Search - Slayers Great on DVD

A Slayers Snob Mostly Approves

J. Miller | Portland, OR | 01/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you like the series, this isn't as good in script or character development, but visually it's infinitely more refined which almost makes up for it. Kudos to the illustrators and imaging director.This 60-minute episode builds on the rivalry concept explored in Slayers: Next (the Guts!/Brass Rackets episode), replacing Martina with Naga (of course) and tennis with a golem fight. (No Xellos though, so sad.) The script, while in many ways familiar and less engaging than the series, is competent enough for the OVAs and does have its great moments. The animation is exceptionally well-detailed (did they go from pure-hand illustrations to digital?) and, quite frankly, Lina's never looked better. If you know the series, you may note that the subtitles are flat-out wrong on half of the spellcasting. Also, the disc I got had minor audio encoding issues and a circular bit of analog distortion -- I'm suspecting that ADV is outsourcing too much of their latest drive of manufacturing to the lowest bidder, as Slayers: Return also had problems with the encoding on the disc. But for all that, Slayers: Great still a worthy part of the Slayers collection."

Slayers Great is well...GREAT!

WyldCherry | USA | 01/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am rather pleased...no ecstatic...that ADV is finally releasing the rest of the Slayer movies/OVAs. I guess it's due to the new movie, Premium, that was released two years ago...or due to the influx of angry `Slayers' fans demanding more `Slayers.' Either way, we get more `Slayer' goodness! (Just to note: All the Lina/Naga movies/OVAs...except Premium...do not contain the original TV series characters.) As for the movie itself `Slayers Great'...is well...great!!! I really like this movie, even more so, than, Slayers Return because this ~60 minute flick is well balanced between comedy and action, unlike `Return' which I felt was lacking in the comedy department. The story line is light and fun focusing more on the rivalry between our favorite red headed sorceress and her buxom rival. The story starts off with Lina and Naga saving a girl, Laia, from a rampaging golem. Laia rewards them (well more like forcefully coerced) by letting them stay at her house-which is home to a very famous golem maker, Galia. Unfortunately, the famous Galia and her brother, Huey, have a rivalry of their own. Coincidentally, there is another rivalry between two lords, Haizen and Granion, who both desperately want take over the city. Well, their interests intertwine with Galia and Huey's feud causing the Galia to side with Haizen and Huey to side with Granion. Thus, we end up with a contest between father and son to see who can make the best golem, much to the lords' dismay. This rivalry, also pits both Lina and Naga against each other. The dragon spooker ends up siding with the father, Naga favoring the brother, and poor Laia stuck in the middle. (Her life sucks!) This leads to a hilarious battle of gargantuan proportions (LITERALLY)!! I agree the with previous commenter with the term "jiggle vision!" As I said before, the story line is well balanced in both the action and comedy department. I also think that the story line is pretty good and well developed. The same goes for character development. Plus, you get to really see true Lina/Naga rivalry to its fullest and actually get to see them duke it out (a really cool sorceress duel)...well almost...teehee! The only thing that irks me is that ADV tends to change the script by wording the spells differently (in comparison to the manga and original TV series). I don't know if it's a copy write issue, but come on...'Explosion Array!' Couldn't they stick with the original spell (I think dil-brando)...well, that's the end of my nitpicking on that subject. The animation-like all the Slayer movies/OVAs (Excluding 'Premium')-is good for its time so don't expect to see highly digitalized computer effects. (The movie was made during the late nineties so I didn't compare it to more recent anime---that probably use CG...) The English voice actors (V.A.) did a good job, although I'm not particularly fond of this V.A. of Lina. (I prefer Lisa Ortiz's portrayal because it's quite similar to the original Japanese V.A...I do hope they use the original English VAs for Premium, but that would be a slim chance considering the original V.A. s work for a different company. Oh well!) I didn't have any problems with the DVD (although I have yet to listen to the Japanese version) and the menus were easy to use. The movie is played in Dolby Digital. The disc contains both English and Japanese dubs (like always), English subtitles, and Extras (Slayers Great Trailer and ADV Preview...which are very fun to watch!!).To sum it up, Slayer "Great" is full of laughs and fun action. (Although the TV series will always be the best) It's highly entertaining and fun to watch for 'Slayers' fans or general anime fans alike!!"

Funniest of the Slayers Movies

Agent Excel | Hillsboro, OR USA | 02/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In this movie Lina and Naga fought against each other in two giant golems. As usual the story is weak, but the story is never the reason why people become Slayers fans anyway. Lina and Naga fought throughout this movie to the amusement of their fans. The movie has some very funny moments and wonderful voice actings in both the English and Japanese tracks. The spells effects were spectacular.This movie is a must for Slayers fans. I think even non fans will find this movie amusing."

Please make the hurting stop... XD

Reviewer | 01/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a huge Slayers fan, I've been dying for more Slayers stuff after the Slayers Try release! And now, ADV has finally released the funniest rivals ever to "work together" in anime history: Lina and Nahga!Slayers Great is called 'Great' for a very good reason! Lina and Nahga are once again wondering through the land in search of money, food and drink when they come upon a town obsessed with golems. When they save an unfortunate girl from certain death, they are "invited" (this is probably one of the funniest scenes in anime history) back to her home only to get caught up in a bitter father-son fight over golems. If that isn't uncomfortable enough, two rival lords who both want to conquer the world, hire out the father and son on separate sides. Poor Lina soon finds herself in a rather big...and cute...dilemma. You just got to get it to find out what I mean! It's a riot!!!"