"Slayers" is a lesson in both good anime and bad anime. The first storyline in this anime is very good with lots of great characters and an intriguing story. However, after the first storyline, one of the main characters, Zelgadis, departs and a new, very annoying, perky girl character shows up. The result? I love the first part of this series, but not the rest. Eventually, Zelgadis returned, but the creators of this series, showing extremely poor judgment, made annoying, perky girl fall in love with Zelgadis. Just as bad.
But don't despair! As I said, the first part is pretty good. Watch, enjoy, and pretend that it ends after they fry the Dark Lord!
All images copied from my laserdisc player.
Zelgadis
Okay kiddies, if we've been following along in our web site properly, then we should already know about Zelgadis, shouldn't we? What?? You don't?? Then haul your ass to the principal's office for a spanking right now, buster!!!
Zelgadis shows up as a mysterious, masked character in the beginning. And he's a bad guy too. But it's not his fault. Now, he just want's the little statue that Lina has. So how much for that dagger and statue?
That much for a dagger???
I don't even want to know about the statue.
Zelgadis whips off the mask and hood and reveals...that he truly needs a haircut.
Not to fear!!! Our blue stone hero shan't be barbecued this time! It's "that time of the month" and Lina's powers don't work so well. But it doesn't stop Zelgadis from having a bad hair day.
But ol' Zel can certainly dish out a barbecuing when he wants to. Anyone for roast Dark Lord? It's dark meat. Chuckle! Hoot! Snort! Guffaw!
Lina Inverse
No, this is not a clown. She is Lina Inverse, the main character. Cher is suing her for copyright infringement. She really is a pretty interesting character despite the, ahem, colorful outfit. She's very powerful. In this scene, she's about to show a group of thieves a thrashing. Of course, being a thief herself, you'd think she could show a little sympathy.
Gourry
Gourry is the clueless swordsman who travels with Lina. He may be as stupid as a bag of hammers, but his swordsman skills are unmatched. And he can also knock the teeth off a hungry...uh...thing when the occasion calls for it.
Other characters and scenes
This screenshot inserted for comedic purposes only. Zalf is showing off Dugere's teeth for Lina.
Gourry's lack of swiftness in the brains department frequently gets on Lina's nerves.
A rambunctious youngster crashes into Lina. "You could get hurt running into something that bony!" declares Gourry.
Lina throws a fork. I can understand why Gourry recoils, but what about the made-of-stone Zelgadis? One would think the only thing he would fear is a jackhammer. Or perhaps a jeweler. It would be rather sad for the slayer of the Dark Lord to be dispatched into little stone kibbles and become a collection of high school class rings, wouldn't it?
A monster! He can't be hurt by ordinary weapons, but a can of Raid will do in a pinch.