Slayers is based on a Light Novel and manga of the same name that premiered way back in 1995. The hand drawn animation is beautifully done and the English voice cast did a great job. An interesting bit of trivia is that almost the entire main cast went on to be in Pokemon when that show was brought over here in '98. Some are more noticeable than others and most of the time I couldn't help but add "Ash" when Gourry Gabriev (the second star of the show) talks. Gourry is voiced by Eric Stuart, who went on to play Brock and James. 

Highlights

Slayers (Season 1)

The story of Slayers starts off with destruction of a bandit camp, a city, and the introduction of Lina; who destroyed the bandit camp and accidentally destroyed the city, along with Gourry Gabriev, who promises to protect Lina on their travels to  Atlas City. When they are in the next town, the duo try to sell off Lina's treasure and are met with a mysterious man named Zelgadis; who is 1/3 human, 1/3 brau demon, and 1/3 rock golem. The three are then set on a journey to stop the resurrection of the Dark Lord Shabranigdo by Rezzo the Red Priest.

After killing the Dark Lord fragment, Zelgadis leaves to look on his own for a cure for his condition and Lina leaves Gourry hoping to meet with a prince that is said to be wandering the area. After meeting up with the prince and having her fantasy destroyed she escorts him to a monster hideout and meets up again with Gourry: who had met up with a hyper girl named Amelia(voiced by Veronica Taylor the original voice of Ash Ketchum from Pokemon) and has an obsession with Justice, to the point of always standing in a dramatic pose whenever she makes her Justice speech. Amelia happens to be the daughter of the prince. After getting to Amelia's home kingdom of Seyruun, the group see wanted posters for Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis stating that all three of them are villains. Upon this evidence, Amelia turns on the group, catches them, and hands them over to mysterious bounty hunters. After escaping Zangulus and Vrumugun, Lina, Gourry, and Amelia decide to head to Sairaag, where the bounty was first placed. Finally arriving in Sairaag, the team is joined by a shrine maiden named Sylphiel, much of the plot is unveiled. Much of Sairaag is destroyed(not because of Lina this time) and the group go up against a clone of Rezzo who has gained the power of a demon beast named Zanaffer.

Slayers NEXT (Season 2)

This season starts some time after the end of season 1. It doesn't really say how long has passed, just that is has been nearly 1 year since Lina and Gourry met. This season involves the group of Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis back together again and a new mysterious person named Xellos joins in. He is a humorous person that whenever asked for details will always say "That is a secret". The group is also followed by a princess named Martina(voiced by the original voice actress for Jessie and Misty, Rachael Lillis). She is usually used for the comic relief of this season, and worships a Monster of her own creation called Zoamelgustar. The main arc of this season is that Garv the Demon Dragon King wants Lina dead to stop another Monster Race's Dark Lord's evil plan from occurring. After acquiring a new spell and learning the truth about the Lord of Nightmares, and the death of Garv at the hands of the rival Dark Lord named Phibrizzo, who ensures that Lina does what he expects her to do. The group has to go back to Sairagg and has Sylphiel rejoins the group. The season ends on a very touching scene and a wedding between two characters.

Slayers TRY (Season 3)

After the defeat of Phibrizzo, a mysterious pillar of light appears in the horizon and the barrier that has kept all the inhabitants of the part of the world that the last two season took place in, stuck in where they were is taken down. Lina is asked by a member of the Dragon Race to help save the world. It turns out that she was the second choice in the matter and that the first choice was Lina's older sister Luna. After destroying several towns and part of a Dragon Temple, the group are confronted by a giant being from the Overworld who has come to this world in order to find 4 legendary weapons that are hidden all over in order to destroy a Dark Lord from their world. One of the which belongs to Gourry.

Overall

They show is great and the humor is perfect. I loved a lot of the jokes and one of the funniest parts is when Gourry asks about something that is basic knowledge to people in the show. It is helpful and funny at the same time. Also the fact that a lot of the cast went on to be in Pokemon was interesting. For a show that is 14 years old, the animation shows. The hand-drawn quality is superb and the story gets more dramatic in the second half of Next, but it doesn't take away from any of my enjoyment. If anything, it added to the characters and gave them more depth.

A cool bit was the DVD extras in Season 1 and 2. Season 1 involves a scene in episode one where Lina meets up with Gourry and is in 6 languages (English, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Cantonese, and Mandarin). Season 2 includes a music video for the song "Maiden's Prayer" which was in Episode 14 of the second season in a funny scene. Along with those there is the basic Trailers and textless theme songs that a lot of DVDs have.

Comicsonline gives this show 5 out of 5 Dragon Slaves.