Archives of Slayers Again!

Archives of Slayers Again!
2008. June. 1 -- 30

Return to Slayers Again!

Date

What Happened

Jun. 30th, 2008

The official site of Megumi Hayashibara, "Megumi House" is updated. This site if a part of the official site of Star Child label. There is a seciton "Megumi Room" in "Megumi House", and there is the page "Let's ask Megumi Hayashibara" and there they post Megumi-san's comments on the special subject each time. This time, she gives answers to the questions about "Slayers MEGUMIX". Here is the rough translation of the article.

<< Let's ask Megumi Hayashibara VI : Q&A about Plenty of grit / Revolution part 1 >>

    Q. You sang the theme songs for Slayers first season, Slayers NEXT and Slayers TRY. What did you feel when you were asked to sing the theme song of Slayers REVOLUTION?
    What? No kidding! Are you serious? Is it TV anime? Is there a theme song? Yes? Yes, of course... Oh, my... Here it comes... I was stupefied for a while.
    Q. Please tell us the reason for you to selevt "Plenty of grit" as the opening theme and "Revolution" as the endhing theme for "Slayers REVOLUTION".
    This time, I made up my mind to make the opening theme to what brings back the old "Slayers" sereis, and I decided to select the song from Mr. Sato's works. I got ten demos of Mr. Sato and selected the songs which had the intros that made me to got the image of the letters "Slayers" in my mind. And finally, I chose the one. After I selected the song, I asked the old staff with which I created the old theme songs for Slayers. Mr. Tsutomu Oohira with whom I created "Give a reason" arranged the new theme song again. Ms. Masami Okui joined for the chorus. I know that those old staff would please the old fans of Slayers who know the old days. I thought that it was important to make the audience of the TV anime to have the image of "Slayers" easily when they listen the opening song for a shor time. On the other hand, I selected the song for the ending theme from the songs with which I could have the image of Lina Inverse - her looks, her cloak, her hair - and her friends moving around. When listened the demo of this song, I got a phrase "owari wa shinai (it will never end)" at once. "It will never end" with the song for the ending theme? Cool! It must be the ending theme!

Jun. 28th, 2008

The web site of "Mega Bland Kikaku", the official fan club of Hajime Kanzaka, was updated. There is the information that Tamiki, the representative of Mega Bland Kikaku, heard from Mr. Kanzaka directly on June 21st.

"Abyss Gate 2" is now on sale!
The first book of "Slayers Smash" which is the thirty-first book of "Slayers Special series" will be released on July 19th.
The boo 7, 8 and 9 of "Slayers" main series with new cover arts will be released on July 20th. For about the following books, they'll release them after some interval.
They will release "Slayers Select 1 Naga's Challenge" in August. This series will have the selected episodes of "Slayers Special" series.
The comic book "Slayers Legend 1 and 2" which will be the extra issues of bimonthly "Dragon Magazine" will be released. Those books will have the Slayers manga by Rui Araizumi and Shoko Yoshinaka, plus a newly drawn manga by manga artist Asahi. This new manga will have Luke and Miriena.

The longer version of sneak preview was aired on AT-X. Someone posted the words and the explanation in the thread about "Slayers REVOLUTION" in one of the bbs in 2 channle.

"Yahoo! Genki shiteta? Hajime mashite no hito mo ohisashiburiii na hito mo fushou Lina Inverse hazukashi nagara kaette kimashita. Sono na mo "Slayers REVOLUTION". Kakumeiteki na pawaa wo hissagete mata icchou baatto iki masuka. "Slayers REVOLUTION" mite kun nai to abare chauzo"
The longer version has the scene between Zel's putting off his robe and Pokota's floating in the air.
In the added scene, Wizer appeared and Lina and the gangs running wild from forward to opposite side. Then Lina and the gangs looked up at the roof of the building.
The person posted the explanation said "the running scene was well made and the graphics moved well".

"Tokyo Boogie Night" is aired in Ehime, and someone reported about the show in the thread about Slayers REVOLUTION in the bbs in 2 channel.

Megumi Hayashibara talked about the making of "Slayers MEGUMIX".
"Sekaido", the company of the painting materials, rented many frames and mirrors for nothing. It was because one of the leading members of the company had watched Slayers TV anime.
They would post the rough sketch for the concept of the cover art by Megumi Hayashibara in "Megumi House" on next Monday.
Masami Okui would be the guest on the second week's show in July.
There was no comment about Slayers REVOLUTION.

"Heartful Station" was aired in Iwate. And Hamariya posted the digest of the radio show in the blog "Slayers NEWS". Here is the digest of it.

