T5W#540-Top 5 Studio Gainax Titles

Last week, the world officially bid farewell to one of the most important and influential Anime studios of all time: Gainax.  Personally, I hadn’t kept up with the drama that had fallen upon the studio in recent years, preventing it from producing more titles.  But whoa boy, Hideaki Anno shared all and…wow yeah it was, it was bad. But we’re not here to talk about that.  On today’s Top 5 Wednesday I’m looking through this studio’s impressive catalogue and looking for five titles that led to some of Anime biggest success stories and even the founding of successor studios like Khara and Trigger.  These are my Top 5 Studio Gainax Titles.

 

Slayers Gorgeous

In a town besieged daily by Dragons, Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent find themselves on opposite sides of a family squabble.  Little do they and their employers know, something dark and ancient is waiting to take advantage of the situation and it has the power to control the very Dragons under Marlene’s command.  Unfortunately for them, the one thing Dragons fear more than anything is Lina Inverse and she’s not going to let anything stop her from getting a big payday.

Slayers Gorgeous marks a turning point for the Slayers franchise as it’s the last original film and overall featuring Lina and Naga together as the main characters.  We’ll be touching on their OVA adventures soon enough but when it comes to finales, Slayers Gorgeous is a fun and hilarious send off for this era of the Saga of Lina Inverse.  We get Dragons, large scale showdowns and a redo of the Lina vs. Naga fight promised in Slayers Great that didn’t feel earned but here it’s one of the many highlights of Slayers Gorgeous.  That already makes is better than Slayers Great (even without adorable Golems) but does Gorgeous rise to the rank of Best of the Slayers Movies?
 

T5W#539-Top 5 Questions that Need to be Answered in Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game (Part 1)

This past weekend, fans of Jujutsu Kaisen’s long awaited third season got a special sneak peak when Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution dropped in theaters.  Acting in the same vein as what Demon Slayer has done in the past Execution is a Compilation Preview film featuring the last episode of The Shibuya Incident (aka Season 2) followed by the first two episodes of The Culling Game (Part 1) (aka Season 3).  It’s been a little over two years since the battle that left an Akira sized hole where Shinjuku used to be and the entire status quo of JJK has been changed forever. A lot of character fates and plot threads have been hanging for fans (who haven’t read the Manga) to mull over and on todays Top 5 Wednesday, I’m sharing my own set of questions I’d like to see answered when Jujutsu Kaisen returns in January 2026.  These are my Top 5 Questions that Need to be Answered in Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game (Part 1). 

 
BTW Spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen: The Shibuya Incident and Execution will be discussed.
 

Slayers Great

When Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent save the life of a girl from a living Golem, they have no idea what kind of trouble theyre about to find themselves in.  Two warring factions seeking control of the town of Stoner each request the aid of a skilled Golem maker.  Making things more complicated, each Maker wants Lina and Naga to be their muses for their latest creations.  It’s Lina vs. Naga.  Slayer vs. Slayer.  Golem vs. Golem.  Will their friendship survive this ordeal and will anyone involved with this conflict realize they’ve made a mistake bringing the Slayers into their personal grudge match?

Slayers Great’s trailers offered a pretty interesting setup, the notion of Lina and Naga being on opposite sides and forced to fight each other.  Judging from the looks on their faces, it didn’t look like either was fully on board with the idea, showing they’re more than just bickering rivals.  It was both heartbreaking and exciting…and then I watched the actual movie and we don’t get any of that.  However, while Slayers Great doesn’t deliver the potential dramatic goods, it more than delivers on Slayers trademark humor and maybe, just maybe, made me laugh harder than any Slayers story so far. 
 

T5W#538-Top 5 Seasons of Slayers

Lina Inverse is at last back here at the Gundam Anime Corner for the Slayers 30^th Anniversary Celebration Event.  It’s a long overdue reunion for sure and we’ll be spending much of it in Lina’s pre TV Series adventures running around with her best frenemy Naga the Serpent.  But don’t worry, I haven’t fully forgotten about Lina’s other Slayers companions: Gourry, Zelgadis, Amelia and Xellos.  We’ll be seeing them again later this month but for todays Top 5 Wednesday, we’re revisiting their previous adventures from my 2018-2019 reviews of the Slayers TV Series.  That’s right, we’re ranking the entire TV run with the Top 5 Seasons of Slayers. 

 

Slayers Return

Legend tells of an ancient treasure buried by a tribe of Elves, one of unimaginable wealth.  It also happens to be hidden in a village under siege by an evil organization.  Their only salvation may end up being their destruction as a young girl recruits the destructive duo of Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent to save the day.  But when a simple job spirals out of control really fast, The Slayers find themselves in over their heads once more and even their magic might not be enough to save the day.

Man, oh man.  It is good to be back in the world of Slayers.  Specifically, it’s good to be back in the pre series days with Lina and Naga again.  I’ve been waiting to watch and review the rest of the Slayers Movies and OVAs for a really long time and I have to say, Slayers Return might have just set the bar for the other features to follow.  What starts off kind of simple more than improves on everything from Slayers: The Motion Picture in just about every way (which despite its flaws I still love a great deal).  So, is the titular Return of Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent really that awesome?