Slayers Evolution-R (Slayers series/season 5) - A No Flying, No Tights Review.

SOURCE: Slayers Evolution-R (Slayers series/season 5)



Fresh off a victory over the demon beast Zanafar, the sorceress Lina Inverse and her companions – the bold warrior Gourry, the naïve warrior priestess Amelia, the stone-skinned sorcerer Zelgadis, and the pint-size plush Prince Pokota – have little time to rest on their laurels. As their friends in the kingdom of Seyruun struggle to rebuild their homes, the party begins their search for an artifact of legend – The Hellmaster’s Jar! It is rumored their old enemy The Red Priest Rezo has found a way to defy death itself and that his soul is hidden away, awaiting resurrection, inside the mystic container.

Naturally, the idea of bringing such a dangerous villain back from the dead isn’t something Lina Inverse relishes, even if she had the first clue about how to do it. But Rezo is the only one who can reverse the spells that turned Zelgadis into a stone-skinned demon, trapped Prince Pokota’s soul in the body of a plush animal, and forced the plague-stricken people of Pokota’s homeland into an eternal sleep. And there’s also the hope that the Red Priest, once hailed as a great hero and healer, may be cleansed of the corruption that turned him to villainy.

Ignoring the difficulties in finding the jar in the first place (and the unreliability of their guide, an animated suit of armor named Nama), Lina and her friends aren’t the only ones seeking the Hellmaster’s Jar. Some of Lina’s old enemies, such as the ruthless, shadow-manipulating assassin Zuuma, aren’t quite as dead as they seemed to be. And the manipulative monster priest Xellos is still watching the party, showing up when he’s least wanted to taunt the party with secret knowledge he refuses to share.

The fifth and final chapter in the long-running Slayers anime series, Slayers Evolution-R is surprisingly accessible to new viewers. Despite picking up precisely where Slayers Revolution ended, great care was taken in the scripting of this series to make sure that those who stumbled across this volume would be able to jump into the action without being confused. Cleverly, the characters are able to avoid being overly repetitious, as most of the exposition has to be laid out multiple times for the dim-witted but good-hearted Gourry. This season also features more one-shot episodes which focus more on the humor and the characters than on the over-riding plot. One particularly amusing episode centers upon the justice-minded Amelia getting locked inside of Nama and then setting out to become the personal guardian of an increasingly horrified village.

Technically, the animation style is smooth, but of standard quality for a televised comedy anime. The characters all have distinctive designs, so there is no difficulty in telling anyone apart. The voice acting in both the original Japanese and English the dub is top notch. And as with the earlier Slayers series, this one is rated PG for some mild scariness (gross undead thingies), mild bloodshed (a few lost limbs), and numerous jokes about Lina’s figure (or lack thereof).

Slayers Evolution-R (Slayers series/season 5)
FUNimation, 2010
directed by Michael Sinterniklaas, Takashi Watanabe
312 minutes, Number of Discs: 2, Season set
Company Age Rating: PG
Related to: Slayers by Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi

Slayers Revolution (Slayers series/season 4) - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Slayers Revolution (Slayers series/season 4)




According to Lina Inverse, she is the most stunning, beautiful, wise, powerful, and indescribable sorceress adventurer in the world. According to everyone else, she’s a destructive lunatic, barely preferable to the monsters she combats, with an appetite as large as her bust is small. Accompanied by her bodyguard, the stout-hearted and thick-skulled swordsman Gourry, Lina has been destroying cities left and right with her magic – all in the name of monster-slaying – for several years now. So, when a new wave of destruction washes over the land and someone starts blowing up all the state-of-the-art magical tanks several city-states have recently purchased, Lina is the prime suspect. Indeed, she’s the ONLY suspect to the mind of Inspector Wizer Freion, who is out to arrest Lina Inverse on charges of…being Lina Inverse.

Surprisingly, Lina is innocent – for once. But with Inspector Freion unwilling to investigate any other leads and actively trying to tie her into any other crime that happens around her, Lina has got her hands full staying out of jail. But a strange bunny-like creature with a zipper in his tummy and prehensile ears may be a more serious threat to Lina’s life and livelihood than the crazed cop. And there’s always a chance that Inspector Freion’s ramblings about a conspiracy organized by a criminal mastermind involving the tanks may hold some truth…

Thankfully, Lina’s not alone in trying to puzzle all this out. Along with Gourry, she’s joined in her quest to prove her innocence by some old friends, the pacifist princess priestess (try saying that five times fast) Amelia and the rock-skinned sorcerer Zelgadis. And it’s a good thing Lina has her friends, for there are enemies, old and new, watching from the shadows, waiting to strike.

