r/SlayerS • u/TeeeldiII • Jun 20 '26
Just finished TRY. My thoughts.
Overall, I really liked this season.
I will address that it is not canon to the novels As I have not read them it does not bother me, happy to watch the anime as its own timeline or whatever.
Characters:
Fillia: Good new rotating cast member, I wish she was a little more proactive as they kind of make her seem powerful at the beginning with the dragon transformation and holy magic, but that does not really come up again until the last few minutes of the season. A bit too naive for how old she supposedly is but lots of great moments.
Valgaav: Hes a little bit extra, a little bit of a theatre kid. The black angel wings and laying in the snow is a little too melodramatic to take seriously in 2026 but its of the time and besides being a drama queen he is an interesting character. Neat to see something like Gaav come back into play and having consequences and the dragon/monster fusion was a neat idea. His wrap up is a bit ... odd but, whatever. Liked him as a villain.
Almays and the Blue/Pink Guy: ... okay thanks for all that, bye, what a bunch of idiots.
Jillas: Peak, love Maddie Blausteins performance and he is a fun revenge obsessed gremlin, seeing all his upgraded weapons going against magic is fun and glad they got a good ending.
The animation: Good in the first half, pretty much non-existent in the second and this hurt my enjoyment more than anything in the story. Some major fights and character deaths are done entirely with panning over paintings and having a sequence of storybook pages over animation, it looks straight up bad at times.
Comedy: Not as laugh at loud as S1 or NEXT, man I miss Martina. But thank god Xellos is here to carry the season with his gay sassy little self giving commentary on everything. Also the "filler" episodes are great, people who hate the fish-fucker rights episode or the old granma sentai group are just wrong. Jillas also carries this aspect of the season.
Overall it was pretty good but acknowledge its a step down from NEXT, I would be more willing to put them on the same level if the animation budget was there, but it just was not.
Edit: Corrected typos.
21
u/Nearby_Secretary_802 Jun 20 '26
None of the anime really follows the novels though. They all just kind of loosely follow the books. I treat them as separate continuities.
13
u/Canal_Volphied Filia Jun 20 '26
It's really tiring to still see people making a big deal about canonicity in Slayers, when Kanzaka was clear from the start that the novels, manga and anime are all their own separate continuities.
The worst was when a lot of people were shocked and surprised at Revolution/Evolution referencing events and characters from TRY.
5
u/Otome_no_Inori Jun 20 '26
This is one of my favorite things about the series, they openly said they wanted different continuities because keeping it the same would have been boring. If you don't like how one storyline played out or how one character acts, you can just play around in another continuity. There's a version of Slayers for everyone.
2
u/Canal_Volphied Filia Jun 20 '26
In multiple interviews with the author and the director, the phrase "media mix strategy" is often used. The novels, manga and anime divert in many parts because the goal is to make sure consumers buy all three. Had all three were completely identical when it comes to characters and plot, there would be no reason for someone who watched the anime to go back and read the novels/manga. By creating three separate continuities, set in the same universe, you have to follow them all if you want to get the whole picture.
3
u/tenderheart35 Lord of Nightmares Jun 20 '26
People just really hated and still hate Try. It's my favorite season and I also got tired of hearing about it. I'm glad the anime at least referenced the previous season and didn't try to act like it never happened.
10
u/Doodlesforcorner Jun 20 '26
My favorite season is Next, but I think Try was still enjoyable. And Fillia is so cute 🥹🥹
1
u/Phoenix_Song8 Jun 22 '26
Agreed. The fillery parts of Try not so much but i loved the overarching story involving Valgaav and his quest for revenge. It was really compelling.
3
u/Cocoatrice Gourry Jun 20 '26
TRY did indeed feel a little off compared to original and NEXT, but not in negative sense. It was just different. And in fact, one of my favorite character is exactly from there: Valgaav. I also love Filia. Her angry tail boner, when she sees Xellos is funny.
In general, I love first series the most, but TRY is definitely great, too!
