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Slayers
Slayers anime promotional image
スレイヤーズ (Sureiyāzu)
Genre	Adventure, comedy, fantasy
Light novel
Author	Hajime Kanzaka
Illustrator	Rui Araizumi
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
English publisher	Madman Entertainment Tokyopop
Demographic	Male
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	1989 – 2000
Volumes	15
Light novel
Slayers Special
Author	Hajime Kanzaka
Illustrator	Rui Araizumi
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
English publisher	Madman Entertainment Tokyopop
Demographic	Male
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	1991 – 2008
Volumes	31
Light novel
Slayers Smash
Author	Hajime Kanzaka
Illustrator	Rui Araizumi
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Male
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	1996 – 1997
Volumes	2
Light novel
Slayers Delicious
Author	Hajime Kanzaka
Illustrator	Rui Araizumi
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Male
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	1997 – 1999
Volumes	4
Light novel
Slayers x Orphen
Author	Hajime Kanzaka & Yoshinobu Akita
Illustrator	Rui Araizumi & Yuuya Kusaka
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Male
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	2005 – 2005
Volumes	1
Manga
Medieval Mayhem Slayers
Author	Hajime Kanzaka
Illustrator	Rui Araizumi
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
English publisher	Madman Entertainment CPM Manga
Other publishers: Editorial Ivrea Carlsen Comics Planet Manga Editorial Vid Japonica Polonica Fantastica Panini Comics
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	1995 – 1995
Volumes	1
Manga
Super Explosive Demon Story Slayers
Author	Hajime Kanzaka
Illustrator	Shoko Yoshinaka
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
English publisher	Madman Entertainment CPM Manga
Other publishers: Editorial Ivrea Carlsen Comics Planet Manga Editorial Vid Japonica Polonica Fantastica Panini Comics
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	1995 – 2001
Volumes	8
Manga
Slayers Special
Author	Tommy Ohtsuka
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	2000 – 2001
Volumes	4
Manga
Slayers Knight of the Aqualord
Author	Tommy Ohtsuka
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	2003 – 2005
Volumes	6
Manga
Slayers Premium
Author	Tommy Ohtsuka
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	2004 – 2005
Volumes	1
Manga
Slayers Revolution
Author	Issei Hyōji
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Dragon Age
Original run	2007 – 2008
Volumes	1
Manga
Slayers Legend
Author	Issei Hyōji
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Dragon Age
Original run	2008 – 2009
Volumes	2
Manga
Slayers Evolution-R
Author	Issei Hyōji
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Dragon Age
Original run	2009 – ongoing
Volumes	1
Manga
Slayers Light Magic
Author	Yoshijirō Muramatsu
Illustrator	Shin Sasaki
Publisher	Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Kerokero Ace
Original run	2009 – ongoing
TV anime
Director	Takashi Watanabe
Writer	Takao Koyama
Studio	E.G. Films
Licensor	Bandai Visual Madman Entertainment Central Park Media, Funimation Entertainment
Network	TV Tokyo
English network	Funimation Channel Colours TV International channel
Other networks: Etc...TV CERTV - Canal 4 A+, Animax, RTL Klub, Cool Tv, Axn Sci-fi Italia 1 TV Azteca, XHGC, Televisa GMA 7, Hero TV, QTV 11 RTL7, TVN Siedem SBS, Tooniverse
Original run	April 7, 1995 – September 29, 1995
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
TV anime
Slayers Next
Director	Takashi Watanabe
Writer	Takao Koyama
Studio	E.G. Films
Licensor	Madman Entertainment Central Park Media, Funimation Entertainment MVM Films
Network	TV Tokyo
English network	International channel Funimation Channel
Other networks: Etc...TV A+, Animax, RTL Klub, Cool Tv, Axn Sci-fi Italia 1 TV Azteca, XEW-TV, Televisa ABS-CBN, Hero TV, QTV 11 SBS, Tooniverse
Original run	April 5, 1996 – September 27, 1996
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
TV anime
Slayers Try
Director	Takashi Watanabe
Writer	Takao Koyama
Studio	E.G. Films
Licensor	Bandai Visual Madman Entertainment Central Park Media, Funimation Entertainment
Network	TV Tokyo
English network	International channel Funimation Channel
Other networks: Etc...TV A+, Animax, RTL Klub, Axn Sci-fi Italia 1 TV Azteca, Televisa, Canal 5 ABS-CBN, Hero TV, QTV 11 SBS, Tooniverse
Original run	April 4, 1997 – September 26, 1997
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
TV anime
Slayers Revolution
Director	Takashi Watanabe
Writer	Jiro Takayama
Studio	J.C. Staff
Licensor	Funimation Entertainment
Network	TV Tokyo
Other networks: Animax
Original run	July 2, 2008 – September 24, 2008
Episodes	13 (List of episodes)
TV anime
Slayers Evolution-R
Director	Takashi Watanabe
Writer	Jiro Takayama
Studio	J.C. Staff
Licensor	Funimation Entertainment
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	January 12, 2009 – April 6, 2009
Episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Slayers Special
Director	Hiroshi Watanabe
Writer	Keiko Watanabe
Studio	J.C. Staff
Licensor	ADV Films
Released	1996 - 1997
Episodes	3
Original video animation
Slayers Excellent
Director	Hiroshi Watanabe
Writer	Keiko Watanabe
Studio	J.C. Staff
Licensor	ADV Films
Released	1998 - 1999
Episodes	3
Related works
Slayers Perfect (1995 film) Slayers Return (1996 film) Slayers Great (1997 film) Slayers Gorgeous (1998 film) Slayers Premium (2001 short film)
Anime and Manga Portal

