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?
 
If it’s one thing Slayers needs more of, it’s Dragons.  Granted it’s been a long time since I’ve watched any of the series but I know it’s not totally devoid of them (isnt one a villain in Slayers Try?).  Anyway, Dragons popping up in a Slayers movie is genius.  We get a good mix of them too from obedient soldiers to a massive serpent type who screams Final Boss.  They all look pretty good too.  The theatrical animation quality makes Marlene’s band of fearsome monster look like they came out of Record of Lodoss War at times, especially against the gorgeous sunset backdrops.  Sometimes theyre fierce, other times they’re goof balls.  Overall, the Dragons are some of the best parts of Slayers Gorgeous.
 
The movies main plot does feel like it’s retreading familiar ground with another family at odds with each other and Lina and Naga taking different sides in the conflict.  However, Slayers Gorgeous doesn’t just one up Slayers Great in this regard, it does so twice.  For one, Marlene and her Dad are a hilarious pair and it doesn’t hurt that their Scottish accents in the English Dub are a delight to hear.  Marlene’s a lot of fun with a cute design and looking pretty bad ass in her Dragon themed armor too.  I wish we could get more of her and Naga together since the latter joins the former to help Marlene with her sinister laugh.  And then there’s Lina vs. Naga.  This aint played for dramatic effect that never feels earned or paid off.  No this is Lina and Naga having just another day throwing spells back and forth and looking like theyre having fun doing so even if they are at odds with one another.  It feels just right and excels in both magical action and trademark Slayers humor.
 
Speaking of Slayers humor, while I am knocking it more than I should cause I did like it, Slayers Great and Gorgeous both have some of the funniest moments I’ve seen in the franchise.  For Gorgeous, the true reason behind Marlene’s spat with her Dad and the running joke of why Dragons are so scared of Lina got plenty of hearty laughs out of me, not to mention the aforementioned Lina vs. Naga showdown.  There’s even some funny pot shots taken at the scary villain of the film.  Though I’ll admit, they do kind of come out of nowhere after sitting out much of the film early on.  Once they show their true form though, oh man, you wanted to give Lina and Naga a real challenge?  Well they got it for sure.
 
In a series of films that has been solid all throughout, Slayers Gorgeous manages to do for Slayers Great what Slayers Return did for Slayers: The Motion Picture.  It takes notes of what didn’t work before and manages to fix and improve in every way.  The film is great from start to finish boasting big laughs, big fights and moments of truly stunning animation.  Even when the movie dials up the intensity, it never loses it’s true Slayers heart: having Lina and Naga bicker and battle their way to a boatload of cash and making it look so damn good and fun.  For me, this maybe even ranks slightly above Slayers Return as the best in the Slayers film series.  Like I said, if this is the last feature film adventure for Lina and Naga, they picked a good one to go out on.
 
9/10
 
And that just leaves one more Slayers movie to go…but we’re not going there yet.  Next week we kick off a two week (yikes) stretch of reviews starting with the Slayers OVAs: Slayers Special on Monday and Slayers Excellent on Tuesday.  Then on Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we finish off this celebratory Slayers Month with the final theatrical film in the series, Slayers Premium.  See ya Next Monday for more Lina and Naga shenanigans right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.