Megumi Hayashibara talked about the concept of "Slayers MEGUMIX".
She considered "which will it be, my album or Slayers album?" After they gathered the requests from the fans, it was decided that the album contained the duet songs or the quartet song. Therefore Megumi made up mind that "one half of the cover art consists of Lina's world, and other half consists of my world."
It took some time for Megumi Hayashibara to get an idea that both Lina and Megumi standing before the mirros. When she got the idea, she drew a rough sketch.
They will post that sketch in the "Megumi House" on next Monday.
The first idea for the album title was "DORATAMA". The second idea was "Lord of ~~Nightmare~~ Nightm-Megu". She wanted the title to be understandable only for the Slayers fans.
They took the photo of Megumi's standing pose first, and then Mr. Araizumi made Lina's illustration similar to Megumi's photo.
The theme of this album is "the reflections", and the photos in the booklet have the same concept. There is a photo in which a teasppon reflects Megumi's figure.
Megumi Hayashibara had sent the message to Ai Nonaka's radio show. In the show, Ai Nonaka was asked if she knew Slayers or not, and she answered "I watched Slayers. There was a character with pale face. Was he sick?" And the radio staff answered "he was pale because he drank a lot of 'Aojiru'".
Megumi Hayashibara said that if there would be a new drama cd, Zel's drinking 'Aojiru' scene could be included.
Megumi Hayashibara thought that the song "Plenty of grit" went back to one of the opening songs of previous Slayers TV anime. The song is "Give a reason".
Megumi Hayashibara told that "Slayers REVOLUTION" will have 13 episodes.
They aired "Kono Sekai no Dokoka de" MEGUMIX version. When Megumi recorded the song, she felt like Filia stood behind her. Filia said "Lina, you don't need my help". I thought that "I'm not Lina. Lina doesn't sing here", and finally, Filia left, saying "as I expected, you don't need my help". This is Megumi's fantasy, but she likes it. She loves her jobs because she can have a lot of fantasies.
Masami Okui will come to the show in the second week of July.
Megumi Hayashibara had an interview with the children't newpaper. A newspaper reporter of six years old asked her "what is the attraction of Slayers?". She thought "You aren't born when Slayers TV anime was aired."

Jun. 26th, 2008

In the bbs of Nekonanbantei, the web page of Takashi Watanabe, someone pointed that the name of Rezo and the voice actor Takehito Koyasu was shown in the program table for the digital broadcasting channel. There is the same information in the web site of TV Tokyo. Rezo seems to be appear in the first episode of "Slayers REVOLUTION".

It is aired the trailer of the first episode of Slayers REVOLUTION. Someone posted the movie in "Nico Nico Douga" (it is necessary to register yourself to the site in order to watch any posted images) and "You Tube".

The official site of "Slayers REVOLUTION" is updated. The site has the sections of "On Air" "Story" "Characters" "Release" "Staff / Cast" "Gallery" and "News / Spacial". On June 26th, they posted the interview with the guest voice actress Natsuki Kato in "News / Special" section. Here is the translation of it.

    After eleven years of interval, "Slayers" comes back to TV. In this new TV anime, there is a special guest, Natsuki Kato. She is famous for her being enthusiastic fan of Slayers. She plays "Kuppie" the half-fish half-human character. We had an interview with her after she recorded the voice.

    Q. So, you finished your first job for "Slayers REVOLUTION". "Slayers" is your favorite series and how did you feel when you played voice for your favorite TV anime.
    N.K. : When I was offered the job of the guest of "Slayers REVOLUTION" for the first time, I thought that they were kidding. But after I received the scenario, I got tense and I couldn't sleep well. If I could go back the time, I would go back to my junior high-school days and told myself "you'll play in Slayers!". In those days, I dictated the words of Slayers anime, made the book like a scenario, played the video without the sound and played the words for myself. I couldn't believe that I would do the same as a guest character!

    Q. But your character is half-fish and half-human. How did you feel when you knew about it?
    N.K. : It would be challenging, but I was confused how to play.

    Q. On what point do you pay attention in playing the voice?
    N.K. : I think that almost all of the girls in Slayers have manly spirit. I think that Kuppie has a hear of a cute girl, and I pay attention to play with girly spirit. Although her looks are wierd, but her personallity is very cute.

    Q. You are the enthusiastic fan of Megumi Hayashibara. And you played with her. How did you think about it?
    N.K. : When I talked with her out of studio, she was "Ms. Hayashibara". And when she stood before the microphone, she was "Lina". The power in her voice, the ring of her voice... all are my favorite Lina's. I have a policy that "what wrong is wrong at all", and this policy came from Lina in Slayers. It was great pleasure for me to watch living Lina Inverse with my eyes. At the same time, I realized that it was difficult for me to be like Lina Inverse.

