The Slayers

This comedic series pokes great fun at the typical "unlikely group of heros coming together to save the world." Lina Inverse, a loudmouthed, selfish, greedy and violent-tempered sorcery genius leads a group of adventurers with various personality defects in their quest to eat as much food as possible, discover riches, and just generally kill stuff with noisy loud explosions. In the process, they might end up saving the world too.

The Slayers, as they are called, dabble in a little bit of everything. Solving mundane problems in spectacular, overblown ways occupies many of the episodes. They also kill bandits, work for hire, and foil schemes.

There's not necessarily one continuous plot from start to finish, though there are a couple of major subplots including stopping the resurrection of a Dark Lord bent on destroying the world, and discovering the identity and motivations behind those who have put a mysterious bounty on their head. Still, these plots are only taken half-seriously by the show, which loves to point out the humorous aspects of these situations, which have become standard fantasy fare. However, when the show does finally decide to concentrate on the plot, it produces a number of fairly intense, action-packed episodes that bely the otherwise humorous nature of the series.

Lina Inverse is the star, and leader of The Slayers. As noted previously, she's greedy, ill-tempered, often appears selfish, and loves throwing her magic around. With all this, what's to like? By herself, not much. But by her interactions with the other characters, she produces many funny moments. Over the course of the show, you might get the idea that she's not as selfish and greedy as she would like others to believe. Still, at times she will be just plain annoying and there's no getting around that.

Gourry Gabriev is the "Fighter" of the group and he's dumb as a post. He accompanies Lina as her protector and she's quick to grow used to having him around. They fight often over food, and Gourry's inability to grasp the simplest of schemes and motivations, but you get the sense that they like it this way.

Amelia is a "Cleric" and devotes herself to a rigid view of Justice that often flummoxes her when faced with a non-black and white situation. She believes in high-drama surrounding the dispensing of Justice, and while funny, it can sometimes grow tiresome. She also has bigger breasts that Lina, a source of clear frustration to the lesser endowed sorceress.

Other characters include Zelgadis, a Cool-looking Chimera (stone man) with great sorcery powers, but who isn't very happy with the form he's been given to acheive them, and Sylphiel, another Cleric who seems out of place in the group given she's not loud, selfish, or destructive. She worries for Gourry-dear, and has great healing powers.

The visuals are decent. Every character is well-illustrated with a big arsenal of facial expressions to convey their quirks and moods (which change often and are often key on clueing you in to the joke). Though the characters are well done, there's a lot of spartan, still backdrops for them to interact against, typical of a low-budget TV series.

Megumi Hayashibara plays Lina Inverse, and she has created quite a character. For as many funny moments that Lina produces, there's no denying that she's often just plain annoying. Some people who see this series will absolutely love the presentation of this character, others will hate it and be turned off by the show.

Amelia is another character who can get on your nerves, though to less of an extreme than Lina.

For me, I was definitely annoyed at points but even then there's no denying that Lina grows on you as the show goes on.