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Slayers Special Review

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Looks like it’s time for the next Slayers adventure. This one also takes place in the past so Lina is with Naga instead of the other fighters. This special is basically an OVA that consists of 3 episodes so you can also think of it as a mini series. Each episode has a stand alone plot, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on the series. It doesn’t work this time though as this is probably the worst Slayers product yet. It’s not awful, but it just doesn’t have most of the qualities that makes Slayers a likable franchise in the first place.

The first episode involves a deal that Lina almost made with a mad scientist. Ultimately, she decided not to team up with him since he wanted to turn her into a giant monster. Years later, he has finally hunted her down with clones of Naga. Their laughter overwhelms Lina and she is brought to the enemy’s lair. Naga will now have to get past her clones to save Lina before she is turned into a Chimera. This could be her toughest mission yet!

This was definitely the weakest of the three episodes. The villain wasn’t very interesting and having the clones beat Lina so easily was pretty anticlimatic. It was unique to have Naga be the one to save her, but the actual episode just wasn’t that funny. It would have been cooler if they had just played it seriously since the actual plot could have been good otherwise. The dream sequence at the beginning is good though.

Next up, Lina and Naga are hired to protect a boy named Jeffrey. His mom wants him to get more confidence and experience in the real world so she hired some fake bandits to go on a mountain. Lina and Naga are to escort Jeffrey up the mountain so that he can vanquish these hooligans. Unfortunately, real bandits have defeated the fakes and Jeffrey turns out to be an incredibly weak fighter. Lina and Naga must defeat the villains while making it look like Jeffrey has done this on his own…which could be harder than expected.

This was the best episode of the three although that may not be saying a whole lot. The running gag of Jeffrey’s mom beating up the heroes starts to get old pretty quickly. The final boss was pretty intense until the plot twist that we had (not) been waiting for occurred. While the episodes try to start off on a serious note, they quickly go back to their comedy ways. It’s one of the things that typically makes Slayers a fun franchise, but this OVA just didn’t know how to transition from serious moments to happy times. As a result, it basically destroys the episode. At least Jeffrey has good intentions…he’ll need them since he has nothing else at his disposal.

Finally, Lina and Naga chase after a sorcerer who has stolen a mysterious mirror. He uses it to make shadow clones of the two heroines and they are opposites in every way. This means that the clone of Naga is really shy and Lina’s is a humanitarian who’s always ready for peace. Lina and Naga must get past these clones if they ever want to break the mirror once and for all. They can’t let these clones tarnish their reputations!

Using the clones plot two times in three episodes? You can tell that the writers were getting pretty desperate by now. It is certainly more entertaining than the first episode and the actual concept is pretty fun. That being said, I would have preferred a serious battle with the fakes than just watching them humiliate themselves. It’s also a bit much since I like to think that an opposite Lina would still know how to use self defense. The villain was better than the one in the first episode, but he still wasn’t a very good character.

Lina still has her accent, but she doesn’t seem as tough as in the film set around this period. She is overwhelmed by the laughing of the clones and she just doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to prove herself since there are no real villains to be found. She’s still a good main character and she’s still adventuring for riches and glory, but Lina is only a shell of her former self. We have her personality from the previous installments, but she is just there. Lina doesn’t get any big moments or fights.

Naga definitely looks a lot worse here than in the film. She may have done a good job against her clones, but she really seems to serve no purpose. When she’s not teasing Lina, she’s taking sides with the villains who fight her. She also gets blasted quite a few times by Lina when she stops paying attention to her surroundings. We know that Naga can fight, but as with Lina, she doesn’t get a chance to show this.

One of the problems that Slayers has always had is the fanservice. Typically, it is limited to chest comments, but it goes a little farther here. Naga seems to primarily appear for fanservice, which means that she doesn’t get a whole lot of character this time. Since all of her appearances involve fanservice with the usual chest comments still around, it doesn’t make for a good combo. This certainly drags down the OVA as it definitely would have gotten around a 6 without this unnecessary addition. The fantasy aspect can hold its own so the animators definitely didn’t need to resort to cheap tricks.

I never thought that I’d say this, but another one of the problems is what usually gives Slayers its greatest strength. I’m talking about the writing. It just was not up to par with what I’m used to seeing in the series and it really showed. The jokes typically relied on fanservice or overused tropes that have been played out. The banter between Gourry and Lina is gone since he isn’t here right now and Naga just doesn’t complement Lina’s character very well. It’s one of the reasons why the prequel continuity will never be as good as the main one. The supporting cast just isn’t very good. (The lack of action compared to the real deal is also a factor to be considered of course)

The animation is pretty decent. It’s definitely not what you’d call high budget, but it doesn’t look bad either. You could just call it standard or average, which will suffice. There are no real fights so that makes it hard to gauge the animation anyway. As long as the talking scenes look good and the backgrounds are clear, then the OVA is doing well. I have no qualms with it in this area. The soundtrack is pretty plain though. You will quickly forget that there is one and it may work well with the scenes as you are watching the episodes, but it is instantly forgettable. Again, that’s better than not having a soundtrack or having a bad one, but the OVA could definitely do better.

