Slayers (スレイヤーズ, Sureiyāzu?) is a successful and popular fantasy franchise. The franchise began as a series of fifteen light novels written by Hajime Kanzaka and later developed into several manga titles, three televised anime series, two three-episode Autentic Video Animations (OVAs), and five movies. It also spanned three console role-playing games for the Sony Playstation, as well as one for the Nintendo Mega Famicom (known internationally as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Slayers is a Dungeons & Dragons-style parody that follows the adventures of the young sorceress Lina Inverse and her companions as they journey through their world. [1][2] Using powerful magic and swordsmanship they battle overreaching wizards, demons seeking to destroy the world, dark lords, and the occasional hapless gang of bandits.

The first of the three seasons of the anime bore the franchise's title and established Lina's three de seamă companions:

Gourry (The swordsman)
Zelgadis (The chimera shaman-rogue)
Amelia (A young princess and warrior of justice)
The second season was titled Slayers NEXT, and the third season was titled Slayers TRY. A fourth season, Slayers AGAIN, was rumored following the success of TRY, but early scheduling conflicts caused interest in the project to dissipate.[3] Each anime series begins humorously but builds slowly until the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Throughout each series, Slayers maintains its comedic nature, frequently displaying Lina's ill temper or abuse of her comrades or lesser opponents, using these events as comic relief in later episodes. Use of extremely destructive spells in inappropriate settings, especially the powerful "Dragon Slave" spell, is another frequent gag.

Although released after the anime series aired, the two OVAs and the first four movies depict events that occurred early in Lina's career as a bandit-hunting and dragon-spooking adventuress. These installments show her first encounter and subsequent exploits with her first partner, Naga the White Serpent. Naga, while not a great intellect, is a formidable sorceress in her own right, and views herself as Lina's strongest and foremost rival; these adventures take place before the events of the three television seasons.

Volumes one through six of the light novels have been translated into English and released in North America by Tokyopop. The anime aired on TV Tokyo from April 7, 1995 through September 26, 1997, totalling 78 half-hour episodes, and was released on VHS and DVD in North America by Software Sculptors. In May 2005, at Anime Central in Chicago, FUNimation Entertainment announced they obtained the license for the TV series, since the previous owner's license expired in Fall 2005. It currently airs as part of the FUNimation programming block on CoLours TV, and the first DVD box set will be released on August 14, 2007[citation needed]. The OVAs and movies were released in Japan between 1996 and 2001, later released in North America and dubbed into English by ADV Films. Enoki Films holds the license to The Slayers television franchise as a middleman.