The Slayers Evolution-R is a direct continuation of The Slayers Evolution, and it consists of 13 episodes. In these episodes, Lina and her comrades must find the Hellmaster’s Jar that contains the soul of Rezo the Red Priest, since he is the only hope for lifting the seal on Pokota’s village. The episodes in this series follows the group’s adventures in trying to acquire the Hellmaster’s Jar, as well as answers some questions regarding the character of Xellos.

The Slayers Evolution-R
English Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment
Format: Blu-ray
Release Date: September 21, 2010

I have to say that I felt that the pacing for this story arc 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 Slayers.

When FUNimation Entertainment 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 with thin white text with no black outline, which makes them 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. Unfortunately, the issues I had with reading the subtitles helped to hamper the enjoyment I had while I was watching this Blu-ray set.

As to the extras included on the second Blu-ray disc, there is a textless opening song, a textless closing song, and trailers for properties that FUNimation was promoting at the time this Blu-ray set was released.

If you’re a fan of 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.

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