Slayers Revolution is the fourth anime series (or fourth season) in the long running Slayers series. Originally started as a series of light novels in Japan in 1989, Slayers is one of the most adapted works of fiction in the world, having inspired a manga, a television series, several animated movies, a radio drama, a number of video games and a pen and paper role-playing game. Revolution was the first season of Slayers to be produced after a ten-year gap in production and FUNimation was able to get most of the original dub cast from the first three seasons back for this production.

The look of Slayers is best described as classical anime. It was one of the first series to achieve wide-spread popularity in the United States back in the 1990s and it’s easy to see why. With its mix of action and humor, the series works both as a straight fantasy epic and as a parody of traditional fantasy epics. The humor is not limited to the tropes of sword and sorcery literature, however, and just as much comedy comes from the characters as it does from the absurdity of their world. So while the Dungeons And Dragons crowd will find a lot to laugh at with this series, the more traditional otaku should enjoy themselves, too.

The series is rated PG and I think that is a fair rating. Apart from a running gag regarding the flatness of Lina’s chest and one character taunting her over it, I cannot think of anything in this series that would be considered objectionable for most audiences. Indeed, I would say the entire Slayers series is a must have for any anime collection.

Slayers Revolution (Slayers, series/season 4)
FUNimation, 2008
directed by Takashi Watanabe
312 minutes, Number of Discs: 2, Season set
Company Age Rating: PG
Related to: Slayers by Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi

Kaze No Stigma: The Complete Series - A No Flying, No Tights Review

SOURCE: Kaze No Stigma: The Complete Series
 


For hundreds of years, the Kannagi Clan served humanity as protectors and guardians. Armed with the mystical art of Enjutsu – a.k.a. Blaze Technique or Fire Magic – the Kannagi Clan stood fast against all manner of rogue magicians and demons. Even in modern times, the Kannagi Clan is renowned for their skills and called in by the Tokyo Police to deal with supernatural threats the authorities cannot handle.

Kazuma Kannagi was not like the rest of his clan, having no affinity at all for the magic his clan was expected to master at an early age. The final humiliation came when he was defeated by his distant cousin, Ayano, in a ceremonial duel to determine who would be the head of the clan for the next generation. Kazuma’s father, the mightiest warrior of the Kannagi Clan, angered that his eldest son could be so easily defeated by a young girl, renounced him and cast him out into the wide world.

Four years later, Kazuma returns to Tokyo, having mastered the art of Fujutsu, a.k.a. Wind Technique or Air Magic. What is more, Kazuma bears the Stigma of the Wind – eyes as blue as the azure sky. This is the symbol of a “Contractor,”  a Fujutsu master entrusted by the Spirit King of the Wind with the full power of his domain.

Ayano is now a senior in high school and a master of Enjutsu, wielding the family’s sacred sword Enraiha in battle. A textbook example of a fiery redhead, Ayano is nevertheless a powerful mage and a dangerous warrior when she can control her temper. At first she cares little about the return of the cool-hearted cousin. Then other members of the Kannagi Clan begin to turn up dead, killed by wind magic. And that is all it takes to set Ayano on the warpath, ready to take her cousin’s life.

Now, in order to prove his innocence, Kazuma must make peace with the hot-headed heir-apparent of the family that disowned him. For there are other threats to the Kannagi Clan besides a mysterious wind-wielding assassin, and it will take a combination of the cleansing power of Fire and the subtle manipulation of Wind if the world is to be saved.

Kaze No Stigma has one of the richest mythologies of any anime series I’ve ever seen. The idea of families with supernatural powers fighting great evils and elemental magic is nothing new, but the execution is carried off very well. Indeed, the anime is so well-paced that one hardly notices that all of the characters are strictly stock anime stereotypes with Kazuma being your typical tight-lipped bishonen and Ayano being a textbook example of a tsundere.

The only real negative this series has is a gratuitous amount of fan-service. Ayano is usually dressed in a school uniform with the standard short skirt and it is a rare episode that doesn’t feature at least one panty shot as she is fighting. Several female characters have their clothing ripped to reveal their underwear and one of the villains in the later part of the series is a perverted classmate of Ayano’s who plants secret cameras in the girls locker room at school.