    Q. You are the enthusiastic fan of Hikaru Midorikawa. How did you feel when you saw him playing the voice?
    N.K. : I did several jobs with Mr. Midorikawa before. Once in a TV program and once in an event. But it was first time for me to see his playing the voice! He was exciting! When he stood next to me, I was disconcerted!

    Q. Please give your message to those who are waiting for "Slayers REVOLUTION".
    N.K. : "Slayers" isn't changed at all after those eleven years, and "Slayers REVOLUTION" is upgraded. It's good to watch because the story of each episodes begins and ends in one episode. Please wait for it to come!

August issue of monthly comic magazine "Kerokero Ace" comes out. There are six pages of article about new Slayers manga and TV anime. Details are here.

According to the message posted in the 2channel, one of the TV program magazines had the information that "Slayers REVOLUTION" will have twelve episodes.

Jun. 25th, 2008

"Slayers MEGUMIX" is officially released. I went to get my pre-ordered item and I received the exclusive photograph of Megumi Hayashibara. Here is the pictures of them. According to the blog "Slayers NEWS", in the stores of Shinseido they give the another version of cd-jacket as the exclusive gift.

Jun. 24th, 2008

"Monthly The Television" was released, and someone found that it has each episode's titles of "Slayers REVOLTION" from the first episode to the fifth. They showed only a part of each episode's titles -- the part of "English words". The person posted the information in the thread about "Slayers REVOLUTION" in one of the bbs in "2 channel". Hamariya from the blog "Slayers NEWS" went to the bookstore to buy one copy of the magazine, but she got "TV nabi" by accident. However, this magazine had other part of each episode's titles, and combining with them to the English part, we can have the almost perfect titles.

#1 AMAZING Kyougaku no Doragu Sureibu? (Astonishing Dragon Slave?)
#2 BECAUSE Sore wa Lina Inverse dakara! (It is because she is Lina Inverse!)
#3 CHASE Owari Naki Tsuisou (Never Ending Pursuit)
#4 DRIFTER Ou ka Owareru ka (Chasing or Being Chased)
#5 ETERNAL Yuukyuu ni Nemureshi Mori (The Forest that has Slept from the Ancient Time)

Hamariya wrote in the "Slayers NEWS" that there are too small space in the time tables of the TV programs in each magazines, and the titles can be partial. The accurate titles will be confirmed in the next issue of anime magazines.

Jun. 23rd, 2008

<< Let's ask Megumi Hayashibara V : Q&A about Slayers MEGUMIX / part 5 >>

    Q. Please tell us about the impressive happenings in your private life.
    [ Sad Happenings ]
    My dvd player was broken (they replaced the hard disk of it). / The refrigerator in my kitchen became to make a loud noise (they repaired it). / The electric teakettle was broken (it didn't cease to heat after the water was boiled, and I felt frightened). I bought a new electric teakettle, and it was beautiful. But when I boiled the water with it, the hot water smelled of the plastic. I told the store and they gave me a new one, but the hot water smelled again. I disliked the smell and I almost threw up. Finally I returned the teakettle.
    [ Little Happiness ]
    I reeled leftover black woolen yarn, bound the yarn in the center and cut and made it into a black fuzzy ball. I attatched a piece of round felt on it to make it as a "Makkuro-kurosuke" in "Totoro" movie. It was sooooo cute! Delighted with my work, then I made a rice ball. I cover it with a plenty of sea weed. Then I cut the cheese in the shape of thin round piece and put two pieces of them on the black ball of rice. Then I put one sheet of round sea weed on each cheeses, "the makkuro-kurosuke-onibiri" was completed! They were my handmade.

    Q. Please give your message to your fans.
    Recently, I think that it will be a pleasure for me if someone feels glad to be a fan of Megumi Hayashibara. I think so while I was singing, writing, and talking about Slayers. I don't mean to say that I want to be thanked. I just want to be worthy or to be faithful. I feel that everything are changing rapidly in the real life, however, I think that someone's favorite things can&t be changed easily. Therefore, it's important that you can talk freely about what you like, and I want to be pround that I like what I like. I think that it's important for me to be faithful to my own feelings. "Slayers MEGUMIX" is made of my faith to what I like, and it becomes to have a lot of fun. I promise you that you'll be glad to have it. I want to see your surprising face with joyful tricks. Please remember the days when you watched Slayers TV anime. And please remember the days when you were excited with the news of Slayers REVOLUTION. I wish that the day when you open the package of Slayers MEGUMIX will be one of your memorial days.
    Some months ealier, Evangelion came back. Now, Slayers is coming back. I expect that something else will come back again, but for the present, I'm doing my best in playing Lina=Inverse. When I play the voice, I'll consume a lot of calories and I won't need to go to a sport jim. Please waiting for it to come. I, myself, is excited!

