This will be the final review of this month.
Lina Inverse is quite the well known sorceress whether it be for taking out bandits, claiming treasure or causing destruction where ever she walks, she one day crosses paths with a swordsman named Gourry who possesses the sword of light, something Lina seeks to take but the two end up as travel companions, later joined by the justice loving princess Amelia and the shrine maiden Sylphiel.
When Lina's group cross paths with Zelgadis, a plot unravels involving the blind priest Rezo as he attempts to revive the demon ruby eye Shabranigdu, with Zelgadis switching to Lina's side and the fate of the world on the line, Lina and her party must put a stop to Rezo the Red Priest's demonic plan.
For a first season, Slayers is incredibly rusty with it's story telling but it's a strong fantasy franchise with a deep lore and a protagonist strong enough to fit the setting, I still get goosebumps everytime Lina unleashes the Dragon Slave, one of the strongest regular attacks in anime history, and while she is supposed to be on the side of good, I like that she's more chaotic than most, I'm also glad she has more characters to play off of, something Slayers lacked in the prequel OVAs.
I'd say it's the weakest of the original trilogy as it's only a taster of the world on offer and the mid 90s humour is kinda cringy in places, not helped by the dub as you cannot unhear the Pokemon dub casting for the main cast.
Final Verdict: A slow start to an otherwise great fantasy franchise with the promise of more to come from the original trilogy.
Now a reasonable look at the Slayers series.
It's not immediately clear which order this is meant to go in as most of the episodes take place before the events of the main series apart from Slayers Premium which takes place after Slayers Try.
The episodes frequently feature Lina Inverse travelling with a busty sorceress named Naga the Serpent who is just as capable but extremely full of herself and will laugh alot.
A typical plot often involves coming across a minor to mid level evil that needs vanquishing and Lina and Naga often doing more harm than good to resolve it, it keeps to formula extremely well despite the lack of characters for Lina to play off on and the quality can be some what mixed, the Slayers TV series is also guilty of the same problems but are usually surrounded by better episodes while the OVAs and films only have one shot per attempt with mixed results. Even the longest movie, Motion Picture can spend half it's run time dealing with filler villains before the main one shows up. My only other issue stems mostly from Premium but some of the others have it as well, the comedy is cringy.
I will give the dub props as the voices for Lina and Naga actually suit them better than their voices in the TV series especially Lina who sounds more spunky than her Amy Rose voice.
Final Verdict: The OVAs and films keep a solid formula and is well backed up with a decent dub, it's humour can be cringy but each episode and movie is at least fun.
Bet you weren't expecting this post to be the last entry. Get ready for the final five.
5. Fairy Tail
My favourite shonen anime, a showcase of the best fight scenes anime can muster, with all the raw emotion that comes with some of the best performances from the voice actors.
4. Precure Franchise
The perfect magical girl franchise with a rich history between it's various Precure teams only rivalled by Power Rangers, not a single series can be considered bad and it's the magical girl show that says "girls can punch just as well as men"
3. Dirty Pair
My very first anime. A retro blend of over the top sci fi through the eyes of it's destructive heroines. It doesn't get enough love from otaku and I find this series more influential to the anime female character than those before it.
2. Slayers
For years I didn't think there would be a series that could knock Dirty Pair off my top spot, yet there are two; Slayers is a classic fantasy about an OP sorcerer named Lina Inverse, a chaotic neutral so to speak and it's fantastic but I rate it this high as it helped shape my interest in the music of anime with a handful making my playlist.
1. Black Lagoon
As I've grown up with anime I've seen it change for the better and for the worst and in that time I long for an anime with a classic feel yet with enough modern influence to stand up as a series. Black Lagoon is the perfect anime series, a love letter to every kind of trope that forms anime in a nutshell in the west. Ultra violent, rich in colour and animation, an elaborate multi layered story, many strong female characters, a normal main character that isn't annoying, balls to the wall action and a great sense of humour.
There will never be another anime this perfect again.
With remakes quite high on the list in all forms of media it comes as no surprise that within the bowels of all the half decent ones there are a few really bad ones as well, but the forgotten anime of yester year could use a new tune up. Rules are that all shows must've ended it's run on TV, lets begin.
Honorable Mentions
Wedding Peach: Since Sailor Moon had a remake, it's only fair that it's old rival gets the same treatment and the Magical Girl world is missing Wedding Warriors off it's current list.
Dragon Half: New animation and a complete story would really help this comedy come back to life.
Shinesman: Power Rangers in the Business World is still an awesome concept and should get another crack at it, if not the current team a different one.
10. Dominion Tank Police
The Dominion Tank Police series is a fun watch, especially with the likes of Leona Ozaki leading a very well rounded cast of characters, it's worthy of a comeback if only to restore the sheer fun this show used to have, however it's low on the list for the simple reason that it takes place in the year 2016, which in real life at time of writing is now.
9. Excel Saga
Excel Saga was the ultimate gag fest featuring some of Anime's most popular genres but with so many new genres it's in dire need of a modern upgrade. Seeing an Excel Saga version of Attack on Titan would be hilarious.
8. Cutey Honey
It's iconic status is more than enough for a 21st century reboot and is needed to take some of the popularity off Pretty Cure, it would benefit from new art styles and maybe even CGI
7. Burn Up
I don't include the fact that Burn Up Scramble exists, a remake would give the cop genre a much needed boost and Team Warrior have the right remedy for it.
