Series: The Slayers Evolution-R: Season 4 Part 2
Release date: 7th February 2011
Certificate: 12
Running time: 325 mins
Director: Takashi Watanabe
Starring: N/a
Genre: Anime
Studio: MVM
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
The fifth anime series to evolve from Hajime Kanzaka’s Slayers novels and manga continues into its fourth season, as Slayers Evolution-R attempts to keep the fan-following for the franchise alive two decades after its initial popularity. The last in a long legacy, Evolution-R carries a heavy responsibility to Slayers fans, as it ret-cons Lina Inverse’s earlier adventures through this Dungeons & Dragons inspired universe, where campy comedy and lengthy back-stories travel hand in hand.
Series four, disc two starts in the middle of Lina’s mission to protect gloomy merchant Radok from the threats of Zumma, an assassin out to kill Lina. The true plot focuses on their pursuit of the Hellmaster’s Jar, with which they can resurrect Rezo the Red Priest, as well as finding and destroying one of the scattered segments of Shabranigdo’s soul.
As the characters try to work out how to free Rezo, and bicker over what they want to use his power for, revelations occur that make them question whether they should free him at all...
For a show with such a complicated background, Evolution-R continues to be simplistically written. Though every episode progresses the storyline, it does so in slow baby steps, padding out the events out with stereotypical anime fight scenes and extended comical sequences. Ever notice that only two main, definable events seem to occur per original-trilogy Star Wars movie? Now subtract budget and originality. Most frustrating of these padding sequences on this DVD involved the gang repeatedly fighting monsters to make useless broths under Rezo’s instruction, lament their wasted time, and then repeat the process. This gag gets played far beyond funny, until the fast-forward button is looking extremely tempting. This said, the episodes do, at least, finally deal with the Rezo, a long-awaited development of the show. Now that the moment is finally upon us, the writers seem eager to drag it over as many episodes as possible.
Many back-stories are revealed in these episodes, which provide some insight into the characters, and aid in making them seem less flat and insubstantial. Even the annoying stuffed animal, Pokota, has a painful past, and faces some difficult realisations and choices. However, when the spotlight is not on a particular character and their personal angst, they continue to be two-dimensional stereotypes. The show is, granted, a parody of earlier anime, which explains the unoriginal nature of the cast, but cannot excuse it. From the dialogue to their appearance, there is nothing to recommend them above those in other anime. Lina, in particular, is as loud, annoying and unsympathetic as ever. When the main character is the hardest to tolerate, you have a serious problem. As these episodes strive to give her companions some development, her own un-engaging nature becomes extremely apparent.
Evolution-R cannot, of course, be blamed for the design of the characters, as it is merely continuing a long established story. What it can be held responsible for is the way it portrays and handles them. In the first episode on the disc, a fatal error is instantly made. Radok, the merchant, has a long talk with his son, delving deep into his personal angst. Giving so much time to an apparent side-character shifts our interest from the main cast onto him, which is then made worse by Lina’s immature taunting of him. Her words aren’t clever or even believable in tone – she seems to smile whilst challenging the serious things he just confessed. This is a failure of her acting, scripting and animation, and when Radok and his son are no longer in the show, we’re left with the now unappealing protagonist.
This acquisition and then loss of two characters highlights another issue with the show. It’s thin on plot, yet heavy on characters. Minor characters constantly arrive and leave, adding to the confusion of the already complex back-story. The plus side of this is that fans of the franchise can get nerd-excited every time a figure from previous incarnations shows up. For example, Xellos (the obligatory happily fay character) makes enough cameos to keep his following happy, though his appearances contribute very little to the storyline.
Artistically, some of the episodes have some beautiful backgrounds, and an interesting effect is often used for beams of light; they’re no Studio Ghibli, but they provide something pretty to look at to make up for the less skilfully animated characters. Though smooth enough, their movements are occasionally jerky or un-natural, and more distracting are the instances of expressions not matching the lines spoken. Angry exchanges are far less effective when the characters appear happy about them.
As well as the illustration, there is varying quality in the voice acting. Some of the performances are lacking; for example, once again, Lina’s character is left lacking. Her character is intended to be immature and annoying – her comrades comment on it often – and yet the director has made a bad decision in portraying this to the point where she is intolerable to listen to. It is commendable that FUNimation were able to re-unite most of the Central Park Media dub cast from previous series’; however, this does not mean that all of them were perfect.
These flaws aside, Evolution-R is very simple watching. In these episodes, in particular, where the Hellmaster’s Jar plot continues over several episodes, it is easy to let them wash over you. If you can tolerate cheese and enjoy laughing at bizarre or cliché lines, and you let your guard down, the show can get under your skin. The intended humour is less entertaining then what is, perhaps, the unintended humour, but this campy nature, these quotably naff lines, and its failure to meet its potential all, in a way, provide what is needed to maintain a cult following. Playing the so-bad-it’s-good card, the lack of substance can leave some people wanting more, and therefore, despite themselves, coming back. It’s a fatal, yet highly effective trap.
If you don’t expect much from it, then Slayers Evolution-R can provide some light entertainment to a coach potato session. Part 2 continues the camp, comedic style of the series, whilst finally addressing some of the issues many complained the series took too long to get to. The jokes can feel strained or over-done, flashbacks often feel like substitutes for three-dimensional character scripting, and, of course, Lina continues to irritate. A fan could either forgive or strongly condemn these flaws. For a recent addition to a long line of anime and manga, one would expect higher production value from this show. On the other hand, it stays in line with what came before and frequently references characters from other strands, so, at the end of the day; it comes down to where you place your priorities. Critically, though, it cannot stand as a competitor against the more acclaimed anime. AIB
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