On the other hand, they are showing the picture of "Slayers MEGUMIX" in the section of "Hearful Station" in "MEGUMI HOUSE".

Jun. 22nd, 2008

"Tokyo Boogie Night" was aired on TBS radio. Hamariya, the blog manager of "Slayers NEWS" checked it and posted the digest in the blog. Here it is.

Megumi Hayashibara's comment on the cover art of "Slayers MEGUMIX".
When we decided the design for the cover art, I considered in this way. This album is both Slayers' album and my album. I wondered if the cover art will have anime graphics of Slayers or the photograph of me. I and Lina collaborated in the cover art of "Meet Again" cd, and I didn't want to do the same. In the cover art of "Meet Again" Lina came to our world. This time, Lina is in her world and I'm in my world. The connections between I and Lina are mirrors.

Jun. 21st, 2008

"Tokyo Boogie Night" is aired in Ehime, and someone reported about the show in the thread about Slayers REVOLUTION in the bbs in 2 channel.

Megumi Hayashibara read the post card from the listener. She talked about the cover art of "Slayers MEGUMIX".
They aried "Plenty of Grit".
On Wednesday this week "Slayers MEGUMIX" will be released.
They aired "Get along."

"Heartful Station" was aired in Iwate. And Hamariya posted the digest of the radio show in the blog "Slayers NEWS". Here is the digest of it.

There was a post card from a listener whose friend was one of the drawing staff for "Slayers REVOLUTION". Megumi Hayashibara said "(to the friend) please do your best. When we recorded the voices, we watched only the lines in black and white. I want to see more colors. We all know what is going on in the animation, and we can do our job without the colors. But still we want colors because the colorful anime cheers us up. I know that the drawing staff and the coloring staff are working hard."
They aired "Plenty of Grit", "Meet Again" and "Get along".
(Talking about the "Mega Gold Package" of "Slayers MEGUMIX".) "The package shines like a mirror of gold. You can see your face reflected on it. To tell the truth, "the mirror" is the theme of the cover art of this album."
"The pages of the photobook is thin and soft. I did it on purpose that you can bring this photobook with yourself and read the encouraging phrases in each pages."
"When I first saw the cover art, I thought that everything must end someday. It was a hard work, but it was completed."
"I expect that this golden cover will make you laught."

Jun. 20th, 2008

There is the site "Dengeki.com" where they deliver the latest news and information about TV games, PC games, online games, and anime. There they posted the information about "Slayers REVOLUTION" with the rough storyline.

    << Storyline >>
    Lina and Gourry lost "the Sword of Light" in the previous battle, and now they were traveling here and there searching for a new magical sword. They arrived Ruvinagald kingdom and there Lina attacked the pirates. Then Amelia and Zelgadiss came to meet Lina and Gourry. Lina was pleased but then there came a middle-aged man, Wizer. He introduced himself as the special inspector of the Ruvinagald kingdom, and Lina was surprised by his behavior...
    << Channels and the On Air Schedule >>

TV Tokyo	On every Wednesday 25:20 from July 2nd
TV Osaka	On every Wednesday 25:20 from July 2nd
TV Aichi	On every Wednesday 25:28 from July 2nd
TV Hokkaido	On every Monday 25:30 from July 7th
TV Setouchi	On every Wednesday 25:48 from July 9th
TVQ Kyushu Housou	On every Sunday 26:45 from July 6th
AT-X	On every Thursday 13:00 from July 10th. Repeat : On every Thursday 23:00 / On every Monday 17:00 and 27:00

The 4th, 5th and 6th book of Slayers novels with new cover arts were released. Here is the list of the characters in the cover art of each books.

Book 4 : Amelia, Philionel, Randy, Christpher and Alfred from Saillune's royal family, Sylphiel, Kanzeru and Mazenda. (For about Saillune royal family, please see the image on the right. There is someone between Phil and Randy, and I think that the character's hair and mouth look like Naga's...)

Book 5 : Lina, Xelloss, Gourry and Zanaffer

Zanaffer is behind Xelloss but is almost covered by the titles. The picture on the left is took from the black and white ad in the July issue of Dragon Age. We can see the shape of Zanaffer clearly.

Book 6 :Zelgadiss, Ducris, Zooma, Seigram, Dugld, Gduza, Radok and Abel. (Ducris is the character appeared only in the 5th book.)

It is announced that they will release new series of Slayers short stories. The title of the series is "Slayers Select" and the books of this series will have the selected episodes from "Slayers Special" series. The first book's title is "Naga no Chousen (Naga's Challenge)" and will be released in August.

