Firstly, the animation was waaay better then the prequels and i really enjoyed that they managed to keep the character’s voices the same way; the soundtrack wasn’t that great, but i kinda liked the opening theme [in my opinion, it was really similar to the opening of TRY, which i absolutely adored]. It actually demonstrated a growth in the quality of this show, and proved that Slayers can come out of the 90s and bring itself to the 21st century ;).
Speaking about the storyline, that’s the point where they actually lost me… i just didn’t get a lot of things and that kinda upset me: [SPOILERS] why was Pokota destroying those tanks in the first place [the reason Lina got involved in this story]; what was the deal with Wizer that he couldn’t even do his job as a cop [inspector, actually] without Lina’s help; why was the first episode the same as in TRY [Lina on a ship, robbing some bandits, and Amelia turning up on official business on the nearest coast town]; what was Duclis’ motivation anyway for summoning Zanafar [ya should know i just spent half an hour trying to remember the tiger’s name] and WHY was the monster so lame after all in the end? Slayers never really stood out for its great storyline, but i just think the writers could have handled this half-season a bit differently and at least bring the illusion that the story is heading somewhere or makes any sense at all. The second-half of the season was better, but besides killing Zanafar, the story proves it is not complete since a lot of questions remain unanswered.
I really enjoyed seeing Xellos in the series and Sylphiel too, but the Pokota guy…he was just awkward: he was like a Bleachy stuffed-animal mixed with a Pokemon determination and motivation to save the world. He seemed interesting at first, being able to use the Dragon Slave just like Lina, but he became useless as the story developed. Wizer was kind of a mysterious man and, at some point, i was just struck by the resemblance between him and Xellos, both being men who seem to always have their own agenda.
Overall, what i think i enjoyed the most was the feeling of watching Slayers again after 3 years of absence. I know this particular season isn’t exactly the best one, but if you’re an old fan of Slayers and you’ve watched the prequels, you should try and get through this one just for the sake of old times. What you do need to know is that Evolution-R makes almost no sense if you haven’t watched Revolution.
Let me know if you’ve found my review helpful or not^^!