This is par for the course with romantic comedy anime, of course, but some of the nudity that takes place during scenes involving ritual sacrifice is intense enough to make me question the TV14 rating for this series as a whole. This is despite said nudity lacking definition and being limited to some far shots, naked backsides, and silhouettes. That being said, I would still recommend this series for older teens and adults looking for a good action-oriented urban fantasy series with a Moonlighting-style romance.

Kaze No Stigma: The Complete Series
Gonzo, Funimation, 2007
directed by Junichi Sakata
576 minutes, Number of Discs: 4, Season set
Company Age Rating: TV14
Related to: Kaze no Stigma by Takahiro Yamato, Neko Miyakai

Bamboo Blade: The Complete Series - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Bamboo Blade: The Complete Series



Toraji is a second-rate sensei – a starving teacher who manages the Kendo team at the public high-school where he is employed. Toraji’s enthusiasm for his job is rekindled after a fellow Kendo coach makes Toraji a wager he can’t refuse. Both coaches will test their girls teams against one another, with Toraji winning a year’s worth of free gourmet sushi if his team is victorious.

There are just a few small problems standing in the way of Toraji’s getting a full belly. Thanks to his lax discipline, most of last year’s team members were scared off by bullying upperclassmen, who only showed up to practice to beat people up. And as the school year opens Toraji only has one serious team member left – energetic sophomore Kirino. What is worse, the only new recruits he can field are boys!

Things are looking grim until Toraji chances across Tamaki – a pint-size freshman with lightning-fast reflexes and years of fighting experience. But Tamakai sees Kendo as more of a chore than a hobby and has little interest in anything besides her favorite animeprograms! But Kirino won’t take no for an answer and after a chance encounter with the same bullies that drove off most of last year’s team, the injustice-hating Tamakai decides to stay and serve as team’s champion.

As the year progresses, they will recruit the rest of their team. There is Miya-Miya, whose cheerful façade hides a dark, sadistic personality. Next is Saya, who seeks stability to balance her unfocused creative spirit. Finally, there’s Azuma, a would-be scholar who doesn’t study well and is clumsy and awkward everywhere except the dueling floor. Together they will forge a team. And in time, a slacker sensei may learn to be a better teacher, a group of outcasts will become friends, and a would-be captain will learn her first hard lessons in leadership.

I’m not usually a fan of sports anime, but Bamboo Blade is not your typical sports anime. The focus of the series is firmly upon the characters and their relationships – not the sport. Indeed, the viewer doesn’t need to know anything at all about Kendo and even during the tournament scenes the action is easily followed by a novice.

This focus on the characters – and the fact that those characters truly develop and grow as the series goes on – also separates Bamboo Blade from most comedic anime and sport series. While Sensei Toraji is a comic (and occasionally pathetic) figure, his heart is in the right place and he honestly does try to be a good example. Being obsessed with victory at any cost early on, he later removes Tamaki from the action in one tournament after it becomes clear her temper is getting the better of her. And in one dramatic moment, he leaves the ethical decision of how to handle one situation in the hands of Kirinio, despite her protests that as advisor he should tell her what to do.

Most of the other characters undergo similar growth arcs. Indeed, one of the only weaknesses of this series is that so many members of the ensemble – particularly the two male team members Donny and Yuji – aren’t as well developed as they could be. Indeed, Donny and Yuji comment to one another about how neglected they feel compared to their female teammates – a complaint that could be aimed at their sensei or the series writer.

The series is well-animated, though the animation is strictly standard. The one noteworthy thing about it is also one of most maddening points regarding this series. As written, this would be a wonderful empowering series for young women about sports and friendship. Yet the camera of the series has a bad case of “male gaze”, focusing at times upon the back of the girl’s skirts or their chests as they workout and talk to one another, for no apparent reason! While there are no panty shots or any bouncing cleavage, it is just distracting enough to make me think twice about showing this to any audience with any children younger than 13, despite the series’ PG rating. With that caveat in mind, I highly recommend this series for all anime fans.

Bamboo Blade
FUNimation, , 2007
directed by Hisashi Saitou
650 minutes, Number of Discs: 4, Season set
Company Age Rating: PG
Related to: Bamboo Blade by Masahiro Totsuka, Neko Sutajio