the 1990s, both in Japan and abroad. As it is a parody of the high fantasy genre, the series' driving force lies in comic scenarios alluding to other specific anime, or more general genre tropes and clichés. Its focus on humor and entertainment and "old school" anime feel make it a nostalgic classic to many. According to Anime News Network's Daryl Surat, 1996 was the best year of Slayers anime with the releases of Next and Return. Slayers Next took the third place as the overall best anime of 1996 in the Anime Grand Prix '97 awards (in addition to winning in the category best female character), while the next year's series Slayers Try placed second but technically also third (the first place was a tie between the films Mononoke Hime and The End of Evangelion) in 1998. Slayers was sometimes compared with Record of Lodoss War, another hit Japanese fantasy franchise that began around the same time. In Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know, Gilles Poitras wrote: "More humorous and less serious looking than the characters in the Lodoss War series, the stars of Slayers provide action and laughs." In The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Helen McCarthy similarly called it "the antidote to the deadly serious Record of Lodoss War, with a cynical cast modeled on argumentative role-players. (...) Ridiculing its own shortcomings, Slayers has successfully kept a strong following that watches for what some might call biting satire, and others bad workmen blaming their tools." Joseph Luster of Otaku USA called it "the very definition of an all-encompassing media franchise. (...) Slayers certainly has that in its memorable lineup, and they'll likely cast some sort of spell on you, regardless of age." Paul Thomas Chapman from the same magazine voiced a more reserved opinion on the "franchise whose remarkable longevity and popularity is matched only by its remarkable averageness," especially regarding various aspects of the TV series, to which nevertheless he returned for "light entertainment". See also List of Slayers songs Lost Universe, a science fiction comedy series set in one of the dimensions parallel to that of Slayers References External links (Fujimi Shobo) (TV Tokyo) (Funimation) (Enoki Films USA) (archived) 1989 novels 1991 novels 1995 anime television series debuts 1995 manga 1996 anime television series debuts 1997 anime television series debuts 1997 Japanese novels 1998 anime OVAs 2000 manga