Overall, Slayers Special is not quite as special as it seems. Slayers Perfect did a better job of being good and I would still recommend the normal TV shows over both of them. At 3 episodes, you’ll be done with Slayers Special before you know it, but it’s still an OVA that you’d be better off skipping. At most, I would recommend it to ultimate Slayers fans who want to watch everything related to the main series, but it’s essentially three filler episodes so it’s not like it’s going to develop the characters at this point. The OVA just makes too many mistakes and a switch in writers may be called for at this point. At the very least, you’ll like the design for the main villain of the second episode.

Overall 4/10

Chunin Exam on Fire! Naruto vs Konohamaru! Review

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It’s time for a review a pretty short OVA. This is probably the shortest thing that I’ve reviewed since the Superman shorts! It’s only about 13 minutes, but that’s still decent I suppose since it’s mostly about a fight. (30 minutes is still the minimum length that is acceptable for an OVA though) This OVA is pretty good and it definitely beats most of the other Naruto shorts…even if the ending is a little predictable.

After all these years, Naruto has finally decided to retake the Chunin Exams. This will help him to finally move past the Genin handle that has haunted him for so long. Unfortunately for our proud shinobi, Naruto is faced off against Konohamaru in the first round. This will certainly be a fight to be remembered and Naruto is going to have to use all of his techniques. After all, Konohamaru has been waiting for this day for over 3 years!

It’s cool to see Naruto actually take the Exams again, but that’s even more of a reason for this short to have been longer. Wouldn’t it have been cool to see Naruto participate in all of the trials up to the fight? That would have been pretty fun, but I guess they didn’t want to squeeze all of that in. I’m not sure if you guessed the ending yet, but you should realize that Naruto was still a genin in the manga at the time….so it would be hard to move up.

Nevertheless, Konohamaru puts up a fight and I’m happy to say that Naruto takes the fight a little seriously as well. He says that he can’t hold back since it would make Konohamaru feel bad. To an extent, Naruto has to be holding back since his first punch didn’t shatter Konohamaru, but we get the overall message of what he is trying to say. Konohamaru tries a lot of different jutsu and apparently he even knows the Giant Rasengan. That’s pretty cool for his fans since he is definitely learning at a quicker rate than Naruto. Technically, this means that he should be able to surpass Naruto at some point, but I don’t see it.

One thing (There is Always one thing) that I found the writers to have made a mistake on was Naruto’s Rasengan barrage. We get that he’s not holding back, but attacking Konohamaru with dozens of Rasengans is a little much. If any of those hit the poor kid..he’d be dead. There’s no way he could survive a full encounter with one of those devastating attacks. It looks cool to see Konohamaru dodging them the whole time, but that was definitely a bit much.

The animation is decently good for this OVA. It’s basically TV show quality, but considering some of the episodes during the War arc, I guess this is still an improvement. At this point, we’ll take what we can get. Also, it’s not like the OVA had a big budget to back it up so I’m sure that they did what they could with it. As long as the animation doesn’t look bad, I’m fine.

Overall, Naruto vs Konohamaru is a pretty fun special. It’s certainly not something that is going to keep you talking for a while, but who doesn’t like to see a fight scene? Naruto got to prove that he may be a Genin, but he can still hold his own against anyone. The ending is pretty cheesy and a little sad, but it’s unfortunately one of the only paths for the writers to go. I would have gone with the “I surrender” route, but that wasn’t in the cards. I recommend checking this out one of these days when you have the time. It’s brief and fun, which is all that you would expect from this. After that, check out Shippuden film 3!

Overall 7/10

Tsubasa Spring Thunder Review

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It’s time to review the second Tsubasa OVA, which is also the final one to ever be created. For better or worse, the franchise ended (On TV anyway) with this installment so does it provide us with a lot of closure and such? No….not quite. Luckily, this turns out well for us in the sense that it is basically nonstop action. This OVA raises the stakes from the last one and we have less exposition so more time for fights. As you can tell, this one easily defeated the last OVA!

