Today’s Moon Phase diary has some details on Slayers REVOLUTION, although it’s unclear where it came from (though other information has been hitting the web from Newtype and other mags today, so I’m guessing it’s one of the primary anime ‘zines). Moon Phase is generally spot-on, so take it as you will.

Anyway, they report that the anime will air in July on TV Tokyo in a late-night spot. Apparently the plot at least begins as a search for a replacement for Gourry’s Sword of Light. Characters that I think haven’t been seen in the anime before (but who are known in the novels) will appear, including Rook and Mirina. Some more familiar faces, as well: Prince Phil returns, as does Sylphiel. And apparently some kind of mascot character called Pokota, as well…no clue there.

Once again, no source cited on the blog, but it’s Moon Phase, so it’s up to you what to think.

Moon Phase has the word on an anime adaptation of Kurozuka, Baku Yumemakura and Takashi Noguchi’s 2002 manga about a pair of immortals named Kurou and Kuromitsu who fall in love and, over the course of a thousand years, fall apart again. (Apparently the manga is an adaptation of Yumemakura’s novel; he also wrote the Onmyouji series, about Abe no Seimei.)

The announcement was made on Animax’s website, which also mentions a date for Kurozuka and for the previously announced Ultraviolet: Code 044 anime: July 1st.

Aaaaaaaand in this corner, we have Slayers REVOLUTION! Moon Phase’s link has an image that tells us nothing about the new series (at first I was like, “Sylphiel’s coming back? Shit!”). The images are actually the first few covers for a re-release of the Slayers novels by Hajime Kanzaka. Do want! *scours Amazon for the Tpop releases in the meantime*

Heard back from a T-pop rep on the Kino no Tabi cancellation et al. Apparently it’s all not true; Kino no Tabi has not been dropped and Slayers 9+ is not being published at this time. Apologies for the error, but hey, it’s good news for you Kino fans!

Tiamat’s Disciple reports on a TOKYOPOP event in the UK, and notes that Kino no Tabi– which was in limbo during Sakura Con –has officially been dropped due to licensing issues. Sorry, folks.

In happier news, two previously-suspended titles are back: Slayers and Scrapped Princess! T-pop is surely hoping that the new Slayers Revolution anime will rekindle interest; as for Scrapped Princess, well, why not? I’m sad about Kino but excited about Slayers, personally. ♥

EDIT: This article has a follow-up; Tpop reps say it’s all not true.

More important than the website or the visual for the upcoming Slayers Revolution series is the cast list! Megumi Hayashibara returns as Lina, which is undoubtedly one of the most important parts for many fans.

For me, though, the biggest news is the characters that will be back and their returning seiyuu: Yasunori Matsumoto reprises as Gourry; Hikaru Midorikawa is back as Zelgadis, and Masami Suzuki will once again play Amelia.

As some of you know, my biggest concern was that it would be a TV series with nothin’ but Naga. (Eep.) Now that I know that the old crew is back, I am 150% excited about the show!

Though I can’t help but notice: Xellos appeared in a magazine spread, but his original seiyuu Akira Ishida isn’t on the list yet…

The hard-working AnimeSuki forum member NeoSam notes that the new Slayers TV anime will be titled Slayers REVOLUTION. Unfortunately he doesn’t cite a source, so I dug around and found it to be true according to an image posted by Slayers NEWS, which is, as you can imagine, a Slayers news blog. (Adding to RSS reader…now!) I’m not sure what magazine the image is from, but it seems pretty straight-forward about the title.

Perhaps more important than the name, at least to me: Xellos! Yes, our old pal, Xel(”Himitsu”)los is back, at least in the image in the magazine, and therefore presumably the show as well. I can’t read diddly since the image is rather blurry, but if Xellos is in, I feel slightly comforted. (Also, it’s kinda neat to see a peek at what the show might look like…although Xellos looks kinda young and girly. Or, younger and girlier. Hmm.)

Ahh, Slayers– the series of novels by Hajime Kanzaka that follows the diminutive sorceress Lina and her companions, dumb-but-loyal Gourry, wanna-be mysterious swordsman Zelgadis, overly-enthusiastic justice fighter Amelia (to name but a few) which has been developed into a manga, three TV anime series, two OVAs, and five movies.

A Japanese blog post by kouryakukan claims that the April issue of Dragon Magazine– the same magazine that the novels were originally serialized in –will include information about a brand new Slayers TV season.

Why Slayers? Why now? Why NOT? Slayers is better than pretty much every fantasy (of the D&D type) I’ve seen in recent years, from Night Wizard to Prism Ark to Kyou Kara Maou to Seirei no Moribito to Scrapped Princess, etc.

But we won’t know for sure until the issue of Dragon hits the stands, which won’t be for another day in Japan (it’s the 28th there; the ish comes out on the 29th).

UPDATE: A friend just sent me a link to what is supposed to be an interview with Slayers creator Hajime Kanzaka in which he talks about the new series. Assuming the interview is legit (and it probably is, unless someone’s putting on a major hoax), the new anime will feature the same staff as in the past. I can’t read enough of it to tell if Megumi Hayashibara will return as Lina, but I can’t imagine that they’d do it without her.