Jun. 19th, 2008

Fujimishobou announced in their mail magazine that they will release two comic magazines this summer. They are "Slayers Legend 1&2". Both are the extra issues of bimonthly Dragon Magazine, and the 1 will be released on July 28th, and 2 will be released on August 28th. Those books will have 732 pages of "Slayers" manga by Shoko Yoshinaka and Rui Araizumi. There is one new Slayers manga "Slayers NEO (temporary titled)" by the manga artist Asahi. Here is his web site, Fullmetal Madness.

Jun. 17th, 2008

<< Let's ask Megumi Hayashibara V : Q&A about Slayers MEGUMIX / part 4 >>

    Q. Please tell us about the heppenings in making this album.
    I made another "sun-bringer" legend! It rained from the morning of the day we took the photos. But when we finished taking photos in the room, it stopped raining and the clouds became fewer. When we finished our lunch, it was sunny and there was no cloud in the sky. Everybody were surprised. The rain in the morning gave us good chances. There were several puddles and under the sunny sky, those puddles were the natural mirrors. We felt like the god gave us the chance, and the project of "Slayers MEGUMIX" was not only a good thing but was what had to be done. My stylist worshipped both the sky and me saying "today I thought it would rain all the day, but it is sunny now". I said "please do not worship me".

    Q. Do you want what kind of people will buy this album?
    The Slayers fans who were small kids ten years ago and didn't have enough money to buy Slayers cd then and those who afford to buy this album now. / Those who have been the fan of Hayashibara for long years. / Those who came to know about Hayashibara recently and become to support me. / Those who liked Slayers before but don't see TV anime for the present. / Those who think "Slayers? Again? TV anime?" / Those who think "what is Slayers? Oh, I remember it was aired many years ago." / Those who think "is Slayers a new TV anime?" / Those who want to be positive. / Those who want to be pushed their backs. / Those who want to be encouraged with love. / Those who want to have aggressive mind to overcome the troubles. / Those who want to have the policy "yes, I can!" / Those who eat well. / Those who act violently... Wow, did I say too much? Anyway, the olds, the youngs, the boys and the girls, I wish all of the people feel the energy of Slayers.

Jun. 15th, 2008

"Tokyo Boogie Night" was aired on TBS radio. Hamariya, the blog manager of "Slayers NEWS" checked it and posted the digest in the blog. Here it is.

There was a guest, Chihiro Yonekura, in this night's show. She covered "Give a reason" in her new album "Ever After".
Chihiro said, "two years ago, I gathered the requests from the fans for the songs they wanted me to cover. 'Give a reason' got a lot of request and I sang it before the audience in a public recording. To my regret, I sang a wrong lyric, and this time, I sang the song again. It's my challenge, and I arranged it to make it suitable for me."
Megumi Hayashibara had the images of Lina, hills, wounds or magics while she sang "Give a reason". Megumi felt that Chihiro paid more attention to the melody and the lyrics.
They aired Chihiro Yonekura's version of "Give a Reason".
They aired Reflection from Slayers MEGUMIX.
Megumi Hayashibara talked about the lyrics of "Reflection". There is the phrase "yasashisa no naka ni aru wana (a trap is hiding in the gentleness". For Megumi, this phrase means "it's no good to forget youself for something". There is another phrase "tsumetasa no naka ni aru ai (there is love in the coldness)." For her, this phrase means "don't be depressed when you are acolded."
There was the message from Yasunori Matsumoto about the public performance of his theatrical company "Sugoroku" (he is the vice-leader).
Megumi's comment, "Gourry is idiot all the time. He was the hero in the novels, wasn't he? Anyway, please wait for July."

Jun. 14th, 2008

"Tokyo Boogie Night" is aired in Ehime, and someone reported about the show in the thread about Slayers REVOLUTION in the bbs in 2 channel.

Chihiro Yonekura's voice was hoarse. Probably she harmed her throat in the live performance.
Chihiro's arrange of "Give a reason" was beyond imagination of Slayers fans.
They aired Reflection.
Yasunori Matsumoto intoruduced his theatrical company.

"Heartful Station" was aired in Iwate. And Hamariya posted the digest of the radio show in the blog "Slayers NEWS". Here is the digest of it.

Megumi Hayashibara talked about the recording voices. When the voice actors in the studio, they saw unfinished graphics, but they made many ad-libs.

Megumi Hayashibara talked about the recording studio. There is the cook and the corner to eat the foods. After they recoreded the voices for Slayers, they went to the corner to eat. Yasunori Matsumoto has used this studio for many times, but Megumi Hayashibara was a new face. At first Megumi made herself small, but recently, the cook gave her gentle words.

Megumi Hayashibara played "Midnight Blue". When she recorded the song, Mr.Otsuki, the general manager of Starchild, told her, "your singing style is in Asia. You have to go to Africa."

Megumi Hayashibara talked about the ending theme of "Slayers REVOLUTION". There is a trick in the middle of the song. When you play the song reversely, you'll listen something.