The plot continues after the heroes saved Fai from the sorcerer….is that really how the last OVA ended? Wellllll…maybe not, but they assume that you guys read the manga so it’s okay to jump a lot! Kurogane loses his arm and someone goes to get him a replacement when an old foe appears. Remember Seishiro, Syaoran’s mentor? Well, he’s back to keep on searching for the vampire twins and he also decides to intimidate the heroes as a consolation prize. Syaoran isn’t having any of that and he attack the man. He shall get the feather at any cost! Unbeknownst to the heroes..the other Syaoran also approaches! (The original Syaoran who was with us for the whole series before turning evil…that Syaoran)

Now, this OVA can be a little cruel to longtime fans of the series who didn’t read the manga since it skips a whole bunch of story arcs while including flashbacks that reference them. It’s an intriguing strategy and one that many will not really appreciate. It’s probably a lot more fun if you’ve never seen Tsubasa before since it’ll be a mystery. (I said something similar for the last OVA) Starting off with the heroes escaping from a dying world after murdering the magician who had been hyped as one of the ultimate villains since the very first episode is rather anticlimatic as well. I’d be pretty disheartened if Frieza or Aizen had been taken out off screen like that. We also don’t really hear the plot twist about Fai’s name. (Tsubasa loves its name twists…..just wait for Kurogane’s!)

So, the continuity of this OVA is definitely a little dicey, but if you read the manga everything will still make a lot of sense. At first, I was pretty skeptical about Kurogane losing his arm since it seemed to be counterproductive at the time. It would just reduce his chances of escape right? Luckily, we just find out that he had to sacrifice his arm to save Fai and escape. (Fai’s always getting rescued now and that’s a trend that won’t end anytime soon) Tsubasa saved itself from that small stumble.

This OVA is only two episodes so it’s extremely short. Luckily, it tries to make up for this with all of the action and its a winning strategy. The first episode mainly deals with Syaoran’s fight against Seishiro and it’s nice to see how Syaoran’s improved since their last encounter. (Different Syaoran, but same fighting techniques) However, Syaoran has not improved nearly as much as you would have thought and he’s still losing pretty badly in this fight. I love his determination, but it’s disappointing to see him so outmatched here. Things get even dicier for him in the second episode since he goes up against Dark Syaoran. (I’m going to just say Dark before his name to make it easier to tell them apart) Dark Syaoran is much stronger than Seishiro in my opinion although I’m sure that many would disagree on that. Syaoran puts up a brave fight, but I seriously don’t see him posing much of a threat for the experienced villain. The fight scene is fun and it’s nice to see the contrast of fire vs thunder.

I definitely enjoyed the action scenes in this OVA more than the last one’s. They weren’t rushing and the fights were allowed to really develop. The energy attacks from Seishiro’s blade as well as the two Syaorans also helped since energy attacks tend to look pretty great when they’re used in such a high budget OVA. One area where this OVA lost to the last one is the theme song. The last one was lacking in images, but the overall atmosphere helped it and the green circle was ominous. There really isn’t anything redeeming in this opening and it’s just very boring. I don’t know what happened, but it feels like it was created as an afterthought. There’s no action scenes or anything and it just shows all of the characters a bunch of times. Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z has openings over 20 years ago that were better than these. There’s no excuse for a bad opening these days since so many anime produce great ones every year!

Aside from the opening, the soundtrack is pretty good. Naturally, most of the selections are from the show so they are tried and true. They never get old and it’s very well rounded. I’m pretty sure that my favorite theme didn’t play this time, but I suppose that it can’t make the cut every time. (Even though it is the best theme….)

I would almost say that Syaoran is a 5 star protagonist in this OVA. (5 out of 5 of course) However, there is one scene that holds him back and it is near the beginning. Seishiro starts to intimidate the heroes and he beats up on Fai for a while…and nobody helps. This is actually worse for Kurogane (Since he does nothing, but Syaoran should have done something. Syaoran does challenge Seishiro to a match, but it’s only because he wants the feather. He seemed to not care about what was happening to Fai, which was pretty out of character. Aside from that brief moment, Syaoran was basically perfect.

At this point, Sakura is basically avoiding him (As seen in a new flashback) so he is basically alone. He’s still intent on getting the feathers so that Sakura can have her memories back, but he’s going to have the short end of the stick either way. He’s still very resolute in this decision and he’ll face anyone to get the feathers. He never backs down and Syaoran is just a great hero. He’s certainly more heroic than your average fighter and he doesn’t even need any comic relief scenes to balance his personality out. He’s completely serious and stone faced the entire OVA and it works for his character.

