I have to say that I felt that the pacing for this story arc really wasn't very strong. The first four episodes are essentially "filler," with only one or two real events of consequence that actually advance the plot taking place. The early episodes in this series also suffer from the choppy time flow that was rampant in The Slayers Revolution. I also found myself being rather unimpressed by how the series ended. While I felt The Slayers Evolution-R was a little better than The Slayers Revolution, it still doesn't quite measure up with the first three seasons of The Slayers.When FUNimation released The Slayers Evolution-R in the United States, a two-disc DVD pressing was released in June 2010, while a two-disc Blu-ray pressing was released in September 2010. This review will focus on the Blu-ray pressing, since this is the one I watched.
The Blu-ray pressing has nine episodes on the first disc and four episodes and the extras on the second disc. As far as the packaging goes, the box has a slipcover, but there is no booklet included inside the box; all you get in the box are FUNimation advertisements.
When it comes to the Blu-ray menus, the only thing FUNimation did to differentiate between the two discs is that the second disc includes an option for the extras; outside of that, the background images and the music are identical to the menu on the first disc.
It should also be noted that when you watch the episodes with Japanese audio and English subtitles, the subtitles are done in such a way that they can be a little hard to read, especially when they're over a light background; if the subtitles appeared over a darker background, they were easier to read. I'm not sure if it was simply the font color of white or the font style or a combination of both that made the subtitles harder to read than on other releases I have watched.
As to the extras included on the second Blu-ray disc, there is a textless opening song, a textless closing song, and trailers. The trailers included in this set promote Fullmetal Alchemist, Pani Poni Dash, Kaze no Stigma, Trigun, Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU, Initial D, Bamboo Blade, and Big Windup!
If you're a fan of The Slayers and want to have every episode in your home video collection, and haven't already picked up this pressing of The Slayers Evolution-R, either as a DVD or as a Blu-ray, then it's worth picking up to complete your collection.
FUNimation has also released a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack for The Slayers Revolution and The Slayers Evolution-R, which could be a way to go if you don't already own either The Slayers Revolution or The Slayers Evolution-R. However, if you already own The Slayers Revolution and just hadn't gotten around to purchasing The Slayers Evolution-R, then either the DVD or Blu-ray version of this release is what you would want.
I wrote this review after watching a copy of this Blu-ray release that my husband and I purchased.
| New Comer? A New Adventure Begins! Oh My Head! Where Did It Go? Partner! They're Sharing a Body? Quality Time? A Loving Life? Raider! A Voice From the Darkness! Seek! Who Is the Target? Town Scape Because It's a Thing Made by People Uncover the Darkness Unveiled! Voice, What's Inside the Jar? | Wisdom, Wishing for Times Lost Forever! Xeno, the Master of Resurrection! Yesterday's Memory: The Regained Days Zero Hour! Those Heading to Destruction! Bonus Features |
