Slayers REVOLUTION – 09

「Insider 真実を知るもの！」 (Insider. Shinjitsu wo Shiru Mono!)
“Insider. Person Who Knows the Truth!”

Episode at a Glance:
In order to profit off their magical tanks, Gioconda tells Ducuris to force the coast line country of Vihard to buy their cheapest ones first and let demand naturally spread to the richer countries. Lina and the others then arrive at Gioconda’s town and are surprised by how orderly it is, making them suspect that everyone got caught up in her scheme. After a bit of a ruckus, they’re taken off to a prison cell, unbeknownst that a bruised and battered Pokota has just arrived as well. Weiser and Xellos then meet up with the dutchess, who questions why they brought Lina here, so Xellos says that Weiser is trying to use it as a diversion to expose her conspiracy. While Weiser is shocked to hear this, Gioconda quickly denies that there’s any conspiracy going on and tells them to dispose of Lina, the real offender. However, Weiser claims that he can’t, since the heads back in Ruvinagald can’t approve of the magical tanks that were single-handedly defeated by Lina, and even passed on this information to neighbouring countries. To make up for this, Weisers suggests pitting the tanks against Lina again to redeem their worth, before the inspectors from military headquarters arrive in three days time. Gioconda is furious about this news and claims that she’s never heard of it, but ultimately agrees to do so, after which Weiser questions if she knows anything about the rumour of the aid assembled for Taforashia during the epidemic disappearing, which she isn’t happy about hearing either.

Having picked up on what just happened, Xellos later tells Weiser that while he keeps a lot of secrets, he never lies like Weiser just did. The inspector plays dumb to his accusation though, so Xellos says that if what Weiser told Gionconda is true, they can’t harm Lina and the others for now, but the same can’t be said for him. Xellos then destroys the ground underneath Weiser sending him plummeting down, and decides to keep this confusion going for a little while longer. Meanwhile, Pokota has made his way inside and is on his way to free everyone, but Ozel does so first and asks for Lina and the others’ help. She also inadvertently reveals that she’s a puppet when her head falls off, making Zelgadis realize that there’s someone else pulling her strings. As for her request, she informs everyone that the container for Rezo the Red Priest’s sleeping soul has been discovered and that she’d like them to destroy it. While shocked to hear this, Lina and Zelgadis don’t discount this information as Taforashia is still sealed under Rezo’s spell, indicating that he’s still alive in some form. Elsewhere in a chamber for Zanaffar Armor research, Pokota runs into Ducuris and questions if he’s given up on unsealing Taforashia. Reminiscing about their past, Ducuris recalls how much Pokota loved his country and wanted to keep it the way it was. Pokoto shared the sentiments of his father, the king, who didn’t want their country to be quickly destroyed like their ancestors in Sairaag, and believed that unraveling the mystery behind their destruction would allow Taforashia to prosper. Ducuris though claims that Taforashia has changed since the disease, and despite Pokota’s determination to return it to how it was, is bent on exacting revenge on those who didn’t help.

During this time, Lina and the others head deeper into the Gioconda’s castle since Ozel sensed fighting going on below, but run into Zuuma on the way. After a few exchanges, they manage to get away and arrive at an underground coliseum, where Gionconda greets them and plans to kill them off. Xellos however suggests that this will become a pain if the inspectors arrive and find Lina dead, but Gionconda is unconcerned and reaffirms that he got rid of Weiser. Zuuma catches up to them as well, so Lina summons a giant golem who gives Gourry its oversized stone sword, which he uses to engage Gioconda with. With it being three on one against Zuuma, Lina gives him the option to flee, but Ozel suddenly turns on them, saying she’ll be their opponent as well as part of the agreement. Likewise, Pokota draws his Sword of Light and clashes with Ducuris.

Next Episode:
「Judgment 蘇る白銀！」 (Judgment. Yomigaeru Shirogane!)
“Judgment. The Resurrected Silver!”

Impressions:
Hmm, so Taforashia is linked to Sairaag? I guess that explains why Pokota is a mage capable of casting numerous spells then, including the Dragon Slave. Weiser on the other hand was in an interesting predicament thanks to Xellos, but it appears he’s only using Lina’s capture as a guise for his real objective yet again. The question though is whether or not he survived the fall that Xellos gave him, but he has proven to be fairly resilient in the past, so I wouldn’t count him out just yet. What’s even more interesting is Ozel and who she really works for, given the information she’s revealed about Rezo. Granted, we already figured the Red Priest was still alive in some shape or form because of the spell on Taforashia, but it’s kind of a relief (shame?) that it’s only his soul. To be honest, I don’t recall exactly what happened after Rezo’s demise, so whether there’s a possibility that he’ll be revived or not I’m not sure. I’m curious to see how the series approaches this, but the immediate problem is still Gionconda, Ducuris, and Zuuma. Of course, this ties in directly with Pokota and Ducuris’ pasts, Taforashia, and finally Rezo, so things should eventually lead us there.

Overall, this was more of what I was hoping to see in the past couple of episodes and actually leads into the next one nicely, thanks to the two ensuing fights on Lina and Pokota’s ends. Provided that Xellos stays out of this one (which it looks like he will), things should be fairly evenly matched. On a separate note, I still have Hayashibara Megumi‘s opening and endings, “Plenty of grit” and “Revolution”, on my playlist and mp3 player as I can’t get over how catchy they are. It’s a shame that Megumi hasn’t performed more music lately, but thankfully we have Slayers again after so many years. I still find myself watching the OP/ED sequences every week as well, just so I can listen to these songs.

Cast:
– Lina Inverse (リナ・インバース) / Hayashibara Megumi (林原 めぐみ)
– Gourry (ガウリイ) / Matsumoto Yasunori (松本 保典)
– Amelia (アメリア) / Suzuki Masami (鈴木 真仁)
– Zelgadis (ゼルガディス) / Midorikawa Hikaru (緑川 光)
– Pokota (ポコタ) / Kobayashi Yumiko (小林 由美子)
– Xellos (ゼロス) / Ishida Akira (石田 彰)
– Weiser (ワイザー) / Ootsuka Akio (大塚 明夫)
– Ducuris (デュクリス) / Matsuyama Takashi (松山 鷹志)
– Gioconda (ジョコンダ) / Takashima Gara (高島 雅羅)
– Ozel (オゼル) / Oomura Haruka (大村 はるか)
– Zuuma (ズーマ) / Tobita Nobuo (飛田 展男)
– Fran (フラン) / Takewaka Takuma (竹若 拓磨)
– Zoran (ゾラン) / Taniko Mirei (谷古 美玲)
– Maintenance soldier B (整備兵B) / Suzuki Yuuto (鈴木 裕斗)
– Street person A (街人A) / Hosoya Yoshimasa (細谷 佳正)
– Street person B (街人B) / Kamino Yuuki (神野 祐希)
– Soldier C (兵士C) / Suzumori Kanji (鈴森 勘司)
– Child A (子供A) / Itou Asuka (伊藤 あすか)
– Child B (子供B) / Hashida Izumi (橋田 いずみ)