The fourth season of Slayers kicks off from the end of Slayers Try as Lina and Gourry go on a quest to find Gourry a new weapon, having given up the Sword of Light in their previous adventures. After joining up with Amelia and Zelgadis again, it looks like the old crew is back together – but there are new troubles on the horizon for the four to tackle in their usual blustery explosive nature. Something's rotten in the state of Luvinagard, from the Special Investigative Unit looking to bring Lina in on crimes of just plain being Lina to the arrival of a furry little thing named Pokota whose own magic may lead to a very combustive rivalry between it and the great sorceress Lina Inverse. When evil dares to rumble with the likes of Lina, one thing is for certain: lots and lots of stuff is gonna blow up before the day is done.
Highlights:
As with previous seasons, the two main highlights of Slayers Revolution fall heavily into two categories: action and comedy. When it comes to action, there are enough Fireballs and Dragon Slaves going around by both Lina and newcomer Pokota to satisfy fans of the series' trademark energy. The first episode hits the ground running with a high dose of action involving pirates on the high seas who run afoul of a certain temperamental magic user, and from that point never stops until the very end – and even that is arguable. There are many battle scenes littered throughout the series, all of them showcasing the fighting styles of Team Lina – from Lina's sorcery to Gourry's swordplay, Amelia's justice-filled spells to Zelgadis' agile casting power. Even the puppet-looking Pokota gets his mitts dirty in the heat of battle, being a magic user himself – in fact, it's the spell he casts in the first episode that makes him the eternal rival of Lina Inverse – as well as the punching bag for all of her subsequent troubles.
The fourth season is also bursting to the seams with layers upon layers of laughter-inducing scenes. There are all the comedic tropes you'd come to know from the series: Amelia's long-winded speeches; Gourry's incredibly thick head; Zelgadis' part-golem body – and then there is Lina herself, from her bouts of rage to her trigger finger when it comes to insults about her flat chest and, of course, her love of eating enough to feed a dozen people (and then some). Entering the fray is Wizer Freion, Inspector for the Special Investigative Unit of the Luvinagard Kingdom, who is hellbent on arresting Lina and turning her in – even if it means blatantly disregarding any and all evidence about the going-ons involving the mage tanks that proves otherwise. As thick-headed and clueless Wizer seems, he is actually very astute and clever – well, when he isn't being incredibly dramatic and overly ridiculous in his attempts to bring that rapscallion Lina Inverse to justice. Whenever Wizer pops up out of nowhere, you can be sure that some whacked-out hijinks involving handcuffs and explosive punches are sure to follow.
Overall:
I am not the very model of a Slayers fan by any stretch: I saw glimpses of the second and third seasons when they aired on the International Channel (which turned into AZN TV, which promptly disappeared, sadly); I would read the occasional single issue of the manga, then released by Central Park Media (which is now defunct). I've also seen the first half of the first season of the series, and have read fanfiction/fancomics involving the characters. So my knowledge of Lina And Company is pretty hodge-podge to say the least, but no matter – for Slayers Revolution is accessible enough to people who know the main cast of characters and know the basics of the Slayersverse to understand the back story references that Revolution makes. Do you remember Rezo The Red Priest and Xellos? How about Phibrizzo or the Claire Bible? If these phrases make your head hurt like Gourry trying to do simple math, then some of the main plot points in Slayers Revolution may not make a lick of sense. Yes, it does follow a brand-new story line involving Pokota and the kingdom of Taforashia, but after a while characters start referring back to things in previous seasons and knowledge of past continuity becomes a must.
Does this bog down the series? Not really. If you honestly don't care, you can just go with the flow and learn along the way what the heck is going on with relative ease and enjoy what the series does best: being a high-octane swords-and-sorcery series rife with subversions of classic genre tropes and lots and lots of magic-induced explosions. Also, tanks made to look like animals and a whole lot of talking animals – including a fish with legs. Lina Inverse is still the out-of-control anti-hero from before, who by the season's start has pretty much made bandits an endangered species (no doubt aided by her reckless overuse of the Dragon Slave), and the show is still as fun as ever, always refusing to take itself seriously – thank goodness for that, as lesser series have often buckled under the pressure of being too big for their britches and growing darker in tone. Not this one. Its mix of humor and drama keeps viewers entertained; the updated graphics will certainly impress as well. The only sour spot is Pokota – his character takes a long time to get used to, and the very fact that his magic rivals Lina's is enough to send warning bells a-ringing through the mind of any fan. Pokota's nature threatens at time to overtake the scope of the series, but that's a hard feat to accomplish when you are toeing about with Lina friggin' Inverse, whose brash nature is about as subtle as a brick to the face.
Fans of the old school adventures of Lina will certainly enjoy the fifth season in the series and will be awaiting the next chapter's release with anticipation; newcomers to the franchise will find it hard to find a footing in the series' established lore, but will not leave empty-handed in terms of satisfaction. If watching Lina and Gourry traverse the countryside, fighting baddies while firing off spells willy-nilly, is your idea of a good time – all with updated animation, shiny special effects, and new opening and closing themes to boot – this is the Funimation release you've been waiting for.
ComicsOnline gives Slayers Revolution: The Complete Series 4 out of 5 destructive Dragon Slaves.
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