FAIRY TAIL / First Impressions

「エルフマン vs. バッカス」 (Erufuman vs. Bakkasu)
“Elfman vs. Bacchus”

My feelings are all over the place after watching today’s episode. There were so many moments that stood out in these battles. First of all, we had Toby’s fight. It seemed like a kind and friendly fight, but seeing how Kurohebi ripped apart the dog’s beloved sock made me feel sad and angry. Raven Tail is so far the worst guild I’ve seen in this series. They’re not your typical villains who simply want to see their evil plan bloom. No, they’re rude, evil, and condescending people. While I do admit that I did find Flare slightly likeable due to me being shallow and loving her voice actress, in general, I do not tolerate the behaviour Kurohebi showed Toby. And the same can be said about the people who targeted Lucy but caught Wendy instead. The royal guards are definitely up to something, and they have a lot of authority. Things are not looking good!

It’s a good thing that there are several guilds where the people are respectable despite being the opponents of the characters we support – such as Quatro Cerberus, or Quatro Puppy as they’re called now. Words aren’t enough to describe how epic Elfman’s battle was. I was completely overwhelmed by how impressive the fight was. It has been a long while since I was so moved by a battle in this show. The last time we had some truly exhilarating battles was during the Tenrou Island arc, and that was a long time ago. Lucy’s fight against Flare was quite impressive near the end but it was filled with cheating and unfair action. But Elfman’s battle was completely fair and honest. It also allowed us to see how strong he really is.

Elfman has truly developed through this series, he is the man! He has not only grown in size, but strength as well, and he seems far more intelligent than during the last time I saw him in a fight. The lizard form was very clever, but I am a bit surprised that his form wasn’t as detailed as it was in the manga (image requested by my friend, Shadiic). But that’s not really something that bothers me because this fight was nothing but amazing. There were several new tracks playing in the background and they all enhanced the intensiveness of the battle. I have been saying this over and over again, but we need that fourth soundtrack now! Anyway, the soundtrack alone was not the reason why the battle amazed me as much as it did. It was the frenzy of two strong and honest combatants in a fair fight, trying to protect something. In Bacchus case, it was his guild’s name, while Elfman fought to protect his sisters from the drunkard. After all the cheating and low points, it was truly refreshing to see FAIRY TAIL back in the game, and they earned their place, unlike another guild. It was also quite nice to see that the two fighters are good people, and are respected by their fellow teammates. I love companionship! Oh, did I ever mention that I really like Evergreen and Elfman’s relationship? They totally have something going on, I’m sure of it!

Next week’s episode will bring us another duel where two beauty pageant girls will “fight”. Well, the preview speaks for itself. I’m looking forward to see Mira in “action”. It will be fun!

Moete kitazou!

Full-length shots: 7, 9, 10, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27

Edit: FAIRY TAIL episode 163 will air in 2013.

 

Preview

25 Comments

    1. same here. I wasn’t the least bit impressed. well, fairy tail anime fights (aint a manga reader, so cant judge there) are normally a bore. the animation doesnt give credit to the fights at all. only a few are worth wow-ing at.

      chioneicedyrken
      Reply

    1. btw in case anyone is interested in what he means…

      In the manga when Elfman changed ino his last form his skin looked like razon sharp metal points or spikes so each hit looked like it hurt Bacchus more then Elfman.

      Karmafan
      Reply

  9. Urgh quality was down this week. Poor Elfman, this episode didn’t give him his form’s true capacity and it was kinda underwhelming. Well hopefully they are saving their budget in the last few weeks for the future battles.

    Shadiic
    Reply

  10. Mrrr, I was completely hoping that he was gonna shout, “OTOKOOOO!!!” at the top of his lungs at the end there. That would have just sealed the ep. Yeah, yeah, quality was down, all that jazz – it wasn’t that much different in quality from the ‘Mystogun’/Jura battle. Yes, the win was a bit more epic in the manga but the anime did okay. I’d give them a 70/100 for this ep. I didn’t care all that much until I saw the end of the fight – was hoping for a lil more than ‘Spinzaku’ from Bacchus.

    I did like that they gave Ever more lines in this one. She even clenched her fist and said ‘Otoko’ herself – ElfxEver! If Bacchus hadn’t mentioned anything about sisters, he would have won handily. At least he didn’t mention Ever in his request list – that might have earned him a less gracious victory at the end.

    And dat preview – why is Erza so freakin hawt?! And why do I feel such anger against that blue-haired, undeserving, glyph-marked emo once more!? >_<

    Arakan7
    Reply

  11. @stereoman
    “While I do admit that I did find Flare slightly likeable due to me being shallow and loving her voice actress”

    Oh BOY, do I know that feeling. Over this same actress too.

    starqo
    Reply

  12. -No comment on Toby’s secret. My reaction was the same as Erza’s for that sock-ripping scene.
    -You can’t spell Elfman without MAN!!!
    -Is that next episode really showing a one-on-one duel, or why is there other female FT members participating in a swimsuit contest? Anyways, we’ll see fan-service for sure.

    random viewer
    Reply

  13. Watching this episode… I just realized that the anime is censored compared to the manga… and it’s the little things that kinda seem like a waste to remove. Like as lizardman he was supposed to get some broken scales and bleed, then when his transformation wore off you were supposed to see the damage carry over rather than just fatigue

    Also Lisanna reaction to the threesome was supposed to be a WTF look and not scared, people might prefer the way the anime decided but if you see the Lisanna look in the manga, well it’s worth it for the lol’s.

    Also now that i think about it the episode where they meet Bacchus, they censored out Canna’s boobs xD

    Spades
    Reply

  15. I can’t understand, why are people even watching anime version of FairyTail? Because of fan-service? Cos, anime adaptation suck so much balls with it’s stupid jokes and ugly animation.

    Nein
    Reply

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