Who would have ever thought they'd have a twisted, disturbing connection here in the U.S?
Only the people at the Party.
One of the weirdest similarities between "Slayers" and "Pokémon" were the voice acting jobs. Like I told Haley: "It's like they grabbed a handful of Pokémon people and stuck them in a different Animé." Who did what? Here comes the long and disturbing list.
Lisa Ortiz played the part of Lina Inverse, the main character. On Pokémon, she plays Cassidy, Melody from Pokémon 2000, Lisa (ironically enough) from Pokémon 3, along with several side characters and a few Pokémon. She sounds most like Lina Inverse in Pokémon 3, as Lisa.
Eric Stuart played the part of Gourry Gabriev, another main character.On Pokémon, he plays Brock, James, Butch, Squirtle, and many many side characters. Gourry sounds EXACTLY like Brock, except in a couple episodes when he takes on a James-ish sound.
Veronica Taylor played the part of Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune. In Pokémon, she plays Ash and Ash's mother. Amelia sounds like a younger version of Ash's mother.
Ted Lewis played Zangulus, not to mention several side characters in Slayers. In Pokémon, he plays Tracey, Giovanni and a whole booty load of extras. Zangulus sounds like a weird combination of Giovanni and Tracey-or maybe an older Tracey.
Rachel Lillis plays Cally, Cally's youngest daughter (no name given to this 'un), Martina, Lilia a fish-girl, and a couple of nameless characters. Martina was her biggest role, lasting all the way through "Slayers NEXT" while her others were only in one episode. In Pokémon she plays Jessie, Misty, some Pokémon and some other people. Cally sounds like Jessie, and Cally's daughter sounds something like Misty. Lilia (pronounced Leela) sounds like a real serious-type Jessie. Martina sounds a bit like both. She sounds like Misty when she's flirting or screaming, and she sounds like Jessie when she laughs or gets serious.
Adam Blaustein played Jillas, a fox-wolf thingy, and a couple of side characters. For Jillas' voice, picture Meowth with a British accent.
Stan Hart played a mummmy man for a couple of episodes. On Pokémon, he plays Professor Oak. The mummy man is like a terminally ticked Prof. Oak. ^_^;;
Oddly enough, there's only one constant character without a Pokémon voice. He happens to be Haley and my favorite. Meet Zelgadis.
Gourry Gabriev is an excellent swordsman who helps Lina out and eventually falls in love with her. The weird part is, some of his characteristics are uncannily like James and Brock.
He has a big appetite like James, and appreciates good food, but unlike Brock he couldn't boil water. Gourry can be incredibly stupid, to the point of being "a village idiot." James has his dense moments, but Gourry takes it WAY over the line! Like Brock, he'll spring alive in the moment of action; except he'll use braun rather than brains. And, when Brock does all the work and gets no credit, Gourry does part of the work and gets some credit. Now, doesn't that seem fairer?
Amelia is a powerful sorceress who is obsessed with justice. Like Ash, she has only one parent (a crazy father). Like both Mrs. Ketchum and Ash, she can sometimes really get on my nerves, but unlike her voice counterparts, she's usually pretty cool and I'm really getting into the "relationship" between she and Zelgadis. Oops! Did I just spoil the series?
Zangulus is somewhat mean and menacing like Giovanni, but there's something of a Tracey aura around him. Probably because I never really liked Gio, but Tracey's cool, and since Zangulus is ti-ZIGHT I like to think of him as "my little grown-up Tracey bounty hunter." Or, something. He doesn't have a headband, but he does have a hat which he's only taken off once. Tracey's only taken his headband off once, too (which quite disturbed me).
Martina is obsessive and PsYcHo! She's always obsessing over SOME guy- everyone from Zelgadis to Gourry to Xellos to Zangulus. True, neither Pokégirls do this, but she sort of reminds me of when Misty flipped for Rudy, or Jessie for that Doctor Proctor dude. She can get just plain pissed off- often, in fact- which reminds me of both gals. And, as a bonus, she's always complaining about Lina and pals leaving her behind, which Misty used to do a lot at the beginning of the series. Of course, Martina doesn't want a bike back- she only wants to kill Lina and take over the world. Everyone's gotta have a dream...
Jillas is a bomb-crazy gun-weilding fox-wolf with one eye. He sort of reminds me of Meowth in several ways. First off, he's not human and only has a couple friends. He's also pretty smart (he can make bombs! Wee!). But, geez, this guy has REALLY bad luck. A couple of times he and his buddy even "blasted off," complete with a disturbing "ding" at the end. He even refers to one of his friends as "boss!" There's also some other stuff that's hard to describe- the way he acts and junk- you'll have to see "Slayers Try" to know what I mean.
Gourry and Lina. Yaa, like we didn't all see THAT one coming! After all, they are the main characters and their feelings are made pretty apparent (as you can tell.) This one doesn't bother me too much- it's just like if that Lisa girl from "Pokémon 3" and Brock getting the hook-up. Of course, she didn't have any feelings for him, but you know what I mean. It's also sort of like having James go with Cassidy, except since the characters don't sound like Cass and Jimmy, it's not quite as weird as another couple who you'll hear about later.
Amelia and Zelgadis, the couple of the Century! They're just so dang cute together, doncha think? And the pairing is real cool! Actually, in some ways, it reminds me of Mrs. K and Gio! Here we got bouncy, bubbly Amelia and mature, dark and mysterious (but not TOO dark and mysterious) Zelgadis! Crazy, ain't it!?
Zangulus and Martina. They make a great pair, I won't deny it. And yet... AH! It's like having Tracey and Misty hook-up! Or, or *shudder* JESSIE AND GIOVANNI! EEEEEEW... but, if you can overlook this incredibly twisted marriage (look for the wedding in the last episode of "Slayers NEXT") Slayers won't warp you TOO much. Aheheh.
Zangulus and Gourry have a long-lasting grudge match. Zangulus wants to beat Gourry to prove he's the best swordsman, and Gourry... well, he just likes a good challenge. In the "Slayers" series, there's finally an episode where the ultimate battle takes place called: "Showdown! Gourry Vs. Zangulus!" Now, think about that for a moment. Couldn't Gourry and Zangulus easily be replaced with "Brock Vs. Tracey"? In fact, if you watch this episode with your eyes closed, it's almost as if they WERE fighting each other (voice actors). Trace- er, Zangulus, even says at one point, "Now we'll see who is the best."
Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Martina and Lina, another grudge match. Martina desperately wishes to get back at Lina for destroying her home town of Zona. But, after realizing Lina's hella-powerful, she decides that she merely wants to beat her in something... ANYTHING! Now, think about that for a second. Couldn't THOSE names easily be replaced with Cassidy and Jessie? Or, worse yet... Melody and Misty??
Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Gourry Gabriev crossdresses. That's right. He crossdresses. I've seen it three times, once in each series. Actually, he's made to. Lina and Amelia make him do it so they can get past security, etc. Now think about that for a second. Couldn't we easily... ah, you know the rest.
Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Even with all this freaky stuff happening, "Slayers" is still a killer series and probably one of the best out there. And, it's all with it just to hear Brock, Misty, Jessie, Tracey, Giovanni, or Delia's voice... cuss. ^_^