Megumi Hayashibara talked about Dragon Slave. In the first three episodes, Lina Inverse cast many spells which she hasn't used in the previous TV anime. But Megumi Hayashibara had a frustration about Dragon Slave.

The website of Mainichi Shinbun, one of the four biggest newspaper in Japan, has the section of manga, anime and games. The section is "Mantan Web". On this day, they posted the article about new TV anime which will start in July. They introduced eight titles ("Slayers REVOLUTION", "Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo", "Telepathy Girl Ran", "Seiyou Kottou Yougashiten (Western Antique Patistry Shop)", "Wolrd Destruction - Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokunin - (Six Members to Destruct the World)", "Sekirei", "Berdy the Iron Arm", "Ryoko's Case File"), and they wrote "Slayers REVOLUTION" the most favorite.

Jun. 10th, 2008

July issue of the three main anime magazines are released. Someone bought them and posted the information in the thread about "Slayers REVOLUTION" in one of the bbs in 2channel one day earlier. I bought the July issue of Animedia only. This magazine has the comment of the producer, Takeshi Shukuri. He said "this new Slayers TV anime doesn't have the 'moe' factors but this fact make it fresh among TV anime nowadays. By the way, it was very hard for us to gather the same voice actors and actresses. In the end, Megumi Hayashibara accepted the job because she always wants to join the Slayers anime, and other voice actors accepted our proposals."

The web site for the Japanese cell phone, Fujimi All Stars, began to deliver three more images for the idle screen of the cell phones. Here is the picture of them.

Jun. 9th, 2008

<< Let's ask Megumi Hayashibara V : Q&A about Slayers MEGUMIX / part 3 >>

    Q. There will be exckusive item for the first products. It is "Megumi's Phrase Photobook" which has phrases from the lyrics of Slayers songs. Would you please tell us your favorite phrases.
    I'm sorry, but I can't select one. There are many phrases I abandoned with tears. I know it's praising myself, but after I met with Lina, Megumi wrote many good phrases. When I read the phrases while I was selecting, I was moved by many phrases. Probably, the person who wrote the phrases wasn't me and was me. It was just like Lina let me write or Lina possessed me.

    Q. Would you please explain the concept of the cover art?
    In the cover art of "Meet Again" I did all of what I wanted to do, and I didn't have any new ideas. And I considered in this way. "Is this the album of Megumi Hayashibara, or is this the album of Slayers?" Yes, this album is both. And I thought that we would unite them. Last time, Lina came to our world, wearing the clothes of our world, and still Lina was Lina and Megumi was Megumi. So, this time, Lina doesn't wear the clothes of our world, and I won't do cosplay. In that case, what can be the connection between Lina and me. And then, I chose the mirrors. I gave Mr. Suguri (the staff of Starchild) the rough design of my idea. It was horribly rough, but it was okay as long as he could understand what I wanted. Then the designer made up the beautiful image from my concept. This time, the concept of the cover art (and the photobook) is "the world lie beyond the mirror". The mirror is the bridge between our world and Lina's world. For about the exclusive package of the first products, I stuck to the color of gold. I chose gold because Lina likes the treasures. There are many "golden" colors for the package, but I insisted that the color had to be gracious, happy and gorgeous and the package had to be similar to the gold ingot! And the actual package reflects the faces of those who buy it just like a mirror. Yes, the MEga Gold package is another mirror!

July issue of monthly "Dragon Age" was released. It has a lot of information on Slayers.

P.6--7 << Slayers Information >> Information on TV anime, CD, novels and manga in full color.
P.219--248 << manga Slayers REVOLUTION >> Episode 2 : Find That Small Animal!
P.384 << Card Game Monthly News >> The black and white image of the exclusive card of Lina Inverse (Project Revolution).
P.492 << Dragon Age Infomarion Center >> Ad of the re-published books with the black and white image of the illustration for the book 5.
P.611 << Advertisement of "Slayers MEGUMIX" >>

Jun. 8th, 2008

"Tokyo Boogie Night" was aired on TBS radio. Hamariya, the blog manager of "Slayers NEWS" checked it and posted the digest in the blog. Here it is.

There was an interview after the voice actors recoreded the voices. They asked the voice actors "how do you feel to play the voice of the same character after ten years of interval?"

Hikaru Midorikawa answered "ten year is a long time. When we are chatting, we talked about our children, and it was impossible in the days ten years ago. But when we stand before the microphones, we are brought back to the same world where we were in ten years ago."

Megumi Hayashibara was moved by his answer and asked the interviewer to give her the tape. She wanted it because it would cheer her up.

