meantime we have new villains
finally popping up: Gioconda, a Ruvinagald Marquess; Duclis, an old friend of
Pakota’s; Ozzel, Gioconda’s maid; and Zuuma, the assassin. While the true master plan of Gioconda is
still a bit elusive, most of the other bad guys made strong impressions. Duclis happens to have armor connected to the
demon Zannafer from Season One and gave Lina and Pakota a good fight. Zuuma, however, is a major concern. Not only is his character design pretty scary
but his dark skills are more than a match for the entire Slayers team. For a moment I was really concerned Gourry
wouldn’t make it and despite being driven off, I feel Zuuma might become a
bigger problem than any of the three aforementioned villains introduced this
week. It’s a chilling prospect to
consider when the Slayers cross an enemy who could really wipe them out for
good, thank God Xellos has a soft spot for them.
When the team wasn’t worrying about Pakota’s problems,
they were getting into some usual Slayer hijinks. The two middle, semi stand alone adventures
were both fun romps. The Rolly Rolly
festival had some fun moments with Lina and the gang battling Pakota with stone
Golems. However, Duclis’ two henchmen he
sent to capture Pakota’s Sword of Light aren’t very memorable, mostly because
their character designs are kind of boring (one looks like McGruff the Crim Dog
as a Wizard and the other looks like a leftover cat from The Cat Returns). Both lack the likeable charm of Slayers Try’s
Gilis. The better of the two stand
alones was the luxury liner episode. Not
only did we get to see Lina enjoy some fun in the sun in a cute dress but we
also saw the team become the target of an entire boat of incompetent assassins
(save for Zuuma). Plus Zel got a much
needed massage, God only knows the poor guy is too uptight. It also gave Pakota and Lina a chance to act
out a fight and clear the air between them at the same time. It looks like the little guy might just earn
a place amongst the Slayers. After all,
Lina put on a good show for Xellos and lost on purpose just to give Pakota a
chance to escape and maybe help them by the time they all get to Ruvinagald.
While it looks like Wizer finally got the upper hand on
Lina, thanks mostly to Xellos, Lina and the Slayers haven’t been truly defeated
yet. Next week it looks like we’ll
finally reach Ruvinagald and finally get some answers as to Duclis and
Gioconda’s plans for Pakota’s homeland. It
also means we’ll be reaching the rather swift end of Slayers Revolution. Don’t worry, The Slayers aren’t saying
goodbye just yet. Just one week after
that finale, we’ll begin closing out 2019 and the Year of the Slayers with the
debut of Slayers Evolution R. See ya
back here next Monday first for the season finale of Slayers Revolution.
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