5/5 Great collection, but be weary...
  by Kingfly (Jackson, TN)
I've been following anime for a while, and recently got the bug to replace my aging VHS copies with DVD's...these three episodes were originally available seperately on cassette, so it's nice to be able to get all of them in one package.

Be forewarned, although this is marketed as Book of Spells Vol 2, it is THE SAME as the original DVD release of Book of Spells...I didn't read the descriptions closely enough, and ended up purchasing both. I cannot vouch for the upgraded 5.1 audio, as I don't have a surround system, but the picture looks no different.

This is classic Slayers, which I consider to be one of the better shows available. I'm picky about the ones I like, and this and the motion picture were some of the first I bought. It's a little more goofy than some, but for me at least, it's nice to see a series that doesn't take itself too seriously...

4/5 funny and well fun
  by Hot Poison (Bentonville AR)
These are very funny episodes, The Scary Chimera plan is my favorite. The other episodes are great as well, but the jokes are kind of old like you have seen them from aomewhere else. Like always, the music is great, but then again, I LOVE Slayers music.

4/5 Belly stuffing, bandit killing, and a smartass
  by Donovan Howard (Atlanta, GA)
Lina Inverse you could say is one of the characters specifically made to poke fun of the fantasy anime genre. She and her usual cast of characters often downsize and destroy the often cliche` characters and plotlines and pour salt on the wound by laughing in their faces. The sense of humor often associated with Slayers is a definately unique kind. While it does use a lot of the similar tools of the trade, it has a less annoying approach verbally. While you have the occasional sweat drop, Lina actually takes the sweat drop and will beat someone over the head with it. I'm sure you could find this anime very entertaining.

For those of you who are fairly well caught up with the Slayers universe and have yet to see this, this is a series of OVA episodes specifically made to illustrate the relationship between Lina and Naga. The adventures of Lina and Naga take place before the adventures in the original Slayers TV series. The animation is definately above grade quality as well as the well paced directing and more than fitting voice acting. I am sure everyone will find this an amusing work of fantasy/comedy.

5/5 A collection of Lina and Nahga's earlier adventures.
  by P. Krug (portland, OR USA)
Five years before SLAYERS RETURN, GREAT, GORGEOUS, EXCELLENT and PREMIUM, the folks at ADV released the origonal SLAYERS motion picture and these three OAVs.

In THE SCARY CHIMERA PLAN, Lina is approached by a mad wizard/ alchemist, who wants to create the ultimate chimera (beast made from different parts of other animals,) using Lina herself in combination with a few other creatures. Of course, Lina will have nothing to do with it. Nahga shows up and after finding out about the plan, thinks it's a great idea. Lina leaves. The wizard takes the hairs left by Nahga and creats ten Nahga clones (in a plot device that was also used in the first SLAYERS T.V. series) and after tracking Lina down uses the power of the Nahga's laughter to subdue her. After finding the origonal Nahga, she gets the clones on her side, then they become Lina's unlikely rescuers. This episode is as funny as a SLAYERS episode should be, but be warned, the part where Nahga and her clones go rampaging through the castle where Lina is being held is REALLY hard to sit through, as the Nahga's spend about five minutes straight laughing non-stop. You may be tempted to mute or fast-forward through this scene. Of course, other characters in SLAYERS comment on how terrifying her laugh is, so this chapter seems made to demonstrate how true that is.

The next episode, JEFFERY'S KNIGHTHOOD, is better, mainly because we Nahga's bursts of laughter are much shorter here. Lina and Nahga are hired by a woman (who may well be one of the most hideous crones in all of anime,) to help her son Jeffery become a man. Jeffery, as it turns out, is weak, wimpy, and pretty inept at just about everything. However, anytime anyone says anything bad about him, his mom (who, ugly as she is, turns out to be a pretty powerful sorceress,) shows up out of nowhere wearing a mask and pounds the offender. She then says she's just a stranger passing through. Lina and Nahga both figure out right away it's his mom, but Jeffery never recognizes her and thinks it's always been complete strangers who show up to clobber any one who's ever insulted him. Lina and Nahga's job are to lead Jeffery to a group of actors disguised as bandits so Jeffery can beat them as a way of boosting his self-confidence, as he doesn't know about this plan. However, a group of real bandits show up and kidnap the actors! Again, lots of funny moments, particularly when we meet Jeffery (voiced in the dub by Brett Weaver, who also did Migel in RUIN EXPLORES and Damu Ramu in DRAGON HALF).

The third episode, MIRROR MIRROR, is without question the best of the three. Lina and Nahga are hired by a sorcerors guild to recover an ancient artifact stolen by one of their own members, Laugden. The mirror was created by one of the old, powerful wizards, and is rumored to be able to create a shadow copy of whoever it reflects, with all the same abilities of the origonal but with the exact opposite personality, and who serve whoever weilds the mirror. Lina and Nahga have been hired to bring both the mirror and Laugden back to the sorceror's guild, but they'll also have to contend with an army of wherewolves Laugden has allied himself with. The best part of the episode comes when they find Laugden and he uses the mirror on them! Of course, it does create shadow copies of Lina and Nahga, but something eles unexpected happens...

All in all, a must-have for SLAYERS fans, one to own.