Megumi Hayashibara said "it was the feeling like to warp the time. It's just like the feelings when we go to the class reunion party. There we talk about nowadays small talk, but as soon as we find our teachers, we become the students. Maybe it's somewhat different example, but I don't have good words to tell you about this feelings. I know that time flies. Sometimes the time is kind to me and sometimes it is cruel. Still there is something that can't be changed by the time."

They aired "Kagirinai Yokubou no Naka ni".

Megumi Hayashibara introduced the article in her web site. There she talked about Slayers MEGUMIX.

Jun. 7th, 2008

"Tokyo Boogie Night" is aired in Ehime, and someone reported about the show in the thread about Slayers REVOLUTION in the bbs in 2 channel.

There was a guest in the show. He was Katsu from Angela. He talked about the music in the new TV anime "Ryoko's Case File".
There was an interview after they recorded the voices. Hikaru Midorikawa said "it is a great surprise that we are the same after those ten years!"
They aired "Kagirinai Yokubou no Naka ni"

"Heartful Station" was aired in Iwate. And Hamariya posted the digest of the radio show in the blog "Slayers NEWS". Here is the digest of it.

There were many post cards from the listeners who listened the "Plenty of Grit" in the last week's show.
Megumi Hayashibara talked about the theme song for TV anime and songs for others. "Within those ten years, I wrote 'feel well' for 'Slayers Premium' and 'Meet Again' for the anniversary project. They are the Slayers songs, but they aren't the theme songs for TV anime. 'Plenty of Grit' is the theme song for TV anime, and I did it as the theme songs for old Slayers TV anime."
One listener send a message to Megumi Hayashibara "I saw that your picture in the web site of Starchild was changed. You seemed sexy." Megumi said "For a long time, I hadn't let my front hair long. This time, I let it long and the hair stylist liked it and set my hair. After they took the photo, I cut the front hair."
Megumi Hayashibara talked about "Slayers MEGUMIX". "The release date is coming. When I began to make the album, I felt the release date was in a future, but it's coming."
They aired "Kagirinai Yokubou no Naka ni".
Megumi Hayashibara talked about the cover art of "Slayers MEGUMIX". "They will post the photo of the cover art in the official site. I like the cover art. It's in the same style of 'Meet Again'. Please wait of it."

Jun. 6th, 2008

There is the advertising FLASH in the top page of the Starchild's official site. They are now showing the ad for the album "Slayers MEGUMIX" and TV anime "Slayers REVOLUTION" together. Hamariya found it and posted the information in the blog "Slayers NEWS". There are three ads and they show them at random. If you wait a few minutes, you can see the ad for Slayers and if you click the FLASH of Slayers, you'll be brought to "MEGUMI HOUSE", the official site of Megumi Hayashibara.

Someone bought the July issue of "New Type" four days earlier than the official release date. That person posted the information in the bbs in "2channel". According to it, the title of the first episode is "AMAZING Astonishing Dragon Slave?".

There is another message in the bbs about "Slayers REVOLUTION" in "2 channel" which tells us the title of the second episode. It is "BECAUSE Being Lina Inverse!". However, the message doesn't tell us that from which magazine this information came out.

In one anime magazine, someone found the new list of staff and post it in the bbs in "2channel" and this information soon forwarded to the thread about "Slayers REVOLUTION". Here it is.

Editor : Shigeru Nishiyama (REAL-T)
General Director for Graphics : Haomi Miyata & Takao Sano
Designer for Props : Kyouta Washikita
Sound Creator : Glovision Inc.
Art Director : Shinji Kawai
Art : Studio Uni
Designer for Colors : Maya Muranaga
Camera Director : Yutaka Kurosawa
Sound Director : Miwa Iwanami

In the item information page of Yahoo! Japan Music, they show the cover art of "Slayers MEGUMIX". Here is the larger image.