Slayers (スレイヤーズ, Sureiyāzu^?) is a series of over 52 light novels written by Hajime Kanzaka and illustrated by Rui Araizumi. It was later developed into several manga titles, five televised anime series, two three-episode original video animations (OVAs), and five movies. It also spanned three console role-playing games for the PlayStation, as well as one for the Super Famicom (known internationally as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Slayers is a Dungeons & Dragons inspired narrative that follows the adventures of the young sorceress Lina Inverse and her companions as they journey through their world.¹² Using powerful magic and swordsmanship they battle overreaching wizards, demons seeking to destroy the world, dark lords, and the occasional hapless gang of bandits.

Characters

Setting and magic

In the Slayers universe the Lord of Nightmares is the ultimate being, the creator of at least four parallel worlds. The Claire Bible, an artifact containing the knowledge of a fallen shinzoku, Aqualord Ragradia, states that the Lord of Nightmares seeks to regain her "true form"³, which is only attainable by destroying these worlds and returning them to the chaos that she herself is. For unexplained reasons, though, the Lord of Nightmares has not acted upon this desire by herself so far.

On each of these worlds are gods (shinzoku, lit. "godly race") and demons (mazoku, lit. "evil race"), fighting without end. Should the gods win the war in a world, that world will be at peace. Should the demons win, the world will be destroyed and returned to the Sea of Chaos. In Lina's world, the supreme god is Flare Dragon Ceiphied, and the supreme demon is the Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo. Long ago, their war ended more or less in a stalemate, when Ceiphied was able to split Shabranigdo's existence into seven pieces in order to prevent him from coming back to life, then sealing them within human souls. As the souls are reincarnated, the individual fragments would therefore be worn down until Shabranigdo himself would be destroyed. However, Ceiphied was so exhausted by this that he himself sank into the Sea of Chaos, leaving four parts of himself in the world.

A millennium before the events in Slayers, one of Ruby-Eye's fragments (which was sealed in the body of Lei Magnus, a very powerful sorcerer) revived and began the Resurrection War (降魔戦争, Kōma-sensō^?, alternately "War of Demon Conquering") against one of the parts of Ceiphied, the Water Dragon King, also known as Aqualord Ragradia. Ultimately, the piece of Shabranigdo won, but Aqualord, using the last remnants of her power, sealed him into a block of magical ice within the Kataart Mountains. Nevertheless, Shabranigdo's lieutenants remained at liberty, sealing a part of the world within a magical barrier, through which only mazoku could pass.⁴

There are four types of magic within the Slayers universe. Black magic spells, such as the famous Dragon Slave, call directly on the powers of the mazoku and are capable of causing enormous damage. White magic spells are of an obscure origin and are used for healing or protection. Shamanistic magic is focused on manipulation and alteration of the basic elements of the natural world (earth, wind, fire, water and spirit) and contains spell for both offense and convenience, such as Raywing, Fireball, or Elmekia Lance. Holy magic uses the power of the shinzoku, but the aforementioned barrier made its usage impossible before the death of the mazoku Hellmaster Phibrizzo. As a rule, mazoku can only be harmed by spiritual (astral) shamanistic magic, holy magic, or black magic which draws power from another mazoku with greater might than the target.

Above all other magic, however, are the immensely destructive spells drawing power from the Lord of Nightmares. The two spells of this class are the Ragna Blade, capable of cutting through any obstacle or being, and the Giga Slave, which can kill any opponent, but which could also destroy the world itself if the spell is miscast.

