The second season in the Slayers anime continuity Slayers Next is in my eyes a strict improvement over the first season while simultaneously being a bigger departure from the Slayers OVAs. Hajime Kanzaka has expressed distaste for the direction of the anime series over time as he seems to prefer the more whimsical and episodic read: cartoony nature of the OVAs. I am of exactly the opposite opinion and welcome the stronger presence of an overarching story as the series progresses. Thats not to say we are absent the fun and fillery episodes that take our party on episodic adventures between plot sections but they tie into the plot more now than in the past and we have more characters to go on them with now as well. ... Writing: Slayers Next boasts a stronger continuity than the first season but veers in something of a strange direction that wont be ending anytime soon: Whereas the Big Bad of Slayers was the demon lord Shabranigdo this seasons Big Bad is one of his minions. And not to spoil too much but the Big Bad of season 3... is one of HIS minions. Reverse power creep is a strange strange thing. Nevertheless the villains are just as threatening this time around and we even see some stirrings of demon politics going on in the background suggesting a much larger story going on behind the scenes. This helps to give the Slayers world a great deal more depth setting it apart from the generic gather a party and slay the demon lord plot that in my opinion the first season suffered from. Season 2 plays with tropes much more than its predecessor and even features more revolving party membersincluding the introduction of who I consider to be just about the best character in the series. But I digress. Animation: Artwork and animation has made a step up from season 1 but its subtle. Subtle enough that its noticeable without being jarring which is good. Its still a 90s anime series with 90s anime artwork so dont expect anything too spectacular. Thats part of the charm of the series after all. Sound: By season 2 the dub cast has settled into their roles and are performing them quite nicely. Gone are the sudden voice cast changes of season 1. The dub is a little corny and a little 90s but faithful to the original script. No censorship but one or two awkward translations/adaptations of Japanese puns which are always a hurdle for any English translation. The Japanese dialogue lives up to the quality of the previous entries in the Slayers franchise. Some voices are too whiny and nasally for my taste but take your preference. Music is neither exceptionally good or bad but a little bit blandthe sound of Slayers isnt quite as iconic as other series may be with their soundtracks but it serves its purpose as background music. An allaround average score for sound. ... While I do consider Slayers Next an improvement over Slayers classic theres still room for improvement. Its always hard to rate the individual entries in a large series like Slayers without considering the whole of the franchise so let me end on a positive note by saying that the franchise only gets better as it progresses. Slayers Try comes next so if youre making your way through the series from the start you can look forward to whats coming. If youve never seen anything Slayersrelated though I wouldnt suggest jumping into the middle with Next or Try.