My Thoughts on: Slayers TRY (season 3) (1997)

After several false starts, I finally made my way through Slayers TRY, the third season of Slayers overall. As with the first two seasons, Slayers TRY follows the ongoing adventures of Lina Inverse and company, now making their way into the outside world in the wake of Lina’s defeat of Hellmaster Phibrizzo at the end of Slayers NEXT. But of course, this being Lina Inverse, adventure and intrigue is simply going to seek her out whether she wants it or not.

Our cast of heroes is joined this season by Filia, a priestess of the Fire Dragon King who also happens to be a dragon herself (she appears as a human for most of the season, but a running gag will have her tail showing at inopportune moments, she also favors a HUGE mace for a weapon). I found myself liking Filia, she’s clearly the audience surrogate in this story (if her reactions to Lina and company are anything to go by), and it’s interesting to watch how her character evolves from the beginning to end of the season.

I freely admit that Slayers TRY is not quite as good as Slayers NEXT, but it does tell a good story. One of the big things in this story, unless I completely missed the point, is that the question of who is good and who is evil is somewhat addressed (Gourry openly asks the question late in the story arc). When the story begins, you think you know who the good guys and bad guys are; but as the story progresses, it starts to emerge that maybe things aren’t as black and white as we thought they were.

One funny moment that I have to share comes early in the season. Filia gives Lina a letter from her older sister Luna Inverse (who was originally meant to be the main character of the story before Hajime Kanzaka realized Lina was far more interesting). We’ve never actually met Luna, but Lina’s reaction to the note (telling her sister to take the job “or else”) tells us everything we need to know. Lina’s over-the-top freakout includes assembling a pyramid, building a tomb and sarcophagus inside before sinking the pyramid into the earth and screaming hysterically that her sister is going to kill her! It’s a scene that makes me laugh every time I watch it.

If you’ve enjoyed the first two seasons of Slayers, then you will likely enjoy Slayers TRY as well. It keeps the adventure going, and it has a really sweet ending.

Let me know your thoughts on Slayers TRY in the comments below and have a great day!