I'm a bit late here, but also first? Gosh was everyone waiting on me?
MERCILESS: Kanzel proves rather quickly why he wasn't too concerned after Mazenda's death, turns out he could have soloed the entire party whenever he wanted. The party unloads their heavy hitters, Gourry's Sword of Light, the Ra Tilt, Elemekia Lances, but none of it so much as scratches him. (hey remember at the end of the first season when you powered up the Sword of Light WITH a Ra Tilt? Maybe that's worth trying here? No?)
But things take a dark turn when Kanzel knocks Lina off the edge of the floating continent, and without her magic she can't fly to safety. A rather unceremonious end for our main character. Episode over!
Or it would be if it wasn't painfully obvious that Lina's powers returned once Mazenda died. Turns out she was acting like she was powerless since then in order to get the drop on Kanzel with a Dragon Slave. Despite the fact that he sees this coming and has expertly dodged every other spell thus far he just stands there for some reason and takes it. Oh well! Day is saved! Episode over!
Or not because there's still half an episode left, so Kanzel survives and decides to fight for (really) real! He goes all DBZ on the party and starts Zwee Fighting, making an admittedly clever use of his powers (though, again, no reason why he couldn't have been doing this all along aside from needing to raise stakes). He proves to be untouchable while phasing in and out of reality and backs the party into a corner, so Lina decides to try that new spell she recently learned that supposedly 'cuts through anything' and hits him with a full power Ragna Blade. And THIS time, he's dead for real. Episode over!
Ooooorrrrr not, because Kanzel was a literal load-bearing boss and the floating continent he raised up, and which was at that point flying over Seyruun, has no magic powering its flight anymore and starts to plummet. But after a panicky planning session Xellos reminds Lina that with her powers back, and with those Magic+ talismans she now has, a single Dragon Slave should take care of the falling island, which it does, and instead of destroying all of Seyruun Lina instead only destroys like 10%. It's fine, the civilians evacuated right? Day is saved for real! Episode over!
....Yes, for real this time. Well there's some somber reflection at Alfred's grave about whether or not the Monsters tempted him or if he was always a greedy jerk, and Lina knows now that one of the higher ranking monsters out there, Demon Dragon King Gaav, is after her specifically. Bad times coming up. After the next round of filler episodes, anyway!
Oh and I would be remiss if I didn't point out what is my absolute favorite Prince Phil moment in the entire series. His Paternal Love Smashing Burst Jump is a sight to behold, even if it doesn't work (though it does succeed in taking any drama that might have existed around Lina falling off the continent since Phil survives his fall, but whatevs, it's Phil).
NUMBER: Ok first off, wow, there were some... unfortunate character designs in this one. Maybe just, uh, ignore the character that looks like a witch doctor and the monster that's a giant tiki mask.
Also I guess the mafia exists in the Slayers universe? And they even have resorts with actual pools? Whatever, don't think too hard about it.
Anyway said mafia boss tries to pressure Lina into buying an unproven treasure map for 100k Whatever-Currency-They-Use-There, and we all know why that was a bad idea. Lina blows them all up for the thread, and pays only 10k, so of course the mafia swears revenge.
But that's not all, while trying to find this supposed treasure, a holy spell of divine protection, the party runs into some twins who look like they wandered in from a completely different series entirely. I mean, that hair style with that hair color makes them almost copyright infringing. But the twins are also after the treasure, and the episode becomes part dungeon-dive, part race.
I quite like some of the gags in the dungeon, as the party continuously bungles various traps by not waiting for Lina to finish reading. The party is also threatened by the aforementioned tiki mask monster (who also has hilarious Bugs Bunny feet, his whole design is kind of a mess) and some mercs working for the mob, and eventually all parties converge in the treasure chamber
Turns out the treasure is a song that Lina and Amelia have to sing, while wearing some embarrassing clothes. The entire rehearsal attempt is cringy no matter the language, but with some excellent reactions from the peanut gallery (yet another comment on Lina's chest notwithstanding) and I do like that even the Monster is watching this unfold with no idea what to do.
But the best part of this is if you're watching it dubbed, because right before the actual song starts they evidently just give up and switch to the Japanese audio track, which Lina herself introduces. It's such a bizarre decision but I kind of love it.
Anyway turns out the 'spell' is actually just a festival ritual, the only magic it summons are some sakura petals upon finishing. So Lina does what you would expect her to do after that critical failure, blow up literally everyone. Even Zel and Gourry are buried in the rubble afterward!
But somehow or another Martina and Xellos witnessed the act (and escaped the blast???) so the episode ends with yet another Dragon Slave, just for Martina. But she took one to the face in the first episode of the season, she's fine. Sturdy, those comic relief characters.
