「レギオンの猛威」 (Region no Moui)
“The Fury of Legion”

We all knew by now that Hughes, Sugarboy, and Coco were after the clock hand, but I’m pretty sure very few expected this filler arc to be related to the manga. I don’t intend to spoil anything for you, in case you don’t read the manga (which I think you should), but I doubt what I’m about to say would spoil anything.

In the current manga arc, there have been some references to an incident related to something called “Zentopia”, something that made little sense to me then, but now it’s all so clear! I wouldn’t call this “filler” anymore, but it isn’t necessary to watch this.

Leaving the manga, we now know that our current villains are part of something called “Legion corps”, they’re warriors related to Zentopia. They’ve been sent by the archbishop of Zentopia to retrieve the Lucy’s clock hand, which she obviously doesn’t want to give up, considering that it’s her father’s last memento. According to Byro, this mission is a crusade. By connecting this with what I know from the manga, I can pretty much figure out what Zentopia is, but this is an anime post, so I’ll leave it at that.

The episode itself was very action filled and exciting to watch. We had battles going on everywhere – Lily fighting Coco against his contradicting feelings, Hughes fighting Lucy’s stellar spirits – unable to possess them because they’re not human (but she was clever enough to use Michelle as a cover), Gildarts having some trouble landing any hits on Byro who appears to have some sort of negating magic, and of course Natsu – who managed to find a way to destroy Sugarboy’s magic – only to end up getting stuck with him. I actually expected Gray to show up because he fought Sugarboy in Edolas. I can’t say I was surprised seeing him there. But I was surprised to see Erza helping Gildarts because I assumed he’d be able to manage without help, however, the help wasn’t really needed.

The one who was in need of help didn’t get any at all, so in the end, Lucy lost the key, and it seemed to me that the enemies retreated for now. I always ask myself why Lucy rarely brings out Gemini. If Gemini is capable of copying another person, including that person’s magic abilities, why doesn’t Lucy use that key more often? It’s a bit upsetting to see Lucy losing “important” battles almost all the time. But on the other hand, I guess this was necessary because of the clock hand. But overall, Lucy has never really had any impressive battle. The few wins she has achieved aren’t very exciting. I certainly hope that the end of this arc will bring more justice to her character.

Oh, I almost forgot, near the end of the episode, you could hear some new music playing. The fourth FAIRY TAIL soundtrack volume needs a release date because the new music is great!

Based on what I’ve seen on the preview, it seems like we’ll finally get to see the priest Exceed from the opening sequence and the current eyecatch in next week’s episode! Looks like some story development (and some silly comedy) is up ahead which I’m looking forward to very much!

Moete kitazou!

Full-length shots: 10, 13, 16, 21, 29, 33, 35

Note: Please, use the spoiler tags!

 

Preview

12 Comments

  1. First time I’ve been disappointed this filler season. I realize Lucy had to lose the key for the plot to move forward but the way it was done here made no sense. Didn’t really explain what happened to Scorpio or why Lucy’s couldn’t multiple summon spirits to team up on Hughes; wouldn’t be the first time she got caught in the crossfire of her own attacks (Aquarius).

    Oh well, here is hoping that FT gets to make a redeeming comeback after being toyed with for the past few episodes.

    I’ve been scratching my head trying to remember if Zentopia was ever mentioned in the manga and then BOOM, my question was unexpectedly answered.

    Avalon
    1. I’ll tell you why Lucy couldn’t summon multiple spirits at once:

      1.) Spirits have schedules, and schedules are serious business to them. Unless Lucy can make a compromise with them beforehand, odds are she can’t summon all the spirits she wants, whenever she wants.

      2.) She does not have that kind of power. At least, not as her power stands now. She can summon multiple spirits in a row, but based on how much energy it takes to summon spirits, she can’t summon two at once. She might be able to if it involved weaker spirits like Plue, who take less energy, but two or more Zodiac spirits, who consume a whole lot? Not likely. Show Spoiler ▼

      immblueversion
      1. True, spirits have schedules but that doesn’t explain what happened to Scorpio… he just kinda disappeared after hitting Michelle. Not to mention that Leo and Capricorn can be summoned at any time. She still had options but was sloppily defeated for the sake of the plot moving forward. It would have been better if Hughes had held Michelle hostage and traded for the clock hand; that kind of sacrifice is more in line with Lucy’s character.

        As for the power, Virgo summoned herself and Lucy has demonstrated the ability to summon more than two spirits than that back to back on multiple occasions.

        Avalon
  2. If Hiro wrote this entire arc and it’s actually related to the manga in a good way, consider this arc a nice spin-off. I’m sure the serious stuff and battling still has to come, and (once again) if Hiro did write this, it can’t really be disappointing, but maybe it’ll even be seriously good.

    Crook
    1. Hiro didn’t directly write it, but Hiro did reportedly design the new characters and give the writers story guidelines so as to not contradict anything that happens in the manga (I’m betting the “Zentopia Incident” is one of them). The rest is all from the anime writing staff.

      immblueversion
  3. According to a magazine that came out a few weeks ago, they revealed the names of the other members of the Legion Corps who appear in the preview for the next episode:

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Now, as some of us may know, the guy in the preview screenshots has been speculated to be Cobra. But he still could be Cobra (after all, “Cobra” is just a codename), or at least someone related to him, because just look at those sideburns, and just look at him as a kid. If it is him, it seems his hair grows lighter as he gets older. And maybe his eyes originally became snake-like as Cobra because of the Dragon Slayer lacrima. Still, they still have a different chin, and this character has a bigger face, and brownish eyes instead of Cobra’s purplish ones. But I’m gonna leave my judgment to the voice actor, and even then, they may pull a switcheroo on us (if it’s the same actor, it could still be a red herring since they multi-cast so many actors).

    immblueversion
  4. Now that Erza and Gray return from their mission and we see Cana too on the preview. Where the hell is Juvia (who is following Gray doing mission with Erza) and Gajeel who is running away after watching Natsu get one hit KO from Laxus? I’m itching to see their fight.

    Neo
  5. Gemini should be the most powerful key but it is being used like the mirror card from carcaptor sakura to copy the user in noncombat situations. Gemini should be a key that minics two different persons for each person. One, an exact copy. And two, an opposite copy (evil twin brother, good twin brother). Since Gemini should be two people like in Saint Seiya.

    tendo
  6. The producers of the Fairy Tail anime continue to show how great fillers end up if you actually plan for them ahead of time. All other long running shounen shows should pay attention.

    Tre

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