Slayers Premium

Slayers Premium (Japanese: スレイヤーズぷれみあむ, lit. Sureiyāzu Puremiamu) is the fifth Slayers movie. It premiered in Japanese theaters on December 22, 2001 as part of a film package including Azumanga Daioh: The Very Short Movie, Di Gi Charat: A Trip to the Planet, and Sakura Wars: The Movie. In this film, Lina Inverse and friends travel to a seaside town, where the residents are being plagued by a curse.

Synopsis
Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev are in a seaside restaurant. Lina goes through a lot of trouble to ask Gourry for a piece of his sashimi, but he refuses and remarks that food tastes better after working for it. She calls him heartless as she mentions her tiny dried sardine meal compared to his huge special platter of seafood. Earlier in the day he and Lina helped some fishermen, and while Gourry had a knack for fishing, Lina ended up destroying a group of pillars and sinking ships. Suddenly Gourry pulls out a small octopus and plans to eat it, but Lina grabs it with her fork. They fight over who gets it, chasing each other around the restaurant and outside. In the end, Gourry runs and catches it in his mouth midair. Back at the table, Lina grabs a bunch of Gourry's food while he looks out the window to see many people outside speaking in a strange language. Suddenly the restaurant owner bursts in the room with a frightened look on his face and remarks that all the food was eaten. Gourry freaks out because he sees Lina ate all his food, and she tells him that she had the right to eat it because he looked away. He gets angry at her, and she fights back, but the owner interrupts them with scary-sounding chants of "octopus..." Lina and Gourry get scared and the owner runs at them, apparently mad that Gourry ate the octopus. He bumps into the table, sending Lina's sardine flying into the air and eventually onto the ground, and he steps on it. Lina sets off a Burst Rondo, blowing up the restaurant.

In the ruins, Lina tells the owner that he had better pay her back for the sardine, but he replies by saying she has to pay for the destruction of his restaurant and everything within. She says they'll call it even. Suddenly a young woman runs over and knocks the owner over, asking if they ate the octopus. Gourry answers in the affirmative, and the girl becomes very worried and acts like something very bad will happen. Lina asks if Gourry will die, which scares him, and the girl, named Ruuma, replies by saying she is training in white magic to heal disease. Gourry begs her to tell him what's wrong, but he suddenly begins talking in what sounds like gibberish.

The girl explains that once someone eats cursed octopus, he or she can only speak in "Octopusese." When Gourry hears this, he screams, "FLAT CHESTED!!" which causes Lina to chase after him angrily. Ruuma explains that "flat chested" in Octopusese probably means something like "How horrible." Meanwhile, a group of hooded octopi watch on...

Later that night, Lina, Gourry, and Ruuma walk to Ruuma's home and Ruuma is surprised to hear that Lina is "THE Lina Inverse." Lina asks what Ruuma heard about her, and Ruuma answers with a simple "Dra-Mata," frustrating Lina. Ruuma thinks "Dra-Mata" is good, like it means dragons are afraid of her. When Lina is surprised to hear this, Ruuma asks if there is another, bad meaning, but Lina interrupts her. Ruuma says that Lina was guided to the town by fate to save it from the curse.

Gourry interrupts and says "I love you" to Lina. She becomes flustered and asks Ruuma what "I love you" means in Octopusese, but Ruuma says she doesn't know. Lina looks back at Gourry, blushing.

Meanwhile, the octopus group is underground communicating with their leaders, an Octopus King and Wise Octopus, who can speak both Octopusese and human language. Wise Octopus announces he has a plan and orders the octopus group to continue collecting negative human energy to offer to their "protector." He turns around and bows to the king, explaining that soon the "Age of the Octopus" will be at hand. Back at Ruuma's house, she sings, Anata wa Takogo, a song about human-speaking humans and Octopese-speaking humans trying to communicate but failing. She asks if Lina finds the song pleasing, but Lina answers with a cold "No." Ruuma explains that the song is part of a legend about octopi being granted magical power by mazoku and using their abilities to curse humans with a disease. Ruuma explains that the mazoku got food poisoning after eating octopus, and it was then sealed into a vase that was sealed under a group of stone pillars in the ocean. She says that since an "evil sorceress" destroyed the pillars, the mazoku will resurrect. Ruuma says he master warned of something like this, and he left three years previous to find a cure for the disease.

Ruuma then explains that while the legend has a happy ending, she heard another ending where everything on land was destroyed by the mazoku. Lina tells Ruuma not to hope for her master to come back after three years. Meanwhile, in the octopi's lair, the king and Wise Octopus discuss a possible counter to Lina's power. Naga the Serpent's silhouette shows up in his crystal ball. The "protector" mazoku orders chaos to the humans, and Wise Octopus obliges. The mazoku grants him even more power.

Back on the streets of the town, chaos has broken out as people can't understand each other and thus end up fighting. The octopi collect all the negative energy coming from the people and put them in jars.