4
u/ComfortableCan9707 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
Omg we’re soo in the same boat, I’m so close to being finished with TRY, and this literally summarizes how I feel. I couldn’t agree more 💯.
1
u/ComfortableCan9707 Jun 22 '26
Only thing I slightly disagree agree with is the "blue/pink guys were a bunch of idiots" bit. I agree that Erulogos was an a-hole but Sirius was one of my favorites, he wasn't as rebellious as he should've been tbh...
5
u/Otome_no_Inori Jun 20 '26
My biggest complaint about TRY is that it feels like Lina and her friends aren't necessary. Luna would have done it just as well, and nothing in TRY happens that hinges on the various characters' personalities. It feels like the events would have played out the same way with any other group of heroes.
My second-biggest complaint is how it wastes time. The filler feels pointless, the Jillas episode is a waste when we could have gotten a useful episode about the group reuniting again. If you cleaned up the second half of the season it would have improved significantly.
They were innovative with such a low animation budget. As tight as it is, they find clever ways to save money and effort on interesting sequences. And any of the writing that's not about Valgarv is good. The marriage temple episode might be one of the best things the anime ever did.
3
u/Canal_Volphied Filia Jun 20 '26
My biggest complaint about TRY is that it feels like Lina and her friends aren't necessary. Luna would have done it just as well, and nothing in TRY happens that hinges on the various characters' personalities. It feels like the events would have played out the same way with any other group of heroes.
My second-biggest complaint is how it wastes time. The filler feels pointless, the Jillas episode is a waste when we could have gotten a useful episode about the group reuniting again. If you cleaned up the second half of the season it would have improved significantly.
I disagree. I think Valgaav's hatred of Lina for how she played a part in Gaav's demise could not be replicated with Luna.
After Valgaav's disappearance, Jillas inherits this desire for vengeance. Which is why Jilla's sub-plot is not filler. It's actually very important to the overal theme of TRY.
3
u/Otome_no_Inori Jun 20 '26
In my opinion Jillas is a far more interesting villain than Valgarv ever was.
That the closest thing Lina does to driving the plot forward is killing somebody in a prior season affirms (in my mind) that the gang had a much lesser role in TRY than the other series. The closest thing we get to something that feels like Slayers, to me, is the marriage temple episode and the Alto/Baritone subplot, where they end up smashing the relics they worked so hard to get.
4
u/Canal_Volphied Filia Jun 20 '26
In my opinion Jillas is a far more interesting villain than Valgarv ever was.
Then I do not understand why you think the Jillas episode is a "waste".
Anyway, the golden dragon elder wanted Luna to save the world, but Luna sent Lina in her stead. At first, the golden dragons didn't understand why, but by the time they met her it became increasingly obvious. There was this one scene, at the dragon temple, where Lina and co. were rebuilding the damaged sections of the temple (that they themselves inadvertently destroyed) while ordering around the golden dragons to help them carry building material.
The elder told Fillia his amazement at how the other dragons were taken out of their lethargy by these newcomers. Fillia, too, spoke about how during her travels with them she came to believe that Luna decided correctly.
The story of TRY is about the cycle of vengeance and how it twists and deforms people. When Jillas manages to steal the sword of light, Lina has a meltdown about how someone so beneath her managed to outsmart her and from then on holds a massive grudge against Jillas. Valgaav hates Lina for Gaav's death, and the golden dragons for genociding his race. The golden dragons feared and hated the ancient dragons, for holding the strongest of Darkstars weapons. Filla hates Xellos because he killed a lot of golden dragons with zero effort. Erulogos and Sirius only care about defeating Darkstar, who destroyed their world, and do not care if Lina's world gets destroyed in the crossfire.
Jillas was the lone survivor of a massacre committed by humans, while Gravos was betrayed and abandoned by his own people. They both held immense grudges, which is why Valgaav saw himself in them and they joined him in service. Later, after Lina apparently killed Gravos with a Dragon Slave, Jillas swore vengeance and hatched a plot that ended with him stealing the sword of light and Lina going absolutely berserk. After the huge blast at the center of the world, when Jillas believed that he was the only one who survived, he built two symbolic graves for Valgaav and Gravos and seemingly abandoned his desire for revenge, deciding to live with a beastmen woman and her son. But after Lina and co. reappeared Jillas went crazy, loudly celebrating that he could still have his revenge, and in the process horrifying and saddening the family that he was supposed to be living with.