Media

Light Novels

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Slayers was originally serialized in Dragon Magazine in 1989 as a Light Novel series written by Hajime Kanzaka, and with artwork by Rui Araizumi.⁵ The serialized chapters were then published as Slayers across 15 volumes from January 25, 1990 to May 15, 2000.⁶⁷ On September 7, 2004, Tokyopop began releasing the light novels in English.⁸ On January 2, 2008, they released Volume 8.⁹

• Slayers Special (31 Volumes, prequel to Slayers series, 1991–2008)
• Slayers Smash (2 Volume, prequel to Slayers series, ongoing)[1]
• Slayers Delicious (4 Volumes, prequel to Slayers series, 1997–1999)
• Slayers VS Orphen (1 Volume, crossover between Slayers and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, 2005)

Manga

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• Slayers (1 volume, illustrated by Rui Araizumi, original story, published in 1995, reedited in 2001, also known as Slayers Medieval Mayhem)
• Chōbaku Mahōden Slayers (original name: 超爆魔道伝スレイヤーズ, 8 volumes, illustrated by Shoko Yoshinaka, adapted from Slayers main novels 1-8, 4th volume adapted from Slayers Return movie, 1995-2001, also known as Super Explosive Demon Story Slayers)
• Slayers Special (4 volumes, illustrated by Tommy Ohtsuka, adapted from Slayers Special novels, 2000-2001)
• Slayers Premium (1 volume, illustrated by Tommy Ohtsuka, adapted from the movie of the same name)
• Slayers Knight of the Aqualord (6 volumes, illustrated by Tomy Ohtsuka, original story, 2003-2005)
• Slayers Revolution (1 volume, illustrated by Issei Hyouji, original story)
• Slayers Evolution-R (still being published in Monthly Dragon Age, illustrated by Issei Hyouji, original story)
• Slayers Legend (2 volume compilation from old Slayers manga, with chapters from Slayers and Choubaku Mahouden Slayers, and a new manga called Slayers: Falshes no Sunadokei, Slayers: the Hourglass of Falshes)

In July 1998, Central Park Media announced they had licensed the manga for distribution in North America.¹⁰ On June 15, 1999, Slayers: Medieval Mayhem was released.¹¹ The 4 volume series Slayers Special was published between October 12, 2002, and June 25, 2003 ¹²¹³ Super-Explosive Demon Story, a 7 volume series, followed Between July 9, 2002 and December 1, 2004.¹⁴¹⁵ Finally, On July 5, 2005, Slayers Premium was released.¹⁶

Between July 26, 2008 and March 2009, a new series entitled Slayers Light Magic began serialisation in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace. The series is written by Yoshijirō Muramatsu and Shin Sasaki, and set in a technological world instead of a fantasy world.¹⁷¹⁸

Anime

The first of the four seasons of the anime bore the franchise's title. The second season was titled Slayers NEXT, and the third season was titled Slayers TRY. A fourth season, Slayers AGAIN, was rumored following the success of TRY, but early scheduling conflicts caused interest in the project to dissipate.¹⁹

The series was released in North America by Software Sculptors, who released the first series on VHS and Laserdisc in 1996, with a choice of dub or subtitles.²⁰ Four volumes were made, covering the first thirteen episodes. Episodes 14-26 weren't released until 1998. Slayers NEXT was released on VHS from April 1999 in subtitled and English dubbed options. A boxset of the first four volumes was released in July 1999, and a boxset of the second four volumes was released in October of the same year.²¹ Slayers TRY was released later the next year. Central Park Media also released the first three seasons on DVD (in season box sets) in early 2000. They were also re-released a few years later.

In May 2005, at Anime Central in Rosemont, FUNimation Entertainment announced they obtained the license for the TV series, since the previous owner's license expired in Fall 2005.²² It aired as part of the FUNimation programming block on CoLours TV.²³ and the first bilingual DVD box set was released on August 27, 2007 containing the Central Park Media dub.²⁴ A boxset of Slayers, Slayers NEXT and Slayers TRY was released by Funimation on August 4, 2009.²⁵

In 2009, MVM Films began releasing the series in the United Kingdom on a monthly basis. The first series was released on four DVDs between January 5, and April 6, 2009. The first volume of Slayers NEXT was released on May 11, 2009.²⁶

Episodes have also been made available on the streaming video site Hulu and Funimation's website.²⁷

