Let the final event of the Grand Magic Games…BEGIN!
What They Say:
“Fairy Tactician”
While everyone is focused on the last event at the Grand Magic Games, Team Natsu slips into the palace to try to spring the imprisoned Lucy. Meanwhile, Mavis, the progenitor of Fairy Tail, uses wartime strategy in a bid to lead her team to victory!
The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The final event of the Grand Magic Games takes place in the entire city. An all-out battle royal between the 30 remaining combatants in the tournament square off and people begin to be eliminated in quick order. Quatro Puppy’s out first, followed by Blue Pegasus. Mermaid Heel is down to two or three fighters and Lamia Scale is down to three. Fairy Tail and Sabertooth, the top two as we enter, have all five still.
This first part is what I’ve been waiting for in Fairy Tail and what I’ve been extremely frustrated with waiting for. In truth, it probably shouldn’t have taken three episodes to get to this point, but the break between seasons forced some more recap than necessary. Even then, it feels like the episodes are padded with lingering shots and added scenes, but that’s simply a consequence of it being a shonen manga adaptation.
Regardless, what’s happening thus far in the tournament is great. It showcases every part of Fairy Tail the show and Fairy Tail the guild that I love. Their dedication to their friends allows them leeway in how they act in the tournament. They can’t act rashly and they have the Fairy Tactician, the First Master Mavis Vermillion, planning their routes within percentages of certainty. Rufus, who dominated the first round, tries the same trick again and fails. It fails against Gray because he’s been through this ringer before and it fails against everyone else because they have Mavis’s mind and Gray’s experience on their side. This is truly a guild that fights together, and that’s always been a strength of Fairy Tail.
On another front, Natsu, Wendy, Mira, Happy, Charle, and Pantherlily run to save Lucy. They have a tactician of their own in Mira, who transforms into a guard and pulls the old Wookie prisoner trick to get past the guards. The move is successful, because of course it’s successful, and they break Lucy out. She then changes clothes, because there is no sense of urgency.
In all honesty, I don’t know why she changed. Probably just because Hiro Mashima wanted to draw her in a different outfit and because he wanted the comedy of her falling down the pit and screaming “But I’m not finished changing yet!” It doesn’t work for me and takes me out of the moment.
All that aside, what happened to the animation in the show? It feels like anyone who’s not Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, or Wendy are a little off model, especially in the eyes. Last episode, I wanted to capture that amazing shot of Fairy Tail walking into the arena, but I just couldn’t get past Juvia’s eyes. They’re weird! Look at the audience in episode two as well and you’ll see some weirdly modeled characters. Perhaps it’s a sign of their declining budget, I don’t know. But I’m not a fan of it.
In Summary:
This episode was everything I was promised when we returned to the Grand Magic Games and I’m finally legitimately glad it’s back. I love this arc for all its worth because of how incredible it is to see everything culminate, from the Tenrou Group returning to the rest of Fairy Tail suffering to little things like defeating Twilight Ogre. When it’s on, Fairy Tail is simply one of the best shonen series out there and it’s just about to be on.
Grade: B
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Equipment: Radeon 7850, 24” Dell UltraSharp U2410 set at 1920 x 1200, Creative GigaWorks T20 Series II