Lina and Gourry walk down the street where everyone is yelling "FLAT CHESTED!!" and Gourry once again says "I love you" to her. Suddenly, Wise Octopus appears in the air above them, and Lina throws a Fireball at him, but he disappears.

Xelloss watches the action from a nearby pillar before teleporting down to the ground where an octopi is collecting energy. He bangs it on its head with his staff and takes the jar and remarks that a mazoku that consumed that much negative energy would even be a challenge for Lina to beat. He teleports away and the jar falls next to the octopus, who wakes up. The jar no longer has energy coming out of it, probably meaning Xelloss took it for himself. Just outside of the town, Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune marches forward with Zelgadiss Graywords in town. She wants him to hurry up, but he tells her to just go on ahead. She freaks out and tells him she would never do such a thing, eating octopus cuisine without him. She believes he is trying to sacrifice himself, so she takes his hand and they go on into the town together. As they march off, Xelloss appears on a post behind them and laughs.

In the town, Amelia gets angry and surprised as she sees that octopi have been banned. She jumps up on a ledge, yelling, but a man opens a window behind her, sending her flat on her face on the street. Xelloss calls to them and offers to explain. Zelgadiss asks why he is there, and he answers with "That is a secret." A little later, after Xelloss explains the situation to them, they stand on a rooftop, Amelia, still angry, yells then almost falls off the roof, but Zelgadiss grabs her cape at the last second and she jumps back up. Xelloss tells Zelgadiss that Lina and Gourry are in town and Gourry has caught the disease. Amelia shouts that they have to go help.

Meanwhile, in Ruuma's house, Lina, Gourry, and Ruuma go over a sort of map of the octopi lair. Suddenly Zelgadiss and Amelia walk in. Zelgadiss starts to say something to Gourry, but in mid-sentence he begins speaking Octopese. Amelia says something, too, but she also becomes affected by the curse, which they caught from Gourry.

Suddenly, Ruuma's master enters the cabin, shocking Ruuma. He holds up a scroll, physically indicates that it has the cure to the disease, but then he says something in Octopese, surprising everyone.

Later, Lina uses Ray Wing to take her group of four underwater to the octopi's lair. She explains that meanwhile, Ruuma is trying to learn the cure spell. Lina becomes frustrated as her friends all speak to her in Octopusese that she can't understand. The group arrives in the main chamber of the lair, which is not filled with water. Wise Octopus explains that it was filled with air as "accomodations" for the humans. He explains that the octopi were abused by the townspeople and treated as food, and vows revenge, but Lina remarks that if the vase behind him were to be destroyed, he would lose all his power. This makes him nervous, but he counters by announcing that an "Octopus Sorceress" is there to defeat them. He calls for her to come out, but another octopus emerges and tells him that she is busy eating. Instead, Wise Octopus sends out a group of larger octopi to attack the group. Since magic can't be cast in Octopese, Gourry and Zelgadiss fight with their swords while Amelia is caught by an octopus, but Lina hits it with a Fireball. Another gets Zelgadiss, which she also hits. Three come at Gourry, but he chops one up and Lina hits the other two with Fireballs. Lina begins to cast Dragon Slave, but at the last second, she begins speaking Octopusese, rendering the spell void. Another group of octopi fly at them, sending Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadiss into the air onto a beach, and Amelia into the air in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, the "protector" mazoku emerges from his vase and the octopi's lair is destroyed as he moves to the water's surface. A tsunami moves toward the town as the mazoku emerges, sending everyone running for safety. The town floods.

Wise Octopus and the king stand on the water's surface as a large group of octopi swim behind them. He announces that Lina can't use magic and the humans are powerless.

Meanwhile, Ruuma unsuccessfully tries to cure her master. On her last attempt, Amelia falls out of the sky, hitting her on the head, making the spell work, curing the man. Back at the seaside, the mazoku praises the octopi and Wise Octopus tells him to destroy the humans, but the mazoku says he first wants to eat "hateful octopi." The octopi are devastated to hear that their "protector" will eat them so readily. He explains that he doesn't care about their "revenge." Wise Octopus says he'll use his power to protect the octopi, but the mazoku laughs at this and tells him that the power is his (the mazoku's). The mazoku plunges his open mouth into the water and devours the octopi. He then shoots a ball of energy at the town. Just as it is about to hit Ruuma, Zelgadiss and Gourry jump in the way to block it, but it consumes them and renders them immobile with fear. Ruuma tries to use the spell, but the mazoku fires another ball at her, but her master jumps in the way, and just before he is consumed, he hits her on her head so the spell works, and Lina is cured. She casts Dragon Slave, and just as a ball hits her, Naga emerges from the water and is hit by it. The Dragon Slave fires and hits the mazoku, destroying him and sending all the octopi in his stomach into the air and then safely into the water.