A fourth anime series, Slayers Revolution, premiered in Japan on July 2, 2008.²⁸ Megumi Hayashibara performed both the opening and ending theme songs.²⁹ The new plot to be told across two 13-episode arcs and follows an original storyline that has subplots based on events in the novels, with series director Takashi Watanabe and production studio J.C. Staff reprising their duties from the three original TV series.³⁰ A fifth Slayers series titled Slayers Evolution-R is the second 13-episode arc of Slayers Revolution and was aired on AT-X starting on January 12, 2009 in Japan.³¹ FUNimation has licensed both Slayers Revolution and Slayers Evolution-R for American release; digital releases are currently scheduled for 2009, with the first of the DVDs set to be released in 2010.³² Funimation was able to reunite most of the original Central Park Media main character cast for the dubbing of the new season. However, Michael Sinterniklaas will replace David Moo as Xellos.³³ In December 2009, Funimation announced that the first "Slayers Revolution" boxset will be released on March 16, 2010. ³⁴ Funimation released the first 4 English dubbed episodes of Slayers Revolution to YouTube on January 19, 2010. ³⁵

OVAs

Two OVA series followed the anime series. Slayers Special (スレイヤーズスペシャル^?) consisted of 3 individual episodes directed by Hiroshi Watanabe and released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten and J.C. Staff. The first episode was released in Japan on July 25, 1996 on Laserdisc and VHS.³⁶ In North America, Slayers Special was initially released on as two separate titles, Slayers: Dragon Slave and Slayers: Explosion Array.⁵ On January 12, 1999, ADV Films released Slayers: Explosion Array! on VHS in a choice of subtitled and dubbed options.³⁷ On November 21, 2000, ADV Films released Slayers: Book of Spells, containing all 3 Slayers Special episodes.³⁸

A second three series OVA, Slayers Excellent (スレイヤーズエクセレント^?) followed in 1998. It was also directed by Watanabe and produced by J.C. Staff. ADV Films released all the OVAs to VHS and DVD.

Films

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1. Slayers The Motion Picture (Movie, 1995)
2. Slayers Return (Movie, 1996)
3. Slayers Great (Movie, 1997)
4. Slayers Gorgeous (Movie, 1998)
5. Slayers Premium (Short movie, 2001)

All films were produced by the J.C. Staff, and released to VHS and DVD in North America by ADV Films.

Anime Comics

• SLAYERS Return (1 Volume, adapted from Slayers Return movie, 1996)
• SLAYERS Great (1 Volume, adapted from Slayers Great movie, 1997)
• SLAYERS Gorgeous (1 Volume, adapted from Slayers Gorgeous movie, 1998)

Radio drama

• Slayers Extra (4 episodes, adapted from Slayers Special novels, 1995-1996)
• Slayers N'extra (4 episodes, adapted from Slayers Special novels, 1997)
• Slayers Premium (1 episode, prologue and epilogue to Slayers Premium movie, 2002)
• Slayers VS Orphen (1 episode, adapted from Slayers VS Orphen novel, 2005)
• The Return of Slayers Ex (帰って来たスレイヤーズエクス, Kaette Kita Slayers Ex^?) (new Radio-Drama, 3 episodes for the time being, 2006)

Games

RPGs

The series was adapted into an ad on for the Magius RPG.⁵

In August 2003, Guardians of Order published a licensed Slayers RPG that used the d20 System,³⁹ and three guidebooks that included pages of game stats in Guardians of Order's BESM game system for major characters, spells and weapons.⁴⁰

Video games

Several Slayers role playing games have been released in Japan. Slayers was released by Banpresto on Super Famicom on June 24, 1994.⁴¹ Another game entitled Slayers was released for NEC PC-9801. Slayers Royal was released by Kadokawa Shoten for Sega Saturn on July 25, 1997. and by ESP Software for PlayStation on June 25, 1998.⁴²⁴³ A sequel, Slayers Royal 2 was released on Sega Saturn by ESP Software on September 3, 1998 and on PlayStation on July 11, 1999.⁴⁴⁴⁵ Slayers Wonderful was published by Banpresto for PlayStation on October 22, 1998.⁴⁶

Music

Reception

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In Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know, Giles Poitras wrote "More humorous and less serious looking than the characters in the Lodoss War series, the stars of Slayers provide action and laughs".⁴⁷

References

External links

• FUNimation's Official Slayers Website
• Enoki Films' Slayers website, with plot summary and a short episode synopsis of each episode
• Slayers (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Slayers Universe Resource website
• FUNImation's Teaser Site for Slayers: Revolution

The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the copyrighted Wikipedia "Slayers" article.