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1) UK, not US - don't have Kmart.
2) Test disc - and it definitely was weaker. Tried it on all 3 of my systems - English was weaker. Official release? Definitely better, but only used the one I got so reviewed what I got.
A return to the Slayers franchise after several years brings us a flashback to fans of the series but also is good enough so that new fans can also enjoy it.
What They Say
Lina's on the run from a government inspector who's ready to put her away for good. Her crime? Just being herself! The guy's hot on her tail, but a tiny creature that actually has a tail might be Lina's biggest problem. Pokota's a powerful little furball, and his path of destruction is getting pinned on Lina. With so much explosive magic between them, you know things will go boom when they face off. But there's more to Pokota than anyone knows, and if Lina's gang can get to the bottom of his habit of blowing stuff up, they could end up with an awesome new ally.
The Review!
Audio:
With this being a boxset review, I did it in both English and Japanese. According to the information, the English was a Dolby 5.1 Release with the Stereo being a Japanese 2.0 Stereo. I say according because listening to it, I honestly felt it was the other way round. The English track is significantly weaker than expected, and in fact felt the Japanese track was actually far stronger. This means that the Japanese track is excellent in terms of all effects, transition and audio in general, but the English version required me to turn up the volume a mite higher than expected. This is a bit of a disappointment because for a watcher of the original series, they actually got pretty much all of the original English dub actors/actresses from the original series, so it is a welcome dub to listen to, yet more difficult because of this than the original Japanese. Granted, there are no problems regarding transition with the video and subtitles, but a tad disappointing for fans looking forward to the dub.
Video:
The video for Slayers Revolution is standard. The show is very colourful with no problems between audio and visual '" set in full screen format, it is your standard release with nothing major to point out, as the show is very clean with subtitles clear and in time but at the same time nothing that really makes you impressed with the visual transition.
Packaging:
There was no packaging for this test disc.
Menu:
The opening menu is good, it starts off when you load it with Lina's introduction in Japanese and on the two disc release, you get a similar menu screen '" Disc 1 in a square with Gourry and Lina and disc 2 with Lina and Pokota on a red background. The selection is easy enough, with play, languages and on the second disc, extras. On the episode select screen though, again there isn't an option to pick a scene, which as you've come to expect by my reviews is a pet peeve if you don't have a restart selection on the DVD from when you left off.
Extras:
A few basic extras are on the second disc, the clean opening and ending of the show, and trailers for Rozen Maiden and Moribito.
Content: Slayers was one of the first franchises I got into when I first started collecting anime seriously back in 2004. So I was looking to see how this new franchise was going to a) hold out after several years and b) if fans not familiar with the series could also get into it. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed Revolution a lot and perhaps a bit more than some of the original series.
The first couple of episodes are great for fans to get back into the series - we get Lina Inverse, almight sorceress and lover of money, still with her bodyguard, the lovable idiot Gourry Gabriev, and not too soon after, we also get the return of Amelia and Zelgadis, the young justice loving princess of Seiryun, and the part golem stoic swordsman/mage. This is great for fans of Slayers and in both languages, the original cast is pretty much back (with one exception in the dub, a change in the voice of Xelloss but arguably that is one change that fans WANTED to happen). There are some things that do require knowledge of the series beforehand (like the explanation of the Sword Of Light being missing) but mostly for the first two episodes, the introductions are good enough so that newcomers can also get into the series.
Slayers is still good on the comedy - mainly as the initial plot is an inspector named Wizer, a comic buffoon who has been sent to arrest Lina Inverse for the crime of'Lina Inverse. His spiels are incredibly funny as is the good cop/bad cop routines with Lina, even more so when the others tend to agree with him subconsciously. However, it leads to the main plot that someone has been using her spells to attack magic golems around the world, and Lina intends to find out who is doing this. She eventually finds the culprit, a living stuffed animal named Pokota, who explains the magic golems are actually his, but initially doesn't explain why he is destroying them.
The next couple of episodes basically intertwine trying to find Pokota with episodic like plots such as Lina being accused of being a dog-napper, and Pokota joining up with Amelia and Zel when they separate (and Pokota apparently getting a crush on Amelia) but fortunately in this 13 episode sage, this filler type nature is very short and sweet, and the plot catches up in episode 5 when the return of everyone's favourite trickster priest Xelloss returns. Whilst he's literally as secretive as ever, he's still incredibly fun and evil at the same time being'well'himself'but the true nature of Pokota is revealed when the gang return to his home town, Pokota using a replica of the sword of light, and the true enemy of Pokota as his town was petrified, and that Xelloss is working for the enemy, Pokota's old friend Duclis, a beast man, a hag of a Marquess named Gioconda, and a bit later on, a very skilled assassin by the named of Zuuma.