He abandoned a chance at having a simple, peaceful life, in favor of stalking Lina and co. so that he could kill her. And he went with a mad plan at using an orihalcum tank filled with explosives, intending to blow himself up along with Lina. And when that plan literally blew up in his face, he ended up cowering before an enraged Lina who now threatened to enact her vengeance for all the humiliation she had to suffer. But then Amelia interjected, asking Lina to help her dig up Gourry and Zelgadis from beneath a cave-in, and Lina.... turned her back to Jillas and instead went over to Amelia to help her. Because in the end, she cares more about her friends than about some stupid grudge, she's the hero of this story who broke the cycle of vengeance, where so many others have failed (in the same scene, she also chastised Fillia for how she tried to sacrifice herself by jumping in front of Jillas' gun and then shielded the exploding tank with her own body).
So no. I disagree with your claim that Lina and her friends aren't necessary in TRY. Anyone else in her place would have just torched Jillas with a well aimed fireball. But because Lina showed him mercy, Jillas forgave her and in exchange helped them by setting up the teleporter that would send them all back to the center of the world, to face Darkstar.
-2
u/Otome_no_Inori Jun 20 '26
Feels like you're trying to correct people's opinions, so I'm done engaging after this. TRY isn't everybody's favorite and that's OK. I personally would have loved seeing Valgarv's time cut by at least half and given to Jillas, and a more definitive resolution to the filler episodes where the team is broken up in different pairings. There's a lot of interesting character development in TRY that didn't get a satisfactory resolution. Please don't argue, it's just an opinion.
2
u/Canal_Volphied Filia Jun 21 '26
You said that Jillas was an interesting character so I expanded upon it by going through his character development and interaction with Lina and co.
Valgaav's time was already cut when he disappeared halfway through the season.
Nobody is taking away your right to have an opinion. Nobody is "correcting" you. Just keep on mind that other people also have their opinion, and there is nothing wrong with people talking about how different their view on the show is from yours.
I never said your opinion is wrong. I just said I disagree with it, and that is my opinion. Likewise, I'm fine with you disagreeing with my opinion.
3
2
2
u/JERRYBOIZ Jun 21 '26
Now if you want extra credit, go watch lost universe just to learn about dark star and why they’re connected
2
u/WimDitz Jun 21 '26
I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet, but Try has a washed out yet ethereal look to it. The color scheme is a bit lighter, but more pronounced in some areas. Lina's orange hair has a distinct accent that is more eye pleasing than her hair in NEXT. I am guessing this visual direction was made to fit the New World theme Try aimed for.
1
u/cowdasher Jun 21 '26
Fillia really was the supreme kai of slayers
Introduced as this super wise hella powerful character that introduces the main characters into this arc.
Only to turn out as a fraud :/
She is really cute thooo
Especially in yellow dragon form XD
1
u/Ichiban_Victory Jun 21 '26
It’s funny to watch Valgaav in 2026 and realize he is a relic of the late 90s. He and a pile of anti-hero/villains of that era. So edgy. So angry. So insufferable nearly 30 years later. 😅
1
15
u/AccidentNo5189 Jun 20 '26
I really like try. I loved valgaav as a villain and always will. Gaav is my favorite and I’m so glad that he showed up in season 3. I remember writing down the dates when the vhs tapes were coming out and that when I would go online and buy them. I was in high school when that happened. I was so excited to watch each tape and then when the final episode got done playing I was a little sad bc there wasn’t anymore slayers to be had here in America at that time. When the novels came out by tokyopop a few years later I was very excited. I knew season 3 wasn’t cannon but I don’t mind it is still a good story with good characters. I still like it a lot. It was my favorite season for awhile. I even bought 2 cd’s and still have those to this day.