Not including Pokémon, Slayers was the second anime I was introduced to at the age of twelve, by the same friend who had made the first mistake days before by showing me Fushigi Yugi. (A mistake for her, as it was something I talked about on a constant basis for years.) At the time, only Slayers, Next and Try existed. Up until just very recently, I wasn’t even aware that more seasons, Revolution and Evolution-R, had been made and with the memories I carry of that wacky and awkwardly funny show, I’m not sure if I could muster up the strength to watch another twenty-six episodes!
At the time, the nonstop arguments my friend and I had over Fushigi Yugi was, who was the best, Chichiri or Nakago? I backed our blue haired sorcerer and she stood beside the blond. Slayers had caused us to cross blades yet again, this time I insisted Zelgadis Greywords was clearly the best character in the show and my friend swore it was Xellos. If I were to bring these long lost fights back to her attention, I’m sure we would once again revert to twelve-year-old girls pointing fingers and citing moments in the shows to back up each of our beliefs with far too much enthusiasm.
Slayers harbors a soft spot in my heart, as it was shows like this that opened the door for my fascination with all aspects of anime and the different genres that were possible, besides just the fantasy shows I knew at the time. Slayers follows a very typical formula of magic and swords with a bad guy threatening existence and only this particular group of people can stop him! The story, while basic, is assisted by its less than sane cast of characters, including the main protagonist, Lina Inverse, her dimwitted sidekick, Gourry, their zealous Amelia, the serious chimera sorcerer, Zelgadis and the very dangerous and mysterious Xellos.
Now analyzing what it was that made my friend and I choose Zel and Xellos out of all of the goofy cast members, it seems to be the same thing that made us choose Chichiri and Nakago. Each of the Slayers men are different, outsiders and have an air of mystery that follows them. Like Chichiri, who has a hideous scar on his face, Zelgadis’ face is also scarred by the chimera spell placed on him, his face and body actually covered in bits of rock. It seems to be a reoccurring curiosity in my favorite anime characters, with them being scarred in some manner, somber and on a quest to find relief from these pains.
Zelgadis, for all of his seriousness, is still prone to the hit-over-your-head comedy of the show, which was a bit too much swallow at times. I vividly remember my other problem with Slayers was that there was so much talking at the final episodes that even as a kid I groaned and sank lower into the couch, bored and waiting for the finale of the battle to commence. I am interested to hear if any Slayers fans have watched the new seasons and what they thought about them, so leave a comment below and share!
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