6. Dirty Pair
Not much reason other than personal bias, but like Cutey Honey it's iconic status is more than enough for a 21st century reboot.
5. Girls Und Panzer
More tanks but this one has more to offer than Tank Police, rematches and more challenges within the series gives this show weight for another season.
4. Sakura Wars
If Sega don't want to make these games then they should make the anime instead, hoax pictures of a new cast in Germany went around the net several years ago, but this should be a reality as every new team has been decent.
3. Tokyo Mew Mew
I always believed this anime to be the more superior show in terms of Magical Girl shows and really should have the Precure treatment with a new team each series, it makes a lot of sense considering the vast collection of potential animal pair ups.
2. Slayers
Another icon of 90s anime past, but with the universe of Slayers being so expansive, it seems a waste to leave it as is, and is open to any new villain popping up as well as new adventures, it worked in the OVAs
1. Kaleido Star
But the cream of the crop is Kaleido Star, with so many things the show can explore and a universe open to new protagonists, it could really click with current audiences and the spectacular look of the show just begs all sorts of CGI moments.
Just to give you a heads up that I'm not entirely bitter about this subject, here are some types perfect for a harem of Males.
Honorable Mentions
The One Hell of a Butler Type
Sebastian Michealis from Black Butler
The Mysterious Thief who will Steal your Heart Type
Jing from King of Bandits Jing
The Soft Centered Tough Guy Type
Kanji Tatsumi from Persona 4
10. The Sharp Dressed Casanova who Treats you like Royalty Type
Sanji from One Piece
Leo from Fairy Tail
They are the lovestruck suit wearing chivalrous knights of the modern age. You'll definitely feel like a pampered princess from one of these two lovely men.
9. The Casanova who has the Domestic Skills to back Everything up Type
Brock from Pokemon
Say what you like about Brock and his constant attempts to attract women, you actually look at all the life skills he possesses it'll be stupid to say no. He actively enjoys household chores, breeding animals, can cook really well and is a qualified vet by Pokemon standards, to top it off he'll happily shower you with love. You may want to take this guy seriously next time you see him flirt.
8. The Nice Guy who Can't Catch a Break Type
Mousse and Ryoga from Ranma 1/2
Ranma 1/2 is very cruel to side characters, particularly when it comes to male characters, both Ryoga and Mousse are strong in their own right and are genuinely more caring about their target love interests than lead character Ranma who I already discussed last time as a little bit too good at being a woman. So I say give these guys a chance.
7. The Perfect Partner in Crime Type
Isaac Dian from Baccano
When pursuing a lifestyle of crime, particularly as an eccentric thief, it's important that your partner shares that personality and Isaac and Miria go hand in hand, but what really makes Isaac such a good partner is protecting his lady from being arrested, because that way you'll know they'll be waiting for you when you come out.
6. The Ill at Ease Fighter who's Confession Turns him into a Real Knight in Shining Armour Type
Domon Kasshu from G Gundam
The title sums it up perfectly, throughout a shows run the male lead character spends all his time fighting with the lead female watching but in the climax when the gloves are off, the male lead confesses his love and although it's very cheesy to do so it's also the most romantic thing you can ever do. It does lead nicely into the next one.
5. The One who will Smash your Face in for Making his Friends Cry Type
Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail
Although this is common for all members of Fairy Tail what makes me choose Natsu is when he did it for Erza. Remember that Erza is hands down the strongest female in the entire series so it's actually very touching when Natsu smacks Jellal so hard that he didn't even see it coming for making Erza cry and you'll know he'll do it again for every other member of Fairy Tail.
4. The One who Reforms because of Love Type
Harima Kenji from School Rumble
The story of delinquent Harima Kenji go from street fighter to Manga artist for the sake of love is special, it proves that you can change from the self destructive path to an honest one and even when he fails constantly he's still left with a better life and better outlook of the world than the one he started with.
3. The One Who Stays with you Despite the Constant Dangers Type
Gourry Gabriev from Slayers
There are plenty of candidates for this one but Gourry takes it because of the fact that compared to Lina Inverse who can survive deadly encounters with the most powerful demons in the world, Gourry is just a normal swordsman, yes his sword is special but still a swordsman none the less and his dedication in staying with Lina through thick and thin and going as far as to chase down the Golden Lord of Nightmares just to get Lina back is something no normal companion would do.
2. The One who Makes you Feel Loved when no one else does Type
Minato Namikaze from Naruto
Naruto as a show has a lot of shortcomings but they created someone special when Minato's backstory with Kushina was shown. Kushina by anime standards was not a stand out child, slightly chubby, hated her red hair and had a tendency for occasional violence, so when she got kidnapped, the only person who came was Minato, because he noticed Kushina's beautiful red hair; the one thing Kushina hated and it saved her life because Minato noticed her. Doesn't that make you smile?
1. The Genius who can make this Crapsack World Bearable Type
Shiroe from Log Horizon
This is number one because this is the person I want to be. Life is hard and there are a lot of people who make it harder but occasionally you get the one person who can make it right again, and while he won't be popular with everyone for it, you trust him because you know he helped you in the past and you know that the changes he makes will lead to something better and you're willing to stick by his side to make sure that happens.
