Slayers

The Motion Picture

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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Anime	Character Bios DVD Credits Menu Audio and Animation Scene Selection Audio and Animation Slide Show Theatrical Trailers (3) Trailers (12) Web Link
Rating
Year Released	1995 Japanese 1998 English
Running Time	66:03 minutes (not 76 minutes as stated on packaging)
RSDL/Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region	1,2,3,4,5,6	Director	Hiroshi Watanabe
Studio Distributor	ADV Films Siren Entertainment	Starring
Case	Amaray	Starring
RPI	$34.95	Music	Takayuki Hattori

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English (Dolby Digital 2.0, 192Kb/s) Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0, 192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.80:1
16x9 Enhancement
Original Aspect Ratio	?1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	?	Smoking	No
Subtitles	English Spanish	Annoying Product Placement	No
Subtitles	English Spanish	Action In or After Credits	No

Plot Synopsis

Every so often, there is something just so utterly silly that makes its way into your DVD player that you have to love it. More often than not, it is likely to be an anime title. Slayers-The Motion Picture is, I am afraid, one of those occasions. This is just plain silly, but you simply have to enjoy the ride that ensues. It makes no sense whatsoever but really, who cares?

Lina Inverse is a sorceress of great power - and small breasts. Now this is mentioned for the very good reason that just about every opportunity is taken during the film to remind you of this fact. Nagha the Serpent is also a sorceress of great power - and huge breasts. This is mentioned for the very good reason that just about every opportunity is again taken during the film to remind you of this fact. Nagha is a sidekick of sorts to Lina, and after a run-in of sorts with some sadly underpowered brigands, they travel to the legendary island of Mipross to indulge in the unrivalled hot springs on the island. Getting to the island is no mean feat, since for most of the year it is shrouded by an impenetrable mist. This is a special little island, and we find out how special almost immediately when Lina and Nagha get involved in some rather silly little fights, but eventually end up hired to rid the island of the evil that shrouds it - courtesy of what seems to be some sort of cross between Kermit The Frog and a Kimodo Dragon. This is a real demon and we learn the dreadful secret of Mipross Island, a demon that Lina and Nagha are to expunge from the island forever in a little bout of time travel.

Yes, it really is that silly but sometimes we just need to be silly for an hour or so. If you want serious character development, you are sadly barking up the wrong piece of anime. If you want serious plot development, you are definitely barking up the wrong piece of anime. If you want some rather extreme animation with a fascination with a very scantily clad and huge-breasted woman, this is your piece of anime. Nagha makes Anna Nicole Smith look flat-chested, if that is at all possible. The two lead characters toss around some inane spells that keep the amusement level high, to go along with some really inane dialogue and some quite inane fight scenes. However, it is all done with sufficient tongue-in-cheek to ensure that we understand that this is supposed to be a piece of silly fun. It succeeds admirably.

Whilst I am not certain that this is the sort of thing that I would want to return to on a regular basis, this is definitely a great piece of anime to pull out whenever you just feel like a bit of silliness. Watch this thing with your tongue firmly planted in your cheek and this will keep you amused. If you cannot do this, then perhaps this is best avoided.

Transfer Quality

Video

In general, the transfer is a pretty decent effort. Note however that it is an NTSC format disc and can only be viewed on display devices capable of playing the NTSC signal.

The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.80:1 (measured) and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

Despite this being a non-16x9 enhanced NTSC transfer, the overall transfer is in general quite decently sharp and well-defined throughout, although exhibiting the usual slight loss of definition due to the NTSC format. Shadow detail is pretty decent throughout. This is a very clear transfer and there are no problems at all with low level noise in the transfer.

The colours are beautifully rendered, with nicely bright and vibrant colours on offer. Coupled with the good quality animation at times, this was a transfer that certainly grabs your attention. The very nice palette of colours on show are rendered without any hint of oversaturation nor colour bleed. Visually this is quite a stunning-looking transfer, especially considering that it is not 16x9 enhanced and is suffering from the inherently inferior resolution of NTSC. Whilst not quite the best that I have ever seen from this source, there is no doubt that ADV Films do an excellent job on their transfers in general.

Like the previous DVDs reviewed from this source, there is not much wrong with the transfer as far as MPEG artefacts, film-to-video artefacts nor film artefacts are concerned. About the only problem that is really noticeable is some mild shimmer that occasionally becomes apparent in the transfer. To be fair though, I think most of this is due to the NTSC format, rather than any real problems with the mastering of the transfer.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

There are two audio tracks on the DVD, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and a Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. Since my Japanese continues to be non-existent, I predominantly listened to the English soundtrack, although also sampled the Japanese soundtrack, which needed the English subtitles on as well..

The dialogue was always clear and easy to understand.

Naturally the animation suffers from the usual "audio sync" problems.

The original musical comes from Takayuki Hattori. To be honest, it did not leave much of an indelible mark on me, so it is safe to assume that it is a competent effort without being especially distinctive.

The soundtracks are quite nice efforts, with nothing really too dynamic happening in the sound picture and obviously with nothing from either the surround channels or the bass channel. These are really very stereo-sounding efforts and once again you just occasionally wish for some surround-encoding to add a bit of bite to the sound. Other than that, the soundtrack is similar to the other releases from this source and therefore is free from distortion and has a decent sound picture for a straight stereo effort, although again in my view (cultural bias again) the English track is more natural-sounding than the Japanese track.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Another decent package on offer here, with the usual proviso about the trailers being promotions for VHS tapes and not DVDs.

Theatrical Trailers (3)

I know, they are not technically speaking theatrical trailers, but rather are promotional trailers for (presumably) television. The first two, the Jelly's Revenge Mix and the Latin Lingo Mix, are presented in an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1, are not 16x9 enhanced and come with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound that sounds like it is surround-encoded but is not - for the simple reason that all the action is out of the rear speakers and none out of the front speakers. This is a known problem with this disc, well reported in the USA. The third trailer, the Slayers OVA Mix, is presented in a full frame format, which is not 16x9 enhanced and comes with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. In common with almost ADV releases, whilst playing the trailers, the DVD display only shows a "play" message rather than the running time. There are no complaints about the technical quality of all three.

Other Trailers (11)

All twelve efforts, which are again promotional trailers presumably for television and are well known from other ADV Films releases, are presented in a full frame format, are not 16x9 enhanced and come with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound, except one: Slayers: The Motion Picture (presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1). The selection on offer this time is: Queen Emeraldas, Battle Angel, Legend Of Crystania, Tekken: The Motion Picture (sensation mix), Sakura Wars, Slayers - The Motion Picture, City Hunter, Dirty Pair Flash, Ninja Resurrection, Sorcerer Hunters, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Those Who Hunt Elves.

Character Biographies

DVD Credits

Slide Show

Ten stills taken from the film, without annotation and still with little purpose.

Website Links

Just an automated direct link to the ADV website.

R4 vs R1

This is identical to the version available in Region 1.

Summary

Slayers-The Motion Picture is a silly piece of work, but it nonetheless is a pleasant way of spending just over an hour of your time. From a technical point of view this is a pretty good DVD, albeit displaying some of the inherent problems of the NTSC format.

A good video transfer.

A good audio transfer.

A decent extras package.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	Pioneer DV-515; S-video output
Display	Sony Trinitron Wega 80cm. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Audio Decoder	Built in
Amplification	Yamaha RXV-795. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Speakers	Energy Speakers: centre EXLC; left and right C-2; rears EXLR; and subwoofer ES-12XL