Right out of the gate, the first thing everyone remembers about Slayers is its honest-to-God iconic and memorable cast of characters. Lina Inverse with her fiery red hair and even fiery-er temper is a joy to behold in every frame she's in, giving Slayers its defining charm and devil-may-care attitude. Her sidekick, the dim-witted but well-intentioned and swordsman extraordinaire Gourry, serves as a constant and hilarious foil to Lina's hot-headedness, and his lovable naivete makes for a plethora of memorable gags. Not long into the series, we also meet the mysterious and deathly serious Zelgadis, a bitter and sarcastic man whose bizarre appearance paired with his prodigious skill in both melee and magical combat make him a formidable force to reckon with. Later on, we're treated to the Lawful-Good-at-all-costs goodness that is Amelia, whose endless enthusiasm and love of impartial justice make her an essential member of the cast. Since 1995, we've seen characters like these crop up in anime of all shapes and sizes, but if you ask me, they're pale imitations of the titans that came before--Slayers may be old, but its character gags were on-point.



One of the series' other strengths is its mastery in music and voice acting. Its main themes, "Get Along, Try Again" by Megumi Hayashibara and "Kujikenaikara!" by Masami Okui, are some of the most delicious mid-90s cheese you'll ever taste, and the series' various synth-heavy background music is chock-full of memorable cues and stings that remain with me to this very day. As far as the voice acting goes, the Japanese version is a timeless classic with many of the industry's biggest names at the time putting out the work that defines their entire careers, but the English version deserves attention, as well--it might be rougher and cheesier, but Lisa Ortiz's Lina and Eric Stuart's Gourry are absolutely definitive for me, and we've even got Our Lord and Savior, Crispin Freeman, entering the wild world of anime dubbing with his first major role as Zelgadis. Also, even if the English dub is cheesy, I don't feel like it clashes at all with the show as a whole--I mean, it is a comedy, after all, so in a way I feel like the English version adds to the experience rather than detracting from it.



This segues nicely into my next point: the writing. Okay, sure, don't come into this series expecting Shakespeare, but the banter between the characters and the various gags all throughout got a lot of laughs out of me, and the fact that the narrative can switch from bawdy comedy to high-stakes action without feeling unnatural is a pretty big feat. For what is essentially "Your Average D&D Party: The Anime," the storyline is surprisingly engaging and comes with plenty of twists and turns that keep you hooked. The series' second half is noticeably weaker than the first, with a villain who seems like he's just a rehash, but they still manage to make it work by adding interesting new characters and plot twists that prevent Slayers from ever feeling stale, despite its odd repetition with the villains. I mean, great characters, catchy music, a good story...it seems like the series has it all, but does it, really?