Later, the octopi and the humans gather opposite each other on the beach. Ruuma steps forward and explains to the octopi that the humans understand their feelings. Thus, the humans will only eat the octopi's tentacles, which will grow back. The octopi accept this, but Lina thinks it's a little bad for the octopi.

Later, in the town, a large line of people waits to be cured by Ruuma. Meanwhile, Wise Octopus serves a plate of tentacles to Lina and Gourry. Lina asks Gourry what "I love you" meant, and he says that it means "I can't repay the money I owe for this." She blows him up.

The town is filled with octopi and people happy to see them. Xelloss sits atop a post and remarks how the events that happened were rather interesting. He then teleports away.

Meanwhile, Zelgaidss walks along the beach, thinking that Amelia left without him. However, she is stuck near a house, still speaking Octopusese.

Major events

 * Lina Inverse defeats a mazoku who threatens to destroy humanity.

Debuts

 * Ruuma
 * Wise Octopus

Characters

 * Lina Inverse
 * Gourry Gabriev
 * Naga the Serpent
 * Zelgadiss Graywords
 * Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune
 * Xelloss
 * Ruuma
 * Wise Octopus
 * Octopus King
 * "Protector" mazoku
 * Octopi
 * Restaurant owner
 * Townspeople
 * Fishermen

Spells

 * Burst Rondo (Lina)
 * Ray Wing (Lina)
 * Fireball (Lina)
 * Dragon Slave (Lina)
 * Octopese-reversing spell (Ruuma)

Trivia

 * Slayers Premium does not take place in an established place on the Slayers timeline, as Amelia says in the prologue of the radio drama that it has been five years since they last met. But that's because they are talking not as if they were characters of the series, but actors. So, the "five years" Amelia is talking about are the ones between Slayers TRY was broadcasted (1997) and the year the movie premiered (2001).


 * When Gourry fights the group of octopi, he uses his Sword of Light and emulates bullet time, a filming technique started in the film The Matrix.


 * The name of the person Amelia shouts when she is angry about the town banning octopi is "Takokichi Takoyama", since "tako" also means octopus in Japanese.


 * In the manga version of the movie, the name of the town is Acassi, while in the movie, it is Ikusu.


 * The instrumental soundtrack, by Takayuki Hattori, was borrowed from previous Slayers films.


 * The character designs in Slayers Premium are closer to Rui Araizumi's original designs than those of the TV series and other movies were.


 * This movie is the first animated Slayers media that uses digitally colored animation instead of hand-painted cels.
 * First, this is the only movie to feature the TV cast along along with Naga the Serpent.

Japanese

 * Executive producer: Toshimichi Otsuki
 * Planning: Takeshi Yasuda, Hiroshi Ogawa
 * Producer: Katsunori Haruda, Mamoru Minagawa
 * Production supervision: Koh Yuh
 * Colorist: Yoshimi Kawakami
 * Director of photography: Kōichi Shimomura
 * Music: Takayuki Hattori
 * Digital production desk: Mihoko Yoneyama
 * Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama
 * Sound director: Kimiyoshi Kawasaki
 * Recording studios: Tabbaku, Nikkatsu Studios
 * Distribution: Toei
 * Production assistant: Ganges
 * Animation production: Hal Film Maker
 * Slayers Sponsorship Committee: Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd., King Records, chara-ani.com

English

 * Executive producer: John Ledford, Mark Williams
 * Producer: Sandra Krasa
 * Director: Sandra Krasa
 * International coordinator: Toru Iwakami
 * Project translator: Dan Kanemitsu
 * ADR script: Kathleen Moynihan
 * Subtitle script and timing: Jack Wang
 * English ADR recorded at: Industrial Smoke & Mirrors
 * Sound design and mix: Cesar Inserny
 * Recording engineer: Michael Callahan, Matt Crawford, Henry Rogers
 * Post production: Monkey Boy Post
 * Post production manager: Shelly Thomas
 * Editor: Patrick Givens, Neil O'Sullivan
 * Production assistant: Marta Bechtol, Miyuki Kamiya, Maki Nagano, Carole Pavlik, Sara Muir

Voice Cast

 * Lina Inverse - Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Cynthia Martinez (English)


 * Gourry Gabriev - Yasunori Matsumoto (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)


 * Zelgadiss Graywords - Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English)


 * Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune - Masami Suzuki (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)


 * Naga the Serpent - Maria Kawamura (Japanese), Kelly Manison (English)


 * Xelloss - Akira Ishida (Japanese), Kurt Stoll (English)


 * Master - Jason Douglas (English)


 * King Octopus - John Swasey (English)


 * Ruuma - Yuri Shiratori (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)


 * Guardian Deity - James Faulkner (English)


 * Tavern Owner - John Swasey (English)
 * Chie-tako - Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese)
 * Intalligent Octopus - TJP (English)