The 90s was a sort of renaissance for anime in the West, as a lot of anime that was airing in that time was starting to be brought over across the sea. Because of that, a lot of the anime released during that time is still remembered fondly by olderanimefans.
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One of those classic anime series isSlayers, ananimebased on a light novel series written by Hajime Kanzaka. It stars genius sorceress Lina Inverse and her adventures with her companion Gourry Gabriev.During the 90s, the anime had three seasons, each one very successful. Despite its popularity, there are a few things that fans might not know about this legendary series.
10Lina’s Voice Actor Sang The Show’s Opening Themes
Japanese voice actors and actresses pursuing singing careers is nothing out of the ordinary, and many anime productions often take advantage of such talent for their openings.Slayers, for example, has Lina’s voice actor Megumi Hayashibarasing the opening themesfor every season of Slayers.
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Megumi Hayashibara has lent her singing talents to more than justSlayers. She has had a lengthy career as a recording artist, with over ten albums to her name. She still occasionally performs live in addition to her voice-over roles.
9Megumi Hayashibara Is An Anime Veteran
While Megumi Hayashibara is known for being Lina Inverse’s voice actor, she is an accomplished industry veteran that has had multiple famous roles. Some of her most famous roles are as female Ranma Saotome fromRanma 1/2, Faye Valentine fromCowboy Bebop, and Rei Ayanami fromNeon Genesis Evangelion. Those roles are her most well-known characters; Hayashibara has played many characters over the years, includingAi Haibara inDetective Conanand Anna Kyoyama inShaman King.
Megumi Hayashibara is not the only famous voice actor to have worked onSlayers; Hikaru Midorikawa and Akira Ishida also have recurring roles in the anime, as Zelgadis and Xellos respectively.
8Lina Has A Sister Who She Is Terrified Of
Lina Inverse is one of the most powerful magicians in the world, a fact that she will happily let you know. As a result, she does not scare easily, even when facing cosmic threats that are capable of destroying the world.
However, even an all-powerful sorceress like Lina has something she’s afraid of, and for Lina, that is her older sister. Lina is terrified by even a single mention of her sister, and a word from her can make her usually bold personality do a complete 180. Hilariously, Lina’s sister has never appeared in the story at all outside of cameos, so the reason behind Lina’s fear is never elaborated on.
7Lina Has A Traveling Partner That Doesn’t Appear In The Anime
Lina Inverse’s ever-present companion is Gourry Gabriev, a dim-witted but heroic swordsman. In the light novels and the anime, Gourry is always traveling with Lina, even when their other allies part ways with them.
However, in the animated movies, things are a little different. Gourry is absent, and Lina’s traveling partner is instead Naga the Serpent, a voluptuous and narcissistic sorceress originating from theSlayers Specialprequel novels. Lina and Naga are the main characters for the first fourSlayersmovies, as well as theSlayers SpecialOVA.
6Slayers TRY Was An Original Story
The first two seasons ofSlayerswere based on storylines taken from the original light novels.Like most adaptations, there were a lot of changes made to make the plot fit into each season, but the overall storyline of the anime closely followed whatever was happening in the corresponding novel.
However, the creators decided to change tracks for season 3, andSlayers TRYwas instead an original storyline created by the writer Hajime Kanzaka. The story introduced new characters Filia Ul Copt and Valgaav, and focused on exploring an area outside of the series' main setting.
5Slayers' Author Didn’t Like Slayers TRY
The original story ofSlayers TRYwas written by Hajime Kanzaka, the original author of the light novels. Despite this, Kanzaka ended up not likingSlayers TRY, although he has not really given much reason as to why.
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Regardless of Kanzaka’s opinion of the third series,Slayers TRYhas been very successful and is considered by fans to be on par, if not better than the preceding seasons.Slayers TRYhas remained a classic and is still beloved by fans to this day.
4Slayers' Original Run Was Supposed To Have A Fourth Season
The original run ofSlayers,Slayers NEXT, andSlayers TRYran from 1995 to 1997. The continuing success of the anime series meant that a fourth season calledSlayers AGAINwould be planned for 1998. However,that fourth season never came to fruitiondue to scheduling conflicts with Megumi Hayashibara (who appeared in six different anime that year).
Slayerswould eventually return in 2008 with two 13-episode seasons calledSlayers RevolutionandSlayers Evolution-R. The two seasons were based on a new story, and are not related to the original fourth season.
3Lina Inspired A Character In Dota 2
Slayers' influence in pop culture is a little subdued in the west due to it not being as popular as monoliths likeDragon Ball ZandMobile Suit Gundam. Despite this, it has a considerable following, and nods to the series can be seen here and there.
One big example can be seen in aDota 2character also named Lina. While the character’s backstory is quite different from Lina Inverse, they share some similarities, such as themboth being redheaded mages. Lina also has two abilities that take their name from Lina Inverse’s spells, Dragon Slave and Laguna Blade.
2Slayers And Lost Universe Are Connected
While Hajime Kanzaka is most known as the creator of theSlayersnovels, he has written other novels as well. One of the most well-known of these isLost Universe, a sci-fi story following trouble contractor Kane Blueriver as he travels through space with his sentient spaceship Canal Volfield.Lost Universealso had an anime series airing in 1998.
Although the settings of the two universes couldn’t be more different, in truth, the two series are connected. This is because the worlds of both stories are created by the same Lord of Nightmares, and the dark gods ofSlayersappear as “Lost Ships” inLost Universe.
1The Story Continues On In The Light Novels
TheSlayersanime ran between 1995 and 1997, with a short revival between 2008 and 2009. Since then,no new anime projects forSlayershave been announced, and it’s safe to assume that won’t change in the foreseeable future.
However, the light novels have been going strong, with the latest novel released in 2019. Even ifSlayersnever gets an anime again, fans can still get more of Lina Inverse and her adventures by hunting down the light novels. Unfortunately, not all of the light novels have been translated yet, so fans might have to learn a bit of Japanese for the newer volumes.
