CD's
Ramblings 
Here, I have a most lovely submission by poor CD who has obviously been trapped on a
Naval Vessel for FAR too long (Working with the nuclear engines appears to have
effected her brain, the poor girl...)
Anyway, with this submission she has officially been dubbed Guest Columnist of
the Unspecified Length of Time (how ever long
it takes until someone else wants to be Guest Columnist and/or I finally get off my butt and
find a better spot in my page to put this... bit of insight.)
"Mazoku cannot love."
Maybe you've heard this one before. It's usually used by people who like Xellos but don't want to see him with anyone for some reason. "Mazoku cannot love" is the Slayers coupledom equivalent of "Yo' mama". How could you possibly respond to that? You can't tell if this statement came from the novels, if the translations of the anime were off, or if you just missed something from the manga. You can't read Japanese, nor can you be lucky enough to score a copy of one of the Slayers novels. Even if you *did* find a Slayers novel and learned Japanese just to read it, you won't be able to find all fifteen, and there always stands the chance that you didn't get the novel in which this was stated. Let's face it. You will never be able to conclusively prove this was never said. Coincidentally, your opponent will never be able to prove it *was* said, but there it sits, like "Yo' mama": not proven or disproven, but staring you in the face all the same.
There have been people that use retorts with the right logic, but that didn't think them out quite far enough, such as the classic "Well, if dragons can hate, Mazoku can love". The logic is on the right track, but it's not quite that simple. Then there are people like myself, to whom this simple argument doesn't make sense. The more complex argument goes "There is no such thing as pure love or hate, and love often isn't as sticky sweet as you think. If Xellos felt love, it would be as a purely twisted emotion, probably full of possessiveness and jealousy." Of course, this can always be answered with "Kanzaka-san himself said Mazoku do not love."
Let's examine this a little closer.
It has never been documented that Kanzaka said this. Supposedly, the source of this statement was a 'fan-interview' *whatever that is* with Kanzaka-san, in which he reportedly said "Mazoku cannot love". This is not supported in the anime, nor has it been in any of the novel synopsis I've read. I don't see it in the manga, or even a reason for the manga to *have* this statement. However, for the purpose of this essay, and in case I've overlooked anything, we'll assume that Kanzaka *did*, in fact, state that Mazoku cannot love.
Why do you think Kanzaka would say that? There was nothing in the course of the stories in the novel, manga, or anime that would prompt him to say such a thing. There was no plot involving a Mazoku falling in love with anyone or anything else. There would be no opportunity or reason for him to state this. It would be useless, surpluss fluff.
Also, "Mazoku" is a general term. Why would Kanzaka say "Mazoku"? I don't see that great of a demand for Shabby lemons. If you take a good look at a listing of hentai doujins, fan sites, fanfics, and other things showing fan sentiment, you will notice that the Mazoku with the greatest amount of romantic pairings is... Xellos! If Kanzaka did indeed say this, then it must have been meant to apply to Xellos. There would be no reason for him to say it otherwise.
However, there is no documented case of Kanzaka writing anything in which Xellos is put into a romantic situation with anyone. *Author's note: I am not using Try for this simply because it was not Kanzaka's sole work. Other writers assisted in making that series. He did not write it himself, like the novels or the manga.* So, why do you think that Kanzaka would say something to discourage people from thinking about something that wasn't happening?
Out of all of Kanzaka's own work, the novels and manga, the single woman who stands out as the most likely pairing for Xellos is Lina. Lina is the most likely candidate simply by virtue of being the stories' main character, and the female lead. Lina, however, seems to be rather taken at the moment, by the male lead, Gourry. Put yourself in Kanzaka's shoes: you've spent years writing about this heroine and the guy you want to be her romantic interest, and suddenly you introduce a random male character and the fans want the new guy with your heroine!
Kanzaka, at this point, has two choices. The first is to create a love interest for Xellos, much like Zel and Amelia, and get him neatly squared away with someone else. The simpler, easier way to do this, however, is to simply say that Xellos cannot love and therefore cannot have a relationship with anyone. For the interest of this essay, let's say Kanzaka took the easy way out and did the second. So, rather than have a 'loose end' cluttering up Slayers fandom, he simply chose to close up Xellos' romantic status with a simple statement like "He can't love."
Then it gets nasty. Then they make Try.
Try, in case you were uninformed, introduces a new female character named Filia, a young golden dragon priestess who is, in nearly every way, Xellos' opposite. As if that weren't enough of an indication of what conclusion you're supposed to draw *Kanzaka's couples -both in Slayers and Lost Universe- have this interesting habit of appearing to be complete opposites, yet being very similar underneath...*, there are also several instances of Xellos getting stuck in remotely romantic/suggestive situations with Filia. Thus, a whole fandom dedicated to the purpose of getting these two together springs up. And these poor, unassuming folk, the Xellia-shippers, wander into this lovely new anime world, only to be smacked right in the face with this realization: "Mazoku cannot love".
But wait! If Kanzaka himself didn't create Filia for his novels or manga, then it doesn't apply to her, right? There are a few ways to approach this particular lapse of logic. First off, you can say that the Xellos in the novels is a distinct and different entity from the Xellos in the third season of the anime. This works. You can also say that since this can be neither proven nor disproven, that it most definitely doesn't apply to Try. This also works. However, if you really want to throw your opponant for a loop, try this: "If Kanzaka did, in fact, say that, then it was said to discourage a Xel/Lina pairing, and shouldn't be used to apply to Xel/Fil."
What's the difference?
There's a big difference. It's obvious, no matter what your preference, that the show is directly about Lina, and to some small extent, her relationship with Gourry. Call me crazy, (Ok, CD, You're crazy ^_^) but I think the author intended for those two characters to get together at some point. Kanzaka has done several things to not only put the two of them together, but discourage Lina/anyone else pairings *the same is true for Lost Universe... only it was much more effective in LU. There is no such thing as alt-shipping in LU*. For instance, when Zelgadis is first introduced, there's no sign of Amelia anywhere. However, the second time he shows up, Amelia is obviously meant to be his partner. Could this be because Kanzaka saw that there were massive amounts of ambiguity between Zel and Lina and wanted to make things a little clearer? What about Canal/Kane/Millie *LU*? The fact that Canal is a computer kinda ruins most romantic interactions she's likely to have.
The difference between Xel/Lina and Xel/Filia is the fact that Kanzaka meant for Lina and Gourry to be together. If he said "Mazoku cannot love" in the pursuit of this end, then it should hold no bearing on a later relationship between Xellos and Filia. In fact, it would seem that Kanzaka himself would have no problem with a Xel/Fil pairing. It does not interrupt any couple he himself engineered, and it ties up an otherwise 'loose cannon', thus making sure that Lina is still meant to be with Gourry.
This is the most convincing argument I can think of as to why, if Kanzaka-san actually said that, he would have said that. If anyone is willing to show me, in definitive text with actual references, where it says that "Mazoku cannot love", I'd be more than happy to see it. However, if they do, this argument still stands.
Of course, I could always just look at them and say 'Yo' mama".
