FAIRY TAIL / First Impressions

OP14 Sequence

OP14: 「フェアリーテイル〜約束の日へ〜」 (FAIRY TAIL: Yakusoku no Hi e) by 米倉千尋 (Yonekura Chihiro)
Watch the 14th OP!: Streaming ▼

「100対1」 (100 tai 1)
“100 to 1”

Here is TITANIA! Wow, I have goosebumps all over me. I remember this part was one of the most epic ones I’d read in the manga, and I doubted I’d experience the same kind of feeling when I’d see this in the anime. I was right. It wasn’t the same; it was even more epic in the anime. This episode completely blew my mind, and it’s not because of the girls being insanely impressive. Just seeing how FAIRY TAIL gloriously took over the arena was enough to make me cry. The audience’s reactions mirror the ones I had pretty well.

I’m not sure which one is more impressive, Erza or Cana? The thing is, while Erza truly outdid herself by taking down one hundred monsters on her own, I expected her to win. She is the ace of her team and it would be strange for her to lose. She’s simply one of those characters who are supposed to shine. That doesn’t mean that her battle wasn’t impressive, because it truly was. All Erza’s themes were playing in the background as she triumphantly slew all the monsters, and when “Saigo no Mahou” could be heard, I really felt my heart race. Erza is a magnificent character and she truly impressed me today. I’m very happy that the Pandemonium event was fully animated, not just so the gap between the manga and the anime becomes larger, but also because it improves the flow of the story.

As for Cana’s brilliant performance, I absolutely loved every moment of the MPF event. Perhaps she was the most impressive one today because you normally don’t expect much from her. While it’s debatable whether or not she did a fair thing (technically it was Mavis’ idea), I think it was nice to see people respecting FAIRY TAIL again. I also enjoyed seeing Sabertooth’s shocked expressions. They really think too highly of themselves. Orga wasn’t even second best – he ended up being #4 in this. I’m glad that not only FAIRY TAIL beat Sabertooth, but also Lamia Scale. Jura did really well today, and I expected no less from him.

Now, the main mystery is Raven Tail. Obra’s magic was not really impressive, but then again, he didn’t use his true powers. We do know that he can block other magi’s magic, like he did during Lucy’s heart-breaking fight against Flare. I still want to see him get punched in the face for what he did that day, heck, I want everyone in Raven Tail to suffer. And lucky me – it seems like they’re up for a fight against Laxus next week. I want to see them fried!

Oh, I almost forgot, we have new OP/ED sequences now, finally! I think the opening is decent but the ending didn’t really impress me. But who cares? The episode itself was one of the best ones of this arc so far, in my opinion that is. I hope to see more awesomeness next week.

Moete kitazou!

Full-length shots: 1, 15, 22.

 

ED14 Sequence

ED14: 「We’re the stars」 by 愛美 (Aimi)
Watch the 14th ED!: Streaming ▼

Preview

60 Comments

    1. One thing that makes Fairy Tail always so enjoyable to watch, is that it always manage to keep us to rooting for them. Everyone on the team get their well deserved moment of glory, it’s hard not to cheer the whole guild on. That’s what always keep me coming back for more Fairy Tail.

      Bladewind
      Reply

  4. I guess what really impressed me was the fact that Erza’s mix-match with her gears. I don’t recall she had done that before, but seeing her with fire based armor and dual wield fire/water swords was truly awesome! enough said… Can’t wait to see Laxus next week xD
    Thanks for the coverage!!

    jrj
    Reply

      1. Thanks for replying. Well, she looks awesome in this ep, if she can score over 9999, better than Jura the former mage on the Council of Ten, then perhaps Fairy tail ought to promote her.
        My 2 cents

        silentv
        Reply

      2. She’s using a borrowed power from Mavis so even if she scored that high, it isn’t her own and doesn’t equate to promoting her to S-class.
        But her being able to use it means she has a high potential to become stronger later on, as stated by Mavis in this episode.
        And you forgot that FT did an S-class test 7 years ago and she was participating in it.

        belatkuro
        Reply

  8. I remember when Gajeel was introduced as a hulking brute during his first appearance compared to Natsu, who looked like a kitty cat by comparison! Now, he’s essentially the same body type as Natsu in the new OP!! Wow.

    starss
    Reply

  9. That was a nice episode. I liked the manga material being expanded, the anime really knows how to make Erza shine even more than in manga. Remember Azuma vs Erza? I really liked how that fight was expanded.

    Anyway, I see that you really went with the names anime provided last week. I still think they’re not correct as I doubt anime’s credibility when it comes to translations but hey xD Thanks for the awesome review!

    P.S. I think you might be looking forward to March 20th! (I hope it’s okay to link it here.)

    Misk
    Reply

  10. This was Erza’s greatest moment as a Fairy Tail mage and probably Kana’s as well. The 2 girls really showed the entire arena why Fairy Tail was (and is) the world’s best magic guild. Other guilds might have 1 or 2 amazing mages but Fairy Tail has many!