Jun. 2nd, 2008

<< Let's ask Megumi Hayashibara V : Q&A about Slayers MEGUMIX / part 2 >>

Q. In this album there are three bonus tracks -- "Plenty of grit", the opening theme of "Slayers REVOLUTON" which will start in July, "Revolution", the ending theme of "Slayers REVOLUTION", and "Kono Sekai no Dokoka de", which is the Japanese version of Filia's song "somewhere" and is sung by Megumi Hayashibara. Please tell us how you decided to let those three songs be included in this album.
A. For about "Plenty of grit" and "Revolution", I think that new TV anime "Slayers REVOLUTION" made "Slayers MEGUMIX" possilbe. So, I think that "Slayers MEGUMIX" can be the runway for "Slayers REVOLUTION". "Slayers MEGUMIX" will be the reuther board before a vaulting horse, TV anime "Slayers REVOLUTION". To tell the truth, I hesitated over if we include them or not because this album will come out before "Slayers REVOLUTION" will be aired. However, they are Slayers songs, and "Slayers" doesn't mind such a small matter. "Slayers" always bring great pleasure to the fans, doesn't they? (Therefore we decided to includes those two songs.)     There is another reason for my deciding to include both the opening theme and the ending theme. I imagined that I was a fan who would buy this album. When I find those two songs in the album, it could be a great pleasure. Fans pay for this album, and they will be pleased when they find many bonus songs are included.
    For aoubt the reason for "Kono Sekai no Dokoka de" is the requests from the fans. May fans sent us their requests for "somewhere" through the radio shows and the internet. But when I read the English lyric of "somewhere", I understood that the lyrics describes the feelings of Filia, and I thought that it was better for me not to sing the song. Instead, there is the Japanese version of "somewhere" -- "Kono Sekai no Dokoka de". I can interpret this lyric widely and it will be alright for me to sing this song.
    There were other requests and one of them was the one to ask me to sing a song of Naga. I'm sorry, but I'm so frightened that I can't sing her songs! Anyway, I felt embarrassed when I recorded the song. I was in the recording booth and I put on the head-phone and stood before the mike, and then I felt as if Filia was holding my shoulders. She was smiling at me, "I know that you, Lina, don't need my help". I felt rather strained instead... Probably, I was too eager...     At that time, I thought that Lina wasn't a singer but I am...     And I sang several times, and when I noticed Filia wasn't there. Only Megumi Hayashibara was there to sing. It's hard to explain but at that time, I laughed at myself, thinking "so, you don't need Filia's help". It was a very joyful and pleasant job.

    Q. Please tell us about your enthusiasm for the upcoming TV anime "Slayers REVOLUTION".
    I imagine that I don't have any enthusasm when I record the first voice of the anime. I think that I say "hello" to everybody in the studio, talk about the old days with other voice actors. Then they start the film of the new anime and we will do several times of rehearsal. Through those talks and rehearsals, we'll get rid of the cares and uneasiness from the ten years of interval. But, we have to be careful not to let guest voice actors feel uncomfortable in the studio, because those four or fice characters are united strongly without being aware of it.

In the official site of Starchild label, there is the site exclusive for the Japanese cell phone. The title of the site is "Sutacha Mania Mobile". This site started the special contents of "Slayers". According to the blog "Slayers NEWS", the special contents are the storyline of each Slayers anime not only TV series but the movies and OVAs, the list of released cds with the images of cover arts and the title of the songs. They also introduce "Slayers REVOLUTION" and show the image which we saw in the site of "Presepe" last month. It's a big contents for a site for the cell phones. They deliver the video message from Megumi Hayashibara, but it is necessary for a user to register the site and pay 315yen per one month in order to see the video message. According to Hamariya, the message is about twenty seconds long, and in it Megumi Hayashibara talks "hello those who are watching at Sutacha Mania Mobile. This is Megumi Hayashibara. Last year, I was surprised to hear that there was the new movie of Evangelion. And this year, I'm surprised to hear the news of the new Slayers TV anime! That new TV anime 'Slayers REVOLUTION' will be aired in July, and before that, we will release the new best album 'Slayers MEGUMIX'! Don't miss it!" This video message is delivered until the end of June.

Jun. 1st, 2008

"Tokyo Boogie Night" was aired on TBS radio. Hamariya, the blog manager of "Slayers NEWS" checked it and posted the digest in the blog. Here it is.

There was a commercial message for "Slayers MEGUMIX", and Megumi Hayashibara read the titles of the songs very fast.
They finished to record the voices for the first two episodes.
When they recorded the voice, they played the films of each episodes. But what Megumi saw was the images with only lines. There was no color.
The voice actors checked the scenes from the director and played their characters and sometimes they did ad-libs.
The director Watanabe seemed to be exhausted.
Megumi Hayashibara expects that we can see Lina moving cheerfully on TV.
There were many post cards from the listener who heard the previoous show and the opening theme "Plenty of grit".
Megumi Hayashibara aired the ending theme "Revolution" and she said, "please put your notice to the first phrase."
The opening theme tells "in any time anywhere the place where I stand is the place to start" and the ending theme tells "it doesn't end now". Something starts must end someday, but "Slayers doesn't end" is the keywords of the ending theme.
The ending theme is much longer and in the middle of the song, there is something. Megumi Hayashibara sait "you will be excited when you listen to that part, but TV edition of the song doesn't have that part. Please wait for the single cd which will come out on July 23rd. Don't miss it. I don't mean to grudge giving you whole of the song, but there is no chance to let you listen before the single cd willl come out."
They made the vide message of Megumi Hayashibara and they will deliver it in the official site of Starchild from June 12th. They will start to deliver the same message in the special site for the cell phones before the 10th of June. And you'll be able to see it in the stores such as Animate, Gamers and Toranoana.

Return to Slayers Again!