Slayers Premium

Slayers Premium (スレイヤーズぷれみあむ, Sureiyāzu Puremiamu) is a 2001 Japanese anime short film written and directed by Junichi Satō. Premium, the fifth and latest Slayers film, was first released in Japan on December 22, 2001, along with Sakura Wars: The Movie, Di Gi Charat - A Trip to the Planet and Azumanga Daioh: The Animation.

Slayers Premium
Japanese film poster
Directed byJunichi Satō
Produced byKōji Asano
Seiichi Hachiya
Tomoko Kawasaki
Screenplay byJunichi Satō
Based onSlayers
by Hajime Kanzaka
Rui Araizumi
Music byTakayuki Hattori
Production
company
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
  • December 22, 2001 (2001-12-22)
Running time
30 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

This is the only Slayers movie so far to feature the characters of Gourry Gabriev, Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords and Xellos. Naga the Serpent also has a small role, as "the octopus sorceress".

Plot

Lina and Gourry travel to the town of Acassi, known for its tasty octopus. However, the octopus meat is cursed, causing the person who eats it to only be able to speak takogo (タコ語, octopus language). Sorcerers and sorceresses cursed by this also cannot cast spells, since the spells have to be spoken in a common language in order for them to work.

Gourry just happens to eat one of the cursed octopuses (after fighting for it with Lina), which causes him to speak in takogo. This often creates awkward situations during the film (the phrase "how horrible" being spoken as "flat chested", which offends Lina greatly). But soon, everyone in town starts to speak takogo (including Amelia and Zelgadis, who had just arrived in town), despite the fact that they have not eaten any octopus. Xellos is also there, seeming to know some details about what is going on but is not divulging anything.

It soon becomes evident that the octopuses plan to use the accumulated anger from the villagers of Acassi to release a demon that was sealed many years before. Lina and her friends have to stop these plans before they come to fruition. However, it becomes complicated when Lina is infected with the takogo affliction, which negates much of her magic, including the Dragon Slave, her signature move.

Cast
Character Japanese voice actor English voice actor
Lina Inverse Megumi Hayashibara Cynthia Martinez
Gourry Gabriev Yasunori Matsumoto Christopher Patton
Xellos Akira Ishida Kurt Stoll
Zelgadis Greywords Hikaru Midorikawa Crispin Freeman
Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun Masami Suzuki Luci Christian
Naga the Serpent Maria Kawamura Kelly Manison
Ruma Yuri Shiratori Kira Vincent-Davis
Intelligent octopus Takahiro Sakurai TJP
Master Isamu Tanonaka Jason Douglas
Tavern owner Ichie Seta John Swasey
Guardian deity Goro Naya James Faulkner

Release

Slayers Premium was originally released in Japan on December 22, 2001. It was licensed by ADV Films and released with English dubbing on DVD on January 17, 2005. It was later included in the collection of digitally remastered Slayers films and OAV series,[2] released on Blu-ray in Japan on October 30, 2015.[3][4]

Reception

Aleksandra Janusz of the Polish magazine Kawaii expressed her severe disappointment in Slayers Premium for several reasons, including its short running time, character design and animation changes, the plot that in her opinion was weak with unfunny gags, and deeming returning characters other than Lina and Gourry unnecessary due to their unsatisfactory very small roles in the film.[5] In his review for Anime News Network, Zac Bertschy conversely called it "an entertaining little piece of fan-pleasing animation."[6]

References
  1. "Slayers Premium" スレイヤーズぷれみあむ | HAL FILM MAKER 作品紹介 | TYOアニメーションズ (in Japanese). Tyo-animation.com. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  2. Beveridge, Chris (20 November 2014). "'Slayers' Anime Features & OVA Japanese Box Set Planned". The Fandom Post. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  3. Komatsu, Mikikazu (10 July 2015). "Delayed "Slayers" Film/OVA Blu-ray Box Scheduled for October 30, 2015". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  4. "The Movie & OVA Slayers Digitally Remastered BD-BOX [Blu-ray]" 劇場版&OVA スレイヤーズ デジタルリマスターBD‐BOX [Blu-ray] DVD・ブルーレイ - 林原めぐみ, 川村万梨阿, 阪 脩, 高山みなみ, 白鳥由里, 平松晶子, 大塚明夫, 矢尾一樹, 内海賢二, わたなべひろし. Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  5. Aleksandra Janusz (Ina, Błękitna Czarodziejka), "Slayers nie tylko w TV: Filmy kinowe oraz serie OAV." Kawaii 40 (October–November 2002), p. 12-15.
  6. "Slayers Premium". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
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