MERCILESS: Kanzel proves rather quickly why he wasn't too concerned after Mazenda's death, turns out he could have soloed the entire party whenever he wanted. The party unloads their heavy hitters, Gourry's Sword of Light, the Ra Tilt, Elemekia Lances, but none of it so much as scratches him. (hey remember at the end of the first season when you powered up the Sword of Light WITH a Ra Tilt? Maybe that's worth trying here? No?)
But things take a dark turn when Kanzel knocks Lina off the edge of the floating continent, and without her magic she can't fly to safety. A rather unceremonious end for our main character. Episode over!
Or it would be if it wasn't painfully obvious that Lina's powers returned once Mazenda died. Turns out she was acting like she was powerless since then in order to get the drop on Kanzel with a Dragon Slave. Despite the fact that he sees this coming and has expertly dodged every other spell thus far he just stands there for some reason and takes it. Oh well! Day is saved! Episode over!
Or not because there's still half an episode left, so Kanzel survives and decides to fight for (really) real! He goes all DBZ on the party and starts Zwee Fighting, making an admittedly clever use of his powers (though, again, no reason why he couldn't have been doing this all along aside from needing to raise stakes). He proves to be untouchable while phasing in and out of reality and backs the party into a corner, so Lina decides to try that new spell she recently learned that supposedly 'cuts through anything' and hits him with a full power Ragna Blade. And THIS time, he's dead for real. Episode over!
Ooooorrrrr not, because Kanzel was a literal load-bearing boss and the floating continent he raised up, and which was at that point flying over Seyruun, has no magic powering its flight anymore and starts to plummet. But after a panicky planning session Xellos reminds Lina that with her powers back, and with those Magic+ talismans she now has, a single Dragon Slave should take care of the falling island, which it does, and instead of destroying all of Seyruun Lina instead only destroys like 10%. It's fine, the civilians evacuated right? Day is saved for real! Episode over!
....Yes, for real this time. Well there's some somber reflection at Alfred's grave about whether or not the Monsters tempted him or if he was always a greedy jerk, and Lina knows now that one of the higher ranking monsters out there, Demon Dragon King Gaav, is after her specifically. Bad times coming up. After the next round of filler episodes, anyway!
Oh and I would be remiss if I didn't point out what is my absolute favorite Prince Phil moment in the entire series. His Paternal Love Smashing Burst Jump is a sight to behold, even if it doesn't work (though it does succeed in taking any drama that might have existed around Lina falling off the continent since Phil survives his fall, but whatevs, it's Phil).
NUMBER: Ok first off, wow, there were some... unfortunate character designs in this one. Maybe just, uh, ignore the character that looks like a witch doctor and the monster that's a giant tiki mask.
Also I guess the mafia exists in the Slayers universe? And they even have resorts with actual pools? Whatever, don't think too hard about it.
Anyway said mafia boss tries to pressure Lina into buying an unproven treasure map for 100k Whatever-Currency-They-Use-There, and we all know why that was a bad idea. Lina blows them all up for the thread, and pays only 10k, so of course the mafia swears revenge.
But that's not all, while trying to find this supposed treasure, a holy spell of divine protection, the party runs into some twins who look like they wandered in from a completely different series entirely. I mean, that hair style with that hair color makes them almost copyright infringing. But the twins are also after the treasure, and the episode becomes part dungeon-dive, part race.
I quite like some of the gags in the dungeon, as the party continuously bungles various traps by not waiting for Lina to finish reading. The party is also threatened by the aforementioned tiki mask monster (who also has hilarious Bugs Bunny feet, his whole design is kind of a mess) and some mercs working for the mob, and eventually all parties converge in the treasure chamber
Turns out the treasure is a song that Lina and Amelia have to sing, while wearing some embarrassing clothes. The entire rehearsal attempt is cringy no matter the language, but with some excellent reactions from the peanut gallery (yet another comment on Lina's chest notwithstanding) and I do like that even the Monster is watching this unfold with no idea what to do.
But the best part of this is if you're watching it dubbed, because right before the actual song starts they evidently just give up and switch to the Japanese audio track, which Lina herself introduces. It's such a bizarre decision but I kind of love it.
Anyway turns out the 'spell' is actually just a festival ritual, the only magic it summons are some sakura petals upon finishing. So Lina does what you would expect her to do after that critical failure, blow up literally everyone. Even Zel and Gourry are buried in the rubble afterward!
But somehow or another Martina and Xellos witnessed the act (and escaped the blast???) so the episode ends with yet another Dragon Slave, just for Martina. But she took one to the face in the first episode of the season, she's fine. Sturdy, those comic relief characters.
(there’s no jellyfish emoji)