Dark Syaoran mainly appears for the second episode, but he does get a pretty epic cliffhanger for the first episode. He definitely means business and to be honest…I’m basically rooting for him. I try to root for both Syaorans equally, but Dark Syaoran is technically the character that I’m more used too and if you didn’t see the last OVA, you wouldn’t know just how evil he is. From this perspective, he seems more like an anti-hero, although a strong case can be made that he’s the villain since he’s willing to destroy the other Syaoran. Regardless, his goal is to help Sakura get her feathers back and the main difference is that he doesn’t take no for an answer. His design is epic and you can tell that he’s more on the dark side than the regular Syaoran. Dark Syaoran definitely helped the series excel to new heights!
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Sakura is a lot better here than in the last OVA. She is typically awake…well, she’s awake inside of her dream anyway. It’s an interesting moment since she has a meta conversation with Watanuki and it’s all very deep. (Literally since they’re basically underwater) It can be a little upsetting to see her avoid Syaoran, but we do find out the reason for it at the very end and it’s explained more at the end of the manga. It makes sense to an extent since we wouldn’t want Syaoran to get any false hopes. Her final moment is not that great though since it’s something that we’ve seen a lot of characters do in the past and it’s always a clock stopper. (Not in a good way…I want my action scenes to keep on going!) She doesn’t fight in this OVA, but we can always hope that she’ll grab her gun and take on a villain someday.

As mentioned earlier, Kurogane looks really bad here. Not only does he freeze up when Fai is attacked, but he has been reduced to sitting on the sideline for all of the battles. Gone are the days when he was a big fighter. (He does get a big fight soon, but it is not animated at this point in time) He does have some scenes with the princess where we find out new twists and such, but it’s not really going to help him rise up the ranks. I like him as a character, but I just didn’t care for him here. Just counting this OVA and not the previous one + TV show, Kurogane just wouldn’t be that great.

Although, Kurogane would still be better than Fai. Now that Fai is basically powerless, he’s really no help to the team. He tags along and gets beat up by the enemies, but that’s about it. We know that he’s a very good hand to hand fighter from the TV show…unless he was just amping up his abilities with magic. Still, I would expect him to do better and I’m sure that he would have some good moments in the future. This OVA just happens to take place at a time where he doesn’t really have a role to speak of. It’s a sad time for him and Kurogane.

It’s good to see Seishiro appear after being gone for so long. He’s easily one of the best characters in the franchise and his character is still a mystery. He seems to have joined the side of the heroes in this OVA sine he’s a lot friendlier then he once was, but you still have to question his goal. What will he do with the vampires once he finds them? It’s too bad that Seishiro won’t stick around to help since he could definitely do a lot of good. He may be the strongest hero at the moment and that’s saying something! I guess he’ll just have to let the main characters do their thing, but it would have been nice if he had stayed with the party.

The tone of this OVA is a little more like the show. There are still a lot of twists, but it’s a little lighter. The stakes haven’t gone down, but these two episodes feel like they could have been in the animated series. Maybe the director changed or it’s just a coincidence in the story. The Kamui arc was likely darker in the manga as well. This one had more nostalgia for me in that sense and that’s always a nice plus.

The ending may be more than a little dicey for Tsubasa fans and for those who just picked this OVA up on the fly. The ending gives us a huge cliffhanger with the heroes deciding to take out the main villain once and for all as they make another dimension jump. After all of the adventures, we are finally at the final battle! Only to find out that the series was not going to be continued and that you would have to read the manga and try to decipher the fight scenes to see it! On one hand, it’s not cool since you’ll never see the ending, but I do have to admit that I’m a sucker for a good cliffhanger. That type of ending really makes me jump on the hype train! It’s just so intense and it’s one of the ultimate cliffhangers! (Another example of an ultimate cliffhanger is Goku finally arriving to his allies’ aid against Frieza or Sasuke preparing to fight Gaara after some intense training. Shonen Jump is full of these scenes and it’s one of the reasons why they are awesome!)

Overall, Tsubasa definitely ended on a high note with this OVA! It’s a mixed bag since it doesn’t really tie up most of the loose ends and it doesn’t really end, but it was still a very fun ride. We had a lot of action and the soundtrack/animation will hold up very well for many years. Bringing back Seishiro and Dark Syaoran was a good way to bring in most of the villains and Fei Wong got his little cameo. Kurogane and Fai looked really underwhelming and this is their last animated appearance to that could be a little disheartening to their fans. (Not quite as bad as being a fan of the evil sorcerer though…) I definitely recommend this OVA to Tsubasa fans and to anyone who enjoys a nice anime fight! It doesn’t really have any negative qualities and it fixes the mild issues that I had with the first OVA. (I’ll miss the Angelic Layer crossover from the manga, but I suppose that this was how it had to be. Hopefully it’ll get animated someday) This is something that you’ll be glad you saw!

Overall 8/10