Slayers - Premium [2001] [DVD]

Fans of Slayers will no doubt be pleased to see the Slayers cast return in the oddest adventure yet! Premium may only be half an hour long, but this could be considered a good thing, as previous Slayers movies seemed like an extra long, extra boring TV episode (in my honest opinion).
This is the first Slayers movie to feature the cast from the Tv series, that is, Lina, Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadis! Even Xelloss and Naga make their own unique appearences!
It's a pity we couldn't see the extras such as Filia, Val, Martina, Zangulus etc. but this movie had me in stitches even without the extras!
The basic storyline goes, Lina and Gourry go to a small seaside town where the speciality is octopus! Of course, the two of them are eager to eat it, that is, until they discover the mysterious curse that happens upon anyone unfortunate to eat the octopus. This, of course, has hilarious consequences!
In addition, the animation has been given an extra boost, as well as some CGI in the mix. Look out for Gourry-Neo!

Slayers Premium is the fifth and final film (But not series) in the Slayers anime franchise and is the only one which follows Lina and the original cast of the anime series. Apparently set some time after Slayers TRY (Though Gourry for some reason has his Sword of Light...) the as mad as ever plot finds Lina and Gourry staying at a small fishing town looking for its famous Octopus delicacy, though not surprisingly their arrival coincides (Or is caused thanks to Lina's fiery style of fishing...) with a curse that hits the town folk and causes the towns folk and Gourry to speak in nothing but Octopusese, a langue which includes the words but not meanings of "I love you" and "Flat Chested" much to Lina's digression. So starts a battle against the local Octopuses who wish to unleash there Guardian and get revenge against the humans who have been harvesting them for years.

It's a typical mad and fun Slayers story which is solid in structure and holds a lot of the humour which makes Slayers so enjoyable from mix-ups with the Octopusese language to the simply bonkers resolution to the Octopus and human conflict. The plot also cheekily plays with the relationship between Lina and Gourry and has some wonderful battle scenes including some Matrix style choreography as Gourry fights gent spinning Octopus.

Lina and Gourry are also joined once more by the wonderful Amelia, who is as self-righteous as ever and I liked how her relationship with the ever straight-man Zel is a little more apparent now. My personal favourite character Xellos also makes a nice if totally unnecessary and quite unexplained appearance ("It's a secret!") and you should also look out for a small cameo from a character from the past Slayer films... In addition to these is Ruuma, a one of character written for the film and has potential for the role but she ended up showing little past a basic personality while the other one of character have little time at all given its short running time which is a shame. The main Octopus enemies are well thought-out and hilarious at the same time.

The animation has been given a large lick of paint since the previous films and series which makes it look better than ever while the soundtrack is nothing special but fits the film very well.

The Japanese cast is as wonderful as always and I would, as always, recommend them for the best Slayer experience; however for those who enjoy the English dub I must say I rather like this English cast. Cynthia Martinez and Chris Patton are wonderful as Lina and Gourry while Crispin Freeman, the only returning member of the show, is also very good as Zelgadis. The only real downside is Kurt Stoll who plays a rather bland Xellos, which is a shame because I thought David Moo played him rather well in the series.

Extras include a commentary featuring Cynthia Martinez and Crispin Freeman which has little in terms of production information wise, but it's an and humorous feature that I wish had been added to the pervious films/series. There is also a good interview with Crispin himself.

It's not the strongest of the films, but Slayers Premium is a lot fun if you're a fan of the franchise and especially the anime series. Be warned however that at only 30+ minutes long it ends up feeling more or less like a one off anime episode rather than a proper film but that doesn't stop this from being a well-made, hilarious and enjoyable entry in to the Slayers universe.

The entire purpose of "Slayers - Premium" is to reunite the bickering, food-mad, highly-destructive little fantasy team, and send them on another bizarre quest du jour. There's not much more substance to this frothy little tale of octopus rebellion and mixed-up language (and Xellos is there just to... be there), but overall it's a fun little diversion with plenty of "Slayers" charm.

Lina and Gourry are dining at a village famed for its octopus... only to learn that the octopus is tainted by evil demonic power, which makes Gourry spout gibberish Octopese. And when Amelia and a very reluctant Zelgadis arrive, they are quickly infected by the disease -- and though there's a spell that can cure them, the local sorcerer can't say the words!

So Lina and her incoherent pals venture down into the depths, and discover a hyperintelligent octopus who plans to resurrect their sea god, and take horrible revenge on all of humankind. And unfortunately, Lina has also become infected with the Octopese-disease... just in time for her Dragonslave to putter out. Will the octopus god destroy the afflicted town? And just what is Gourry saying when he says, "I love you!"?

"Slayers Premium" is basically like watching a slightly long, rather fluffy episode of the anime series (despite a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo by Naga during the climax). And it's basically packed with all the required gags that "Slayers" has always had -- Lina's savage beatings and flat chest, squabbles over food, Amelia's dramatic speeches, and the occasional Dragon Slave.

Beyond that, the plot is a pretty fluffy affair -- the whole idea is that octopi are enraged by humans hunting them, and their foppish hyperintelligent leader is planning to unleash a terrible threat on land-based life. So it has plenty of sword fights, magical attacks, Gourry fighting with "bullet time," and plenty of humor derived from the Octopese language (including all Lina's friends moaning, "FLAT CHESTED!" in unison, to express their dismay).

And the handling of the characters is mixed -- Lina is wonderfully bombastic and short-fused, while the hapless Gourry babbles when he isn't swinging the Sword of Light, and the much-abused Zelgadis is dragged on a culinary adventure he wants no part in ("Octopus is NASTY!"). Unfortunately, Amelia is portrayed as rather too oblivious and hypersensitive (she bursts into tears because Zel tells her to walk ahead?), and Xellos is basically there to tell Zel what's going on. Really, that's all.

It's worth noting that the voice actors in this movie are not the same as in the TV series, save for the excellent Crispin Freeman. The other range from good (Lina and Gourry's voice actors) to bad (Xellos sounds like a ten-year-old boy, and the "That is a secret!" lacks mockery).

"Slayers Premium" is not premium by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a cutesy little adventure story that entertains for a half hour. Amusing, if rather stretched out of shape.