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. 
 
Much of the potential promise of the Slayers Great previews plays out in the first half and it’s the first half of the film that’s the weakest.  By the time we get to the actual Lina vs. Naga showdown, none of the raw emotion such an fight should conjure is anywhere to be found.  It’s a good fight and has a funny pay off but for a movie promising a dramatic magical battle between Slayers, it’s kind of a let down.  It’s not helped that all the familial drama and warring factions setup is dull and pretty generic.  Galia and Huey are standard fare bickering father and son and Laia arguably gets even less to do than Seleena in Slayers Return, mostly being the butt of a joke that isnt really funny.  I was actually kind of worried this movie would even come close to matching the goodness of Slayers: The Motion Picture or Slayers Return.
 
And then the second half begins and oh man do things pick up a lot.  Turns out the central showdown between Lina and Naga does happen…just not the way you think.  Actually, setting the story in a town where Golem making is a thing is pretty neat and we get to see lots of fun and adorable variations on the stone creatures.  Which is where the second half kicks it up a notch with a Giant Golem throwdown with Lina and Naga as the visual inspirations and, oh man seriously, I was laughing during the entire segment.  A well endowned Naga Golem vs. a Chibified Lina Golem was not on my Slayers Bingo Card but I’m glad I wasn’t spoiled by it.  The fact that this fight goes on for the rest of the film and never gets boring is a true testament to how funny Slayers can be…and honestly I want a Chibi Lina Golem Doll., that thing is too damn adorable. 
 
The thing is, with the Golem fight taking up so much screentime, you might forget there was some kind of plot being built up before hand.  I’m not sure whether to take it as a positive or a negative that the feud between two Lords with their own plans of world domination kind of got brushed aside.  Do I love the Golem fight?  Hell yes, it’s one of the best moments in all of Slayers.  Do I wonder why this whole subplot was needed?  Yes I do.  Do I care enough to dock points from the movie overall for it?  Ehhhh, kind of?  As I said earlier, all of the setup in the first half feels undercooked and misleading before the second half delivers the hilarious goods. 
 
Slayers Great gets off to a rocky start filled with bold promises and challenges to the usual Slayers formula only to renege on those ideas in favor of a wildly entertaining showdown between frenemies that results in hilarity so amazing I cant remember the last time I laughed so hard at Slayers.  Is it misleading?  A bit yeah, I cant ignore that.  But Lina and Naga getting their own action figures being set on each other by old school mecha controlled devices is as zany and totally Slayers as it gets. Not quite as good on a whole level as Slayers Return but the laughs are genuine and so is the ever burning fire of the partnership that is Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent.
 
7/10
 
Two Slayers movies down, two to go.  Slayers Gorgeous is next on deck and man, after these two fun adventures, can it possibly get any better?  Well find out Next Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.