Slayers EVOLUTION-R

Slayers EVOLUTION-R (スレイヤーズEVOLUTION-R) is the direct sequel to Slayers REVOLUTION, and is either the second part of 4th season or the 5th season of the Slayers TV anime series, depending on how you view it. The first episode aired on January 12, 2009, on the Japanese channel AT-X.

Megumi Hayashibara announced the titles of both the Opening Theme and the Ending Theme of the new series on her radio show Tokyo Boogie Night on November 1st, 2008. The Opening Theme is Front breaking, and the Ending Theme is Sunadokei, which means hourglass.

Plot
To find a way to rescue Pokota's country Taforashia which was sealed by Rezo, Lina and her group are in search of the Hellmaster's jar in what the Red Priest placed his soul after death. Zelgadis is willing to do anything to get the jar to change back into a human while Zuuma is plotting his revenge by accomplishing his assignment... to kill Lina Inverse. Still a big mystery for her and the others is what Xellos is aiming for in this battle.

Trivia

 * Slayers GLORY (スレイヤーズGLORY) was the tentative title given to this series. This name was first spotted in an animate.tv section for the Great Slayers Festival of the Japanese AT-X channel. There was a list of the Slayers media that would be broadcast in said festival, and where Slayers REVOLUTION was mentioned, it was coupled with another series called Slayers GLORY, and that the sum of both series will have 26 episodes. Although that name was quickly retired from the website, most fans had already seen it, and they spread it through forums and chats all over the net.
 * According to an article about a Japanese event called Starchild Dream in Kobe 2008, it was known that the series would change this temporary name, and that its new title was going to start with エ, the Japanese for e. Again, according to that article, the new series could start on December.
 * Finally, in the Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi autograph session held in BOOK FIRST store, Akihabara, on October 25th, AT-X announced that the new title for the series will be SLAYERS EVOLUTION-R.
 * The series continues REVOLUTION's plot, which was merely 13 episodes long, and thus EVOLUTION-R can be seen as the 4th season's second part - especially since REVOLUTION was first introduced as being two cours long (A "cour" is a French loanword referring to 13-episode half-seasons in Japan like REVOLUTION or EVOLUTION-R. For more info, see here). However, the practice of making anime seasons changed considerably since the first three arcs were aired a decade earlier: Now seasons are usually created in 13-episode batches, (and not 26, as it was before), so technically EVOLUTION-R could be also considered the 5th season of Slayers.
 * EVOLUTION-R is the first Slayers series to break the tradition of having at least one of the male characters- usually Gourry- crossdress in the 17th episode (If you consider it and REVOLUTION to be the same season, as described above, then episode 4 of EVOLUTION-R would be the equivalent of episode 17 for season 4). The episode did, however, continue the pattern of the 17th episode being focused on romance.