Slayers Revolution is a departure from prior Slayers titles in that its the first to make the leap to a modern art style similar to the jump from Dragon Ball/Z to GT. Some might claim that the series loses a part of its charm this way but I quite like seeing the animation brought to this new level and I dont think the writing itself has suffered at allin fact I dont think the series has ever been better. Writing: The art style is one very noticeable change but another is the episode count... yes unlike past 26episode seasons this one has only 13. And it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. But theres another 13episode season after it so its not so bad now as it must have been for fans who were following its premieres. The writing is surprisingly concise compared to past seasonstheyve managed to cram quite a bit of plot development into each episode without it feeling rushed at least in my opinion which makes it a bit less slow and leisurely than past seasons. Granted there are still one or two filleresque episodes in the mix which dont contribute much at all but theyre fun to watch regardless. Art: The art as previously mentioned has taken a huge leap into the modern age. Which basically means everything is cleaner and shinierlooking. Setting aside the question of how things being shiny makes them more realistic the bottom line is that the characters and animations all look much prettier and as a result this season might be a bit more accessible to those who arent established fans of the series and have an aversion to dated animation. In fact I would recommend to some who have doubts about the franchise to start their journey heredespite it being the fourth season its extremely easy to walk right into and again my opinion is a much more fun enthusiastic ride than previous more leisurely seasons. Sound... this is a series where I cant speak for the Japanese dub as I havent watched very much of it. I do know that for English viewers the leap in art quality is accompanied by a leap in dub quality. FUNimation took this opportunity to revamp the show replacing some fairly corny voice roles with new fresh ones... some for better some for worse depending on your opinion of the originals. The new voices are all fitting and wellplayed however so its not jarring due to bad acting just because of the change if you followed past seasons. The score includes tracks from prior seasons a welcome return plus several new themes and rather catchy opening and closing themes as well. Slayers is the iconic series of the VHS anime era and though this era is now past its legacy and its fanbase remains. Its a series which has cut out its own niche in the industry and for good reason. The setting is nothing geniusstandard swordsandsorcery fare but there has to be one anime that stands as the representative of a genre and here stands Slayers. I highly recommend Revolution to existing fans of the franchise and to those who have no experience with it alikethis is a great place to start your Slayers journey if youre not quite sold on the somewhat dated classics. But you should still watch those eventually
70 /100
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