    Karmafan
    Reply

  11. This episode there was badassery, over nine thousand jokes and even mavis giving Kana basically cheat code to re-unlock fairy glitter. IT WAS GREAT.
    The intro didn’t do it for me though.

    On a side note: Erza is fucking badass but I can’t help but love mavis man xD

    Catsrofl
    Reply

  14. I might have to start watching this again, judging from the screenshots it seems they’ve removed the magic circles that annoyed the heck out of me.

    I stopped watching the anime during the arc with Midnight and Zero and compared to that the animation now seems better to me.

    I always loved the music and the VAs.Plus, there are certain fights I just have to see animated, I’m looking at you Gildartz vs Natsu.

    Magoiichi
    Reply

  15. Nothing compares to Mavis’ ED last season. I enjoyed this episode, but was disappointed with the stills that were used instead more choreography. Why couldn’t they do like super large stills so we have more full sized images of Erza’s full glory.

    Shadiic
    Reply

  17. I don’t agree with everyone. Yeah it was entertaining, but they took away the impression the manga left me with.

    Erza Manga Victory

    That image leaves you with the sense that she went through hell for that victory. The anime made it look like it was no big deal. Plus I would have liked if they went with more animations than stills. Most of the episode consisted of a still of Erza followed by an animated crowd, should have been reversed

    Spades
    Reply

    2. You have to understand that due to censorship reasons, there will be no blood in the anime. The anime did show Erza taking some damage though, which was somehow abridged by the manga.

      Daimyo Oowashi
      Reply

      1. I know that. But getting kicked by a monster with the commentator saying that she’s heavily damaged while she has not even a scratch on her skin is weird if anything.

        It just bothers me because they don’t mind showing almost naked girls but a bit of injury is a problem.

        Misk
        Reply

      2. I get that there are censorship reasons as well. I’m guessing blood = late time slot in Japan television… and I’m assuming Fairy Tail probably runs earlier compared to something like Gintama (awesome anime, randomC should pick it up)

        But yeah like Misk says, they take the ecchi to high levels, in some cases more than the manga. Even if the couldn’t do blood, they could have animated her getting beat up more, struggle, get back up and be awesome. And for her win pose, some bruises or something. I was laughing when she was all bandaged up afterwards.

        Well after the Elfman fight, it’s not really that surprising or disappointing… I guess

        Spades
        Reply

    4. Yes i was also gonna post about that. Kinda took a bit from Erza’s victory because in the manga she took so much damage. But alas, its the woe of prime time anime, no big injuries or blood will be shown 🙁

      Athrum
      Reply

    5. Look at the budget (hint: the # of stills we got in the Erza fight). This isn’t Gundam Unicorn… The trade off between anime vs. manga is that we get the fight played out.

      If you want it to be realistic, you are going have to pray (very hard) that they spiff it up for one of their Fairy Tail specials… which I think is unlikely to happen.

      Bladewind
      Reply

  25. This episode is awesome x9999 and infinity! Loved Erza for fighting like a boss and she really meant it when she could beat much more in less time – that was epic. Kana really made everyone eat their words/laughs/boos before this (now the most legendary fight IMO). I want to see Mavis do a Fairy Law if possible. (She’s cunning <3). Last thing, now that everyone recalls that Fairy Tail is the strongest guild ever, they will never forget it again. 😀

    random viewer
    Reply

  31. Dunno why, but compared to Happy and the others of fairy tail, the cats (I know they’re not cats, forgot their real names) of Saber-tooth just see plain annoying. I feel that way whether I see them animated or in the manga. Something about them just pisses me off.

    Well, pointless rant aside, this episode rocks! Erza!!!!!!!

    bakakubi
    Reply

    1. Wait, I think I know why. It’s because of their stupid sneers and annoying cockiness. Also, them crying doesn’t make me feel sad at all. Oh gosh, I really hate the Sabertooh cats, lol.

      bakakubi
      Reply

    1. 1. RC isn’t a blog where you request something to be covered. The writers ultimately are the ones who decide what shows to cover.
      2. Even if HxH isn’t covered here, it doesn’t mean the writers think it’s a lesser show.
      3. Enzo is covering it on his blog, Lost in America.

      belatkuro
      Reply

  34. I know I’m making a big deal over something small but I wish you’d use “Cana” again. That is her official name.

    1. The Japanese spelling of English names aren’t always reliable

    Remember the “Elza” grave? Guess her name isn’t Erza 😛
    http://media.animevice.com/uploads/1/18405/381052-erza_s_grave_41.png

    (but this is a whole different mess with “L” and “R” in the Japanese language

    2. There is no sound for the letter “C” in Japanese.

    Japanese can’t pronounce “See”, the closest is “Shi”.

    “Shiana” isn’t how you pronounce her name it sounds like “Shana”

    I think this is way the letter “K” is incorrectly used sometimes since they can actually pronounce this letter.

    framefreeze
    Reply

  37. I like Fairy Tail, and I loved this part in the manga, but the “animation” in this episode was painful. It was more like a collection of disparate stills.

    I remember people complaining about the animation in the boss fight in Sword Art Online, but their complaints would have been more appropriate for at least this episode.

    Rasen
    Reply

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