From then on, the rest of the series is basically the plot of Pokota and Lina teaming up to try and stop the resurrection of Zanaffar, a demon god whose armour was used to make the magic tanks and armour used to initially protect but instead used for evil. Duclas basically creates a new one to try and control, which predictably doesn't go according to plan. Xelloss, Wizar, along with some new characters (Ozzel, with many references towards the first season villain Rezo) and old ones (Sylphiel, the white mage with a crush on Gourry, and Phil, Amelia's father) returning to the series at some point to help or hinder our heroes. It leads to the final climax between Pokota, Lina and co against the recreated Zanaffar. Everyone and everything seems to link in together by the end, although the finale did seem a bit anticlimactic.
The series itself is very enjoyable. For fans of the original series, it's great seeing Lina and co return and nothing much has changed. Lina and Gourryare both still gluttons, greedy but fun as heck, Amelia is still hyper but seems to have matured a bit more so she doesn't grate on your nerves as much with her justice speeches, Zelgadis isn't really as important as he seemed to be in the past so he takes a backseat to the story though he definitely has his moments, and Xelloss is just'as awesome as ever. Definitely the most fun villain I've ever encountered and that was back from when he debuted in Slayers Next. There are other cameos of course for old school Slayers fans, but on the other hand, it's hard for new fans to get into the cameos as unlike Xelloss and the main characters, they aren't well explained to a new viewer. However, to Slayers Revolution's credit, they do give quite a bit of backstory to some of the original series, particular with Rezzo the Red Priest's involvement with Pokota's backstory, and do introduce the characters well enough at the start (though you need to know the previous series to know why Gourry doesn't have the Sword Of Light, leading to the running gag of him having to make a new sword every battle as it always breaks during it).
The comedy also seems to be better well done that I previous remembered. Maybe because the series is shorter than the original, Next and Try, but it seems much easier to watch as the plot hits quickly and flows much more naturally without trying to drag it out as far as possible, which was my main annoyance of the original series. The addition of Wizer in particular is a great one, as he's basically a regular human trying to arrest Lina Inverse simply because she is Lina Inverse. The fact a regular guy is trying to apprehend Lina in the first place is funny enough, but all his reasons, whether legit or not, to capture him do always get a chuckle. Even more so when Lina's partners tend to agree with him half the time.
Lastly, the visuals are great, and the action/battle sequences are very good. Pokota's battles in particular seem quite well animated, and the finale is just fantastic. I don't recall any repeat animations in this series compared the originals, and it flows very naturally. The fact that the original cast in both English and Japanese mostly reprise their roles (and the changes in the dub actually work for the better in my opinion) is a great bonus for fans of the originals, and overall it is a great release for Slayers fans, but certainly not exclusive to them as people wondering what the fuss is about should definitely give it a shot.
In summary:
Slayers Revolution takes us back to the past with its excellent release in both languages '" fans of the original series should not miss this, though newcomers should give it a shot because it's still a very good fantasy adventure setting with good comedy and battle sequences, and a surprisingly compact plot as well. The new characters don't overshadow the old ones and yet mix in very well and whilst I felt it came out a little rushed at times, they were able to get in a good one-cour series and give it the attention and love it deserved. My enjoyment of this series is definitely NOT a secret.
Features
Japanese 2.0 Language, English 5.1 Language, English Subtitles
Review Equipment
Toshiba 37C3030 - 37" Widescreen HD Ready LCD TV '" Tangent Ht-50 Home Theatre System Multi-Regional DVD Players/Speakers '" Tangent Subwoofer 50-150 Hz, Impedenced 8 OHM.
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1) UK, not US - don't have Kmart.
2) Test disc - and it definitely was weaker. Tried it on all 3 of my systems - English was weaker. Official release? Definitely better, but only used the one I got so reviewed what I got.
English track weaker? You got to be joking, the 5.1 track has much more oomph to it than the Japanese stereo. Maybe you should use a good audio receiver and not a cheapo receiver from Kmart that doesn't properly output 5.1.